H&M: Facebook Fan Page Example in Detail #17

The next brand in our Facebook Fan Page Example series is H&M. Often recognized as being a leader in social, H&M maintains a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google +, and YouTube, as well as the Chinese social networks Youku and Sina Weibo. In fact, Mashable reported in February that H&M had the most-followed brand page on Google+.


H&M Landing Page

As with all brand pages in Timeline, the first thing a visitor to the H&M page will see is the wall. H&M makes good use of the more visual nature of Timeline and the page pops with images from their latest collections. However, the page comes across as very product heavy. The channel functions more as an information source than a truly interactive page. In essence, the wall reads like a catalogue – visually appealing, but lacking the human factor that sets social media apart from other media.

H&M Contests

H&M Trend Scouts 2012

Trendsetting is crucial for the fashion industry and nothing is more important than finding out what the kids are wearing these days (be it fanny packs, funky scarves or colored denim). In an effort to engage its audience and provide galleries of fashion trends, H&M developed two different global contests that focused on photos, sharing and vote gathering.

To find the trendsetters from across the world, H&M created a contest, called Trend Scouts, where users submitted photos and shared fashion stories, inspirations and favorite trends, creating a user-friendly gallery of unique, global fashion trends. The people who garnered the most votes were put in front of a panel of famous fashion judges who selected the 2012 Trend Scouts. These winners will attend the Roskilde Festival in Denmark (July 5-8), where they will receive a special assignment to take photos of the coolest outfits and styles at the festival. These photos will be uploaded to the Facebook page and the Trend Scout with the most votes on their photo will win the grand prize of an H&M gift card for 1,000 Euros.

The contest page has a fantastic image gallery; however, it’s missing an opportunity for sharing and fan engagement. Although there are share buttons on each entry, they generate a generic message asking people to enter the contest, not vote for the trendsetter, which could be the reason some of the winners only have two votes. The second phase will begin soon and there’s sure to be some fantastic trends to follow, but how will the second phase do socially, will the contest drive engagement? Time will tell.

H&M Summer Spot

The second contest is more generic and doesn’t focus on trends or fashion, instead focusing on visually appealing photos of fans’ favorite summer spots – creating a lower barrier to entry, which should drive more traffic. Though H&M Summer Spot contest is on Facebook, the contest is actually held on Instagram. Fans submit a geo-targeted photo of their favorite summer spot with the hashtag #HMSummerSpot. The Facebook app is programmed to automatically pull photos with the hashtag into the app. People who submit photos are automatically entered to be one of five lucky winners of a $200 H&M gift card. On the  tab, fans are able to learn about the contest and Instagram, as well as explore other fans photos and where they were taken.

While the contest is held on Instagram, H&M does a great job of bringing the two channels together. Instagram provides a great platform to curate visually appealing photos, while Facebook allows for better fan engagement. While fans can share the photos with their friends on Facebook, H&M didn’t provide users the opportunity to share with their other networks. With the clothing retailer utilizing so many different social channels, it’s surprising they missed the opportunity for increased views and engagement.

H&M E-Gift Cards

E-Gift cards are wonderful and can save you when you accidentally miss a friend’s birthday. H&M made it even easier for you by creating a tab that lets you purchase your H&M gift card right on Facebook. So when Facebook reminds you it’s your friend’s birthday you can write on their wall and send them an e-gift card via Facebook or email. And, when you go to check out, you receive a friendly reminder of all your Facebook friends who have birthday’s coming up. You’ll never miss one again!

H&M Historical Timeline

No longer will you need to search Wikipedia to find out when M by Madonna launched at H&M (which was 2007, just in case you were wondering). H&M has taken advantage of Facebook Timeline and provided its fans with a detailed history, featuring all of its special collections from its foundation in 1947 to now. This is a great visual representation of how fashion has changed over the years and who the company’s influencers have been. This is especially appealing to all the fashionistas out there who love fashion history.

H&M Wall Engagement

H&M could benefit from engaging it’s audience more. Fans are sharing content and discussing their likes and dislikes on the page, but as I said already, the brand is focused on sharing its fashion instead of talking with its fan base. I’d like to see H&M ask its fans for their opinions, such as “Who is your favorite designer and why?” or “What designer would you like to design for H&M?” Based on the fan content already posted to the wall, they would surely participate.

There is also a great opportunity for H&M to develop an app or a forum for people to take their favorite designers, trends and products and share them in a specific place on Facebook instead of within in wall posts. This could create great dialogue and possibly ideas for H&M purchasers on what trends are up-and-coming.

I have to give credit to H&M for doing a decent job responding to customers when they post questions to the wall – this helps foster brand loyalty and has the potential to drive sales to the stores. However, H&M can increase it’s engagement in the customer service realm. With so many fans posting negative and positive content to the wall, the company could benefit from reaching out and providing insight or a simple thanks for a compliment. I know with such a large volume of fans it could be quite time consuming to respond to every positive or negative post, but it could help increase engagement and positive sentiment for the brand.

As you can see below, compared to another trend-savvy retailer, Forever 21, H&M’s average engagement number is lower. This is probably due to Forever 21’s posts of very specific products, such as a bottle of nail polish or a black dress, which are much more likely to elicit a response than posts of general product lines or trends, much like the ones that frequent H&M’s wall. That said, H&M does a better job engaging with it’s audience than Forever 21.

What’s your take on H&M social engagement – do you agree there’s room for improvement or are they a leader?



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