Dr. Jeff Cornwall writes in his blog, The Entrepreneurial Mind, about a new study that tries to uncover how Facebook fan pages equate to increased sales and customer loyalty.Cornwall writes about how the study surveyed customers of Dessert Gallery (DG), a popular Houston-based café chain:
The study, based on surveys of more than 1,700 respondents over a three-month period, found that compared with typical Dessert Gallery customers, the company's Facebook fans:
-Made 36 percent more visits to DG's stores each month.
-Spent 45 percent more of their eating-out dollars at DG.
-Spent 33 percent more at DG's stores.
-Had 14 percent higher emotional attachment to the DG brand.
-Had 41 percent greater psychological loyalty toward DG.
While this study focused on a business in the restaurant industry, it’s not hard to imagine similar effects in any industry – such as financial services. It all comes down to engagement. The more you can engage with your customers in meaningful ways, the bigger the impact on your reputation – and your bottom line.
If you’re a financial services company, have you seen similar results with your Facebook page? Have you tried to measure its effectiveness?
If you haven’t noticed meaningful results, keep plugging away – and keep fine tuning your tactics. Keep in mind that it takes time to build social media engagement. And a Facebook page must be part of a comprehensive strategy. As one of the study's authors writes:
"The fact that only about 5 percent of the firm's 13,000 customers became Facebook fans within three months indicates that Facebook fan pages may work best as niche marketing programs targeted to customers who regularly use Facebook. Social-media marketing must be employed judiciously with other types of marketing programs."
Read more about the results on the Harvard Business Review site.
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