Just got to the part in Brian Solis' book where he says "You are the real thing". Thanks, Brian. I needed that.

The law of Facebook Fan Page status updates

Posted: August 26th, 2010 | Author: Erica | Filed under: Social Graphics, Social Media Marketing | Tags: , , , , , | View Comments

The law of Facebook Fan Page status updates


We have a winner! Microsite: reach, functionality, less confusing

Posted: August 7th, 2010 | Author: Erica | Filed under: Social Media Marketing, Social Media for Nonprofits | Tags: , , , , | View Comments

After a week of serious discussion, soul-searching, and near-marital discord (my husband is an interactive producer and has strong feelings about these things ;) ), I’m reasonably sold on the idea of a microsite to host “the promotion”.*

My vision for doing it “all-Facebook” was something like IKEA’s “Showroom” promotion, where the first user to tag themselves in photos of new IKEA furniture won the piece they’d tagged.

There were a number of reasons Facebook wasn’t the right place, user experience and functionality-wise, to host the promotion:

  • I imagined a user receiving an email with a link to the promotion. Wouldn’t they have a better (read: less confusing) experience clicking through to a site who’s clear visual design leads them through the upload and share process? Being dumped on a Facebook fan page, even on a nicely laid out static FBML tab politely explaining the process of uploading and tagging a photo, depended on the user taking the time to read the instructions. We know where that goes.

  • Experimenting with fan-uploaded photos, I couldn’t get them to congregate in one promotion-specific “album”, which gets even more complicated when there is video and text-based content thrown in. I fantasized Facebook would be a tidy destination in which to keep all this fan content wrangled, but there was no way to see it all easily.

That was enough push me away from Facebook as a home for this promotion. We’ll still leverage the Facebook news feed to viralize the goings-on of the microsite, but will end up with an aggregated destination that’s easy to use and peruse.

Thanks to all the good peoples (and there have been more since this tweet) who commented & tweeted about this…your input helped me make a (hopefully) non-disastrous tactical decision.

*Without going into the weeds (my current favourite office-speak expression), the promotion consists of people being asked to share an inspiring photo, video, or story about their personal philanthropy, and sharing that story among their friends. Each donation of inspiration will yield, if all this works out, a matching monetary donation to our non-profit.


Should you run a User-Generated Content (UGC) promotion on Facebook or a dedicated microsite?

Posted: August 4th, 2010 | Author: Erica | Filed under: Social Media Marketing, Social Media for Nonprofits | Tags: , , , , , , | View Comments

Here’s the deal. In support of an upcoming campaign, we’re considering a UGC promotion. I’m torn whether it should be conducted entirely within Facebook, or if we should build a microsite to host it.

The market is local (Winnipeg), so broad reach is less important than participant’s social influence on each other.

Desired outcomes include brand awareness, engagement, and viral sharing. The lurkers—people who don’t contribute content, but passively receive it through sharing—are almost as important as the participants.

Facebook or microsite?

Facebook seems like fish in a barrel (easier to reach because they’re right there), whereas a microsite seems like fish in the ocean (more of them who travel farther).

What do you think? Is it a better idea to run a UGC promotion inside of Facebook, using the built-in network & functionality there, or would you build a destination to aggregate submissions & let people share from there? Please comment below whether you favour Facebook or a  microsite, why, and if I’m overlooking anything.

Experience Path of a Facebook-based UGC Promotion

Experience Path of a Microsite-based UGC Promotion

Entry Points:  Facebook


  1. Fan Page asks for participation
  2. User sees friends participating
  3. Facebook ads

Entry Points: Advertising

  1. Main company website
  2. Email promotion
  3. Sponsorship partner promotions
  4. Twitter
  5. Print promotion – newspaper, flyers
  6. Local radio promotion

Entry Points: Sharing

  1. News feed publishing
  2. Content upload
  3. Content tagging
  4. Facebook “Likes”
  5. Facebook “Share this”
  6. Facebook comments

Entry Points: Microsite


  1. Blog

Entry Points:  Advertising

  1. Facebook Fan Page promotion
  2. Facebook ads
  3. Organic Facebook (staff status)
  4. Main company website
  5. Email promotion
  6. Sponsorship partner promotion
  7. Twitter
  8. Print promotion – newspaper, flyers
  9. Local radio promotion
  10. Flickr
  11. YouTube

Entry Points: Sharing

  1. Option to “like” Fan Page
  2. Option to email
  3. Option to “Share this” to other social networks
  4. Option to share on Facebook
  5. Option to tweet

Activities:

  1. Click through to Fan Page
  2. Upload content
  3. Tag content
  4. Comment on other content
  5. Share

Activities:

  1. Click through to microsite
  2. Upload content
  3. Comment on other content
  4. Share

Pros:

  • “Forced” sharing through news stream publishing
  • No web development required (faster & cheaper)
  • Viral is built in; all user’s connections are there & are notified when user does something
  • Ads can be very targeted
  • Friends more likely to be local & strong ties, so more likely to be influenced and be from local market

Pros:

  • Users don’t have to be Facebook members; can share outside Facebook easily
  • More sharing options; broader reach of social networks
  • Aggregating content across networks
  • Full branding & user experience control

Cons:

  • Content is locked down
  • Must be a Facebook user to participate
  • Less control over look & feel

Cons:

  • Users don’t have to share
  • Development time & cost
  • Need videos to come from YouTube to avoid hosting & streaming; potentially complicated
  • Social shares go out as a link to content, not published as an action

Facebook or microsite?

Here’s the deal. In support of an upcoming campaign, we’re considering a UGC promotion. I’m torn whether it should be conducted entirely within Facebook, or if we should build a microsite to host it.

The market is local (Winnipeg), so broad reach is less important than participant’s social influence on each other.

Desired outcomes include brand awareness, engagement, and viral sharing. The lurkers—people who don’t contribute content, but passively receive it through sharing—are almost as important as the participants.


Facebook could fix ‘Like’ spam with a simple interface upgrade

Posted: June 12th, 2010 | Author: Erica | Filed under: Social Media Platforms | Tags: , , , , , , | View Comments

Spammers have figured out a not-illegal way to exploit Facebook ‘likes’, according to Dan Tynan. Dan thinks this makes for a bleak situation for the future of ‘likes’, but there’s a simple interface change that would not only provide the chance to announce the presence of or entirely quarantine spam, but would also make ‘likes’ more social by permitting commentary.

facebooklikespam

That’d do it, eh? I can report it as spam, which would delete it instantly in my fantasy interface, or I could just comment on my suspicions, helping warn other users away from spreading the sleazy link.

Social-wise, it’s always bugged me that I can’t comment on this particular Facebook action—I may have something to say without ‘liking’ something. I get that they’re trying to funnel you towards liking, but greed has opened a spam hole. Plug it with increased interactivity, Facebook!


A social media crisis of faith

Posted: May 22nd, 2010 | Author: Erica | Filed under: Social Media Marketing, Tips, Tricks, How-To's & Top 10's | Tags: , , , , | View Comments

Facebook. I used to love you, but I had to kill you.

Whether there’s a Facebook exodus come May 31 or not, I have really sobered up to the whole MySpace/Friendster/’it was the style at the time’ social network fad issue. I didn’t believe in it until now. I mean, I knew intellectually that once upon a time MySpace got cool and then uncool, but was sure that could never happen to Facebook. They have half a billion users, for pity’s sake. Like 1/16th of the earth. What could happen to bugger that up?

Facebook’s recent PR shitstorm has largely played out among the digerati, and my sense is that the Average User will continue tending their Farmville real estate come the end of May, oblivious to arcane issues of private data and opt-outs and personalization. That may come to pass, but my faith has been badly shaken.

Like a spooked investor, I see the danger of putting all your eggs in one basket. Building a large Facebook following—instead of a more robust social strategy—could be an unfortunate resource sinkhole, should the bubble burst and the massive social network hustle itself right out of business.

Let’s be proactive and pretend, for a minute, that Facebook is on its last legs as a home for brands.

What’s a marketer to do? Here are some ideas for staying afloat in an uncertain social future.

Diversify your assets

If your core contribution is viral content, spread it out. Use Facebook to point fans to content and foster discussion there, but use YouTube and your own blog/site to host the original stuff. If you’ve just been riding the wave so far and not really developing your own content to share, get busy.

Make real friends & find out where else they hang out

You should already be doing this, but be sure to engage your active Facebook commenters to the point where you feel you really know each other. Google ‘em and follow them on Twitter or on their own blogs. Make the relationship bigger than Facebook, which will help make it deeper anyway. Should a new network arise to take FB’s place, these will be the people you’ll refriend.

Host an IRL event pronto

Get your social scene out and mingling for real as soon as possible. If you’re a non-profit, stage a volunteer event. If you’re a small business, invite people over for a (insert product here) tasting or a workshop. Move the virtual to real life now. This capitalizes on the work you’ve done so far. The point of meeting these people online was to take them to the next level of interaction with your business anyway.

Insource the connections you’ve made

Got an email newsletter, a mailing list, an inhouse CRM strategy? Migrate your new bffs to your own platform. Bring them into the fold. Throw them a discount if you can, and try to attach them to your brand’s inner circle. If you’ve got your own communication strategy running parallel, now would be a good time to solidify subscribers drawn from your FB fans. Invite them personally.


You’re coming on a little strong, don’t you think?

Posted: May 4th, 2010 | Author: Erica | Filed under: Social Media Platforms | Tags: , , , | View Comments

fb-defaulthomepage


Personalizing the web will make us stupider

Posted: April 21st, 2010 | Author: Erica | Filed under: Social Media Platforms | Tags: , , , , , , , | View Comments

facebookworlddomination

Facebook has taken the web-swallowing step of adding a personalization platform, Open Graph, to as much of the web as will allow it. This means ads and content will be targeted according to your Facebook profile.

Yikes. The web shouldn’t be personalized for me. Here’s why:

1. My interests don’t encompass everything important that happens. The news is what is new and valuable for me to know to understand the world, but I’m not the best judge of that, nor are my Facebook interests a predictor of it. I prefer to rely on the professional judgment of news directors, editors, and journalists to make sure I know what’s up across the globe, not just in my narrow band of interest.

2. I keep very limited info on Facebook out of privacy concerns, and what is there may not reflect my real interests. I might fan a page because it belongs to a friend and I want to support them, or because I’m trying to win a contest.

3. Part of what I’m doing on the web is looking for new things I don’t know I want to find. Serendipity, syntopic analysis, and random discovery make you smarter. Finding more of the same, however novel, doesn’t.

4. I don’t want my biases confirmed or my stereotypes perpetuated. Feeding me what I like surrounds me with people who think like I do, talk like I do, and know what I know. The more insular our thinking and the fewer challenges presented to it, the more homogenous, boring, and satisfied we become. That’s not who I want to be.

5. My friends aren’t that bright either. (Just kidding, guys). Privileging news on CNN, for instance, that amused or captivated one of my friends would work if I was 14, but I’m an adult with a broad range of acquaintanceships. Their interests aren’t any better a source for my daily news than my own; neither would their shopping habits or music tastes necessarily suit me.

6. It impacts the fun I have on Facebook. I’m increasingly nervous about the things I post there. I lock down as much as I can, and think twice before private messaging anything I don’t want to accidentally show up on my wall due to some “glitch”. Now I have to consider the ramifications of listing a favourite book, as the tentacles of my professed liking spread throughout the web and potentially affect everthing I see and read thereafter. Holy pressure = a lot less fun.