“Just do it”

“Can you hear me now?”

“Eat Fresh”

We instantly recognize their slogans. We effortlessly hum their jingles. We grew up with their mascots. We can draw their logos with our eyes closed.

How did these brands become larger than life? How is it that men, women, and children from all corners of the Earth can identify the Nike “swoosh”, McDonald’s golden arches, or Apple’s…well, apple?

If you answered “marketing,” then give yourself a pat on the back!

Big brands have put millions into developing their logos, ads, jingles, slogans, and mascots. And they’ve put even more into ensuring consumers can see them from across the world and back.

So when the wild west that is social media does come a-knocking, it’s no surprise that brands are quick to seize the new opportunity to get even closer to their users. Who came out on top?

It’s not completely out of left field if you guess brands that have the biggest marketing budget or even brands with the biggest band of fans. However, consumers have developed a knack for tuning out brands. Combine this with declining organic reach thanks to Facebook’s algorithm changes and you’ve got plenty of branded Facebook pages that have millions of followers, but are more or less ghost towns. Followers are no longer the metric that matters. It’s engagement.

For example, take a look at this chart which uses results from Forbes’ “The World’s Most Valuable Brands”:

Following each brand is their rank on Forbes’ list 

If we didn’t know any better, then we would’ve dubbed BMW and Mercedes-Benz the auto industry winners for Facebook, and called it a day. But look what happens when we factor engagement into the picture:

While BMW and Mercedes-Benz may have the largest Facebook following, their engagement pales in comparison to KIA, for example, who has little more than 100k Facebook fans.

Here’s another example:

Loreal has a whopping following of more than 19 million Facebook fans, while Lancome pulls in with a little more than 6 million. That’s a huge difference! But again, what is the worth of a giant community you can’t reach or engage?

Whoops! I may have just given you the answer to my next question. Can you guess who wins the engagement battle?

Lancome’s level of engagement is double that of Loreal’s!

A quick look at their latest Facebook post gives a telltale reason as to why. Both posts were made on the same day, but clearly one has managed to engage more of its fans:

47 Likes, 3 Comments, and 1 Share vs. 1,465 Likes, 25 Comments, and 60 Shares

Curious to see if this is a trend across all industries? Check out how other brands and industries on Forbes’ “The World’s Most Powerful Brands”* did:

 

Beverage

 

Entertainment

 

Fashion

 

Finance

 

Food

 

Heavy Equipment

 

Restaurants

 

Sporting Goods

 

Technology

 

Transportation

Brands need to understand and get to know their followers. It’s essential to figure out what audiences will react to, and to create a content mix that pulls the right cord.

*Some brands have purposely been excluded due to a lack of “official” Facebook pages, or outdated information