Cyber Monday 2011 exceeded all expectations with a estimated $1.2 billion in sales according to the New York Times. Additionally, a recent study found 50% of e-commerce visitors are logged into Facebook at the same time whether they are aware of it or not. Taken together, these two statistics beckon the question “how much influence does social media (and specifically Facebook) have on Cyber Monday or e-commerce in general?” The answer to this question is that there is evidence to suggest a relationship does exist.

The Saturday before Cyber Monday, TechCrunch identified a strong correlation between Facebook activity and Cyber Monday performance in addition to citing peer-to-peer sharing as the driving force of this relationship. Again, given how integrated Facebook has become in the average user’s online world, it is easy to make this correlation.

Next, if there is a correlation, then how much did community management of individual Facebook fan pages play a role in Cyber Monday sales? For example, if a retail branded Facebook page has inconsistent community management and lacks an engaging strategy, then the odds are minimal that they are able to reach both the news feeds of individual fans and friends of fans which leads to peer-to-peer sharing. However if a page is properly managed by a community management strategy based on industry best practices, then the effective reach of any messaging is maximized to fans and friends of fans thereby increasing the odds of peer-to-peer sharing.

Based upon experience, MindComet would argue that properly managed retail branded Facebook Pages performed better on Cyber Monday than fan pages that lack a proven strategy and consistent management.

What do you think?