As the Facebook IPO Roadshow shifts into high gear, it seems relevant to consider exactly what value Facebook can offer your brand and business. While the addition of Instagram and Glancee has done much to sure up their mobile capacities (as yet only in perception), the core business opportunities cannot be underestimated.
The roster of sales and marketing services can be broken out into the following categories:
– F-Stores (E-commerce stores where customers buy real goods with real currency inside Facebook)
– Facebook Credits (Currency for games and in-app virtual goods)
– Facebook Social Plug Ins (‘Like,’ ‘Share,’ ‘Recommend’ services/products)
– Facebook Places & Location Tab (integrating online and in-store experience through rewards)
– Facebook Open Graph (shopping ‘verbs’ and ‘nouns’ being shared through Timeline, Ticker, and News Feeds)
– Facebook Mobile Platform (Social shopping through Notifications, Requests, Timeline and News Feed on app)
– Facebook Ads & Sponsored/Featured Stories (Drive awareness, engagement and purchases)
Seen together, it’s clear that Facebook is creating a self-contained F, E, and M-commerce ecosystem that will become increasingly important to brands because that’s where their customers are. More than that, the social network is demonstrating a wide return on investments specific to very different business goals. Here are some examples:
– Facebook is already a viable retail platform: The top 3 brands on Facebook (by fans) all sell directly on Facebook – Coca-Cola (41m), Starbucks (29m) and Disney (35m).
– Facebook customers spend money: 1.5x: Facebook users spend 1.5x more online that other Internet users.
– Facebook drives e-commerce: 6.5%: click-through rates on Facebook walls are 6.5%.
-Facebook is where you customers are: Nine in Ten: Proportion of US social network users who use Facebook.
– Facebook drives word of mouth sales: Media value generated by the average Facebook fan is $3.60/year.
– Facebook drives loyalty: 117%: the additional amount a fan will spend on a brand compared to a non-fan.
– F Commerce is accelerating: 76% of retailers plan to use Facebook for ‘social commerce’ initiatives.
– F-comerce is future-proof: 200+ million: Facebook users accessing the utility through their mobile devices.
The net result is that the platform commands an enviable leadership position over social commerce (and for even more ROI case studies, click here). So much so, that Mike Fauscette, an analyst at IDC Consulting stated, ‘In three to five years, 10 percent to 15 percent of total consumer spending in developed countries may go through sites such as Facebook”, while Sumeet Jain, Principal at CMEA Capital states, “It’s a matter of time—within the next five or so years—before more business will be done on Facebook than Amazon.”
So whether or not Facebook cracks the $100 billion valuation on May 18th, its value to your customers, brand, and business success is undeniable.