From 24/7 Wall St.: Last month, Facebook surpassed 800 million users, which is nearly eight times as many people than watch the Super Bowl. Companies have recognized the importance of marketing to this massive group, and they are pulling out all the stops to try to get Facebook users to become “fans” of their corporate page. Using information gathered from All Facebook, 24/7 Wall St. has identified the 10 companies with the most Facebook fans.
In addition to the large number of people exposed to advertising, there are unique branding benefits to companies with successful Facebook pages. In a SocialMediaToday.com article, Keredy Stott writes “When a user likes a big brand, they are recommending the product to their friends, an element that isn’t usually visible when visiting a website. This support, whether the user realises it or not, helps to make their friends more likely to buy that product over a competitor’s.”
Presented with this valuable possibility, the world’s largest companies use every tactic in the book to get people to click the “like” button on their page. Retailers, like Kohl’s and Burberry, offer special deals or free products. Restaurants, such as McDonald’s and Subway, run contests on their Facebook pages. Many companies have turned their wall feed into a kind of direct support line for customer complaints.
Because they already have powerful brands, it makes sense that most of the largest consumer-based companies in the world have the largest Facebook pages. However, the social media efforts of some companies are far better than others. Kohl’s is only the 20th largest retailer in the U.S., but it has the second largest Facebook page among that group. By getting people to join its site, Kohl’s has gained a significant edge over its larger competitors, including Sears and Macy’s.
24/7 Wall St. used the All Facebook statistics site to identify the companies with the largest Facebook pages. The most recent annual revenue was used to illustrate the size of the companies. Valuations by Interbrand and Brand Z were used to demonstrate the brands’ reach.
These are the ten companies with the largest Facebook pages, according 24/7 Wall St.:
