It is an on-going process educating clients and non-clients alike on some of what I think are the important nuances of social media. One of these? The ‘Like’ button on Facebook. I maintain my opinion that a ‘Like’ on Facebook has never been tied to a purchase or sale of a product—at least in the sense that it has been studied and proven, or disproven. (If anyone has other information, I’d love to read it.) To me, a ‘Like’ is just a like. It’s not a ‘buy-in,’ an endorsement, and it’s most definitely not what every brand wants with the consumer….. a ‘relationship.’ So consider this:
Consumer creativity contests are all the rage these days, just like ‘Likes’ on Facebook. One that recently caught my eye was Heineken’s global competition to design a new bottle in their “Remix our Future” contest. So, for a brand that has a whopping 13,000,000 ‘Likes’ on Facebook, what do you think their actual participation was? The contest was run on their Facebook page.
The answer= 1,700. This is a participation rate of 0.001%
And what about getting people to look at the designs and vote? The winning design had 147 views. Which is also 0.001%. And check out that winning design above. Is it just me, or is it pretty ugly?
Here are my takeaways from this:
1. Most of us want to consume content, not create it
If you’re the brand, we want you to be creative, not ask us to do the hard work.
2. Lower your expectations
If you do go down the route of asking people to be creative in a contest, lower your expectations. Heineken is a global brand with a big social media presence; more than most companies or brands will ever have. And they got 170 entries.
3. Be careful on creative control
Be careful about what you leave open to consumer creativity. I’m not sure the design of your global pack design is one I’d use this approach on.
4. Beward the ‘Like’
I have sat in many a meeting where a social media director or assistant will report on the number of ‘Likes’ a business or product has gotten since our last meeting. My problem with that is that I can’t quite hear the cash register ringing from my seat in the meeting room. Perhaps I should sit closer to the door?
In conclusion, the Heineken bottle contest showed that 99.999% of people who bother to ‘Like’ the brand’s Facebook page were not interested in joining in much less entering into a ‘committed relationship’ with them. ‘Likes’ are one thing. Sales are another. And the last time I looked, it took sales to keep the doors open and the lights on.
I don’t believe big ideas come out of thin air. They come from top-notch research, valuable customer insight, and talented people working with you to help you achieve your goals.
It begins with a call; a conversation to discuss your business—where it’s headed and where you want it to go. I leave you with one thought: whatever problems your business faces now, others have faced the same problems—and overcome them.
Let’s talk about your business, your concerns, your goals, and together we build a roadmap of effective marketing to get you there.
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Tags: advertising, brand equity, brand loyalty, Branding, creative marketing strategy, Creativity, email marketing, marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, social networking