FACEBOOK FUNDAMENTALS FOR BUSINESS CARI SULTANIK

DIRECTOR, INTERACTIVE ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

FULCRUMTECH, LLC

HTTP://WWW.FULCRUMTECH.NET

COPYRIGHT © 2012 FULCRUMTECH, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WHAT WE’LL COVER TODAY

§  Part 1: Just a little of the “why”

§  Part 2: Getting started

§  Part 3: Building your audience

§  Part 4: Best practices

§  Part 5: When you’re ready for more—advanced opportunities

WHY FACEBOOK?

PART 1

FOR STARTERS…

BUT SERIOUSLY… §  The numbers

§  Over 900M active users §  425MM access via mobile §  57% female / 43% male §  Average time per visit of about 20 minutes

§  People are well trained to actively share on Facebook

§  82% of users who click on a news feed post shared by a friend who interacted with a Facebook application continue to participate on their own

§  People expect to be able to find businesses and interact §  When fans get a response to their posts on a brand page, 80%

complete a purchase

§  28% purchase when brands proactively reach out

Sources: Mari Smith and Wildfire

GETTING STARTED

PART 2

BEFORE YOU START §  First things first: Do you have a website?

§ Don’t rest the entire digital presence of your business on real estate you don’t own

§  Have a goal in mind

§  Fans are nice, but what do you ultimately want them to do?

§  Think about who you are and what makes you different

§ Don’t be afraid to have a personality §  People do business with people, not websites or Facebook pages

§  Be sure you’re ready

§ Commit to spending at least a few minutes a day on your Facebook page

§  Assumption: You already have a personal Facebook account (if not, set that up first)

BUILD YOUR PAGE

§  Go to a page you are not an admin for and click “Create a Page” button

CHOOSE YOUR BUSINESS TYPE

CHOOSE CATEGORY

Additional information required for a local business or place (other types do not require this)

CHOOSE CATEGORY

Additional information required for a local business or place (other types do not require this)

CHOOSE A PROFILE PICTURE §  Don’t skimp on this step

§  Your profile photo will show every time you post (along with your page name)

§  180x180 pixels

§  Good representation of your brand

§  Ideas:

§  Storefront §  Logo §  Headshot of you (if you

are a consultant, for example)

PROFILE PICTURE EXAMPLES

ABOUT

§  Be descriptive and creative

§  Include a link to your website and other social properties

CHOOSE YOUR FACEBOOK WEB ADDRESS

Choose carefully

§  Difficult (not impossible) to change

§  Make it easy to remember and type

§  Closely related to page name

FACEBOOK MINI-TRAINING

1.  Like your page

2.  Invite your friends

3.  Invite your email contacts

4.  Share something

YOUR FOUNDATION IS NOW BUILT

YOUR FOUNDATION IS NOW BUILT

ADD A COVER PHOTO

COVER PHOTO: FIRST, THE SPECS AND RULES The rules:

§  851x315 pixels

§  Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it at our website"

§  Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address, or other information intended for your Page's About section

§  References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features

§  Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends"

COVER PHOTO: SOME GREAT EXAMPLES

COVER PHOTO: SOME GREAT EXAMPLES

COVER PHOTO: SOME GREAT EXAMPLES

COVER PHOTO ADVICE

§  Follow the rules, but be creative.

§  When you upload a new cover image, it is noted in your timeline and in your fans’ newsfeeds.

§  You can include promotional copy, links, and calls to action in the descriptions for the photo.

§  Change it as frequently as you can—it’s a great way to drive engagement if you’re being creative.

§  If you use Photoshop, you can find various templates for cover photo and profile image design.

§  I like this one: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/creative-facebook-timeline-covers/#fb_timeline_template

COVER PHOTO ADVICE

COVER PHOTO COMPLETE

NEW COVER IMAGES SHOW UP ON YOUR TIMELINE

FINISHING DETAILS §  Add hours, if relevant

§  Check your About page and add detail (edit button shows up when you hover over About or Basic info) §  Add start date §  Start type (born,

founded, opened, etc.)

§  Add description (helps you with search)

§  Add contact info (e.g., email address)

§  Tons more detail options—take advantage of them!

BUILDING YOUR AUDIENCE

PART 3

START WITH FRIENDS

START WITH FRIENDS

Facebook makes it easy to decide which friends to invite.

§  Recent interactions

§  All friends

§  Location-based

§  Groups

§  Lists

Don’t be shy!

SHARE YOUR PAGE ON YOUR TIMELINE

INVITE EMAIL CONTACTS

INVITE EMAIL CONTACTS

OTHER FACEBOOK OPPORTUNITIES

§  Use Facebook as page to comment on other pages

§  Be sure to switch back to your own account when you’re finished

OTHER FACEBOOK OPPORTUNITIES

§  Integrate Facebook Like box on your site

§ Visitors can see which friends already like your page

§  If you choose, they can also see recent posts

§  Facebook will generate code for you

§  http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/

KICKIN’ IT OLD SCHOOL

§  Point-of-sale display

§  Package inserts

§  Direct mail

§  Word of mouth

§  Business cards

§  Use your imagination!

FACEBOOK ADS

§  Wait until you have established a fan base and content before advertising

§  Facebook will guide you

§  Many webinars and articles

BEST PRACTICES

PART 4

CONTENT, CONTENT, AND MORE CONTENT

§  Plan ahead for content to post on your Facebook page

§  Test different days of the week and times of day

§  Test frequency

§  Be personal and human

§ Share personal interests §  Include success stories § Think about what would make you Like or Comment

ENGAGEMENT TIPS

§  Use lots of photographs

§  They take up more room on people’s timelines. §  Photographs get more engagement than any other type of post

(including video). §  You can use original photography or buy stock photography.

§  Post articles your fans will care about (with links)

§ Add a comment about why you’re posting it (“Great article,” “How do you feel about this?”)

§  Don’t be afraid to go off-topic (e.g., random question of the day, fill-in-the-blanks, polls)

§  People want to talk to people §  Build relationships §  Show personality

MORE ENGAGEMENT TIPS

§  A post that specifically asks fans to Like or Comment will get more engagement than one that doesn’t.

§  A study by Buddy Media showed that posts with 80 or fewer characters get 27% higher engagement.

§  Respond to people who engage with you!

MILESTONES

§  Milestones help tell the story of your business

§  Prominent in timeline

§  Lend credibility

HIGHLIGHTING POSTS

Highlight a post

§  Stretches across timeline instead of showing in one column

§  Draws attention to important updates

PINNING POSTS

Pin to top

§  Stays at top of timeline for 7 days or until a new post is pinned

§  Can pin a call to action for your site or applications (more on this later)

§  Try pinning strong images that draw attention to what you most want fans to know about you (404x404 pixels)

ADVANCED OPPORTUNITIES

PART 5

CUSTOM APPLICATIONS

§  Formerly known as “tabs”

§  Can create up to 12

§  Photos always in first spot

§  Put most important apps in next three spots

§  Design custom app thumbnails (111 x 74 pixels)

EXAMPLES OF CUSTOM APPLICATIONS

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH APPS? §  Email sign-up

§  Fan-only promotions (must Like page to see content)

§  YouTube channel integration

§  Twitter integration §  RSS widget (feed from your

blog)

§  Photo shows

§  Contests

§  Sweepstakes

§  Fundraising

§  Map and location §  Coupons

FREE AND LOW-COST APP TOOLS

ADMIN PANEL OPTIONS

NOTIFICATIONS

§  New comments and likes will appear here

§  Check frequently and interact with your fans

MESSAGES

§  Messages are turned on by default

§  Be sure you can check and answer daily (if not, turn them off)

§  New messages will appear here

INSIGHTS

§  Not available until you have 30 fans

§  Snapshot will show you activity at a high level

§  Click “See All” for detailed insights

§  Determine how engaging your posts are so you can focus on best content for your audience

INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS

CONTACT INFO

Cari Sultanik, Director, Interactive Account Management

Email: csultanik@fulcrumtech.net

Phone: 215-348-9887

Twitter: @CariSultanik

Facebook: Facebook.com/FulcrumTech

LinkedIn: FulcrumTech | Cari Sultanik

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