Or
What do banks, realtors, accountants, law firms and your mother in-law have in common?
The answer – you don’t want to join their Facebook Fan page!
Hold on - before you start accusing me of being socially-media incompetent, hear me out. I am not a hermit, I do have friends, and some of them are even real. I even admire some people. But only for a very small select group of people (such as Michael Jordan and Sting), would I ever consider to be a devoted fan.
The dictionary defines fan as “an ardent devotee; an enthusiast which is short for fanatic”. When Facebook designed the “fan” page functionality , they probably had in mind a nifty little feature designed to help their ongoing battle with MySpace, which had experienced great success among artists and musicians. I cannot imagine they envisioned scenarios that included banks, accountants and furniture stores. Their attempt later to correct this with an “official page” and “community page” just proves my point.
Fan worthy example
There is pressure on marketers to create fan pages for their brands today even if their gut feeling tells them there is no added value to do so. I feel the pressure from clients and I want to speak out before the sh*t hits the (Facebook) fan.
What is so wrong with “fanning” your CPA – after all, the guy got you a nice rebate last year? Well, it’s a bit like running into him at the pool. Without his suit and pocket protector, as he stands there toweling himself off and his wife smears Coppertone onto his back, you are standing there thinking, “This guy is incredibly white and out of shape, and now that’s what’s stuck in my head – not his great tax planning skills.” You realize that you were no not supposed to see each other like this
Next time, when you debate whether your brand should have a fan page or not here are some suggested guidelines to consider:
Does your brand have real fans, or at least enthusiasts that can get excited about your stuff? If you are a Coke, Apple, Gap, Carlos Santana or Green Peace, the answer is easy. However, if you are a mortgage bank during a recession or a mother-in-law or a jewelry store – think twice. There are many other platforms suitable for this type of activity such as Linkedin and Linkedin Groups, professional forums and cafes.
Here are some good examples for appropriate Fan pages:
I thought this fan page is “sponge worthy !”
Well that’s a no brainer
Just trying to plug my favorite musician
