1. Understand what your community cares about
The first step to community management and generating content with which your community can interact is to listen and determine what your community is already talking about.  Targeting UCF students?  Jump on some of those pages and just read through the wall posts.  Moms?  Do the same with similar brands or even your own friends.

2. Keep it fresh
Don’t repeat the same content over again. If you have similar messages to push, come up with different and creative ways to rephrase and captivate your audience each time.

3. Develop a friendly tone
Social media allows for the opportunity to be a little more fun, friendly, and engaging. If you embrace the opportunity to be a little more social, more users will interact with you.

4. Be consistent
If you plan ahead and develop a content calendar, you’re always prepared with content for your fans.

5. Be data driven
Try new things, test, and analyze. Community management is an iterative process. Use data to gain insight into drivers of success.  Facebook has some great tools in their Insights section – use it.

There are many ways a brand can provide content to their fans. These updates are categorized into types of posts: stream applications, fan recognition, promotional, personal, engaging, open-ended questions, and cross-platform integration. Having a good mix of all these types is essential in keeping your fans engaged and interacting with your brand.

Read More: 5 DON’Ts for Facebook Posts

http://www.buddymedia.com/newsroom/2011/04/introducing-our-latest-research-%E2%80%9Cstrategies-for-effective-facebook-wall-posts-a-statistical-review%E2%80%9D/

Here’s the lowdown on both individuals and businesses:

Business

Facebook has changed the concept of “fan” to something that sounds a little less committed – “like”.

I’m going to try and keep this really simple.  As I understand it, you can keep your existing FB buttons on your site “Follow us on Facebook” and they will have the same effect of gathering “followers” (formerly fans).  The biggest change is the individual interactions that will allow others to like or recommend a page or content from your brand website to their friends.  The net effect is the same as your choice to like something is noted on your wall.

The big change is that Facebook wants you to start sharing your likes from anywhere on the web. Look for web publishers to start installing the FB like button on web sites, blog posts and in reference to individual items and products.

This page on the Facebook Developers blog gives you the lowdown on how you or your web developer can do it: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box

Individuals

Individuals don’t have to do anything differently but be aware of how their information is now getting shared across the web.  This article on mashable.com does a great job of breaking it down.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/21/facebook.changes.users/index.html

How will you attract new fans and engage existing fans?

1. Promoting Your Page

The tricky thing about Facebook Pages is that you can’t friend someone the way you can from your profile. People can elect to become fans of your Page, but only if they know about it. So you’ve got to spread the word organically (and keep doing it) to introduce people to your Page and to your company.

First identify contacts from your personal profile that are either business connections, people working in a field related to your business, or who would otherwise benefit from the information your company provides, and invite them to become a fan of the Page. Send a short note explaining what you want to offer from the Page (remember, people are thinking “what’s in it for me?”) and include a link to the Page.

Next, promote your Page elsewhere online by putting a Facebook Page button on your website to help others find it, spreading the word on Twitter if you’re there,  sending out an email notification, or putting a link on your business cards. Do whatever it takes to help people know that you’re on Facebook and you want them to become a part of your community.  Don’t forget to tell them WHY to come…but that will come later in this article.

2. Defining a Content Plan

What will you post?  How often?  This is so important to do up front, becuase as I’ve mentioned in Part 1 of this series, THE PRIMARY WAY YOUR FANS WILL ENGAGE WITH YOU IS VIA NEWS FEED.  If you are serious about this effort then take the time to set a plan.  This will change and evolve as you monitor your response, interactions and (hopefully) new business leads.

What Kind of Content? This is dependent on your business.  If you are an affinity brand like a radio station, then it’s easy to post content about your events, your content, your staff because people want to hear all about you … they feel like part of your community.   Pest Control, Accounting, Real Estate…well, it might take a little more work to come up with an effective plan for content management.

Encourage discussion among fans by asking questions like: “what’s your favorite product?” or “what could we do to improve our product?” Post updates weekly, if not daily and point your fans to any off-site promotions, such as giveaways hosted on different web sites.

And keep it fun! Nobody likes straight up business all the time! Zappos, for example, has crazy videos and posts that aren’t related to shoes, which is why their fan base is well over 21,000.

It will take time to build your fan base, so remember to keep sending out invites to new contacts asking if they want to become a fan of your business Page. Constantly promote the Page in any way possible, and keep your content fresh — give people a reason to check in on your page regularly.

Check your analytics: before long you should see a large portion of your website’s referrals coming from Facebook!

How Often Should I Post? This is also not cut and dried.  If you are posting entertainment stories you are posting once a day if not more.  If you are posting tax tips, then you want to keep frequency low.  Start at once a week and monitor response.  I’m not saying you can only post once a week, I’m saying keep your tax tips or car sale information to a minimum.  Post relevant news stories, fun tips, or anything related to your business category that is more light hearted.

Defining a publishing schedule for your content
This isn’t really a tip, but more of a best practice. By creating a calendar to guide your updates, you will achieve the following benefits:

1. You can spread updates out so that you carry on a persistent but unobtrusive dialog with your Fans. Post too often and your page updates will start being hidden, or you’ll lose fans. Too seldom and you’ll be forgotten. Try to mix up different update types – a status update, a Link, a Note, a Photo or video update.

2. By creating a calendar, you can also schedule moderation periods for comments if you feel this is necessary for your brand. Most Interaction activity (including comments) will occur within 24 hours of an update before it drops out of Fans’ news feeds.

3. By recording all activity on a schedule, it’s easier to map it against exported stats data from your page’s Insights. This can show you Total Interactions around different content types to gauge which gets the most traction/conversation, and track Removed Fans against certain update types.

Overall,  just get started by doing something … even if it’s only once a week.  You’ll be a social media whiz before you know it.

I recommend the following website for more learning, http://www.mashable.com.

I get asked this question constantly from friends, associates, clients and co-workers so I thought it would be a good post for this blog.  It will also prove to very handy the next time I get this question!

If you are thinking about setting up a Facebook Fan Page for your business, congratulations, you have just joined over 80% of business owners in your intent.

Facebook is the world’s leading social network, with over 450 million users and counting.  No one else comes close.

Beyond personal networking, Facebook can be a powerful tool for brands, businesses and charities. Let these resources help you get the word out and engage your fans.  This is just a “getting set up” blog.  As with anything, you evolve as you grow.  I would highly recommend integrating your social marketing efforts with your other marketing efforts.   Cox Media Group does a great job with this and my team can help you take your efforts to the next level – just give us a call!

Facebook Pages 101

Page v/s Profile: I’m going to start basic for all the newbies..so first things first…are you even on Facebook?  If not you have to first set up a personal profile.  Facebook Pages are different than Facebook profiles.  A profile is for you, Jane Doe, but your business can’t have a profile — it can have a page.   This is important.  If you don’t do it right, Facebook will find you and shut you down.

1. Go to www.facebook.com and set up a personal profile. If you are not the owner for the business fan page you are creating then have the owner set up an account or simply create a personal account for this purpose.  If your administrative assistant sets your business fan page up under her personal account, guess what happens when she leaves?

2. Now, set up your page. Once you’ve set up your personal profile.  Click or search for Ads or Pages.  Set up your business account following the wizard.  Facebook has a great help section if you get stuck.   You can populate your page with info that relates to your business in one place with a built-in potential audience:

- Overview of company
- Website and contact info
- Press releases
- Videos
- Blog RSS
- Twitter updates
- Company news and status
- Customer interaction

3. Facebook Domain

Vanity domains are really helpful in directing people to your new FB fan page – ex:  http://www.facebook.com/yourbusiness.  Learn more about it here – http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=896

4. Creating the Perfect Profile Picture

Facebook specs recommend that profile pictures should be 200px wide, while height can vary as needed. What is less documented is how the thumbnail that Facebook uses across the system is generated from this picture.

You’ll find the system crops images when generating a thumbnail, losing information around the edge. After some initial testing, we’ve determined that there’s a “title safe” area within all images. So when you create your profile image that’s 200px wide, allow a 12 pixel border around crucial information (such as typography or a logo) to allow for automatic cropping.  Also bear in mind that regardless of the shape of your profile image, Facebook thumbnails are square (with rounded corners), and sized based on the length of the shortest side of your image. So when designing rectangular profile pictures, make sure to keep your desired thumbnail imagery within a square boundary.

That’s it!  You’re done creating your Facebook Fan Page for your Business.  You will continue to tweak and add content as you get more comfortable, but don’t go crazy with design.  One of the most important things to understand is the overwhelming majority (over 95%) of your fans (once you get them) will not go to your facebook fan page.  They will interact with your via their news feed.  SO, it’s important to start thinking about the kind of content you will post or fan acquisition and engagement.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Article Highlights

• Social Friends/Followers are more inclined to buy from brands they are followers of
• Over 50% of Facebook fans said they are more likely to make a purchase for at least a few brands, and 67% of Twitter followers reported the same.
• 60% of respondents claimed their Facebook fandom increased the chance they would recommend a brand to a friend, for twitter that rose to nearly 8 in 10

Why Do People Engage with Brands on Social Media?

• Facebook: to receive discounts and to show brand loyalty or to show others what they support
• On Twitter, discounts, up-to-the-minute information and exclusive content were the main draws; only 2% of respondents followed brands on Twitter to show their support.

Full Article

Social media marketers looking for an indication that their efforts are helping the bottom line will be encouraged by findings from Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate that social friends and followers feel more inclined to purchase from the brands they are fans of.

More than one-half of Facebook fans said they are more likely to make a purchase for at least a few brands, and 67% of Twitter followers reported the same.

The power of earned media gives a further boost to brands: 60% of respondents claimed their Facebook fandom increased the chance they would recommend a brand to a friend. Among Twitter followers, that proportion rose to nearly eight in 10.

The researchers also explored why social media users become brand fans. The top reason to friend a brand on Facebook was to receive discounts, followed by simply being a customer of the company and a desire to show others that they support the brand. On Twitter, discounts, up-to-the-minute information and exclusive content were the main draws; only 2% of respondents followed brands on Twitter to show their support.

the findings are largely in line with previous research about what social followers want, but the results changed when Chadwick Martin Bailey asked respondents about why they had first decided to follow brands, and allowed them to choose as many reasons as they liked.

Among Facebook fans, the top reasons were being a customer (49%) and to show support (42%), with discounts and promotions coming in third (40%). Another 34% simply said it was fun and entertaining to become a fan. On Twitter, being a customer won out (51%), with discounts (44%) and fun (42%) rounding out the top three.

Key social media usage highlights (% of respondents)

• 75% surveyed have a company page on a social networking site
• 61% use social media for identifying and attracting new customers
• 57% have built a network through a site like LinkedIn
• 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next twelve months

Dr. Alan Glazier, CEO and Founder of an eye and vision care center, said “… I was forced to consider alternative options to keep my business visible… with a very small investment in social media marketing, I was able to generate new business opportunities… (and) most importantly, my marketing budget has been reduced by more than 80%… “

61% of the respondents use social media to identify new customers. The biggest expectation small business owners have from social media is expanding external marketing and engagement including identifying and attracting new customers, building brand awareness and staying engaged with customers.

50% of small business social media users say it takes more time than expected. While social media adoption has doubled in the last year, there are still some roadblocks to small businesses fully exploiting its potential. Another 17% feel that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business on the Internet. Related to this, only 6% feel that social media use has hurt the image of the business more than helped it.

Janet Wagner, director of the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland, says that “Social media levels the playing field for small businesses… “

Other key findings from the December 2009 Small Business Success Index:

Small businesses experience positive effects from the economic downturn:

• 72% have found ways to operate more efficiently (up significantly from 66% in June)
• 47%have been led to find new products and services that benefit customers
• 43% have become better teams as hard times force people to work together

Building online presence continues to be key focus for small businesses:

• Company Web sites seem to be the top technology investment in the next two years, with small businesses either adding new features/functionality to their existing Web sites or building one from scratch
• The ability to showcase their products and services online to attract new customers is second in the hierarchy of technology investments
• Social media investments rank third in small business investments to be made in the next two years

Customer service the biggest strength of small business owners:

• Small businesses are highly successful at answering customer questions, ensuring customer satisfaction, showing empathy, providing consistent service, resolving problems and winning repeat business
• Four of the six customer service dimensions have gotten stronger compared to a year ago, and one of these, ensuring customer satisfaction, is significantly higher

Connie Steele, Director at Network Solutions, concludes that “… social media can be the best friend for small business owners who constantly seek new ways to maximize productivity while keeping costs low… “

For additional information about the Small Business Success Index, please go here.

Did you guess Google? Well you are WRONG. The correct answer is FACEBOOK! It gets better..

Ben Parr, Mashable.com,  wrote a great review of  some new research released today:

The average U.S. Internet user spends more time on Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Microsoft, Wikipedia and Amazon combined. Think about that for a moment.

New numbers released by Nielsen today confirm what we’ve known for a while: Facebook is the web’s number-one time sink. What’s more interesting, though, is just how much more time we spend on the world’s largest social network today than we did six months ago.  Read Full Article.

Highlights:

• Incredible Growth: Back in June 2009, Nielsen estimated that the average U.S. user spent four hours and 39 minutes on Facebook per month. That’s about 9.3 minutes per day in a 30-day month. In August, that number rose to five hours and 46 minutes, or 11.5 minutes per day.  In January 2010, though, the amount of time the average person spent on Facebook jumped to more than seven hours. Each American Facebook user spent an average of 421 minutes on Facebook per month, which amounts to more than 14 minutes per day.
• Users spend more time on Facebook than the competitors – COMBINED: Even if you lump together the time spent on Google (1:23), Yahoo (2:09), YouTube (1:02), Microsoft/Bing (1:35) Wikipedia (0:15), and Amazon (0:22), it still doesn’t beat Facebook.

How much time are you spending on Facebook per day?  I have to be honest, this seems a little low for me.  I log on daily to check email, review the product pages I manage, review client pages, competitors, and then there’s the personal use…more on that later!

Mollie Vandor is the Product Manager for Ranker.com and Media Director for Girls in Tech LA. You can find her on Twitter and on her blog, where she writes about the web, the world and what it’s like to be a geek chic chick.

Lately it seems like Facebook changes its privacy options more often than most people change their statuses. Late last week, Facebook rolled out yet another set of new privacy settings, replacing regional networks with concentric circles of connections. Before, Facebook’s default privacy settings were largely location-based — people who lived near you, or went to the same college as you, were able to see more information about you. Now, access is all about who you know and who knows them.

The new Facebook publisher privacy controls are a core component of this change. Now, instead of simply posting something to your entire network, you can choose to specify who sees your posts. It’s pretty easy to figure out how to use these changes to your advantage when handling your personal Facebook page — those happy hour pics should probably only get posted to people who are actually your friends. But figuring them out for fan pages is a very different proposition, especially because privacy settings for Fan Pages are still all about location, location, location.

What Are the Fan Page Publisher Privacy Controls?

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The publisher privacy control is the icon that, ironically, looks a little bit like the MySpace logo. You can find it on the publishing area of your Fan Page, right next to the share button. When you hover over it, you should see a prompt that says “Everyone.” This is the default, so if you don’t do anything to change it, your posts will automatically go out to all your fans’ feeds. However, if you click on the privacy control, you can customize your posts so that they only go out to fans who speak a certain language, fans who live in a certain country, or even fans who live in certain cities and states.

You can also create combinations of customizations by sending the post out to people in multiple cities, multiple states or multiple countries. There are some limitations — at the moment it doesn’t appear that you can specify certain cities and states within a country and also share that same post with certain cities and states within another country. You can, however, share with multiple countries at once. Using the controls is pretty easy. The hard part is figuring out why you would want to use them in the first place.

Spread the Good Stuff Out

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There’s a thin line between engaging your Facebook fans and annoying them. Target and time your content correctly, and you’ll get all the clicks you could possibly want. Don’t, and you’ll either miss the boat or make your fans want to throw you overboard. That’s where the privacy controls can really come in handy.

Say you’ve got a great piece of content that you want to promote, and you want it to reach as many of your fans as possible. If your fans are spread out into multiple time zones, you’re going to run into issues trying to time the post for a window when everyone’s likely to be checking Facebook. And you definitely don’t want to post the same piece of content over and over — that’s a recipe for really annoying your fans. Now you can target your posts by time zone, so you don’t waste your best content by throwing it into the feeds of fans who are probably asleep. Just use the publisher privacy controls to roll that good content out region-by-region throughout the day and you’re all set.

Get Tested

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What better way to test the web waters than with a good A/B experiment? Post two different pieces of content to two different (but demographically similar) regions. Once your posts are up, there are plenty of ways to measure engagement and find out which one worked and which didn’t.

Even if a post fails, your Facebook fans will likely be more forgiving than the audiences on most other major social media platforms. Unless it’s outrageously offensive, bad content on Facebook tends to just get swept away in the stream, which makes the publisher privacy controls the perfect way to find out if your fans want to follow you in that new direction you’re contemplating.

Control for Culture

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With 350 million users and 70 different translations, it’s no wonder that Facebook is a whole world unto itself. Your Facebook fans could be coming from any corner of the globe. Unless you’re selling something that everyone in the world is interested in, there are probably some posts that will entice one group to click through and another to click away. That’s the perfect publisher privacy control situation.

First, you should know the demographics of your users. If you don’t, there are plenty of great tools to help you track and triangulate them. Once you do, it’s relatively simple to figure out which regions of fans will want which types of content. By targeting your posts to particular regions, you can avoid offending certain fans. But, more importantly, you can post more content more often. Because you won’t be posting every piece of content to every fan, you can post a higher volume of content, so you get more information into the Facebook stream and more relevant content to each region of your user base. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Take on the Trends

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Let’s face it, what’s cool in California isn’t necessarily blowing up in Burma. The world is a big place, and the World Wide Web is too. While there are some memes that make their way around the globe, there are many trending topics that take off in particular places, or for particular groups of people. And I’m not just talking about the topics people are tweeting about. From major events to sporting matches to local news, there are all sorts of bandwagons your fans could be jumping on. And if the people you want to communicate with are on the bandwagon, shouldn’t you be there too?

Of course, you don’t want to cram content about every single trend into every user’s Facebook feed. That’s why you should use the publisher privacy controls on your Fan Page. Target your post to the place your topic is trending. That way you can jump on all the bandwagons you want, without causing content overload for all your fans.

Conclusion

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When it comes to managing your Fan Page, the publisher privacy controls let you post more content, more intelligently. By targeting your posts to specific people, you can post more often without saturating the streams of all your fans, and you can pinpoint the people who are most likely to respond to and engage with every piece of content you post. Use the new privacy controls to pick the perfect demographic for a particular piece of content, test new types of content, and time your posts for maximum return. Controlling where your content goes helps you better control your brand and build your user base. That’s an awful lot of power for one puny little privacy button.