Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

Do’s And Don’ts Of Running Facebook Business Pages

Friday, March 26th, 2010 by Nevin McElwrath

More and more businesses are moving to Facebook as a platform to reach new customers and communicate with existing customers. It is becoming increasingly important to set yourself from the pack in the world of Facebook business pages. Make sure you are getting the most out of your Facebook business page by following Force 5′s Do’s and Don’ts of running a Facebook page for your business.

Do: Post at least daily. A stagnant page will often be forgotten and be viewed as irrelevant. If you don’t have the time to stay within view of your customers, you more than likely will not be the first option they think of when they need your services.

Don’t: Send frequent mass emails to your fans. This could be viewed as a form of spamming and is often annoying to many users. Although this can be determined by industry, typically the limit is weekly – although we recommend monthly or quarterly.

Do: Post questions or conversation starters. Engage your audience and let the conversation and interaction drive the relationship. This will keep you relevant with your fans.

Don’t: Post personal information. This is more common than you may think. The line of business and personal life in most cases should not be crossed and is important not to blur. Create rules within your organization to help curb any chance of posting anything sketchy and of course use your best judgement.

Do: Ask questions about your fans. Market research can be tricky to gather. Facebook is filled with opportunities of gathering customer information to better know your core audience. Ask questions, create polls, engage your audience with thought provoking questions.

Don’t: Just post links. Mix your posts up. Ask questions, post links, post photos, post a news update, ask a question, comment on posts, etc. Don’t come across as a machine, mix your content up and keep your fans on their toes.

Do: Post various forms of media. Utilize photos, music and videos as a way for your fans to see “inside” your organization. Behind the scene insight is a great way to connect with your fans and gain trust.

Don’t: Sell something all of the time. Post your deals respectfully and without salesman clichés. Create a tab where fans can find the deals you are offering and don’t let “Act Now” posts dominate your wall. Let interaction do the driving.

Have questions? Post a comment below or on Force 5′s own Facebook page.

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Top 5 marketing waves you should ride in 2010

Monday, February 8th, 2010 by Jeremy Smith

If you’re a marketer in any capacity and you’re reading this post then I’m 99.9% sure you’ve also read about, or thought about, or discussed some sort of Top 10 list – goals, trends, etc. – for marketing in 2010.  Around the New Year this topic is often fodder for bloggers, trade publications, and the like.  Now that the dust is beginning to settle, and we’re approaching mid February, I’d like to throw my weight around regarding this matter. 

So, in the spirit of Force 5, (which we all know – as indicated by the Beaufort Wind Force Scale – is also a wind speed of 17 to 21 knots and considered most favorable by avid sailors) I’d like to talk about the Top 5 marketing waves you should ride in 2010. 

  1. Social Media:  Don’t ignore it – embrace it – because it’s here to stay.  Consider last nights’ Super Bowl as evidence.  The game is no longer just a three hour advertising window.  Jon Swallen of TNS Media Intelligence states, “It’s now a 3 to 5 week advertising event, with brands focusing on the period leading up to the game, and the period after to do social media marketing.”  Even if you’re not a fan of Denny’s screaming chickens, consider this – in a poll conducted online this month by Harris Interactive “nearly half (48%) of online US adults who watch Super Bowl ads say they will somewhat likely discuss the ads on a social networking site.”  Regardless of scale, and if you haven’t already, you must figure out how to incorporate social media into your marketing mix.   
  2. Mobile:  We talk about it often in our shop – the idea that mobile marketing is about to blow up (in a very good way).  I completely agree with Joe Marchese, President of SocialVibe, when he says, “Mobile will be huge, especially if marketers can build digital campaigns with mobile extensions.  Phones are smarter, networks are faster, and open development is leading to faster innovation.”  Together, these inconceivable truths will prove blissful to direct marketers who have been optimistically yearning for this day to come.  Imagine what lies ahead with geo-targeted marketing now upon us.  Read what else Joe had to say.
  3. Customized/Exclusive Content:  See Mobile (above).  Exclusive offers and customized content, all at your finger tips!  But remember, customization and exclusivity can also be delivered via other channels.  It’s all about using everything in your marketing tool box to make your customers feel special.     
  4. Integration:  Denny’s Super Bowl ads aimed to drive people online to their website, then Facebook.  This is one example of how traditional, outbound marketing tactics can be integrated with inbound tactics (web/SEO, social media) for a greater ROI.  The down economy has forced marketers to be more creative with budgets, but in hindsight it’s also made us better marketers.  So, integrate your campaigns – if you’re not sure how, ask.  Check out Denny’s efforts.
  5. Measurement/Analytics:  See Integration (above).  If you’re executing integrated campaigns – and you should – then you’ll need to be able to measure them as well.  The catch phrase more and more marketers are becoming familiar with is cross-channel analytics.  Those who can navigate this analytical approach will come out on top – big time.   

Over the next several months, I will report back with updates, findings, and such about the 5 waves we should all be riding.  So if you’re interested, stay tuned and happy sailing.  `J

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Posted in Social Media, Technology | No Comments »

Tips for Creating your Company’s Facebook Presence

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 by John Jambor

Facebook isn’t just for keeping up with old friends and family, sharing photos, and finding lost classmates. With over 125 million users worldwide your business can benefit greatly from this social networking giant.

Mari Smith, Facebook for business guru, and author of 10 Reasons to Use Facebook for Business, has stated that millions more will join Facebook in the coming months and years, and the vast majority will use Facebook primarily for business purposes.

So you agree that your company needs a Facebook presence, but you have no idea how to get started. Setting up a business page on Facebook can be a little confusing. So I’ve created the following list of tasks to walk you through the process.

1. Create a personal Facebook account. Business pages are created, accessed and managed from within your personal account.

2. Create your business page. This is actually a very easy. The registration process gathers all the necessary information to get started i.e. business name, description, mission, products etc.

3. Become a fan of your business page. You need to be your business first fan. Without a fan your page will not be seen when a search is performed.

4. Now get social!

a. Link your Facebook page to your website.
b. Link your blog to your Facebook page.
c. Invite people to become a fan of your page.
d. Search out related businesses and become a fan of their pages.
e. Finally, communicate.

i. The more valuable information you post on your business page the more likely you are to be found.

Creating your business page is only the first step. Now you have to make sure your page is accessible and populated with relative content. Following the items in step four above is a great place to start. With access to millions of users daily Facebook could become an invaluable marketing tool for your business.

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Buying Friends on Facebook

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 by Deb DeFreeuw

-Deb DeFreeuw, Certified Brand Strategist, Force 5

The title of this article seems to have mutually exclusive terms – “Buying” and “Friends”

An article in Advertising Age September 4, 2009 reported on a company offering to sell you friends for your  Facebook and Twitter Account.  Amazing!

The Brisbane-based firm, USocial, offered this week to sell Facebook users 1,000 friends for 177 dollars and 5,000 friends — the limit imposed by Facebook on a standard profile account — for 654 dollars.

Facebook “fan” pages have no limits and USocial said it could supply 1,000 Facebook fans for 177 dollars and 10,000 fans for 1,167 dollars.

On its website, USocial said “the simple fact is that with a large following on Facebook, you have an instant and targeted group of people you can contact and promote whatever it is you want to promote.”

USocial chief executive Leon Hill, in a statement promoting his service, said “Facebook is an extremely effective marketing tool as anyone with a large number of targeted friends or fans can attest to.

Supposedly, these are “targeted” lists—having the demographic, income, interests, etc. that your are looking for.  USocial says each fan can generate at least $1 of sales per month.  USocial is clearly labeling Facebook and Twitter as another marketing and advertising channel.

The first thing that pops into my head is “Ok, so you have purchased these followers, do they really care about you? Heck, they don’t even know you!”

Kind of getting away from the “social” aspect don’t you think?  Can social media sites be marketing and advertising sites? To be sure.  Many bands and other organizations use facebook to promote, but……

The purpose of social media is to develop relationships. Authenticity is key here. Tactics like buying fans these dilute that authenticity. To me it is the same as paying a blogger to give you a great review. Social media for business is part of your brand.  At Force 5 , we encourage our clients to participate in social media, but do it authentically and for the right reasons.

“Buying” friends and followers might look good as far as pure numbers, but does it add value? No. Your pseudo followers will likely not take notice and listen to what you have to say. It is like paying the most popular kid in high school to be your friend—their heart is just not in it.

The same company that has friends and followers for sale also sells votes on Digg and Yahoo Buzz. This ruins the intention of the sites. Votes affect page placement, they should be earned, not bought!  Social media is about the collective attitude or opinion, start throwing money into it for people to “have” a specific opinion, you lose the value.

Be careful out there.  Social media is important, can help you connect, and hear from your customers.  But don’t make it another e-commerce channel—or the benefit will be lost.

My advice, make a plan, build your list of friends and followers, listen, stay in touch, be authentic. Social media will pay off.  Buying friends—I don’t think so.

Posted in Social Media | No Comments »