Social Media Marketing

Facebook Timeline Mandatory Change on March 30th

March 24th, 2012 | Posted in Branding, Internet Industry Bits, Social Media Marketing

Cirra Networks Facebook Timeline Cover Image

Businesses will need to re-think their Facebook strategies (if they have not already) to deal with the mandatory Facebook change to Timeline on March 30th. No more “landing pages” to present a unique look and message to your audience.

No more “Like Us” arrows begging people to become fans. What’s more, the Timeline Cover Image has strict rules about what can and cannot be displayed - No Call to Action, Phone Numbers, Promotions, or Pricing. Businesses will need to put all of that in their Apps which are represented under Timeline by icons. Is this change good for businesses? Initially, no one will like it because some freedoms have been stripped away and money spent is relegated to a “inner” page that companies hope their visitors will find. Eventually, we will get used to it and businesses will have to think creatively to

Why is Facebook doing this? Facebook makes their money from advertising. People do not go on Facebook to shop. If companies are putting all of their promotions and advertising on their “landing page” …what incentive is there to purchase advertising on Facebook? I speculate that Facebook wants to force business to rely on their advertising program by eliminating (or diminishing) the creative solutions that were already effective at promotions.

Facebook is Becoming the Center of the Web

May 2nd, 2010 | Posted in News and Perspectives, Social Media Marketing

facebook-becoming-center-of-the-web1After attending last week’s Social Business 2010 conference in Petaluma, CA, I am more convinced that Facebook will become the center of the web in a few short years. First, the statistics. With over 400 million users, FB has the 5th largest population on earth. Second, Facebook eclipsed Google in March 2010 for number of daily visits. Users are spending an average of 1hour per day on FB.

Now, the qualitative points. More companies who advertise on TV are concluding their commercials with their Facebook page - NOT their company URL (website address). Of all the Social Media Marketing channels or “touchpoints” that a business could include in their social marketing, Facebook is a must. Companies are realizing that they must “Go where the audience already is, and get them to do what they are already doing”.

Facebook recently had their F8 Developer’s Conference and released new products. They have completely revamped the FB platform improving the ease by which developers can create applications for FB by an order of magnitude - or more. This will accelerate the proliferation of apps. FB’s Open Graph vision will increase the connectedness between different networks such as Yelp, Pandora, CNN, Facebook. The result is more personalization no matter where you go on the internet. 75 major brands have already embraced this and that will accelerate too. The “Like” Button is going rogue, too. It’s going to become ubiquitous across the web. Ultimately, users will help FB index the web for what’s important and popular and that data will automatically feed back to FB’s massive database. Google has to spend $billions to index the web itself. Finally, as Facebook’s reach across the web grows so will it’s advertising revenue, and that means less ad revenue for Google Adwords.

Social Media Marketing Part 2 - Going Broad or Deep

April 8th, 2010 | Posted in Social Media Marketing

There is a growing consensus that a company with limited resources for social media marketing should focus on fewer media channels but be deeper in those channels for maximum impact.  This means not trying to have a presence on very audience touch-point but rather cherry-picking the few that will be aligned with your company culture, business model, and desired goals.  The “deep” aspect means taking advantage of the medium, using it to its fullest, and truly interacting with your audience on a regular basis - for the long haul - not a temporary campaign.  When you merely have a Facebook page but do nothing with it, or don’t maintain an active participation, your fans will be turned off by the apparent lack of sincerity to engage and respect their time.  Respect your customers and rely on them for how to improve your business or service. Give them compelling incentives to get on your Twitter or Facebook account - regularly. Have a direct dialog, build a rapport, reward loyal fans and followers, be genuine, reward and thank your fans for spending their time and money on you.