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October 22, 2009

8 Essential Apps for Your Brands Facebook Page

(* Source: Alison Driscoll *)

 

Not even a year ago, Facebook was still being dismissed as a silly site intended to help college kids slack off. Indeed, that is what helped the social network take hold with a large number of users, but it has proven its worth in business and by now, nearly everyone is on board. Companies of all sizes are scrambling to get on the site and reach both new and current customers with a Facebook Page, the Facebook preferred method for user interaction with a brand, company or public figure.

An effective Facebook Page not only attracts fans, but is sticky so that fans keep coming back and may even share the content on the Page. To do that, you need a well thought out Page that has some great applications supported by good, relevant content. Here are eight essential apps for your brand’s Facebook page:


Applications

1. Facebook Notes

This app was originally a Facebook feature that they then converted into an application; as such, it is sponsored and maintained by Facebook and less likely to break or be abandoned. Set this application up to pull in the RSS feed from your blog or other content source and it will automatically bring everything into Facebook and show all of your friends that you’ve posted a new Note.

This notification system is important for staying on their radar and is more visible than an RSS Reader, or mini-blog as I like to call it, but lacks many formatting capabilities; it’s best to think of Notes and an RSS Reader as working hand in hand. Start here to get content coming into your Page, then move on to the RSS Reader.

2. Blog RSS Feed Reader

blog rss feedreader image

I may have jumped ahead a bit with the Notes recommendation, but I am assuming that most companies have, or could have, a blog. If you don’t, work on that before Facebook, for many more reasons than I could get into here. But if you already have a blog, good news: there are tons of blog and RSS apps out there, but I’ve done the leg work and I found this one offered more functionality, better customization (you can pick an image to make your Facebook mini-blog look more like your actual blog) and a greater sense of control. It can be a bit buggy, but it’s worth persisting for the level of customization, and therefore attention grabbing potential.

3. Twitter App

Again, this assumes that you have a Twitter (Twitter) account, but if you’re reading this and working on a Facebook Page, my guess is you do. Or you at least know you should have one. If not, set one up before adding this application to your new Facebook Page. This will automatically pull your tweets into your Facebook status, and it puts a cute little Twitter-themed box on your profile, so everyone knows you’re cool enough to be on Twitter. It also saves you time in updating AND ensures profile activity to keep you relevant.

4. Static FBML

victoria secret facebook image

Neither Facebook Pages nor Profiles allow any type of HTML in the main content section, but you can add FBML and HTML applications to add more stylized elements to a Page, like clickable images, anchor text and interactive content. The Static FBML app allows you to add advanced functionality to a page by placing a customizable box in which you can render HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language), giving you free reign over the space to add images, video, stylized text and almost whatever else you want. This app was developed by Facebook, so it’s fully supported and not prone to the problems of some third party applications.

5. Extended Info

extended info image

In the Extended Info box you can use HTML to customize any kind of content and create numerous fields beyond the standard Information categories; you can also name the box anything you want so it matches your page perfectly. This app works much like the Static FBML application but is slightly easier to use. Although not developed by Facebook, it is highly ranked and provides a nice alternative or second customizable box option on a page.

6. Flash Player

This Flash application, also developed by Facebook, will add a box to your Page in which you can upload your own Flash files to achieve advanced customization and play any kind of Flash video, widget or game. It can be renamed to maintain the integrity of the page and keep the look and feel consistent with your brand.

7. Posted Items Pro

With Posted Items Pro you can embed multiple YouTube (YouTube), Yahoo, and Google Videos, music mp3s, sites, files, and more onto your profile and Facebook pages. You can add any variety of these elements, making it great for a media center or press section.

8. Something Unique

If you have the resources, add some personality to your profile with a fun, irreverent application that you create just for your Page. This could be tied into your brand in multiple ways; try to think of something that people outside of Facebook would appreciate or enjoy that will remind them of who created it and keep them coming back, like a game or contest.


Brands that get it right

In order to stay relevant on Facebook, you need to continually update your Page and use the site. The more actions you take, the more you appear in a fan’s News Feed. This keeps you in their mind, and in their friend’s Feeds when they interact with you. But updating content will do more than keep you on the News Feed; it will also help make your Facebook Page sticky by offering fans an incentive to remain a supporter and come back more than once; one of the best way to do that is to provide some unique benefit to fans: exclusive content, secret contests or insider access to information before non-fans.

If you have a good brand, product or service with a strong website behind it, building a Facebook Page should be fairly easy. But if you need a few examples or inspiration, check out these Pages that definitely get it right:

VS Pink Victoria’s Secret

victorias secret facebook page image 

PINK collection is aimed at college girls, so Facebook is a natural fit, and this Page nails it. They are my most frequent example when explaining effective use of Facebook. This Page makes good use of HTML and FBML apps and provides lots of contests and exclusive stuff for Facebook fans.

Britney Spears

Britney Spears Facebook image

A childhood favorite of many avid Facebook users, Britney is taking Twitter by storm and her Facebook Page is not far behind. Britney sends out tons of Updates to fans and posts plenty of sneak peeks on Facebook.

Zappos

Zappos Facebook page image

Lots of videos means plenty of opportunity for laughing and sharing. Zappos is almost always mentioned as a social media success story, and they’re working on making their Facebook Page meet the brand image.

Target

Target Facebook Page image

Target has managed to break free of the Wal-Mart stigma and position itself as a hip and budget conscious alternative to mall stores. They’ve chose to direct visitors to their “Vote” tab, where not only is Target donating to a good cause, it’s encouraging fans to participate and spread the word to their friends with interactive voting.

 

Posted by brian tiong at 12:58 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Michael Jordan + Gatorade + Facebook = Win

(* Source:Adam Ostrow *)

 

Adam says...

The company has launched a Facebook app that brings together the biggest highlights from Jordan’s career, letting users vote for their favorite, which is then shared to their Wall. Each highlight includes commentary from a well-known sports journalist, and at the end of the competition, the highlight receiving the most votes will become a Gatorade label (the sports drink maker has already produced 6 commemorative MJ labels – this will be the 7th).

The app is part of Gatorade’s Facebook page, where the company has around a quarter million fans and shares lots of behind-the-scenes clips from its iconic commercials. Here, Gatorade shares the making of the commemorative bottles, shown in this 30-second spot:

Also worth checking out – the “Play” button on the main page for the Jordan app loads a spectacular visual display of Jordan’s career highlights. In all, a very cool promotion to celebrate the career of Number 23.

 

Posted by brian tiong at 12:49 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Audi Taps its Facebook Fans to Help Design Car of the Future

(* Source: Christina Warren *)


audi-logo

 

Christina says...

More and more businesses are learning that adopting a strategy of incorporating social media to connect with customers is a great way to build a solid brand. Even companies that already have very successful global brands, like Audi are starting to use social media to enhance their presence and garner feedback from users.

Audi USA has partnered with TurnHere to promote its participation in the “Youth Mobile 2030″ design challenge and to engage with its fans via the company’s Facebook page.

Right now, Audi is gearing up for the Los Angeles Design Challenge, which will take place at the L.A. Auto Show. Southern California automotive studios are competing to design a youth-oriented concept car for the year 2030.

Using Facebook , Audi is posting videos of their design process, information about the contest as it progresses, and soliciting questions and feedback to find out what the fans would like to see in a car of the future. It wants its 300,000 fans to know that as a company, Audi listens to its customers and wants to engage in a conversation about the future.

I’m sure that whatever Audi ends up coming up with for their concept car will be stunning — I just hope the console has built-in Twitter and Facebook integration!

 

Posted by brian tiong at 12:40 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

October 20, 2009

Mint.com’s Fresh Use of Facebook

(* Source: Kyle Austin *)

 

mint.facebook

 

Kyle says...

One online service that I’ve grown attached to is Mint.com. Simply, Mint.com is the most effective way to manage your money, rent, loans, bills, expenses, financial planning in the Web era (Personally, I love the email alerts when I go over my chosen budget). All of this has allowed Mint to become the most used online personal finance service on the Internet, with more than 1 million users.

It has also enabled the company to build a high brand affinity with its users. In addition to being a great service, Mint has harnessed user’s positive experiences with the service and turned them into brand fans on Facebook. As I’ve followed closely over the last several months, Facebook is making very steady progress in appealing to marketers. Fan and brand pages, check. Vanity URL’s, check. Mint.com is one company that has taken advantage of these changes.

Their Facebook page has grown extremely popular with more than 32, 000 followers and constant interaction. From Mint.com prize pack giveaways, to financial haiku contests, to updates on their latest blog posts, Mint leverages Facebook to the fullest.

Before the vanity URL gold rush I speculated that Mint would be one of the first companies to get their customized Facebook URL. And they were. You can now find them easily at www.facebook.com/mint. Yup, they beat the US Mint, the herb and Wrigley to the findable, SEO-friendly domain.

In addition, Mint’s Facebook admins have been diligent in integrating video and their other social media channels (i.e. Twitter) into the Facebook experience. They’ve also started to use Facebook as their de-facto HARO or Profnet service; allowing their PR and marketing team to track down users for stories that may fit a particular angle or be from a certain area. Anyone from Minn-e-sota?

mint.com.facebook

Mint’s approach is not siloed within Facebook. Their aforementioned blog is extremely popular with more than 11,000 RSS subscribers. This visual-friendly post got 400 plus Digs.

It’s obvious that Aaron and his team understand the future of integrated marketing and are building a brand that has real staying power.

 

Posted by brian tiong at 09:24 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Slash’s Rocking Facebook Fan Page

 

(* Source: InsideFacebook *)


Eric says...

Over the last few weeks, was all of a sudden getting popular on Facebook. Instead of just gaining a couple hundred users a day, he was gaining tens of thousands. But recently, .

Why? Well, first, we recognize that Slash is a great guitarist, and that people just want to be fans of him because they love him. Second, we recognize that he has a very active page — he’s constantly updating via text messages, even automatically sending his updates to Twitter via his page.

But we also recognize that he’s been active on Facebook for months, yet only recently saw a spike in new fans. So there is likely another cause, or two. We asked readers, and a few people responded to say they’d seen actual ads for Slash’s page on Facebook — apparently ads being run by Facebook itself. Slash may be benefiting from a larger effort by Facebook to promote celebrities.

“A few weeks ago, I noticed that Facebook replaced ads with fan page solicitations,” as commenter Jason F. told us. “I think Slash was one of them. I wonder if that helped seed the audience more diversely than organic growth ala Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolvers’ fan pages would have.”

Facebook Slash

What does Jason mean by “seeding?” Facebook fan page advertising is not itself necessarily the main explanation for the new growth. Jeff Widman, a Facebook marketing consultant who helps big clients grow pages, has more:

“The Highlight section of Facebook means if you can get a page rolling along at a good clip, you can keep picking up more fans. It’s a solid way for him to basically capture on Facebook all the people who already like him (and are friends with him). I’ve seen some major spikes with my clients when we try to push something hard all at once rather than dribble a little at a time. If they want to spend $1K on ads every month, I tell ‘em to blow it in one week every month.”

Slash Facebook Page Metrics - PageData-1

In other words, a little bit of growth can snowball into a lot of growth. So the answer to the riddle of Slash’s page growth could really be “all of the above.” First: He is already popular with the general public. Second: He has an active page. Third: He had ads running that apparently were seen by a lot of people. Fourth: Facebook’s viral loops — its highlights, as well as its activity stream — may have allowed the first three conditions to exponentially increase the results.

For page owners looking to grow, this is maybe another reason to buy those Facebook ads, and to think more strategically about ad spending patterns. Or, of course, to figure out who within Facebook decides to promote particular celebrities, as that person now appears to be the equivalent of whoever is in charge of the Suggested User List over at Twitter.

 

Posted by brian tiong at 09:14 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

October 18, 2009

What “on-demand” media really means and why your cable company should be scared

(* Source: John Biggs *)
 
 

 

John says...

I’ve been angling to get rid of my TiVo and cable for some time now and I believe I’ve finally figured out a solution that works best for me. It involves a lots scripting, Sabnzbd, and HandbrakeCLI and I’ll tell you what I ultimately did next week once it’s stable but it seems to be working as well as can be expected for these sorts of hacks.

I posit that the TV industry is about to face the same threat dealt the music and movie industries but they still have a chance to make things better for themselves when the world changes around them. First, let’s rehash the old arguments.

What I’m doing is downloading TV shows and sending them to a media player near my TV. I’m doing this because there exist two separate infrastructures that interface imperceptibly at one key point – the official cable and online distribution networks and the shady underworld of pirate distributors. Right now that interface is a trickle, but it will soon be, pardon the pun, a torrent.

The first infrastructure is the studio system. While I’m talking specifically about TV here, we can also extrapolate to talk about movies and music. This infrastructure is based on the advertising or distribution model in that they make all their money placing advertisements around their content or by placing their content onto physical media. But what is important to note is that the TV industry is in a completely different business from the music and movie industry. They’re not “selling” a product. They’re selling the space around a product. They they commission artists to make that product better in hopes of raising the price of the space around that product. They sell DVDs, sure, but that’s a sideline.

ishot-9

But when I take that content out of its context, like meat out of an oyster shell, I strip out their value and shuck the rest. But technology has outstripped that analogy and television has evolved into a processable set of events – shows – whereas before it was an event, each show linked together into infinity.

TiVo, to continue the analogy, created a way to sell jarred oyster sauce. The device contained the content, sure, but it tried to keep some of the advertising intact. However, what I’m attempting to do buffets into an entirely new infrastructure, one none of us wholly understand.

It consists of two disparate parts. The first is a shady underground that can offer these shows, stripped of commercials, a few minutes after they’ve aired. How they do it is a topic for another story, but needless to say popular shows are available in less than ten minutes after they air on the Eastern Seaboard. It is a testament to the dedication of a few TV lovers that these shows are available, for free, as they happen.

Then we have the web arms of the major TV studios as well as the clips cable stations post on their sites. These are, to a lesser extent, a re-canning of those same oysters in the hopes that the shorter advertisements wrapped around them will maintain the revenue offered by TV broadcasts.

So what’s my point? First, I believe some media will survive the move to the web better than others. Book publishing, for example, may change formats but the inherent problems of pirating a physical book make them weak targets for piracy. I also believe that the medium of television is also not conducive to large scale piracy because there is so much of it. I can shuck all the oysters I want but there will still be 24-hour news channels, old movie networks, and sitcoms that someone out there will watch even if the pirates are uninterested in recording and distributing them.

Now, back to that interface between the two worlds. Because pirates can’t steal everything at once there is no impetus to stop up this hole. The highly regimented and very well organized system of content capture that is going on exists as a labor of love and not as a money making venture. It allows guys like me, guys who no longer want to be beholden to a wonky TiVo, for example, to get HD content quickly and easily. However, there are more guys like me every day. To say that television as we know it won’t exist in a decade is quite far fetched but it is a possibility. How, then, should a TV broadcaster react?

First, I think TV broadcasters need to take a page from the pirates playbook and make their hit shows available online in downloadable form sooner than later – and not on iTunes for $2.99 an episode. The process I went through was relatively painless but decidedly nerdy. The next generation, however, will find new and better ways of doing the same thing, thereby stripping out the content with reckless abandon. TV studios still have some time to save their skins, just like the book industry, but it won’t be long before something comes along and ruins the party. They need to do what the music industry didn’t do – make getting sanction, high quality content convenient. It took me a week to set up my little Rube Goldberg DVR but there’s no telling how long it could take someone with a little more savvy.

Why not, for example, offer TV subscriptions to individual series. The era of channel surfing is almost near its end and discovery of new content through mere chance will soon be gone. This would allow for absoltute control over a series and reward popular series month after month. Sadly, cable companies just won’t do this. As Doug noted in our chat room “Cable companies keep saying a la carte wouldn’t work but in reality they’re saying it wouldn’t work for them because its too much work.”

Second, television needs to play to its strengths. As Harry McCracken pointed out during the balloon-boy debacle, the first on the scene wasn’t some blogger with a Flip but the television news crews with their trucks, helicopters, and satellite dishes. But even in the vacuum created by the death of local newspapers it seems that local TV stations aren’t able to appreciate their value. For example, I was in Columbus, Ohio a few months ago and I saw the same reporter on two different channels reporting on essentially the same thing. This sort of cost-cutting is detrimental to the brand and is cheapening TV journalism. We all laugh at the 24-hour news channels and their bloviating blowhards, but those are the news networks of choice for millions of people daily. There is value there. TV studios need to give us this content in a way that makes it a win-win for all parties involved. If not, it will be a lose-lose as their content is stripped and stolen and their revenues tank over the next few years.

 

Posted by brian tiong at 09:42 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

October 14, 2009

Good Ideas in Tokyo

(* Source: b-side *)

 

Join Piers and friends in his Good Ideas series of talks in Tokyo this month...

 

Good Ideas In Tokyo

 

PSFK says

Good Ideas Salons are where forward-thinkers come together to share ideas to make things better, whether that’s better work, better play or a better world. Drawing from a range of industries, Good Ideas Salons bring together people with a focus on lateral thinking, the desire to showcase their knowledge, and the wish to renew existing relationships with likeminded peers as well as forge new ones. 

 

More info here

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