It has been interesting sifting through the reactions to our recently released Gen Y research. One of the most interesting was a blog by econsultancy.com. The blog concluded that Gen Y tend to see “brand interactions on social networks as being primarily informational and transactional, not social” given their overwhelming interest to visit fan pages for news updates and promotions.

This raises an interesting question: Are we, as marketers, guilty of applying traditional approaches i.e. “push” marketing tactics (informational/transactional) to a medium that requires a different approach? Take a look at fan pages from some of today’s leading brands and I think you’ll agree that just may be the case. If brands do indeed want their fan page to be the kind of destination where visitors can truly interact and participate with their brand, they need to re-think their approach. That will require going beyond promotions, videos and photos and adding more robust functionality that helps facilitate conversations through the exchange of ideas and opinions. For many marketers, embracing social media in this way has been difficult. The thought of engaging customers in a conversation often sends the most experienced marketer into a cold sweat. However, with the recent facebook fan page redesign, it may just be the perfect time. Think about leveraging the medium to not only deliver your message, but converse with your biggest fans. When you do that, you’ll be well on your way to creating real brand fanatics. If you’ve come across a brand’s fan page that seems to be getting it right, I’d love to hear about it.