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Are Facebook fan pages the 2.0 Web site?
By Justin Goldsborough | January 19th, 2010
Have we reached the break even point yet?
No, I’m not talking about an economic rebound. I mean the break even point between Facebook fan pages and Web sites. And I think we’re there.
When I was in college in the early 2000s, I took my first Web site class. When I graduated and entered the professional world, Web sites were all the rage. In fact, it was about that time I remember the transition of Web sites from a “cool, nice-to-have way to tell a brand’s story and maybe even sell products” to a “must have to be competitive in the business world.” Today, a Web site is an afterthought for companies, isn’t it? Almost like having a company bank account.
So what’s today’s 2.0 Web site? You might say social media. And you wouldn’t be wrong. But social media can take on many different looks and feels depending on the company, industry and overall business goals you’re talking about. But IMO, there is one exception…Facebook.
More than 350 million people are on Facebook. If you’ve seen the Social Media Revolution video, you know that’s a group large enough to be the fourth largest country in the world. That said, shouldn’t every company have a Facebook fan page?
I asked this question the other day at work and got some different responses. One person said you have to factor in the clients goals and see if Facebook is a fit. I understand that point of view because it’s how we always try to approach providing social media strategy for our clients. We’ve been taught no one platform is right for every company. And I think that was the case – until now.
We also discussed whether a fan page made sense for every company on this week’s #pr20chat (@prTini and I recently took over moderating the chat on Tuesday nights at 8 EST for founder, @bethharte, whose new chat, #imcchat, takes place Wednesday nights at 8 EST). Chatters expressed a variety of opinions — everything from suggesting Yelp has more value than Facebook for small businesses, which have to prioritize their resources (via @jspepper) to proclaiming that a brand Facebook presence has become an expectation (via @LaurenGav).
Show me an organization that doesn’t have a goal of brand awareness, accessibility and engaging with its customers and I’ll show you a company that shouldn’t be on Facebook. The rise of social media and consumer expectations of their brand relationships have brought us here…to break even. And a Facebook fan page is the Web site of the social media world.
Try to think of a company that wouldn’t benefit from a fan page. I’m not saying there isn’t one…I just can’t think of one. Can you? Whether a company is B2C or B2B, doesn’t it need to have a home where customers can find out information about the company (Web site provides that too) and interact with company representatives and fellow consumers (where a fan page is unique).
Furthermore, if a fan page is the new Web site, then how should we be counseling our clients to use it? Maybe that’s where the fan page use should track back more to company goals and objectives. Because there are some fundamentals all companies should be using a fan page for – e.g. telling the company story and talking with customers. And possibly, I’d argue, this emerging fundamental – using custom tabs to drive fans back to content your brand wants them to see that sits on the company Web site?
What do you think? Is the Facebook fan page taking over as home base for some brands? And if so, do companies need to figure out how to make it easy for consumers to do things on the fan page that they used to do on the corporate Web site, i.e. making purchases? One thing’s for sure…if this is the route we’re going with online brand presences, it should be easier for us as PR pros to prove social media is driving sales.
At least that’s what I think. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:05 am
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January 20th, 2010 at 8:24 am
You have a great point, Justin. I can see this becoming the case more often now. Example is Kansas City Rescue Mission. They update their fan page often and have even told others their Facebook page is the place to go to get the most updated info outside of their website. I know I refer people to the regional Facebook Fan pages for Theater League. One can interact with fans on a FB fan page which you cannot do on a website, unless it is set up like a blog.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:25 am
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January 20th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Justin, thanks for this post and for your #PR20chat yesterday. I have been pondering this for a while. I think Facebook fan pages are a great way for small organizations and companies to increase web presence, and sometimes rank higher in search engines than the company’s or organization’s websites. They’re also a great way for people who don’t have websites to easily set up a web presence-no excuses about not having funds to get a website designed anymore.I love the possibilities and low barrier to entry and the “everybody’s already there, so just pitch your tent” aspect of Facebook. I think the fan page is now the #1 requirement and the company website the #2 depending on your type of business, industry, etc.
The Facebook Fan page is like the new company blog. And has huge implications for SEO and customer engagement. I can’t think of any business that wouldn’t want to have one, either.
January 20th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Hard to argue with any of the logic here. I think of Facebook as a parallel web. There are some people who want to spend most of their time there. having a presence there is almost a no-brainer. But there are some caveats. They have to understand the conventions of the space. Not every client is ready to operate a Facebook presence in a way that will provide value to their fans. That’s always a consideration in my counsel.
Over and above the engagement and loyalty-building opportunities, custom tabs are powerful tools and using Facebook media is another fantastic way to drive awareness of the page.
January 20th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by JGoldsborough: Discussion on #pr20chat last night helped prompt this post: I think FB fan pages r new 2.0 Web site. What do u think? http://bit.ly/5×59Zd…
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I think they’re a web 2.0 site, not THE web 2.0 site.
350 million members or not, Facebook is still a walled garden. You’re still playing by their rules.
I was looking through a box of VHS tapes the other day, and smiled when I came across Ocean’s Eleven, which had an AOL keyword printed on the box. I think companies have learned their lesson since those days: Be present in the big walled gardens, but always have your own presence on the web.
So sure, get your brand on facebook. But don’t expect a fan page to replace an actual web presence.
January 23rd, 2010 at 3:05 pm
@Mark Thanks, Mark. Great examples there. Interesting to hear brands are actually guiding people to Facebook instead of their Web site. Think the orgs you mentioned are progressive in that right.
Seems to me what more companies are doing is acknowledging there’s an audience that may prefer Facebook as it starting point when building a relationship with brands. These orgs are then using custom Facebook tabs to drive fans to the Web site content they want to make sure they see.
January 23rd, 2010 at 3:09 pm
@Amanda Hi, Amanda. Glad you enjoyed #pr20chat. Thanks for joining and I hope you’ll be a frequent visitor to the chat and here :).
You and Mark both bring up a great point about the requirements of a brand’s Web presence based on consumer expectations. Isn’t one of those requirements the ability to engage with the brand? I think we’re at the point where that capability has moved from a nice-to-have to a standard and the companies that don’t provide it take a reputation hit. You?
January 23rd, 2010 at 3:14 pm
@David Great point on the fact that some companies aren’t ready to devote the resources necessary to maintain a fan page. That’s one place where I agree with @jspepper — if you’re not willing to give the time and effort to the Facebook Fundamentals, then you probably shouldn’t have a fan page. I would just add that not having one can hurt your reputation and in the end, your bottom line (e.g. customer has issue, customer looks to Facebook for brand contact and answer, customer can’ find contact or fan page, customer moves on to new company to make purchase).
I would love to see the average on how much time FB users spend on Facebook vs the Web. My guess is it would be closer to 50-50 than we think. I like your concept of a parallel Web.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
@ Rex. Your points about Web presence make a lot of sense. I agree, it’s very much about Web presence these days versus a Web site. Just seems more and more people are finding/interacting with a brand first on Facebook these days versus via a Web site.
That said, IMO brands need both. As well as a presence in any other social networks that make sense when factoring in the company’s business goals.
Thanks for the comment and your great perspectives in #pr20chat.
Best,
Justin
February 21st, 2010 at 7:37 pm
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