Why Facebook can be a marketer's best friend

Vishnu K. Mahmud ,  Contributor ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 06/22/2009 12:20 PM  |  Lifestyle

Many businesses come up and ask me "So what do you think about this Facebook Internet thing? What makes it different to all the other flash-in-the-pan websites that are abandoned when the next new thing comes along?"

In a word: Stickiness. The problem with websites, microsites and blogs is traffic, or lack of it. Many businesses have spent thousands of dollars to create beautiful corporate websites or partnerships to promote their goods and services on the World Wide Web. They are in essence a great digital brochure online, staking their claim in the virtual world for users to find and search engines to index.

However, no matter how great a corporate website may be, users will rarely visit the website on a daily basis as it lacks the "stickiness" to prompt them to return. Thus they may miss some special Internet online deals or new product updates.

Some of the popular websites that users go to daily will be news portals such as Google News, CNN or Detik.com, or those that offer constantly updated content such as web comics, celebrity gossip or user-generated submissions such as photos on Flickr.

For stickiness, Facebook has managed to convince users to invest their time in the website. They can post links, photos, videos, status updates and other information that can be shared with others within their "life stream", to keep even those living far away up to date with their thoughts and recent activities. So it will be just as if they are living next door. This results in users coming back again and again to the social networking site.

Most of the names on Facebook are real names, as users want their old friends from kindergarten to university to be able to find them. And instead of befriending just about anyone, as was done in other social networks, users on Facebook are a bit more cautious as they would like to share their life with only those they know and trust.

As a result, users have a vested interest in Facebook as it has become their representative online presence. Most of the information provided, such as age, location, occupation and others, makes up the ultimate user database that marketers would drool over. The social connections and norms on Facebook also prevent users from misbehaving (such as online swearing or digital bullying), compared with if they were anonymous on the website.

Facebook has gotten to be so big now in Indonesia that some mobile phone carriers are even using the social network's name to sell their phone's features and capabilities to access the website, via wireless or SMS.

But what about the numbers? According to Facebook's advertising targeting tools, there are an estimated 6,188,520 users who live in Indonesia (most likely including locals and expatriates), with around 55 percent of them male, approximately 79 percent over the age 18, roughly 13 percent are married and about 25 percent of whom are single (male and female - the rest are either engaged or in relationships).

There are also education background statistics but the numbers don't really add up since those data fields are optional for users to enter (and some are just forget to do it).

So now with more than 6 million Indonesian-based users on Facebook, what can your business do to tap this market?

New paradigms. Don't even think about spamming or sending mass email/advertisements to Facebook users. They won't like it and it is an invasion of their privacy (and perhaps a violation of the Facebook user agreement). Think permission marketing. Most people, if they are fans of a particular brand, would love to get updates of the latest sales or special deals. But they must opt in first. Thus, create a brand fan page.

Grow your network. Don't expect fast miracles of "If you build it, they will come." It takes a while to grow your user base network organically. Facebook does have advertising tools that you can invest in and the targeting tools can limit the demographics (male, age 20 and above, living in Indonesia, etc). Start off with your own and your colleagues' networks to invite friends and acquaintances to join.

Also think long term. Having a fan page is just the start. What can you do to drive traffic to the page? And this applies also to websites and blogs.

The good thing about Facebook is the immense user base that is online. But what can you do to attract their interest? Don't think of the fan page as just an online place to put up ads but a community where you can engage your potential customers. Don't use it just for one campaign and abandon it, but use it as an in-country digital home base.

Don't be afraid. Like any communications medium, you will get some negative feedback. Instead of erasing such posts or blocking critics' access to the fan page, be transparent and engage with them. Find solutions and resolve the situation. And you are on your home turf so people will be able to see what is going on and judge for themselves.

This fan page is like a corporate website: It represents you online. And with search engines and the fast-paced social networks, people can find out quickly if a particular company falls flat on its face. But what is important is not the mistakes, but how you deal with them. And that is what people will judge you (and your brand) by.
 

 

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