Fan pages and engagement content can provide meaningful market research and shifts in marketing strategy.
For those who fall within the 45-54 or 55-64 + demographic segments, the word “faces” might summon memories of the awesome guitar rhythms and vocals of the early 70’s band Faces that included Ron Wood (now of Rolling Stones fame), and perennial crooner Rod Stewart. Some might even hum a few bars of their hit song “Stay with Me.” Those in the 45 and under crowd seeing the word “Faces” are more likely to think of Facebook, the most famous harbor for millions of faces, where just about everybody now goes at least twice a day.
Now that there are over 500 million users on Facebook, or a whopping 22% of all internet users, there’s a lot that can be gleaned from the faces on this platform. Since the earliest marketers began trying to segment populations in order to make efficient use of their budgets, the task has been to try to envision the end user, and lump them into logical groups for targeting purposes.
PM Digital recently launched an enormously successful contest on behalf of a leading client. Because the contest was created with a very astute understanding of the fan’s appetite for their product, over 25% of the total fan base participated. The contestants submitted head-to-toe photographs of themselves, which made it easy to do a quick demographic and psychographic assessment.
The client got to see what kind of cars they drove; their family composition (lots of wedding and father/daughter prom pictures) and even where some of the folks worked, because the fans took liberties to choose such locales as backdrops for their personal imagery.
The lines on their faces as well as their fashionably draped, yet somewhat expanded waistbands revealed a different customer profile than all the data that had thus far been compiled might have indicated. The ethnic mix and age so obvious in the pictures revealed a more complex and expansive prospect base than could be seen solely by working through list brokers, key word generators and advertising professionals
Did these faces reveal that everything the client thought they knew about their client base was wrong? Absolutely not. But the photos pointed to alternate audience segments, and cast a whole new light on some of the brand’s most dedicated and enthusiastic fans and influencers.
