Grammarly’s goal is to improve communication among the world’s 2+ billion native and non-native English writers. In addition to providing more than 3 million registered users with our automated proofreader -- which corrects contextual spelling mistakes, checks for more than 250 common grammar errors, enhances vocabulary usage, and provides citation suggestions -- we launched the Grammarly Facebook page as a celebration of the English language for grammar enthusiasts. The Grammarly Facebook community provides more than 550,000 fans with fun grammar tips and discussions.Since launching our Facebook fan page in mid-2010, Grammarly has experienced tremendous growth -- increasing fans by a factor of around 50 in the last year. But what truly differentiates Grammarly’s Facebook page from that of other Internet startups, and even consumer brands, is the level of engagement we receive. With between 300,000 and 1,000,000 people talking about us at any time, our community is more engaged than fans of Pepsi (107,783 people talking about us), Jeep (46,912 people talking about us), and other household names. We received recognition for our engagement levels, which were third highest on all of Facebook, during the first week in January 2013. As context: For most of the top consumer brands, engagement levels are somewhere between 0.5 percent and two percent of their total number of fans. At Grammarly, our engagement levels hover between 50 and 200 percent of our total number of fans. This is because we have a full-time team of three people focused on Facebook, who help to explain the importance of good grammar using humor and grace. Spreading awareness about the importance of quality writing, as well as teaching spelling and grammar skills, is very important. In the United States alone, low literacy (the ability to read and write) costs the economy $225 billion a year in lost productivity; and, writers who are not yet in the workforce are already foreshadowing negative outcomes. For example, student writing scores on the SAT have declined five points since 2011 and consistently represent the lowest student outcomes of any section of the test. Many English writers simply do not learn proper spelling and grammar skills, especially in the U.S. Grammarly’s Facebook page is one of the largest channels spreading awareness about this epidemic. Often, our posts serve as a tool to educate writers on proper grammar. Grammarly also runs a variety of contests and campaigns on its page -- most recently a $1,000 scholarship contest to encourage our fans to share their thoughts on writing today, and a t-shirt slogan contest meant to highlight users' favorite aspects of proper grammar.
In January 2013, Grammarly was included among companies such as Blackberry and Trident Gum as a top PTAT (People Talking About Us) gainer for product and service pages -- with more than one million discussing and sharing our content. (http://www.insidefacebook.com/2013/01/03/blackberry-trident-gammarly-and-others-among-this-weeks-top-ptat-gainers-for-product-and-service-pages/) Grammarly’s Facebook page was mentioned by Cheryl Connor on Forbes.com: “Instead of becoming the ‘grammar police,’ Grammarly’s blog and Facebook page show they are approaching the epidemic with a dose of humor instead. For example, a list of grammar rules on their blog says: Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively. Never use a big word when a diminutive alternative would suffice. That’s the spirit. Rather than making grammar the weapon we beat our employees over the head with, why not make the topic an opportunity to learn in an environment of humor and fun?" (http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2012/10/21/i-dont-tolerate-poor-grammar/) In January 2012, Grammarly posted a list of “Top Ten Grammar Pet Peeves" which was liked by 115,469 people, and shared 39,476 times. It received 32,432 comments. And finally, TechWeb recently took Grammarly’s advice for making changes to the Facebook timeline. (http://www.techweb.com/news/240146050/9-facebook-timeline-changes-businesses-want.html)
