2009 Big Money Facebook 50 and the Ranking of U.S. Retail Industry Companies

Every communication channel is a marketing opportunity for the retail industry. Even though it has taken a while, U.S. retailers are finally finding ways to be effective marketers on one of the world's largest communication channels - Facebook.

The presence of big business on one of the original social media uber networks has been largely resisted, but by making an effort to fit into the Facebook community rather than taking it over, many retail companies have come to be viewed as both welcome and valuable Facebook members.

Of course, where there is business activity, there must be measurements and rankings of that activity. It is the competitive free enterprise way. And thus, the "Facebook 50" was born.

The "Facebook 50" is a ranking that was created by The Big Money website this year to determine which U.S. companies have the "best" presence on Facebook. Rather than just quantify success by the number of fans, Big Money decided that the "best" companies on Facebook would be determined with a broader set of criteria.

The criteria for being chosen for the 2009 Big Money Facebook 50 were:

• A minimum of 200,000 fans
• Frequency of updates
• The level of fan engagement
• Speed of fan base growth
• Creativity

In looking at the Facebook 50, it is clear the fan base size alone did not determine the rankings. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that #1 ranked Coca-Cola has about four million fans and #2 ranked Starbucks has more than five million, the most for any corporate brand on Facebook.

Thirty-one of the fifty companies on the 2009 Facebook 50 ranking are retail companies or companies with significant retail operations. This is not suRprising since these are the types of companies that stand to benefit most from direct contact with customers and potential customers. What follows is the list of U.S. retail industry companies on the 2009 Facebook 50 and their rankings.

U.S. Retail Industry Companies on the "2009 Big Money Facebook 50" Ranking List":

2.   Starbucks

3.   Disney

4.   Victoria's Secret

5.   iTunes

8.   Chick-fil-A

10.  T.G.I. Friday's

12.  Dunkin' Donuts

13.  Best Buy

15.  Adidas

17.  Krispy Kreme

19.  JCPenney

20.  Papa John's

23.  McDonald's

24.  H&M

25.  Gap

27.  Dippin' Dots

28.  Kohl's

29.  Forever 21

30.  Ben & Jerry's

31.  Puma

32.  Louis Vuitton

35.  Pizza Hut

37.  Apple

39.  Vans

42.  Harley Davidson

43.  Target

44.  Audi

46.  Zara

47.  Taco Bell

48.  Buffalo Wild Wings

49.  Calvin Klein

View the entire Big Money Facebook 50 list here.

More About Social Media and the Retail Industry:

• Retail Industry Companies on Facebook
• Retailers with Twitter Accounts
• Social Networking and the Retail Industry