In a recent survey by the market research firm, Blue Research, nearly half of those surveyed (41 percent) said they would prefer using a social login such as Facebook Connect rather than registering at each individual website.

The survey also found that 77 percent believe it’s a good idea to offer social logins as a registration alternative, even if they might not use social logins themselves.

This data suggests that Facebook Connect usage is likely to continue growing. But is it the right CRM strategy? How does it compare to traditional website logins?

EASE OF REGISTRATION

Facebook Connect’s obvious selling point is convenience.
And that’s by no means a small issue. The survey (conducted for Janrain, a provider of user management platforms for social media) found that 86 percent were bothered by the need to create new accounts at individual websites. Some further quick hit stats from the same survey:

  • 54% noted they would probably leave the site and not return
  • 26% said they would go to a different site if possible
  • 6% would simply leave and avoid the site in the future

EASE OF USE – FORGOTTEN PASSWORDS

A full 90 percent (up from 45% in 2010) said they would leave a website before taking the time to retrieve forgotten login details. Facebook Connect ensures that customers will never forgo a site because they can’t remember their user name or password. They won’t even have to think about it.

EXPOSURE

Facebook Connect allows companies to custom-design their sites to spread their social media presence. Users can easily share “Likes” and recent activity on a site with their friends—building a company’s brand as they do. Traditional website registrations provide nothing comparable in terms of social media marketing.

THE TRUST ISSUE

On its permissions screen, Facebook Connect allows users to manage what information is shared, but some users remain wary of their privacy.

This situation actually presents an opportunity for a company to build trust by being completely transparent. Along with the Facebook permissions, a company-specific page (a topic – “Creating trust with Facebook connect” I wrote about earlier) can be included to explain:

  • What information will be gathered
  • How it will be used
  • How it will benefit people to share this information.

But it’s still important to provide a traditional option. There are people who will be turned off if they have no choice but Facebook to log in.

QUALITY OF INFORMATION

Facebook Connect can provide valuable customer information that probably wouldn’t be obtained with an individual site registration. On the other hand, Facebook Connect won’t gather information specific to a company—information that may be critical to marketing and customer management. There are solutions—such as welcome emails that encourage further sharing of information—but Facebook Connect can’t directly replace the detail of individual registrations.

It is the additional information that will help you continually personalize your marketing but combined with a good CRM product and some marketing automation software (with dynamic forms), Facebook Connect can be a really strong way to encourage registration at your site.

SUMMARY

While Facebook Connect is not the only social sign-on service, it should be where you start. Then poll your audience and find out if there is another service that they would also like to have as an option. Nobody is restricting you from also using Google or Twitter, it is just with 800 million Facebook members, Connect will probably suffice for most people.


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