And the top Facebook pages are …. #1 Barack Obama (no surprise) …. #2 Coca Cola (of course) …. #3 Nutella (What?). Yeah, that’s right. The Italian hazelnut/chocolate spread.

It’s safe to assume that most of the fans were from Europe but the craziest thing about Nutella‘s high ranking is that they don’t advertise. Well, that’s not true; they spent $300,000 on media last year, which is pretty much equivalent to nothing. Here’s the impressive part: their Facebook page was created by a fan, Nutella has 5 million Google search results, there are 5,000 videos on Youtube featuring Nutella, and there are 17,000 photos featuring Nutella on Flickr.

Despite it’s European base, Nutella has become very popular in the U.S. as well; and the U.S. fans are very loyal. For Americans, it’s probably associated with memories of trips to Europe and then they spread the word about Nutella to their friends and family at home. In some ways, it has become a form of social currency.

It’s interesting to see that a company can have a crazy online presence without even trying. They’re obviously doing something right. So here are 3 easy steps to follow that will create the online buzz we all hope for:

1. Become a European staple so Americans will have no choice but to think you’re cool
2. Gather a cult following effortlessly
3. Be kind of like peanut butter, except use a weirder looking nut and add chocolate