Paramore Simple. Clear. Focused on Results.

I was talking with a client the other day about the social campaigns for his very nice resort. He asked me why after about 18 months on Facebook, his likes are only about 1,300. He asked if that was good. He wanted affirmation or challenge, much like I want from my therapist every week.

My therapist usually looks at me and says something like “c’mon now.”

Very helpful.

But I thought about his question for a minute and then we did the math. It went something like this.

This great resort of his opened at the exact wrong time in recent history - late 2008. So the occupancy of the resort in 2009 was abysmal and 2010 was only terrible. We launched his social campaigns in mid-2009.

So I said to him “how many adults have ever stayed at the hotel since it opened?” We decided it was about 2,500 people. Facebook has a penetration in the US of about 1/3, so if you applied that to the total number of people who have ever stayed at his hotel you’d get about 800 people.

Now, add in some people who have never stayed there, but who want to. I’d wager that it isn’t double that number, but could be 200-300 people.

Add family and friends of the resort employees and a handful of folks who just like what you like because they’re insecure and need a therapist and you’re right at 1,300.

So maybe they aren’t doing so badly. As they increase the exposure and occupancy of the resort, their Facebook likes will climb - and vice versa. Easier said than done, I know, during these times. But there you go.

Another way to think about your Facebook penetration might be to look at which markets you are actively advertising in, do the math on the number of people in your target within those markets. Estimate how many people have heard about your product, then how many have tried your product. Then apply the 1/3 penetration rate of Facebook.

It’s not perfect, but it might be a starting point.

Would you do the math for your business and tell me what you think? I’d like to share it with my therapist who says that people really do like me, I just need more exposure.

2 comments

Joey Strawn Being a social media data-nerd, this article spoke right to my heart. Social media isn't about "being as popular as ________" or "having as many followers as ________", it's about creating a strategy to reach out to *your* customers and the people that will care most about your message/offering. Great stuff! Wed, Mar 2, 2011 9:01am

kosmici interesting article Thu, Mar 3, 2011 5:51am