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.

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.

It’s How You Say It: Tone Matters

Forgetting that the tone you use in your posts is as vitally important as what you’re saying = big social media mistake. This is especially true with company or corporate accounts. Tone can make a legitimate post completely turn off your followers. Let’s look at an example from an indoor playspace in Columbia, MD. They have strict rules about outside food to protect kids with allergies from being exposed to peanuts and other allergens. A few weeks ago there was an incident that involved a peanut sandwich and the business posted this status on their Facebook:

To the mom who left a 3 or 4 year old kid in the cafe by himself today for 10 minutes with a peanut butter sandwich… C’MON! You broke almost every rule we have – it’s why we don’t make exceptions for others! Neglecting a kid, outside food, & peanuts! We’re trying to keep all kids safe & happy – please help! It’s no fun confiscating food & then walking a child around crying because he can’t find mom & is hungry!

Questionable punctuation aside, this status is perfect example of inappropriate tone. To begin, this post is a perfect example of a break in “character.” We work with our clients to a create a unique tone so users feel as if they are interacting with the brand itself, not some online ambassador. In this case, it is obvious that someone is sitting behind a computer and giving their take on the subject. It feels childish, like a frustrated rant. Granted, the writer’s frustration seems warranted. The rules were broken and there was real concern for allergic children. It is also reminder of why they have the strict rules that they do. The tone however, makes it sound like the person behind the Facebook page is berating the mother and any other parents that have ever questioned their policies. Yeah, that’s how you build customer loyalty, shout at them!

If you look at the comments, they are surprisingly positive and in agreement with the writer. However, there are only about eight different people that responded. How many of the businesses 1000+ followers could have been offended and chosen not to respond? The person who pointed this post out to me was very turned off and instead of responding, shared it with others. That’s certainly not the kid of word of mouth anyone wants, especially in the “mommy” community where peer recommendation is such a huge influencer.

Let’s see how the post could have sounded if you changed the tone a bit:

We had an incident today where an unsupervised child was wandering around the cafe with a peanut butter sandwich. Sadly, it is incidents like these that result in our strict policies about outside food and child supervision. No one meant any harm, but if the child had come in contact with a child that was allergic to peanut butter, it could have led to a negative outcome. Please help us keep everyone safe by following our guidelines. Thanks!

See? It says the same thing without being a personal vent. It not only maintains a consistency on the page, it also reinforces the values of the company. The tone you use in your social media updates is the closest the internet gets to non-verbal cues. I can tell you how much I just loooooove your new walrus-skin purse, but if I roll my eyes when I say it you’re going to take my words differently than if I smiled sincerely. The tone of your updates will have the same affect when people see them go through their feed. In my experience, occurrences like these can cause even the happiest of customers to unfollow your online activity. You don’t want to risk losing your existing or potential consumers because you aren’t conscious enough of how you are saying things, do you?

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.

The Future of Social Media: What’s Next?

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Annual Digital Night, hosted by the American Advertising Federation of Baltimore. As a Digital Marketing Manager, it was obviously important that I was there to be part of the discussion of where digital marketing was headed in 2011.

Things in the digital marketing sphere have changed drastically over the past year. In 2010, organizations were struggling with the placement of social. Where would it live? Who would control it? Do you do it in-house? Hire a boutique agency or a large one? But over the past year, people have moved past the beginning stages of social and now are asking, “What now?”

This year will bring more specific questions than “how to.” As this form of advertising becomes more and more legitimate, there is going to be a stricter level of accountability on brands, companies, and agencies alike.

ROI & Metrics

Have we beat this one over your head enough? Metrics will become more and more important, and not just the number of fans and followers or the amount of site traffic garnered to your site. Think bigger picture – maybe how having a social media community in place can save you some dollars on a PR budget, or how your cost per lead has decreased since adopting word of mouth marketing tactics.

Consistency

Companies will start to focus on making their branding extend across multiple channels. With that taking place, we must focus on providing a consistent message or brand across those channels. Sure, the tone might be different from one platform to the next, but at the end of the day, each must feed back into the identity of the brand.

Experiences and Interactivity

Static ads or messages won’t cut it anymore. We have to involve the consumers in our ad messages. We are already attempting this on social networks by making our audiences part of the conversation, but 2011 will require marketers to step up their game. We’ve got to make the actual ad an experience. Think Tippex.

E-Commerce on Social

Facebook has become the hub for consumers everywhere. We all know that their ad network is great, and that if you break away from the norm, it can be a place for brands to live and interact with their consumers. But lately, we’ve seen actual purchases on Facebook. Marketers are beginning to understand that people are comfortable on the Facebook platform, and will bring online merchandise to them in that sphere.

What do you think? Are these the future of online? Where do you think digital marketing is going in 2011?

Space Shuttle Endeavor: The Social Media Story

This morning at 8:56:28 EST the space shuttle Endeavor lifted off from Kennedy Space Center for the last time. I’m a self-professed space nerd, so this was essentially my Super Bowl. I did not, however, flip the television on to the news. Why not? Because this is 2011, why watch a bunch of jokers ramble about something they don’t understand? I’ll take my space news with a side of expertise please. Luckily, NASA also knows it’s 2011.

The first thing I did was open Twitter to follow the “pre-game” while I was getting ready for work. NASA has an amazing twitter presence. They live tweeted the whole launch procedure through their main account. They use hashtags and re-tweet others who were watching the launch. They kept up with questions people had about the launch procedure. Many of the astronauts on Endeavor’s crew have accounts and posted pictures of them getting ready. Col. Mike Fincke was tweeting pictures of himself getting suited up and eating his last meal (lobster tail!) before having to eat paste for two weeks. He’s also pretty funny. NASA are some of the best tweeters you’ll see anywhere and their million+ follower count backs that up.

Oh wait, the launch is supposed to happen right in the middle of my commute! What ever should I do? Fire up the the NASA iPhone app and start live streaming the launch, of course! I mainly listened to the flight crew and the mission control run through the various procedures, however I set my phone so I could sneak a few peaks when the shuttle finally launched. When I got to work I went to the NASA website to look at pictures and watch the post-launch news conference (don’t tell Jocelyn). All in all, it was a nerd’s dream. Tons of digital content delivered directly to my phone in real time. The craziest part? THEY’RE A GOVERNMENT AGENCY. It somehow doesn’t seem right that they are so hip with social media, but they’re surprising us all by doing it correctly. As a brand, they are providing their target audience with the goods they want. And as a member of that audience, I can say they deliver in spades.

Other brands can learn from NASA by not confining themselves to a stereotype – think outside of the proverbial box! New media tools give you a chance to reach your consumer in ways they will appreciate. So what are you waiting for? Shoot for the moon (pun most definitely intended).

The Doctor Is In: Social Media Questions Answered!

A little while back, we asked you, our dear readers, to throw your burning social media marketing questions our way. Boy, did you deliver! We got some great questions. Now, it’s time for answers – starting with a question from Katrishia. Check out what Jocelyn and Danielle have to say:

Stay tuned for more vlogs where we talk about what you want us to talk about! And if you have a question for us, tweet us with the hashtag #PnPQandA.

Social Media to Blame for Bland Online Brand Identity

I’m an advocate of keeping up on social media news. As a professional in the industry, I take it upon myself to be aware of all the newest toys, most up to date strategy ideas, creatively executed campaigns, etc. But lately, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find inspiring social media news. The churning wheels have slowed, and it has become official: social media is no longer trendy. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Here at Cyphers, we’ve always known to count social media as just another tool in our arsenal of marketing skills (we’ve nearly given sermons on integration). Had all marketers been this realistic, they would have seen that social media would eventually become conventional and commonplace. All you have to do is look at the past, seeing how the ad world has changed. Each new fad or medium spurred creative growth, so why count this one as any different (history repeats itself, right?)?

So here we are, at the crossroads of trendy-meets-routine, and it seems that “everyone is doing it” these days. But just taking part doesn’t mean that you’re doing anything super special. In fact, it seems that the excitement and talk of all the things that social media can bring to a brand has simply boiled down to brands replicating each other on social networks. I’m not blaming brands. In fact, I think it becomes twice as difficult to be creative when you are working in an entirely new space with an entirely new set of rules. It becomes hard to think outside of the box when you’ve barely seen inside it.

But each day, month, quarter, year, brings a deeper look. As marketers, we must challenge ourselves to use social media in ways that aren’t confined to just Twitter and Facebook. Let’s not allow social networks to infringe on our creativity. Let’s take risks and be game changers for our clients. Let’s be those people who competitive brands look at and say, “Damn, let’s do it like them.” Let’s use strategy to bring value to our clients’ consumers in ways that no one has thought of before. Let’s give our clients’ consumers a reason to pay attention. Because, with a little strategy, creativity, and social media knowledge, these things can actually happen.

Do you accept this challenge? Get to it.

Red Cross Turns Twitter Mistake Into Social Media Success

My name is Danielle, and I have tweeted from the wrong account before.

When The American Red Cross sent out an errant status on Twitter last week, all of us social media folks could relate to that cringe-worthy moment. When you’re multitasking with a third-party client like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, it’s easy to get your wires crossed. Can any of us say we’ve tweeted something as hilariously inappropriate and screen-grab worthy as the Red Cross, though?

Here’s where the Red Cross proved themselves not only smart about social media but brilliant when it comes to PR. Right away, they addressed the “oops” honestly and with a sense of humor:

Then, as soon as things were gaining momentum and Dogfish Head Brewery joined in on the fun, they wrote a blog post that was once again down-to-earth and funny while staying on The Red Cross message of being sympathetic to others and doing good.

The truth is, a well-respected, long-standing organization like the Red Cross honestly doesn’t need to spin into crisis mode over something like this. They could have deleted it, ignored it and it probably would have gone away after getting passed around online for a little while. And that’s what most would do. Instead, they took the opportunity to level with their audience, show that they can have a sense of humor and basically school us all on online PR. And now instead of laughing at their expense, we’re praising them for their savvy and using them as an example.

The lesson I learned here? Any brand can (and should) be down-to-earth. People have a much lower tolerance for insincerity online than in other media, and will tune out if you aren’t authentic. That can be hard to grasp for organizations who are used to a more corporate approach to PR, but the Red Cross has clearly mastered it. Even if you value maintaining a corporate tone, you should never be too buttoned up to admit your mistakes and laugh at yourself. Otherwise, it defeats the purpose of “going social” in the first place.