Hey Brands, Did Facebook Screw You? Here's How to Move On


The web is buzzing with arguments that Facebook has become a bad deal for marketers. On Forrester's blog, Nate Elliot wrote that brands can now reach just 6% of their fans organically, citing a recent study from Olgivy. Brands are also discovering that a lot of their 'likes' come from fake fans. Elliot cites blog posts from several companies that detected 'like fraud' ranging from 40 to 90 percent.

For years, brand spent millions thinking that Facebook fans would be their earned media channel, but recently, Facebook has decided that the way to drive revenue is to force brands to pay to reach their fans. This strategy netted $7.87 billion in revenue last year and has left social marketers without a significant earned media solution -- so they think.

From Brand Reach to Advocate Reach

Facebook is not screwing brands the way marketers might believe. Savvy marketers are getting over the fact that Facebook is replacing the era of earned media reach with pay-to-play marketing.

However, by limiting the reach of brands, Facebook is not simply driving advertisers to paid ads, but also protecting the value of the social network and their shareholders. With Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and others becoming meccas for social marketing, Facebook cannot sacrifice the user experience in the name of marketing. Were the news feed to overflow with brands posts instead of content from friends, people would abandon Facebook in droves.


As I've discussed elsewhere, people have a deep biological yearning to share their immediate experience and a social impetus to build their self-concept on the web; associating with brand content helps them to do both. Moreover, the evolution of social decision-making has made humans intrinsically altruistic--even when doing so might not fulfill their immediate self-interest. Under these forces, people are prolific sharers.

So rather than lamenting the end of organic reach, brands need to empower people to share their message and thereby rebuild their earned media channel. Brand advocates - a company's customers, employees and business partners - will become allies in this effort share the brand message, if and only if brands meet a few criteria:

1. Identify Your Real Advocates

Every successful brand has advocates that love your products, love working for or with your company, respect your company and tell their friends and family how awesome your brand is. You need to identify them on the social web, where word-of-mouth can scale. This sounds easy in concept, but it actually takes some careful research, especially in industries where 'dark' social sharing (i.e. emails, face-to-face conversations, instant messaging) is prominent. This is not something that Facebook's paid targeting tools can do for you.

2. Look Out for Your Advocates


3. Show Gratitude for Your Advocates

Provide exclusive access, behind-the-scenes "insider" engagement and VIP experiences for the advocates who spread your brand message. Even though real fans aren't spreading the word in expectation for a reward, you stand to strengthen that relationship when you surprise your advocates with your thanks. Most fans feel invisible because brands can't hear, see or honor their loyalty. Make your advocates feel respected and visible.


Facebook isn't screwing brands - they're saying hey, if you want to build a social presence, you need to start authentic conversations and let people run with them. So marketers, you can either pay for Facebook to promote you, or you can become a remarkable brand - one worth remarking on. It's your choice.

This contributed article was written by Dave Hawley, VP of Marketing at SocialChorus.

by Steve Hall    Apr-22-14   Click to Comment   
Topic: Social   
