Why do brands get a "like" on Facebook?

The study by Greven Medien clearly shows that Facebook is still very popular despite Instagram, Snapchat and the like: 67.7 percent of respondents in all age groups use Facebook. The younger generation between 20 and 29 in particular visits the platform regularly (92.5 percent), but people aged 50 and over are also among the user group with just under 60.0 percent. Interestingly, there is little difference between computer / Mac and smartphone use when looking at the age groups as a whole. Only among the younger generation aged 14 to 19 is the trend toward mobile devices. Almost one in two (42.8 percent) of this age group is "online" on Facebook with their smartphone.

Interest in product innovations is decisive

The GfK survey commissioned by Greven Medien investigates why users follow a brand on Facebook and which types of postings are most popular. 61.0 percent of respondents have already clicked "Like" on companies and brands. Women (67.0 percent) even more frequently than men (54.7 percent). The decisive factor for the majority is interest in new products (38.9 percent), which is particularly important among female users at 45.6 percent. 36.9 percent of Facebook users are interested in news such as studies and tips from the company, closely followed by the entertainment factor, which plays a role for just under a third of those surveyed (31.6 percent). In fourth and fifth place come interest in customer feedback (19.0 percent) and the hope of winning competitions (17.5 percent). Among women, one in four even hopes for possible prizes (25.7 percent).

Facebook as a source of information for digital natives

Digital natives aged 14 to 19 follow brands primarily out of an interest in fun and entertainment (72.4 percent), with an interest in new products coming in second (63.5 percent). More than one in ten (14.3 percent) between the ages of 14 and 19 now inquire about a company as a potential employer on Facebook. "Many individuals are using Facebook as a source of information. This can be clearly seen in the results of our latest study. More than one in three searches here for information on new products. Just under one in five use Facebook to find out about brands and companies through the feedback and reviews of other users. A Facebook presence is therefore highly recommendable - and not just for large corporations. However, just like the company homepage, it should always be up-to-date and contain all relevant information about products and the company," explains Kathleen Oswald, Head of Marketing at Greven Medien.

Reach your fans with the right post

Posts that contain text and images are particularly popular (51.1 percent). This applies equally to men and women and to all age groups. "Images make a post more eye-catching. The likelihood that users will stick with a post because of an appealing image and actually look at the content is significantly higher than with a text-only post," explains Oswald. This also applies to moving image content: videos with sound follow in second place among favorite posts with 24.2 percent. Videos in the newsfeed are particularly popular among the younger generation (aged 14 to 19) (46.5 percent). In the moving image category, GIFs (11.9 percent) and videos with sublines (9.6 percent) are also currently catching up strongly. "The result makes it clear that Facebook is increasingly being used on mobile and that video content is becoming more and more important. Information in the newsfeed must be able to be filtered and absorbed more quickly by users. This is best done with an additional moving image offering," says Oswald. Links to articles and news follow in third place. These types of postings are particularly popular among 30 to 39-year-olds (26.3 percent). Posts consisting exclusively of text are only well received by the 60+ age group (20.2 percent).

What does this mean for companies and service providers?

The trend continues to be toward digital content that is distributed via various channels. In this way, companies reach their target group in several ways. It has long been impossible to imagine the marketing mix of companies without Facebook. Not only large companies and brands, but also local businesses and service providers are increasingly reaching their (potential) customers via Facebook and informing them about product and company news.