Why do you use Facebook? Initially, I used it to keep in touch with customers of BabyLegs and business associates. These days I also use it, as most do, to re-connect with old friends and keep track of new ones. I just read an article recently published on www.mashable.com highlighting a study by Chadwich Marin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies that found consumers are 67% more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter and 51% more likely to buy from a brand on Facebook. Of course!
The months before I had my daughter, Sara I asked every “experienced” parent I knew about the different baby products they used. I sought the advice of my fellow mom friends on everything from baby carriers to cloth diapering. I trusted them to give me the answers. These women were part of my “inner circle” of moms. We were linked by the common bonds of motherhood; pre-natal swim class and walks through the dog park, ah the good old days. We shared meaningful core values. (Chapter 1, page 21, “How do I define my personal values?”) Because of this, I almost instantly trusted whatever advice or information they had to offer.
If you are a subscriber to Facebook (And let’s be honest…who isn’t these days?) Then you’ve noticed the collection of “fan pages” on individual profile pages. You can become a fan of anything. From “Bacon” and “Thunderstorms” to more tangible things like favorite bands and BigRuby. But more and more, people are identifying themselves by becoming “fans” of actual products. And what this latest study uncovered is that there would seem to be a link between the things we publicly say we like and the things we plunk down actual dollars for.
Why? Because we identify ourselves through the brands we choose. We don’t just like our favorite cookies or baby joggers, we love them. And we just know that our friends will love them too. Introducing a product via Facebook is akin to introducing it into your inner circle. And as we pass around this new product with our friends, we humanize it, we connect with it. The product becomes an emblem of our values and of ourselves. That is the power of knowing what you stand for and proclaiming it socially.