Social media has become a vital tool for businesses looking to connect with their audience and build brand awareness. Facebook, with its massive user base, has become a go-to platform for many companies. But with so much content vying for attention, how do successful brands stand out on the platform? In this article, we’ll examine some of the best brands on Facebook and explore the strategies they use to capture the attention of their audience and drive engagement.
Humble Beginnings
In 2006 Facebook allowed users outside of universities to join. By October of that year, the website already had 50 million users. One month later, the platform launched its advertising system. In an announcement, Mark Zuckerberg stated that Facebook Ads were “a completely new way of advertising online,” allowing marketers to be part of the conversation and utilise the social graph in the same way users do.
This marked the beginning of the age of social media marketing, with businesses around the world creating brand pages to engage with customers. Within the next six years, brands slowly but surely started to take this new communication channel more seriously.
One of the earliest notable campaigns was Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ initiative in 2012. This promotional effort included a Facebook advertisement encouraging users to create their personalised Coke cans and share virtual cans with friends. The marketing endeavour was highly successful, resulting in an 870% increase in traffic to the Facebook website and a 39% increase in fans of the Coca-Cola Facebook page.
Fast forward to the present day, and social media marketing is an integral part of our lives, with most brands worldwide having a presence on Facebook. The platform now offers marketers sophisticated tools for targeting and analysis, allowing businesses to reach specific audiences and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. With the vast number of Facebook users, social media marketing has become an essential component of any business’s overall marketing strategy.
While having a presence on Facebook is crucial for modern businesses, it’s not enough to guarantee success. Without a proper strategy, even the most recognisable brands may struggle to make an impact. This begs the question: what separates the brands that succeed on Facebook from those that don’t? Let’s dive into some of the factors that contribute to a successful Facebook marketing strategy.
Keeping Your Facebook Audience Engaged
In today’s world, having an online presence is crucial to the success of all businesses – both small and local, or international corporations. The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards e-commerce and online shopping, making establishing a strong digital footprint more important than ever. Product research is one reason why 76% of internet users access social media.
Mobile shopping is also on the rise, with Facebook users increasingly relying on their smartphones to discover and support local businesses and events. According to Facebook, 66% of users use mobile devices to search for and engage with businesses.
Creating engaging and entertaining content is an essential part of any successful Facebook strategy. To achieve this, businesses must focus on creating content that tells a story and resonates with their audience.
The art of storytelling is an age-old technique that has been used by humans for centuries to share experiences and connect. When applied to a brand’s social media presence, storytelling can help to build a connection with the audience and create a sense of community around the brand.
One of the critical aspects of effective storytelling on Facebook is being original and creative with your content. This can include videos, images, and written content that showcases the brand’s personality and values. Businesses should aim to create unique content, that stands out from the crowd, and captures the attention of their target audience. This can be achieved by using creative visuals, catchy headlines, and humorous or emotional elements.
Another important factor you’ll see in most interesting company pages on Facebook is being relatable and honest with your audience. People tend to connect more with brands that are authentic and transparent in their communications. This means avoiding industry jargon and instead using language that is easy to understand and accessible to everyone. It also means being open and honest about your brand’s values, successes, and challenges. Providing a peak ‘behind the scenes’ is also always a good idea.
To ensure that your content is engaging and resonates with your audience, it is important to use insights and analytics to your advantage. By tracking and analysing the performance of your content, you can identify what types of content are performing well and adjust your strategy accordingly. This might include using different formats (such as videos, images, and written content), trying out different topics or themes, or adjusting your posting schedule.
In addition, being responsive and engaging with fans daily is crucial for maintaining a strong Facebook presence. This means responding to comments and messages in a timely and friendly manner, as well as actively seeking out opportunities to engage with your audience. By doing so, you can foster a sense of community and loyalty around your brand, which can ultimately lead to increased sales and revenue.
Overall, creating engaging and entertaining content on Facebook is all about understanding your audience, being authentic and transparent in your communications, and using insights and analytics to fine-tune your approach. By following these principles, businesses can build a strong online presence and connect with their customers in a meaningful way.
Check our article on the basics of Facebook marketing, if you’d like to learn more.
10 Best Brand Profiles on Facebook to Inspire You
In this section, we highlight the 10 most successful brands on Facebook to inspire you to create a successful social media presence for your business. These brands have nailed the art of engaging storytelling, being relatable and honest, and utilising different content formats. Let’s dive in and see what makes these brands stand out.
1. Disney
With an audience of over 100 million on Facebook, Disney has a massive social media following. Disney’s emphasis on visually appealing and relatable content is a key factor in its Facebook success. Its posts attract an average of 115,792 likes, compared to the average brand-initiated post with only 571 likes.
Disney’s success on Facebook doesn’t just stop at its main brand page. The launch of their streaming service Disney+ has also been a major success, with over 100 million subscribers worldwide. Disney+ has a Facebook page with over 6 million followers, where the social media team continues to engage fans with bonus content, trending topics, and engaging posts. This level of engagement has led to a high level of customer loyalty and positive brand sentiment.
2. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, with its 57 million Facebook fans, is the second most popular brand on the platform. Although its engagement scores aren’t as high as other brands, its “buzz” score, which reflects the number of followers talking about the brand online, is one of the highest on Facebook.
What’s the secret to Coca-Cola’s success? It’s all about storytelling. Instead of controlling conversations, the brand encourages fans to share their stories and express their love for the brand, which plays a key role in their lives. By joining these conversations and posing questions to fans, Coca-Cola creates an environment that fosters engagement and drives up its buzz score.
3. Red Bull
Red Bull’s Facebook success lies in its strategy of positioning itself as a lifestyle brand that is all about adventure and excitement. With an engaged audience of around 39 million fans, Red Bull posts bold, visually compelling content that regularly garners thousands of likes, comments, and shares. The brand’s Facebook page is less about promoting Red Bull products and more about showcasing adventure sports like snowboarding and mud biking, capturing audiences’ attention and keeping them coming back for more.
4. Nike
Nike’s Facebook page is a prime example of effective branding and advertising strategies. With a strong emphasis on sports and athletes, Nike has successfully cultivated a community of young and old audiences. Unlike other brands that oversaturate newsfeeds with product content, Nike showcases their products alongside charitable initiatives and highlights the humanity behind their brand. This inclusive and universal approach has established a strong brand image that resonates with audiences and sets Nike apart as a top Facebook presence.
5. Zara Home
Zara Home’s Facebook page is a great example of how a brand can create an aspirational image for its products on social media. The high-quality photos and lifestyle shots provide an editorial feel that makes users want to be a part of the brand’s world. The use of videos and slideshow content is also a great way to showcase products in an engaging way that can drive interest and sales. Overall, Zara Home’s Facebook strategy is a great example of how a brand can create a strong and aspirational image that encourages users to engage with the brand and its products.
6. GoPro
GoPro has over 10 million Facebook followers and engages its audience with a unique marketing strategy. Rather than posting photos of its high-quality action cameras, GoPro markets by posting videos of its customers’ lifestyles. The brand’s Facebook page is exciting and fun, inviting users to become a part of the adventure and experience a short but captivating journey with the brand. By using the limited time to convey messages effectively, GoPro sparks curiosity and leads users to explore more of what the brand has to offer.
7. Tasty
Tasty, owned by BuzzFeed, has become a household name on Facebook for its engaging videos showcasing quick and easy recipes. What sets Tasty apart is its understanding of the user experience on Facebook. The videos are designed to be visually appealing and do not require audio to be engaging. This means users can easily engage with their content even while scrolling through their news feed without audio. Tasty’s focus on creating an exceptional user experience has been a major factor in its success on Facebook.
8. National Geographic
National Geographic has over 46 million likes and has consistently ranked as the number one brand on social media in the US. They are known for being the world’s leading multimedia destination for science, exploration, and adventure stories. One area where they excel on Facebook is real-time audience engagement, demonstrated by their “Safari Live” series. During these broadcasts, National Geographic scientists and photographers engage with viewers in real time through comments and questions, creating an unforgettable experience and initiating conversations among its Facebook audience.
9. Netflix
Netflix, with 63 million likes, is a global streaming giant that provides exclusive content to millions of subscribers. Its social media strategy on Facebook is remarkable, as it creates value for its fans by delivering exclusive content. For example, the “13 Stories” video series features actors from popular Netflix shows answering 13 different questions while climbing 13 stories of stairs at Netflix’s headquarters. Each video has an average of 300,000 to 800,000 views and is not available on Netflix. By offering exclusive content, Netflix gives fans an added incentive to engage with the brand on Facebook.
10. Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut has mastered Facebook marketing by understanding how they fit into its audience’s lifestyle. They post at the optimal times and create reactive content, while also catering to different demographics. From family meal ideas to event catering, they cover all types of purchasing decisions that affect their consumers.
Their content is lighthearted, and the signature red branding is consistent across all posts. They also encourage engagement through interactive posts and user-generated content. By timing its posts perfectly, Pizza Hut ensures that its name and logo appear in its audience’s Facebook feeds when they are most likely to want to use the brand.
Want to Improve Your Facebook Game Further?
Marketers who want to stay ahead of the curve in terms of customer engagement on Facebook should use tools powered by artificial intelligence.
AI social listening can monitor conversations, and track or even understand and interpret the mentions of your brand, allowing you to stay in touch with your audience’s needs and expectations. Messaging automation via chatbots can help you streamline your customer service and engagement efforts, allowing you to respond to customers quickly and efficiently.
These futuristic tools give you a significant advantage over your competitors, allowing you to create a more personalised and engaging experience for your customers on Facebook. If you want to know more, take a look at our Social Media Strategy Guide! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take your Facebook engagement strategy to the next level!
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