Post IPO Report: Facebook Drops In Customer Loyalty Ranks, Down 7% In Brand Equity

The Facebook IPO has been a disaster for the social network, not just financially. BrandKeys, a brand and customer engagement consultancy, reports that the networking giant dropped from #1 to #5 in the Social Networking Category in their Customer Loyalty Engagement Index.  The index polls over 49,000 consumers, 83 categories and 600 brands. As recently as February 2012, Facebook was at the top of the Social Networking list.  Since the IPO Facebook has dropped below YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn to 5th place.  Here are the top 10 performers on the Engagement Index:

1. YouTube
2. Twitter
3. Pinterest
4. LinkedIn
5. Facebook
6. Yelp
7. MySpace
8. Four Square / Google +
9. Flickr
10. Quora

The drops come from some factors closely tied to the IPO debacle.  The polls show a loss of 11% on self-image, and a 20% drop on trust & security.  Other factors like ease of connection and brand value/content did however remain steady. Overall Facebook lost consumer engagement and loyalty, something that BrandKeys identifies as “the ultimate leading indicator of profitability,” ending in a 7% loss in overall brand equity.

BrandKey’s president, Rober Passikoff, shared the following on the decline of Facebook in the index:

“It’s completely consumer-driven … First you need be resonant enough with consumers to make the list. Then we’re able to determine how well a brand meets or exceeds expectations consumer hold for the drivers of engagement and loyalty in the category. Five months ago Facebook was doing just fine.””

The study also showed the rise of Pinterest, not listed in the top 10 in February to the 3rd spot on May 30th.  For more information see BrandKeys.