Some brands will love the new Facebook

It’s been a month, time for me to play, learn, and adjust to the new Facebook. So, here are some general notes:

On the individual level, it’s awesome. I’m a sometimes user of Facebook, I don’t add pictures, or comment very much, but when I do, people seem to come out of the woodwork to comment back. I had a really entertaining conversation about the handicapped toilet — ie, should able-bodied people use it. But I digress.

Image via Wikipedia

That conversation got me thinking about some of the pages we run for clients. If a question on my own profile created conversation, what about a question (or comment) from a brand?

Thus began the experiment on Wednesday of last week. We started posting absurd, leading, inquisitive comments and statements on Facebook. the kinds of things that we reserved for Twitter, or internal IM’s.

The Results, so far:

At the beginning of the experiment, the page had 18,000 fans, picked up over the course of the 5 months. Since Wednesday, we’ve added almost 3,000 fans, we’ve averaged 60 comments a day, and activity on the page is at an all-time high.

This is a quote we got: “You’re like a person, it’s great”.

And there it is. Facebook let us add personality to the page. Not as me, but as the brand. So as long as we stay in voice in representing the brand, we’ll continue to add personality to it. Literally make the brand feel like a person.

Who people are friends with.

Which suggests the following: when faced with a purchase decision, is one more likely to pick their friend?

In conclusion: Facebook is new, but the marketing theory isn’t. Offer customers something, and they will thank you. That’s not a Facebook or a new media, or a social media tenet, that’s a marketing one.

The more a brand puts in, the more a brand will get out.

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