Facebook Fan Page Tagged Brand Photos: Opportunities and Risks

How much do you think a Facebook user’s photo that a brand is tagged in is worth? While a quantifiable value is not currently measurable, positive photos that fan pages are tagged in are valuable to the brand as they provide a strong word-of-mouth recommendation (without the words, of course).

Brands will see themselves and their products tagged in more and more photos on their Facebook fan page now since Facebook announced last week that users have the ability to tag fan pages in their photos on Facebook in the same way they can tag their friends. This new functionality creates even more of a deeper connection between the user and the brand. It makes the brand more of a friend than just a brand.

If your brand’s fan page allows for it, users can already upload photos. This new feature provides an easier, one-click to tag opportunity for Facebook users. Currently only fan pages within the Brands and Products or People fan page categories can be tagged in photos, but expect this functionality to be expanded over time. The opportunities and risks for brands and user-generated photos were always there, but are now amplified due to the easier tagging process.

Brands should be excited about this new opportunity. As a result, brand fan pages will see more user generated content from their fans. In turn, expect organic Facebook photos to also be used more in brands marketing materials and print advertisements. If the photos and descriptions associated with the tagged photos are positive then a brand letting the photo tab on the facebook fan page become more of a story book for fans when they view the images. This is ideal as the tagged photos help take control away from the brand and puts more power into the hands of fans.

Brand and user authenticity also becomes more prominent. Brands will be able to easily identify their prominent users on Facebook. They then have the ability to take that relationship either offline or amplify it on Facebook by writing on their Facebook wall (if they have a public profile). Photos of people utilizing a product prove who a brand’s true users are as opposed to simple affirmation messages.

While user generated content is key, there are also risks associated for brands with this new feature. More photos will be posted to brand fan pages, but they won’t only be positive photos.

Facebook fan pages run the risk of having negative photos of their product or business posted and should be prepared (like they should be already) in the event this occurs. For example, if you run a doorman service and there are photos posted on your fan page of one of your doorman sleeping on the job, be prepared to respond if necessary to your most loyal brand ambassadors on Facebook.

There will undoubtedly be an increase in spam photos as a result of this change. Page administrators should always make sure they are monitoring their photos section and remove any photos that violate terms of service or are not properly tagged.  These photos won’t appear directly on the wall, just under the photos tab, which means a robust monitoring system (via human or computer) is necessary to make sure not only are the photos appropriate, but photo descriptions as well.

Facebook Releases Greatest Practice Guide For Marketing

Social networking has smooth way to social marketing and Facebook appears to have taken it very seriously. Reportedly, Facebook has published a guide that talks about greatest Practices for Facebook Marketing. This 14 page PDF document introduces five guiding principles and Facebook by point for superior marketing techniques. It introduces users to the Facebook bionetwork which begins with building aFacebook fan page and making your existence felt (you can use Social Plugins and Graph APIs).  Further, to fortify the fan base with Facbook Like ads and then on amplify it with news feed and sponsored stories. The document lists Facebook objectives for superior marketing and also explains a step by step procedure to get the desired results. This guide is basically to help its members perform better marketing strategies using the following objectives:

-          promote product development and innovation

-          Generate responsiveness

-           Drive partiality and differentiation

-          Increase visiters and sales

-          Build constancy and deepen relationships

-          Amplify recommendation and word of mouth

-          Gain insights

Facebook showcases its tools which will help create new product ideas and innovations as well as learn about the target audience. Just creating a page isn’t enough, you’d have to generate awareness and increase your product value. It lays stress on leveraging Facebook’s Ads and Sponsored Stories for a wider reach and enhanced targeting abilities.

The facebook fan page acts as a key touch point as the referrals come through word of mouth.  The document suggests to try and appreciate what others think of your business, and drive preference and separation.

rising sales and traffic is one of the essential factors noted which can be done by creating promotional campaigns, setting sales goals and driving people to the purchase point. The social site reveals the importance on building and strengthening relationships by reminding people that you are around, by asking questions and also accepting feedback.

Facebook is further about word of mouth as when people like something it is shared with their friends and so on. It is significant to encourage people to like your facebook fan page by adding good content which also helps augment recommendations and word and mouth, reveals the guide.

Understanding clients is equally important so Facebook recommends learning from reports of your advertising campaigns and sponsored stories. It also tells its members to study from page insights and use advanced campaign metrics. The last page of the document takes you to helpful Facebook resources related to pages, permissions, publicity and more.

NEWS Flash: The End Is Near For Previous Facebook Groups

Facebook will begin archiving all groups created using the older format, in a push to catch everyone onto the newer story of the feature.

The following message appears at the peak of the group page as seen by the owner of it:

Above the next few months, Facebook will be archiving all groups created using the old groups format. stirring ahead, you can create groups using the new groups format, which makes it simple to share with the important groups in your life.

Facebook offers pretty thorough guidance about the forthcoming archiving and upgrades in the site’s help section, fleshed out in three diverse questions.

The site explains that old groups that get archived will automatically also become accessible in the new group format. Most of the associated content will stay available in the upgraded version, with some notable exceptions.

The things that won’t create it over are:

·         current news

·         Group officer titles

·         The information  box below the old group picture

·         The group system

·         The members of your old group.

Yup, you’ll have to redo your membership list in the new group if you wait for Facebook to do the archive and upgrade for you. The Latest  version will include:

·         Group photos and wall posts

·         Group chat threads, which become wall posts

·         The group explanation, which can be found at the top of the facebook fan page when you click “see all” members in the new group

Facebook recommends that keep backups of their group content before the archiving. Plus, the site wants all businesses using groups to support themselves to switch to pages instead.

At few point, a link saying “upgrade this group” will emerge at the top of the owner’s admin screen — only for old groups, of course. Ones created in the new format won’t go through some of this.

For now, the messages that readers have said they are considering comes as a friendly early alert, which we appreciate. Putting the word out early seems like a wise move, based on how public reacted to fresh upgrades of profiles and pages.

StumbleUpon shoots past the 1 billion mark!

StumbleUpon is one of the internet’s most used bookmarking services and according to their latest figures it has become even more trendy.

Users can bookmark their favourite pages using the websites toolbar and then click the stumble button and find other related pages that they may like. It is a awesome  tool that allows users who are interested in your service or product to find your website and contact details.

StumbleUpon users are currently bookmarking more than 1 billion web pages per month and with increases in visitors to the site, the bookmarking company has become a awesome place for companies to interact. If you would like to advertise your service through online sites such as StumbleUpon, Facebook and Twitter take a look at our social media pages on our website and find out how you could gain customers online.

Upsetting trend: big brands pimping Facebook “Likes”

A upsetting and abhorrent trend has emerged on Facebook, where big brands force visitors to “Like” their page in return for a gift, coupon, or special access to promotions or contests.

“Don’t ‘like’ us yet?” Jockey asked in a current email. “You’ll want to now!” Umm, no, I won’t. “Like our page to unpack prizes!” demands Pepto Bismol. Nah! My liking feels fine. Like us before you can create your own royal wedding commemorative stamp, demandsPeople publication.

What do compulsory likes prove?
They explain that people will click a Like button because they like coupons, discounts and games, but they surely don’t indicate that we plan to buy from the brand again, or come back to the Facebook page. Like so many upsetting marketing practices, forcing Likes is a nothing more than ham-handed bean counters’ idea of how social media works.

Facebook and other social media let retailers connect their online and corporeal properties in ways never before possible. And, asMediaLogic’s recent Retail Marketing Reports note, total visitors to social sites now rival physical retail traffic and, in some cases, are approaching the reach of national paid media. And, the report notes, more than 30% of retailers are forcing visitors to Like their Facebook fan pages to access their promotions.

Sadly, people who are forced to Like brands are also forced to give them entrée to their individual data, unless they jump through Facebook’s notoriously complex privacy jewels.

Will you silent respect me in the morning?
And the long-term appointment, earned media, brand evangelism, and kindness that Facebook and other social media can produce are lost in the process of buying likes. while People Magazine pimped its way past the million (forced) Facebook like mark in January, Forbes cluelessly advised “It’s still early in the game but clearly all publishers need to be paying much closer attention to their Facebook fan pages and how many ‘Likes’ they’re racking up. It’s a real-time indicator of how relevant a brand is to its spectators — and especially to its advertisers.”

Nope, it’s not. Forcing community to like your brand is a lot like getting a kid to promise to be good in exchange for a cookie. Or promising someone you’ll still respect them in the morning. The promise and the like are forgotten as shortly as the goodies are gone.

10 Amazing Tips to help you Raise your Fan Page on Facebook

If you own a business (and I do judge a website or blog a business) then you most likely have either heard about the benefits of owning a fan page and using it to drive traffic to your website, attract opt ins, interact with likeminded nation, and so much more. Or you are looking into it as a future investment for your business website or your blog,  I thought I’d share various methods  to assist you.

For the record, Facebook is the second highest traffic website with 135 million unique visitors each month, if you are able to siphon off even a small portion of that to your website or blog I’m sure you’d be happy as traffic is truly the lifeblood of a blog, and without it things can be very lonely indeed.

Here are the various methods.

a)      Add the Facebook widget rig

ht into the center of your blog, where people can see that

b)      Create a facebook fan page on Facebook, brand it and link back to your website

c)      There is impressive to be said for social proof, nobody likes to be the first person to join a page that has no other members so get your friends and colleagues to join

d)      Allow members to like a fan page directly from a website.

e)      Incorporate at least 3 major points of contact into all correspondence in the signature section of your emails. Now whenever you send an email out there is your Website, Twitter account, and Fan page listed at the bottom where curious people can click over and check things out, and hopefully add themselves to your network. Investigate creating and using a digital signature that has your picture and a brief overview of who you are.

3.       Write blog posts occasionally with blatant links to your fan page knowing that a few people will read the post, find value and add themselves to your network.   http://www.facebook.com/wsioms (hint, hint, nudge, nudge…) lol

4.       Run a contest and I gave away  something that has a value of around R500.00 for the winners.

5.       Use a free service like www.socialoomph.com and set up a direct message that says hello,  point your new followers to your faceboo fan page. As you can imagine this will assist to cut the time taken to answer each new follower.

a)      Start a Twitter account and actively grow your Twitter community.   Sent out a series of email to your database inviting people to join you. It’s important to note that it works really well if you have a few different messages and rotate them as your needs change. Point to your fan page one month, and free e-book offer the next. This is one tip I’d implement if I were you!

6.       Another hidden gem that I’d highly recommend you take advantage of is www.Twiends.com This is a social growing community that connects Twitter users, Facebook pages, and YouTube enthusiasts. You used to be able to use them to drive traffic to your blog or website also, but they’ve been slapped by Google recently and taken the feature offline until further notice. This one is powerful, so head over, tell them I sent you, and start using them to add fans and followers to your social network!

7.       Try finding facebook fan pages that are in your niche, and liking them, mention to the owner that you too are working hard at growing a fan page community, and ask if they’d reciprocate. Most will, but don’t be upset if they don’t. Often they just might be busy with building a business and not have time to respond to every request made of them.

8.        ‘Like’ pages that create videos and post them on the page with the intention of helping people toward furthering a goal. The page that comes to mind is Get 10,000 fans that ironically has close to 25,000 at the time of this writing.

9.       Make sure you interact with the current members of your page, and post quality information for them daily. Also develop a set of rules for members who wish to post links on your wall. There are unfortunately millions of spammers who target large fan pages with no other goal but to spam the internet with links to their crappy offers or affiliate pages. I personally remove the links within minutes usually, and ban the user that spammed it in the first place.

10.   If you have an email list of subscribers that you’ve built up via your blog them make a point of asking them to also head over and like your fan page. Perhaps you can even find some way of rewarding the ones that do as a way of saying thank you. These people are already fans of your blog so it usually isn’t too hard to convince them to also “like” your facebook fan page as a way of showing their support.

Social Media Strategies For Entrepreneurs

Social media strategies for entrepreneurs require to be a lot different than social media strategies employed by, let say, Old Spice. If you are an sovereign marketer or have a small team, you just may not have the time or money to hire hilarious actors for a YouTube campaign that generates millions of views within a few hours.

while it comes to social media, a lot of people are looking for the big home run, where they could be receiving a greater return on a series of small, simple methods. Here are some strategies you can use that are easy to do, proven, and inexpensive.

1. improvement your site. It’s wonderful to me how many absolutely crappy websites have “share me!” widgets all over them. Why would your visitor want to share a awful site? Before you invest any time or money in social media strategies, make sure your website is worth sharing!

2. comprise share options on your site. If your site is excellent and valuable of people sharing, you must make it easy for them. Tweetneme is a great blog plugin to create viral re-tweets of blog posts, Facebook has great sharing tools, and there are a lot of great social bookmark sharing tools as well.

3. Brand the “large three.” YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are the major social sites going. It’s worth taking the time to brand your YouTube channel, Facebook  Fan Page, and Twitter page. It’s simple to create a customized page or channel on all three of these sites.

4. “Like This.” This could go in step two, but it’s so great I am breaking it out. Install the Facebook “Like” button on all of your websites and blogs! You might have to beg your friends and family to go “Like” it to get some information, but once people see others Liking your site, they will too. This one tip alone could lead to significant traffic and sales from Facebook.

So there’s four very simple, free methods you can employ to improve your social marketing strategy in a hurry.