A Facebook “Like” and Beyond

Catching up on the neighborhood gossip when out for a morning jog around the park; raising a storm over a hot cuppa at the local coffee shop; or meeting up with old friends over a frothing mug at the pub while returning home from work—this is how people met in days not too long ago. But now the new meeting places are the social networking sites. And with more than 700 status updates now being posted every second, Facebook is a bustling bazaar. It is thus not surprising that marketers are playing out their strategies on Facebook.

The ubiquitous “like” on Facebook is as important to a business owner as closing a deal. But nowadays, businesses are thinking beyond the “like” and striving to devise ploys to engage and mobilize their audiences and excite and incite them to act in the real world. Profit-making motives are not the sole motivating factors behind these initiatives; in fact, businesses are mostly driven by their desire to connect with their existing customers in a humane way.

The following are some instances where business owners have engaged and mobilized their Facebook followers in ingenious ways and spurred them to action:

• Kohl’s engages local communities to restore schools. As part of the 10^th anniversary plans for their “Kohl’s Care” for Kids program, Kohl’s decided to convene their millions of followers scattered across various geographical communities for a cause—raise USD 10 million for 20 deserving schools. They mobilized not only students but also parents and schools to support their program and vote for the school they would love to see prosper.

This immensely popular drive had astounding results—the Kohl’s vote bank drew about 12 million votes and the fan page was flooded with about 400 posts every day.

• Kraft mobilizes fans to fight hunger. Kraft came up with a novel idea to egg their Facebook fans for a noble cause. Their “Fight Hunger Facebook Game” tapped onto a popular theme—football—to raise awareness about hunger and get millions involved in the cause to fight the menace. As more and more people got hooked to the game, Kraft donated more and more meals to Feeding America.

This drive has seen Kraft donating about 220,000 meals. The numbers are increasing by the day!

• Skittles gets together fans to fund education. Skittles launched their “Scholarship the Rainbow” drive where every “like” on their fan page generated some amount of money that went on to fund a student’s stint at the bowling college. The drive ultimately garnered USD 10,000, from a staggering 150,000 likes.

These instances only go on to prove that businesses perceive Facebook and also other social networking media as much more than mere marketing tools. In fact, they have readily recognized the human face of Facebook and its immense potential in mobilizing people for a cause.

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Tags: Facebook, Online Communities, social, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, social networks