Join me and 21 other speakers for Facebook Success Summit 2010, a Webinar series with everything you need to know about Facebook for business. Sessions start October 5. Go to http://bit.ly/facebooksuccess to save 50% for a limited time.
Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, and Kyle Lacy popularized the idea that companies in social media need a home base (Web site or blog), outposts (major customer engagement platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) and frontiers (lesser, experimental options like UStream, 12 Seconds).
But now, companies are starting to experiment with using Facebook as their social media home base, instead of as an outpost.
And why not? It doesn’t matter what business you’re in, your customers are on Facebook. Now rocketing past 200 million members (making it the 6th largest country in the world if it were a nation), Facebook offers online reach previously available only in Google and Yahoo flavors.
Come Home to Facebook
Vitamin Water tagged its NCAA basketball television spots with www.facebook.com/vitaminwater producing significant Twitter chatter in the moments following the commercial’s first airing.
Before the commercials, Vitamin Water has approximately 40,000 fans on Facebook, and now has 259,663. Not bad, but the real ROI will come from Vitamin Water activating their fans, not just collecting them.
Retail clothing darling H&M is doing just that with a spiffy new Web site to Facebook integration that displays their Spring collection with engaging Flash animations on the corporate site, but asks visitors to click through to Facebook to comment on each item. Terrific synergy, and solid participation, with more than 100 votes and comments on each garment.
7 Reasons Facebook Could Dominate Your Social Media Strategy
I see 7 advantages to using Facebook as your social media home base.
1. Reach
One of the great axioms of marketing is “Fish Where the Fish Are.” Increasingly, fish of all shapes and sizes are on Facebook.
2. Clarity of Purpose
Facebook enables brands to interact with their fans via wall, discussions, events, photos, videos, etc. without a bunch of other corporate content getting in the way.
3. Analytics
Facebook provides substantial data on the affinity and demographics of your fans. In comparison to Web analytics, Facebook provides a much better sense of who your audience is in real life.
4. Ease of Use
Facebook pages can be established and maintained by everyone in your company that is not Amish. No fancy programming skills required.
5. Promotion
When consumers become fans of your company, that fact is shared with their friends via the real-time update component of Facebook. No public announcement is made when somebody visits your Web site.
6. Personal
The fact that Facebook users have to be real people (unlike MySpace and Twitter, no fakes allowed) and have to be authenticated before use, consumers can’t hide behind anonymous usernames. Plus, because the vast majority of Facebook members use authentic profile pictures, the “relationships” between consumer and brand have an out in the open characteristic that isn’t available on most Web sites.
7. Cost
Free. Totally free. Web developers, insert shudder
4 Reasons Facebook Shouldn’t be Your Social Media Home Base
I see a few drawbacks to pushing Facebook as your social media home base.
1. Brand presentation
Facebook does a terrible job of enabling brands to customize the look and layout of their pages. This is by design, and while it prevents Facebook from devolving into the visual mess that is MySpace, it’s tough to tell your highly paid branding agency that you can’t use the corporate font, colors, etc.
2. Ownership
Facebook is huge and getting bigger all the time. Based on recent reports of 600,000 new members per day, approximately 1,249 people have joined Facebook since you started reading this post. But, no matter how big it gets, you don’t own it. It could be bought, bastardized, ruined.
3. URL
This is perhaps a niggling point, but I’m told that Facebook charges $50,000 for requires a Facebook media buy to get a direct Facebook.com URL like www.vitaminwater.com/facebook. That’s a big ante for many brands. The non-custom Facebook URLs are ridiculous. I had a friend (@lisamloeffler) set up a Facebook page for a local theater company I help direct. The Facebook URL is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flagstaff-AZ/Theatrikos-Theatre-Company/61012197614 (thanks, Facebook. That’s super convenient) If I were you, I would set up internal redirects to Facebook. Something like http://facebook.exacttarget.com (insert your brand name in place of my friends/clients at ExactTarget).
4. Analytics
While the demographic data and interactions counting of Facebook’s analytics is great, you don’t get any information on referrers. It sure would be nice to know whether my email campaign, tweets, YouTube video, et al drove people to my Facebook page. Get on it, Facebook.
Facebook as home base. Brilliant, or crazy?
Twitter Comment
Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy? -[link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
RT @SocialMedia411:Facebook Should/Should Not Dominate Your Social Media Strategy (Jason Baer): [link to post] [I vote "nay"]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
Facebook Should/Should Not Dominate Your Social Media Strategy (Jason Baer): [link to post] [I vote "nay"] (via @SocialMedia411)
– Posted using Chat Catcher
You are wrong in stating that Facebook is charging for vanity urls. They aren’t. If you are a big brand, you can contact them and ask to have a shortened, vanity url for your public profile. (i.e. http://www.facebook.com/cnn)
Twitter Comment
RT @SocialMedia411: Facebook Should/Should Not Dominate Your Social Media Strategy (Jason Baer): [link to post] [I vote "nay"]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
I think that at this point it has to be completely brand dependent. Facebook is a fantastic base for a skittles, vitamin water, or another established multi-million dollar brand. However, if you are trying to build brand presence, notoriety and develop your product: stick to a website or blog. You have more control over the information you can gather, the format from which you operate and a customized inbound marketing system. Just my two cents.
Stuart Foster’s last blog post..Tip’d 2.0
Twitter Comment
RT @SocialMedia411 Facebook Should/Should Not Dominate Your Social Media Strategy (Jason Baer): [link to post] [I vote "nay"]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
I personally wouldn’t advise anyone to use Facebook as a homebase. Yes FB is popular, but it seems less concerned with the wants and needs of its fans(changes to terms & conditions, autonomous changes in layout). I think this could see a slow but steady exodus of people from FB that will leave companies that have put all their eggs in this basket having to rethink their strategy and start from scratch.
Jason,
Great post. I do see the benefit for using Facebook as a Home Base. But I think we are missing the big picture. Yes, the days of having only web “base” presence are over. Companies do need to be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. but the question becomes “what are we actually doing on these sites?”
The answer is engaging with individuals. We are giving our customers a platform where they can discuss freely and openly with their most loved and most hated brands. Now here’s a big “What If” about the future. What if we create a networked, dynamic website that spoke to individuals on our site? We saw a glimpse of this yesterday on Chris Brogan’s blog about Dell with their Ideastorm for Healthcare.
If we understand our niche markets and set up our own networked website to speak to these niches on their level, in their language, we will develop the most powerful home base possible.
Paul Miser’s last blog post..The Felt Bicycling Brand Badge
This is good conversation, however, I believe that the 4 reasons against Facebook don’t really outweigh the possibilities of the 7.
1. Brand Presentation – You are absolutely correct about the brand ‘issues’. However, a company can consiously work around this by strategically placing logos, uploading photos and in the way they communicate with followers.
The real purpose of social media is the conversation & connecting with the people. Regurgitating the same canned corporate message isn’t going to work.
2. Ownership is a huge concern, but again, a company can consiously work around it. It would be nice if there was a way to easily back up a friends list in case of usual glitches.
3. URL issues… For $9.95 you can buy any domain name that you like and redirect it to your friend me page. Facebook has the power to charge for something custom because of their brand… that is capitalism working.
4. Analytics… For $9.95, you can buy any domain name to track the link click throughs… It is a work around, but not impossible.
Should a company squat on Facebook for their Social Media strategy?
Companies should find out where their customers are and interact… if that is facebook, then so be it. Just jump in with an awareness of the limitations.
Cyndee Woolley’s last blog post..cmwooll: Good letter – RT @andersoncooper: Dear President Obama #78: Ten things – losing the real culture war http://tinyurl.com/d4y3h3
Jason – great post. My favorite quote is “Facebook pages can be established and maintained by everyone in your company that is not Amish.”
Couple points though – #5 is no longer true with the recent changes to Facebook and the news stream. Notifications that a user has fanned a Page no longer appear in their friends newsfeed. It does still appear in the user’s mini feed on their profile page. You are correct though, before they removed this feature it was the primary reason pages like Coke and Red Bull gained so many fans. As you say though it’s most important for brands to focus on activating and engaging these fans, not just collecting them. Unfortunately, this is the area that most of them are struggling with.
Hi great post and summary of the pros and cons. I think brand should really try to use the facebook platform to engage and interact with consumers. The main challenge for corporate website in the future will be to become an aggregator for all split up network activities of the brands.
BTW I think you mixed up the URL at Cons 3.
/S
Jason – one more thing to add, # 3 for reasons not to use Facebook isn’t entirely true – Facebook does not charge $50,000 outright for a vanity URL. However if a brand works with them on a campaign that involves some sort of media spend on Facebook, then Facebook will set them up with a vanity URL. There is no specific charge for the vanity URL.
FriendFeed Comment
Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy? [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
SocialMedia411: Facebook Should/Should Not Dominate Your Social Media Strategy (Jason Baer): [link to post] [I vote "nay"]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Love the post – I agree that Facebook CAN be your social media home base depending on your product, customers, goals, strategy and, really, how you use it.
Just wanted to drop a quick note on the vanity URL issue – You can use a simple app to create a shorter URL that looks like one of the following:
band.to/AnyNameYouChoose/
politician.to/AnyNameYouChoose/
artist.to/AnyNameYouChoose/ companies.to/AnyNameYouChoose/ facebook.dj/AnyNameYouChoose/
you can get the app at http://apps.facebook.com/webaddress/
I know it’s still not ideal but it’s definitely better!
Katie Van Domelen’s last blog post..When NOT to Ask Your Customer
Great post, Jason. Thanks! I think that, as H&M has shown, it’s possible to use FB in conjunction with a blog or Web site to create a strong crossover presence but it shouldn’t ‘dominate,” per se.
Another great article that contains additional tips on how to optimize your brand’s FB presence (concurs w/your vanity URL workaround): http://mashable.com/2009/04/01/optimize-facebook-page/.
Twitter Comment
Recommend “Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy | @jaybaer” ( [link to post] )
– Posted using Chat Catcher
I think something should, but I don’t think it should be Facebook. I’ve referred to it as a social hub, and since most dot coms are simply online brochures, its easier to simply turn to Facebook. However, I’m not sure this is a good long-term strategy.
But something should be a social hub. And you’re right, programmers and art directors should shudder if more brands pick Facebook.
Matt Hames’s last blog post..Will social media open us up to new ideas?
Ouch! When you consider many businesses and government agencies ban or outright block access to facebook.com, I’d argue a FB page as the home base is a very bad strategy.
Moreover, when you further consider I need a FB account to interact with you, it’s a double whammy.
Ari Herzog’s last blog post..Guest Post by Mark Havenner: How to Cure Twitter Block
Great post Jason!
In the why not to use FB section a couple of comments:
If you know FBML (Facebook’s version of HTML) or just regular, there are a few options for developers/designers to customize the look of a business page. It still fits within a tab, but if you’re creative you can do a relatively good job with making the page look more like your web site. Also, you can specify a default tab for new fans to land on, so rather than seeing the wall they can land on this more “designed” page
And to the URL point – yes, this is a major pain. Site redirects work well (www.mycompany.com/facebook) for now, but FB seems to be rolling out vanity urls to companies too. There are a few already for more popular “brands” http://www.facebook.com/barackobama or http://www.facebook.com/dell
Twitter Comment
Facebook Should/Should Not Dominate Your Social Media Strategy [link to post] (RT @SocialMedia411)
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
RT @ShellyKramer: Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy? (some GREAT thoughts here) [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
RT @TrendTracker: Facebook Should/Should Not Dominate Your Social Media Strategy [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-marketing/should-facebook-dominate-your-social-media-strategy Company on Facebook? Read this
Good post Jason, but I think you’re calling it for Facebook too early.
One major additional downside of Facebook is the lack of tools for Community Management. Not being able to assign roles and rights to community members, an inability to set taxonomy and keep a community in order is a major issue.
Perhaps for cool global high-engagement brands like Coke or H&M it’s OK to ignore the role of a Community Manager, but for the majority of firms building engaging communities, it’s not enough to turn up at a popular place like facebook and hope fans will notice you and engage.
Too many firms jump into Social Media thinking it’s about technology or being where the mass market resides. Our experience at FreshNetworks suggests that for all but the most cool brands, community engagement has to be worked at. And good Community Management is the key. Sadly Facebook does not yet give the kind of community management tools required by most brands.
Charlie
[...] Baer considers the pros and cons of Facebook as a dominant part of a social media strategy. Good points to ponder, but as with every strategy, [...]
Twitter Comment
Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy | Social Media … [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
Reading pros and cons of FB dominating your SM strategy from @jbaer…. very good points: [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
As William beat me to it but Facebook does do some vanity urls but only with REALLY big campaigns or companies. As for us normal people we get shafted, and there’s not even any link juice in the urls or pages either… maybe someday they’ll make a big SEO move like twitter did? Maaaybeee
Twitter Comment
@asiajanus check out this blog post via @jaybaer, I think it’s relevant to the brands-on-FB research you’re doing: [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
@Will Good point about being able to modify pages using FBML. The tab landing pages is a good idea, too.
@Chuck Absolutely. You would think FB would be considering some sort of SEO love at some point?
@charles Thanks for the clarification on fanning showing up in the news feed. I’ll tweak the post.
@stefan I agree. Whether or not Facebook is the answer, corporate Web sites are going to have to change. It’s going to be about atomized content.
@Katie Hi there. Great to see you. Thanks as always for the comment. That sounds like a cool app. I’ll check it out.
@Jennifer Thanks for the link. Good stuff. I also love how Ben & Jerrys is allowing for flavor voting via Facebook Connect. Awesome.
@Matt Indeed. I don’t think Facebook is the long term answer, for the reasons I’ve illustrated here. But it’s increasingly a big part of the puzzle, if nothing else because you have an audience of 200 million people. Your corporate Web site doesn’t.
@Ari Thanks as always for stopping by. Really interesting point about Facebook bans in the workplace. I hadn’t thought about that angle, and I’m going to add it to the post. In terms of having to have a FB account to interact, that one doesn’t bother me as much, given that 200+ million people have a FB account. Of course not everyone has a FB account, but a lot do and it’s an easy, inexpensive way to handle brand interaction.
@Stems Thanks for the clarification on FB vanity URL pricing. I’ve amended the post.
@Stuart I agree. I like Facebook as an adjunct to your corporate site (like what H&M is doing) more than I like it as the whole shebang.
@Owen You could very well be correct. Facebook could face defections and end up being the next Second Life. I’d bet against that happening, but you never know. Yahoo once dominated search….
@Paul Hooray. You are 1000% correct. Exactly the point of my “activate customers, don’t collect them” post that’s linked from the original post. You gotta have a strategy, regardless of where/what your home base may be.
@Cyndee Thank you for the excellent comment. I hear you, the hurdles for using FB as a home base are not that challenging operationally. It’s just scary, and in many ways the comments here have painted a better case for the negatives than I did.
Twitter Comment
Reading: “Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy” from @jaybaer [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
While I do think that FB is better as an outpost for many corporate sites, it does provide tools for engagement that marketers may not currently have access to on their own website (e.g. discussion forum, etc.). Also, I think sites like FB provide a good testing ground where marketers can ‘dip their toe in the water’ of more two-way engagement – often without the same restrictions imposed on them by their corporate policies. We have seen situations where successes on FB have made management more open to trying new things.
I’m a believer. I wasn’t when I joined FB 3 years ago, but I am now.
Instead of doing my usual Google Ads this year I recently implemented a (free!) Facebook campaign for a grassroots movement that already had a 6-year-old web presence and highly active message boards. The results from outreach to my non-message board users was astonishing. It brought my lurkers into the light and gave them a forum that was comfortable for them to openly share.
I also made a Facebook Page that fed into my official pages but featured exclusive pre-release content. It worked out well in generating buzz among the fringe market that normally would have not been reached through my own Constant Contact list or message board member roster.
My Analytics are proving that a significant amount of traffic came through Facebook activity, and the event I was promoting sold out. That’s all I was after. Mission accomplished on a shoestring and with a little creative content.
Facebook Username: Modern Phoenix
Your list of 4 as to the not side of using Facebook as an outpost, are incredibly compelling. While insight is good, the data Facebook provides isn’t the best. I also think many companies have too much of a problem activating those fans… that should be the biggest driver, does Facebook facilitate what you’re business needs to do to communicate and co-create with your audience. Good stuff, as always
Maria Reyes-McDavis’s last blog post..Marketing Book Review: Me 2.0 by Dan Schawbel
Twitter Comment
The pros and cons of brands using Facebook as a social media home base: [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
“Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy?” [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy? [link to post] #feedly
– Posted using Chat Catcher
If you have the money to advertise on them then you will get your desired audience but if you are thinking of building your friends that will be along one.
Paul U’s last blog post..How to create your own RSS subscriber reminder
Twitter Comment
Interesting post from @jaybaer on pros and cons of facebook as SM “home base”…thoughts? [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
Bad URL shorten on last post…try this: [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
FriendFeed Comment
If your organization doesn’t get this, then I can help. “7 Reasons Facebook Could Dominate Your Social Media Strategy” – [link to post] http://friendfeed.com/e/7a74faae-2bfd-41b6-a773-c956257f7ea1
– Posted using Chat Catcher
FriendFeed Comment
Bad URL shorten on last post…try this: [link to post] http://friendfeed.com/e/4020632c-7beb-47ca-8891-cac906d5671f
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Startegy? [link to post] #socialmedia #web2.0
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
RT @radhakhalsa: Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Startegy? [link to post] #socialmedia #web2.0
– Posted using Chat Catcher
[...] stream of the American Idol contestants on a friend’s wall, Facebook has also proven to be a very successful platform for businesses, organizations, and social advocacy groups who hope to promote their brand and/or [...]
[...] A social media profile CAN be your only web presence. Jason Baer talked about this a while back and I think it’s an intriguing idea. There are definitely some [...]
RT @Don_Crowther: Should Facebook Dominate Your Social Media Strategy? http://ow.ly/2MPv
Fascinating article comparing pros and cons of using a Facebook fan page as your ~ gasp ~ main web page. http://ow.ly/2MPv