I grabbed a bagel sandwich at Bruegger’s today, which is somewhat of a weekly habit for me. On a large poster in the store depicting their fall sandwiches, I saw it in the lower right corner: Become a fan of Brueggers on Facebook. I’ve seen similar exhortations lately in restaurants, retail stores and on brand Web sites.
Now, I had my Blackberry right there with me and could have pulled it out and fanned Brueggers on the spot. But I didn’t. And I spent a good chunk of my lunch thinking about why I had no desire to fan this brand. I eat there regularly, I enjoy their food, the service is good… but frankly, I just didn’t feel like I’d get anything out of becoming a Bruegger’s fan on Facebook.
I’m suffering from Facebook Brand Fatigue. I’ve noticed that my inclination to fan brands has decreased lately, just as more and more bands seem to be coming around to Facebook and creating pages. I’m fans of 22 brands on Facebook, ranging from TV shows to restaurants to beer to my cousin’s Celtic band. In most cases, I’ve hidden fan page updates from my news feed, which pretty much defeats the purpose of being a fan (other than the notion of “tattooing” my profile with cool logos). I mostly use Facebook to keep up with friends and family and it’s hard enough to catch all of their updates, let alone sort through the tons of fan page items flood the stream.
The brands that I enjoy being fans of generally don’t update too much on Facebook (a quick way to ensure I hide them) but offer just enough content to keep me interested or curious. For example, The Big Bang Theory posts a video clip each Monday, which usually gives me a laugh (or 17) but then allows me to go about my Facebook business for the rest of the week without interruption from them.
There are plenty of brands I love and am loyal to, but I feel like I’m burning out on fan pages. What does it really do for me to fan Bruegger’s on Facebook? If I became a fan of every TV show I watched, restaurant I ate in, merchant I bought from or city I visited it would completely overwhelm my Facebook experience.
So, here are my new rules for becoming a fan on Facebook:
- I gotta love ya. I mean really, really love ya. I need to be an actual FAN of your brand, not just a customer, user or visitor. I will only fan brands that I am passionate about and would wholeheartedly recommend to my closest friends.
- I need to see the value that your page provides. What do you offer me as a fan? How is it different than just visiting your Web site? I will only fan brands that offer me real value that I can’t get elsewhere from them on the Web. Can you give me cool links, exclusive video, or a place to offer my feedback (and get a response)?
- I won’t fan sites that post too frequently or auto-post feeds from a blog or Twitter. I don’t want to fan brands only to have to hide them. I will only fan brands that don’t disrupt my Facebook experience by clogging my news feed.
Three simple rules, for starters. What are yours? How do you make the decision what to become a fan of on Facebook? And once you do, how do you interact with those pages? Share your strategy in the comments.
Amy, great read. Now I feel I need to go unhide my fan sites and just remove those. As for the fan pages I actually look at are the ones that strive for some form of interaction (The Weather Channel) or has promotions (Georgia Aquarium).
I started out by “becoming a fan” of everything. This includes trying to use Facebook as a news reader. That little experiment failed in so many ways. Currently I think I have 5 or 6 that flow into my stream. But honestly, my time on Facebook has drop to the point where stop in about three times a month. So maybe if I actually made my stream useful again I would start using Facebook more.
Alan, why do you think your FB use time has dropped off? Just a lack of time in general? What would make your stream more useful? I’ve noticed that several of my Facebook friends have posted no real content in months. I’d be curious to know why people drop off – if the get bored, overwhelmed, neither, both…
I’m one of those people that has kind of dropped off Facebook in the past few months and there are a few reason for it. The number one reason is too much of my family is on Facebook. I love my family, I really do, but I joined Facebook as an easy way to keep in touch with distant friends. I don’t want to be asked (again) at a family dinner why I have not accepted someones friend request.
The second reason goes along with the first. I’ve accepted too many friend requests from family (including my Grandma…that’s where I should have drawn the line) and have been questioned about status updates I’ve posted or messages to friends. No conversation between my mother and my aunt should start “Well Cassie’s status said…”
On another side of it, I just got bored. I was tired of blocking “Farmville” and “How well do you know..” quizzes. It really doesn’t serve any purpose for me to be on every day checking content. On the subject of fan pages, I’m a fan of a few things I love like Starbucks and that has provided me with some great things but nothing that their Twitter feed didn’t tell me was there. Because of all three reasons, Twitter is my go to site. I get content faster. It’s easier to update and it’s more of a conversation that Facebook has ever been for me.
Cassie, I set up a friends list and dump all the family members into that list. They can only see my info, no pics, no videos, no wall posts, nothing. But they also don’t know what they could be seeing, so no harm no foul from my perspective. Also helps that many don’t know how to turn on a computer much less surf Facebook.
The positive is, they can now email with less effort. So now they can contact me via email and it’s a lot easier than the phone call from the 3rd cousin that you see once every 5 years.
Cassie – I hear ya on some of the Facebook issues you bring up. I’ve blocked many a Farmville request and I also religiously use groups and privacy controls to make sure that my Facebook friends don’t cross-pollinate too much. But I use it mainly because a lot of my friends and family aren’t on Twitter. I’m curious – you say that Twitter is your go-to site and a good way to get content quickly – but what do you use to communicate with people who aren’t on Twitter? Still e-mail, or texting, or something else entirely? And since your Twitter status updates are public, hypothetically your mom/aunt could read your tweets and still know what’s going on, right? So how do you find that it’s different than Facebook? I’m always interested in how people balance their use of different social sites.
Amy – I prefer to communicate with those not on Twitter (specifically my family) by email or phone. I’d rather be able to have a “private” conversation where I’m not limited to a certain amount of space with them then responding back and forth via status update and comments. Sure anyone can see my Twitter updates but I separate Twitter and Facebook but using Twitter for “business” (not putting anything out there that is too personal or that I would care if someone asked me about) and Facebook for friends (the people that really know me and I have no problem sharing with).
Amy, I think a lot as to do with what I want out of a social web service. In the beginning I signed up for Facebook and then left for about 6 months. Came back about the same time I joined the twitter movement. Facebook was great for finding old friends and planning HS reunions.
But as time went on, I found that no one updates their status like twitter updates. Now if Facebook would allow interaction on the status level, then what would change the game. Lets say and this is based on your earlier posts about social networks, I could follow your status and nothing else and you could do the same. Then we could have the same conversations we have on twitter. That would pull me into Facebook more. Just think if Facebook came up with a way to “import” your follows into your stream. Then you have the bonus of being able to have groups or rooms for discussion without leaving Facebook. But I have hit a tangent again.
I also think that with the number of “fan” pages I have in my stream (I cleaned up several after reading your post) I may have lost some updates people did have.
BTW I use facebook on my iPhone more than on the computer. Much easier to get around without a lot of the ads and other distractions.
I’m a fan of everything. I’m a fan of the bagel I ate this morning. It’s quite sad, really. There are causes I believe in, become a fan. I read updates periodically, like you – but I wonder what purpose it REALLY serves.
Really got me thinking, A – thanks for the morning wake up! Lots to chew on. :)
Lauren – do you keep everything that you are a fan of in your news feed, or do you hide items? What are some of the brands/fan pages that you find yourself interacting with on Facebook the most?
Great thinking, Amy. Social Media stuff like this is getting shoved in people’s faces by major brands constantly now. It’s being done reflexively and without proper execution, out of fear of missing the boat. A prediction – people will soon start to display “social media blindness” ignoring the “follow us on Twitter” and “became a fan on Facebook” unless (as you note) they’ve got a real brand attachment or they’re given some tangible benefits for doing so!
Dave I think you’re right in that many brands have realized that Facebook is “hot” and so are jumping on board, but don’t necessarily have a strategy. They’re just doing it because everyone else is. If Bruegger’s had been on Facebook several months ago when fan pages were still kind of a novel concept, I may have joined their page just for the novelty. But now, I have to see a benefit for doing so, because there are just too many brands on there. I think brands need to be aware that the overload will start causing some users to ignore their page completely if there’s no real value.
You nail it — brands need to respect this opportunity consumers are giving them. The freedom to talk to a consumer anytime and at no cost to the company (comparatively) is something brands need to have far more respect for if they don’t want to screw it up.
Too often brands forget that in SocMe, the consumer can (for the first time) turn you off – literally. I love the fact you talk about “hiding” brands from your feed. So often I hear clients point to their unsub #’s and say, “see, we’re doing fine, no one is unsub’ing” which cracks me up because then you look at their FB interaction stats and it looks like a flatline on an EKG monitor. My guess, peeps are just hiding them vs going through trouble of unsub’ing.
@TomMartin
Thanks for stopping by Tom. You get into the deeper issue of measurement and the fallacy that some brands are running into with social media: equating eyeball numbers (and not behaviors or actions) with success. Just because I subscribe to a brand’s fan page doesn’t mean I am seeing their message. With so much content out there (and not just online – we’re bombarded with brand messages across platforms like never before), brands really need to realize that it takes a lot for consumers to actually tune in.
It really comes down to respect. Brands have this incredible opp right now — consumers are letting the brand have a free pass to talk to us as much as the brand wants. Now it will be up to the brands to not take advantage of that opp… to show respect and more importantly restraint. Sadly, I fear that most will fall victim to the “send another promo” gotta have sales tomorrow pressure vs playing for the long-term lifetime value of the consumer. Let’s hope I’m wrong.
Restraint – exactly. Just because brands have this opportunity doesn’t mean that consumers want to be inundated. Too many view social media channels as just another way to broadcast and that won’t go far at all toward building a long-term fan of any brand. I’m willing to listen to a brand’s message to a point, but me giving them that free pass doesn’t mean that it’s irrevocable. Annoy me or inundate me with content that’s of no value, and the free pass is gone. I hope you’re wrong, too.
Yeah, me too. I’m strictly “friends and family” and usually only fan brands which are run by people I know. Even then, I only stop in once or twice a week just to see what’s going on there.
However, if I’m shopping or evaluating, I will check out brand-pages to see how they present themselves and how their community perceives them.
This is a fantastic point – people don’t NEED to become fans of a brand in order to see the content on their fan page. I don’t need to be a fan to see how a brand handled a customer issue on its fan page or look at posts/pictures that fans are uploading. Even though I like getting the Big Bang Theory video in my news feed each Monday, I could just as easily visit the fan page each week and watch it there without having to become a fan.
I think by becoming a fan, you take a step out of the process. Would you go to the fan page to view the video each Monday? I know it’s not a lot of time wasted searching for and loading the page, but convenience plays a lot into it.
Very true. I probably wouldn’t remember to go visit the page to check out the video if I wasn’t a fan. Hiding a fan page in my news feed basically has the same effect for me as not being a fan. If I don’t see something in my news feed, it’s like it doesn’t exist! In all seriousness, though, I think people are increasingly less likely to go after information on the Web anymore – we all want it to come to us.
Facebook is an entirely different animal then Twitter. This example is no exception. I’ve been tasked with the consulting management of Stonyfield’s Facebook presence/pages and it’s interesting to see the difference between promotion styles.
The TOS also just recently changed and the rules are now far more explicit on what you can and can’t do. I think the experience will definitely improve for fans as time goes on.
Stuart – what is one of the better promotion style examples you’ve seen on Facebook? I didn’t hear about the TOS change and it will be interesting to see how it’s enforced and what changes this leads to in terms of fan pages. Facebook obviously has a vested interest in keeping people using the site and if they create an environment where consumers are easily annoyed or bothered by brand bombardment (optional or not) then eventually people will move elsewhere.
I agree with everything you’ve said! Very well put. I’m not a “fan” of too many brands on facebook and I think I know why though. I would be fans of companies more often, but within the past year they make me want to disengage more because of all the “crap” that is on facebook now. The quizzes, the stupid stories, and this damn Mafia Wars. What is a mafia war and what is it doing trying to do to me? More importantly, why are my so called friends in the “mafia?” Ok, no more ranting there, but I had to. My point being is that I’m accustomed to ignoring so much on facebook that most of the time I don’t even give a brand a chance unless I know them personally.
I will say that I do follow brands on twitter b/c of the limited amount of space they have to grab my attention. Sure they can post links, but they better have a damn good title as a reason to click it. The companies/brands on Twitter seem to be for the most part, less obtrusive. Ford and Southwest Airlines are great examples. Scott Monty (@scottmonty) from Ford set the bar very high though.
Just my $.02 though!
Justin Hollis
Lakeland, FL
P.S. Go Gators! I know you hate the Gators, but I had to put that as an alum who, contrary to popular belief, does NOT wear jean shorts. I will pull for UGA & the SEC every day over the Vols or LSU (sorry Tom).
Justin – perfect illustration of the “signal-to-noise” concept – Facebook has become a lot of noise. Twitter maybe less so? I definitely follow more brands on Twitter than I do on Facebook and I agree that they’re far less disruptive. Brands who are jumping on the social media bandwagon (especially the Facebook one) need to realize that while many people are joining Facebook each day, a lot of them probably ignore much of the content. Users have control over the information that they receive, and it’s just one simple click to block or hide a brand or app.
Thanks for stopping by the blog – even though you’re a Gator. :-)
Justin, I graduated UT Austin — so have all the fun you want with LSU ;-) in fact, here is a little funny for you LSU haters http://friendsoftheprogram.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/lsutrancheerleader1.jpg
Laugh amongst yourselves!
And to Amy, thanks for starting such a great convo. I’m learning so much about Facebook frustration — plan to send this post along to a few clients.
I think the race to gain fans as a number makes little to no sense, but facebook themselves in essence created that animal with their contrived “gold rush” for fan pages this past June to get the coveted “vanity url”.
That said I like fan pages a lot, and interact with them often but we are certainly talking about brands I love which are largely Craft Brewers. That said there seem to be a great many people who are currently as passionate about 1-800-Flowers as I am about Stone Brewing. While that puzzles me, I am sure the 1-800-Flowers fan base might wonder what I could possibly find interesting about a specially dry-hopped version of Arrogant Bastard.
The key to fan pages at the moment is really creating engagement to your fanatical fans. The catch 22 if you do not have a fanatical base is looking barren if you do not have a page, which carries the turn around catch 22 of having a page but an uninterested fan base.
I did not think it would be entirely possible even six months ago, certainly not two years ago, but Facebook has rapidly turned into a life reader for me. For everything from connecting to family, catching up with old friends and keeping tabs on my favorite breweries, political blogs and the sad lowly Mets. I actually find it frustrating that more of my friends are not currently on as I become further distanced from email.
One of the best features for pages and friends for that matter is the creating of lists. Which allows me to toggle around based on specific groupings. Facebook has a scale by which I will wonder if an aggravated or frustrated user experience can actually result in mass exodus. If Facebook fails, I have to wonder actually if social media won’t die a fads death. I mean people still hula-hoop and buy Slinky but that does not make them universal. There are a fair number of facebook users who have come on in the last 6-9 months and my unscientific guess is that many of these users have a low threshold for web 2.0 address keeping. That is to say their social media fatigue probably begins and ends with Facebook. Migration is something they will not likely entertain. It was pretty easy to migrate away from myspace, it was crappy and not many people were there anyway. But when you are connected with two dozen friends, six siblings, etc and so on, it is easier to leave the room than it is to leave the house.
And that is my rambling of mixed metaphors for the day.
Excellent point about Facebook bringing on the land grab by pushing vanity URLs. Brands or companies that maybe weren’t ready or hadn’t figured out how they were going to approach social media marketing got a page and begged for fans so they could protect their brand on Facebook. This means there’s a lot more fan pages out there and many of them don’t know what they’re doing.
I’ve been pretty good about using Facebook lists to segment how friends see my profile, but maybe the next step for me is to create a “brands” list and put all fan pages there. That way my news feed stays relevant to me (news, updates and photos from friends and family) but I can check the Brand list every now and then for content.
With 300 million users, I think you’re right in that a handful of bad/annoying fan pages is not what’s going to drive anyone off Facebook (where would they go?). I also think that a lot of the newer users (Boomers like my parents who have just joined in the last year) aren’t a fan of anything and are only on Facebook to see pictures of their kids and grandkids – fan pages don’t bother them because they’re not members of any page.
Nice post, Amy. You bring up a lot of good points. I really like your suggestion of brands using Facebook to provide content that isn’t available on the Web site. There’s not much value in having a Facebook page if it only provides the same info/content as the Web site…or blog and Twitter feed. I like companies that use Facebook fan pages as a means to create conversations and get feedback on new products, services, etc. I’m also much more selective now about becoming a fan of a company/brand because like you, I definitely WON’T become a fan if there’s an overabudance of content.
Thanks for visiting, Nikki. Companies who are successful with Facebook seem to realize that it can’t just be a regurgitation of other content. Are there any brands you’re a fan of that you think do a particularly good job of using Facebook for feedback, interaction, etc.? It’s certainly a tricky balance between engaging fans and annoying them.
I’m a fan of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and while the conversation isn’t exploding yet, this company does a good job of asking questions on its fan page to encourage diaglogue.
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This post makes me think about the reasons I joined facebook. I joined it to to re-connect and continue old and new relationships with friends, family, co-workers, or even random people I meet. In all honesty I don’t understand the point of these fan pages. I too hide my fan pages and their updates. I actually see them as an annoyance. I like how you mention that their icons are almost like tattoos are on your profile. I think I am a fan of possibly 6 things, most likely a cause, some bands or something random like Carlos from Hangover. So I guess my question is: Does fan page on facebook really create awarness about a company’s brand?
(@stina6001)
Really enjoyed your post… nice job!
Sorry for my typo *awareness*
I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Christina. I think some companies have been able to use Facebook to create brand awareness, but the best case studies often seem to cite brands that use Facebook for customer interaction and feedback. I think a fan page can/should be used to compliment a brand’s online presence – one outpost of many on the Web. But brands need to understand that if they want to “get something” out of having a fan page they need to balance sharing good content with the annoyance factor that you mention.
Just curious – of the pages you have become a fan of, did you seek them out, or did you join after a friend or Facebook itself recommended the page to you?
I would have to say I probably joined by probably a friend already joining that page. Now I also realize this makes me sound like a “follower” but I never search groups/items on fb ever. So if I see a friend has it on their profile I usually will click it and see what it is. Right now the pages that I’m a fan of are actually pretty personal. I have 8 fan pages, 6 are related to a school organization or causes that is close to me.
I agree with you that a Facebook page is absolutely beneficial for a brand to communicate with their consumers/audience. I know I’ve joined fan pages to let other friends see what I’m a fan of and maybe it would peak their interest. Whether it’s “Keep Friendships Alive” (www.keepfriendshipalive.com) or (although a trivial example) “We want a dislike option on FB.”
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I found that creating lists for my news feeds to be very good. I have a list for the fan pages that I want to get information from, my favorite pages, I even have a list called “friends I actually know!”… lol you can create as many “news feed” lists as you want by clicking onto “more” underneath the already existing list on your homepage. And then click onto the “create a list”. I found it helped me get to see what what going on with everyone WHEN I want to know.
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Great post! I think this post definitely touches on something I’m realizing already in my first PR job. Any marketer with half a brain can throw up a Facebook fan page, and so many companies have Facebook pages now that it’s not even that much of a “creative touch” when your company has one. We definitely have to think even harder how to utilize pages, groups, applications, and ads on Facebook so that we are actually providing some sort of value and incentive for consumers to endorse us by “fan”ing the page. And usually, getting a new fan is only valuable to the brand for a couple of hours while everyone who is a friend of the new fan can see the update on the newsfeed. Unless Bruggers was one of the five fan pages actually showing logos on your profile, it’ll just disappear off the profile into the hidden list of all the brands that user is a “fan” of. We have to get creative with what we are doing with Facebook pages so that people have a reason to be involved with the page. I’m seriously surprised that more companies don’t do coupon codes or contests or something along those lines with their pages. I know they probably don’t want to lose money, but Facebook is free (for now)…so I guess I don’t get it. Sorry for the long comment. I just have a lot of feelings about this and I wanted to talk, haha. Love your blog, Amy!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Janet. You’re right in that people need a reason to be involved with a fan page. The key is to balance engagement of fans on Facebook with annoying them, and making sure brands recognize that just because someone is a fan of a particular page doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily reading or absorbing the message.
I’ve got an idea, Amy. Set-up a Facebook Group called “Facebook Brand Fatigue” and we’ll all become members!
The pages that *really* capture my attention are the one’s that take the time to engage with their fans (via multimedia like photos and/or video from events). The Page’s whose admin’s take the time to respond to comments submitted by other Fans of the page (this shows me their listening and care).
It’s the whole “relationship before the sale” idea that Chris Brogan talks about. The brands that are doing it right are the ones that are out there building just one true fan out of every person. Sure it takes time but they’re the ones who really capture my attention.
does anybody know what do i do to in order clear the item of whose fan i became by accident?
I see no delete button…
Thank you
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