5 Quick(ish) Tips for Better Facebook Content

You scream, I scream, we all scream… for Facebook.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best intro to this blog post. For that, I apologize. But obviously, today I am going to talk to you about Facebook content ideas and how to make your Facebook statuses (statii?) way more awesome. Since a majority of our clients are active on the ‘Book, we’re pretty familiar with what people love, hate, and share with their friends. We’re also pretty familiar with what doesn’t work. So without further ado (and even more bad jokes), here are 5 Quick(ish) Tips for Better Facebook Content.

1. Videos

Videos are more interactive than words. That seems obvious, but your audience may appreciate the break from reading every now and then, especially if it is something that interests them. Say you’re Starbucks and you’re releasing a new ad campaign. Maybe you can give a preview to your Facebook fans to see before anyone else. It’ll help solidify brand-consumer relationships and make each fan feel like they are getting something from liking the page.

2. Photos

Again, photos are more interactive than words. It also breaks up the blocks of text you might have on your page. Whether you are a food product, a luxury brand, or a service oriented organization, you can show a lot about your brand by tossing some pics up every now and again. Show your new line of shoes coming out in the fall and ask people to comment on their favorite designs. Display pictures from a recent factory tour that you sent your fan of the month on. Put up a funny comic or two to make your fans laugh. It’s all about getting people to engage with your page in new and interesting ways, and photos help you do that.

3. Direct Your Audience’s Answers

It’s sad to say, but sometimes you need to connect the dots for your audience. They might not know what you want them to do. Just because you provide a link doesn’t mean they are more likely to click. Just because you show them a picture doesn’t necessarily entice them to comment. Guide their actions by giving instructions, like this: “Click this link if you love great chicken recipes. This Thai Chicken Extravaganza is the perfect meal to end a long day.”

4. Questions / Fill in the Blank

Posting can sometimes get monotonous on pages. It’s learning X about a product on Tuesday and seeing Y about it on Thursday. Quit just giving people facts and information. Boring Facebook pages say things like, “The Ultimate Vortex Hairdryer dries your hair in under 2 nanoseconds flat.” In truth, try something like, “The Ultimate Vortex Hairdryer dries your hair in under 2 nanoseconds flat! What are you going to do with all that extra time you’ll have in the morning?” or “Fill in the blank. I love my Ultimate Vortex Hairdryer because it gives me more time to _____________.”

5. Promotions / Free Sh*!

Seriously, people love free stuff. Like, LOVE it. Even OBSESS over it. Better yet, they love it so much, they’d hunt you down and find you if they don’t get their free stuff in a timely manner. This free stuff can be anything from coupon codes to samples to discounts, and more. But keep in mind that incentives don’t work in every scenario. After all, people aren’t going to go insane for a $2 coupon off a book-on-cassette-tape about Mary Todd Lincoln.

Spotify Goes Facebook

A few days ago, many people were surprised when their news feeds became inundated with what their friends were listening to on Spotify, a streaming music service. Spotify changed their login system to use Facebook and added the ability to have your music piped to your Facebook wall. Now unless you already had a Spotify account, you can only sign up for Spotify with your Facebook credentials. Meaning, no Facebook account, no Spotify. I find this interesting.

Facebook has become so ubiquitous that 3rd party businesses see requiring a FB account to log into their service. They’re gambling that almost anyone they’d want to have probably uses Facebook. If Spotify required a Pinterest account to login, people would be confused (especially Spotify’s male audience). Pinterest is still a niche platform. However, it’s just assumed that everyone has a Facebook account. It shows that our lives really are moving to Facebook. Spotify said, on the topic of switching to Facebook’s login,

To us, this integration is all about creating an amazing new world of music discovery. As most of our users are already social and have already connected to Facebook, it seemed logical to integrate Spotify and Facebook logins. We already use Facebook as part of our backend to power our social features and by adopting Facebook’s login, we’ve created a simple and seamless social experience.

It seems that all the services we use are headed the way of a “social experience”. Everything wants to be part of our life stream, piped to all our friends and family. Facebook has become the ultimate keeper of this stream, so anyone who wants to be a part of it needs to go through them. What else is going to plug into our Facebook account? What if the GPS in your car let you sign in with your FB account and share where you are? Or if restaurants had little computers at the table that let you share what you ordered? Or how about a toilet that… ok let’s not think about that one. For better or worse, Facebook is here to stay and businesses are going to find some interesting (and creepy) ways to leverage that.

Facebook Sweeps Nielsen Social Media Report

When you think of Nielsen Media Research, TV viewership and ratings might be what comes to mind first. But the company recently took a look at social media usage among Americans, with some pretty interesting findings. If you have to ask why the firm is paying attention to our behaviors on social networks, just look at what they gathered. For one, we’re spending close to 75% more time on social media than watching videos and movies. And even among the social networking websites, Facebook clearly rules the roost – their third-quarter report shows that Facebook generated 83% more traffic than Twitter.

Check out the full report below – we’re loving the infographics. And tell us what you think – does anything surprise you? How might these stats change how you approach social media?

Social Media ROI: The Dollar Value of a Facebook Fan

There’s a certain term in the social media lexicon that I really don’t like. It’s not the meaning or even the use that I have an issue with. It’s the way it’s used. Overused. Thrown around. Thrown in when one is coming up dry. This word works as a shield for many folks in our industry – “Hey, what I do has value to you. Here’s an acronym we can use when I am trying to convince you of this, and the important-sounding-ness of it will put both of us at ease.” That term is ROI.

Alas, when talking about any investment, the return on that very investment is obviously something worth talking about. In fact, it’s the whole point, isn’t it? But sometimes the term ROI gets thrown around when you aren’t really talking about that. ROI at its core is about financial return, not “buzz” or “sentiment” or “engagement.” Of course, I would argue that those things can and do have real impact on the bottom line – often, a greater impact than other approaches. But while it’s valuable to measure metrics like audience growth and community engagement, that’s not really ROI. When you say ROI, you should be talking about numbers – numbers of dollars.

The good news is that as social media is becoming less of a trend and more of an expected component of a marketing plan, folks are studying the dollar value of marketing on social networks. For example, there’s a new report out: The Value Of A Facebook Fan. And as GigaOM puts it, “The key findings of the report are likely to come as music to the ears of advertisers that have been pursuing a Facebook-based social media strategy.” That’s because Syncapse, a social media measurement firm, found that each Facebook fan has a dollar value – $136.38 on average.

They came up with this number by surveying Facebook fans of 20 of the top brands on Facebook. Starbucks was one of them. At over 24 million Facebook fans, their Facebook community is worth $3.2 billion (at least according Syncapse’s conclusions). What does this really mean? Well, fans spend an extra $71.84 on average compared to those who are not fans. They are also 28 percent more likely than non-fans to continue using a specific brand, and 41 percent more likely to recommend a product they are a fan of to their friends. Now, that is some REAL return on investment.

Of course, you can’t just create a Facebook page and watch the Benjamins roll in. Syncapse is careful to point out that all comes down to how active the fans are. The top brands Syncapse studied are all excellent examples of pages that drive meaningful activity. They also use Facebook to foster customer satisfaction and loyalty – a key component to marketing ROI online and off. Still, the facts remain that there is real, measurable value to social media marketing. When you have that, there’s no need to put an acronym on a pedestal – the numbers speak for themselves.

Another photo sharing app. Here’s why you should care.

One of the fastest growing trends in the social world is photo sharing. With the proliferation of smart phones, apps that are dedicated to sharing photos across multiple networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr are becoming all the rage. One perfect example is Instagram, an iPhone app that lets you take pictures, add quirky filters and then upload them to Instagram’s own network, as well as Facebook and Twitter. The app has gained five million users in rougly 8 months, which is insane for a start up. Instagram is the golden child, but there are more photo sharing apps on the mobile platforms than one can count. Photo sharing apps are the new black (and red and green and every other color of the rainbow plus a whole other double rainbow). Techcrunch just released information about a new photo sharing iPhone app in development. “Cool, throw it on the pile,” should have been my response. So what’s the catch on this one that is making me stop and write about it? It’s from Facebook.

Five million users for a start up like Instagram is pretty impressive, but Facebook is rocking an established user base in the hundreds of millions. The existing Facebook iPhone app has been on the top 25 downloads list in the app store since… well forever (along with that one about the vexed birds). If you have an iPhone, you have the Facebook app. Adoption rate on this Facebook photo sharing app is going to be off the charts. Facebook is making a good move at keeping itself the biggest photo hosting site on the web. Mobile is huge and it looks like Facebook is positioning itself to be the main place for social, both on and off of our computers.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Stationery Is Slick

If there’s anyone you’d expect to hear from through the web rather than snail mail, it would be Mark Zuckerberg. Yet some lucky folks might just see an old-school letter in the mail box from none other than Zucks himself soon – and quite a letter it is. Ben Barry, a graphic designer at Facebook, recently blogged photos of the stationery he designed for the Facebook czar – check it out!

I gotta admit I would love to get one of those grey envelopes myself. Barry said Zuckerberg wanted something “a little more personal and special” for responding to Facebook lovers sharing their stories, and this certainly hits the mark (hehe). I love to hear that arguably the biggest name in social media believes some occasions still call for a old-fashioned letter… at least until he figures out how to make a Facebook message look this slick.

What do you think of Zuck’s stationery?

Facebook Moderation Isn’t Just About Customer Service

Just last week, we tweeted a pretty sweet blog post from AllFacebook about “How To Manage A Facebook Wall In Any Situation.” It was chock full of great tips boiled down from BuddyMedia’s Facebook moderation 101 report. Some of my favorites: Address each poster by name. Use language that reinforces positive feelings about your brand. Don’t be afraid to apologize and be honest.

But there’s one bone I have to pick that I’ve been mulling over. It’s a piece of advice I’ve heard time and time again in the social media realm that I just plain don’t agree with – “Reply as quickly as possible to complaints posted on your wall.”

Now, don’t get me wrong – I definitely think there are times when you should swoop in ASAP. If there’s a question that needs answered by your brand, then of course. Or if this is a “problem child” who needs special attention, obviously.

But I guess I get a bit touchy when people start treating social media efforts like it’s just a branch of customer service. Customer service skills come in super handy when you’re wearing a community manager hat – I’ve already told you about that. But that’s not always the answer.

I get it. It’s easy to panic when there’s a mean ol’ post on your Facebook wall. It’s understandable, because negative sentiment about your brand online can be detrimental. But can we expand our tactics for creating a more positive community about and for your brand beyond rapid-fire responses?

If your business views Facebook as a platform to create and amplify advocates of your brand, the end goal should not be to squash every gripe, but to empower advocates to counteract the grumblings, too. That way, advocates feel valued, complainers feel like they got genuine feedback rather than PR mumbo jumbo, and the whole community is functioning as just that – a community, not a public 1-800 number.

What’s your take on Facebook moderation?

New Facebook Ad Manager Looks Promising

Recently, Facebook has been busy rolling out new features of its advertising platform. It first started with the addition of new types of Facebook ads, and now the social networking site is releasing a newer version of the ad manager. We’ve become accustomed to constant changes from Facebook, but this time, these changes seem to be in the favor of marketers.

Three main changes will be made when ad manager alterations roll out to all users on May 25, 2011. The first change improves performance graphs (A). In other words, graphs shown to marketers are simplified and easier to understand. You’ll be shown how many people your ad has been exposed to out of your proposed target audience, and how many of those people are social connections (clicks on ads that were shown with the names of the ad viewer’s Facebook connections who have liked a page, an ad, etc.).

The second change improves ad measurements (B). These new metrics will focus more on the audience and how they responded to your ad. The best part of this? Data is now updated in realtime, allowing for quick and timely changes to any ads that might not be doing so well.

The third major change allows for better ad viewing: inline ad management (C). If you are anything like us, and are in your ad manager several times a day, you feel the pain of having to navigate back and forth between pages. Problem gone! You can see all necessary information, make changes, and toggle between graphs, all within one easy window.

Facebook has also added new methods of tracking success. These include things like reach, social reach, frequency, and connections made. Read more about the changes that Facebook has made in the PDF they released. May 25 is coming soon, you best be prepared!

Facebook’s “Email System” is Way More than Email

This morning we let you know that Facebook was making an announcement about their much anticipated Project Titan, a rumored web based email system that would challenge the likes of Gmail & Yahoo. Well folks, the rumors weren’t exactly accurate. Project Titan, or “Messages,” in and of itself isn’t a self-proclaimed “email killer” as much as it is a convergence conversation system. According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook will bring in SMS, email, IM, and Facebook messages into one place.

“Messages” Foundations

Seamless messaging – “Messages” will integrate across four platforms, listed above, into one singular system. The new platform will enable sending and receiving of all four forms of messaging. Messages no longer live in independent homes – your email account, your Facebook page, your phone – but will follow you to where you are depending if you are on or off-line, or if using a Facebook app on a smart phone.

Conversation history – The new messaging system will enable users to track all communications in a single thread, going across all platforms; a “box of letters,” if you will. This history will provide context to not only conversations, but relationships.

Social Inbox – There will three different inboxes categorized by conversation type: messages, other, junk. The first will group close friends and priority conversations. The second will comprise of messages from acquaintances, group messages, fan page messages, etc. The third is obvious: junk! The user will have control over who is categorized where, and can drag threads to different inboxes. Facebook will also allow users to bounce and filter messages from those you don’t want to hear from. This makes for a spam-proof and potentially much more private system than regular ol’ email.

Rollout

Facebook isn’t planning on rolling out “Messages” immediately or all at once. It will be an invite-only system for a bit, allowing users to give feedback and for Facebook to make necessary changes before opening it up to the general public. And while we want to be a part of that invite-only community, we think it is smart for Facebook to work out the kinks of the system before inviting the world in for criticism.

The Future of Email

Don’t worry, email isn’t dead. However, we think that this changes the way that friends will communicate with one another. Email, on the other hand, will take on a different set of priorities, maybe taking on more of a business role, enabling business partners and coworkers to maintain contact with each other. “Messages” will be used more for personal conversations with close friends.

Marketing Implications

As marketers, we must always be concerned about what Facebook changes mean for our clients. However, this new messaging system doesn’t alter Facebook’s awesome advertising platform. Ads will appear just as it did before: on the side bar. The content of the conversation will not play a role in the advertising displayed. The same old rules apply: content inputted into Facebook by the user will dictate advertising targeting options.

Our one critique is that it equalizes all forms of conversation. It assumes that people want to have the same kind of communication all on one platform. It doesn’t enable the ability to choose what topics you discuss over different platforms: it is all incorporated as one. Regardless, we think the ability converge on multiple platforms has great potential.

What do you think? How will this affect the way you communicate with your networks? Will you opt in to an @facebook.com address?

Facebook’s Project Titan to Become Gmail Competitor

Project Titan is coming… TODAY!

For those of you who don’t know what Project Titan is, shame on you! Just kidding – Project Titan is Facebook’s web-based email program that is supposed to directly challenge Gmail (as well as other web based email systems). Uh oh! The name in and of itself seems quite threatening.

Mark Zuckerburg & his Facebook team are hosting a live Project Titan broadcast at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST revealing all of the details regarding this new system, and we will most definitely be tuning in. I am eager to see how this new email messaging system will test the brand loyalty of Gmail users.

What do you think? Will you switch from Gmail to Project Titan?