How do you Leverage your Personal Data on Facebook?

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Sometimes it’s the little things that really can drive a point home. Take for example a small conversation I had-actually it was an exchange of about 2-3 tweets between myself and Adam Cohen of Rosetta that occurred late Friday afternoon. It started with this:

It is a good post in Adweek about how food marketers  are trying a new approach when it comes to winning followers on Facebook by using online coupons and incentives that grow in value as more consumers “like” a brand on Facebook.

It’s sort of a Groupon approach but with a twist.

My tweet back to Adam after reading it was that, “Isn’t that really why people/consumers- fan/friend/like a Co.? Hoping for what they might get on the backend? Not always but..” My point to Adam being that Facebook friending, following, or liking a brand is all predicated not necessarily on brand devotion and loyalty, but more on what might that person “get.”-In the form of an offer, a coupon, a special, some swag, some recognition, some money, a job etc. etc. The “whats in it for me syndrome…”

I’ll like you as long as you kick me some…

There’s nothing wrong with that except when marketers and thought leaders want to paint the consumer following the brand on Facebook as an “Uber brand loyalist”- as something more pure than what I have just mentioned. But leave it to Adam to add a layer of levity to this though:

Great point. A value exchange. One to one. His point, the value of the consumers data in exchange for what you have as a brand. A trust level and brand affinity developed through traditional channels which can now be taken online into Facebook where the relationship can be deepened and enhanced. My value for yours…

In actuality, it’s still a “what’s in it for me” yo type situation but you, the consumer, really have an advantage, you just don’t know it.

Your takeaway? Value what you have as a consumer( your data) and leverage it-understand how important your data is to the brands that you like. How could you leverage your affinity to the brands you like online? Who’s benefiting the most from the brands that you follow or like? Is it a one off for them? For you?

4 thoughts on “How do you Leverage your Personal Data on Facebook?”

  1. I think consumers look at this the other way as well – what will I NOT get out of this – i.e. will I be hounded by annoying spam – in which case, it’s not worth ‘linking’ or ‘friending’ a brand

  2. Marc – Great post and love how a small twitter conversation expanded into a bigger one. I think the value exchange statement has lots of different permutations in relationship marketing. There are also different thresholds – a consumer may easily “like” a brand on Facebook – yet filling out a form with name/address/email is a bit more of a commitment. With each there is a certain level of value exchange and different expectation on the return.

    I also think there is room for more dialogue around the event – “liking” a brand on Facebook is different than staying a fan, which is different than interacting with content, which is different than engaging with the content and sharing it with a social graph. On the flip side, the value provided to the consumer could scale from simply the consumer having the ability to express herself by being a fan, to providing a discount, to providing engaging content. Big brands with a natural affinity may have a head start because the barrier to “likes” is lower.

    At any rate – lots of ways to take this discussion and thanks for evolving it more here.

  3. @Adam, I think you’re onto something-the many stages of brand engagement on Facebook-like Mazlows hierarchy- I’ll help you put it together…:)

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