Facebook fun can also equal profits

It seems like every business is rushing to build a Facebook Page.  But once they get it built — they’re not too sure what to do with it.

  1. Many just ignore it, publishing once a week or less
  2. Some use it as a sales channel — pushing out deals and wondering why people are ignoring them
  3. Others share the same links that they share on Twitter

But very few organizations actually have a good time on their page.  They don’t trigger conversations with their fans and they sure don’t turn their page over to their customers. But the folks at PostCardMania.com decided to have some fun with their fans.

Early this year, they were trying to come up with some ways to get more of their customers to like their Facebook page.   Their CMO was out doing some shopping (every great idea is not born in a brainstorming session!) and spotted those wax lips and wax mustaches that they sell in the candy section. She bought some and took them back to the office.

She was able to convince her CEO that it would be fun to send the lips and mustaches out to a list of customers who had not placed an order within a year as part of a Valentine’s Day effort.  In the package was the request that they take a picture of themselves wearing the lips or mustache and post it on the PostCardMania Facebook page wall.  Everyone who posted a photo would also get a free book written by the CEO.

500 packages were sent out. They increased their likes by about 50 people and had 20 or so clients add their photos to the wall. They also connected with their customers in a very personal, memorable way that generated a lot of goodwill.

On top of that — within 4-5 days of receiving the package — that list of customers placed over $120,000 worth of orders.

Here’s the takeaways for us in this little case study:

  • They never mentioned postcard or direct mail in their communication
  • They didn’t put together a long list of rules about what kinds of photos could be posted or who had to be in the photo, etc. They just opened the doors
  • There was no coupon, QR code or any sort of offer in the package

This is a great example of creating a love affair with your customer.  PostCardMania simply reached out with something fun and invited their customers to take part.  There was no hype, spin or sell.  They just were having some fun and voila — they sold $120K worth of stuff.

Delight your audience and watch what happens.  I dare you.

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3 comments on “Facebook fun can also equal profits

  1. This is probably the most creative marketing strategy I’ve heard in a while, but I think PostCardMania.com was probably on the right track all along. The problem with a lot of companies and social media is that they just tack it on. They sign up, create a page, and then — like you said — forget about it or use it ineffectively. That’s because they don’t integrate their social media strategy into their value proposition — or, worse yet, they don’t even have a social media strategy.

    PostCardMania.com not only came up with a creative way to engage customers — it fell in line with their company’s persona. “Hey – we’re a fun company – have fun with us!”

    The lesson here is — once again — that social media strategy must be fully integrated into the personality and purpose of your company.

    Great story– thanks for sharing!

  2. Jake Hulbert says:

    Great post. There’s a lot of buzz out there about customer engagement, but the engagement usually has strings attached, ie here’s a coupon, here’s our call to action.

    Real customer engagement is about them not you. Yes, eventually you have to come around to the sale, but it certainly doesn’t have to be the immediate goal. Not if you want true brand loyalty.

  3. Very creative marketing which obviously paid off. You’re right…most Facebook pages out there were created on the “me too” principle and don’t really offer much value to the visitor.

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