Increasingly, brands are beginning move content away from social media platforms like Facebook and onto alternate social channels, like custom microsites.
Jun Group, an online ad placement agency, reports that online ads ending in a Facebook brand page decreased from 31 percent to 10 percent between 2012 and 2013, with the majority of those clicks instead going to brand-owned sites.
Brand managers and marketers cite the "rented" nature of Facebook: ultimately Facebook controls the user experience on the site, and brands can only work within the existing framework provided. By moving content to microsites, brands are moving from "rented" space to "owned" space, with all of the advantages that total control provides, including improved analytics and ownership of all user data on the sites.
One key example cited in the article is the Madden NFL 15 microsite, The Giferator, which allows users to create imminently shareable animated GIF images. According to Anthony Stevenson, EA Sports' VP of Global Marketing and Brand, visitors to The Giferator stayed on the site for an average of six minutes, suggesting a high level of engagement with the brand.
What might a microsite strategy look like for your organization?