Blog: Facebook inexpensive yet powerful marketing tool

ALBANY, N.Y. — The cost of acquiring a Facebook “liker?" Less than 13 cents per fan, according to a Media Logic blog entry posted last week. At least that’s what retailer Kirkland's spent in its pursuit of more than 200,000 Facebook surfers who opted-in on the Kirkland's page. And because the act of a Facebook user “liking” a page is posted on that person’s newsfeed, it fast becomes a case of “if you tell two friends and they each in turn tell two friends ...”

According to the blog, penned by Media Logic’s EVP and executive creative director Ronald Ladouceur, there are a number of retail brands that recently have eclipsed the 1 million “likes” bar. “New members of this no-longer-exclusive club include Tommy Hilfiger, Foot Locker, Build-a-Bear Workshop, Walgreens and Bass Pro Shops — with Party City and Cabela’s crossing the line after this survey’s close,” Ladouceur wrote. Walmart recently added 1.6 million Facebook fans on its way to 5 million “likes.”

The fact is Facebook is heating up retail aisles. “Twelve retailers saw better than 40% growth from mid-March to mid-May, led by Kirkland's and its ‘Cha-Ching’ sweepstakes, which drove an incredible 280% liker spike,” Ladouceur reported.

According to a recent Drug Store News report on Walmart’s annual shareholder meeting, Walmart is aggressively seeking to win over what they define as the “next-generation” consumer. "They’re connected to the world through smartphones and social media,” Walmart CEO Mike Duke told attendees. “They’re in charge of when they shop and how they shop. And believe me, they know who has the lowest prices.”

Walgreens similarly is pursuing a multichannel strategy, as outlined in a Drug Store News story in the May 30 issue.

To check out the complete Media Logic blog (and a chart on the latest Facebook “liking” trends), click here.