59% of 100 Leading Retailers are on Facebook

By Chris Crum - Wed, 01/14/2009 - 03:00

Rosetta Releases Study

Independent interactive marketing agency Rosetta released a study today that shows that 59% of 100 leading retailers have fan pages on Facebook. This is a testament to how social media is truly consuming the way businesses market themselves.

"These results support what we're seeing in our day-to-day client work, which is that we've reached a tipping point with Facebook among retailers," says Adam Cohen, partner with Rosetta's consumer goods and retail practice. "Social media sites continue to be an important source of community connection, and savvy retailers are reaping the benefits of Facebook's rapid extension into new demographics, such as Gen-X and seniors."

I would expect the percentage to be much higher this time next year, unless Facebook loses market share to a competitor. Of course, with the rise of data portability and the plan to standardize activity feeds, it may not matter what social network businesses choose to have a presence on as much as whether they have a presence at all (which will likely still be an issue for many businesses).

Facebook along with Google, MySpace, and a number of others are already working on reaching such a standard. Nevertheless, the impact social media marketing has on a business will continue to be influenced by that business's individual social practices.

"It's important that retailers don't just slap up a page because everyone is talking about Facebook," says Cohen. "An effective Facebook presence requires that you carefully consider what your customers are looking for, what you would like to communicate, and what role a fan page should play in your overall online strategy. If you take all of these into account, it can be effective in building customer loyalty." These principles are certainly not limited to Facebook.

Rosetta's study was originally conducted in April, and then updated in September. Within the time period between those two, 29 of the retailers surveyed added Facebook pages, including Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, Kohl's and Wal-Mart. If that's not an indication that companies are starting to take social media more seriously, I don't know what is. Maybe this.

News Tags: Social Media, social media marketing, facebook, rosetta, Surveys, data portability, Research, studies

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003.

8 Comments

By Good Tidings Nautical Decor (WPN reader) - Tue, 01/13/2009 - 21:42

How much Time

Has any one figured out a way to minimize time with social media? I am on myspace, going to facebook and it just takes so much time it is incredible.

By RealStudio Design (WPN reader) - Wed, 01/14/2009 - 04:16

You don't really have solutions

I've spoken to many that where thrilled that nowadays all you have to do to promote your business is spread the word around on the web ... well, they're right, but i ran into the same problem as you did - time. So time is money .... web presence should bring customers, thus money - so it's a matter of how much you invest, and if you gain more than that. I guess the former "selling agent" should join the "PR-ist" and do your on-line work.

By Parker (WPN reader) - Mon, 01/12/2009 - 12:24

That isn't all that

That isn't all that surprising. Why wouldn't retailers tap into the Facebook audience?

I added Sortprice's Wishlist application before Xmas on Facebook and it is a lot of fun to use. You can search for it on Facebook or check out their site:

www.sortprice.com

By Web Design Adelaide (WPN reader) - Sun, 01/11/2009 - 10:50

Doesnt surprise me

I've noticed in the past few months, that facebook is becoming a massive talking point amongst friends. I now only know a couple people not using it, and nearly all people I know are very active users.

This will become a bigger marketing point in my opinion.

By sitstayfetch (WPN reader) - Sat, 01/10/2009 - 18:39

Facebook is a great way to

Facebook is a great way to reach out to target viewers, and its free thats the key factor of it, free marketing

By Ian Hendry (WPN reader) - Sat, 01/10/2009 - 12:20

Data portability will mean socnets become linked

Interesting findings and well interpreted Chris.

You hit upon something important when you mention data portability which, in Facebook's case, is Facebook Connect. As more and more sites add FBC it will become less relevant where the business is listed, as they will always have access to the Facebook user base.

For example, larger businesses may want to build their own social networks to interact with customers in a very specific way. Supporting FBC will mean that they can build a user base on their network from Facebook, where visiting users need only click a few buttons to use their FB identity on the retailer site. Those people are also prompted to bring their FB Friends over and post their activity back to FB as Newsfeed items.

Smaller businesses may not have their own socnets, but find a presence on a rating sites, for example, which could also use FBC to build a community that is tightly integrated with Facebook, with the same benefits.

In short, if you can't establish an effective presence on Facebook directly, it may not matter as long as you find a network which does work well for you which also supports Facebook Connect, so gives you access to the same audience.

Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ

By Adam Cohen (WPN reader) - Fri, 01/09/2009 - 21:31

The challenge of relevance

Chris - thank you for mentioning our study. I think many companies are taking social media more seriously and trying to figure out creative and relevant ways to leverage the various platforms to engage customers. Having a fan page out alone there doesn't do much, and neglecting a page after it's set up in Facebook also sends a strong message that the connections aren't important. It will be especially challenging for brands that aren't well loved to begin with, but they need the right strategy and guidance.
Thanks again Chris!

By Chris Crum - Mon, 01/12/2009 - 09:09