How To Work Facebook: Part 1

Statistics show that Facebook is the most widely used social networking site on the Web. But, unlike Twitter, Facebook is not so cut and dry. As I explained in previous posts, Twitter is a microblog that limits a user’s message to 120 characters. There are various ways to leverage that message and network to others, but the idea of Twitter is very simple: You have something to say and you say it to the people who have chosen to listen.

Facebook is an entirely different animal.

Since over 500 million people use Facebook worldwide. I am going to start Part 1 of this Facebook series by making one assumption: if you are reading this, odds are that you have a Facebook profile. Fair enough? I’m not going to tell you how set up a profile or download your profile picture. Even if you haven’t done that yet, just log onto Facebook and let them walk you through it. The interface is quite intuitive and easy to navigate. I will show you all of the nuances and functions, but I’ll leave the getting started up to you.

So, why are people using Facebook? The most commonly reported uses for Facebook are for personal entertainment and self/business marketing. Facebook is an easy and inexpensive way for the average person to catch up with old friends, classmates, neighbors, or co-workers. And with 500 million users, it is an incredibly powerful platform for selling a product or service, soliciting donations to your nonprofit, recruiting talent to your firm, or spreading awareness about an issue that means a lot to you.

Think of Facebook’s power like this: Say you have a small, web-based consulting business and you want to send out some direct mail to promote your service. You can purchase a mailing list that consists of your target audience’s demographic, you can purchase the printed piece, and you can pay the postage. Let’s say you send out 10,000 pieces of mail and that costs you $7,000. With a typical direct mail campaign, you are supposed to be ecstatic if you get a 3-4% response. Congratulations. You spent $7,000 to engage 300 people. It probably took you several weeks and cost you a lot more than the $7,000 in monetary expenses. In half the time, you could have sent out the same message to millions of people on Facebook…For a fraction of the cost. 3% of a million people make quite a large group. 3% of 500 million is slightly bigger.

Now, I don’t mean to say that you can just set up a profile on Facebook and instantly reach even 100,000 people. But, with the right tools and a lot of effort, you can build a big enough network to seriously boost your business, product, or nonprofit organization. Like Twitter, it’s all about making connections and interacting. The next several parts of this series will show you just exactly how to do it. Stay tuned.

The Importance of Social Media Policy

The best social media strategy in the world can be quickly derailed by weak or non-existent policy.  In fact, it can derail an entire company.  Think that’s a little harsh?  Just ask the brass at Domino’s.

Haven’t heard about the Domino’s debacle?  Here’s a quick rundown.  Last April, some Domino’s employees at a location in North Carolina had the great idea make a video of themselves preparing food in what can be  gently described as a ‘not so sanitary manner’.  They put the videos on YouTube and they spread like wild fire.  What happened next is well documented and is an amazing case study in righting a wrong.  A simple Google search will fetch you the information, so I won’t go too far into it here.  But, what almost crippled Domino’s wasn’t the fact that these clowns did what they did, it was the fact that Domino’s had no policy or procedure in place to either deal with the fallout or respond to it in an efficient way.

So, if you are a business or nonprofit who is getting started with a social media plan, you must take the time to discuss policy and best practice within your organization before you dive in.  Why?  Once you are out there in the world of social media, the potential exists for your employees or business partners to speak on your behalf.  If things turn negative, you need to know how you will deal with them.

You also need to make crystal clear to your employees what type of behavior is expected of them online.  Whether they or you like it or not, your employees act as a voice for your company on social media.  When they fill out their Facebook profile and list XYZ Company as their employer, their thoughts and views can be seen as the thoughts and views of XYZ Company.  Obviously, you can’t stop them from doing what they do on their own time, but policy gives you a level of separation from them when things go wrong.  Domino’s didn’t have that, and they were harshly criticized for it.

Things to think about when it comes to policy:

• Who can and can’t officially add content to the organization’s “official” profiles?

• What level of accountability do your employees have for behavior on personal social media outlets?

• How will your organization respond to negative criticism?  Will it be on the fly, or will a committee address each instance?

• Who speaks for the organization in person, if clients, business partners, or the press question your social media activity?

• Who assesses the appropriateness of content?  Again, on the fly or by committee?

All this, and more, must be on paper and made clear within your organization before activity begins.  A good policy can protect the company and answer many questions that are bound to come up from stakeholders and other internal and external parties.  It’s a must as a first step, and is exactly where my company is right now.

Have experience with social media policy?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Socialnomics – Social Media Revolution: V2

If you have not had a chance to see the Socialnomics video entitled ‘Social Media Revolution’, you must watch it. Now.  If you had any doubt that social media is here to stay, you won’t after watching.

If you have already seen it, check out the new and updated version here:

Let’s talk about!  Leave a comment and get the discussion going.

Where are you with your social media activity?

In an effort to take a break from the pure informational nature of this blog, I’d like to start a discussion about where you are with your social media plan?  My hope is to get some lively, group-style exchanges going so that we can all learn from each other.  Newbie, expert, casual user, or business user…tell me what you’re up to on sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flikr, or any of the free blog sites.

If you’re an avid user, feel free to plug your site or your service, too.

Social Media Success Comes By Doing

Welcome to everyone who followed me over from my Tumblr blog, and to any new followers. Knowing that people are interested in this project, and are interested enough to give me feedback, makes this so much more fun.

The last few days have been a tremendous learning experience for me as a social media marketing newbie. I’ve seen very quickly how vast the potential of platforms really can be.

I’ve been pounding the Internet, specifically on LinkedIn and Twitter, just raising awareness of my project and testing out the platforms for when its time to launch my company’s strategy. I targeted like-minded groups on LinkedIn and searched around Twitter for people talking about social media in respect to non-profits, small businesses, and getting started. This activity has driven some modest traffic to my blog, and generated some feedback via e-mail. I’ve had visitors from three countries, as well as had some very accomplished marketing professionals express some interest. To say the least, it has been fun and interesting.

One very surprising thing I have noticed from the analytics is that the majority of my traffic is coming by way of LinkedIn. I would have guessed that Twitter would have sent me the most traffic, but I was wrong. Thus, I will continue to focus efforts in the LinkedIn world and will look to adjust what I am doing on Twitter. My guess is that when it’s time to launch my company plan, LinkedIn will be my best asset for professional connections and talent recruitment. But, when it comes to fund raising and general brand awareness, Twitter will be on of my go-to spots.

Here is a brief rundown of how I have positioned my blog, for those of you who are looking for tips:

• I began my blog on Tumblr.com. While I liked how easy and intuitive Tumblr was, they do not offer the option to have followers subscribe via e-mail. I don’t expect many of my followers to sign up for Tumblr just to get my blog, and RSS feeds get cluttered and messages get missed. Bottom line for getting your blog started: test them all out. Find out what options work for you and if they are offered for free (or at all). Worpress looked like a good fit for me, so here I am.

• As I said before, I began to get involved in open discussions on LinkedIn. The easiest way to do that is to join a group and browse the discussions that group members are having on the group’s page. You can chime in on one, or start your own. It seems to be a great way to build personal credibility on an issue, and pick up some great contacts and awesome leads on information.

I did the same thing with Twitter, via the search.twitter.com tool. Amazing amounts of people are talking about anything and everything related to what your line of business does, does well, does poorly, and all things in between. Find someone you think is interesting, and add him or her to your network. If they add you, too, then you can begin a dialogue via the direct message or the ‘@’ functionalities.

LinkedIn is working better for me right now in terms of responses and ideas. You may find that Twitter is better. Just try it all out.

• I plan on involving Facebook in my strategy very soon, so that will be good fodder for a future blog. I see Facebook as the main player, so I want learn some more about how to approach it before I approach it. Also, I want to be careful to keep separation from my personal presence on Facebook and what would be a professional presence as I try to help my company develop a strategy.

All in all, I think I am really starting to devise a strong plan of attack for my company. The relative success of my blog (by my standards!), in a very short time, leads me to believe I will be able to attract a following and turn those followers into business partners, donors, clients, and supporters. I’m pumped!