Quiver & Quill

I joined this Facebook group called i wrk @ an ad agency. There’s more than 1,000 members, and all of the founders of the group are with some of the hottest agencies in the country. I recently received an email from the group announcing the launch of a new agency website: “Bernstein-Rein.com.”

When I received the email, I checked out the website immediately. (BTW, I’m impressed).

But I’m more impressed with their marketing strategy to use Facebook. Over 1,000 pre-qualified people, who work at agencies and are members of this group, received the Facebook email. And I would assume that the open rate of an email from Facebook is much higher than the open rate of regular email.

I wonder if Bernstein-Rein.com paid for this email blast.  If so, it’s worth noting that Facebook wasn’t directly paid for this. If Bernstein-Rein wanted to reach agency talent in a more conventional way, through direct mail or advertising for example, they would have spent $10,000s. And even then they might not have reached agency talent this targeted.

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I am running my first Facebook poll. I am paying .25 cents per response on a text messaging poll, and I am targeting the 25-34 demographic, which is the only demographic able to see this poll. While it’s not a scientific study, we’re polling Facebook users who are arguably more technologically savvy than non-Facebook users, and the sampling isn’t precise, it’s still a great anecdotal piece that nearly 76% of 25-34 year old’s polled text, and 23% use text more than phone.

I love Facebook polls. Any time technology lets you actually reach out and touch your target customers, I think that’s cool.

*the last question is cut off above. The whole sentence reads: “I text at work, in the shower and in the gym.”

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If you’ve ever wanted to watch 20 minutes documenting ever step of a LASIK eye care operation, narrated by an attractive blond celebrity, now you can–and from the comfort of your own Facebook account. The folks at LASIK did an great job of using Facebook to identify leads and change perceptions about the surgery.

People are curious about how LASIK works.

They have questions, and the site answers them in the form of short webisodes documenting OC’s Kristin Cavallari experience. While watching you can leave comments on the discussion board, browse pics of Kristin, or become a member of her LASIK group.

The discussion board is public. Half of the people on it are insulting Kristin and her “fake” webisodes. The other half are running to her defense:

“She’s documenting her story for other people…she’s trying to help people out,” said Kylee, a High School student.

If you’ve had LASIK, you can share you story as a video testimonial for a chance to win $5,000. Doing so takes you to a separate microsite: Reality Lasik. Here you’ll find more webisodes, and a brilliantly executed “locate a doctor” feature. I am surprised they did not use a unique tracking number for each doctor.

Is the campaign successful? Looks it. Here’s what I would measure to know for sure:

• Page views on the microsite and Facebook page
• Video plays on the microsite and on the Facebook page
• Total Tell-a-Friend forwards sent, received and converted
• Site update sign ups
• Surveys with new LASIK patients to see if Facebook influenced their decision
• Mentions, or shout outs, of Reality LASIK on Facebook profile pages, blogs, and other online communities.
• Entrees into the Reality LASIK contest
• Most importantly…is the client (LASIK) happy?

Compelling content (video) drives this campaign. People on the Facebook identify with the Kristin and are curious about the procedure. They are welcome to comment about the advertising, and it’s integrated nicely into the Facebook site and separate microsite.

So nice job LASIK team…although I’m still too squeamish to touch my eye!

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