In the consulting I do I see a lot of things. Some good, some that make you want to kick puppies. Some are huge problems and some are little problems.
The little problems are easy, fast and fun to fix. They often get overlooked in the hustle and bustle however. Today is the reminder you needed – the kick in the pants – to go cross these off your list!
Take a look at these five opportunities to improve your business’s Facebook presence right now. Some of these little things can be a big help.
1. Add Tracking Link To Info Box
You know that little box under your Profile Picture on your page? You can include clickable links in there. They don’t look active so they may not get much traffic from them.
But you want to be able to account for each and every bit of social traffic you can. So. Include a shortened link in that box to your landing page of preference and be sure to include tracking variables (hence the shortened link).
2. Create New Tabs Using iFrames
Facebook tabs and applications will not be supported if built in FBML soon. Facebook recently announced they will be moving to only support iframes. The good news is iframes are easy peasy. They’re actually quite a bit easier than building out a new application or tab in FBML.
If you’re not already using tabs you’ll definitely want to investigate this. It’s a great way to add another layer of interaction and depth to your Facebook profile. You can add extra content, engage your ‘likers’ in additional ways, gather more information – you’re really only limited by your creativity.
Check out what brands like Coke and Levi’s are doing for inspiration.
3. Set The Wall Default View To The Brand AND Everyone
Defaulting to only your posts makes your page look incredibly one sided at first impression. This is social. This is open. Making your wall default to everyone will show off what a rockstar job you are doing interacting with everyone on your wall.
You work hard – show it off!
A side benefit to this in my opinion is, that if you are updating your wall frequently enough and so are your “Likers”, then there is a healthy mixture of both you and them when a new Facebook user visits your page. This makes the thought of committin to a “Like” a lot less daunting. They are liking a community, not a megaphone.
4. Stop Using Notes And “Networked Blogs” To Import RSS
What many people don’t understand about some of these “tools” is that they are hurting you. Some, like Networked Blogs and others employ frame-jacking.
*Glares at HootSuite* Don’t use them.
You are denying you your own well deserved traffic among other things. I won’t go into why you shouldn’t use frame jacking tools here, but do please read up on it. Also let’s think about the user experience for a second. They’ve clicked because they want to visit your page – not to be suspended in some mid-internet holding pattern by some third party tool. They don’t offer anything you can’t get out of alternate services.
5. Lack of Custom Landing Pages and Profile Looping
Social traffic is different traffic. They are interacting with your brand in a way that is unique from other visitors. You MUST treat them as such.
Create unique landing pages for these people with points of conversion that are designed for their place in the funnel. You will find that after customizing the experience for them, whether it is in display advertising or the customization of landing pages, they will convert better and become more valuable for you.
Making your social media customer acquisition even more beneficial. And very related to this is the act of profile looping. There’s probably a much better name for this but I haven’t had enough caffeine today to be that creative. An ideal user experience for someone that clicks on a link in a tweet is not to be taken to a Facebook status update where they are forced to click on yet another link to reach their final destination.
[Tweet –> Facebook update –> xyz page = BAD]
Don’t link your profiles. Don’t. I mean it. Your chance of drop off increases with each step you ask them to take. Don’t make people work that hard.
—
So there you go. Five fast Facebook fixes. None of these take very long, but separately and more importantly, cumulatively, they can improve your efforts in social media. For you and for community members.]]>
In the consulting I do I see a lot of things. Some good, some that make you want to kick puppies. Some are huge problems and some are little problems.
The little problems are easy, fast and fun to fix. They often get overlooked in the hustle and bustle however. Today is the reminder you needed – the kick in the pants – to go cross these off your list!
Take a look at these five opportunities to improve your business’s Facebook presence right now. Some of these little things can be a big help.
You know that little box under your Profile Picture on your page? You can include clickable links in there. They don’t look active so they may not get much traffic from them.
But you want to be able to account for each and every bit of social traffic you can. So. Include a shortened link in that box to your landing page of preference and be sure to include tracking variables (hence the shortened link).