Harry's Marcom Geek Blog

Facebook Pages Are Not Magazine Ads

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:28:00 GMT

During the month of November of 2007 Facebook started to allow businesses to establish profiles on their network. These business profiles are called pages (no cost) and while they are more restrictive than a personal profile page, they allow companies to establish and communicate with a fan base (Facebook’s name for friends of commercial enterprises).

Given the fact that Facebook now has over 100 Million members this is a windfall for companies who are looking to move into the social networking arena and reduce their advertising expenditures while increasing effectiveness. I have written about the positive effect of social network marketing many times and you can access our white paper library at http://www.octanecorp.com/WhitePapers if you are interested.

There are several other ways companies can use Facebook as a marketing tool. These include setting up groups, which can target member’s specific interests, the events tool that allows you to invite members to events, and applications you create and members add to their own profiles. Of course, you can also advertise on the network. Interestingly, MySpace has just introduced a similar advertising tool that allows you to create, target and implement ads on MySpace. Competition is good!

Facebook Members Are Interested in Brands

Some companies, large and small, have set up pages and have amassed large numbers of fans. A product company now has over 400 thousand fans, a national retailer has over 86 thousand fans and a soft drink company has over 600 thousand fans. It’s clear Facebook members are willing to connect to companies. You will see Alcoholic beverage companies setting up pages soon, as Facebook has recently introduced a tool that limits access to pages by age. There is no doubt that companies can attract fans, but most are totally missing the boat by treating Facebook pages like they were magazine ads.

Social networks are by nature all about interacting with others. People join social networks so they can engage and interact with other members. Companies must do the same and become part of the community and provide value to their fans.

Old School Marketing Driving Social Network Marketing Strategies

Old school marketing techniques such as creating an ad and then hoping someone reads it do not work well on social networks. You might attract fans because you have spent millions over the years building your brand via other media, but you will not get the results you want unless you engage those fans. They expect that you will provide them with information that is relevant to them, valuable, and interesting. If you don’t they will not pay much attention to you. Yes, of course, you get some branding value, but social network sites are more about doing than just being seen.

Companies creating apps on Facebook also fall into this trap. Many apps have little or no value except for a brief period of time when you can send someone a virtual plant or a good karma image. This get’s old fast. Wouldn’t it be better if the app had real world value? One such app is Pandora, a music website, which allows you to share the music you select on the Pandora platform with your friend base on Facebook. This is something people like to do and it generates users for Pandora. There are other apps that provide unique propositions and drive sales for the sponsoring company, but not many.

I think part of the problem companies are having with Facebook is the misconception that it is just for kids. It is not! Once Facebook opened to all people the demographic changed rapidly. The latest figures released indicated that 72% of Facebook members are 18-34 years old and only 15% are 13-17 years old. Interestingly MySpace has a similar demographic user. Female users represent 55% of Facebooks members.

Social networking is one marketing boat you do not want to miss.

Book Suggestions for Social Network Marketing

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:27:00 GMT

Groundswell by Forrester researchers Charline Li and Josh Bernoff is full of stories, facts and statistics about how social networking is changing the face of marketing. I suggest you read this book several times. It is also available in audio form.

The second book I suggest is Tribes by Seth Godin. Again, this is a must read. Godin has a way of writing that makes you hit your forehead with the palm of your hand and say "why didn't I think about that?" This book is also available in audio.

You will thank me after you read these books.

What Do Politicians Know That Most Companies Don’t?

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:45:00 GMT

Every four years the country goes through a frantic period where candidates vie for the presidency. The political marketing and spin machines go into high speed. Previously little known brands (candidates) are thrust to the forefront, but only one will get the prize. We hope the best is elected, but we know a lot has to do with the marketing of the candidate. That is nothing new. It has happened for centuries.

What is new this time, is the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are using social network marketing as a part of their overall marketing strategies. Four years ago, Facebook (established Feb. 2004) was only open to college students and MySpace was only a year old. Certainly, the politicians have adapted to social networks faster than most companies have.

The tight time period and the size of the prize (leadership of the free world) make political marketers seek every possible avenue to connect with voters (their consumers). They cannot just rely on the status quo. Companies should pay heed to this strategy. Marketing is changing very quickly and all avenues of communications should be explored.

Obama has been using Facebook and MySpace to a high degree. He has 670,000 members of his group on Facebook and 508,000 friends on MySpace. McCain seems to have done better on Facebook than MySpace with 303,000 members in his group on Facebook and only 86,000 on MySpace. These are significant numbers when you consider that the last time there was an election with a non-sitting president (Gore/Bush), the vote difference was only 5 electoral votes (there is a controversy over the popular vote that Gore won). The Kennedy/Nixon election was also very tight. In the national popular vote, Kennedy beat Nixon by just one tenth of one percentage point.

The race for President meets our three musts for social network marketing:

Relevance – The importance of the election makes the race relevant to most people. A company must find the relevant points in their offering.

Interest - There is a high interest in the election. Companies must find ways to make what they do interesting.

Dialogue – Politicians see dialog (some listen better than others). Companies must be willing to have a dialog with their consumers.

Above all, a company must develop a solid strategy for social network marketing.

Visit our White Paper section to see our selection of papers on social network marketing.

AT&T Destroying Valuable Relationships One iPhone at a Time

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:29:00 GMT

The new iPhone is a great product and I have waited until now to buy an iPhone with some features I wanted. Thankfully, I am not the type to stand in line for 5 hours to buy anything, so I didn’t. I did however try to order a phone (to be delivered whenever) but was told that my contract was not up until August 21st so if I wanted one I had to pay $399.00. That is $399 for a $199 phone!

Excuses I have heard explaining why a company will not embrace social media

Wed, 28 May 2008 11:55:00 GMT

“I don't have time to spend on social networks - I have too much to do as it is.”

Seven Things You Should Do About Social Networking

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:50:00 GMT

The other day I was thinking about how many companies are not yet engaged in social network marketing.

New Generation? We haven’t Perfected the Current generation!

Tue, 06 May 2008 21:46:00 GMT

It got me thinking that it is funny people are talking about the next generation of social networks when we haven’t perfected the current generation.

Who do you want to be, Batman or Robin?

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:06:00 GMT

"You know Robin's never gonna get his own show. The spotlight is not for everybody; but if you're willing to go for it, the rewards of stardom are great. I'm talking "M&Ms-in-the-green-room" great. Why settle for playing a bit part?”

MySpace Marketing – A No Brainer

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:22:00 GMT

I simply cannot understand why more companies are not taking advantage of MySpace! If you sell a consumer product or service and even some business-to-business goods, you should be working MySpace for customers.

Should I Be On MySpace? Are You Kidding?

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:56:00 GMT

Why would you not want to take advantage of this opportunity? Two excuses I hear most are that managers have no time to spend on MySpace. Or they don't understand how to take advantage of social networks for marketing. That is no excuse because you can hire professionals that do know. After all, what do you know about running a magazine or newspaper, but you still place ads.