How did Converse get 12 million more Facebook fans than Nike?

According to Converse’s chief marketing officer, Geoff Cottrill, the secret of successful Facebook marketing is to do nothing.

Well, that may not be verbatim, but Cottrill does admit that on the day he learnt that Converse had 8 million fans and was asked what the brand should do, he did indeed reply: “Nothing”.

Converse now has more than 15 million fans on Facebook, which is almost four times more than its parent company, Nike and about eight times as many as Adidas.

Having achieved this with a smaller advertising budget than many of its competitors, Converse has proven that abundant ad dollars are not essential for an effective social media strategy.

When Cottrill refers to doing nothing, he specifically means doing more listening than talking, like a good dinner party guest.

“By showing respect and trusting your consumers, I believe your brand benefits via strong advocacy –- having millions of advocates can be a powerful thing. You just have to let go and trust your consumers, ” he said.

He also advises adapting marketing messages for each platform, which means never transferring non-social campaigns directly to a conversation channel.

But while Converse has aggregated an impressive fan base via Facebook, the most significant social media metrics are around engagement. Like many marketers, Cottrill wants to connect conversations and brand affinity to results, while being cautious of broadcasting too many advertising messages.