The Facebook Effect: thinkThin Campaign by Formic Media

Continuing our Facebook Success Stories series, we stop today at Formic Media, whose campaign for thinkThin® delivered excellent results for both agency and customer. Formic Media enhanced its portfolio with an excellent case study, proving its value for future customers and industry peers, while thinkThin® gained more Facebook fans, brand exposure, and immediate ROI for their Sweepstakes Giveaway.

749 contest submissions may not sound like much – and other PR companies, with more resources and (maybe) less orthodox practices could achieve more. But a there’s value in 749 submissions if even half of these “contestants” become dedicated users. Gaining a faithful customer base is not an easy task, and no matter who you hire as your PR company, the “sale” is up to what you have to offer in the end. Put it simply: a PR company may bring customers at your door, but it’s up to you to make the sale.

Because PR’s are not salesmen. They are communicators, story tellers, crisis managers, motivational speakers, and all of the above: they are not advertisers, they are consultants. They are not marketers, they are reputation managers, advocates, propagandists, or whatever you hire them to be. They “push” you story in front of the public, whatever that is. They look for the “hook” and bait… They talk to your audiences, and try to make you look good. I could go on and on, and while my industry peers will fully get my meaning, frustrated corporate managers will still ask; “What is PR?” and then go on believing that they, in fact, can, do the job better on their own.

But you can take it from me: if any business was ever successful with DIY PR, that was pure luck – or, best case scenario, a former PR was at its lead. The rule applies for using Facebook, or any social network, for PR purposes.

As so many PR companies state so many times, businesses that use Facebook as a PR tool and fail, are probably guilty of “broadcasting.” There’s a huge difference between broadcasting and interacting, and only those who understand the value of interaction can expect a Facebook campaign to be successful – pretty much as Formic Media does.

After a call for entries on HARO for our Facebook Success Stories series, a very talented account executive from Formic Media replied, with thinkThin®’s Facebook success story. Anna Hutson gave us the numbers (no secret, as these are already published on Formic’s official website). thinkThin’s measurable success on Facebook was:

• 44% increase in “likes” from month 1 to month 2
• 40%% increase in Post Interactions from month 1 to month 2
• 17% increase in Post Feedback from month 1 to month 2
• 749 contest submissions were generated in just 1 month

As I already said, the numbers don’t blow my mind. But then again, the budget for the campaign has not been disclosed, and also, you have to consider that Formic had to ask their own Facebook fans to “chip in.” Social networks are that way, and if you are not a self proclaimed Facebook guru or any kind of a superstar, the likelihood that you have thousands of fans is rather low.

At the end of the day, however, what matters most is customer satisfaction; and from what I gather, thinkThin increased its customer base considerably via Facebook, due to the Formic Media campaign. I am looking forward to see what comes next.