Leveraging from Facebook: What every brand should know.

Note- All statistics are borrowed from http://www.socialbakers.com/

Facebook is one of top social media platforms being used in India. Currently it has 54,755,360 users, which makes it #3. The online population penetration factor is more than 67%, which is pretty good for a social networking site.

The recent per month number of users is also gigantic.

 

One can also see that most people are from the age group 18 - 24(view image below).

Today when social media marketing is starting to be considered a compulsory part of 360 degree campaigns, every brand in India is most definitely on Facebook, but the real question lies in knowing, which of these brands are using the platform in the best possible manner. It’s clearly not about only making a page and just being present out there. The game is changing; nowadays brands are looking at avenues from offline integration to branding campaigns on Facebook.

Now first lets see who are the fastest growing brands in facebook.

So, what do these brands do in order to maintain the brand engagement week on week? Lets find out in a couple of examples.

1. Axe Angels Club.

This page is one of the best examples how one factor can be leveraged to sell the brand. First look on the page and you will get a feel of Axe Angels coming alive to please you. That’s how smartly the brand has positioned itself. Creating branding/awareness and thereby resulting into sales, has been clearly achieved. Bold and beautiful is the way to go and they have understood the crux of the situation perfectly.

Facebook page- Axe Angels Club

2. Tata Docomo

They talk everything on their page. From current topics, bollywood, sports, etc. to promotional offers, contests and campaigns. The first thing you notice on their page is a very warm welcome message that will entice you to “Like” the page. Of course huge monies have been spent for sourcing these “Likes” but as they say, in the end it’s worth it! In my previous post I did say about how well has Docomo used the return of cricketer Yuvraj Singh for it's brand promotion.

Facebook page- Tata Docomo

There are a few things such brands are doing right, and I guess others can follow suit too.

• Invite visitors to “Like” your Page: If you're not, you're missing the chance for future conversations with customers

• Create well-written, “human” status updates: The more conversational, the more likely what you say won't be ignored.

• Create custom offers that visitors find valuable: Think value in terms of the customer, not solely what you think is valuable.

• Share inside information and unique assets: Often you have access to information, photos, videos, or items that customers would love to access. Share!

• Feature user-generated content: Invite your customers to join your campaign.

• Create “sharable” apps that are social by design: Apps created for a social site should be social at the core. Make it easy to include their friends.

• Make sure content maps to brand campaign: Facebook isn't the place to go rogue with your brand. Tie it into your overall marketing for best results.

• Create an emotional connection: People come to Facebook for social, emotional reasons. Tap into that if you can.

• Acknowledge your biggest fans: Highlighting your biggest fans is a low-cost way to super-charge their advocacy.

• Engage across your online properties: Tie into your website, your mobile site, your apps. Be consistent for more powerful impact.

• Link to online and offline events: Events are a way to keep your brand top-of-mind, and keeps a reminder in your customer's Facebook newsfeed.

• Enhance the offline experience online: Offer hints, tips, FAQ's, to make their offline experience better.

There are also two important factors.

1. Most people in India are online on facebook during 8 - 9 pm.
2. Facebook's "highlight" and "pin to top" pointers help gain more visibility for a particular post.

So, whether you have a few fans on your page, or a huge number of them, you can probably do more to keep your cash registers ringing. And if you still don't have a facebook brand page, well, lets just hope for a new dawn.