Groups, communities, fan pages and even profile page at times (err that’s a no no!!), that’s how brands are trying to utilize their FREE space on the most famous social networking website – FaceBook
Some brands are there on FB as a result of a lame brainwave idea by a team member, some are there just for the heck of it (everybody’s on FB so why not us)
While there are some brands, mostly the BIG brands, especially the youth related brands like the apparel brands, electronic brands, & ones from the FMCG market that are keen to make use of their FREE space on FB.
These are the international brands that are conscious of their presence in all mediums available.
The basic idea of having these pages on such social networking websites is simple, they want to make their presence felt and also it is a convenient way to engage people.
This is owing to the deadly combination of internet and social networking!!
Talking about internet and social networking, if you ever wonder why it works well globally (and very much in India too); this takes us back to the very basics of the fact that ‘humans are social animals’ and to socialise is in our genes!
Why so much socialising on the internet?!
Simply because it is a medium available to your at your own convenience.
Simply because it is a medium available to your at your own convenience.
From the marketers’ point of view, a TVC is more for grabbing attention through entertainment; a print ad is to grab attention by giving maximum information. However, when it comes to internet, both positives from the Television and Print mediums are available to their target and at their own convenience and that too at a far cheaper cost!!!
Coming back to the utilisation of the FREE space on FB, few common observations from the active brand pages are:
1) The landing page: the very first page of that brands group/fan page will be the one which is their most attention grabbing content. This will be the differentiator, a page which will be the brand’s way to engage its target.
2) Like to join: a teaser will be available (like bait) on the landing page and it will ask you to select the LIKE option in order to view the whole group and its activities. Brands have very well recognised the importance of the number of likes, and have found a nice way to increase their likes. After all its all a number game!!
3) Links that redirect to their website: the tabs on the group/fan page will have content which will be linked to the brands own website. This is indeed a good way to redirect traffic on their own websites, which those FB users wouldn’t have visited otherwise.
4) Pictures & Videos: Brands upload pictures and videos of their products which work in their favour of informing and engaging their target on FB.
5) Links to other sites: you will often find brands providing with their official pages links on their FB group. Links to Twitter, YouTube are among the common ones. Thus, optimising their ways to spread the word of their presence.
6) Quiz, Contests, Games: Brands who are active on the internet have their online activities such as contests, quizzes, games etc running on their websites. To make them more popular, they keep tabs of the same on their FB page so that the numbers increase, thus helping in making their activities a success.
7) Polls, Discussions & Forums: Voice your opinion and engage is what it means when you see polls and discussions happening on the FB groups. Brands have realised that given a chance, people like to voice their opinion and the internet is a good option indeed.
8) The WALL: Regular updates on their walls (which also reflect on your wall in case you have liked their page) certainly serve their purpose of being in the eye of their target. The more you update, the more you get visibility and recall in the minds of your target.
Some categories that are really active are the apparels, electronics, mobile phones, gaming consoles, movies
While some among those who just don’t feel the need to be active here are: real estate, pharmaceuticals, corporate.
Though the activeness of Indian brands on such social networking sites is lesser when compared to that in other countries (USA, Australia, UK etc.), with the growth rate of internet users and users on FB in India, Brands should definitely consider to have their presence felt here as well. They shouldn’t ignore such opportunities, especially when their present and more importantly, future target groups are literally hooked on to the web so much!
