“Those that take an outside-in approach (to co-creation), by listening to and observing customers, are in a position to discover ways to create mutual value.” — Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer principal analyst *
As marketers, we want to pack our Facebook photo albums with images of fans showing off our brand. Of course, few fans have photos of our product in front of the Grand Canyon. But they still have valuable content to share. Just lower the barrier to entry by asking fans for their opinions and ideas!
There’s value in consumer input, particularly at the idea generation stage of innovation. After all, no one knows your brand like your fans. Here are three ways to engage Facebook fans with a question:
1. Ask them through the news feed. As you know, multiple-choice questions are a great way to drive engagement through the news feed. Rolled out earlier this year, Facebook Questions helps you easily poll your fans by allowing them to select their answer from a list (and pass the question on to friends) with a single click. Plus, Facebook tallies results so you don’t have to!
El Monterey uses Facebook Questions to engage fans through the news feed.
2. Entice them with a coupon. A survey application linked to an instant-print coupon or e-commerce discount code is a great way to thank fans for participating. If you’re OK with non-participants getting the discount, simply link the survey’s confirmation screen to the coupon. If you want to reserve the savings for participants only, use a coupon vendor that offers print controls.
If you’re protecting the survey app with a like gate (requiring users to like your page before entering), Sponsored Stories will increase awareness of your page among friends of your newest fans.
3. Pit their answers against each other! Voting, leader boards, prizes, and other game mechanics amplify engagement. Where’s the fun in submitting your answer into the black hole of a submission form? I want to know how my answer stacks up! Idea contests with game mechanics let fans add their ideas, or vote on others’ ideas, in exchange for prestige, pride and prizes.
Case in point: Intel and Bulbstorm asked Facebook fans how they’d build the home phone of tomorrow. In six weeks, fans offered 5,000 unique product ideas that drove over 420,000 brand engagements! Now, that’s engagement that started with a question! (Here’s the case study.)
So, how are you engaging consumers with a question? Ha! There, we just did it again.