Social Media and Facebook Changes

Social Media is Changing. Again.

We are all aware of the importance of interacting with your current and potential customers through social media. But, there are also downsides. As you probably know, Facebook has implemented the “Timeline” look for fan

Running 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels high, it is undoubtedly your first – and easiest – opportunity to make an impression on visitors; use it wisely. The most noticeable change is the cover photo – you know, the giant picture that is the first thing you see when you land on a fan page. It’s a huge piece of real estate, and the most important piece of real estate in in your Facebook and social media efforts.

Also, Facebook has now shared the “rules” for the cover photo, and they seemingly negate all that is good about owning the valuable piece of real estate on your page:

No information about purchasing.
No contact information. At all. No phone numbers, no website information, no email addresses.
No types of Facebook action requests. No more arrows pointing to the “Like Us” button. No “Like Us” to learn more.

In other words, you may include how many calls to action? None. Zero. All Facebook Action Requests and Calls to Action in general are banned.

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Social Media 2012

Social Media is Changing

Happy New Year from the team at Higher Images! With each New Year comes change, and 2012 is no exception! This week, we will be discussing the major changes in progress, and on the way, on the Social Media front – specifically Facebook. Some changes are good, and some are a bit confusing…

The first major change many of you may notice on your social media Facebook profile (not fan pages – yet), is the implementation of the “timeline” layout. Some of us here at Higher Images love it, some not so much (several of us have been testing it out for weeks). The pros and cons, as we see them, are:

Pros

Easy navigation
A snapshot view of a profile
The ability to easily get to old posts and photos
The option to hide photos and/or posts from profile viewers, without deleting them permanently

Cons

Perfect for stalkers – want to see what someone was doing four years ago? Click on any given year, and you can see it all
Yet another major change that users have no control over
No announcement that this change was coming, unless you knew where to look
The expectation that once users get accustomed to using the new layout, the Facebook powers-that-be will do another complete revamp, and throw us all for a loop once again
Finding that perfect “landscape” layout photo to use as your cover photo isn’t as easy as it seems. While you can reposition the picture within the frame, too small of a photo becomes blurry and distorted, while too large of a photo won’t fit within the “confines” of the frame.

As it stands now, Facebook is keeping quiet as to whether or not Fan Pages will also have the timeline layout, but it seems that it would be inevitable. It would seem, based on the features available for profile users, the timeline (or something similar) would be a benefit to fan page users.

Another social media change that will be completed by February is the elimination of FBML (landing) pages on fan pages. This is particularly important to business owners who utilize FBML pages as the default landing page for those who do not yet “like” the page. While Facebook isn’t eliminating these pages entirely, they will soon be “hidden away” within a community tab on the side bar. In other words, if you want your visitors to see the page, they have to go and look for it.

The decline of the “Like” impact is something that Facebook has been hinting about for some time. In the past, a brand’s success on Facebook was determined by the number of “Likes” or fans.

However, there is a shift in this, as Facebook wants to focus more on quality, instead of quantity. In other words, simply having fans isn’t going to get your brand out there. Engaging content, shares and “buzz” about your business is what’s more important.

As of this time, we are researching alternate methods of promoting businesses and brands across social spaces, including Google+ pages. As we learn more about these changes, available alternatives and ways we are able to better your brand visibility, we will share with you!

If you have any questions about your current social media efforts, and how your social media marketing may change, please contact Higher Images at 412-203-1996.

Pittsburgh Businesses Need A Social Media Policy at Work.

What Are My Employees Saying About My Business?

The year is 2010 and just about everyone has embraced at least some form of Social Media at this point. Let’s face it, even your grandparents are probably on Facebook. If you are a business owner then you have probably thought or heard about the implications of social media and how it can affect your business. At times it is very hard to see your employees “waste time” on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but rather than looking at it from that angle… why not look at how the social media habits of your employees can actually HELP your business. If you haven’t thought about a social media policy at your place of work… now just might be the right time. There are some great advantages to having a social media policy at your office and believe it or not, they can be beneficial to business. Many Pittsburgh businesses just don’t have a social media policy, but trust me when I say that ALL businesses should have one. Your policy should be written into your employee handbook, talked about during meetings, and make reference to what is acceptable and not acceptable at your place at work.

Make sure that your employees are not saying bad things about your company: There are ways to perform post searches on Facebook and Twitter to see what employees and other people are saying about your company.
Give Everyone a Clear Goal: If people are going to be on Facebook/Twitter at work, at least make sure that they are posting something positive about the company. It could be something about how great it is to work there or how excited that are to be involved in a new project, etc…
Get People Excited About Your Business: Get people excited about what you do! Don’t just post coupon after coupon or deal after deal. People will get tired from that and they just don’t want to see specials and promotions in every single post.
Don’t De-Value Your Social Media Marketing- Getting instant sales from your social media marketing is usually not the end result. Social Media creates a buzz, makes people aware, and hopefully gets people to come back to your site more than just once. There are times when you will have people that buy directly from a promotion or discount that you mention from your social media marketings, but you should look at it as more than just creating an instant ROI.

In the end, social media should be what it already is… the act of being social. Just think of it as one big giant cocktail party with a whole bunch of people that don’t necessarily all have the same interests and likes. Many people may get along, but others may not. Just make sure that you are courteous and polite because let’s face it- no one wants to be pitched all the time. Relax and carry on a conversation so that people can actually understand what you are talking about. Industry jargon is good for people in your industry, but not always people who buy your products or services. Give someone enough information so that they trust in you and your business, but don’t overwhelm them or else they can split and you probably won’t get another chance to get in front of them again.

Can Facebook and Social Media Marketing in Pittsburgh Be Good For Business?

How do I know what to do?

I have heard this question so many times, you would think my answer would be the same for every occasion right? If you answered yes, you would undoubtedly be incorrect. The majority of people that I see using Facebook and Social Media as a business tool are not doing a good job. I worked with a client for six months to help them achieve close to 9800 new fans only using social media and not any type of paid search to generate those results. Our six month agreement is over and now I see that they are dropping fans every week. The posts they make are not engaging and EVERY single mention is about a coupon or an offer. How about some useful information instead of ”mention this and get 15% off” Don’t get me wrong, they are really nice clients and they do a great job with all of their other types of media and advertising. They just don’t know how to step away and decrease the salesman and increase the information. Facebook Marketing makes so much sense to most advertisers because they can get solid and truthful feedback on their brand.

Most business owners are obviously fiercely loyal to their product, service, or brand and they let it show on a daily basis. Social Media allows someone to post a comment, give praise, advice, or criticism without actually having to e in front of that particular business. If you have a great product and great service- then you are in pretty good shape from the beginning. If you do not however, you will need to step back and allow yourself to understand that sometimes, you have to make sure you talk and converse WITH an unhappy customer and not AT an unhappy customer. One of the best things that a potential customer/client/patient can see is that you made a mistake, AND made it right.

A while back I wrote about a furniture store that actually complained and grilled a customer that said they felt the value of their sofa was not what was advertised. The person handling the business social media for this company told them to “save up and buy a better sofa next time” You should have seen the number of people that commented on that post. It was like throwing gasoline on a fire… You could imagine that customer probably made a status update that would have been characterized as incendiary. Here is a short list of common sense tips that I use when either teaching business social media or handling it for one of my clients… It’s my “short list of gold tips” but then again… It may not be everyones.

Keep it real- honesty is the ONLY policy online. Remember that when you are posting something online, the person viewing it probably has some sort of screen capture program.
Have a conversation- Don’t be pitchy or pushy with people who value your information. If they are a fan, follower, or friend… they already see value in what you offer. If someone asked you to buy 293 times in one week, wouldn’t you get tired of it?
Give and ye’ shall receive- Give advice on what you do. If you are a carpet store, give stain treatment tips, if you are a restaurant- give away a free drink for a promotion. You will get a lot more for giving something away when it is something that people like.
Frequency- If I am selling mattresses, it is not likely that I will have a repeat buyer every six months. Most people keep them longer so consider giving tips on how to get a better nights rest, or allergy free bedding materials. If you are only giving away coupons, what value is it if someone wont use it for another five years.
Make It Fun- Use a scavenger hunt, a giveaway, a promotional video, or anything that you can think of to be creative. Don’t just copy your competition. People see right through it.

My quick five points aren’t the most important things that you will need to know about social media. They are just what I practice and preach with my particular clients. IF you have any questions, tips, remarks, or just plain disagree… leave a reply. After all, isn’t social media all about interaction anyway?

A Commitment To Social Media Marketing Follow Through

We have been bad, very bad to tell you the truth. It all started last November when we started to launch our own branded portal called the Web Marketing Console. We put all of our extra time and effort into building it out and neglected our blog. It is actually quite funny that we did this, because we really could have written nearly 8,000 posts about how our Social Media Marketing really took off. Here is the first post we have had in a while, but we have picked up a fairly large amount of social media clients in the past seven months so it is only fair that we write about what we tell every new client. You may think you know how to use Social Media for your business, but it’s more common than not that you have no idea.

Let’s face it, just about everyone now has at least HEARD about Facebook and Twitter. Most people that we talk to still don’t really understand how to use them to actually create business… but people have at least heard the term “social media marketing” being kicked around the office in marketing meetings. The one example that I can think of was a company that really wanted to start their social media marketing off with a bang. They figured that all they had to do was put their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube logo on their home page and website visitors would be so eager to become their “fans, followers, or in some cases clients” that they never thought about the cardinal rule in Social Media Marketing for businesses- What’s in it for the person they are trying to reach? Why would someone spend the time reading your posts, tweets, or status updates if they bought a washing machine from you a year ago? The answer is that they wouldn’t and that is where most businesses fail at social media.

You need to be able to have a conversation with someone online without coming across as a pitchy salesperson. Giving a fan, follower, reader, or anyone interested in your business personal attention and time is something that is critical to being successful in your social media marketing approach. Instead of pimping out your business at every opportunity, offer them a tip or something that can generally improve their experience with your product or service. If you are marketing a mattress store then give them tips on how to sleep better or what types of mattresses may help people with allergies. If you are an electrician, offer people energy saving tips and ways to help lower their electric bill. If you feel comfortable having a conversation with your friends and fans, then social media can be a great way for you to connect with not only your current customers, but also people who will take an interest in your product or service. We’ll leave you with a screenshot from a company we worked with to develop their social media marketing strategy and they continue to be successful almost a year later (and 10,000 more fans on Facebook as well)

Social Media Marketing Company Pittsburgh

One of Higher Images Highly Satisfies Social Media Clients.

Social Media is Changing. Again.

Social Media is Changing

+Bryan Thornberg