Facebook Like – Does It Mean More Than We All Thought?

Constant Contact and Chadwick Martin Bailey recently conducted a study analyzing the Facebook habits of 1,491 consumers 18 years and older from across the United States measuring their behavior on Facebook when it comes to brand awareness.

Their study concluded that respondents were more likely to recommend brands to their friends after becoming fans themselves (“liking” the page) and that they were more likely to purchase products or services from brands after becoming fans.  They also concluded that Facebook is by far the preferred social platform for interacting with brands topping both Twitter and LinkedIn. Data was collected through a 15 minute online questionnaire fileded in January of 2011.

Here are the slides from their research:

Every Internet Marketer out there can use this information when planning out campaigns (regardless of direct response or brand awareness goals).  First, let’s look at the massive 52% of Americans over the age of 18 that spend at least one hour a week on Facebook.  That’s quite astonishing that the once little social media platform for college students is now having that big of an impact on Americans.  It’s no surprise to me that Facebook beats out Twitter and LinkedIn as they provide the best user experience offering unparalleled interactivity and networking with friends, family, and co-workers.

When engagement is brought up I look at my own personal Facebook page.  On my personal Facebook profile I currently like one brand: Best Buy.  Their research concurs concluding that 78% of people who “like” brands on Facebook like fewer than 10.  They then concluded that 58% users “like” a brand becase they are a customer.  Back to my personal profile page, that’s the reason I “liked” Best Buy.  It’s one of my favorite stores to go in with amazing support and tons of “toys.”

The next piece of information they present is very interested for all of us Internet Marketers.  They conclude that “most” fans interact with brands primarily through reading brand’s posts and newsfeeds.  This couldn’t be more than the truth as I would never just “seek out” Best Buy.  I liked it because I saw several other people on my newsfeed liking it.

According to their research 76% of people have never “un-liked” a brand.  This is true with my Best Buy example.  I liked the brand once and have never thought once about going in and removing it.  Companies should use this to their advantage as this is serious customer loyalty and provides them with many opportunities to market, re-market, and nurture customer relationships.

Obviously people who “like” a brand on Facebook are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend.  I know if I take the time to actually “like” a brand’s page, I have had a good enough experience with them where I would feel comfortable telling my mom, dad, or brother about it.  Their research concludes that 56% of fans say that they are more likely to recommend a brand after becoming a friend.

The next bit of data kinda surprised me.  It says that 51% of fans say they’re more likely to buy a product since becoming a fan.  Now obviously we don’t know all the details behind the data they researched but I would assume that the brands on most people’s Facebooks have been posting interesting articles regarding their products and could quite possibly even be offering special discounts.  Why not?  They have the audience captured and have a chance to interact on a one-on-one basis.

45% of Facebook users’ time is spent in the newsfeed. I assume in reality this number is much higher.  I know me personally, I very rarely click on anyone else’s page.  I view my news feed and only click on the items that really interest me.  None-the-less this is something for all Internet Marketers to consider when posting status updates or writing on others’ wall.  This is where the majority of the eyeballs are on your brand and something you should take very serious (you would never want to have any negativity here).

Finally they conclude that 69% of Facebook users want to hear from more brands than others.  This only makes sense as I personally only want to hear from the brands that I’ve had a pleasant experience with.  I don’t want to hear from some brand that I don’t like or that I think has done me wrong by offering poorly produced products or lackluster customer support.

Now you can argue this data is skewed because of the number of people sampled however as I learned in statistics class it’s a lot like a pot of soup.  It only takes a spoonful to determine what type of soup is cooking.  Based off my personal observations I would say this data is pretty freaking close to actuality and something each and everyone of you reading should pay very careful attention too (especially about the time spent on the newsfeed).  The good think about social networking as it is not only free advertising but it also allows companies to interact with people on a more personal level.  This has been a proven method to increase sales and customer loyalty (everyone wants to feel special).   Nice study with a lot of good info!