We all agree that every ‘like’ we receive on Facebook is appreciated and is often accompanied by a sense of accomplishment.  But what is the actual monetary value of a Facebook like?  It’s hard to say.

Unless your Facebook page is generating substantial leads or traffic to your website, you shouldn’t rejoice just yet. If all that ‘engagement’ you are producing on your Facebook isn’t contributing to your overall goals, than how can you justify the time and investment you have made as part of your marketing budget?

Monetizing your Facebook presence

Turning ‘likes’ into leads, fans into actual paying customers, or generating website visitors to help monetize your marketing can be achieved by following a few simple steps:

1. Build a custom landing page or ‘like’ gate

Custom landing pages, or “Like gates” as they are sometimes called, are a great way to turn likes into leads almost instantly as it encourages visitors to like your page before they are able to view your content. This directs your new fans into a specific marketing funnel, which you can create based on your individual goals and plans.

For instance, let’s say your company sells a product and you offer a discount to new customers.  You could use your custom Facebook landing page to offer this discount to new fans by offering a special code that only appears after you become a fan.  This coupon can be easily tracked in your business to determine how many came from Facebook.

You can activate a custom welcome page by adjusting your Facebook fan page settings as you have a few options under the current settings.  The most popular is to show the custom landing page only to Facebook users who have not yet “Liked” your page.  Once they like the page, they will be directed to the wall as the primary landing page after that, making the next 2 points all the more important.

The harder part is actually creating the page itself and crafting the message.  Many businesses think that they can just put up a pretty looking custom page to get more likes, but the larger challenge is thinking through what you want to do with new fans and what action you would like them to take.

2. Share links to specific content or offers on your wall

Now that they’ve liked your page, now what should you do?  Our recommendation is to give them what they want!

According to research compiled from ExactTarget, a whopping 58% of Facebook users reported they expected exclusive content from business pages. Take advantage of this information and make sure the content you supply is available exclusively to your Facebook fans only, and don’t forget to tell them so!

So don’t just post links to your website’s home page on Facebook.  Helpful ways to offer exclusive content can include:

• Setting up a landing page on your main website for this specific content
• Sharing links exclusively on your Facebook page that are not shared other places
• Require that page viewers must like you to view content

Other great ways to gain interest and connect with potential customers can be to offer:

• eBooks
• Seminars
• Webinars
• Other educational downloads

3. Make use of custom tabs

Customizing your Facebook tabs is another great way to monetize a Facebook page. You can create as many tabs as you like, and we recommend doing this for your most important products or services that drive revenue in your business.

Why not consider creating pages, or tabs for specific purposes such as:

• Highlighting all those great offers you have been compiling
• Downloading all those exclusive content promotions you’ve been generating
• Or a landing page to rotate promotions and offers

Don’t give up just yet

It’s important to find a balance between direct advertising which allows your potential customers to know what services you provide but doesn’t flood them with a long list of obnoxious information all at once!  On the flip side, many businesses make the mistake of thinking they can’t talk about what they sell on Facebook or other social media sites for fear of being seen as a spammer.

Using the tools outlined in this article will allow you to post your sales content in an appropriate place so that when your fans want it, they can get to it.  Follow these instructions and you’ll soon find those likes are turning into leads.

Being in internet marketing, it’s fairly common to run into businesses that tell me they are doing just fine without putting a lot of effort into the internet or social media.  The discussion usually centers around the fact that their business has been around for awhile and their customers don’t really rely on the web or social media to find them.

This certainly sounds like a convincing argument on the surface, but the hard truth is that EVERYONE these days is becoming a consumer of digital media.  And there is no better proof than when this year two of the oldest organizations in the world, the British Monarchy and the Vatican, have taken the plunge and moved their organizations full force into social media.

The Pope learning to Tweet

Papal Tweets & Vatican You Tube Channel?  Really?

The Vatican has done a great job of creating a well conceived plan to utilize digital marketing technology.  Their internet and social media properties now include:

• The Vatican Main Website – While this website has been running for some time, it is very well done with a great deal of information.
• The Vatican News Portal – This news portal is brand new and features a rich media experience including the most recent news, videos, and yes even Tweets!
• The Vatican You Tube Channel – Includes over 1,100 videos on various topics
• The Vatican Twitter Account – The new Twitter account tweets news & events happening within the Church
• Vatican News Facebook – Yes you can now officially “Like” the Vatican.
• Vatican Flickr Page – Includes more than 800 photos of Papal activities
• The Vatican Radio Channel – Publishes podcasts and radio broadcasts around the world.

Weighing the risk / reward of social media

You would be hard pressed to find a more surprising organization that is embracing social media than the Catholic Church.  Opening up to the world of social media certainly seems like a big risk for an organization steeped in tradition and always cautious about what they say publicly, especially given the scandals and controversy in recent years surrounding a number of topics.

But in this case clearly the risks are worth the reward.

And what is the reward?  Simply put, social media is allowing the Church to communicate with its followers all over the world in ways they’ve never done before.  In fact, earlier this year the Church launched its “Catholics Come Home” campaign geared at reaching those who have left the Church and inviting them to come back.  So the reward for the Church is helping Catholics re-enforce their faith by providing information in ways they want to consume them and, I dare say, making it a little more fun to be Catholic.

Online safety in the new world

For the last few years, I’ve enjoyed working in the online world because, for the most part, if we make a really big mistake, nobody gets seriously hurt.  Sure someone could get mad about incorrect information or even get sued, but this pales in comparison to risks associated with other occupations.  Compare that to my step-father who is an anesthesiologist.  If he has a bad day on the job, someone could be seriously injured or even die!

New world – new considerations

So the online world is relatively safe to participate in, or so I thought until I read an article this week about the military warning soldiers against using social websites to identify where they are.  The article went on to specifically mention sites like Facebook, FourSquare and Google where you can “check in” to your location so you can earn points with that merchant as well as let your friends know where you are.

Obviously in the military world, this can have “life or death” consequences as it relates to unknowingly leaking sensitive information that an enemy might find useful.  The concerns are legitimate enough to prompt a warning from senior Air Force officials to raise awareness among the troops.

What does this mean for you?

If you’re not a soldier, does this sort of thing not matter?  I say it does.  Just a few months ago, a friend of mine was out of town and his house was robbed.  He is absolutely convinced that someone with his network of “friends” saw his Facebook post about a vacation picture and initiated the crime.

Realistically, every time you “check in” on one of these social websites, you are telling your friends where you are – as well as where you are not.  And this information could impact your safety in any number of ways.

I can trust my “friends”

At the core of the issue is how closely you guard your personal information on social websites, and how judicious you are when selecting “friends” online.  If you limit your online networking to people you know closely – this would seem to limit the risk.

However, if you are connected on Facebook with 200 people you haven’t seen in 20 years from high school that’s another story.  For many people, the social website interaction is they have with people they would otherwise never see or talk to.

So in this case, a little common sense goes a long way.  Be careful about who you friend and don’t feel compelled to check in or post your out of town photos all the time, no matter what the internet marketing gurus suggest.

Is Social media causing the world to “devolve”?

I sat through an interesting presentation this week given by Michael Fredrick of Point 2 Point Central.  Michael is a web developer who has grown up in the online world and has a different perspective on things than those of us who grew up “offline” so to speak.

The presentation was designed to educate business owners about how social media has grown into an 800 pound gorilla; and what they should be tuned in to if they want to keep from falling behind.  He also talked about the evolution of social media and where it’s headed in the coming years.

Some interesting facts from Point2Point about the growing world of social media

• 20% of American’s consume fast food daily and 50% use social networking sites daily
• Wikipedia has more than 14 million articles and 85,000 contributors

Facebook:

• Facebook has more than 500 million active users
• 50% of them are on Facebook every day
• Zynga, the creators of Farmville, is currently worth $5 billion!

Twitter:

• Twitter has more than 100 million users
• Twitter is adding 300k new users per day!
• Twitter gets 180 million unique visitors to the site every day
• Twitter is handling more than 55 million tweets per day

You Tube:

• People are watching 2 billion videos per day
• Every minute, 24 hours of video is being uploaded to You Tube

Word Press

• Over 25 million WordPress publishers
• Over 260 million people visit a WordPress site or blog every month

What does all this mean?

We know from previous studies that the #1 reason people go online is to “pass time.”  But what does the growth of the social websites mean?

For business owners, it means more new things to learn – because they can no longer ignore what’s happening in the online world.

For everyone else, does this mean the world is “devolving”?  Meaning that people are acting less like people and more like machines connecting through the digital world?  Only time will tell!

Why business should care about social media

I love the whole discussion about what this new generation of “social media” websites is doing to the world.  There’s no doubt about it that by now everyone knows that Facebook has become mainstream.  I’ve even heard some people say that Facebook is “so 2008.”

But still, even with so much “adoption” of social sites, what does a business person need to do about it?

Get involved before it’s too late

Social media sites drain a business owners most precious resource – TIME.  But like having a website, it’s no longer something you can ignore and hope it goes away.

Some food for thought:

1.  You had better protect your social media profiles before someone else creates one that looks like you!

2. You don’t need to participate on all of these sites regularly – but you had better have a nice looking profile there.

3.  The internet does not “fact check” so you should pay close attention to what people are saying about you online.

4.  Customer reviews (real or otherwise) are factored into the equation when people check out your business.

Learn More

Read our new article called Social Media Explained for People with Real Jobs to learn more about this subject.  Or if you would like help, don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions.

For anyone under the age of 40, and for lots of people who are older than that – social media sites like Facebook are now a way of life.  Sadly though, as familiar as everyone has become with sites like these, we still hear regular stories of personal lives being negatively affected (or worse) by not using these sites properly.

2 Bad Stories in 2 Days

Yesterday a friend told me that they are having privacy problems with Facebook where family members and other people are seeing updates they aren’t supposed to and posting unwanted comments on their wall.  As we took a look at her privacy settings, she was not happy to learn that some of her activity was visible to anyone who logged into Facebook whether or not they were a friend.

Needless to say these settings were changed immediately but some of the damage was done.

And this morning, I read an article about a Cleveland woman who found out via Facebook that her husband had just married ANOTHER woman!  That’s right…she searched the name of the “other” woman suspecting that something might be going on – and what did she find?  She found a full wedding photo album that had just been uploaded of her husband, dressed in a Prince Charming outfit, getting married in Disney.  His new wife, a pretty blonde, was a glowing Sleeping Beauty, surrounded by footmen.

Needless to say the rest of the story is sad but quite entertaining.

The Moral – Check Your Privacy Settings

Within your Facebook profile, you should review your settings to make sure that your privacy is protected.  You can choose a lot of settings such as who sees your profile, updates, comments; and whether or not someone has to be a friend in order to view your information.  You can control who posts on your wall and there is also a tool to block certain people from seeing information.

The bottom line is – if you your privacy is important to you – social sites like Facebook are a tricky place to be hanging out.  But if you’re going to participate, make sure you check the privacy settings so you don’t wind up on the Today show.

If you have any questions about your privacy settings, or would like help understanding social media and how it applies to your business contact us today.

Disney embraces digital media

This past week we finally got back to Disney World (Orlando) after an 8 year absence and I was struck by the changes in the “happiest place in the world.”  Yes of course many things had remained the same – international employees from all over the world, waiting in line to meet Mickey and most of the nostalgic rides are all still there.

But one of the things that I noticed is so much different is the way Disney is allowing people to interact and get more out of their visits. In addition to the usual stuff, Facebook pages, You Tube Channels and one Twitter account with nearly 70k or so followers, Disney has gone above and beyond in their digital marketing efforts.

A few things I noticed about how Disney is using digital marketing to improve the customer experience:

1.  Mobile applications - Mobile apps are now the rage everywhere and Disney is no different.  Now you can find out in real time what the wait times are for various attractions, check on the show times and find out where your characters are throughout the park – all from your mobile device.  So no more running across the park to find out what the wait time is for your favorite ride.

Not only is Disney sporting it’s own mobile app, but there are tons of third part apps out there too (for a small fee of course).  And it seems just about the only thing the new mobile apps can’t do yet is secure a Fast Pass for you -but I’m sure that’s coming soon too.

2.  Book everything and anything online - I have to give credit to the Disney web guys as they have done a bang up job on the park websites.  They are colorful, have a clean layout, and offer you the opportunity to book anything you can think of online.   We booked several activities at the last minute in the hotel room right from websites and saved our receipts on our mobile devices – now that’s 2010!

Hat’s off to you  Mickey

So as a fellow “digital marketer”, my hat’s off to the Disney folks for embracing new digital technology and making it a seamless part of visiting the parks.

In previous posts, we have encouraged businesses with Facebook pages to link their Facebook page to other social sites such as Twitter, YouTube, or even blogs. These sites can be connected to the business’s page in a way that allows Facebook to automatically extract the information from them and post it on Facebook. There, it will show up as status update with a brief summary of the blog, video, or the entire Twitter posting and a link to the outside site.

3 Good reasons to integrate your social activities:

1. It allows users who follow your business on one site an easy way to follow it on another site. Facebook users can follow you on Twitter, and Twitter users can easily read your latest blog post.
2. It saves time and money by getting the most out of each post on any of the sites. If you created a great video on YouTube, getting your Facebook fans and Twitter followers to view it is much more advantageous than simply hoping that the same number of people find it on YouTube.
3. Improves optimization. The more times that a given post, video, or status update is published online, the more likely it will be that it shows up in search results. This increases the amount of exposure your company will have for given search terms, bring more people to you as opposed to your competitors.

By linking your social media accounts, you are getting the most out of the time, money, and effort you spend on each of them to promote your business.

Facebook events: An overlooked tool

Once businesses are on Facebook, they may not have time to learn the intricacies of the site and how the many features can be used to generate business. Posting status updates, adding pictures, and even sending messages to all fans are commonly used by businesses, but one often overlooked feature is that of the Facebook event.

The usefulness of Facebook events are a good indicator of how the digital world continues to find ways to model the real world.

A Logical Extension of Social Networking

Facebook was initially started as a social tool to connect friends. They could set up an event to tell their friends on the site that they were having a party or taking part in a charity event, and Facebook would announce their attendance to a specific function or event to the rest of their social media.

For young college students, the original Facebook audience, it was a simple way to find out what was going on around campus. However, now that Facebook has seen dramatic growth in both their over 35 and over 55 demographics, this feature is more than a way to find the best party – it is a great way to let the social network of each of your fans know about your latest promotion or event.

Benefits of Using Events

By inviting your fans or friends to a given event, you are including them on a list of individuals to whom you can send specific messages such as encouraging them to RSVP or including details about a promotion. You are also potentially exposing each of their extended networks to the event, as each time one of them indicates that they will attend the event, a message is posted that all of their friends can see. You can reach a whole new audience by using Facebook events!

Learn more about using social media networking in your business.

Facebook – not just for kids anymore

Once you have set up a Facebook page for your business, it would be a waste of valuable Internet real estate to just let it sit there, hoping people find it and see your company.

Instead, make the most of this opportunity to increase your presence on the web and attract the attention of current and potential customer.

Some ways you can use Facebook for business include:

1.  Link your Facebook page to your official website. Putting the Facebook icon on your homepage will tell those who visit your website that they can also find you on Facebook.

2.  Announce your arrival on Facebook through a group email. Send a blast email to your mailing list to let them know you are on Facebook and to invite them to become a fan. This will quickly establish a fan base and encourage people to become active on your page, posting comments and viewing the latest news and events.

3.  Link to other social media. If you currently have an account on Twitter or YouTube or maintain a blog for your business, linking them to your Facebook account will save time while adding to the depth of content on each of these sites.

4.  Run your first Facebook ad campaign. See how Facebook can turn into customers and profits by running a campaign and tracking the results.

Once you have accomplished these four steps, you are well on your way to making this social phenomenon into a source of increased profit for your business!