Archive for Facebook
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Many companies are marketing on Facebook to brand themselves and reach customers. If you haven’t already gotten a Facebook page for your business, this should be high on your list, but also take note. Facebook loves to change things. We’ve all seen Facebook shake things up in the last year with their privacy settings and redesign of the Home page, and changes are going to continue.
Facebook is launching a new design that will eliminate the “Boxes” tab that appears on the left side of the page and in the “Boxes” tab at the top. This means that if you are using boxes to do marketing on Facebook, you’re going to need to change too. This will affect many businesses who currently feature promotional items or post videos in the “Boxes” tab.
As a replacement, Facebook users will use an applications tab to promote their content to fans. Facebook is also doing a redesign of the applications tab that will change the size from 720 pixels to 520 pixels, affecting many custom designs. Also, to make the applications tab more engaging, Facebook will use new ways to communicate with fans, including news feeds that appear based on the number of people who visit the page.
In addition, marketing on Facebook is going to become even easier as the site becomes an advertising platform. Businesses will be able to access email addresses from pages and applications, making it easier than ever to build an email list through their site. These changes are set to go sometime in 2010. In the meantime if you have any questions about how these changes will affect your Facebook brand, let me know.
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Facebook is currently the most popular social networking site, with many users logging on daily and continuously sharing information with each other. According to their statistics, there are over 2 billions pieces of content, such as photos, website links, articles and blogs shared each week among users.
Now Facebook has also made it even easier to track and distribute this information, all with the push of a button. Known as Facebook Share, this tool quickly allows users to share content and measure how many people are reading the links. With a few lines of code, you can get the Facebook Share button as a widget on your website. The live counter keeps track of how often the URL is opened and sent to other Facebook users. It also gives you a few other key features, such as how many people “like” the link, how many comments are posted, and clicks back to your site.
The Facebook Share button can easily be added to a website. To try it yourself, go to Facebook’s widgets page and paste the html code into the body of your website. This is a great opportunity from Facebook to get real, measurable results and keep your marketing efforts going strong.
Share
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Source: Mashable
This is a bit of a shocker. Facebook, who has seemingly been in a race to emulate many of Twitter’s features, just announced that it’s launching the ability for Facebook Page admins to simultaneously update both their Page and Twitter.
Facebook explains how this will work in a blog post:
“If you manage a Facebook Page, you now will be able to decide whether to share updates with their Twitter followers, and you also will be able to control what type of updates to share: status updates, links, photos, notes, events or all of them.
If you have multiple Pages, you will have the option to link each of those Pages to different Twitter accounts. This new feature will only link Facebook Pages to Twitter, not your individual profile. It will soon be available at http://www.facebook.com/twitter”
While that makes a lot of sense from a convenience standpoint – many big time Twitter users also have popular Facebook Pages and vice versa – it’s surprising to see Facebook so openly acknowledge Twitter’s reach. That said, by giving users the ability to update both services via Facebook, they’re clearly hoping that the Facebook Page will become the first stop for admins.
That would mean lots of “via Facebook” messages showing up in tweets, and in fact, it’s not hard to imagine Facebook quickly becoming one of Twitter’s most popular clients. However, I wouldn’t expect this functionality to be extended to user profiles anytime soon, which would clearly be a bigger win for Twitter than Facebook.
We did suspect that Facebook might be working something along these lines last month when messages “via penguin FB” showed up on Twitter by way of a Facebook engineer. But now, we know the details, and it definitely creates a lot more intrigue in the ongoing Facebook vs Twitter battle.
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Hosting and attending events is an effective way to generate buzz about your business as well as introduce yourself to the very people you are trying to attract. As a host, using the Facebook event feature can help you keep organized and gain interest from your target audience. As an attendee, this feature can help you stand out before the event even begins!
So whether you are invited to an event through Facebook or are planning to host one of your own, you should understand how to use the Facebook event feature effectively. Here are the top eight steps to setting up your Facebook event and creating buzz in the process:
Use a catchy title
Just like creating a catchy title for your article, your event title needs to grab the invitee’s attention. Keep them excited about what is in store for them at the event. For example, instead of “BBQ at my place”, try something like “Mix, Mingle and a little Jingle BBQ!”.
Post an attractive photo
Post a photo that will grab the reader’s attention. Instead of a standard picture of a BBQ, use a group photo from last year’s event (if there was one), or even a funny picture of you cooking up hamburgers. Of course, the type of photo you use depends on the event and the audience, however it is important to post a picture that will entice the invitees to attend. If you are an attendee, share any photos you have as well. Whether they are photos from last year’s events or photos after the event has taken place.
RSVP with a message
If you are invited, RSVP your response to attend and write a message in the event box (seen on the invite to your profile page). Without even visiting the event page, your message will be transferred to its wall!
Write a message on the wall
When you click on the event invite, you will be taken to the event page. You can RSVP here and write on the wall. When you write directly on the wall, your response will feed to your profile as well as the feed of your friends. This will create more visibility for the event. This step is also recommended for the host; generating buzz on both ends.
Allow guests to invite friends
Create more visibility for your event by allowing your guests to invite their friends. Of course use this at your own discretion. Depending on what type of event you are hosting and how large you hope it will be.
Share the event
On the event page, there is a share button. When you click on this, your event (whether as host or guest) will be published on your profile page. Of course you will want to use your discretion with this and only share with the friends you feel would benefit.
Share with Twitter
Depending on the nature of the event, share with your connections on Twitter, posting a link to your Facebook event.
Post video
Before or after the event, invite guests and friends to view a video. This video can be footage from last year’s event such as guest speakers or of you personally inviting your guests. As a guest, if you captured any video, share it with the other attendees!
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As an Internet marketing VA, I not only promote Facebook as an excellent marketing tool, but I use it myself. Facebook is powerful when used as a marketing platform. The possibilities for reaching business success are endless when you learn how to effectively optimize your Facebook profile.
Mari Smith, a renowned social media coach and the world’s leading expert on using Facebook for business, has developed 10 steps for maximizing your business performance using Facebook. With these 10 steps, you will attract your target audience and establish a loyal following, build your brand and increase your business profits.
I would like to share these 10 steps with you and have included them below:
Optimize your Facebook profile
Be sure to use a professional photograph. It is best not to use a photo of you at last year’s New Year’s Eve party. Also include a biography with information relating to yourself and your business. Be sure to use keywords that will attract search engines. And insert links to your website as well as your blog.
Choose your Core Message
Your Facebook profile should be dedicated to a core message. You want to update your status, on a consistent basis, with information that is relevant to your business or industry. The purpose of your presence on Facebook is to establish yourself as a key leader in your industry. Provide thoughtful and professional information that your target audience will appreciate.
Create a Facebook Fan Page
A fan page increases your visibility on the Internet. Using SEO strategies and rich media, you can attract unlimited fans. A fan page can also be promoted on your website using a fan box (click here to learn more about the fan box).
Add Friends Strategically
Congratulations if you are attracting friends to your Facebook and establishing meaningful relationships with prospects! You may be thrilled to see your popularity rising, however it is important to be strategic about who you allow to be your friend. Facebook does have a friending policy and the current limit is 5,000. Also be sure the friends you are adding are legitimate and not spam.
Relationships First, Business Second
Social networking is about establishing meaningful relationships. Not about pitching a sale. You want to let your friends know you care before making them see the benefit in your product or service.
Be Visible
Don’t just disappear from the Facebook radar. Be visible by posting (tasteful) photos, videos and status updates. Visit other people’s profiles and post to their walls with insightful comments and links. The goal is to be seen and heard everywhere, so when your products or services are required, they will think of you!
Promote Outside of Facebook
Let your website visitors and email list know they can find you on Facebook. Include a link to your Facebook profile in your email signature and add a Facebook badge to your blog and website titled “Find us on Facebook”.
Use Facebook Social Ads
Advertise your fan page and become a fan of other people’s fan pages.
Put a Time Limit on your Facebook Usage
Be aware of how much time you are spending on Facebook. Develop a strategy that works with you and your schedule to invest time in your social networking. If you find time is running short, outsource to someone who can dedicate more energy to this task!
Facebook Should be Part of your Marketing Plan
Don’t think of Facebook as only a social networking tool. Instead, think of it the same way you would think of running an advertisement; it is part of your marketing plan.
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When Facebook first rolled out custom usernames, we cautioned that much like a bad tattoo, you wouldn’t be able to undo them. That didn’t stop some people from registering ridiculous names or clearly trademarked terms that might be funny today but not good long-term choices.
However, it now appears that Facebook has updated their policy, perhaps after being inundated with requests to change poor name choices, or maybe just because registrations have slowed to a more manageable pace and they intended to add the option all along. In any event, users are now able to change their usernames by going to “Account Settings” and looking under “Username.”
As ReadWriteWeb notes, Facebook is still imposing some limitations, alerting you that “You can only change your username once” when you click the “check availability” link on the new setting. Realistically, FacebookFacebook is probably just trying to scare you into taking a name that’s a little less absurd than “rickroll” or “jackbauercouldwhoopchucknorris”.
Nonetheless, the name choices available to those who now wish to change them will be a bit less fruitful than before. Millions of usernames were registered within the first few days of their availability, and now that smaller brands can also get custom URLs for their Facebook Pages, the selection is even smaller.
Source: Mashable
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Great news! The power of social media marketing just increased with the addition of the Facebook Fan Box. Already an excellent social media marketing tool, Facebook has recently improved and expanded the capabilities of its fan pages in order to attract and maintain more traffic to your business than ever before. With its newly launched Facebook Fan Box widget, owners of Facebook fan pages can now embed information from their page onto their website. You now have the ability to not only change your website traffic into promising leads, but convert your traffic into ‘fans’ of your Facebook Fan Page.
The Fan Box will bring social networking to your website, allowing your traffic to view your latest fan page activity without having to log into the social networking site. This new development allows users to view your latest updates, browse through your list of fans, and take advantage of the opportunity to become a fan of your fan page – all from your business website! Facebook is certainly expanding from a simple social networking tool into a business owner’s marketing dream as we witness the growth of its benefits.
Social networking has proven to be a useful marketing tool for businesses, big and small and I suspect it won’t be long before we see countless businesses include the Fan Box on their website. In fact, large corporations such as Coca-Cola and Newsweek and celebrities like Lance Armstrong have already implemented the Fan Box as part of their overall marketing campaign. It is a simple, yet valuable, collaboration between your social networking efforts and your overall business marketing campaign.
In order to effectively implement this new tool, you may wish to showcase your Fan Box in high traffic areas of your website. Pages such as your homepage and any other area your visitors will go to for information will increase its visibility.
Where can you view this new tool? You can now add the Fan Box by collecting the code from your fan page. Installation is quick and quite simple. Below, I have helped you locate your Fan Box code and have provided instructions:
My Fan Box 
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Just a quick note to let you know that Facebook is allowing you to choose your vanity url as of 12:01 am EST this morning. Go to www.facebook.com/username and select your username. I choose www.facebook.com/vbsondemand. For fan pages you need to have a minimum of 1000 followers before March 31st (i think) in order to select a vanity for your fan page. Pick wisely because what you select can not be changed! Feel free to come back and share your vanity url.
Have a great weekend!
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My last post described what Facebook is and how it can be used to promote yourself and your business. It really is considered to be one, if not THE, social media marketing tool. Don’t forget to take advantage of every nook and cranny Facebook offers you to promote yourself! That includes the prime real estate located right below your photo on the left hand side of your profile page (see picture)!
Facebook is used by millions of people from across the globe. Yes millions of people who can view your profile and learn about your business! Especially at a time when the economy is in a time of upheaval, what better way to save the funds (or lack thereof) currently sitting in your marketing budget, and effectively market yourself for free!
Once you have created your profile, as was discussed in the previous post, it’s time to explore what else Facebook can offer you and your business.
Create a Fan Page Read More→
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Since its launch on February 4, 2004 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has become quite the phenomenon. To date, the popular social networking site has reached the size of a small country! In fact if it were a country, it would be the sixth largest country in the world! Facebook is not only a phenomenon but it truly could be its own nation. Everyone, from Oprah to the Dalai Lama, use Facebook to keep in touch, market events and share photos and videos.
A variety of avenues designed to help you promote yourself or your business is available on Facebook; including personal profiles, fan pages and groups. If you are one of the few individuals who are not yet part of the “Facebook family”, I recommend you begin by creating a personal profile. Read More→
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