Five Fantastic Facebook Tips

Over the last three years I’ve had the pleasure to manage the university’s Facebook page. At first, in 2007, it was more of a clandestine project (social media in large institutions can be a scary phrase). But by the time I left it was a space we actively managed and supported. At last count there were just over 3600 fans. Starting from scratch with almost no budget and little dedicated support we managed to build a fairly large and active community. It’s not tens of thousands of fans, but it’s one of the larger pages in Saskatchewan.

Provided are a few of my key takeaways from my experience.

1. Facebook drives traffic

One of the things I am diligent about is ensuring that I can track every link that I post on the internet. I want to know click rates and where people are clicking from. And, on our Facebook page I noticed the largest click rates among all other forms of e-communication. Greater than both email and Twitter. Typically a really great post would receive well over 3500 impressions and over 500 clicks. This is roughly a 14% conversion rate. Facebook can be a powerful tool for driving traffic.

2. Fans will let you know what’s wrong or right

I love using social media as the feedback loop is almost instantaneous. If you tweet or post on Facebook and your fans aren’t interested in what you posted they will let you know. Either they’ll simply ignore you or, worse yet, they may decide to ‘unlike’.  Be diligent about tracking what’s happening on each post and really ‘listen’ to what your fans are telling you.  Check your ‘Interactions dashboard’. Additional ‘likes and ‘comments’ mean your doing well. ‘Unsubscribes’…not so well.

3. Post only the best

Many who are new to Facebook management forget that Facebook’s edgerank algorithm is continuously monitoring post content for relevancy/interest and then adapting the information shown on individual user’s walls to ensure that only the most relevant content appears. Simply put, Facebook moves uninteresting content to the bottom of the pile. If you post on your wall and nobody interacts on your post (through comments or likes) then your page gets a lower edgerank. If this happens repeatedly, eventually your page posts will stop showing up in your fan’s individual news streams altogether except for those few who did interact. So, the trick is to ensure that you critically evaluate your posts and ask yourself, ‘will people really find this interesting or worth sharing?’. If you are unsure of the answer then stop what you are doing and wait until you can answer that question affirmatively.

4. Not all fans are created equal

There is a strong connection between the quality of fans you have on your page and the amount that they will interact with you. And, because of edgerank you want to ensure that your page is filled with quality fans who are interested in what you have to say. Lest your page will end up in social media purgatory.

Although you may have filled your page with your personal friends to get the page off the ground you’ll eventually want to get them to leave your page as you replace them with those who are more interested in your topic or organization. For example, if you like to talk about the marketing industry (which I do) and your page is filled with 80% of your friends and they aren’t fellow marketers, edgerank is going to punish you and you’ll show up less and less as the percentage of folks interested versus the size of your fan base is quite small. Instead you need to focus on building higher quality fans who are more likely to comment or interact with your posts.

5. Don’t over do it

People are faced with information overload. Everyday they log into Facebook there wall has 150+ recent updates and on Twitter they’ve seen literally thousands of tweets fly by during an hour. Realize that the last thing people are waiting for is another post from your Facebook page. Unless it’s really awesome. It’ll take you a while to get the timing right for your audience. Start by being cautious – post once a week – and then watch your data and adjust accordingly.

Bonus tip: Photos, Photos and more Photos

People love photos. It’s human nature. The photos we would post on the university’s page were always the most shared, liked and commented on. So make sure that you post lots of photos. Photos of your events. Photos of your staff. Photos of your travels. The more interesting the better.

Bonus tip two: Celebrate with your fans

Times of celebration are key opportunities to engage with your fans. Even if it’s a bit off topic. If the local sports team just won the championship, post a congratulatory message. These posts are golden.

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Author: Michael Klein

*This post originally appeared on Social Media | Marketing | Saskatoon and has been reposted with permission.

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Employees Want More Recognition Over More Money! Here’s How With Facebook

Nick Hughes

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I think we we can all admit: corporate life can, at times, just plain suck.  That might be the main reason a large number of employees tend to meander over to social sites such as Facebook or Twitter to see what is going on outside the firewall.

But are social technologies really a distraction?  Or can they be used to actually enhance the morale and engagement of the workforce?

The Taraci Social MediaMgr™, from Taraci Motivation, is an incentive marketing application that allows organizations to host and run employee incentive marketing programs entirely through Facebook.  It allows an organization to integrate the social and communications tools of Facebook into traditional incentive marketing programs.  Their vision is to transform how organizations run incentive programs by helping them fully integrate the power of social media.

“According to Gallop , about 10% of employees are highly engaged and since profitability is tied to employee attitude and moral, it’s more important than ever to motivate employees,” says Tom Taraci.

Recognition Over Money?

During this tough economic climate it’s more important than ever to motivate employees who are frustrated due to many factors, including constant downsizing, lack of promotions and salaries being frozen.   A simple  ”Good Job” or public employee appreciation in front of other employees on a social application will go a long way to keep employees happy.    Looks like Taraci Motivation understands how employees actually feel, here is an interesting list of what employees say they want compared to what employers think employees want.  Quite the disconnect if you ask me.

Employees just want to be recognized.  They want it over more money, more interesting work, job security, or good working conditions.

Seriously, just telling your employees they are doing a good job, more publicly and more often will greatly increase your company morale.  I wish my last employer knew that.  Oh well… man am I glad I now have my own company!

Basically, they help corporations leverage Facebook to offer employee incentives to keep them happy.

Well, if you can’t beat em, join em!

It’s an intelligent move, leveraging Facebook to get more from your work force rather than just firewall it.  The underlying message sent to employees when blocking a site like Facebook is one of distrust.  Using Taraci Social MediaMgr let’s your employees know “you get it” and “you understand.”

For example, the ‘like’ feature can be used to show friends and family a product users like within the catalog. Opinions can be posted to the wall. Participants can also ‘send’ messages to friends, family and co-workers to get feedback on their product selection or to let them know about their achievements in the workplace.

Current Incentives can include:

• Length of service — Rewards employees on their employment anniversary date
• Sale incentives — Rewards salespeople for reaching their goals
• Wellness programs — Rewards employees for achieving health fitness goals
• Safety programs — Rewards workers for reducing workplace accidents, reducing absenteeism
• Recognition programs — Rewards employees for accomplishing a specific task, or tasks, over a period of time
• Referral programs — Rewards employees or customers for recommending a new client
• Loyalty Programs – Rewards employees for length of service to an organization
• Casino Players Clubs – Rewards casino players with points for dollars wagered which can be redeemed for merchandise.

Incentive 2.0?

In the past, incentive programs were hosted on a standalone web site or simply through a printed catalog.  For corporations, it’s now possible to communicate real-time incentive marketing program updates, from adding rewards to celebrating winners.  Program administrators can also engage in a daily two-way dialogue with participants, not feasible with traditional online or print incentive programs.

It’s not a secret employees are spending more and more time on Facebook throughout the work day.   Corporations are realizing they need to join them in their environment, not just block the site.  The application is designed to improve corporations’ presence in social media by building their corporate communities and increasing the number of their followers on Facebook. By hosting the incentive program on corporate Facebook pages, there’s finally a way for corporations to connect with employees in an effective way through Facebook.

How it works

1 – A branded incentive marketing catalog is created for the corporation’s Facebook page by Taraci Motivation

2 – Once the program is officially launched, participants are directed to the corporation’s official Facebook Page

3 – By entering their username and password, employees can see their point totals and redeem rewards.

According to Taraci, the response to the Taraci Social Media Mgr has been tremendous.  The Taraci Motivation Mgr was first released in May 2011 and enhancements are continually being added to the application. “We’re  set to launch a number of new programs on Facebook in Q4 and continue to be in active discussions with a variety of category leaders in travel, shipping, entertainment, finance, marketing, consumer products and services, and more.”

From the looks of it, maybe more corporations should look into Taraci Motivation.  I hope so… with only 10% of the workforce highly engaged, companies need to do whatever it takes to keep their best employees happy.  I know I am.

@jnickhughes

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