Archive for February, 2009

Is Social Media Yours, Mine, or Ours?

Posted in community, marketing, social media, video on February 24th, 2009 by Howard Kang – 5 Comments

My thoughts on this question. Please comment up and let me know what you think!

Links Mentioned:

Kami Huyse – @kamichat - http://overtonecomm.blogspot.com
Chris Brogan – @chrisbroganhttp://chrisbrogan.com
Gary Vaynerchuk – @garyveehttp://garyvaynerchuk.com (http://tv.winelibrary.com)

*A Kodak family favorite:

Todd Sanders – @tsandhttp://utodd.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA69dFMAfPY)

(*Note: I just used family stuff to help illustrate “sharing life” along with content. Other stuff is awesome too! Anything to help us get to know you.)

Creating & Promoting a Remarkable Facebook Fan Page

Posted in highered, marketing on February 20th, 2009 by Howard Kang – 22 Comments

Today I’ll be focusing on the elements that can help make your Facebook Fan Page for your office/business/organization remarkable and tips on how to promote it.

Facebook Fan Pages used in the most effective way are gateways; one-stop-shops. What do I mean by that? Think of your fan page as the exterior of a house. You want it to look as welcoming as possible; lawn trimmed, a little gnome here and there, a welcome mat, you know what I mean. It sets the stage for people to enter the home, connect, and go deeper. You don’t want to target your Facebook Fan Page to be a destination, but an open door to the separate rooms in your house. Your facebook fan page should be set to point your target audience in the right direction of what they’re looking for and help them connect on a deeper level (whether that means groups, link to your website, social media, etc.).

Before anything is started marketers usual ask the question, “Who’s our target?” I’m going to be honest with you. It kind of matters, but it doesn’t matter. Target everyone, not anyone. The better question organizations can ask is, “Who are we and how do we want to represent ourselves to everyone?”

Look at these numbers:

1. Facebook Demographic Statistics (allfacebook.com)

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2. istrageylabs reports: 2009 Facebook Demographics and Statistics Report: 276% Growth in 35-54 Year Old Users

With these numbers and your Facebook Fan Page being a one-stop-shop gateway do you REALLY want to ignore all these users? It’s their choice if they want to enter and go deeper. Let them decide.

What does this mean for the Facebook Fan Page?

The picture you select is more important than you think. It represents your brand to everyone. Do you want to go with a logo, a more organic photograph, simple text? It will be different for everyone. I chose to go with the organic photo route for our office because I think a logo looks too rigid and doesn’t send the right message when representing a volunteer office. Here’s the photo I went with:

I found a picture that I felt could represent service, but not show faces or specific action. Our target is everyone, not anyone. If we focus on a picture of someone serving, we brand what a volunteer looks like, what volunteers are doing, and possibly unintentionally alienate people. Focus on everyone, not anyone.

Important Notes for a Remarkable Fan Page

  1. Choose your title wisely. It’s what will be a “badge” on profiles and also serve as your keywords for search engine optimization.
  2. Don’t launch your fan page bare. Facebook has a great feature where you can work on your fan page before you publish it. Use that to your advantage and have everything you can set before you start to promote it.
  3. Watch clutter. Know your brand and what’s necessary and not necessary. Games may enhance user experiences for some, but not for others.
  4. Make it easy for others to connect, whether through wall discussion, forward to blogs, pictures, etc. Make it easy to connect and find what they want. It will help convert fans as well as give people a reason to visit your fan page
  5. Open communication is key. Watch, listen, discuss, and help where you can. People take notice when organizations take time to add to discussions and help. Send periodical updates through the update feature, but don’t be spam.
  6. Have the mentality that your page is OUR page, not your page or my page.

Applications I Use & Recommend

  1. RSS-Connect - Pull your RSS Feeds directly into your pagepicture-14
  2. Static FBML – With basic HTML knowledge you can create custom boxes to cater to your needs. I used them to create a box to direct users to our social media sites.
  3. YouTube Box – Integrate YouTube videos from your account (*can add to clutter)
  4. Other then that I use the default applications: photos, videos, etc. I don’t use Notes due to RSS-Connect

Notes on Promotion

While you can’t send mass invites for Facebook Fan Pages to the people you’re not Facebook friends with (use suggestion feature for that), fan pages are easy to build a buzz around. How can you get your word out?

  1. Tell people your fan page exists. We have an e-mail distribution list we notified & are including some links in our press releases.
  2. Let others evangelize you. When people become fans it shows on the profile as well as their mini-feed. Post photos/videos of your community. As pictures become tagged (and show up in their profiles) your community will become infused with your fan page. Even just ask people to help out. Some people will do it for free, others may require incentives.
  3. Be creative. During National Volunteer Week there will be a campaign asking people to donate their status in support of volunteering & become a fan of our page. If you’re a bar run a promotion that cover is free on a certain night if they’re a fan of your page. Give away free things. The possibilities are endless! Use the analytics with the fan pages and see what’s worked for you.
  4. Transfer members from your group and notify them. Starting a fan page and already have a group? No problem! Collegewebeditor.com outlines some great instructions. *Note: Facebook has discontinued transferring groups to pages.

I hope these ideas help you get started on your road to creating a remarkable fan page. Comment up your thoughts or if you think anything else needs to be added!

Facebook: Fan Pages vs. Groups for HigherEd Offices

Posted in highered, marketing on February 18th, 2009 by Howard Kang – 12 Comments

In a meeting yesterday my office discussed Facebook and where to focus our attention: groups, profile, or fan page? I responded that I believe we should be focusing 65% on the fan page, 25% on the group, and 5% on the profile page. I believe that using all mediums are important, but the fan page has the best ROI and reach. The search engine journal outlines some key differences as follows:

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I believe the Fan Page should be the main hub of facebook strategies because:
  • Search Engine Optimization: Facebook Fan Pages are public so results are indexed.
  • No Registration: Users don’t need an account to access fan page information for events, photos, etc.
  • Visitor Statistics: any analytics are useful.
  • RSS Feed Integration via Applications: Without any extra work the RSS application will pull the latest posts from your blog, podcast, online media room, etc.
  • Aesthetically pleasing (videos, photos, etc.), which gives a more human and welcoming feel to the page.
  • Less manual updates than groups for events, news, etc.

While people may not be able to send mass invites to groups, the fan pages show more promise in terms of overall reach. Applications also add an immense amount of versatility to your page. As I work on building our online media room, blog, etc. I’m excited that I won’t have to manually post the items in the Links section, but I can use RSS-Connect to take care of it for me. You can also create custom boxes with FBML and integrate applications or causes related to your office/organization. Facebook pages are a one-stop-shop for viewers; the less work & searching for users the better.

Why do I give 5% to Facebook Profile Pages? I advocate for all Higher Education offices to refrain from focusing on Facebook profile pages because:
  • Students feel that their privacy will be invaded (pictures, wall posts, etc.)
  • Facebook profile pages are meant for humans (Imagine: “Looking for: “Dating, A Relationship, etc.”)
  • Facebook profile profile pages are easily lost in the noise
  • Overall serves very little purpose in comparison to pages and groups

What are your opinions on Fan Pages vs. Groups for your particular office or organization? What has been your focus?

On Friday I’ll be posting tips for creating an exceptional fan page, some ways to promote your fan page, and some ways to overcome some flaws of the Facebook fan page. (Linked Here)

*Update (02-19-09) – Groups for Smaller Community Building

To clarify a few points about pages (pointed out by Jim & DW). I believe Pages are a great hub for recruitment and awareness, but not an end all (groups are 25% focus for our office). Groups are necessary in the sense that they give ground to form community for students on a smaller scale. To what degree groups are administrated by the University is completely up to you. Before Facebook Gate 2013 most Universities simply let students run them to help form more authentic communities, but now that the scene has changed more are moving towards forming official groups. Beyond that, from my student perspective, I think it’s critical to let other groups be student-led.