Search Articles

Most liked posts

Recent Articles

Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’

Your Advanced Facebook Page Checklist: 14 Things You Might Not Be Doing

March 26th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

Just when I think I know all there is to know about Facebook, guess what? I learn something new – a new tip, trick, idea – that I then turn around and share with you.

Here are 14 new tidbits for you, only a few of which I already knew about, but all of which will improve your Facebook page:

General

Pick a vanity URL: If your Facebook page does not yet contain your company name in the URL, it’s easy to change that. Just go to your admin panel, click on edit page, click on update info, and change your username.
Use the tabs: Under your cover photo are tabs – photos, likes, about, etc. Create new ones (you can use Shortstack).
Create milestones: Use milestones to tell your company’s story – when you were founded, got your first customer, hired your first employee, etc. (you can add milestones from the top menu bar).

About

Link to website – In your About writeup, provide a link to your website right at the beginning.
Link to other social media accounts – Just because you’re on Facebook doesn’t mean you can’t add links to other social media channels you use.
Add a call-to-action – Include a call-to-action – give them a reason to interact on your page or visit your website.
Use keywords – Google and other search engines crawl Facebook during searches, so be sure you are using all relevant keywords in your description.

Photos

Focus on sharing photos – In case you missed it, Facebook is updating timelines to showcase visual content over text. Get in the habit of sharing photos and videos over words.
Relate your cover photo to your brand – Your cover photo can be anything, but for the biggest impact, make sure it’s somehow related to your brand.
Describe your cover photo – Because people can click on your cover photo, be sure to include a description, call to action, and link to your website.
Use your logo as profile photo – Use your logo as your profile photo, or get creative an use your logo on something – a bag, hat, etc. – instead.

Content

Share unique content – Be sure some of the content you share on Facebook is only available there, and not on your blog, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Allow fans to message you – Yes, fans can comment on your updates, but let them also send you direct messages. Just go to your admin panel, click on edit page, and click on manage permissions. Scroll down to “Messages” and check the box.

Did I miss anything that’s a little more advanced but also very important to do with your Facebook page?

Image courtesy of kgi.org

Google+

Tags: Facebook, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 4 Comments »

Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Facebook Boost (Customer Relationship Manager)

February 22nd, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich

Facebook Boost

Just getting your Facebook page published isn’t going to help you build fans and market your business—unless you do it right. Facebook Boost gives you a dedicated social media analyst to help you build buzz for your business on Facebook, plus create customized Facebook advertising to help you increase “likes” to your page. Thanks to its detailed reporting on your social media accounts’ activity, you’ll never be in the dark as to whether your efforts are working. With Facebook Boost, you’ll get help in managing all areas of your page, including posts, how many people are talking about your page and fan interactions.

Google+

Tags: Facebook, Marketing, Resources, small business, social media
Posted in Marketing, Resources, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media | No Comments »

5 Ways Facebook’s Graph Search Could Help Your Social Media Marketing

February 11th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

By now you’ve heard about Facebook’s new Graph Search feature, which is still in beta (you can add your name to their wait list if you want to give it a try before it goes public).

Graph Search basically puts your social graph – your connections – to use by making it easy to find people, photos, places, and interests that are relevant to you. Your search results will be unique to you, as everyone’s social graph is different.

Since Facebook tends to get the beatdown pretty often about privacy, it’s worth noting that your results will only include what you could already view elsewhere on Facebook.

Let’s take a look at how Facebook Graph Search could help your social media marketing (I say “could” because we don’t know yet how people will use it):

1. Learn More About Your Fans

This, for me, is the most obvious benefit. Facebook brand’s Facebook fans which will then help them create more relevant content. This will benefit Facebook users by giving them content they want to see, which will then in turn benefit brands by boosting the levels of Facebook engagement.

2. Find New Customers

Because of its detailed search capabilities, you could use Graph Search to find potential new customers. Just use the same demographic and interest criteria you would use for an ad, and ask for introductions from your shared connections. (Yes, this is a lot like LinkedIn.)

3. Likes = Visibility

Likes will become even more important for your page – the more likes you have, the more visibility you will get. Let’s say you are a photographer. When the friend of one of your fans conducts a search for “wedding photographers,” you will pop up.

4. Ad Opportunities

Since Facebook depends on ads for revenue, it only makes sense that they would extend advertising opportunities to Graph Search. Your targeted ads would reach people looking for your product or service – a really great lead generation opportunity.

5. Location Will Matter

Besides encouraging likes, local businesses should encourage check-ins. If Graph Search uses EdgeRank, the more activity you have on your page, the more you could potentially show up in search results.

One small caveat: If Graph Search is to work for your business, you will have to actively use Facebook, share engaging and relevant content, and encourage likes and shares.

How else do you think this new search capability will affect your social media marketing?

Image courtesy of techcrunch.com

Google+

Tags: Facebook, Graph Search, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Heyo (Social Marketing Tool)

January 24th, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich

Heyo

Want a better Facebook page? How about a mobile app for your business? Heyo is a social marketing tool that lets businesses do all that and more–all with easy drag-and-drop steps that don’t take a lot of time. If you’ve ever run across a Facebook fan page you admire and wish you could create one, too, Heyo can help with attractive templates or custom design tools. You can choose from over 30 widgets ranging from coupons and “Buy” buttons to contest and email opt-ins. Then Heyo takes your fan page and creates a mobile app based on your social data complete with photos and fan page tabs so your customers can see your page on their smartphones or mobile devices.

Google+

Tags: Facebook, mobile apps, small business resources, social media, Web Design
Posted in Marketing, Resources, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media, Technology, Web Design | No Comments »

Fan Engagement Lessons From the Top 5 Brands on Facebook

December 19th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

According to the Track Social blog, the most successful brands on Facebook have a mix of 4 critical elements: presence, audience, engagement and buzz. So what are the global brands of Facebook, Disney, YouTube, Coca-Cola and MTV doing to engage with their audience and create buzz?

I visited their pages, and here’s what I learned:

Facebook: Clever

Talk about engaging content! The first post I saw was the story of how Jay Jabonet began a campaign on Facebook to buy a group of children in the Philippines a boat so they didn’t have to swim to school anymore – the post included a video. Facebook also has a really fun “X is like Facebook” series (Halloween and pools, for starters), which I think is very clever.

Disney: Visual with a purpose

Their timeline is full of visual content with purpose: photos of the newly opened Fantasyland at Walt Disney World – with a link to buy tickets. A happy family decked out in Disney gear to promote a sale at the Disney Store online – with a promo code and link to the site. There are also lots of fun stills of characters from movies, along with their more famous quotes.

YouTube: Funny

It’s hard to go wrong sharing funny videos on your Facebook page – like Mariah Carey singing “All I Want For Christmas Is You” backed up by Jimmy Fallon and The Roots playing toy instruments. They also share company news you can use – like Virgin America will be offering selected YouTube series as part of their in-flight entertainment.

Coca-Cola: Brilliant branding

From Coke’s adorable polar bears promoting My Coke Rewards to an endless sea of Coca-Coca bottles (“like friends … the more the merrier”) to promoting the (RED) album in support of World AIDS Day, Coke really mixes it up while not losing sight of what their brand stands for.

MTV: Celebs

If MTV’s timeline is any gauge, pop culture is extremely engaging. Right now, MTV’s cover photo is the Jersey Shore cast – with a reminder of what day and time it airs. Their timeline includes a “Last Fans Standing” contest, a picture of Mike’s abs, photos of One Direction and Justin Bieber, and a promotion for their “Big and Best of 2012” livestream performance on December 12.

What brands (big or small) do you find most engaging on Facebook, and why?

Image courtesy of visualphotos.com

Google+

Tags: Branding, Coca-Cola, Disney, Facebook, Marketing, MTV, social media, YouTube
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

3 Reasons to Stick With Social Media Marketing

December 18th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Diving into social media marketing is fun and scary at the same time. When you’ve been at it for a while and you’re not getting the results you want, it can be incredibly frustrating. Why so few likes, comments, retweets, shares? I totally hear you, believe me! Between trying to deal with Facebook’s EdgeRank and timing social media use so people will see your brilliant content, it is easy to give up.

Resist the urge – don’t give up! Here are 3 reasons why (statistics courtesy of HubSpot):

Your demographic is on social media

No matter who your customers are, they are using social media: 83% of 18- to 29- year-olds and 70% of 30-49 year olds are active on it. Even 51% of those 50 and older are active on social media. Whether your business is B2B or B2C, your customers will interact with you on social media if you share engaging, useful content.

Social media use is growing

Your customers are continually joining social media – and using it more and more. Consider these numbers:

Every 60 seconds, 66,000 things are shared on Twitter, 695,000 things are shared on Facebook, and 7,000 things are shared on LinkedIn.
Every day, 700,000 new Facebook accounts are created.
Every week, 7 billion (billion!) things are shared on social media.

The more active you are, the better your chances for engagement.

Social media marketing works

Just because you’re not seeing immediate results on social media (new leads, new customers, higher sales numbers), don’t give up. Marketers are reporting 3 significant results:

91% see improved website traffic due to social media
79% are generating more quality leads than those who don’t use social media
50% have successfully connected with new customers on social networks

Making sure social media marketing works for you is pretty straightforward:

Be real
Be remarkable
Show your appreciation
Make your fans and followers feel special

How has social media helped your business grow?

Image courtesy of englishwithjo.com

Google+

Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

4 Things You Need to Know About Facebook’s EdgeRank

November 21st, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

If you’re new to using Facebook for your business, you have probably noticed that some of your posts generate zero interaction, while some generate lots. That’s due to EdgeRank. Here are 4 things you need to know about it:

1. What is EdgeRank?

It’s Facebook’s news feed algorithm, and it determines what updates are seen by your friends and fans (this is true for both personal and business pages).

2. How does EdgeRank determine what updates are seen?

No one really knows, because even when an update is generating interaction – likes, comments – it still might not be shown in the news feed. According to PageLever, you’ll only reach 7 percent of your fans on any given day.

3. How can I calculate my reach?

Go to Facebook Insights at the top of your page and look at your average reach for the last 30 days. Divide that by the number of fans you have, and that’s your reach. Typically, the more fans you have, the lower your reach.

4. How can I increase my visibility and thus improve my reach?

You need to increase engagement. Here 3 proven ways to do that:

Post photos: EdgeRank loves photos, because people love photos – they are engaged with the most and reach the most people. The more photos you post, the better, as they get from 5 to 20 times as much interaction as any other type of Facebook post.

Challenge your fans: This is one I see a lot, and it always generates a lot of interaction. Ask your fans to fill in a blank. It could be general (“This weekend, I wish I were traveling to ________”) or it could be specific to a holiday (“My favorite Thanksgiving dish is ________”) or it could be tied to your company (“If I could have one marketing superpower, it would be _________”).

Run a sweepstakes: A sweepstakes is not that hard to do, and actually the simpler it is, the better. Just make it a random fan giveaway and announce it in a status update, along with rules and any restrictions. Make sure the prize is related to your company so you attract the right kind of fan rather than random people who want an iPad, for example.

Try these tips and let me know if you see an improvement in your engagement levels – leave a comment below!

Image courtesy of v3im.com

Google+

Tags: EdgeRank, Facebook, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

5 Ways Smartphone Shopping and Social Media Are Changing Retail Marketing

November 14th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

With holiday shopping moving from in-person to desktop to smartphone and offline word of mouth moving to review sites and social sharing, retail marketing has entered a whole new era. HubSpot recently produced a fantastic (and very long) infographic called The Meaning of Like, which I went through and analyzed for insights all retailers should know.

There are my 5 favorite takeaways:

1. Shopping via smartphone is huge

If you don’t have a mobile site, you are missing out on the 64 percent of smartphone users who shop online with their devices. It is estimated that 167 million people will shop online this year and spend an average of $1,800 per person. You do the math.

2. Online shoppers are very social

Retailers who are active on social media have a distinct marketing advantage, as social media users are big shoppers: 40 percent of Twitter users search for products via Twitter, 51 percent of online shoppers conduct research on social sites, and 60 percent of Facebook users will discuss a product or service in exchange for a discount or deal.

3. Online shoppers check reviews

As I mentioned above, online shoppers do a lot of research, so it is worthwhile to ask customers for online reviews and spend time on Q&A sites like Quora to answer questions specific to your industry, product or service. Consider these numbers: 59 percent of online shoppers check customer reviews, 42 percent check question and answer tools, and 26 percent look up Internet forums.

4. Online shoppers do more than just shop on their smartphone

A third of online shoppers use their smartphones to look for sales and specials, check store info, look at product reviews and compare prices. Make sure all of that information is easily findable on your mobile site!

5. Online shoppers use Pinterest

Do you have a Pinterest account yet? Half of consumers check for coupons and deals on Pinterest, 43 percent look for product information (which strikes me as odd, since Pinterest is a visual platform), 36 percent read or post comments, and 34 percent look for event information.

In my next post, I’ll share all the ways retailers are changing to accommodate this new shopping and sharing behavior.

Image courtesy of bigfrey.com

Google+

Tags: Facebook, Marketing, online shopping, Pinterest, quora, retail marketing, smartphones, social media, The Meaning of Like, Twitter
Posted in Generational Marketing, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

6 Common Reasons People Unlike Your Facebook Page and Stop Following You On Twitter

November 8th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

As you may have noticed by now, I really like infographics. I found a great one published earlier this year on the Get Satisfaction blog that listed the reasons people will stop following a brand on Facebook and Twitter. All the reasons are super easy to avoid, so here the top ones that I see all the time, along with tips on how to not make those mistake.

1. Posting or tweeting too much

You know what they say: Too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing, especially in social media. When it comes to posting on Facebook, once a day is plenty. As for Twitter, twice a day is fine.

2. Posting or tweeting too much about the same thing

This is where an editorial schedule comes in. By listing all the different topics you can write about and then spreading them out over the course of, say, two weeks, you won’t bore your followers.

A corollary to this is: Don’t post the same exact thing on Facebook that you do on Twitter. Your audiences are different on each platform, so your content should be as well.

3. Posting or tweeting too much promotional stuff

People care about one thing: themselves. The more content you share that benefits your followers, the better. If you post too much stuff about your company and how great it is, well, where’s the value in that?

4. No value beyond one-time offer

Once you hook a new Facebook fan or Twitter follower, make it worthwhile for them. They responded to your offer for X, so that means they are interested in X. Post about X – tips, tricks, guides, funny quotes, photos, etc.

5. Not offering enough deals

If you offered a special promotion exclusively through Twitter or Facebook that got a great response, then your audience probably really likes deals. Keep offering them weekly or monthly to build brand loyalty.

6. Irrelevant content

If you want to really engage your audience, be sure you’re sharing information about topics they care about. Whatever gets zero response should be pulled from your editorial schedule. Whatever gets a lot of response should be put front and center on your editorial schedule.

If you’re not sure what your audience cares about, ask them!

Have you unfollowed a brand or business for doing any of the above?

Image courtesy of fbei.wordpress.com

Google+

Tags: Facebook, Marketing, social media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »