177k new Facebook fans in 1 month

A case study of a recent competition I ran at PayPal UK Jon Bishop

About the competition

• Engaged PayPal customers were invited via emails, banner ads and social media channels to win one of 10 iPad 2’s simply for ‘liking’ our PayPal UK Facebook page.

• The competition ran from 18 May 2011 to 20 June 2011

2

16 May 21 May 26 May 31 May 05 June 10 June 15 June 20 June 25 June 30 June

2644117819 22614

182260

195410 193901

Daily New LikesLifetime Total Likes

Results - Fan base growth• The PayPal UK fan base grew by 177k fan to 195k in total.

3

1000%Fan base growth

during the competition

Impressions and interactions• The competition generated a huge amount of impressions across Facebook and Twitter

4

8.3 million

Twitter impressions

6.85 million

Facebookimpressions

• Large amount of interaction on Twitter and the Facebook page as well

Interaction type Amount

Post likes 21,356

Comments 7,440

Wall posts 6,081

Tweets 44,970

Virality• A simple way to measure the effectiveness and virality of a brand message on Facebook is to compare the amount of

impressions a post receives with the number of fans on the page. The difference would have definitely* been seen by friends of fans, giving the message greater reach.

5

16 May 21 May 26 May 31 May 05 June 10 June 15 June 20 June 25 June 30 June

22,614

106,250

182,260193,977

87,423

402,507

356,403 358,924

Impressions per post

Number of Fans

Post competition – long term growth

• Post competition, the activity on the Facebook page is a lot higher than before the competition and it should stay this way with the large and constantly growing fan base.

6

14

122

Ave. daily interactions

19

139

Ave. daily new fans

7,825

225,179

Ave. daily impressions

Post competition

Pre-competition

Post competition drop off• There was an expected drop in fan numbers after the competition ended. Less than 2k fans dropped off which

is far less than expected and the numbers have already started to grow again.

7

Competition ends Post competition

6/17/11 6/22/11 6/27/11 7/2/11 7/7/11

195,410

193,562

193,984

Campaign results

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£41 of value generated for

every £1 spent

Coverage:How to build an overnight Facebook sensation on the cheap.

The cost of Twitter and Facebook advertising

Facebook Case Study: How PayPal UK Got 177,000 Fans for Under $5,000