Is Facebook’s move to the Timeline format better for business? Believe it or not, the evidence is already in. The answer is…it depends.
Recently, I was lucky enough to attend a presentation by our T3 social team about the impact on fan engagement for early adopter brands to the new Facebook Timeline format. The team looked at research by Wildfire Interactive, a maker of online marketing software. The research looked at 43 brands ranging in fan size from 22,000 to 40 million fans for 42 days, 21 before the change and 21 after. In addition, T3 evaluated the brands we work with. What they found was fascinating, surprising and not surprising at all, all at once.
Timeline changes.
Let’s quickly review the changes that came with Facebook’s Timeline.
First, there’s the new cover photo with art restrictions that can be summed up as “Keep your sales pitch out of my Facebook.”
Second, there’s one fixed view and three visible tabs, with your other tabs visible only when you click to open them. No more driving people straight to different tabs. Your fans land on your profile page and that’s that.
Third, fan posts are in a separate container and large-format photos and videos can be used in your brand posts. There’s also direct messaging now.
Lastly, you can use brand milestones to illustrate the history of your brand.
And the survey says…
Wildfire Interactive collected data on the following metrics:
• Daily fan growth rate
• People talking about this
• Comments per brand post
• Likes per brand post
That’s pretty much a wish list for what brands want out of their Facebook pages. So here’s what the research uncovered: Brands with less than a million fans saw nearly a 70% growth in people talking about them. Pair that with 40% more comments and 60% more likes per post and you’ve got a huge winner, right? Well, almost. Fan growth rate didn’t change at all.
For larger brands with 1 to 10 million fans, the numbers were mixed. There was roughly a 30% increase in people talking about the brands and 13% more likes per post. But the comments on posts were down 17%. Once again, fan growth stayed exactly the same.
The super big boy brands with 40 million+ fans got pretty beat up by the transition. Everything was down. Significantly. Except one: Fan growth rate. Didn’t change a lick.
Mixed signals.
So is the new Facebook Timeline better for brands? Depends.
If you are a smaller brand on Facebook, it’s much better. Timeline has significantly increased the engagement behavior of fans. Stay focused on great content to keep that momentum going.
For larger brands, the answer is “by and large.” The new functionality has definitely increased interaction between users. If (and it’s a big if) you can create opportunities to join conversations in an unobtrusive way, you can become part of the increased engagement users have with Facebook.
For mega brands on Facebook, the results are worse. But if you’re one of these brands, don’t worry. You’re kind of like the homecoming queen. People only really like you because everybody likes you. Your drop in numbers is mainly because people are nosey and they are off checking out all the other brands in their life. Post another million-dollar giveaway and they’ll all come running back.
The biggest takeaway.
All three groups saw absolutely no change in their growth rate. Zip, nada, nothing. Which leads us back to the core truth of Facebook: People read, like, comment and share what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.
Technology simply can’t bear the full weight of generating interest in your brand. Only content can do that. Relevant human content that tells the story of your brand in a relatable way. Tell that story on your page and no matter what Facebook does, it’ll be better for your brand.
Gay and I spent a few days in the Caribbean recently, returning our rental car to Michael at Unity Car Rental. At first blush, Unity does not appear to be a very sophisticated operation. They work out of a little shack under a couple of palm trees on a back street in Simpson Bay, on the Dutch side of Saint Maarten. We’ve used them for years because they always pick us up on time at the airport, they have great prices on good cars and their customer service rocks.
Tracking flights
One of the Unity drivers drove us back to the airport. I noticed that every time he stopped to wait on traffic, he glanced at his Blackberry and was looking at something that looked like a map. I asked him what he was looking at. “Oh, I’m checking to see whether the Delta flight from Miami is on final approach yet,” he said.
“How are you doing that,” I asked. “Flight Tracker on my Blackberry,” he replied. He handed me his phone and I could see via a real-time map graphic that the Delta flight was still about 250 miles out. “They’ll be about 15 minutes late so I can run back to the lot and pick up another customer before that flight gets in,” he said.
Here is a man who spends his days meeting airplanes from all over the world. Flight delays, weather and overcrowded airports all create chaos in his life; think about the boring, wasted hours spent sitting at the airport in the absence of real-time arrival information.
Transformed by mobile
Boom, it hit me. This guy’s profession and day-to-day life had been radically changed by the emergence of mobile technology. Suddenly, this guy was making minute-by-minute decisions about how to manage his day based on real-time information coming in from hundreds of flights. His life has been made radically better. In turn, his customer service is radically better because now he is always there at exactly the right time. He knows how long it takes after the plane lands to taxi, disembark passengers and process them through customs. He also knows that some people check bags and some don’t so he has to be there when the first passengers leave the secure area. There are always passengers without checked bags.
The precision of the system he has developed is impressive. He smiled with pride and confidence as he explained it to me. “The JFK flight was four hours late yesterday,” he explained. “But even so, I arrived five minutes before the first passengers exited the secure area, and I got to spend two hours at home with my kids before the flight arrived.”
Plan for impact
Think about the impact of this one man’s story. Multiply that by the millions of smart phones in service today. Then multiply it again by the number that will be out there in two years and you can see a growing phenomenon that is changing lives in even the most unexpected places.
As marketers, we not only have to understand this, but we have to focus on how we can create these valued exchanges between our clients and their customers. Heady stuff for sure.
Got to go, that Delta flight just touched down.
We love SXSW and all its craziness. The interactive/music/film festival has blossomed into an incredible collection of talent and energy that never fails to leave an imprint on the city’s creative community.
T3 is proud to be jumping straight into the buzz and insanity that defines SXSW. We’ll be hosting events, joining in the all-night App Dev Hackathon fun, holding “office hours” at Star Bar, and participating in the first SXSW Tech Career Expo. Here’s what we’re up to at SXSW:
MARCH 9: App Dev Hackathon @SXSW
We’re throwing T3 developers into the all-night fun and challenge of the always interesting App Dev Hackathon. They’ll learn new skills, build mobile and HTML5 apps, drink lots of coffee, and compete for $4,000 in cash and prizes. All the best to our T3 hackers.
MARCH 9–10: SXSW Tech Career Expo
We’re proud to be participating in this first-ever Tech Career Show at the Austin Music Hall. For SXSW Interactive attendees and non-attendees alike, the Expo showcases the best jobs and career opportunities across the industry. We’re always looking for great talent, so be sure to stop by and see what’s up.
MARCH 10: What’s next for the mobile web?
T3 and Netbiscuits are joining forces to host this invite-only event that focuses on the future of the mobile web and celebrates the launch of Netbiscuits’ Tactile, a new HTML 5 framework for touch-enabled features to mobile web apps. Joining us are sponsors Mindtree, iLoop Mobile and Digiday, plus content partner IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence.
MARCH 12–14: T3 “office hours” at Star Bar
We’re creating an official stop for clients and partners in town for SXSW. We’ll hold “office hours” in the heart of West 6th St. to treat co-conspirators to libations and sustenance in an informal setting. Add us to your SXSW schedule. We’ll be at the Star Bar from 4–7 p.m. on March 12–14.
