5 Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Marketing

Facebook is a marketing fad and fantasy. Its growth in members, daily use and search frequency make it the place to target discrete customer groups or desirable segments and earn “early adopter” social media bragging rights. But Facebook isn’t a cakewalk. 

In fact, very few brands can or will report measurable results in awareness, preference or sales as result of Facebook campaigns. Most of us are in a test-and-learn mode experimenting with the nuances of the Facebook platform and trying to fit this channel into an integrated brand messaging or marketing strategy. 

 The first critical understanding is that Facebook is an empty pipeline not an on-going party. And while zillions are joining and using Facebook, they aren’t interacting with you or your brand … yet. Marketers have an affirmative burden to create connections and traffic to energize brand interactions. Just like print, radio or TV, on Facebook you have to find, engage and develop a unique audience for your brand. 

There is no plug-and-play community. It’s not a silver bullet. Setting up a page or buying an ad flight merely gives you access to the masses. How you get them connected, opted-in and feeling good about your brand is your problem. To help leverage this channel for optimum impact, here are 5 key considerations to improve your Facebook campaign culled from a wide range of sources. 

Develop a Posture and Voice. Social media is about interacting with customers and prospects. If each brand has a distinct personality, that personality needs to be present on Facebook. Before you do anything you have to figure out how your brand personality will be be presented and what kind of posture and voice you will take in this channel. 

To figure this out ask yourself — If your brand went to cocktail party how would it act? Is your brand an extrovert madly working the room or an introverted wallflower coyly batting her baby blues at selected hotties? What would it say? How would it dress? What opening lines would it use or not use? Who would it schmooze with? Who would it avoid? The answers to these anthropomorphic questions should be your best creative guide.

 Pick a Page Type. Brands can have “group” pages or “fan” pages. Each has distinct properties and technical capabilities. Facebook set it up so neither is ideal. So putting your brand on Facebook means making an initial critical choice of page type. 

 Groups have friends which means your access is limited and messages are delivered to friend’s “home” pages. Businesses have “fans” which means anyone can see your page but messages are delivered to the Updates page, which people check less frequently. 

 Each type of page connects to other applications, notably traffic-building apps like “Causes” or “Events,” with specific limitations. The current thinking is that Fan pages offer more flexibility and options for marketers, but that could change as Facebook refines or changes its infrastructure and gets savvier about marketing through more daily interactions with brands and agencies. This is a fluid situation worthy of careful investigation and consideration.

 Create Strategic & Media Context. A Facebook page doesn’t exist alone or in a vacuum. To be effective it has to be part of your brand’s online ecosystem; the web of distributed messaging that is strategically placed online to intercept and interact with your most likely prospects and customers. Before you create a presence you have to determine what will the page link to and what is the overlap of information, messaging and outreach between or among your web assets.

 Figure out what job your branded website will play. Where will e-mail, text, mobile or banner campaigns direct or deliver the responders? What will content you place on YouTube or Flickr? How will it relate or not relate to the Facebook audience?  Will you use Wikipedia, MySpace, Friendster, Baidu or LinkedIn to reinforce or extend the message and the brand promise to specific segments or target subsets or will it be used as a straight frequency extender or as an exclusive platform for a specific message or offer? Also how will you drive traffic and get your message to the intended audience? Will you use Facebook ads or other ad vehicles to build your following?

 Once that is determined, you can assign unique objectives and content to Facebook as part of a larger marketing effort. This should be geared directly to brand goals and targeted by psycho-demographics.

 Craft Content. Social media is about entertainment, information and interaction. What do you want to say and how do you want to get it across. Remember that huge numbers of users come to Facebook to fill time gaps, relieve boredom or catch up on friends and family. Your content has to fit into that mindset to be successful. 

 Will you create unique content or functionality or link viewers from your Facebook page to somewhere else? How long will the content be live? What is the editorial calendar or refreshment cycle? What is the experience you want customers to have and what feelings do you want prospects to walk away with? This is not about crafting an ad; its about putting yourself in the users place and shaping the experience to direct a call to action or to prompt an emotional take-away. 

 The most effective and impactful tactics we’ve seen so far include contests, requests for user-generated content (photos, stories, opinions), games, widget/badge downloads, polls and surveys, special offers and coupon downloads and early or exclusive access to information or special pricing. Some brands have used spokespeople or brand iconography to link Facebook marketing to the master brands. Others have created stand-alone, unique content exclusively for this channel and this audience.

 Watch, React & Count. In order to determine if Facebook “worked” you need to have clear expectations and objectives for a campaign or a branding effort. Are you counting fan sign-ups, coupons downloaded, comments collected, games played, survey responses or what? 

 The Facebook community is active, vocal and can react strongly, either positively or negatively, to commercial activity on the platform. So prepare yourself. Be prepared to answer questions, follow-up on complaints or customer service issues and to respond to random unscripted comments about your brand. By watching, listening and reacting you’ll be prepared to tweak the approach, the offer or the content to better engage and mobilize the Facebook faithful

As people spend more time on social networks, retailers feel pressure to be there as well. Twitter is a hotbed of experimentation for retailers that see it as a channel for customer service, promoting the deal of the day and more. Facebook and its third-party developers are creating e-commerce applications on the site. Meanwhile, retail Websites are bolstering their social commerce features.

“While user ratings and reviews are a mature form of social commerce with proven benefits, e-commerce on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, is in an early stage,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Social Commerce on Facebook, Twitter and Retail Sites.” “People are spending more time on social networks and are able to conduct more of their regular activities on these platforms. E-commerce on social networks has barely tapped that potential.”

But forward-thinking retailers want to bring their Web stores to the environments where their customers like to spend time. As a result, almost three-quarters of the merchants in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide have a presence on at least one of the major social networks or social shopping sites.

Social network users are a highly coveted group of consumers. Across all age brackets, they were more likely than average to make an online purchase, according to a May 2009 survey by Anderson Analytics.

What’s more, social network users are sharing recommendations with greater frequency than generally expected. A Q1 2009 Razorfish survey of social network users found that some 29% reported sharing their views online at least every few weeks, while 10% said they made such contributions at least every few days.

“Leading companies know they cannot afford to wait for customers to visit their sites,” added Mr. Grau. “They need to place their virtual storefronts where their customers congregate. This implies the nature of e-commerce is shifting from a transactional experience to a social one.”

Though enterprise investment in online communities and other social media tools remains strong, many companies are still struggling to find ways to effectively leverage such vehicles to meet their business and marketing goals, according to a survey from Deloitte, Beeline Labs and the Society for New Communications Research. The “2009 Tribalization of Business Study” found that 94% of companies currently sponsoring online communities say they plan to maintain or increase investment in these communities and in other social media tools.

But while some respondents agree wholeheartedly that communities have helped them successfully increase word-of-mouth and boost customer loyalty and brand awareness, many others report that social media has fallen short on helping them reap bottom-line benefits, such as increased sales or decreased acquisition costs.

Market Shows Signs of Maturation

Despite this spotty success, several data points from the study indicate that large companies’ continued use of communities and social media is beginning to mature, a development that may well prove beneficial in the long run because more of an emphasis may eventually be placed on fine-tuning and measurement.

For instance, this year’s survey points to an evolution in the way in which companies are tracking and engaging with both active and inactive members. While the number of active users and their level of participation have been considered the top measures of success for an online community, this year’s survey respondents are paying close attention to non-active users or “lurkers” – people who observe the community, but don’t participate in the discussion. Nearly one-third (32%) of respondents are capturing data on how these individuals derive value from the community.

Additionally, 20% of survey respondents have set up formal “ambassador” programs, which give outsiders preferential treatment in return for being more active in the community. Nearly four in 10 (39%) of respondents also indicated that more full-time people are being deployed to manage the communities.

“While we are seeing signs of maturation in this year’s study, there are still plenty of companies who do not realize the power of communities, and others who have not yet figured out the proper approach for leveraging communities as part of their business,” said Francois Gossieaux, partner with Beeline Labs and a senior fellow with the Society of New Communications Research.

Rethinking Community Success

Survey respondents report that the biggest obstacles to creating a successful community are getting people to join (24%), stay engaged (30%) and getting them to keep returning (21%).

However, results indicate that very few companies are taking the steps necessary to overcome these challenges, according to the study’s sponsors. While 58% of respondents evaluated partnering with existing communities, complementary vendors or end users when developing their community, 55% of the companies that evaluated a partnership did not actually partner.

Goals, Measurement Disconnect

The survey also revealed significant gaps between community goals (such as generating word of mouth, customer loyalty and brand awareness) and how success is being measured.

The top two analytics for measuring success are the number of active users (34%) and how often people post/comment (32%), which indicates that participation is still considered to be the biggest measure of success.

On the other hand, more potentially useful measures – such as increase in search engine rank and citations/links on other sites – are less often used, pointing to a mismatch between the desired outcome and how that outcome is measured, the study found.

“To realize the full benefit of social media and online communities, business leaders must move beyond viewing them as “bolt-ons” to their corporations,” asid Ed Moran, director of product innovation, Deloitte Services LP. “Companies need to integrate the new information flows associated with the communities with those that already exist within their companies. New management strategies and practices will be critical, including redefining the scope and role of alliances as well as the overall boundary of corporations.”

About the study: The “2009 Tribalization of Business Survey” evaluates the perceived potential of online communities and identifies how enterprises believe they may better leverage them. The survey measured the responses of over 400 companies, including Fortune 100 organizations, which have created and maintain online communities today. The communities ranged from fewer than 100 members to more than one million members.

“Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.”

According to the post, the addition of Facebook raises the stakes considerably, because it has the largest pool of status updates, despite all the hype around Twitter. Facebook has previously stated that it has 40 million updates a day on average from its 300 million-plus audience.

If true, this could represent data that would be accessible to Bing and not Google.   But Kara also reports that Twitter has been talking to Google (GOOG) about a similar arrangement, and, according to sources, so has Facebook.

Full Article

Twitter Integration in Beta form is now live

 According to the Yahoo Tech News article:  http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20091014/ap_on_hi_te/pepsico_app_flap

An apology by the company — which is using the app “Amp up before you score” to market its Amp energy drink — is igniting more online criticism. But the company is sticking by the app.  Spokeswoman Nicole Bradley said the application is available only to people 17 and older who “choose to opt in to the experience.”

“The application was designed to entertain and appeal to Amp’s target. We’ll continue to monitor the feedback from all parties and act accordingly,” she said.

PepsiCo probably won’t take the application down immediately, so the chatter can continue, said Kevin Dugan, director of marketing at Empower Media Marketing in Cincinnati.  “I think their goal was to get noticed and, well, it looks like that strategy has paid off,” Dugan said.

The application lets users select from stereotypes of women, like the “foreign exchange student” or “nerd” or “cougar.” Then it offers possible pickup lines like, “Wasn’t I in Space Academy with you?” for the nerd.

It also offers other hints, like links to world news for the foreign exchange student. For the “rebound girl” — who has just broken up with her boyfriend — it offers maps of local ice cream shops. The app then lets users add women — along with name, date of the conquest and comments — to the user’s “brag list,” which can be shared online on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Social networking blog Mashable and other sites have been voicing outrage about the application. Mashable’s headline Monday about the application said “Alienate your female customers? Pepsi has an app for that.”

There’s a lot of buzz around Twitter but many marketers don’t know how to translate that buzz into a worthwhile marketing tool for their business. Most people’s first reaction to the social media “micro-blogging” tool is that it is a waste of time, but as Twitter becomes more and more mainstream, businesses are now using Twitter to engage with customers, reach the media directly, and further establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Attend this free webinar to learn all the basics of how to use Twitter to market your business.

Thursday, November 05, 2009
International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) : Social Media Conference
http://www.iabc.com/sm/
New York, NY

The leaders in social media communication are coming to New York-and you’re invited to hear their success stories at IABC’s 2009 Social Media for Communicators Conference. Featuring an all-star line-up of speakers from ESPN, Virgin USA, American Express, Siemens, BusinessWeek, Nokia, Dow Jones, Sears and many others, this is the social media conference that you can’t afford to miss.  (Limited to 150 attendees)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
GasPedal,  Blogwell - How Big Brands Use Social Media
http://gaspedal.com/blogwell/
Atlanta, GA

Newell Rubbermaid, Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, SunGard, UPS, Orange Business Services, ConAgra Foods, and Turner Broadcasting System share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — in one afternoon, for just $250. BlogWell is all about how big brands use social media. No agencies, no startups — just big companies sharing what they’ve learned. Get practical, how-to advice on creating great content, getting management buy-in, educating employees, keeping lawyers and regulators happy, simple and ethical disclosure, and engaging fans. You’ll ask questions, discover new ideas, and get answers from people who have been there, done that — and learn it all in four hours (and be home for dinner). BlogWell is presented by GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council.

Wednesday, November 12, 2009
Business Development Institute:  The Social Consumer, B2C Case Studies
http://www.bdionline.com/
New York, NY

It is no secret that social communications’ impact on consumers is growing. It is now commonplace for both large and small B2C organizations to embrace social media and social networking to connect with consumers, strengthen brands, provide service, sell products, generate insights, and receive feedback from customers, partners, and employees. Social communications is now part of an integrated marketing and communications platform for most leading organizations. This conference will showcase the best case studies that demonstrate how leading brands use social communications to achieve tangible business goals.

Monday, November 16, 2009
Gravity Summit:  Social Media Marketing for Business
New York, NY

Gravity Summit is pleased to announce the upcoming Social Media Marketing for Business event to take place in New York City on November 16, 2009 from 9:00 – 4:30 at the Edward Ney building in Manhattan.  Gravity Summit events are designed to educate and inform and empower marketing professionals, small business owners, advertisers, and C-Level executives, and others, about social media and the exciting new marketing and communications landscape that is evolving daily.

Due to the exclusivity of the upcoming venue, registration will be extremely limited. Less that 100 registrations will be accepted, no exceptions. To register for Gravity Summit NYC go to http://www.gravitysummit.com/register

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Gaspedal/SocialMedia.org:  Social Media for the Analytics Marketer
http://www.socialmedia.org/events/
“Word of Mouth” Conference Call

Sean Cheyney, who serves as the VP, Marketing and Business Development at AccuQuote, will lead a public conference call, “Social media for the analytic marketer.  Join in as Sean shares answers to the ROI challenge in social media (from a self-proclaimed ‘unsocial’ industry) and see how AccuQuote is establishing the numbers behind their social media interactions.

TWTRCON DC 09 focuses entirely on the business use and value of Twitter. See case studies and best practices from leading brands, non-profits and government agencies; learn how to use Twitter to listen and respond to stakeholders; find out how micro-blogging can influence opinions, increase organizational collaboration and create new business opportunities; and network with leading business, marketing, media, PR and government executives, key Twitter developers and social media experts.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Laredo Group : Intelligent Social Media and Mobile Marketing
http://www.laredogroup.com/socialmobile-outline.asp
Friars Club, 57 East 55th Street, New York, NY

Social media is the hottest trend in internet marketing since search, and is poised for continued exponential growth for years to come. This course will teach you about the approaches to monitoring and engaging consumers in social media from a multiple discipline approach. Learn how to engage your target and glean valuable knowledge of how consumers are interacting with your brand and category. Social media is not a question of “if”, but rather “when” you will get involved.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Business Development Institute : Nonprofit Social Communications
http://www.bdionline.com/
New York, NY

It’s no secret that social communications’ impact on nonprofits is growing. It’s now commonplace for both large and small nonprofit organizations to embrace social media and social networking to improve advocacy, increase donations, generate awareness, improve event fundraising, connect with clients, and attain volunteer goals. Social communications is now part of an integrated marketing and communications platform for most leading nonprofit organizations. This conference will showcase the best case studies that demonstrate how leading nonprofit use social communications to achieve tangible goals

The study, which included interviews with 76 executives at America’s largest charities as defined by Forbes, compares organizational adoption of social media tools – including blogs, podcasts, message boards, social networking, video blogging and wikis – in 2007 and 2008.

Among the key findings:

• 89% of charities studied in 2008 make use of social media, up from 75% the previous year.
• 45% now say social media is very important to their fundraising strategy, down from 46% in 2007.

• 81% say social media is at least “somewhat important” to their future strategy.
• Usage has increased from 2007 to 2008 for every social media tool studied.
• The largest number of respondents in 2007 were familiar with blogging (62%), but by 2008, familiarity with social networks was the highest (70%).
• 90% of charities with blogs believe their blogs are successful.
• 75% of charities surveyed report they monitor the internet for buzz, posts, conversations and news about their institution, up from 66% in 2007.

Read the full posting at MarketingCharts.com

Non-Profits ?Outblog? Private Sector

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