Facebook Fan Stats – April 2012
BBY, KSS, PLCE, & WSM Have Clearly De-Emphasized Facebook Fan Growth in 2012
Social media is fast becoming the most effective approach to boost brand awareness, understand the customer, get feedback, as well as direct traffic to a company’s web site and/or stores.
We like to track the Facebook activities and monthly fan base growth for the retailers and brands that we follow (and many others). See attached.
It is worth noting that out of the 188 retail chains/brands covered in this survey, the following were the largest percentage gainers of ‘fans’ in terms of year-to-date growth through April 2012:
| Sunkist Soda (DPS) Dress Barn (ASNA) Big 5 Sporting Goods (BGFV) Men’s Wearhouse (MW) 7UP (DPS) |
246.6% 235.2% 123.0% 112.1% 109.4% |
Naturally, some of the above retailers/brands have a small base. Therefore, let’s look at the largest percentage gainers of ‘fans’ in terms of year-to-date growth through April 2012 for brands with greater than 1.0 million ‘fans’ (excludes those in the Top 5 list above):
| Burger King (ex-BKC) Amazon (AMZN) Fanta (KO) Bennetton (BNGPY.PK) Ebay (EBAY) |
106.4% 91.5% 86.4% 84.6% 79.9% |
Conversely, it is worth noting that out of the 188 retail chains/brands covered in this survey, the following were the lowest percentage gainers of ‘fans’ in terms of year-to-date growth through April 2012:
| Playtex (HBI) Casual Male (CMRG) Kohl’s (KSS) Hanes (HBI) Children’s Place (PLCE) Office Max (OMX) Best Buy (BBY) Cache (CACH) Lucy Activewear (VFC) Gymboree (ex-GYMB) Pei Wei Asian Diner (PFCB) Dr Pepper (DPS) Pottery Barn Kids (WSM) |
1.7% 2.3% 2.8% 3.2% 5.2% 5.5% 6.3% 7.2% 7.3% 7.5% 7.8% 8.4% 8.4% |
Additional Notes:
Coca Cola (KO) had the largest number of ‘fans’ at the end of April 2012 with 41.6 million followed by Starbucks (SBUX) at 29.9 million.
A couple of small specialty retailers dramatically increased their fan base in April 2012. Kirkland (KIRK) added a remarkable +35% to their fan base in the month. Also, Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp grew their fan base by 31% in the month.
Social media is the ideal platform to market products to teens. Yet, teen specialty apparel retailer Wet Seal (WTSLA) increased their fan base by a paltry +0.7% in April. Conversely, Zumiez (ZUMZ) added an impressive +12.4% fan growth in April, lifting the chain into the “million fan” club.
Best Buy (BBY) loves to talk about a “connected strategy.” Yet, the company’s Facebook fan growth is simply anemic. In the YTD period through April 2012, the chain only added +6.3% to its fan base, well below the retail/consumer industry average.
Ann Taylor Loft (ANN) had been leading the way in the specialty apparel sector in the first calendar quarter of 2012. But, the chain’s fan growth stalled in April 2012, delivering the lowest rate of growth in the month for the 188 retailers/brands that we track ( only +0.2%).
Taco Bell’s (YUM) Facebook fan growth continues to materially underperform that of its peer group. In April 2012, the chain’s fan growth was only +0.9% versus the prior month… the lowest rate of growth of the restaurants we track.
