Earlier this month there was a fair amount of ‘buzz’ around some research which appeared to suggest that people who are Facebook ‘fans’/Twitter ‘followers’ of a brand are more likely to buy and recommend that brand, than they were before they were fans/followers.

Piqued your interest? Me too. Essentially CMB Consumer Pulse (the company who undertook the research project) asked the following questions:

To the Facebook ‘fans’:

Are you more likely to buy since becoming a fan?

Are you more likely to recommend to a friend since becoming a fan?

To the Twitter ‘followers’:

Are you more likely to buy since becoming a follower?

Are you more likely to recommend to a friend since becoming a follower?

The results were as follows:

Facebook ‘fans’:

51% of respondents said they would be more likely to buy from at least one brand since becoming a fan.

60% of respondents said they would be more likely to recommend at least one brand since becoming a fan.

Twitter ‘followers’:

67% of respondents said they would be more likely to buy from at least one brand since becoming a follower.

79% of respondents said they would be more likely to recommend at least one brand since becoming a follower.

On the face of it at least – Twitter followers look pretty engaged, no?

But the Facebook fans? Surely if 51% said they would be more like to buy; then 49% said either they didn’t know; or would be less likely to buy. Not exactly compelling. Oh, and it gets worse – 49% said that one of the reasons they became a Facebook fan in the first place was because they were already a customer. So we’ve an uplift… but only just…

This is getting messy now, right?

I’ve also got concerns with the research methodology used -  I think that the questions asked are a bit confusing/complex:

‘Are you more likely to buy since becoming a fan/follower?’

This question asks you to think about the likelihood of a future purchase – which is pretty woolly anyways, right? Then adds additional complexity by chucking in the ’since becoming a fan/follower’. Are you asking if becoming a fan/follower influences purchasing decisions? Is that a question that someone can really answer?

I’d be far more interested to see what people have *actually* done. Not what they think they might do, one day, perhaps, maybe, possibly – you get the point.

Now a question like this might be more interesting -

‘Have you purchased from <brand x> since you became a fan/follower?’

Likewise:

Have you recommended <brand x> to a friend since you became a fan/follower?’

One of the first things I was taught about market research was that what people have done is far more predictive of their future behaviour than what they ‘think’ they might do. I’d love to see the results of those questions (if they were asked). Sure, they might not make for such a compelling headline; but they would at least be genuinely useful.

However, the cynic in me suspects that this piece of research was really about linkbaiting – and we’ve (the search industry) all bitten, right? On that front, they’ve done really very well indeed…

This sounds like a great way to get content about your business immediately onto Google. So should you invest time and effort into promoting your business with a  Facebook Fan Page?

Of course, why wouldn’t you want to use a free service that can reach hundreds or thousands or even millions of potential clients? Many small to medium businesses benefit from having people following them on Facebook. Some usually start off by having the people they know become fans at the start. The friends of these friends can see that they are a fan of that business and the company builds small scale viral recognition.

Provided that a business can give people a reason to become a fan – e.g. a high street boutique may offer exclusive discounts, while a nightclub might announce events, offers, who is DJing at it’s venue each night.  If you can offer information that people might want to have then you could gain potential business.

However there is a lot that  could  go wrong with using Facebook as means of publicising your business.

If you read an article on Outspoken Media you can find out about American reality TV show Tabatha’s Salon Takeover. It followed small salon owner Nikki Mallon of Brownes & Co. portrayed on national TV as a cold hearted boss from hell. Most likely edited to make her look worse than she probably was. It was a PR nightmare. The Brownes and Co. Facebook Fan Page was ransacked with negative comments from outraged viewers of the show. Unfortunately it took  them 12 hours to moderate the damage done and they have garnered some much unneeded notoriety.

Now whilst this is an extreme case, and probably very unlikely to happen to your business, it is worth noting that as fans can comment on your page, you will need to allocate some time and resource to answer any queries your fans might have; take part in discussions and of course in some cases act as a moderator. If you can give people a good reason to “Become a Fan”; by all means use it as a tool to promote your business. Just remember to manage it, as your brand’s reputation could be at stake.