Does Your Brand Have the ‘F’ Factor?

Posted on | April 23, 2011 |

According to Trendwatching.com, consumers are increasingly tapping into their networks of friends, fans, and followers, to discover, discuss and purchase goods and services, in ever-more sophisticated ways. As a result, it’s never been more important for brands to make sure they too have the F-FACTOR.

From the report — a couple of brand-related, F-FACTOR statistics:

•    Three quarters of Facebook users have ‘Liked’ a brand. (Source: AdAge/ Ipsos, February 2011)
•    Juicy Couture found that their product purchase conversion rate increased by 160% after installing social sharing features (Source: CreateTheGroup, February 2011)
•    Incipio Technologies, a gadget accessory retailer, found that referrals from Facebook had a conversion rate double the average (Source: Business Insider, March 2011)
•    But it’s not just about Facebook. Take for example the explosive rise of the daily deal site Groupon, which used referrals from friends and colleagues to drive sales of over 40 million deals in the two and a half years since it launched in November 2008, via email

The F-Factor influences consumer behaviour in a number of ways:

•    They discover new products and services by relying on their social networks. Even in the real world, we used to read — rather leaf through and comment on — fashion magazines with friends. It is more fun to watch trends proposed when you can filter them immediately through the eyes of people you know.
•    People will increasingly (and automatically) receive targeted ratings, recommendations and reviews from their social networks. When someone you trust recommends a product or service specifically, that carries a lot more  weight. Which is why I am particularly careful about recommending value and quality only after I have experienced them.  Levi’s was the first brand to integrate this feature on Facebook.  Also, Facebook’s Instant Personalization project moves this beyond Facebook itself, and Amazon launched a feature in July 2010 that allows users to  integrate their Facebook and Amazon accounts.
•    Shopping is becoming increasingly social, even when consumers and their peers are not physically together.  People do tell their friends when they got a good deal. As Trendwatching points out, this trend is not about just groups of people. It’s about friends, people who know each other and may not be together.  Eventbrite, the event ticketing site, found that users are 10 times more likely to share details of events they have bought tickets to (than those events they are still considering whether to buy).  Helping people form small groups to attend activities, spot deals, get in on gifts, and more is an area of opportunity for apps.
•    Consumers’ social networks are literally turned into products and services. Helping people create a unique experience for themselves is the context-maker for a product or service to extend its influence.  The best example of this is Flipboard, an app that integrates tweets and updates into a single, personalized online magazine.  Another example is LinkedIn Today, a socially curated news homepage for users that rounds up the stories and links that are being read, shared and discussed by a user’s network.

How can your brand benefit from the ‘F’ Factor?

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