Social Media: Brands and Facebook

As some of you may know, I am in my final quarter of my MLIS program (woohoo!). I didn't coast out of the iSchool by any means; I'm signed up for 12 credits this quarter (in addition to my full-time job and my part-time job) and one of those classes is Strategic Management of Social Media. I've been learning about transitions from traditional marketing and outreach techniques to new, innovative social transmedia. This includes thinking about how to plan and implement a social media strategy, evaluate and reach your desired audience (even determine who your desired audience really should be), create meaningful content that engages consumers, and SOMETHING. You may have noticed that I've ramped up my Twitter presence and have been working to improve my blogs (this one and http://libraryoutloud.blogspot.com). Most of my efforts have been incorporating things that I've been learning. How have I been doing? Do you feel more engaged?

Anyway, one of our assignments is to write about how brands are leveraging Facebook to engage their customers. So here are my thoughts (which are informed primarily by our in-class discussions and lectures and Jeff Bullas' writings on his site). Let me know what you think!

Brands use Facebook in several ways, some more successfully than others. They are working to get their consumers engaged with them on Facebook's platform by trying to get them to post about them on their own walls, write comments and respond to the brand's post, "like" their page, and provide feedback. If you're on Facebook, I'm sure you've seen some of these efforts. They look like this:

Right smack-dab in the middle of your News Feed. But they're offering a deal! You have the opportunity to "Like" their post, comment on that post, even share it on your own wall or on your friends' walls. And it's easy for the consumer.

These promoted News Feed posts are a lot like standing on the sidewalk and shouting at your customers as they walk past with their friends. It's a bit jarring for the customer and it frequently goes more or less ignored, but sometimes you have something valuable to shout and your customer stops, listens, and, hopefully, engages.

In my opinion, the most successful brands are offering something in return. Sometimes it's a deal or a special offer. Many brands offer exclusive savings or giveaways to consumers who "Like" their page or leave a comment -- some way of visibly proclaiming to all their Facebook connections that they support the brand. Other times, the brand is offer superior, quality content and not just "advertising". They aren't sharing promotions or deals. They are sharing informative content that the consumer finds valuable in some way; it's entertaining or educational. This type of interaction with the consumer creates a more stable relationship than just clicking "Like" (a superficial metric if ever there was one) and if the content really is good, then you'll get repeat consumers who share your content with others.

What do you think? What have been your experiences with brands on Facebook?