The Kind of Brands that Work on Facebook

May 18th, 2008 · · Social Media No comments

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I was at a conference the other week, and I heard some marketers from the major banks complaining that their investment in Facebook was not a success, since they have brands that are not appealing with the social media crowd.

I found the opposite while I was creating a campaign for Getoutside shoes, a Toronto Queen West retailer who also has an online store. This campaign has gotten far better click-through results than targeted display ads and we have had the luxury of targeting ads only to Toronto residents. Design for these ads was provided by JAR Creative.

While companies like the big banks have a hard time on Facebook, I think stores with a little street cred such as Getoutside, one of the last independent retailers on Queen Street West (I shuddered when I saw a Payless going up down the street) have a distinct advantage. To increase results even more with brand recognition, I featured shoes on each of the ads, such as this Converse and Keds. Featuring distinct brands also speaks to Getoutside’s competitive advantage – which is wide selection.

As I have been managing the campaign, I have followed a few principles:

- Change up the ads every 2 weeks- 1 month. This helps keep them fresh since some of the same users are seeing the same ads, and it keeps it seasonal (for example, the Hunter ad was shown in the spring).

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- Target women’s shoes to the women and men’s shoes to men. This can also be done with age-groups (such as Birkenstocks appealing to older women).

- Target only an age-group that is relevant.

- Since people clicking on the ads were likely interested in the shoe that was featured, make the ads go directly to a page featuring the shoes of that brand.

As said above – a cool brand like Getoutside and the brands that it sells makes it a very logical fit for Facebook ads. Adding the local dimension with geographical targeting makes Facebook a very good medium for a local retailer. So while large established but not necessarily well-loved brands are struggling in the age of social media, well-loved brands such as Getoutside shine.