Earlier in the year, Facebook revealed that about 6% of its community is made up of fake accounts. This comes to about 54 million accounts on Facebook that are fake. So, at a time when ‘likes’ on Facebook are treated like currency by many brands around the world; what does this information do to the state of social media marketing?
At present, a lot of multi-million pound companies as well as SMEs invest a lot of time and resources into creating and maintaining their social media profiles as well as communicating with their online communities. To say all of this has been done in vein is way off the mark and grossly inaccurate, however, one does have to appreciate that malware creators and computer programmes are making it more difficult to gather pin point accurate readings of engagement through social media sites like Facebook.
Last year Facebook made a modest profit of $1bn, which despite being a massive figure, is relatively small compared to the potential returns they could be gaining considering the amount of information they have on their users. The decision this year to float Facebook on the New York stock exchange has meant that the influence that shareholders now have will result in advertising playing a larger role in Facebook’s progression.
When a user likes a page, they are essentially becoming a member of an online community of fans and in many cases, brand ambassadors. For example, the Facebook group for the Lexus brand has over 1 million ‘likes’, and in theory these people are users who identify with and enjoy the Lexus brand. From this, Lexus will have an idea of how engaging their content is and judge the size of their online community as a performance indicator for their social media marketing efforts.
However, with the news that 6% of Facebook users are fake accounts, this throws many companies off balance in terms of comprehending how reliable Facebook is for judging the success of their social media presence. Facebook has tried to play down the story, however, seeing as they can only benefit from clicks and likes regardless of authenticity; that can only be expected.
We will wait to see what kind of backlash if any this new information will have on the way companies market themselves on Facebook. More than likely, this will be a pill most organisations swallow as the benefits that social media offer are too valuable to distance themselves from.
GoldSand Digital supports the notion that online marketing is about executing a strategy, not just relying on one social media channel or digital tool. Great content is crucial, and this is the first step to building profile and driving quality traffic. Call the GoldSand Digital team on 020 7269 9885 or email info@goldsanddigital.com to discuss your online marketing strategy.
Pic – Flickr