Marketers are becoming more and more interested in measuring the ROI of social media. According to eMarketer, four out of five US businesses with at least 100 employees will be using social media for their marketing efforts this year. This makes measuring the effects of these marketing efforts even more important.
Up to this point, the top metric for social media marketing success was site traffic, but more and more focus has been given to other values such as fans / followers and positive buzz.
Although only 15.4% of respondents to an eMarketer survey felt that Facebook had a significant ROI, this number is growing rapidly. Now is the perfect opportunity for your business to take advantage of the opportunities that social media offers for getting found by prospects and interacting with prospective customers. While other companies struggle with whether or not to participate, you can be out in the trenches gathering fans and gaining evangelists.
One great way to do this is through a Facebook Fan Page. These pages offer a venue for your fans to interact, participate in discussions regarding your business, and stay informed about what's going on at your company. Creating a Facebook Fan Page is easy, but before you do, take a look 20 companies I've compiled that have gotten a head start, and find out how they are doing it right!
1. Skittles
Skittles launched a "Win the Rainbow" contest, asking its fans "what they would do for a Skittles vending machine," which garnered entries that racked up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
2. Zappos
3. McDonalds
McDonald's Fan Page includes a number of short and quick mental games that are not only addicting but also allow fans to share their scores with their friends, thereby promoting viral sharing.
4. Harley Davidson
Harley Davidson's page includes a number of informational resources that educate their fans on interesting topics ranging from how to ride to the history of Harley Davidson.
5. iTunes
The iTunes Fan Page brings much of the functionality of the iTunes Store right to their Facebook page. Search for artists or check out the most popular hits of the week, right from Facebook!
6. Jones Soda
The Jones Soda page has a number of engaging opportunities for fans. From the fan page, you can order personalized Jones Soda, get the iPhone App, or take the weekly poll.
7. VitaminWater
VitaminWater is using its Fan Page as its main online presence. Learn about upcoming product releases, such as their newest flavor Stur-D, right from Facebook.
8. Doritos
Doritos uses their Fan Page to share all of their recent commercials, including many of the ones submitted by fans. The quality and hilarity of many of the video shorts is sure to keep fans coming back.
9. Best Buy
Best Buy's Fan Page lets you shop and read reviews from products right on Facebook. Not sure which flat-screen TV you want to buy? Get feedback from their over 2.5 million fans so you don't make a bad decision.
10. Porsche
Porche has built its popularity on the style and elegance of its cars. Its Facebook Page capitalizes on this, allowing you to flip through a number of their models, and includes the ability to "start a web special" if one catches your eye. If their cars are a little out of your price range, you can use the color styler to create a custom make and model and send it to a friend who, if you're lucky, might let you sit shot gun.
11. Kaplan SAT
Kaplan's Facebook Fan Page makes studying for the SAT fun. Join the SAT Quizbank Daily Challenge to compete against other fans answering realistic SAT questions.
12. Redbull
Redbull's page is another great example of an incredible CTA. Upon first visiting, you only have one option - to "Like" their page. After that you can watch a number of their extreme sport videos from all over the world.
13. Dell
Dell was one of the first big companies to embrace social media. They continue to build their customer engagement by allowing fans to ask for advice, get reviews, or get personlized recommendations right from their fan page.
14. Starbucks
Starbucks recognizes that one of the best recommendations is going to be one from a friend. That's why it has made the main offer on their Facebook Fan Page the ability to give a Starbucks gift card.
15. REI
REI's page is another great example of CTA usage and customer education. They're being very clear about what they have to offer and what they want you to do.
16. Burt's Bees
Burt's Bees gets cute with their Fan Page by playing on the emotions of their fans. We like you... don't you like us? Well then click the "Like" button! =)
17. Victoria's Secret
A picture is worth 1,000 words, and on the Victoria's Secret Fan Page, you get access to their iPad and iPhone apps. Now you can "get sexy, anywhere, anytime."
18. Sony
Another example of fan engagement, on the Sony Fan Page you can vote to help decide how their game, LittleBigPlanet 2, is designed.
19. NFL
The call-to-action at the top of the page pretty much says it all. "Like the NFL to receive breaking news updates, exclusive offers, and the best content and information from around the league."
20. Coca Cola
Coca Cola has a wide variety of resources on their Fan Page. They do a great job of promoting their presence on a wide variety of social networks such as Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr.
What are some of your favorite fan pages? Leave them in the comments below!
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
gia 3:06 PM on March 04, 2011
Specially like the REI and VS ones. Frustrating they don't click through to pages though!
Roger Draper 3:17 PM on March 04, 2011
So what are the take-aways for B2B pages on Facebook? How much, or how little, should B2B emulate?
Jeff Woodruff 3:24 PM on March 04, 2011
I've seen a lot of blog posts about great facebook pages but this one really showcases some of the best ones I've seen yet. Thanks for sharing.
pete 3:38 PM on March 04, 2011
They're beautiful, but how do we do what they did?
Shrinagesh 3:40 PM on March 04, 2011
Thats an awesome list. I'd add Kohl's, Oreo.
Melissa Mahoney 4:11 PM on March 04, 2011
These are great. What are the bet b2b examples out there?
Pat Chiappa 5:51 PM on March 04, 2011
So are facebook pages becoming the new websites for small business?
Eric Vreeland 12:14 AM on March 05, 2011
@Pat Some small businesses are opting to use the Facebook Fan Page as their entire online presence. I believe that there is a place for both, but ignoring the popularity of social media sites like Facebook would be a big mistake for any small business.
Eric Vreeland 12:15 AM on March 05, 2011
Thanks everyone for your comments. Most of the good examples shown in this post translate to B2B as well, but I will work on another post that shows some good examples from B2B companies.
Barry Davys 2:48 AM on March 05, 2011
Great examples but they are all consumer goods examples. A question, are we saying that a facebook page doesn´t work for a professional services company?
Abhishek Syal 5:37 AM on March 05, 2011
I like the CTA part especially. Very clear, very concise, and very calling
(to act)!
Abhishek Syal 5:40 AM on March 05, 2011
I like the CTA part especially. Very clear, very concise, and very calling
(to act)!
Abhishek Syal 5:43 AM on March 05, 2011
I like the CTA part especially. Very clear, very concise, and very calling
(to act)!
Akhilesh 9:42 AM on March 05, 2011
Gr8 example of where the facebook pages are heading to , with flexibility of creativity, engagement and companies taking this platform for BRANDING.
http://www.facebook.com/fortishospitals
Jill 9:47 AM on March 05, 2011
These are great, but for a firm that's all about how to present your business to the outside world, the literacy level is sort of appalling. Not to sound like an uptight grammarian, but in case you missed it in elementary school: IT'S = it is. ITS = possessive (Porsche has built its popularity on the elegance of its cars). Once is a typo, ten times is ignorance. If you care about having authority, proofread, or get someone who knows the English language to--even on the web! Otherwise you undermine your credibility.
Allan 10:00 AM on March 05, 2011
These are nice examples. I particularly like what Mitsubishi Electric is doing with Cooling and Heating Solutions, HVAC
Claudio Venturini 4:55 PM on March 05, 2011
This is a very good list of samples. Another page I would suggest is The Social Cartoon. Strictly an entertainment and user engagement site. The site organically grows as more users participate in their weekly content.
www.facebook.com/thesocialcartoon
Nicole Summers 6:31 PM on March 05, 2011
Thanks for sharing these list. But it would be most be helpful when you can provide us a list of business pages that we can set as an example...
Craig 8:52 PM on March 05, 2011
Check out Jeep's new Facebook page, Adventure U: http://www.facebook.com/adventureu
They have also have this addictive app called Mud U which allows you to sling mud on friends (http://apps.facebook.com/muduapp)
Wendy 10:11 PM on March 05, 2011
Social Media is becoming increasingly more important for companies to include in their marketing toolkit. You have some great examples above. Thanks for sharing!
Integraphix 8:01 PM on March 06, 2011
We're developing our own facebook fbml page. It's such a neat concept and thank goodness they offer it! Thanks for the great examples.
||Integraphix, a really cool design company in Chicago
http://www.integraphix.com
Kapil 4:26 AM on March 07, 2011
Great examples...
Dawn 4:59 AM on March 07, 2011
These are great examples, just wondered if anyone had examples of how smaller businesses are using facebook in a similarly inspiring way.
Aurelius Tjin 5:51 AM on March 07, 2011
Awesome pages. They can really catch every fans eyes. Thanks for sharing. :)
EMMETT 1:02 PM on March 07, 2011
How do create these pages?
emmett 1:04 PM on March 07, 2011
How do you create these pages? I have a business and want the something like this on my facebook
ad_chickadee 1:14 PM on March 07, 2011
once someone Likes the page though - how likely are they to view anything than what comes up in the News Feed as this is where most people get info - not from actually visiting the page but viewing a status update in the Feed. Also - was under the impression you should only have one custom tab as those that have more are less likely to see any traffic on them. think it's great for new people - but after liking a page - how many people are further than the info they're fed in the News Feed?
Carol 2:46 PM on March 07, 2011
I agree with Dawn, on fan pages for smaller companies.Also, I would love to see some great examples of fan pages from service industries. THANKS
Janet Osterdock 2:59 PM on March 07, 2011
You can see that the conversation is different for everyone. Important reminder to us all. Thank you.
Darrin 3:09 PM on March 07, 2011
I think many are missing the point of a "like" for the Facebook page owner - this allows access to the users demographic/contact information and regardless of engagement, serves as a pretty slick market research and marketing tool, as a like implies opt-in for feeds and direct email marketing - right?
Nicolas Rigaud 3:38 PM on March 07, 2011
some examples are really really great
Susan Young 4:02 PM on March 07, 2011
I agree with other comments that a top 20 B2B Facebook fan pages article would be interesting for service businesses. I think it's more of a challenge for businesses to get "likes" and come up with valuable content for their fans.
Allison 5:56 PM on March 07, 2011
These are great examples of what a huge, national or multi-national corporation with ridiculous amounts to spend on marketing can do, and yes, any business can adapt many of the strategies seen here for their own needs. But I'd love to see someone spotlight well-done pages that are run by smaller businesses, perhaps those with regional audiences or small niche markets that are unable to outsource their social media activity.
Kim 6:10 PM on March 07, 2011
Because of Facebook Policy, are these companies going through a 3rd party app developer? or is that just for contests, promtions, and polls?
MGA 7:55 PM on March 07, 2011
those are great applications. i didn't know we could do such things on Facebook...
pkay 9:33 AM on March 08, 2011
Skittles always seems to dominate. Did anyone else notice the misspelling of Porsche in the article?
davidh 9:52 AM on March 08, 2011
Great list Eric but shame there isn't a 'cause' related Facebook page in the group. World Vision, CNN Heros and others have done great fundraising work in Facebook. Here's something I recently worked on out of Sydney Australia. Keen to get your thoughts: facebook.com/cerebralpalsyalliance
Elena Patrice 10:40 AM on March 08, 2011
Extremely helpful! Thank you! Awesome!
Jim Morris 10:43 AM on March 08, 2011
You've inspired us to upgrade a landing page for us at Barkeater Chocolates!
Sam Beamond 1:01 PM on March 08, 2011
The only thing lacking from this article is links to each of the fan pages you talk about. Otherwise, a good overview.
Lionel 4:59 PM on March 08, 2011
Just saw this page using iframe. I love it. www.facebook.com/3lionsmedia
Tom Gibson 5:20 PM on March 08, 2011
One more example: http://www.facebook.com/CashBackDeals
chandani 5:38 PM on March 08, 2011
I agree with Sam. But overall really good and helpful information. And also just twitted about the article. You got to have facebook and twitter in today's world, business or personal.
Tim Ware 5:50 PM on March 08, 2011
Hah! These are so two weeks ago :-)
Funny how those top blue tabs look so, um, old fashioned now.
Hold on as Time accelerates!
anthony galeano 10:06 PM on March 08, 2011
Nice, thank you for the samples.
Vanillasky 2:40 AM on March 09, 2011
awesome samples! how can we create these visual effects on fb? charges,if any?
Jack Pierce 11:34 AM on March 09, 2011
All B2C examples. I know you're working on B2B, but I still refuse to see a B2B application for Facebook. It's social and our blog and LinkedIn efforts are as social as our B2B prospect want to be. They want resources, not chatting. For that reason, they don't frequent Facebook--in fact most shun it.
Carrol 1:14 PM on March 09, 2011
Yes,all great examples...for really, really big businesses...Would like to see showcased small businesses with great sites on limited budgets.
Frank 1:39 PM on March 09, 2011
What a list!
What a delight!
What a pleasure!
A real demonstration how joyful and useful altruism can be
JADE 11:33 PM on March 09, 2011
@Darrin: "like implies opt-in for ... direct email marketing - right?"
Absolutely not. Admins to a fan page do not have access to email addresses of fans.
My take: landing pages are all fine and good for ONE visit to your Fan page, but without regular, engaging news feed posts, you're one and done. When I'm in line at the DMV, I'm scrolling down my news feed, not seeking out new fan pages. I'd say the ratio of time spent liking new pages versus reading news feed is 1:200. What are you doing for the other 199 units of time?
Patricia Linares 4:34 PM on March 10, 2011
Thanks for the list! Really interesting pages.
Abhishek Syal 10:59 PM on March 10, 2011
very concise, and very calling
(to act)! like the CTA part especially.
Justin Dupre 6:35 AM on March 11, 2011
Awesome 20 Examples of Facebook Pages! They really stand out with such creative and unique designs.
Jim Campbell 4:43 PM on March 11, 2011
My vote for a good small business FB Page goes to 9026-Eyes ... http://www.facebook.com/pages/9026-Eyes/49296023806
Marcelo Fernandes 10:19 PM on March 11, 2011
Inspired by these and other great samples I've done an Inbound Marketing page for Brazil.
It's in Portuguese but it's one of the 1st custom fan pages here and perhaps in LA.
Check it out at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harley-Davidson-Brasil/188633771175289?sk=app_6009294086
Rgds//
craig 6:38 PM on March 14, 2011
Excuse my ignorance , but how do you create pages like these? Is it something you can do yourself, or do you need to use a developer who knows facebook code? Thanks Craig
Robbie Mclean 8:12 AM on March 15, 2011
Hey Kathleen, with our business growth we were about to launch two new FB fan pages. Then I saw your post. I have to ask the same question posted by Craig on 3/14. Can we make pages like this, or does it have to be done by someone who really understands FB code?
Thanks Robbie McLean
Tom Gibson 1:01 PM on March 16, 2011
These can be created two ways: 1) use the FBML app or 2) create your own Facebook iFrame App. It's much easier than it sounds. Here's a tutorial.
http://www.hyperarts.com/blog/adding-iframe-application-to-facebook-fan-page/
I used the tutorial to create an iFrame for my page (primarily because I was having problems with CSS inside the FBML app): http://www.facebook.com/MarketPointDesign
I use the FBML app for this page: http://www.facebook.com/CashBackDeals
Marquee29 3:43 PM on March 16, 2011
No links???? Lame.
John 3:52 PM on March 17, 2011
With FBML being deprecated as of March 11, 2011, it looks as though iFrame is the only way to go.
Don Metznik 1:20 PM on March 18, 2011
Great idea that needs to be taken further. What are the key lessons (what exactly are they doing "right"), how can these lessons be translated to B2B, and can you find examples done by small businesses?
Kyle Lemmon 11:53 AM on March 21, 2011
All of these Business Pages look great, but how is a company without a large budget going to create these? I found a great tool that takes all of the guess work out of making fb business pages. This platform allows single click publishing with out a line of code. This video demo is definitely worth the 3 and half minutes to check out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBK5NEzoU70
Martina 8:41 AM on March 24, 2011
Great list of pages!
Especially the color preview of Porsche I find very oool :)
Martina