Facebook launched a new promoted post option today…I hope this blog helps people understand how to use this new option strategically… Step 1: What are the constraints? Promoted posts are designed to reach more of your existing audience, as it stands this is not a way to grow a page. Promoted posts are another paid workaround for edgerank (sponsored stories did this a little bit).  AKA Facebook’s math equation that decides what you do and do not see.   Step 2: Define the purpose This is the step where we look at the 3 options for using promoted posts: 1. The page no longer gets engagement and there is a new content strategy A content strategy that didn’t work was run too long and now the audience no longer sees any posts because the page isn’t relevant. Its time to pay to bring the page back to life… Community managers should use every option available to restore edgerank. 2. Improve edgerank by promoting engaging content This is how most brands use sponsored stories. Generally they use them to increase engagement and awareness of entertaining posts. The new option promoted posts have a built in advantage of falling within the timeline and will help brands increase their audience with people likely to engage with their posts.  3. A big announcement Big announcements are things that would get placed into a major press release. Investor news, acquisitions, sales etc. They also include announcements you would spend 5 Million in advertising for in a short period of time (Out of home ads). Stores will, and probably should use promoted posts as a way to announce sales and events. If an announcement provides value it makes a lot of sense to do anything possible to increase the size of the audience. Step 3: Triggers The community manager should define triggers that explain when promoted posts will be used. Big announcements on the content calendar should be marked ahead of time and a budget should be established coming out of regular ad spends. If visibility is falling consistently the community manager should trigger a 2 tier spend sponsored stories and promoted posts.  Expect every network to adopt options like this in the near future. Warning:  It is logical to think Facebook wouldn’t start forcing brands to buy audience they already own. However, Facebook is Facebook and they can do whatever they want to including forcing brands to pay to communicate.  ”Facebook is Free” might be a thing of the past, in the near future. 
Pop-upView Separately

Facebook launched a new promoted post option today…I hope this blog helps people understand how to use this new option strategically…

Step 1: What are the constraints?

Promoted posts are designed to reach more of your existing audience, as it stands this is not a way to grow a page. Promoted posts are another paid workaround for edgerank (sponsored stories did this a little bit).  AKA Facebook’s math equation that decides what you do and do not see.  

Step 2: Define the purpose


This is the step where we look at the 3 options for using promoted posts:

1. The page no longer gets engagement and there is a new content strategy

A content strategy that didn’t work was run too long and now the audience no longer sees any posts because the page isn’t relevant. Its time to pay to bring the page back to life… Community managers should use every option available to restore edgerank.

2. Improve edgerank by promoting engaging content

This is how most brands use sponsored stories. Generally they use them to increase engagement and awareness of entertaining posts. The new option promoted posts have a built in advantage of falling within the timeline and will help brands increase their audience with people likely to engage with their posts. 


3. A big announcement

Big announcements are things that would get placed into a major press release. Investor news, acquisitions, sales etc. They also include announcements you would spend 5 Million in advertising for in a short period of time (Out of home ads). Stores will, and probably should use promoted posts as a way to announce sales and events. If an announcement provides value it makes a lot of sense to do anything possible to increase the size of the audience.

Step 3: Triggers

The community manager should define triggers that explain when promoted posts will be used. Big announcements on the content calendar should be marked ahead of time and a budget should be established coming out of regular ad spends. If visibility is falling consistently the community manager should trigger a 2 tier spend sponsored stories and promoted posts.  Expect every network to adopt options like this in the near future.

Warning: 

It is logical to think Facebook wouldn’t start forcing brands to buy audience they already own. However, Facebook is Facebook and they can do whatever they want to including forcing brands to pay to communicate.  ”Facebook is Free” might be a thing of the past, in the near future. 

Subscribe button and social media monitoring

Facebook the network with 850 million users 60% of which are active, has long been one of the most under represented areas in Social Media Monitoring. The network was long considered the private bastion of the web by analysts. The new changes are already creating a wildly different ecosystem. There is now a reason to share thoughts in a public setting, that produces. 

Brands will get a larger voice in the conversation and proactive community management seems to be a likely addition to the future of the page. Increasingly channel network specialists are going needed. The other thing expansion of proactive community management means is that brands are going to need to look at enterprise 2.0 much more closely.

This is possibly one of the best changes to come to the network in a very long time.

Quick Thoughts On SEO…

Tumblr failed when I hit publish on this the first time so its also at marketinghandy.blogspot.com

Google Logo

The goal, for many companies, for a long time has been hitting the #1 position on major search engines. A “science” called SEO was invented to game (both ethically and questionable aka white hat/black hat) the results. Things like Link-building, keyword set, and Meta tags are now buzz words.

I have a somewhat controversial thought about all of this…

SEO isn’t as important today as it was a year ago and in a year from now it will matter less.

Google is trying to humanize search, that is what Google Buzz (#fail) and Google +1 are all about. The idea is that great content will be voted up and not so great content will be voted down. Variable data will be a major key to success in SEO going forward. In short content is more important now than now than a year ago, and relationships are even more important.

If your not with me, here is the kicker… Semantic Search. Semantic search is a complicated concept but basically it gives you content based on thematic cues. Semantic search can “read” the content of a site and come up with contextual results that cover several different modalities (youtube, flickr, blogs, websites, product pages, etc.).

I would venture to say within the next 3 years Google will be 80% semantic based. Meaning adding meta tags, building links wont matter as much. It is going to be all about content.

How does this effect community managers?

  • Content should be developed with strategic keywords in mind; this will help semantic rankings as search engines change
  • Relationships will effect your search engine rankings, no is the time to develop them and get your fans to vote.
  • Hitting page 1 of Google shouldn’t be your goal… content that spreads should be. Over the long haul content that spreads will = Page 1 (possibly position 1 for Google)

Last point about search and leads…Every brand concerned about being #1 on Google should ask themselves, “what type of leads search is producing?”… Search is not always a good fit for business objectives…

What do you think?

(via Slide decks from SXSW Interactive 2011, 11th-15th March 2011 | Lanyrd)

Long slideshare 132 slides but very worth it… Community managers should look at this.. it may not translate purely but it is worth checking out. 

Source: slideshare.net

LA Kings get innovative on twitter… this is a brand-new way for a pro-sports team to let their fans have a stake. This is almost like the team letting random fans give play by play for a few seconds at a time. This is very very cool! I hope a team in the near future steps up and tracks a hashtag around the live event with the same philosophy, there are some gems.
Pop-upView Separately

LA Kings get innovative on twitter… this is a brand-new way for a pro-sports team to let their fans have a stake. This is almost like the team letting random fans give play by play for a few seconds at a time. This is very very cool! I hope a team in the near future steps up and tracks a hashtag around the live event with the same philosophy, there are some gems.

Timely: Now With Collaboration [Invite Everyone] / Flowtown (@flowtown) This is a very interesting concept, it lets you track the performance of your tweets. This could be the holy grail to social media pushes and timing! It takes it beyond followers and tracks actual performance somehow. I will use this for a few days and let you know what I see.
Pop-upView Separately

Timely: Now With Collaboration [Invite Everyone] / Flowtown (@flowtown)

This is a very interesting concept, it lets you track the performance of your tweets. This could be the holy grail to social media pushes and timing! It takes it beyond followers and tracks actual performance somehow. I will use this for a few days and let you know what I see.

Source: flowtown.com

How Communities Really Behave (by Dave Linabury) If you are community manager these are elements that you should be looking at. How does chart effect your strategy on different networks. The reality is that these trends apply to all online communities. Every network should have its own engagement flow chart for each account that is managed. The flow chart should be made well enough that you can be replaced. It should provide clear direction to a team if your success calls for growth. I have seen far too many community managers shoot themselves in the foot because they cant equip a new person to step in. A growth plan should be part of your Social Media Strategy. 
Pop-upView Separately

How Communities Really Behave (by Dave Linabury)

If you are community manager these are elements that you should be looking at. How does chart effect your strategy on different networks. The reality is that these trends apply to all online communities.

Every network should have its own engagement flow chart for each account that is managed. The flow chart should be made well enough that you can be replaced. It should provide clear direction to a team if your success calls for growth.

I have seen far too many community managers shoot themselves in the foot because they cant equip a new person to step in. A growth plan should be part of your Social Media Strategy. 

Source: Flickr / davezilla

3 Stages of Social Media Monitoring

Today I was taking part in the twitter chat that happens Thursday called #smmeasure. Its hosted by Marketwire/sysomos (a Social Media monitoring service). The first question, instantly called for a higher context than 140 characters so I came here! 

So lets start with the question 

@smmeasure: QUESTION 1: In 3 steps, explain how to build relationships with customers in social media.

This is really a two parter, because in my experience monitoring happens in 3 stages!

Stage 1: Mapping… Mapping is a completely passive (and important) activity. When I map I am finding the culture of the group I am looking to engage with. What as a group is against their culture? What as a group do they like? What customer groups are left out? On and on it goes! Generally this stage lasts 3 to 6 months before any engagement happens. In my opinion mapping is the listening phase, and if you don’t get it right its hard to get anything from a community management stance correct.

Stage 2: Finding… Finding is what I would call an overlap stage. Find the consumers that have a need, use your product and love your product. Profiles should get built for key influencers so when you reach stage three you know who they are and what they like. The question starts here… Steps 1 and 2 are Finding and Knowing… and then we go to Stage/Step 3. 

Stage 3: Engagement… Taking the lessons learned from Stage 1 & 2 engagement can start. A successful SM launch (from the ground up) will take the profile data find and opening and go for it. There can be several launch points or build points, but there should be a point when starting the SM push makes sense. 

The only passive section in this entire post is the mapping. Mapping is squarely where the listening falls. Finding/knowing is something more intense and intentional.

Top