Walmart vs Starbucks: A Tale of Two Successful Facebook Strategies

It’s the problem plaguing every business that’s trying social-media marketing: OK, you’ve got a company Facebook page. Now, how do you get customers to talk to you on it, or to care about what you post?

The short answer is there’s more than one way to get it done. Social-software firm Expion recently analyzed the Facebook success of the top 100 retailers as ranked by retail trade magazine STORES.

Walmart and Starbucks both came out on top, but for different metrics — Walmart for total volume of Facebook fan actions taken on its site, Starbucks for a level of fan actions per post that’s almost twice that of any other major brand.

The two companies have very different ways of getting their fans talking on Facebook. Here’s a look at how they differ:

Walmart: Post early and often. The retail behemoth’s Facebook strategy, which has attracted 26 million “likes,” includes:

• Very frequent posting
• Lots of open-ended questions for fans: One on favorite ice cream flavors, for instance, got 134,000 responses.
• Fewer sales pitches. Most of the posts are lifestyle questions or thoughts, with few salesy posts.
• Cute pet & stuffy photos were included in many of Walmart’s most popular posts.

To take a snapshot sample, Walmart posted six times on a recently typical day. Two of the posts included product photos, two related to updating its header with snapshots of holiday greetings sent in by kids, one noted a free-shipping promotion, and one asked a general question that got 400+ comments and more than 2,000 likes: “How do you unwind from the holiday whirlwind?”

Slam-dunk requests such as “Like this if a computer is on your wish list” are popular here — along with deftly interwoven promotions, such as a note on that computer-like post that Walmart was giving Ultrabook buyers a gift card with purchase.

A couple of complaints that came up on one of the new-header posts — about gun ads for Walmart that dropped right after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, and about a local store not being open 24 hours — were skillfully referred to a Walmart Facebook “Feedback” customer-service page, which seemed to appease the disgruntled fans and keep them from continuing to flame the company on its main page.

Starbucks: Stylish selling. The java giant’s Facebook approach includes:

• Infrequent posting
• More posts about Starbucks products
• Pictures mostly of Starbucks products

By posting fewer times, Starbucks gets more interest per post. For instance, where Walmart posted six times a day, six recent posts on Starbucks’ Facebook page takes you through nearly a week, including the obligatory Sandy Hook condolence post.

That one aside, the other five posts promoted Starbucks’ new Pinterest page, its Starbucks + iTunes gift card, a buy-one-latte, get-one-free offer (61,000 people liked that one), and a sale on its Cranberry Bliss bars.

The final post wasn’t a sales offer — a thanks for its new holiday-themed header (provided by a fan, from Instagram).

Starbucks’ approach is proof positive that sales posts don’t have to be a fan turnoff, especially if they come dressed up with high-quality photos. That Cranberry Bliss ad, which came with a luscious product picture adorned with an artful “visions of sugar plums” sign, got more than 600 comments.

On the down side, not all those comments were positive — complaints on the thread included lack of product availability and poor customer service at local stores. These didn’t seem quite as well-patrolled as the negative flack from fans on Walmart’s page. But of course, after a few comments, older ones get hidden from view by Facebook, so a visitor would have to hunt for them to find them.

Forbes