Spredfast Blog

Posts Tagged business

3 Reasons Facebook Is Bad For Business

Jul 29

Posted by spredfast in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

I only half mean it. Facebook isn’t all bad for business. Mark Zuckerberg and Co. do provide a platform to engage with 500 million people in a targeted way. Oh, and it’s free. Those are all good things.

But the devil is in the details, no? Why is it that Facebook can have such a robust platform in 2010 and still screw up so badly when it comes to providing the kinds of things that organizations and business need to reach people?

The reality is that organizations and business don’t have the time or the inclination to do all of their engagement directly in Facebook. There are other social networks out there that also matter. Hello, Twitter! So, organizations and business turn to social media management systems like Spredfast to make their engagement more efficient. This is where it breaks down for Facebook. Here are a few examples:

Posts via 3rd party applications do not have a share link

That’s right! Posts that come from 3rd party applications can not be shared in Facebook like posts that are made directly in Facebook. Not even the mighty Causes, which has more insider opportunities with Facebook than Martha Stewart had at ImClone, has managed to get a Share link to appear on posts made through their system. 

But why? The ability to share content within Facebook is one of the core tenants of the community, and there is no difference between the content being created directly in Facebook and that being created in a 3rd party application. It’s not like the companies have an opportunity to abuse anything by having a share link. It’s the person who reads the content  that decides to share it.

Updates from Pages made via 3rd Party applications cannot be targeted

Seems silly, right? The Facebook API provides a way to create and send the update, but it doesn’t provide a way to target the update. Why would you release an API method that only covers half of the functionality necessary to be useful? Unless Facebook wants companies to spam portions of a Page’s fan base with a message that doesn’t apply to them.

The ability to target the updates from Pages is extremely useful for anyone who administers a Page, because you can customize content for the specific segments of your audience, providing only valuable information.  Facebook would only be doing their members a service by allowing companies and organizations (which are allowed to have Pages, of course) to target updates.

Not all of the Insights for Pages data can be pulled through 3rd party applications

What Page administrator doesn’t want to know what is going on with their Page? The Insights feature is very cool and provides a ton of great data, but administrators using a 3rd party application to create content for their Page can not pull all of the Insights data out with that same 3rd party application because of the way Facebook has structured the Insights API. Forcing Page administrators to log into Facebook for certain activities while others to be done outside just seems inefficient. Provide a full service via the API or none at all.

Some may say that Facebook should make it easy for companies and organizations to engage with people inside the community because Facebook is a social network for people. To that I say, “That boat has already sailed!” Facebook opened the door to companies and non-profits when they created the Page. They’re in now, so Facebook should be doing everything it can to make it possible for companies and non-profits to interact in the same way that everybody else does. 

Social Media Initiative managed by Spredfast

Tags: , , , , ,

25 Things to Do and Not Do to Have a Stronger Facebook Presence

Jul 27

Posted by spredfast in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

The Altimter Group and Jeremiah Owyang published a great report on how to market using a Facebook Page. Spredfast was honored to be among the resources Jeremiah tapped to research that report. The link to the Altimeter presentation on Slideshare is provided at the bottom of this post. We hope you take time to read through the 25 Do’s and Dont’s that Spredfast preaches with our clients.

The Do’s:

On a Page

  1. Take advantage of the ability to create custom content on a tab using the static FBML application, and make this tab the default landing page to new visitors.
  2. On the Wall tab, make sure you show content from the Page and from Fans, and auto-expand comments, so it is clear to visitors that there is a level of engagement happening on the Page.
  3. Be very involved in the conversation happening on your Page.
  4. Update the content on the Page regularly with a mixture of original wall post content, wall post referrals to other pertinent content, video and photos. Try not to post to the wall more than 3 time per day.
  5. Allow fans to post video and photos to the Page. Reach out to those that do and thank them.
  6. Use Facebook Events to promote your real events, even if they require registration. Simply provide a link in the Facebook Event description to the event registration page and ask people to both register and “attend” in Facebook.
  7. If you have events where you can get Facebook fans to attend in person, get photos and videos, post them to Facebook and tag those Fans in the content.
  8. Find other, relevant Pages and add them to your Favorites. Usually, that Page will return the favor and hopefully drive more people to your Page.
  9. Advertise your Page on your other web properties and content streams, including the ability to become a fan and subscribe to updates via Text.
  10. Be sure to adopt o personal tone with your communications on the Page, even going so far as to identify the author in posts. Couple this with photos of the authors, so people can put a face with a name.
  11. Target Page Updates and Posts using the built in targeting functionality.
  12. Ask your Fans to suggest the Page to other people periodically.
  13. Frequently make the content about the Fans themselves by asking questions, posting Fan stories, and commenting on their activities.
  14. Find existing Pages centered on your brand and engage with them. Support them with content and information.
  15. Offer insider information that only Fans have access to.

On Profiles

  1. Be sure employees who are engaging in Facebook activities on behalf of the company have good, consistent company information, and that your social media policy is well understood by these folks.
  2. Prominently promote the company Page.
  3. Add contest and promotional applications to these profile for greater spread across Facebook. Be sure to include an invitation component to the app, but never require invitations to be sent in order to progress in the app.
  4. Offer insider information that only Friends have access to.

The Do Not’s:

  1. Don’t make the content on your Page or Profiles all about the company. Fans don’t want just another version of the website.
  2. Don’t disappear on your community. Engage daily.
  3. Don’t overpost so that your Page becomes a nuisance. 2 or 3 times per day maximum.
  4. Don’t overdo it with contest application. Be selective, and make the app a high quality experience.
  5. Don’t try to own all of your brand presence. Collaborate with those people who have started Pages and Groups around your brand.
  6. Don’t take it for granted. Monitor what is happening on your Pages and Profiles by using the data provided by Facebook or other sources (like Spredfast).

You can check out Jeremiah’s report here:

The 8 Success Criteria For Facebook Page Marketing

View more documents from Jeremiah Owyang.

Or read the Atimeter Group report in Slideshare. It is very good.

Social Media Initiative managed by Spredfast

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,