People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook
Research released by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in the UK suggests that people are growing increasingly tired of requests to join brand pages or install brand applications in Facebook and other social networks. The research found that almost two in every three of the 2,000 respondents to the survey were fed up with the constant requests to join groups and try new applications.
Digging deeper into the research reveals more information. When asked what they disliked most about social networks, the most popular response (with 31% of respondents citing this) was too many invites to install applications. The second most cited dislike (16% of respondents) was advertising that “isn’t relevant to me”. Remaining dislikes have relatively low incidences (such as the 5% of respondents who dislike the “addictiveness” of the social networks themselves). And 12% of respondents reported no dislikes at all.
It is the insight into the attitudes to branded content, pages and applications that is, however, most interesting from a social media marketing perspective. With so many people saying they are turned of by invites to join pages, install applications or join groups, brands need to work harder to get a consumer’s attention and to get them to engage with them.
Of course, this has never been easy. In fact, engaging people in social networks has always been difficult for brands. Social networks are very personal spaces where users go to connect with their network of friends – to share photos, plan events, keep up with what they have been doing and to message them. They are personal spaces focused on the individual user and their connections and as such can be difficult for brands to enter. People are having a personal conversation and interaction and are sometimes sceptical of the role of a brand in this space.
The most successful uses of social networks by brands are less about getting people to do things with them in this space, but using it as part of a hub-and-spoke model. Rather than a brand trying to engage people separately in Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and every other social network and forum site, it is better to use these as gateways to somewhere else. People may not want to engage with you and interact with you in Facebook, but they may be willing to find out more about you and then, if and when they want to engage, go somewhere else better designed for this.
This is really where online communities come in. If social networks are personal spaces where people connect round friends, online communities are spaces where people connect round a shared interest, idea, theme or topic. It’s much easier for brands to play in this space. To get people to engage with you, talk to them and interact with them. It’s your party that they have chosen to join, rather than being their party you have interrupted.
So this IAB survey comes as no real surprise to us at FreshNetworks. We know that social networks are difficult places for brands and it can be best to use them not as the start and end of your engagement or marketing strategy. It is better to work with social networks, and the people in them, as part of a more developed approach. Meeting people in social networks but bringing them to a place you host to really engage with them.
Some more reading
- Components of Social Media Marketing: The Moogis Case by Wyndstorm (fastforwardblog.com)
- More notes from “Social Media Marketing” (specialdee.wordpress.com)
- Social Media Marketing Industry Report (incsub.org)
- Charlene Li Predicts Social Networking Will Be Ubiquitous, ‘Like … (jonggunlee.tistory.com)
Tamar Weinberg:
Given your post title, which I feel is a bit inaccurate, I’m compelled to respond.
Let’s not confuse Facebook *Pages* with Facebook *Groups*. When people send me app invites or ask me to join any Facebook *Groups*, which are totally different beasts (and Groups are what I believe the survey references), I decline. It’s my prerogative to align with a brand on Facebook *Pages*, and fortunately, there’s no way on FB (with the exception of sending a personalized message, like it should be) to actually harass someone to become a *fan* of a product, person, or service using Facebook Pages.
Bottom line for my personal preferences: I don’t join Facebook Groups. I don’t mind joining relevant Facebook Pages. But they are two *very* different features on the service. One is older technology and far more intrusive than the other, and again, I am pretty darn sure that the study in this case was against those wanting to participate Facebook Groups and not Facebook Pages. After all, their offerings are quite different.
My impression is that any application or group invite that gets emailed to me or others (and that shows up under “Requests” in one’s home feed) is what these users are adverse to. Facebook Pages don’t show up under Requests, and as such, people aren’t fed up.
[Surely I confused you with the terminology here. Here's hoping I didn't.]
29 April 2009, 3:03 amMichelle Batten:
Matt –
Thanks for your analysis on the IAB Study. Agree that brands really need to understand the social space better if they want to successfully share their stories and connect with consumers. This is reflected in the finding from the report “the second most cited dislike (16% of respondents) was advertising that “isn’t relevant to me”. Your observation that social network spaces are PERSONAL is key to brands learning the right approach. The conversation and interaction ARE personal. I like your party analogy – who wants to have someone sidle up to them and then bust in on the conversation and steer it in a totally irrelevant way?
In regards to Tamar’s comment – totally concur that Fan Pages and Groups are separate beasts. However, it appears the way most brands have used them, they both are highly susceptible to coming across as broadcast advertising voices rather than facilitators of particular content topics or interests. Hopefully that will change otherwise consumers will continue to shy away.
Michelle Batten
29 April 2009, 1:34 pm@iMWConnect
Tamar Weinberg:
“However, it appears the way most brands have used them, they both are highly susceptible to coming across as broadcast advertising voices rather than facilitators of particular content topics or interests.”
True. However, it’s definitely not the intrusive advertising we’re all not too fond of — I think that the brand pages are a step in the right direction. Like Twitter, some companies maintain their Facebook Pages better than others, a point which you made well. Those who are more social-media savvy naturally do a much better job!
At the end of the day, though, I’m not sure if we can fault this to Facebook but to the people abusing its facilities. And I still have no problem aligning with brands via Facebook Pages even by not-so-savvy marketer types, because at the end of the day, I can choose to interact with that profile at my own volition (whereas with Facebook Groups and with apps, since messages go to all members and show up on my home page’s sidebar, it’s more in my face).
29 April 2009, 2:26 pmInteressante bookmarks week 18 | Bijgespijkerd:
[...] People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook [...]
1 May 2009, 12:13 pmGordon Brown’s YouTube trauma | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] I found myself talking about on a Social Media Panel at Internet World Expo this week. There can be an unhealthy obsession with getting a brand page up on Facebook or being sure to have a company Twitter [...]
1 May 2009, 12:40 pmMarketeers moeten verder kijken dan merkpagina’s op Social Networks | Bijgespijkerd:
[...] onderzoek van IAB, beschreven door Matt Rhodes laat zien dat consumenten onderhand wel genoeg hebben van alle merkpagina’s en [...]
2 May 2009, 10:30 amMarketinginnovatie.org » Blog Archive » Marketeers moeten verder kijken dan merkpagina’s op Social Networks:
[...] onderzoek van IAB, beschreven door Matt Rhodes laat zien dat consumenten onderhand wel genoeg hebben van alle merkpagina’s en [...]
3 May 2009, 11:26 amYour Place or Mine: Online Communities «:
[...] the contrasts between branded (or “destination”) communities and social networking sites – and their [...]
4 May 2009, 6:28 amatul chatterjee:
Nothing surprising about the findings, even if there is some confusion regarding Groups and Pages. People join FB mainly for social reasons.
6 May 2009, 9:16 amBuild your own community or go where people are? Do both | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook (freshnetworks.com) [...]
12 May 2009, 2:07 pmAre You Muddying the Waters of Your Social Networking Plan? at iElectrify.com:
[...] of them”? The days of chasing down bloggers and wooing social networkers with ads and constant Facebook invites are over and peoples’ patience is wearing [...]
12 May 2009, 4:04 pmStephane Lee:
I do agree Matt, and I already said that the “Fish where the fishes are” of Jeremiah Owyang is only part of the solution.
The 1.0 way : broadcast advertising on traditionnal media, and wait for customers in stores
15 May 2009, 8:39 amThe 2.0 way : have your stand on social networks crowded streets, and send them on your own conversation space
UK marketers admit falling behind social media trends | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook (freshnetworks.com) [...]
16 May 2009, 9:38 pmFacebook lance son répertoire des applications. A quand un Facebook App’ Store ? | MKT planet - News Web Marketing - Nouvelles Technologies:
[...] (je vous recommande à ce titre cet excellent article de FreshNetworks sur le sujet : People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook). Quand on voit qu’aujourd’hui en France, la première entreprise en terme de fans sur [...]
27 May 2009, 3:56 pmOur top five posts in May | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] 2. People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook [...]
1 June 2009, 8:14 amMarre d’être sollicité par les marques pour devenir fan de leurs pages sur Facebook ! | Le Blog Kinoa:
[...] Source : People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook [...]
1 June 2009, 3:26 pmVince Stevenson:
It’s driving me bananas. I used to enjoy a bit of Facebook when I felt I was in charge, now it’s just getting annoying. Rgds Vince
3 June 2009, 3:10 pmHow organisations can use Twitter - some ideas | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] People are fed up of joining brand pages on Facebook (freshnetworks.com) [...]
6 June 2009, 9:04 pmMark Waterfield:
The big learning and take out of the valuable post is
“It’s your party that they have chosen to join, rather than being their party you have interrupted.”
It seems to me to depend on what value, service or benefit is provided to the joiner. If it is positive then you are both onto a winner – or is that too simple
1 July 2009, 1:16 pm