Making Friends & Generating Business (Facebook) SearchFest 2010 Session
Making Friends & Generating Business
4 Point Plan for Facebook Domination
Speaker: Will Scott
1st remember to have a good time…and don’t interrupt people having a good time. Rules:
- Be real
- Give to receive
- Don’t be a jerk
4 Point Plan to Facebook Domination
- Get team involved
- Reach out to current fans
- Give reason to get involved
- Make new friends
Hold internal competitions
- Ask employees to recommend your brand to their friends
- Make it worth their while (e.g. $200 gift certificate)
- Nothing wrong with bribing your employees
Install Facebook fan box
- Already on site, makes great fans
Hold an external competition
- Ignore Facebook rules at your own risk
- Can hold on-site and off-site
Find fans you don’t already know
- Advanced demographics and kw filters through Facebook ads
- Value of fans
- Target fans
- Target people coming to an event
- Bday targeting
- 1:1 communication with event attendees/maybes
Lion Brand Yarn
Speaker: Ilana Rabinowitz
Facebook is a tool. Use it as such.
Lion Brand Yarn’s Strategy
Become a valuable source of information and vital community. Create a place where:
- People interact with each other
- Where fans can become brand advocates
- For people to share stories, ideas, tips, photos, and experiences
- To listen to consumers
- For us to answer questions
- Show appreciation to fans
- Seen as individuals rather than a faceless corporation (President made video for fans and was joking around)
How do we know what to say on Facebook?
- Surveys (what are you interested in?)
- Looked at peaks in data (what updates are people interacting with?)
- Know customers after years of correspondence
Voice of Lion Brand
- One consistent voice
- Marketing department brainstorms ideas
- Used graduate student
- Maintain calendar but much is ad hoc
Building a fan base
- Compelling content (e.g. custom comic strips)
- Promoted through other media (catalog, newsletter, blog, website)
- Fans get you fans
- Suggest to friends
- Advertise on Facebook
Facebook v. Print Ads: Facebook is extremely effective and measurable & can help engage with a younger audience
Facts of Life on Facebook
- Cannot control conversation (competitor mentions, customer complaints)
- Requires time and planning (but maybe not too much money)
Marketing with Facebook
- Solicit Facebook fans wisely (they are earned capital)
- Promotions can make fans disappear like crazy
- Keep helping your fan base (continue to provide resources)
Facebook is Measurable
- bit.ly to measure clickthrough on links
- Facebook Insights to measure interaction with fan page
- Google Analytics to measure engagement from traffic from facebook.com
Benefits of Facebook
- Builds relationships with consumers
- Drive web traffic
- Manage reputation
- Acquire new customers
- Builds word of mouth
- Provides customer insight
- Offer customer service
- Amplify other marketing efforts
- Replace/Supplement traditional advertising
- Generate direct sales
- SEO benefits on search engines
Q: Facebook Group v. Fan Page
A: Group makes sense where people engage with each other. Page makes sense where people engage with the brand
Q: Facebook Do’s?
A: Use a company email as an admin. Include keywords throughout fan page. Don’t be a broadcaster – it’s not about you
Q: Analytics Used to Measure Performance?
A: Google Analytics to measure on-site engagement, fan behavior, conversions, URL variable. Image tag to measure traffic on Facebook. Facebook Insights are useful as well
Q: Tips and Tricks for Facebook Ads
A: Test, test, test. Think about the venue you are advertising on
Q: Structure of Facebook social media team and requirements
A: LBY: Grad student works 3-4 days per week, knowledgeable of the brand; can do it in an hour a day
Q: Ideal Frequency
A: Rate of update is based on how frequently fans interact. Test messaging during various days of the week/hours of the day
Q: What Media Gains Fans Fastest
A: Amplify everywhere it makes sense. Facebook users hate Twitter. Twitter users hate Facebook.
Speakers:
Will Scott – Search Influence
Ilana Rabinowitz – Lion Brand Yarn
Moderator:
Hallie Janssen
Liveblogger:
Mike Nierengarten of Anvil Media Inc., a Portland SEM agency
Session Details
