Facebook and the power of perception

Is Facebook really worth more than Google? Or worth more than a bricks-and-mortar-based business like a carmaker or a retailer?  Apparently it is, in the valuations of many observers…at least those who find Web traffic and stickiness to be prime determinants of how much a business is worth.

As eyeball-catchers, obviously, this matters: there’s a cash-based business reason for making this call about Facebook’s value.  But much of it also stems from perception.  Facebook and social media are the apparently place where the Web is headed; there are even some pundits saying the “Web is dead,” in this new era…which may just be their own pundit-y way of driving eyeballs to their own postings and opinions, frankly.

But much of the value that Facebook has realized for itself owes to the perceptions it’s successfully managed in the marketplace.

For a marketer who may not quite be on the same plateau as Mr. Zuckerman and his crew, consider that the valuation your customers, prospects, even your employees and stakeholders place on your business is very largely a matter of their perceptions of your business and your brand, and it’s up to you to manage those perceptions in ways that generate the greatest possible positive buzz — and value, whether in esteem or stock price.

Negative perceptions can easily drive your business straight into the ditch.  Take the example of Ford: who would have figured any of the Big 3 domestic carmakers would have been a sound bet for future success?  Yet the $1000 you invested in Ford stock back then would be worth $18,000 today, and that’s partly attributable to making all the right perceptual calls — not the least of which was refusing government bailout money.  Good products helped, of course — but building positive perceptions around those products and a good brand story of resilience and innovation were just as critical.  By managing its perception, Ford built success…and any business should take a leaf from that book.