Why Facebook Fan Pages Don't Always Boost Sales
We know that following the crowd can be a bad thing: not great in high school, but certainly disastrous for Gap's recent attempt at rebranding. So how do Stylophane's "most popular" lists stack up? The e-business marketing and management company keeps tabs on fashion's top brands and retailers ranked by the number of their Facebook fans. The results show that popularity doesn't always translate to sales.
Here are some of the more interesting findings:
Victoria's Secret -â€" Handily swiping the top slot from H&M one month after Stylophane started ranking fashion retailers in February 2010, the lingerie purveyor owned by Limited Brands (LTD) certainly proves it has mass appeal. Victoria's Secret's fan base swelled from 3 to nearly 8 million in about six months. The brand's sexy underpinnings, makeup and fragrance is also leading the pack in sales for Limited, outpacing the company's namesake stores and Bath & Body Works shops with double digit gains in comps for the same period.
VS's Facebook page hints at a reason why. In a word, dudes. Among the 8 million, there are plenty of guys not afraid to comment or "like" the most recent news, photos, and discussions, not to mention gawk at the scantily clad models. That's also made them able to brave enough to shop the stores, or the site.
Additionally, the social media managers behind the company's page take advantage of hook-ups. Most recently, by spinning a connection to the movie version of Facebook's story The Social Network. A sloe-eyed, pouty-lipped model's face superimposed with the words, "You don't get to 7 million fans without making a few jaws drop," and the status update, "Mark invented Facebook. We invented sexy," sparked over 300 comments and thousands of thumbs up.
Abercrombie & Fitch -â€" Long popular with teens, Abercrombie's (ANF) fortunes took a sharp turn for the worse when a combination of recession spending and flagging trends kicked sales in the seat of the slouchy pants. While CEO Mike Jeffries' pay skyrocketed to more than $36 million, profits plunged. Sales were down 23 percent last year and first quarter 2010 revenues are barely over what they were in 2006. The good thing about scraping bottom is that a lift in sales often looks marvelous in comparison (the company posted a 25 percent sales increase in September).
ANF's fan base, by comparison has grown from 900,000 to over 2 million in the last six months, but its rank -- after debuting at and holding the number 6 spot -- has been knocked down to seventh place. No wonder. The company's Facebook page hardly goes where its controversial advertising has gone, perhaps to keep the site G-rated for tween users. Those seeking chiseled abs and cleavage need to buy the book, that is, ANF's Quarterly.
Hot Topic -â€" Another retailer completely dependent on the fickle whims of teens, Hot Topic (HOTT) suffered serious hit to the bottom line when it misjudged the appeal of Twilight's vampire merchandise (anyone need a few hundred boxes of Edward bandaids?).
Comps are still trending down despite the retailer's climb up the Stylophane charts. Now hovering near the top 10, Hot Topic debuted at number 20. What's most impressive is that Hot's been able to grow its fan base from about 200,000 to 1.3 million (and counting). Now it just needs to figure out how to convert those wall comments into cash.
Image via Victoria's Secret
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