Facebook

Why to love Facebook? Facebook is steadily growing and won’t be stopping anytime soon. There are almost 600 Million users already. Advertising competition is much lower than Google and you can target your audience much easier. If there is one principle that will never become outdated or obsolete in the world of business and marketing, it’s this: GIVING VALUE.  The basic idea in all your social networking/marketing efforts is to give value;  give more value; and give even more value. Soft-selling is unquestionably the key to success with social networking.

Business Goals for Using Facebook

·       Get found by people who are searching for your products or services

·       Connect and engage with current and potential customers

·       Create a community around your business

·       Promote other content you create, including webinars, blog articles, or other resources

Offer a Unique Brand Experience

Treat your page like your own personal brand VIP room. Create an exclusive experience for your dedicated and engaged people who “like” your page. How?

·       Give them access to products or merchandise not yet on your site

·       Invite them into your testing process

·       Get their opinion on the services and products they want to see….and incorporate them.

·       Have unique content on your FB page that is not on the website

Get Personal

Status updates can seem kind of impersonal when coming from a company. Add a tab to show your visitors a better sense of who they are interacting with. The more personality you can have, the better. Mix company content with some lighter, fun articles or information.

Respond To Comments

One of the best ways to encourage interaction is to be interactive. If you have more than one person responding to comments, sign each comment so visitors will know who they are interacting with.  Respond to every single comment—whether it is to answer a question, comment on a shared photo, or just thanking them for a compliment.

The added benefit of creating an engaging page is that every time a visitor engages with your page—from “liking” your page to posting a comment to attending an event---that activity is published to their “news feed” which in turn, is shown to all of their friends on Facebook. This gives your business more visibility.

Social Media is Like a Business Cocktail Reception

This is like a business cocktail reception without time constraints or space. Similarities are:

·       Meet people and start a conversation

·       Answer questions and help others

·       Ask questions-trust others advice

·       Other people can listen in easily

Facebook Questions & Answers

Personal Profiles—Home Page & Profile Page

If I post something on my “friends” Wall, who will see it? Posting on your friend’s Wall is part of their Profile so it will depend on the privacy settings they have chosen.

· When my friend posts on my Wall, who will see it? Only your mutual friends will be able to read the post on their News Feed. For example:  If Dave is friends with both John and Julia, he will see a post in his News Feed when they write on each other’s Wall. If Dave is only friends with John, none of their wall-to-wall posts will appear on his News Feed.

Who can see my Wall? You control the visibility of all content you and your friends post on your Wall by going into the Privacy settings

· Whose Wall can I write on? You can write on a person’s Wall if you are friends with them. However, they may opt to restrict who writes on their Wall from the Privacy settings.

What can I do on the Wall? This is the place to post and share content with your friends.

What happens when I create content on my Wall? The story is posted to your Wall. Facebook also generates a News Feed story so that the next time your friends log into their Facebook account, they will see the content  you shared on their own homepage.

Sharing with a broad audience: Use the Share menu that’s located at the top of your home page and profile to let others know what’s on your mind. You can update your status and share photos, videos, and links. Things you share will appear as posts on your profile, and can appear in News Feed (depending on the Privacy settings).

· Sharing with a small group of friends: Use the Groups feature to share content with a select group of people, like family members, a soccer team, a book club & more.

· Sharing with an individual: You can use the share menu at the top of your friend’s Wall to write or share something on their Wall. Friends of your friend will also be able to view your post. If you want to share something privately, send someone a private message.

Why can’t my friends see my Wall? You can adjust your privacy settings to allow your friends to see content posted to your Wall.

Can I “like” a News Feed story about my friends liking Pages? No.

What is the difference between “liking” an item that one of your friends have posted and “liking” a Page? Liking a Page means you are connecting to that Page. When you connect to a Page, it will appear in your Profile and you will appear on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed.  When you click “like” on a piece of content that a friend has posted, you are simply letting your friend know that you like it without leaving a comment.

Where do the Pages that I “Like” be displayed on my Profile? The Pages you like will be displayed on the bottom of the Info tab of your Profile.

· Does a Page admin have the ability to contact people who connect with them directly? As page admin, you can promote activity by sending out an “Update” to the Page followers. To send an update, go to “Edit Page”, then to “Marketing”, then to “Send an Update”. Click that link and you will be able to message everyone who follows your Page.

What are the “Impressions”? This is the raw number of impressions that have been shown to users. These impressions can come from a user’s News Feed, a visit to the Page, or through an Open Graph social plugin.

· The “Home” page shows your News Feed

· The “Profile” page shows your Wall

· What is Places? This is a Facebook feature that allows you to see where your friends are and share your location in the real world. You will be able to see if any of your friends are currently checked in nearby and connect with them easily.

· Who can see the Places feature? You have to have the Places app for users in select countries with mobile access for iPhone, Android, Blackberry or touch.facebook.com

What does a Place page look like? A Place page shows you a map of where the Place is located, a list of friends who are currently checked in at the Place, as well as a Friend Activity stream of other friends who have visited the Place in the past.

How do I get to our Business Page? There are 2 ways to get to the Business page. One way is to do a Facebook Search using the Page User Name. The other way is from the “Home” page of the Personal Profile. Look at the left column for an orange flag labeled “Pages”. Click on that link to go to your Business page.

· What shows up on our Business Page Wall? Comments that you have posted and the posts from people who “like” your page. (Using the “What’s On Your Mind” box with the Share button). These posts can also show up on the News Feeds of the people who have “liked” you    Business Page.

Business Pages-Using Facebook as a “Page”

· Clicking on the “Home” button (upper-right corner) will take you to the News Feed to see any feeds from the people that your page “likes”.

·        Clicking on the “Profile” button (upper-right corner) will take you to the Page’s Wall.

When you are using “Facebook as a Page” you will not be able to edit any other Pages you may have unless you are coming from the  Personal Profile Account.

Twitter

Twitter is based on one question, “What are you doing now?”

Some people have asked what the point of Twitter really is. Is there anything you can say that is worthwhile? If you think that, then you are missing the whole point of Twitter.  Twitter appeals to all those people who simply don’t have the time to keep up with a blog—however well it may be written.

The basic idea is—write the best tweets you can come up with, give people the URL to your blog or website, and let them decide whether they want to read more or not.

If you’re on Twitter to promote your business, think of each tweet you send out as a headline. Think about some ways you can get people interested in you and what you’re tweeting about.

Write an attention grabbing headline instead of something that’s impersonal. You can include a link to a

URL to link to a longer post on your blog or website.

To get readers more involved, ask questions rather than post statements all the time. This will encourage your followers to tweet back at you.

Find and follow people who are interested in the same subjects you are, and then they will start to follow you, too.

Concentrate on building up a large number of followers. The more people who know about you and what you’re about, the more people you will get clicking through to your website.

Tips

·       Put your Twitter URL at the bottom of all your emails.

·       Use http://www.tinyurl.com to shorten your URL’s in your Twitter post

·       Study other Twitters to see what they do to grab your attention

Twitter Language

@ Retweet means to re-send Tweet again to someone else

# hashtag is used to categorize. This is the theme of your tweet. Users can click on a hashtag to see other similar tweets and find your tweets in the Search.

The Public Timeline

·       The Public Timeline shows what you and all your friends are doing. This would be all the people you are “following”

·       When you post a message or “Tweet”, people can add themselves as a follower to your profile.

·       The Public Timeline gives you exposure and draws people to the links you post.

Compiled by Lori Walker of PCLAN & Greenberg Associates

References

Facebook.com by Facebook.com

The Intelligent Internet Marketer by Robert Brauer of Prophet Marketing Publishing Co
Facebook for Business by HubSpot.com
Why I Love Facebook by Internet Marketing Advantage