Let’s face it: These days, many people no longer watch the news or commercials on TV. Instead, they would go on Facebook and their news feeds will be inundated with the hottest news, and pages of the most popular brands. Facebook is the new TV. Hence, many companies have invested a fortune into social media marketing, in hope that they will have access to the vast population of Facebook users. However, how much of those investments actually translate to revenue or profit for the firms? Since I am not running any business (yet) with a social media component, I had not had a chance to calculate and appreciate the conversion rate and the monetary value of social media advertising, until I stumbled across this article on Business Insider, an online marketing magazine. It lists out the values of a Facebook like, as determined by various sources.
What I find interesting is that while the highest value placed on a Facebook like is $214. 81, another research group confirmed that it is virtually worthless i.e. its value is $0, as likes are more like potential energy that may not necessarily be valorized into profit. While I agree that not all Facebook users who clicked the “Like” button on the page of a particular brand will immediately go out there and purchase the product, I believe that there’s still value in garnering these likes. As we learned in class, the last A (Action) in the AIDA model many not necessarily be the decision to actually purchase the product. It can be recommending the product to someone, and wouldn’t you agree that liking that product on Facebook is as good as endorsing it, and recommending it to your Facebook friends (again, your “like” action will be all over your Facebook friends’ news feeds)? In addition, companies can use social media management tools, such as Hootsuite or Google Analytics to figure out what their Facebook fans are interested or engaged in, and this knowledge is unequivocally valuable in product development and promotion strategies.
So, the next time you like something on Facebook, be advised that eyes are watching you!
I mean, Hootsuite is watching you!