Facebook, A Whimsical Place

Before you start a marketing campaign on Facebook, consider this: Facebook is not a place where serious activities occur.

Proof It's Whimsical
Just look at the activities that users engage in.

Users join groups and fan pages like:

• Why do we need Algebra?  Finding X is only useful if you are a pirate.
• When I was your age, we had to blow on video games to make them work.
• I Join Too Many Groups Because Their Names Make me say.. "OMG, THATS TRUE!" 

 Games are one of the most popular activity

• FarmVille 76,000,000 active users
• FishVille 25,000,000 active users

 Status updates that have gone viral

• Girls simply posted a color as their status.  It was supposed to be a secret just among girls that they were posting the color of bra that they were currently wearing.
• Doppelganger - People switched their regular profile pic with a picture of a celebrity that they have been told they look like.
• One of the most viral campaigns on Facebook was the Whopper.  If you deleted 10 friends from Facebook, you would get a free Whopper.

Users on Facebook aren't there to engage in any serious activities.  They are there to:

• Unwind and blow of steam.
• Get away from the routine/burden of daily life.
• Relax and have a little fun.
• Interact with friends.

What does this mean for Marketing?
You can't market anything serious on Facebook.  Its not the place.  People don't want to engage in serious, important activities on Facebook. They will therefore ignore any marketing that doesn't fit in with their whimsical Facebook routine.  Its the reason ads are greatly if not completely ignored on Facebook.  The only ones that get any attention are the ones that advertise games like FarmVille.  But that's what people are there for.

If someone is unwinding on Facebook by playing a game about Fish, do you really think the want to have to think about something as serious a Insurance? NO!

There seem to be a few exceptions to this rule.  About the only one I can think of is Good Causes.  People are willing to participate in a good cause on Facebook as long as its is a legitimate cause and doesn't require much from them.

Everybody wants to have a Facebook campaign because that's where all of the people are.  The truth is, most people, while on Facebook are not in the right frame of mind to be marketed and advertised to in a serious way.  That doesn't mean that those exact same people won't be open to marketing somewhere else, just not on Facebook.  This is not meant to discourage people from creating a Facebook campaign.  It just means you have to consider how you are approaching the users on Facebook with your campaign.