There have been reports recently that Facebook’s popularity is waning in the UK, with one report suggesting that “a 9 per cent drop in Facebook usage since April 2012” because users are:
- “fed up with social marketing promotions” and
- “nervous their personal info would be handed over to third parties”
The report goes on to suggest that advertising on Facebook is not working very well with only one in 20 users clicking on an ad.
Now, there’s no doubting that Facebook can be a good platform for engaging with customers but it’s about doing it in the right way. But, what’s clear is that customers are getting tired of businesses that are just at bombarding them with incessant ads trying to ‘flog’ them stuff.
On the flip side, an example of a brand that is doing good work in this area, I believe, is Vanish. Here’s their latest TV Ad that is driving traffic to their Facebook page: Vanish Tip Exchange TV Ad and here’s the link to their Facebook page: Vanish Tip Exchange
Did you check it out the links? Useful, right?
The reason I like what they are doing is because their campaign is not just about their product but it is also about helping their customers use their product and how they are using the collective experience and intelligence of their customers to help each other. Smart, right?
This reminds me of an idea (Is your marketing both interesting and interested?) that I use with my clients when I ask them about their marketing.
It seems to me that Vanish’s Facebook application is building it’s reputation (and sales, probably) by being ‘interested’ in their customers, by being helpful and by being useful.
If you are using Facebook in your marketing mix, or any other vehicle for that matter, are you using it to be helpful and useful to your customers? Or, are you using it to just try and ‘flog’ stuff?
Could you benefit from a change of marketing focus to being more helpful and useful? Should you be applying lessons from Vanish’s approach to your business?
