16 Oct Forever 21: Facebook Fan Page Example in Detail #26
Well, it has been quite a journey, but we’ve finally reached the end. For the final installment of our 26 Facebook Fan Page Examples in Detail series, we evaluate Forever 21. Forever 21 is known for having “trendy fashions at affordable prices” for young women, men, and girls, not to mention their trademark yellow bags. Currently the retail store has locations in the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, Europe and Asia. The Facebook page has gained more than 7.1 million fans.
Forever 21 Timeline
The Forever 21 page utilizes a lot of visuals. The majority of their posts highlight a new fashion trend, promotion or event happening in a store. The Facebook page is a fun and cool way of looking at everything Forever 21 has to offer.
Forever 21 also does a great job of using its Facebook page to promote its other networks. This past June, Forever 21 ran a promotion called “‘Love is Free’ Pin it & Win it,” an 11-day contest that was created to celebrate summer and build a Forever 21 presence on Pinterest. To enter, fans had to create a pin board titled “Love is Free” and then upload a minimum of five original pins that inspired their love for summer. Each image description had to include the hash tag #loveisfree (in order to track entries and how many mentions were received). Once participants completed their board, they had to copy and paste the board URL into a comment on the Forever 21 blog and include their email address. By participating in this contest, fans were given the chance to win a $210 gift card.
Engagement was very high throughout the contest’s duration. When Forever 21 posted about the contest on Facebook the day it started (June 11th), they received 1,009 likes, 48 comments and 28 shares. When they posted a few days before the contest ended (June 22nd), they received 1,295 likes, 39 comments and 26 shares. By contest completion, the company’s blog had received more than 350 contest entries.
With a focus on highly visual content, Pinterest was the perfect social platform to use for this contest. And as it continues to grow in popularity, Pinterest 1.7 billion monthly views provides campaigns with a broad reach and an opportunity for creative user generated entries.
F21 YouTube Tab
The F21 YouTube tab highlights the videos from the Forever 21 YouTube channel. In an efforts to excite shoppers for the 2012 fall line, the clothing brand created “The Fall Movement for Forever 21” — a video highlighting all of the new fashions and trends the stores would be carrying – and a Facebook tab to go with it. The tab is powered by Involver, a social marketing management platform that shows how many views each video receives and allows fans to Like, share, and post a comment to Facebook. Hosted videos on the tab are incredibly engaging and easy to share across networks. The F21 YouTube Tab actually garners more views than the videos on the actual YouTube channel. This tab is a great addition to the Facebook page because it allows fans to continue to engage with their brand without having to navigate away from the page.
Forever 21 Content Strategy
There is a great deal of content pushed out on Forever 21’s Facebook timeline. The brand updates its page on a daily basis with numerous photos of new collections and styles, usually with a focus on bold, colorful photos. Some posts also link to the YouTube channel so you can view the most recently uploaded fashion videos. If you enjoy keeping a watchful eye on the latest styles and fashion, their Facebook page keeps you in the loop. The page keeps fans aware of the most current promotions, new arrivals, events and trends in the fashion and beauty industry. Forever 21 usually posts two to three times per day except for the weekends.
The posts that receive the highest engagement rates are the posts focused on asking fans questions like, “How would you style this High-Low Abstract Floral top?!” Anything that requires fans to choose or say what style they like does extremely well on the page. Forever 21 should continue to encourage fan engagement by asking questions.
Engagement Rate Comparison: Forever 21 vs. H&M
Forever 21 is primarily focused on providing its fans with engaging content (i.e. pictures and open-ended questions). This is one of the reasons that Forever 21 has a better average engagement rate vs. H&M.
Although Forever 21 is doing fairly well in regards to engagement, I believe they still have room to grow. One area for growth would be in the customer service area. I noticed that Forever 21 rarely responds to its fans. Forever 21 could easily foster positive brand sentiment by continuously responding to and engaging with fans.
Another area for growth is creating a tab for E-Gift Cards. H&M currently provides this service. It would be an awesome addition bringing more engagement to the page and assisting customers that may not be able to physically visit a store. Based on the engagement rate comparison chart, you can see that compared to H&M, Forever 21’s average engagement rate is higher. This is probably due to the amount of open-ended questions and photos that the brand posts daily.
What do you think about the Forever 21 Facebook page? Is it as forward as their fashion?