Neolane Analyzes Effectiveness of Facebook for Marketers

Conversational Marketing Provider Analyzes 150 Facebook Page Tab Applications and Websites using Facebook Login in the United States and Europe

NEWTON, Mass. & TWICKENHAM, United Kingdom – Conversational marketing technology provider Neolane announced the results of two studies aimed at exploring how marketers leverage Facebook. The first analyzed page tab applications of the 150 most popular Facebook brand pages in the United States, United Kingdom and France to understand how they are using social opt-in capabilities. The second looked at a sample of 150 leading websites in the same regions to determine how they are implementing Facebook Login, Facebook’s social sign-on solution. As marketers aim to drive conversational marketing efforts, they are hungry for insight into how to effectively leverage social media like Facebook to capture and enrich customer data and ultimately increase customer engagement across communication channels.

“While brands continue to employ strategies to engage their community of fans, our analysis reveals that they’re also increasingly leveraging Facebook to capture and enrich customer data. With consumer expectations for relevant, personalized experiences rising, marketers can’t afford to ignore this still largely untapped goldmine.”

In the first study, Neolane explored how 150 leading brands in the U.S., U.K. and France are utilizing social opt-in capabilities with their Facebook page tab apps. A social opt-in is a mechanism where certain Facebook profile information is required in exchange for access to a Facebook application, such as a game, contest, survey, or access to exclusive content/deals. Often, the social opt-in will also capture opt-ins for other channels, such as email. Across the board, about one in four Facebook brand pages have an app requiring a social opt-in, with France leading the pack (28 percent) followed by the U.S. (24 percent) and U.K. (19 percent).

Additional findings from Neolane’s analysis include:

  • Most Requested Data: Overall, the top three pieces of data requested by Facebook page tab apps are email, birthday and likes. Email address dominated, with percentage of apps requesting it varying from 50 percent in the U.K. to 62 percent in the U.S. to 70 percent in France. Interestingly, 20 percent of Facebook page tab apps worldwide require no data, which means that many marketers are missing out on opportunities to enrich their customer databases with valuable insight into consumer interests and behavior.
  • Most Popular Apps: Service apps, contests and games are the most popular apps on Facebook today. Games ranked first in the U.S. (44 percent) and France (39 percent) and second in the U.K. (16 percent), while services dominated in the U.K. (41 percent) and ranked second in the U.S. (19 percent) and third in France (17 percent). Within each region, there existed certain specialties, such as free content in the U.S. and fan gating in France.
  • Leading Industries: Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies clearly use social opt-in the most, with the industry ranking first in France (35 percent) and the U.S. (17 percent) and third in the U.K. (14 percent). Sports, music and television are the next top users of social opt-in with their Facebook page tab apps.

View the full report of Neolane’s analysis of Facebook page tab applications and social opt-in usage: http://www.neolane.com/usa/resources/ebooks/facebook-app-analysis-ebook

The second study evaluated the usage of Facebook Login (formerly Facebook Connect) on 150 leading websites in the U.S., U.K. and France. The social sign-on solution allows visitors to log into websites or to complete forms in just a few clicks, using their previously registered Facebook credentials. Facebook Login is increasingly implemented on websites because consumers can log in easily and brands get fresh, reliable data that they can use to better understand their customers and deliver more personalized interactions across channels.

Three main results from Neolane’s analysis of Facebook Login usage include:

  • High Volumes: The volumes of monthly active users (MAUs), those who grant access to their Facebook profile information, are range between 28,000 and 70,000, depending on industries. Websites in the media, entertainment, sports and e-commerce industries drive the largest user volumes, having twice as many users than other sectors with roughly 50,000 MAUs.
  • Only Basic Data Requested: While the top three most requested pieces of information are email address, birthday and location, “likes” or interests declared on Facebook are rarely requested, with only 17 percent of the sample. Overall, brands appear to be focusing on access to basic information, which suggests they are missing opportunities to capture high-value data that can be used to personalize user experiences across channels.
  • Certain Sectors Prevail: Facebook Login is very common today on media & entertainment (54 percent of the sample) and e-commerce & retail websites (19 percent). It is much less common on other websites, despite having huge potential across the board to minimize friction in registration/signup processes.

View the full report of Neolane’s analysis of Facebook Login usage: http://www.slideshare.net/Neolane/analysis-of-150-websites-using-facebook-login

“With 1.1 billion users actively sharing details spanning all aspects of their lives, Facebook is perhaps the largest, richest and most accurate database ever,” said Stéphane Dehoche, president and CEO, Neolane. “While brands continue to employ strategies to engage their community of fans, our analysis reveals that they’re also increasingly leveraging Facebook to capture and enrich customer data. With consumer expectations for relevant, personalized experiences rising, marketers can’t afford to ignore this still largely untapped goldmine.”

About Neolane

Neolane provides the only conversational marketing technology that empowers organizations to build and sustain one-to-one lifetime dialogues, dramatically increasing revenue and marketing efficiency. Born digital, with best-in-class email and inbound-outbound channel fusion capabilities architected into a single code-based platform, marketers achieve results in record time. Neolane is easy to use for both power and casual users, but powerful enough to drive the most sophisticated marketing strategies. Future proof, Neolane has a track record of enabling its customers to adapt to new customer engagement challenges and exploit opportunities more quickly than their competition. Neolane is used by more than 400 of the world’s leading companies including Alcatel Lucent, barnesandnoble.com, Sears Canada, Sephora Europe and Sony Music. Visit www.neolane.com and read our blog The Cross-Channel Conversation.