This is something I've been thinking about for a while now, but I just don't get it. I've been reading some articles online that say Facebook is the social media site of choice for many US online retailers (32% as of August 2008). Another study cited on eMarketer.com showed that 59% of the top 100 online retailers in the US had a fanpage on Facebook. (Social Media Optimization, November 5, 2008)
While I completely understand the power and value that social media can add to retailers marketing efforts - the choice of Facebook confuses me. I can easily say that I have never thought of adding my favourite book stores, or clothing chains or sporting goods outlets as a 'friend', or even looking them up to see if they have a fanpage. To me Facebook is very personal. I use it to keep in touch with friends and family who I don't see on a regular basis - to see how much fun they had on their trip to Hawaii last spring, or to let them know what I've been up to lately. But would I ever check up on my 'friend' Best Buy through Facebook. No.
Then I thought, well maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the one who's out of touch? So I did a casual poll of some friends, acquaintances and colleagues and found that no, I'm not alone. They all agreed with me that they prefer to go to a retailers website if they are looking for information related to a specific retailer, and have very little interest (if any) in searching for them on Facebook. So the question is - who is the target market for online retailers setting up fanpages on Facebook?
BMW Concept X1 has 2,605 fans
Gap Born to Fit has almost 500,000 fans
Coca-cola has over 3.5 million fans!
And what do these fans do on the site? They post things like "I have a Baby Gap addiction" and "I love Coke 4-ever".
I still don't get it. If someone can explain it to me, please do.
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