As is often the case on a Thursday evening, last week I was watching the NBC comedy series ‘The Office‘. You can’t help but love Michael Scott.
During a commercial break I noticed something fascinating; three ads, by big brands, had a call to action and it didn’t include details of their Website. Instead they all suggested ‘find us on Facebook!”
On it’s own this isn’t a big deal but it isn’t an isolated incident. In fact it’s becoming a trend. Go to your cupboard and look at food products you have purchased in the last few months. Odds are you will find at least one that doesn’t detail a Website but does highlight the brands Facebook business page.
Think about that for a moment; marketing professionals have decided that a Facebook business page offers more marketing value and reach than their own company Website. Ad’s on TV for cereal, cars and vacations have Facebook.com all over them so it’s not industry specific.
We have to ask why? It can’t be that printing two URL’s costs too much. It can’t be that two URL’s are confusing.
It’s because Facebook is viral and traditional Websites are not.
It’s really not that complex. The biggest value Facebook offers is sharing of information. Whenever we share our online activities, brands get access to an enormous untapped market; my friends and potentially friends of my friends. A simple thing conceptually but a very powerful thing in a practical sense.
If I go to cnn.com and read an article no one nows about it. But as soon as I click the ‘like’ button not only do readers on cnn.com see it:
but so do my almost 1,000 Facebook friends:
I’ve just told all of those people about CNN. I assume Ted Turner will send me a check?
This has enormous value not only to the likes of Cheerios, Ford and Carnival Cruise Lines but also to real estate. Having people market your listings for you ensures each home is seen by a far larger audience. That’s good right?
It’s part of the thinking behind the share button on every AgencyLogic single property Website:
The button provides over 300 share options but our data shows that people predominately share via either email or Facebook. Irrespective of how the information is shared it’s all free marketing:
That’s good right?
Marketing leads to sales. As a result social naysayers who don’t believe in the value of Facebook will miss out in one form or another. Michael, what do you think?
“There are four kinds of business: tourism, food service, railroads, and sales….and hospitals, slash manufacturing… and air travel.”
Now that is good! 🙂
Well it also depends on who the target market is. Most TV viewers are an older demographic who are also more active on FB than any other type of social media or web use. identifying their market and where those people live is what it’s all about.
Hi Joe,
I agree with you in part.
Yes it depends on who the target market is but I wouldn’t categorize most TV viewers are older. That said what does ‘old’ really mean. I’m nearer 50 than 40 and I still think I’m young 🙂
The examples I mention above are also, speaking generally, aimed at a younger demographic. I have cheerios in my house for my kids (aged 10 and under) and The Office isn’t exactly The Ed Sullivan Show.
I see the use of FB on all types of ads, in all types of places, for all ages of people. I’d love to see the ROI for this, I guess time will tell us (and the marketing professionals) if there is any relative to a traditional Website.
Steve
You misunderstand…yes “older” is a relative term by definition. Older viewers by percentage tend to watch TV on TV in real time or recording shows. Facebook has become a platform for interaction.
Companies can access personal information to a point, and also define highly targeted Facebook campaigns. A Facebook fan base can be a powerful marketing asset. In part it creates communities that share certain common likes, in part it is about creating a personal “brand” to use marketing parlance or “image”, “persona” “digital facade” if you like.
I do not doubt many of these companies also interact with certain demographics on other social media as well….again depending where their target audiences live.
Stephen,
Great article. This is certainly a growing trend and the viral nature of Facebook and other social media sites create marketing value that a traditional website cannot passively generate.
When a user visits a traditional website, without volunteering information (through a registration or otherwise) the only data captured by the site is an IP address. Hardly useful for marketing purposes. Facebook on the other hand is able to provide the company a vast quantity of useful marketing data about the user and their lifestyle.
Here’s the issue: I don’t think that the ‘average’ FB user realizes/understands what they are potentially providing when they Like a company. Do I want Cheerios to know that I’m X years old, work at X as an X, am in a relationship with X, and am friends with X(x500)?
Anonymity on a commercial website enables the user to explore a product/service without the influence of an active sales presence and without a commitment of personal information.
The FB pendulum is beginning to swing very far off center from its core functionality. IMHO, as the site becomes increasingly driven by commercial content, it’s value as a SOCIAL network becomes increasingly polluted. FB will continue to grow in a commercial capacity at the expense of its social functionality.
Thanks Bill – I agree re: the privacy issues and that the overall direction of FB is commercial. We all have to accept some responsibility for what information we put online, be it via FB or any other medium. That said I think most people (wrongly) still ignore or are ignorant to how data they provide is used and FB et al don’t have a history of helping clarify things.
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