In any event, Facebook has taken some time out to recognize brands that are doing exceptionally well at engaging with fans through their Pages. Yesterday, the company debuted what they’re calling the “Blue Ribbon Award,” which “honors the top most creative and innovative campaigns and most engaging Pages each month.” And the inaugural winners are names you’ve most likely heard of: Starbucks, Vitamin Water, and H&M.
How were these companies selected? Facebook writes that they “looked at the most popular pages by fan count and then looked at interactions of the fans with the Page ratio (defined as comments, likes).” We also can’t help but note that all of these companies have either purchased ads on Facebook, or promoted their Page heavily elsewhere.
For example, Starbucks has integrated Facebook into some of its recent offline marketing efforts, while Vitamin Water took out full page ads on ESPN.com to promote their Kobe vs LeBron campaign. Meanwhile, Facebook notes that H&M has been “[taking] advantage of all of the newest Engagement Ads, including Become a Fan, Polling, and Event RSVPs, targeted at national and local markets.” In other words, advertising on Facebook.
Recognizing brands that are doing a good job at marketing on Facebook is smart. It will give other marketers ideas on how to improve their own performance, as well as inspire them to spend money with the social network. However, one concern, as with the current uncertainly surrounding vanity URLs, is what Facebook will do to help smaller companies utilize its platform. Hopefully, Facebook will offer up similar case studies on small businesses, so those without huge marketing budgets can learn how to best utilize the platform for engaging with potential customers in their locale.
Additional Facebook Resources