So you have a Facebook page for your business-you have for a while now. You believe you should be at around a million likes, but you’re not. There are several reasons why this may be, some of which you may not even be aware of. Listed below are some of those reasons.

•    You never or rarely post.
 
The whole point of social media is to be social. If you aren’t posting valuable information for your followers to like, share, or comment on, you’re not going to expand your audience.

•    You post unrelated content.

People usually ‘like’ your page because you belong to an industry that interests them. If you continually post information about other industries, they’re going to lose interest.

•    You don’t seem to be interested in building a relationship.

Engagement and relationships are what a good business page strives for. If you only want to swap ‘likes’, most committed businesses will not be interested.

•    You post a link to your page on my page without my consent.

Most businesses do not want to see your link all over their page. If it’s business related-that’s one thing. If you’re just posting it to post it, your page will lose ‘likes’.

•    All your posts are sales pitches.

The general rule of thumb is 80/20: 80% information, 20% sales.

•    Your posts are loaded with grammatical and spelling errors.

This isn’t professional and will cost you ‘likes’.

•    You don’t follow Facebook’s rules.

Facebook has rules regarding the information that can be on your cover photo, as well as how you can run a contest (click here for details). If you don’t follow the rules, those that do will probably not ‘like’ your page.

 

Guess what? Facebook is upgrading friendship pages! “Friendship pages?” you ask. “What are those?”

Although you may not know what a friendship page is, these nifty little pages have been available since October 2010. Anything that’s every transpired between you and any given friend is displayed on your friendship page with said friend.

To find your friendship page with Jane Doe, for example, you’ll need to go to her profile page. From there, click on the gear button on the right (next to “Message”). You’ll see a list of options. Select “See Friendship”. You’ll see posts that you’ve sent to each other, posts that you’re both tagged in, and photos that include both of you. Yes, Big Brother is watching.

Well, Facebook is slowly rolling out Timeline-style pages to match the Timeline on your profile page. You may or may not have it yet. If you do, you’ll notice a few additional options, like being able to edit the page and remove photos that you may not care for.

If you’ve never perused your friendship pages, go ahead. They’re fun to look through. As a bonus, Facebook is also adding a new page for you and anyone you’re in a relationship with. This oh-so-cute page is appropriately named facebook.com/us.

Staying up to date with all of the Facebook changes isn’t easy. We’ll continue to post updates to try to simplify the process for you. Happy Facebooking!

The author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies has revealed that their are 12 errors that preclude most users from successful marketing on the platform.

Facebook is launching new programs and changes that could equate to great things for businesses.  As part of their Premium Ads initiative, they are currently testing a program called Offers. 

Facebook Offers allows businesses to promote discounts that friends can accept with the simplicity of one click.  Users have the option of claiming the offer either from the brand’s Fan Page or from their News Feed.  FB Mobile also supports Offers claims. Once the offer is claimed, the user receives an email with the redemption details.  The email prompts users to share the discount with other Facebook friends.  To redeem Offers, one must merely show the email to store associates.

Facebook Offers is worth a look for business owners.  It’s the newest way to drive traffic to your doors.  Develop an Offer that is clean, simple, and obvious to get your Fan Page buzzing!
 

Social media marketing is constantly evolving and that makes it difficult for business owners to stay current.  Mari Smith, social media expert, has taken some of the guesswork out of the process by compiling a list of 5 key articles that highlight important points for various social media.

1.    WhyIsFacebookInsightsNotWorking:  basic assistance with the new Facebook Insights.  Currently, Insights are 4 days behind.

2.    How To Run Competitions On Facebook By The Rules: contests are a great way to engage old and new fans alike, but you must follow the rules or risk losing your page.

3.    The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing:  Pinterest is the newest social network to enter the marketing world.  Learn all the basics here.

4.    Google+ for Business: 5 Things Marketing Professionals Should Know About Google+:  regular activity on G+ improves your search ranking. 

5.    50 Qualities of the Best Business Blogs in the World: basic blogging tips from standouts on the Web.

Make your marketing plan work.  Utilize the best social media has to offer and you’re sure to reap the rewards.
 

February marked yet another launch of Facebook changes.  Group Admins now have the option of selecting a large cover photo similar to the Timeline option on personal pages or they can go with an interactive member photo montage.

Group Admins choosing to stick with the default view will see an interactive photo strip as their header.  The photo montage highlights the most recently active 8 members strip. By hovering over the strip, you reveal a full color photo and the member’s name.  If you click on the photo, it immediately transports you to that individual’s Timeline.  The interactive nature of the photo montage offers new and interesting potential for the ways we engage fans.

Unlike the photo collage, the large cover photo allows Group Admins to showcase an image of their own choosing.  Like the Timeline, it offers a wide range of options to reach individuals visiting your page. 

For more information about the Facebook Groups new cover image options, visit Mari Smith's recent blog post. 
 

Unless you’re living under a rock somewhere, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the changes on Facebook over the last couple of days. As we in the social media world understand all too well, adaptation is the key. We need to learn about the new features and begin using them-quickly. I began summarizing these changes on paper for my own sanity.  Then I thought that it might be helpful to everyone if I share what I learn. This list is the result…

•    The character limit on posts has increased to 5,000 –this is up from 500. A huge deal for those who want to incorporate blogging into their posts. It also gives us the ability to delve a little deeper into more complicated subject matter.

•    There is a floating navigation bar –this gives users access to notifications, messages, requests, account and privacy settings, search bar and a home page link at all times.

•    Birthday greetings are now streamlined –no more having to visit the birthday boy’s profile. Merely click on the ‘birthdays’ section of the home page’s right sidebar, and a popover will be revealed with wall post entry fields for the profiles of all friends with birthdays that day. You can quickly post your greeting from there.    

•    The ‘Poke’ button has been hidden –actually, buried is a better word. You can now find it in a drop-down menu in the upper right of the profile. 

•    There’s no more friend request messages –up until now, we have been able to include some text when sending a friend request, giving us the option of greeting a potential new friend and explaining how we know each other. Now, we have to send a separate message.

•    There’s a new Facebook page tab for friends –this allows you to see how your friends are interacting with your page. You’ll find it on the left side of your page. It’s called ‘Friend Activity’.

•    Top stories and recent posts are now friends –the News Feed is combining the Most Recent and the Top Stories. Facebook is marking the Top Stories with a blue corner to make them easy to identify.  

•    There is now a ‘Ticker’ –the ‘Ticker’ can be found in the upper right-hand corner. It instantly shows users what their friends are posting in real-time.  This feature can be helpful if you like to chat, almost like an instant message.

•    There is now a ‘Subscribe’ button –this feature isn’t an automatic one. You have to activate it.  This option will allow you to see posts of others without actually being friends. You’re automatically subscribed to your friends, but this addition will allow you to view posts from those whom you aren’t friends with, and vice versa.

•    No more sending messages from your fan page –yes, that’s correct. If you want your fans to know something, you’ll have to put it on your wall and hope for the best.

•    There are now friends’ lists –perhaps following in the steps of Google+, Facebook has given us the opportunity to share or see posts from a group of people on a list at any given time. If I want to share something only with people in my family, for example, I can share it with that list and they will be the only ones to see it.

•    There’s a new ‘View Shares’ link –when you click on this link, you’ll be able to see who has shared your information.

•     Effective October 1st, pages will require an SSL certificate –so, what exactly does this mean? A SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate makes sure information is transmitted in a secure fashion. If you’re an average Facebook user, not much. You’ll probably see some changes in the pages you visit or games you may play. If you’re a business owner with a page that uses custom apps, however, make sure you have that certificate. One can usually be provided by your hosting company.

Well folks, that’s it for now. You may not see some of these changes and new features immediately. Facebook is known for rolling updates out to only some users at a time. Rest assured, you’ll get them eventually.

Happy Facebooking!!
 

By: Mari Smith

Facebook Chat Sidebar

You may have noticed the new Facebook Chat Sidebar when you logged in to Facebook recently. The list of friends displayed in this sidebar is supposed to be the friends you interact with most. (A few friends and I are finding that the relevancy of the friends in this display is not that accurate!)

I rarely use the Facebook chat feature, so I thought perhaps the select list of friends was ones I email most often, but it’s not. I wondered if the list is based on a social relevancy algorithm and shows those friends whose content I like or comment upon most often. But, nope!

From Facebook’s chat help:

Which friends appear in the sidebar? Can I add specific friends?

The list of friends in your sidebar is based on who you’ve interacted with most frequently or recently on Facebook. Since it updates dynamically, you can’t manually add friends to the list. The list shows both friends who are available to chat and friends who aren’t.

I’m not a big chatter on Facebook myself. I prefer Skype chat and limit myself there to my own team and a small group of core contacts. I appreciate there are great benefits to being able to live chat anytime, but for me I like to limit my instant availability and stay focused. (And, as for the new Facebook video chat? Or Google+ Hangouts? Maybe once in a blue moon when I happen to be camera ready anyway!)

There are now several changes to the way you use Facebook chat and edit your settings:

1. Chat with friends

Facebook states, “The sidebar is sensitive to the amount of free space you have on your screen, so it only appears if there’s enough room for it. If you don’t see the sidebar, just click Chat in the bottom right corner of your screen, which shows the same list of friends you’ll find in your sidebar.”

To chat with any friend in the new sidebar, click on their name and the chat window opens up.

You’ll know when a friend is available to chat depending on the icon next to their name:

Friends with a green dot next to their names are available to chat.

Friends with a gray moon next to their names are available but inactive.

Friends with no icon next to their names are unavailable.

Even if friends aren’t available to chat, you can still send them a message and they can read it later. Chat messages are also viewable via the Messages (email) box.

To chat with a friend not listed in the new sidebar, start typing their name in the search box at the bottom of the list.

2. Turn off your chat availability entirely

To “go offline” (not available to chat to anyone):

Click the cog icon in the lower right corner.

Uncheck “Available to Chat.”

Turn Off Facebook Chat

To go back online at any time and show your friends your available to chat, click the “Chat (Offline)” bar in the lower right…then click the hyperlinked “available:”

 3. Limit your availability to certain friends

You can easily display the fact you’re online and available to chat with only certain friends. Other friends will simply see you as offline. First, you’ll need to have Friend Lists set up (see #4 below). Then:

Click the cog icon in the lower right corner.

Click “Limit Availability.”

Click the menu in the upper left of the popup window; choose from “Make me unavailable to:” OR “Only make me available to:”.

Select/deselect any Friend Lists as you wish.

Click the Close button.

4. Create Friend Lists

Don’t have Friend Lists set up yet? Just go here and click the “Create A List” button. There are many ways to get back to your list of Friend Lists; one of the easiest ways is to remember the URL is simply facebook.com/friends.

Or, try the nifty Circle Hack app, created to emulate the Google+ circles! See screenshot below (click to enlarge). Circle Hack is a really easy way to segment your Facebook friends – you don’t have to put everyone in a list, maybe just specific friends then leave others as they are. (The Circle Hack app is not affiliated with Facebook.)

Circle Hack app for Facebook Friend Lists

Once you make your friend “circles” via the Circle Hack app, go back to facebook.com/friends to edit as needed. (Sidenote: many people get concerned over the word “hack.” Yes, if your account gets hacked by a hacker that’s a bad thing! But hack can also mean a shortcut, a workaround).

5. Hide the sidebar

You may want to hide the Chat Sidebar sometimes – that’s easy: click the cog icon > click “Hide Sidebar.”

6. Delete Chat history

At some point in the past few months, since Facebook has been rolling out the new Messages (e-mail) product, you may have been taken aback to find a conversation history from a long time ago suddenly show up when emailing a friend.

The new Messages product is fully integrated with your email, chat and texting (if you use it). So, let’s say you have a chat with a friend and then wish to delete that conversation. You can clear the Chat Window by clicking the little cog icon in the Chat Window, then click “Clear Window” per the following screenshot:

Clear Facebook Chat Window

BUT, all that does is clear the Chat Window. The conversation is still in your Messages area. So, what to do is click “See Full Conversation” which opens the chat history in your Messages area. (You can also go to the Messages area any time and just search for your friend’s name).Then click the “Actions” button in the upper right and select “Delete Messages.”

Delete Facebook Chat and/or Messages

You can now delete all. Or, select specific parts of the conversation to delete by clicking the check box next to each entry and clicking the “Delete Selected” button.

By the way, be careful of any chat messaging scams – they are out there. Unfriend/block anyone if needed Refer to the Chat Privacy section on Facebook’s Help Center. For more information on the new chat sidebar, see this section of Facebook’s Help Center. For more extensive help on chat, including video chat, refer to this section.

I trust this guide is helpful to you. Any questions, let me know in the comments below! Do you use the Chat feature much yourself? What do you think of Facebook’s fully integrated email/chat/texting communication system?

UPDATE: The popout feature still works where you can easily see all your friends, plus any friend lists you have and turn the chat slider on or off (green or gray) for each friend list. You may find the popout much easier to use as opposed to the “relevance” list Facebook displays for you!

By Meghan Peters

When Facebook launched its Subscribe button on Wednesday, many were quick to note its implications for journalists, celebrities and other thought leaders. The new feature allows for users to follow public updates, and these are the people most often broadcasting their ideas.

Yet there’s more the average user can get on board with than meets the eye. The release came with a slew of additional features — including a more customizable News Feed and increased privacy — that users have been wanting for years. The trouble is, there are so many moving parts in this product launch. Users are now presented with a number of options, and they’ll need to dig deep to understand which pieces to take and which to leave.

We hope to make that process a little easier for you. Here are some key points you should know based on what type of user you are:

Super Users & Celebrities

If you’re kind of a big deal, you likely already have a Facebook fan page to update your followers on what you’re up to. The launch of the Subscribe button leaves you with two options:

1. Keep the fan page and continue to maintain two separate Facebook presences: profile and page. This strategy’s main pro is that pages are optimized for marketing. Profiles can’t be updated by multiple admins and fans are more acclimated to updates with an on-brand feel. Perhaps more importantly, profiles don’t have Facebook’s analytics tool Insights — and “they probably never will,” says Vadim Lavrusik, journalist program manager at Facebook and former Mashable community manger.

2. Do away with the fan page and merge your page likers into profile subscribers. By deleting your fan page, you will lose all page content. However, your likers will automatically be subscribed to your public updates. The biggest advantages? Profiles are easier to update via mobile than pages and people are prioritized over pages in search.

With either of these methods, you’ll have direct messaging capability (from your profile to your page likers or from your profile to your subscribers) and neither has a limit on the number of people who can follow your content (subscribers or likers — though profiles do have a limit of 5,000 friends).

Journalists & Artists

The Subscribe button is arguably most beneficial for journalists and artists. Though, in a sense, they’re public figures, these types of Facebook users likely aren’t well-known enough to justify a fan page.

If this sounds like you, the first thing you need to do is actively opt-in to allow subscriptions to your profile. You can then choose to allow subscribers to comment on your updates and control your notifications.

Another change to note is that when you unfriend someone, they stay subscribed to your public updates. This is important if you’ve been accepting friend requests from people you don’t know who want to follow your work. It can be uncomfortable to friend someone without knowing them personally. The Subscribe button allows you to unfriend these people and still reach them via public updates.

Finally, when composing updates you want your subscribers to see, be sure to set the privacy to Public. They won’t see it otherwise.

Parents & Teachers

The relationships parents and teachers should have with their kids and students on Facebook has always been a touchy subject. The Subscribe feature can help to make crossing the Facebook connection threshold less awkward.

Users can subscribe to others without enabling others to subscribe to them. This means teachers can allow their students to follow their public updates about school and classes without actually friending them (and accessing more personal information). That way, students can continue to update friends about their lives without worrying what might pop up in their teachers’ News Feeds.

For parents, this feature may work the other way around. Instead of asking your son or daughter what that Jaime So-and-So they used to hang out with is up to, you could subscribe to Jaime, whereas friending her might be uncomfortable. The feature could also be helpful if your kids aren’t OK with you watching their every virtual move. Brace yourself for a sensitive conversation at the dinner table.

Students & Average Users

For the occasional Facebookers who mostly use the service to keep up with friends and post photos, here’s the bottom line: You never have to see your Aunt Suzie’s FarmVille updates ever again. But, you can still see her photos, videos and status updates if you’d like.

Before the Subscribe button launch, it was either all or nothing when it came to blocking a person’s updates from your News Feed. Now you can control what types of updates you see from a person and how often. That means you can skip the virtual sheep without missing out on engagement notifications and puppy albums.

As of now, the feature is only available for tailoring updates from non-friends that you’re subscribed to. The Subscribe button, and this feature, will be rolled out to friend pages in the next few days, Lavrusik says.

Conclusion

As the virtual world grows, relationships and the ways we’re connecting with others are changing. The Subscribe button addresses issues about the depth of connection the term “friend” implies on Facebook.

Some critics say the feature goes against Facebook’s nature — that it was built on “friending,” not “following.” It’s important to note that the News Feed algorithm weights updates from friends as well as private posts more heavily than public ones. In addition, the Close Friends list Facebook rolled out on Tuesday makes the updates from your strongest relationships more prominent in your News Feed, and you can enable notifications specifically from friends in this list.

With the number of new social networks gaining speed, Facebook is and should be making changes to stay competitive. What’s important is that it doesn’t divert too far from its core. In this update, Facebook is only giving its users more options — which the majority may or may not take advantage.       http://mashable.com/2011/

One change you will notice on Facebook is a new publisher (the box where you post updates / share content) at the top of your newsfeed and profile wall. There are several more changes of note:

• Public – for each post you share you can select visibility on a post by post basis.
• Geotagging – you can now add your location to any status update or photo.
• Tag friends you’re with – just click on the little people+ icon to tag friends.
• @ tag any page – now you can include an @ tag of any facebook page whether you like the page or not.
• Links – the “links” button has been removed.
• Videos – the “video” button has been removed, it’s now under photos.
• Privacy – this is probably the biggest change. Content in which you’re tagged will require approval. Past posts can be retroactively changed to limit the audience.
• The photo viewer is now white (and the “X” to close the lightbox has been moved farther out depending on the size of your screen).
• Ticker – you may see this on the right column of your newsfeed. This is the activity under your “most recent” newsfeed.

Most of these changes are very user–friendly and you’ll find ways to make them work for you by utilizing the features on your facebook page.

Points taken from article by Mari Smith http://www.marismith.com/

A recent blog post by Janice Clark, owner of BizMSolutions, highlights the truth about just how many of your Facebook fans are missing your posts.   Clark writes:

Earlier this week I read an excellent post from All Facebook that stated “3% to 7.5% of Fans See Your Page’s Posts”.  I was shocked!!  I’m sure that was the reaction they intended!

I decided to test these numbers and made a post on my own Facebook page asking everyone who saw the post to either leave me a comment or “like” the post so I could get a feel for how many people actually saw it.  Guess what!  Only 3% of my Facebook fans engaged with that post!

This little experiment of mine turned out to be an incredible wake up call!  Only 3% of my fans were even seeing my posts!!  Oh sure, there may have been a few more who saw it and didn’t engage for some reason and others who simply weren’t on Facebook that day.  However, it’s  doubtful that the majority of my fans saw it and chose to do nothing.  That leaves me believing that the 3% – 7% number I saw could be entirely accurate!

The problem…

With over 700,000 active members, Facebook now plays an essential role in the marketing plan of every business owner.  Unfortunately  your marketing results on Facebook aren’t influenced by you alone.  Facebook actually determines who sees your messages!  Each person’s newsfeed only displays a certain category of posts from friends and pages.  In order to determine which of your fans see your posts, Facebook uses an algorithm referred to as Edgerank.  Every item you post is given a score and the posts with the highest scores have a much higher probability of showing up in the newsfeeds of your fans.

Three factors go into the Facebook Edgerank score:

1.  Affinity between the viewing user and the item creator – If you have a lot of engagement with your fans (i.e. sending them messages, liking their comments, viewing their profiles and basically taking an active interest in what they’re doing)  that improves the Edgerank of the item you are posting.

2. Weight – This is determined by the level of interaction with a post. Facebook considers that a comment is worth more than a like so any item that gets a lot of comments will have a higher Edgerank score.

3.  Time – The older a post is the less important it becomes

In addition, using automation tools to post on Facebook will practically guarantee a very low Edgerank score!

In Summary:  The higher a post’s Edgerank score, the more likely it is to appear in a user’s feed.  The problem is, “How do I get my Edgerank scores up?”

The plan…

It’s time to get in front of more people!  It’s time to get more people engaged!  It’s time to dig my heels in and truly get people connecting on my Facebook page!  Why should this be a business goal?  Because greater engagement means happier customers, increased referrals, more opportunities for strategic alliances and ultimately higher sales!

The first thing I did today was create a baseline.  I noted how many fans I have and I also went to EdgeRank Checker and got an idea of my own Edgerank Score.  I noted how much interaction has been taking place on my page and how many people have been sharing my content.

Now it’s time to begin working on a plan for increasing those numbers.  These are a few changes I’ve decided to make:

1.  I’m reviewing fans and reaching out to those who I feel could be a strong strategic alliance for my business.

2.  I’m testing out the number of posts I share per day.  Traditionally I’ve posted twice per day but I’ve noticed that many very active pages with a lot of engaged fans are posting quite a few times per day.  I’m going to increase my posts and see what happens.

3.  I’ll post manually to my page instead of using automation

4.  I’ll post a variety of quality and interesting items per day.  Video, photos, questions, polls and great information that encourages people to comment!

I think that’s a good start!  Let’s see what happens!

My mission…

Over the next 60 days I’ll be on a mission to increase my own EdgeRank scores and get a greater level of engagement on my Facebook page.  During that time I’ll be documenting what I’ve done, how I’ve done it and sharing the results with you here!

So here goes..

The challenge…

I challenge you to join me!  Start by liking my fan page at BizMSolutions Fan Page.  Leave a comment and tell me you’d like to be a part of my experiment.  Make sure you leave a link to your fan page as well.  Come back to my Facebook page, comment often and I’ll do the same for you!  Let’s find out how visible our posts suddenly become in each other’s newsfeeds!  Let’s find out how all of this affects our EdgeRank scores!  Let’s find out what happens to the engagement levels on each of our pages!

Are you up to the challenge?  Stop by my Facebook page and follow along with my little Edgerank experiment. We may both be surprised at the results!

There is no doubt that selling products online makes good business sense.  It’s cost-effective, efficient, and convenient for customers and business owners alike.  If you’re thinking about setting up an e-commerce business, consider how integrating your online sales with your Facebook account can pay off.  Because FB garners more users than Amazon and ebay combined, you’ll be reaping the rewards of that traffic in mere minutes.

Facebook offers business owners two e-commerce options: 1) build a storefront directly in Facebook, or 2) integrate a Web-based storefront with Facebook.  Both options are user-friendly and easy to set up.  The Facebook storefront is the more simplified choice since it limits sales to FB traffic alone.  Web-based options are more comprehensive because they can be integrated with existing Web sites.

If you’re considering adding e-commerce to your marketing plan, remember these key tips:

• Be selective with products you market on Facebook.  Choose items in high demand or significantly discounted pieces.
• Be comprehensive with your marketing plan.  Facebook is a great addition to a targeted campaign that includes advertising, promotions, deals, branding, and customer service.
• Take the necessary steps to assure customers secure purchases.  Build a shopping environment that mirrors the traditional e-commerce experience and utilize recognized secure payment options.

Interested in selling online?  Call e-websmart today and we’ll show you how your Facebook account can be customized to suit your e-commerce needs.
 

Are you needlessly missing out on driving traffic to your Facebook Fan Page?  You are if you do not have your Fan Page highlighted in the Employer section of your profile.  All too often business owners skip a few key steps and their employer link is a generic Community Page.

To promote your Fan Page and capitalize on the Facebook traffic that visits your profile, follow these 6 simple steps:

1. Click Edit Profile > then go to the Education and Work section.
2. Type in the name of your Fan Page in the Employer field.
3. When your Fan Page appears in the dropdown menu, select it.
4. Complete the remaining fields (Position, City/Town, Description and Time Period). You also have the option of adding business partners/colleagues which will appear on their profile too under the Employer section.
5. Click Add Job.
6. Add any special Project(s) you wish to advertise to any position.  You also have the option here of adding business partners/colleagues which will be highlighted on the Employer section of their profile.

Ta Dah!  Casual visitors browsing your profile are now closer to becoming dedicated fans. 

Get linked…the better business way!
 

Social networks have become key components in business marketing. The downside is the time commitment involved in distributing information via multiple networks.  Small business owners just do not have the time to dedicate to tailoring posts for each individual social network account nor do they have the manpower available to maintain multiple social media accounts.

Constant Contact streamlines social network marketing with their new Simple Share feature.   Simple Share allows you to post emails or event invitations simultaneously on your Facebook Profile, Facebook Business Page, and Twitter feed. Notable features include customizable messages, photo/graphics additions, and targeted audience delivery.  Analytics are also available that allow you to track the number of views, likes, and shares. 

The pièce de résistance of using social networks for marketing is the viral nature of the campaigns.  Once you distribute a message or invitation within your network, it can be shared by your friends amongst their lists.  The reach is limitless.  

Looking to expand the reach of your email marketing and event advertising?  Let e-websmart personalize a promotional program just for you.  Our copywriters and graphic designers will collaborate with you to develop a targeted marketing plan that will get your business noticed.  Capitalize on the viral nature of social media and do it all with one simple email or event invitation! 
 

Hope of capitalizing on the viral features of social networks was the impetus behind the ever more popular promotional campaigns found on Facebook, Twitter, and other similar media outlets.  Hi tech promotion building software now allows users to create interactive branded promotions that can be simultaneously published in multiple social networks and on Web sites.  The assumption is that by integrating the social media outlets business owners can reap the benefits of friend invites, activity streams and notifications. They are able to parlay social networking into increased brand awareness, growing mailing lists, generating Web site traffic, and encouraging customer feedback. It’s pure marketing genius.  The user efficiency alone justifies the process, but when you consider the potential reach of any given campaign, it’s almost a business necessity.

Promotional campaigns offer unique marketing solutions for both large and small businesses.  Users can choose to run a sweepstakes, a contest, or a give-away depending on their goals for the campaign.  Sweepstakes serve to build your mailing list, gather survey data, and build brand awareness.  Winners are chosen randomly.  Contests are a great way to solicit client testimonials and build customer loyalty.  Contests utilize a jury or audience voting to select the winner.  Give-aways offer coupons to encourage sales and drive traffic to the company’s Web site. 

Special features provide multiple opportunities for stylizing your campaign.  The degree of potential customization is directly related to the pricing structure of the various promotions.  Even at the basic level, however, users are able to upload personalized graphics and campaign-specific text.  Increased pricing offers more opportunities to benefit from the viral nature of the multiple network integrations.  Mandatory “liking” and customized newsfeeds are the hallmarks of the exclusive White Label campaigns.

Opening a new business, launching a new product, or just looking to infuse some energy into your current marketing plan?  Contact e-websmart today and let us develop a sizzling campaign to get your business noticed.

Facebook is at it again! More changes to the site's functionality and layout, this time to business pages. The new format is now similar to the new personal profile layout, with a filmstrip of thumbnail pics running across the top. The tabs have also disappeared, and now the navigation appears on the left, under your picture.

One big benefit of moving the tab links to the left side is that you can see them all listed at once. Previously, only 4 - 5 tabs were visible, and users were required to click on the "+" sign to see more. This hid useful information, especially for those fans who were not aware of the "+" sign. Now, the full list of your apps appears on the left, which should make it easier for all users to navigate through your page and find what they need.

Another major change is the "Edit Page" link. It now appears on the right side of your business page. Previously, it was under your picture on the left.

Besides the layout, Facebook's changes also make it possible for you to interact with people and pages as a page name. For example, now e-websmart (the page) can leave comments on other pages' walls, as well as people's walls. You accomplish this by logging in, clicking on Accounts >> Use Facebook as Page, and then choosing which page you'd like to post as. Of course, you can only do this if you are an admin of a page. But, once you make this switch, your post appears as if it is coming from the page, not you. Switch back to your personal profile and be "you" again by clicking on Accounts >> Switch back to (name).

This also means that even if you are an admin on a page, you can post as yourself on that page.

And last but not least, and you're going to love this... you can now get e-mail notifications when fans interact with your page or posts! This is a long awaited change, and it's finally here! This feature is automatically activated, but here's where you find the setting:

• Go to a page that you administer and click Edit Page (remember, it's on the left side).
• From the menu on the left, click Your Settings.
• The check box next to E-mail Notifications controls whether you receive e-mail updates or not.

What do you think? Like it? Hate it? Let us know, and if you need help understanding what all of this means, give us a call!

Well, Facebook has done it again! Another change to the format of a business page that could cause some confusion for those of you who need to edit information on your page.

What Changed?
On your Business page (not your personal profile), when you click on the "Edit Page" link underneath your picture, you used to arrive at a page with a bunch of options right in front of you to edit your business information, add or adjust applications, add administrators, and so on. Now, when you click on "Edit Page", you instantly arrive at the "Basic Information" page, whether you need to edit it or not.

Now Where Do I Go?
All of your editing options are still available. When you click on "Edit Page", you'll see the Basic Information page, but you'll also see a menu of categories at the left. To find the option that you need to edit, you'll have to look under the appropriate menu category. They are relatively self-explanatory, but here's a quick run-down:

• Manage Permissions: Here's where you decide if your page is displayed publically or not, set age restrictions,  choose your default landing page, and decide who can write on your wall and add photos and videos.
• Basic Information: This is the default page when you click on the Edit Page link from your main page. You'll be able to edit your address, phone number, hours of operation, Web site, parking info, etc.
• Profile Picture: From here, you can upload a new picture to appear on your main page. (You can also accomplish this from your main page by placing your mouse pointer over the picture and clicking on "Change Picture" in the upper right hand corner.)
•  Marketing: Here's where you can establish Facebook ads, get a FB badge, add a Like Box to your Web site, and send an update to all of the users who "like" your page (previously known as "fans").
• Manage Admins: Here's where you can grant or revoke access to people who can make changes to your page.
• Applications: This is where you'll add applications or edit their settings. Many of these are also available from your main wall page by clicking on the Tabs, but if you want to add a new app, this is where you'll need to go.
• Mobile: From here, you can set up mobile e-mail, mobile web, your iPhone or SMS text messages.
• Insights: This page lets you check page stats such as user demographics, number of interactions, post quality, and more.
• Pages Help: This is Facebook's help page, a good page to check if you can't figure out how to complete a task.

In the end, there's really no change in functionality - just a change in the way the information is organized. Instead of crowding these editing options onto one page, they are now spread out and hopefully easier to find, once you get used to the new look.

Have you ever needed to change your e-mail address associated with your Facebook account? It's actually pretty easy! We helped a client with this just the other day, and we thought we'd share the steps with all of our fans.

1. Log in to Facebook (obviously!).

2. In the upper right hand corner, click on Account >> Account Settings.

3. Next to E-mail (3rd section down), click Change.

4. Enter your new e-mail address. Facebook will send a confirmation message to your new e-mail address, and a notification to your old e-mail address.

5. Log in to your new e-mail address, find the message from Facebook, and follow the instructions to confirm.

6. Once you've confirmed it, you can use that e-mail address to log into Facebook. Your password will be the same.

7. Now go back to Account >> Account Settings, then under e-mail, click Change again. Be sure to mark your new address as your contact e-mail or you won't receive any notifications from Facebook.?

That's it! After you know that you can log in with your new e-mail address, then you can go back to your e-mail settings and remove your old one if you want. But, keeping it won't negatively affect you, so long as you don't keep it as your contact e-mail.

If you have more than one active e-mail, you can list them all in Facebook. That way, people can find you under any e-mail address that you have listed, which can help increase the number of friends you connect with!

• Make sure you have a Facebook badge. There's not a lot of room for customizations on Facebook, so it’s important to maximize the space for your picture or logo. Include your tag line, physical address, phone number, Web site, and anything else that will help fans identify you.
• Set your Wall settings to allow for comments, photos, videos and links from fans.
• Monitor your page at least a few times a day and always respond to those who post on your page.
• Ask questions to encourage comments from your fans.
• Add a newsletter up sign box to your page using the FBML app.
• If you have a blog, be sure to import your blog posts through the Notes feature, or use the Networked Blogs application.
• Make sure your posts are sincere, genuine, and personalized. Include photos whenever you can! People love seeing pictures.
• Add a variety of content and posts to your fan page. Mix things up. Showcase your work, highlight employee achievements, post tips or tricks related to your industry, repost inspiring messages, new arrivals, product recommendations and favorite quotes.
• Post daily updates 1 - 2 times a day, but I would recommend no more than 3 a day. You don't want to overload your fans with your posts. Respect the space on their personal walls or you'll likely turn people off.
• Encourage frequent visits to your page. Hold contests, offer exclusive discounts and specials for your fans, and let your fans be the "first to know" about exciting offers and announcements. (By the way, contests require special Facebook permission, but we have the inside scoop! We can set-up your contest.) 

If you've ever questioned the effectiveness of Facebook posts, I have a personal story that just might convince you that Facebook is, in fact, a worthy marketing tool.

Just a couple of days ago, I bought new microsuede sheets at JCPenney. Not only do I love the feel and quality, but I was amazed at the price - only $19.99 for a King-sized set! Just for fun, I decided to post a picture of my newly outfitted bed, and tell my friends about the great deal I received.

It turned into quite a Facebook conversation between my friends and me. Several showed interest in purchasing the sheets, so I shared the online link so my friends could check them out as well. From my simple conversation starter, JCPenney sold 12 sheet sets, thanks to my friends!

I found the JC Penney Fan page on Facebook and instantly became a fan and shared my story:

"Hi there! I bought a new sheet set for my bedroom from JCP ~ they are awesome. 12 new sheet sets were sold because of my post! I just think social networking is amazing and wanted to share!! As a Web site designer, I preach the value of social networking to my clients ~ this just goes to show the ripple effect of social networking!!"

Here is their reply:

"Hi Michelle – You are right! In today’s society, social media is a powerful tool to stay connected! It is a great resource for JCPenney as our customer’s comments are very important to us and we use them to help satisfy other customers. We are glad you are happy with the Microfiber sheets and the price! We always hope that you receive the high quality of service and products you deserve. Thank you again for sharing."

Perfect example of why YOU should have a Facebook Fan page for your business. Customers are talking about you with their friends, raving about good experiences and ranting about bad. The only way you can be involved is by having a Fan page so you are visible AND accessible to your valued customers.

If you don't have a Fan page on Facebook, contact me at e-websmart, and we'll be happy to get you started.

Happy Facebooking!

My Best,
Michelle

Google recently announced that all public status updates are now being included in the search engine's real-time search feature. This means that when someone gets online to search for your business, product, or service, they could find you on the first page of search results via a Facebook post!

Facebook indexes all updates from Facebook Fan Pages, so businesses with a Fan Page are likely to get more traffic, and more fans. Businesses who don't use Facebook will likely find themselves quickly losing ground in search rankings.

Does this give you reason to jump on Facebook? We'd love to help you figure out a strategy and design and optimize your Facebook page. Just call us at   217-498-1073!      

Facebook is an amazingly popular social networking tool that can offer businesses exposure to a huge audience. Today, there are more than 300 million active users, and it is the 4th most visited site in the world according to Alexa.com.

Businesses can take advantage of Facebook’s popularity by creating a Facebook “Fan” page. A Fan page is different from a personal profile. Individuals create personal profiles to connect with friends and family. Fan pages are specifically designated to represent and promote companies and brands. However, like personal profiles, Fan pages encourage relationship-building, and people become fans of pages because they want to connect with the people behind the business name. Incredibly, more than 10 million Facebook users become fans of pages every day!

A Facebook Fan page provides significant value to businesses for several reasons. A Fan page is indexed by search engines, so when customers search for you, they are more likely to find you. By having a Fan page, you boost your search engine ranking because you are constantly updating your page with new, fresh information, and search engines love that! Anyone can view your Fan page, so even non-Facebook members can easily find you. While a personal profile is limited to 5,000 friends, businesses can have as many fans as they want! And don’t forget – it’s all free! You can create an effective, attention-grabbing Fan page without paying a membership fee or bidding on pay-per-click keywords.

If you’re skeptical about the authenticity of Facebook users, you should know that the site administrators do their best to ensure that the people and businesses represented are real and legitimate. The rigorous terms of use dictate that Fan pages must be created by a person at your company who has the authority to do so. Facebook won’t hesitate to ban users if they find abuse or misuse. Facebook also protects your personal privacy because fans don’t have access to your personal profile, and you have complete control over who sees the information on your page.

A well-defined Facebook strategy can lead to new networking opportunities and business clients. It’s quite easy to figure out how to post a message, but communicating through Facebook does require some thought and planning to attract fans and build useful relationships. To that end, I’m offering my favorite tips and best practices that will help you get the most from your Facebook Fan page!

Facebook Tips and Best Practices

1. Think relationships first, business second – this is social media! When direct marketing and overt advertising move in, fans move out! Chat, converse, and be sincere.
2. With every post, consider how others will interpret what you say. You could be followed by the media (or Oprah – you never know!).
3. Create a social marketing strategy and integrate it into your overall marketing plan. Decide your target market and identify your core message – one that will establish you and your business as a thoughtful leader. Plan your posts to make sure the information is relevant and beneficial to your audience.
4. Brand your Fan page! Fans should be able to instantly identify your company when they see your page. Include your logo and tag line. With the cool Facebook applications, you can even add HTML programming code, allowing you to identify your business with additional graphics, such as a Web banner.
5. Always be strategic, consistent, and focused with your messages. If you say you will do something, follow through! Make sure each post fits your marketing strategy.
6. Create interest by adding content-rich media, such as audio and video. Also add your newsletter opt in box so visitors can easily join your e-mailing list.
7. Give your business a personality! Let your passion for your business come through by being genuine, excited, optimistic, and energetic!
8. Consistently engage in activities that create viral visibility. Post status updates, photos, videos, messages to your fans’ walls, notes, and comments. Anyone who visits your fans’ walls will see your posts, too, increasing your exposure to potential customers.
9. Engage others in conversation. When fans write on your wall, respond. They are making an effort to reach out to you, so you should make an effort, too! Like the old saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
10. Encourage frequent visits to your page. Hold contests, offer exclusive discounts and specials for your fans, and let your fans be the “first to know” about exciting offers and announcements.
11. Monitor your own page at least once a day. Even if you don’t post your own new content, you should review your fans’ posts. Answer their questions and express your appreciation for their input.
12. Share personal and professional information, but guard your private life. You don’t have to be an open book!
13. Learn from your fans. They are your best source for feedback about current products and services. Be ready to adapt to meet their needs.
14. Be aware of all online conversations about your company and industry. With tools like Google Alerts and keyword searches, you can easily find out what others are saying about you, your competition, and the latest trends in your industry.
15. Promote your Facebook page everywhere! Consider purchasing a personalized domain name (GoDaddy.com offers them for $9.95 a year) so your Fan page URL is easy to remember. Add a Facebook icon to your Web site and blog, and link it to your Fan page. Include your Fan page link in your email signature.

Happy Facebooking!

Michelle Tjelmeland owns a Web and print firm in Springfield and is a certified social media and marketing specialist by the International Association of Social Media Specialists (IASMS).

Facebook have been introducing an array of hot new features lately. One that I particularly enjoy is the ability to post content on my Fan Page that automatically posts over to Twitter with a link back to my Fan Page!

With Status Updates, you get a whopping 340 characters to write a post on your Fan Page - and that truncates at about 120 characters and inserts a bit.ly link back to your Fan Page. If you craft your update carefully to leave a kind of "cliffhanger" effect, your followers on Twitter can't help but click through and see what the rest of the message is.

Here's how: just go to http://facebook.com/twitter and connect your Twitter with your Fan Page.

Now, choose which posts to Facebook will automatically go out to Twitter by configuring the settings the way you wish. I have checked Updates, Photos, Videos and Links, but I have Notes unchecked because I'm already importing my blog posts to Twitter. I don't want my blog posts to show up on Twitter twice.

If you're also updating your Facebook personal profile and/or Fan Page with the Selective Twitter Updates app, you might want to disable the Fan Page updating so you don't end up with double tweets! (speaking from experience. lol!)

Or, if you prefer to update your Facebook Fan Page via Twitter, the best combo I've found is Hootsuite.com > Ping.fm > Facebook Profile and/or Facebook Fan Page + Twitter (+ LinkedIn and whatever other sites you want to update). Using Hootsuite allows you to also pre-schedule your updates!

Hope this makes sense,

Michelle - enjoy!! ;)

Have you created your Facebook Fan Page yet? Many of us are getting more familiar with Facebook and happily using it to keep in touch with friends and family on a personal level. And some of us may even be using our Facebook profile to help support our businesses. But did you know that Facebook actually has a policy on self-promotion using personal profiles?

    "All personal site features, such as friending and messaging, are also for personal use only and may not be used for professional promotion. If you add a user as a friend, for example, this person will be invited to be a friend of your profile and not your Page. Using personal site features for professional promotion, or creating unauthorized Pages, may result in your account being warned or disabled." -- Facebook

Yikes! You don't want to be banned from Facebook!

So if you haven't created your Facebook Fan page yet for your business, you can get started right now. First, log in to your personal Facebook account. And then go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. This will take you through the steps to help you create your page.

Remember that your Fan page is in no way connected to your Personal page. Your Fans won't be able to click a link to see your personal profile. Your personal privacy is still protected even with a Fan page!

Some things I recommend when creating your Facebook page:

• Definitely add your picture or your business logo! Give your fans a way to connect the business to you and easily recognize you.
• Complete the Company Information block under the Info tab. Make it short and sweet, but be sure to give a good, complete overview of who you are and what you do. Don't forget to include your Web address.
• Include your Web site in the box under your photo/logo, starting the address with "http://". Facebook is a great way to introduce yourself to new customers and stay in touch, but you really want to drive people to your Web site. That's where they'll learn more about you AND take initiative to contact you about possibly sending business your way.
• Post to your wall on a consistent basis. These posts will show up on your Fans' personal walls, creating an awesome viral marketing opportunity.
• Make sure to publish your page so it is public and everyone can view it. This makes is searchable and easy to find, and allows people to become a fan.
• Add your newsletter sign up box to your page. I wrote instructions for that process in a previous blog post.
• Invite your friends to become fans. Click on the "Suggest to Friends" link under your picture/logo, select the friends you want to invite, and click Send Invite. They will get an invitation asking them to become fans of your business page.
• Send updates to your fans. Rather than wait for your fans to visit your blog or wall, attract them to your page by using the "Send Update to Fans" link under your picture/logo. You can post a link to direct fans to read a blog or visit your Web site.

Facebook has many fun, yet effective ways to keep in touch and interact with people through your Fan page. You can even add pictures and video to your page to encourage conversation and feedback. We'll cover more Facebook Applications for Business soon, so be sure to check back to find helpful Facebook tips for marketing your business.

Facebook has finally decided to allow all users to choose their own user name and password. As my previous blog states, this feature is being opened up tonight at 11:01 CDT. (Go to www.facebook.com/username to get yours). Before tonight, vanity Facebook URLs were only open to Facebook employees and top clients and brands.

Of course, part of Facebook's strategy with the midnight release (EDT) is to create urgency. "Get your name before someone else takes it!" And no doubt, there will be millions of users logging on tonight to do just that. But there are some people who don't have to wait. Apparently, key journalists have already been invited to claim their URL names. Facebook sent e-mails to specific writers with instructions on how to get their names before everyone else.

A fair strategy? Some may say no, but the fact is, Facebook wants to keep the press and bloggers happy to encourage Facebook-friendly articles and posts. We all have to make strategic marketing decisions at some point, and this was one that made sense to Facebook. And it will probably work in their favor!

What do you think? Does this special treatment for journalists and writers change your impression of Facebook as a company? And maybe a better question, will Facebook servers crash after midnight tonight when everyone signs on to claim their name? Stay tuned!

Starting today (Friday, June 12th) at 11:01 pm (that's Central time), you'll be able to choose your own username for your Facebook account. Choosing your name will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. This applies to both your profile and the Facebook Pages that you administer. You'll also see a notice on your home page with instructions for obtaining your username at that time.

Now your Facebook url can look like this: www.facebook.com/username/. This will make it much easier to direct friends, family, and coworkers to your profile and business pages.

To select your username, visit the link below after 11:01pm (CDT) on June 12th:
http://www.facebook.com/username/

You can also read the Facebook blog to learn more!