Starbucks reaches 10 million Facebook fans

A few days ago, Starbucks achieved a major milestone on Facebook as the first brand to surpass 10 million fans. Starbucks surpassed Coca-Cola as the most popular brand on Facebook last year and is now chasing the likes of Lady Gaga and President Barack Obama. If you’re interested in seeing a list of the top Pages on Facebook, Inside Facebook has a complete list here.

How did they become the first brand to reach 10 million fans? Starbucks has made social media, specifically Facebook, a major priority in their marketing. Great quote from Justin Smith (editor of Inside Facebook) via MediaPost that sums it up, ”Starbucks got started early, and over the last couple of years has actively used Facebook events, discussions, and notes in conjunction with well-coordinated ad campaigns to drive traffic both to physical stores and online promotions.”

You’ve probably seen or even participated in several of their promotions on Facebook. Last year, Starbucks added 200,000 fans to their Facebook Page in one week through a Free Pastry Day promotion (which drove more than 1 million people to stores). Their most recent promotion was the VIA instant coffee “Taste Challenge” – where fans received a coupon for a cup of coffee on their next visit as well as a $1 off a VIA purchase.

I do a lot of research on what brands are doing on Facebook and I can say that I haven’t seen another brand take this same approach as Starbucks. I realize Starbucks is a huge brand and is well known, but they are 4 million fans ahead of the next most popular fan pages (Skittles and Coca-Cola).  Their approach has been extremely successful in acquiring fans and more importantly, getting them to visit their stores and talk about their brand. It’s not a one promotion and then quit, they are always on “go” mode when it comes to Facebook.

What do you think about Starbucks hitting 10 million fans? Why do you think other brands aren’t taking the same approach as Starbucks?