Facebook Followers
Value of followers on Facebook
The True Value of Facebook Followers
If you doubt the actual value of having Facebook followers, you are not alone. We hear it so often that it sounds cliché - social networking is vital for business. As much as many professionals would like to ignore this cliché, it's true. Generally, the more (respectable) social networks you have a presence on, the better. However, the one you can't avoid if you want to succeed is Facebook - the top dog of social networking sites. It's not just a place for kids to chat anymore.
How can we measure the value of Facebook followers? There are many ways, but let’s start with the simplest way to measure the value of anything - in dollars. For brands with a Facebook page, consumers who are fans of that page spend an average of $78.84 per year more on that brand than customers who are not fans according to a study in June 2010, by Syncapse. Michael Scissons, Syncapse CEO, says that considering factors such as brand loyalty and recommendations in addition to direct spending, the total monetary value of Facebook followers is $136.38 per year. This same study also determined that these followers are 28% more likely to continue using the brand.
Of course, other studies have returned widely varying numbers. One study by SocialCode determined the value of Facebook followers to be only $10.00 each. This study focused on Facebook advertisements, and attempted to calculate fan vs. non-fan conversion rates in a variety of categories. It was based on the assumption of a non-variable $1.00 cost per click, and only online transactions were considered.
A third study, conducted by Virtue returned the lowest value of followers, at only $3.60 each. However, this study was based purely on the average post and repost views, and the average CPM (cost per million impressions) for paid advertisements. It does not take into account how targeted these views are.
Whether you choose to look at the $136.38 high end, or the $3.60 low end, these and other such studies prove there is definitely a monetary value in having Facebook followers. Of course, the exact amount will vary depending on the business, product cost, marketing expenses, and marketing tactics. In any case, the value is real and it doesn't stop with dollars and cents in the sales column.
The success and profit potential of any website revolves around traffic. Facebook fans drive traffic. According to the same Syncapse study, each fan will bring an additional 20 unique visitors to your website. Sure, this number is low enough to sound inconsequential if you compare it to raw data of unique visitors gained through search engines and pay-per-click advertising. However, remember this is targeted traffic of the best kind. Word of mouth has long been considered the best advertisement you can get. Traffic generated from Facebook is essentially virtual word of mouth advertising. These website visitors are more likely to already know about your site from their friends and have a genuine interest. Their friends like your brand, so they arrive with a pre-existing positive feeling. People who expect to have a positive reaction most often do.
One of the biggest values of your Facebook presence is also one of the most difficult to break down in numbers – brand identity. Brand identity is one of the most important aspects of marketing. Even if you can't measure it in dollars, clicks or conversion rates, very few marketing professionals would argue against the value of having a strong brand identity.
Brand identity means people know your name. They recognize your logo. They are familiar with your slogan. Ideally, it goes beyond familiarity to symbolic association. Ideally, your brand should symbolize something to the customer such as a certain type of lifestyle (think Harley Davidson), or a level of quality (think Rolex). Advertisement, both online and off, can provide enough exposure to satisfy the familiarity aspect of brand identity. However, to make the leap from brand to cultural symbol you need prospective customers to identify with your current customer base. If someone is proud to use your brand and chooses to wear a T-shirt with your logo that's great advertisement with the person's neighbours, but someone on the other side of the world won't see it. When a Facebook user is proud to use your band and chooses to "like" it - they are literally telling the world.
Finally, a portion of the value of Facebook followers comes in the form of opportunities. It may cost a bit (most experts estimate $1.00 - $5.00) to acquire your followers, but once you have them, you have free advertising opportunities. Of course, you can place advertisements on the Facebook website for a fee, but that is another subject entirely. The opportunity for free advertisement comes in postings, messages and notifications. What you post on your fan page is distributed to your followers - people who have already expressed a positive reaction to your brand. Additionally, you can encourage sharing and re-posting by your followers. When fans post about your brand, they are essentially placing targeted ads for your brand on their pages at no cost to you.
The greatest advantage to establishing your presence and acquiring a following on the leading social networking site is actually not yet know. Why? Because the greatest advantage to your business is in future opportunities. The popularity of social networking shows no signs of fading. Instead it is steadily becoming more a part of daily life and business. It is expanding in the number of users, variety of demographics of users, and methods of use.
The quickly increasing popularity of mobile devices is opening still-to-be-explored opportunities for business and social media. According to recent data, the number of people accessing social networks via mobile devices increases 44 % in the last year alone. Facebook maintained its ranking as the most popular social site by a wide margin.
The type of person who uses Facebook is quickly evolving to include a wider range of people. According to Experian Simmons 98% of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who use the internet use social networking. Older age groups are quickly catching up with 82% of online adults between 55 and 64; and 75% of internet users over the age of 64 using social networking.
Social network marketing is something of a frontier, as technology and marketing continue to rapidly expand and evolve. Whatever marketing opportunities it offers today, there will be more tomorrow. Therefore whatever the value of Facebook followers today, it will be greater tomorrow.