One of my favorite singers, Britney Spears, has always had a strong Facebook and social media presence since the day I “liked”, followed, or friended her. Here is a photo of her Facebook Page:
She and her social media team are always developing content for the Page, and even though she is not on tour anymore and her newest album has been out for almost a year, she probably still shows up in my NewsFeed about once a day since I started following the page. Her social media team does a great job of keeping Britney Spears fresh in the minds of the 17,368,626 (the number increases every time I refresh the page!) who follow her on Facebook.
The summer was Britney’s high point of the last year because she had just released her new album and had started the first leg of her multi-continent tour. After every show, the Fan Page posted photos of the concert in its own special album per concert stop.
This was a great strategy to use, because people who hadn’t yet bought tickets or were deciding whether to go could look at the album and see pictures of the various elements of the show. While I’d already bought my tickets at the beginning of the summer and was destined to go, photo albums or not, looking through them every few days when they came out made me more excited to go. I also thought it was a good idea for people who’d gone to the show that the pictures were featured from to look back and see what moments were caught on film and to fondly remember the evening. For example, as part of the tour, Britney would bring a special volunteer onstage to dance around to hype up the audience. On Britney’s Montreal tour stop, that “special volunteer” was one of her opening acts of the show, DJ Pauly D.
When the photo was posted on her website page, it allowed fans who’d just seen the show to remember a pinnacle moment from the show, but also let the world in on this special moment that was unique only to the Montreal stop. By that point I’d already seen the show, but I still looked at the other photos to see what had been happening since the show I’d seen to compare with the show that I went to.
The Page also does a good job with building hype around release dates for the things coming out that feature Britney. When Britney’s new music video for the song “Criminal” came out, the page built up fan engagement by posting screenshots of the video and developing hashtags for fans to use on Twitter.
As the music video’s release date approached, other content came out, such as a YouTube video showcasing animated lyrics for the song that makes it more fun to watch. When the video eventually did come out, the Page tried to drive traffic towards the iTunes store so viewers could buy the video there, since it hadn’t been released on Britney’s YouTube channel yet.
While I was reluctant to spend the $1.99 on the video, the posts hyping up the video made me more interested and excited to watch when it finally did come out online for everyone to watch for free.
Now that Britney is no longer releasing music or on tour, her social media team still finds new things to post to keep the pop star alive in the minds of everyone who follows her. These are things like showcasing fan support, posting screenshots of past popular music videos, and delving into little parts of Britney’s daily life to make fans feel connected to the star. Britney has always had a strong, supportive fanbase, so one day the social media team posted a complied list of 40 different trending topics on Twitter in the last five days involving Britney.
I am sure fans were astonished and proud to see this as it was a result of the virtual tweeting they’d done to support her. The page also tries to keep posts interactive for viewers, for example by posting a screenshot of a past video for “Flashback Fridays” and asking visitors to comment on what video they should feature next.
Another thing that her social media team has started doing is posting pictures and short videos here and there of what Britney is doing these days, so that fans can see what she’s doing with her children and her life when she’s not performing in concert.
I feel these are great ways to maintain audience engagement and keep Britney fresh in between albums and tours.
For the Britney Spears team, Facebook is key to their marketing strategy. It is a great media channel to use, because the target audience who mostly listen to Britney Spears is probably made up of 16-34 year olds, and Facebook has captured virtually every single member of that age group through its social networking capabilities. This makes it easier for that age group to log on and get all of their information, personal and promotional, in one place. Britney’s social media team uses the page as a way to get the word out about all of the promotional things they are doing for the singer. For example, Epix HD recorded two of Britney’s concerts this summer to create a video DVD of the show for sale. Facebook was key in their attempts to let fans know about the DVD release, to announce free online streaming on the night of its release, and to entice viewers with teaser show clips before the release.
I know this was effective for me because I never would have known about the DVD release otherwise. I think it is also effective for other people, because they may never have even thought that a DVD was coming out, or that there was another way to see the show without having to buy tickets. The Facebook page also frequently integrates the web store on Britney’s site with sales such as the “Merry Britmas” sale during the holiday season.
When I visited Britney’s actual website, I didn’t see much promotion driving traffic there back to the Facebook Page other than a tiny Facebook icon at the top of the page; on the main page there was an area driving traffic to Britney’s Google+ page. I’m a bit confused why they chose that channel when the posted content remains relatively consistent across social networks, and Facebook is the largest social network, it would be easiest to gain new page followers by promoting the network most people are already using to make it easier for them to follow Britney.
Many companies have begun using Facebook as a marketing channel, and it’s hard to see why not. Facebook provides businesses the opportunity to update all of its followers easily with just one post. For instance, a store that is closed for renovations can let its followers know when it expects to be open again for business. This type of information is helpful to consumers, because now they don’t have to worry about calling the store to find out when it will be open, or just to ponder when the store will be open next. Businesses can also use Facebook to do extra promotional activities to provide more in-depth information and more frequently than they would be advertising in traditional media vehicles; like if a company was having a special event, they could post pictures from the event so that people who are going later to the event or are thinking about going to the event can see what is going on ahead of time, which may convince the unsure ones to go to the event. This is because of the fact that the ones following the page have agreed to follow the page and therefore are open to receiving information from these companies (I’m sure as long as they are not inundated with it). As mentioned earlier, for those companies who primarily target young demographics, Facebook is like a pot of gold to reach that market because the vast majority of them use it quite often to communicate with others.
For consumers, Facebook allows them to receive information from companies that they like and support, because they have seeked out the page themselves and agreed to receive more information from these businesses. In addition, they can find out more information about something that wouldn’t be available through traditional channels; say, they were going to a restaurant and wanted to see what the entrees looked like ahead of time to figure out what to order. Consumers can also “talk back” to restaurants, letting them know what they did and didn’t like about their company’s actions or attributes. This can work in the company’s favor, even if someone is unhappy, because the company can demonstrate excellent customer service to show others that it is trying to do its best to keep its customers satisfied.
While the social media giant brings many positives for businesses looking to get into online promotion, Facebook does have a few minor drawbacks. According to this blog by Sabah Karimi, it is difficult to track how much of a business’ Facebook use actually led to a sale, because there is no standard measurement method that companies use to track results. One way that I think may solve the problem is to use a code word for a sale, so that once they post the special, they can track as a ratio the percentage of people who used the code. I also think that not every business and industry needs to use Facebook to engage with consumers. A company that sells dentures does not need to update its page everyday with different testimonials of how customers are using the newest set. Businesses have to consider if their industry is appropriate and engaging enough to consumers to be able to use Facebook frequently to post different content to consumers about their product or industry.
Facebook is a useful tool for many businesses to stay in contact with their customers, as they have agreed to receive the extra promotional information and have enough interest in the brand to share their opinions with them. However, it is important for companies to consider whether they have enough interesting content to post frequently enough to maintain customer engagement, before they decide to make themselves “Like”able.
