To foster more sustainable relationships with its customers, Burt’s Bees made a strategic decision to increase its Facebook presence in 2011. Facebook provides an opportunity for Burt’s Bees to engage in meaningful dialogue with its customers, while learning more about its fans, educating about products, sharing who Burt’s Bees is as a company, and inviting conversation and action around congruent values.Through the creation of tabs and engaging wall posts, Burt’s Bees connected with new fans, while deepening relationships with existing fans. Burt’s Bees started 2011 with 200,000 Facebook fans and ended the year with 903,450 fans. Throughout the year, it followed the approach that the most meaningful interactions happen when a brand knows itself and what it stands for, learns what is important to its customers, and engages in activity and authentic conversation around those shared values.This allows the engagement to become more meaningful and center around much more than just product.Burt’s Bees uses Facebook to educate customers about new products and product line updates, and to engage in conversation and ignite action regarding issues that are mutually important to the brand and its fans, issues such as sustainability, giving, friendship, natural beauty, and service to others. Highlights of 2011 Initiatives: • Launched “Lips Go BLOOM!" tab to introduce the new Tinted Lip Balm product line. For every virtual flower fans sent friends, Burt’s Bees donated $1 to the Pollinator Partnership. The brand offered 5,000 product samples on a first-come, first-served basis, and they were gone within 24 hours. And, with the help of a week-long Facebook media campaign, the brand added more than 340,000 new fans. • Launched “A Natural Pick" tab to introduce the new Sensitive Skin line of products. Fans learned how to care for their sensitive skin with the line’s unique key ingredient - cotton. A dermatologist provided credible skin care advice via video, and fans could download a coupon. • Launched “Bee Merry," a tab that encouraged giving during the holidays. Fans learned about holiday gift sets and were encouraged to upload a tacky holiday sweater over their profile picture. For each sweater uploaded, Burt’s Bees donated $1 to One Warm Coat. Fans were also delighted with the daily opportunity to win a free gift over a 10-day period, which created lots of buzz. The tab experienced high fan engagement, 41% repeat traffic, and increased the fan base by more than 200,000 fans. Throughout the year, Burt’s Bees engaged fans in ongoing conversation on its Facebook wall by sharing things like photos of sustainability efforts and community projects, as well as fun fan challenges like adding creative entries into Burt’s Bees “lip glossary." Burt’s Bees strikes a great balance between surprising and delighting fans with product samples and special offers, educating about products and how natural ingredients are chosen, and supporting issues that are important to them and their fans – all in a fun, quirky, engaging way that gives a voice to Burt’s Bees in the social space. But they also give fans the opportunity to contribute to mutually important causes like the Pollinator Partnership and One Warm Coat. Over time, this has built deep trust and goodwill with fans, which is leading to more sustainable, long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.
• www.facebook.com/burtsbees • Two Body Lotion-related tabs called “What Skin Says" and “Give Some Good" launched at the end of 2010 and ran through the spring of 2011. The campaign educated fans about how to care for their skin and share the love with friends by surprising them with a coupon. Forty thousand body lotion samples were given out in less than 48 hours, and the campaigns attracted over 100,000 new fans.
