Facebook Friend Equals $174.17 Says New Research Finding They're The New 'Superconsumers'

A Facebook friend or "like" is said to equal $174.17 to a brand, according to new research by social intelligence company, Syncapse. The Facebook friends you have, just got a whole lot more important to brands, and monetizing the global leader in social networking just got a whole lot easier now that companies can quantify just how much each individual "Like" from a Facebook Friend is now worth: $174.14.

Syncapse studied 2000 Facebook Friends who liked  a brand. They looked at factors such as product selling, loyalty, propensity to recommend, media value acquisition cost, and brand affinity, to determine a value for a new Facebook fan. 

According to the study Facebook fans spend $116 more on a brand they've liked than those who have not liked the brand. But also, within the brand's sector, they spend 43 percent more despite no differences in income between fans and non-fans. 

Facebook Fans are also 18 percent more satisfied with their brands if they've been liked on Facebook. They're also 11 percent more likely to continue using that brand than non-friends. 

The researchers findings mean that brand managers are almost required to use the Facebook platform and would be at a severe disadvantage without it. The study suggests that the better you can isolate your key customer segments, featuring demographic similarities, the more relevant your messaging can be to drive revenues and target specific offers to your customers. Facebook friends are the way to do this, to the tune of $174.17 per fan.

Facebook fans are a lot more active in social media and they're more stubborn and vocal about what they like and don't like. They share this knowledge with their friends on Facebook, promoting what they enjoy and either ignoring or bad-mouthing those products that don't work. 

It stands to reason brands would want to interact with these people because they become the pulpit with which to attract more customers, who--in turn--then share their positive (and sometimes negative) experiences with the brand. 

The report even states as much when it writes: 

"The increase in average fan value is driven by fans' tendencies to be superconsumers. Not only do they tend to be brand users first, they spend more, engage more, advocate more and are more loyal. The significant and increasing value of a Facebook brand fan affirms past social marketing investment and mandates deeper commitment and accountability in the future."

Brands must now prioritize their social media presence and directly court these superconsumer Facebook Friends, who will drive up interest in a brand and maintain the loyalty needed to keep fans and products moving off the shelves. In a phrase, Facebook Friends are worth $174.17 to a brand, so they need to focus more on attracting those fans through direct marketing initiatives and social media outreach. Facebook fans are the new brand drivers, and they will be cherished even more highly from here on out.