Using Facebook Fans to Improve Automotive Marketing

Razorfish’s automotive-focused Headlight Blog recently featured a post by Rapleaf’s Nathan Scripps on how manufacturers are currently engaging fans on Facebook. Here’s a preview of the post:

Does a high fan count equal success?
It’s no surprise that lots of people feel strongly about their favorite automotive brands and show their allegiance to those brands by flocking to automakers’ Facebook Fan Pages. Consider the high fan counts for some of the best-known automaker Fan Pages: As of Jan. 22, 2010, I found an average of nearly 111,000 fans across 33 OEM Fan Pages, which is pretty amazing considering the average fan count across all Facebook Fan Pages is only 4,600. Even for the 24 OEM Fan Pages with fewer than 111,000 fans, the average was just shy of 30,000 while the nine above-average pages weigh in closer to 330,000 fans each. The top five, in descending order, were Porsche, BMW, Audi, Jeep and Volkswagen.

However, high fan count alone is a poor measure of Facebook Fan Page success. Yes, the total fan count is the equivalent of reach, but the message you put out to that audience and the interactions and insights you pull back will determine the real Fan Page winners. Also, you are not limited to your own fans as a source for strategic insights; automotive marketers who learn to leverage other pages have a chance to really pull ahead.

Read the whole article on Headlight Blog here

Related posts:

1. Rapleaf Webinar 11/19/09: Social Media Research Driving Automotive Marketing
2. Facebook Fan Page and Twitter Follower Analysis and Insight
3. Rapleaf Webinar 1/21/2010: What Facebook Doesn’t Tell You About Your Fans
4. Facebook Fan Page Analysis: The iPad (x3)
5. Rapleaf Study on Social Network Users: Sports fans are friendly and women love hockey