Facebook Essentials
Optimizing & Utilizing Your Fan Page for Maximum Fan Engagement
Presented by Laura Alisanne: Online Marketing, Social Media5/2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Facebook Stats:
• 150 Million people in the U.S. visit Facebook daily
• The average user has 130 friends
• The average user is connected to 80 pages
• There are 50 million ‘Likes’ per day on Facebook Pages (out of 1 billion per day across the web).
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Begin the Conversation:Engage your Fans
• Your unique voice: Be compelling, personal & authentic.
• Your Customer: What is important to them? What will engage them?
• Your Goals: What kind of relationship do you want to have with your customers? Defining your goals will help you define your strategy.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Branding Your Page
1. A custom profile image.
2. A Welcome tab (w/or without “reveal”).
3. Customized Photostrip (engineered or random)
4. Custom “Username” (aka URL)
5. Succinct “About” section (about 70 characters).
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Anatomy of a Well Branded Page
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Elements of a Well Branded Page
A custom profile image.Thursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
A Welcome tab (without reveal)Thursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
A Welcome tab (with reveal)Thursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
The Welcome tab & Profile imageThursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
The Photostrip: RandomThursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
The Photostrip: EngineeredThursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
Custom Username (URL)Thursday, May 26, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/username
Elements of a Well Branded Page
Custom Username (URL) Must have 25 FansThursday, May 26, 2011
Elements of a Well Branded Page
Succinct “About” SectionThursday, May 26, 2011
Top 5 Practices for Fan Engagement
1. Understand the News Feed
2. Understand Facebook EdgeRank
3. Content Strategies
4. Facebook Social Plugins
5. Promotions and Insights
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The Facebook News Feed has two distinct parts:
‘Top News’ & ‘Most Recent.’
A user’s News Feed will always default to the ‘Top News.’
‘Top News’ according to Facebook, displays stories based upon their relevance to the user, rather than in chronological order.
Your Fan’s News Feed
Thursday, May 26, 2011
You’ve Posted Great Content your Wall.But......
Perhaps.
It depends on EdgeRank.
EdgeRank is Facebook’s own proprietary algorithm.
Do Your Fans See it?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
EdgeRank is Used to Determine the content that an individual sees in their News Feed
EdgeRank and Affinity Score
Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm is much like Google’s PageRank algorithm.
Any action (such as a “Like”) taken on a piece of content, is called an “Edge.”
Each “Edge” carries a different weight value.
An item’s EdgeRank is based on three factors:Affinity, Weight and Relevancy.
When multiplied together, they have the ability to push your content to the News Feed’s ‘Top News,’ where fans will be able to see what your brand has to say.
For instance, an image w/dozens of comments will have a higher affinity score than a status update with a few ‘Likes.’ In addition, a post’s relevancy will help to determine how high it will appear within the ‘Top News.’
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
When the best content strategies are implemented, this will positively impact the visibility of your brand’s messages within a Fan’s News Feed.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #1: Ask Questions
You will see your highest forms of engagement through comments and likes by using the keywords:
Where, When, Would, & Should.
“Would” tends to drive the highest spike in “Likes”because they act as “yes” vote to the question.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #2: Trivia Questions & Polls
Facebook users enjoy providing answers as a way to show off their knowledge on a topic.
This is a great way to engage people in the News Feed and get to know your Fan base better.
Consider posting these on a recurring schedule, so Fans will know when to check your Wall for the content they want to see.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #3: Interact with Fans
If a happy Fan expresses positive sentiment on your Wall, respond back to them genuinely and positively.
Contribute to the discussion to maintain and encourage Fan engagement.
Remember, the more interactions (or “edges”) on a post, the greater the Facebook “affinity score”.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #4: Events
Post these with some regularity as well, so that Fans will check their News Feeds and your Page to find the latestFacebook “affinity score”.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #5: Photos
Show rather than tell with relevant photos.
Post photos that give an inside scoop, or behind the scenes look at your business.
Post photos of a new service or product.
For a double punch, include a question with the photo. With this example ask Fans to name the pups.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #6: Current Events
Facebook is a hub for recent news.
Find ways to relate your content to current events.
Engagement rates peak for holiday posts, such as St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine's Day.
Wish your Fans well during the holidays, rather than passively mentioning them.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #7: Use Video
People love interactive content that appears within the News Feed.
Make certain that users aren’t redirected away when they click to play a clip.
If you have a YouTube channel, upload your videos there, include a link to the video in your status update, and a Fan will be able to view the video in the News Feed right on Facebook.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #8: Post Content for Time-Sensitive Campaigns
A major component of a post’s rank is timing and relevancy. Therefore, Posts that contain content relating to upcoming events or short-term campaigns will have great success in the News Feed.
The Facebook News Feed is updated in real time, therefore the Top News section pushes the more recent content to the top of the Feed.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #9: Include Links with Posts
Post a status update, and include a link to your blog post, your website, or other webpage that would be helpful to your Fans.
If you post a link that Fans find valuable and interesting, they’re likely to pass it along to their Facebook friends via a private message or repost it to their wall.
Never use a URL shortener. Users like to see the original URL as a way to assess its safety for clicking.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Content Strategies
Tip #10: Tell Fans What You’d Like Them to Do.
Utilize your Posts to tell people exactly what you want them to do within the News Feed.
Be explicit and publish call-outs that will explain to your users exactly what action you want them to take.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Top 5 Practices for Fan Engagement
1. Post Frequency: Once per day. M-Sat.
2. Post time: High traffic windows generally between 8am and 2pm
3. *Always respond to fans in a timely way, with a comment (using their name) and/or a ‘like.”
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Top 5 Practices for Fan Engagement
Facebook Social Plugins
1. People can share your blog or site content.
2. People can visit and Like your Page.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Top 5 Practices for Fan Engagement
Facebook Social Plugins: Like and Send ButtonsThursday, May 26, 2011
Top 5 Practices for Fan Engagement
Facebook Social Plugins: Comment Box
Add this feature to your blog.
Users can comment as their Facebook profile and post their comment to their Wall for friends to read.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Top 5 Practices for Fan Engagement
Facebook Social Plugins: Like BoxThursday, May 26, 2011
Promotions and Insights
• Marketing using Facebook.
• Use outside services to create and manage offers and sweepstakes.
• Analyze your progress with Facebook Insights
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Promotions and Insights
In the back end of your Page under Marketing
Access Ad Creation, and the Facebook Social plugins such as Like button and Like box.
Create a custom username (URL) under “Create Alias.”
Upload your email list using “Send an Update” to invite people to become a Fan.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Promotions and InsightsIn the back end of your Page under
Insights
Learn about your Fans.
Learn which content is generating the most interaction.
Gain insight from demographics data.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Want to Learn More?
• A series of short how-to videos on using your Fan page to its fullest will be posted to our Facebook Page.
• The PDF of this presentation will be made available to you.
• We offer a range of services in Social Media marketing to help you achieve your marketing goals.
Thank you for joining us today!
Thursday, May 26, 2011