Before You Publish, 5 Things to Consider for Facebook Timeline

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Lisa Karl

Whether you love or hate the new Facebook Timeline for business pages, and it sounds like most of you feel passionately, please take time to learn about it before you go public with it. And take the time now, because the end of March (Facebook’s deadline for conversion) is coming quickly! Here are five points to consider:

Cover photo: Your landing tab—if you had one—is history; now you get to decide on a beautiful new ‘cover photo.’ You want it to be visually appealing and descriptive of your business. Do not use your logo or business card here! If you’re thinking about just changing your old landing tab to fit into the space, think again. Facebook wants your business page to act like a personal page, so it added some no-nos. No calls to action or really any other text, except your business name. This means you can’t splash “Like Us!” or any other kind of offer on the cover photo. The cover photo can be as large as 850×315 pixels and that’s a fairly large space, so play with an idea or two before settling on one.

Profile Picture: This is your logo or descriptive photo that looks good as a thumbnail. This is the photo that will accompany your posts.

Bigger visuals: Facebook wants you to use more photos and videos, so these posts will stand out by being larger. Make sure when you post photos they are of good quality.

Tell your story: Facebook is making it easier to tell the story of your company with Milestones. Simply click on the line in the middle of your page and select Milestone. You’ll be able to highlight the important events in your company’s history.

Instead of tabs, you’ll have apps: A tab is an app, of course, but you need to be creative in positioning, naming and adding photos to them now. There are now 12 applications, but only four of them will appear along the top of your Timeline (under your cover photo). Photos cannot be moved, but it’s your choice as to the other three you’d like to appear.

Here are some good local examples of the new look:

Catoctin Creek

Earth Day @ Loudoun

Visit Loudoun

Let me know once your new timeline goes live, I’d love to see it!

About Lisa Karl
Lisa Karl is the president of Nova Creative Media, a social media/marketing firm in Ashburn, VA. She is also the publisher and editor of Find It In Ashburn! Connect with Lisa via Facebook (NCM), Facebook (FIIA), Twitter and LinkedIn.

Three Ways to Use Professional Services

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Lisa Karl

OK, I admit it—I’m no graphic designer. As those of you who perused this website know, I’m no web designer, either. One of the biggest challenges of being a small business owner is doing everything yourself. You have a passion; a fantastic idea and you can’t wait to get started! And then, reality. You need to learn about finance, accounting, marketing, sales, human resources, regulations, logistics, and probably more. It’s enough to discourage you before you even start.

Consider support professionals, the people who are in business to help other business owners. Take advantage of the talent and knowledge out there! Ask for referrals, reach out to these professionals, and at the very least spend one or two hours consulting with them. It will be well worth your time and money to get one-on-one time with an expert to get your business started–or to continue it–in a smooth manner.

Three ways to use support experts:

Onetime consultation. Perhaps you need help with insurance issues, or you need to know the basics in human resources or marketing. Gather up your questions, make an appointment, and treat it as a class. If you have other staff that need to know as well, make sure they are present.

On-going consultations. Here you need a little more support. It may be that you are installing a new accounting system or forging ahead with social media, but you also need some handholding. Have your initial consultation, get your plan from your consultant, and then have monthly or bi-monthly meetings with the consultant to touch base and answer any questions that come up.

Regular support. You’ve reached the point where you aren’t concentrating on your core business, but on support items. Hooray! Now you can pull in a freelancer for on-going support. It maybe they work on what you need on a per project basis, or weekly or even daily.

Business owners have turned to me in all three capacities. There are those who find social media comes naturally, but they need answers to how to use it effectively for business. Other people meet with me on a regular basis and we go over what they’ve done, what works and what doesn’t. And finally, I have clients for whom I manage their social media completely, or in conjunction with themselves or a staff person.

Where do you find yourself turning to support professionals? How has it worked for you?

Get Ready for Timeline for Business Pages

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Lisa Karl

By now you’ve probably heard the rumors that Facebook will announce the timeline format will be available for business pages—perhaps as early as tomorrow during their marketing conference. I don’t think you need to worry about throwing together a new page as of tomorrow, as it’s likely Facebook will roll out timeline for business pages as beta, to a select group of larger companies. It is, however, time to think and plan. What to do?

Convert your personal page to the timeline format, if you haven’t already. Timeline for business pages probably won’t look exactly as timeline for personal pages, but you should go ahead and convert your personal page to get a feel for the new format.

Gather, or take, photos that tell the story of your company. The new timeline will be more visually based, and big gorgeous photos will be the first impression new visitors will have of your company. Draw them in and get that like!

Take this opportunity to think about and tell the story of your business. If you’ve read my past posts, you know that in almost all of them I urge you to tell your story. People like to connect with people, and believe it or not, are interested in finding out why you do what you do. Use the timeline to hit the high notes of your business’s progress.

Remember the newsfeed is where your fans most likely connect with you. Don’t get carried away and spend all of your time designing a gorgeous business page. The reality is once someone likes your page, they rarely go back to your page. Instead, they see what’s going on with you and your business through their newsfeed. (Think about how you use Facebook.) So keep up with regular, content-rich posts.

Bonus rumor: a new feature may expand like to include love, want and own. If true, this could be a powerful feature for businesses, as fans can mark products or services as ones the own, ones they love or ones they want. And guess what? That information will be shared with all of their friends. Powerful!

While you’re waiting for Facebook to roll out timeline for all businesses, take the opportunity to plan what you’d like yours to look like. Visit the pages that already have the new format, noting what you think works and doesn’t work. (I’ll keep you posted on who has the new format, just visit me at Nova Creative Media on Facebook.) So gear up, plan and get ready–remember that change gives us a chance to renew, grow and blossom!

What Are Your Facebook Goals?

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Lisa Karl

I was speaking to a small business owner the other day and she said, “We’re not on Facebook, although I guess we should be. I just don’t have the time and I really don’t think it will help my business.”

Small businesses are my passion—I’m a small business owner myself! I spend a lot of time speaking and interacting with business owners and am dismayed at the lack of knowledge about the power of social media, and Facebook in particular, to help businesses grow.

The number one reason small business owners get discourage is unrealistic expectations. I’ve met with several people who want me to set up or manage their Facebook page and when we discuss goals, they tell me they want to get X number of likes. One even said her goal was to have 1000 likes within one month!

Number of likes on Facebook is not a goal!

If you moved to a new city or town, you wouldn’t expect to meet 100, 500 or 1000 people in one month, much less become fast friends. Developing relationships takes time, energy and effort. It’s no different for a business Facebook page. So let’s ask the question again: what are your goals, what do you—as a business owner—expect to get out of your Facebook presence?

-Generate sales
-Brand awareness
-Provide customer service
-Let customers know about specials and promotions
-Build relationships and credibility

These goals are not exclusive to Facebook, but should be part of your overall marketing plan. In order to achieve your goals, you need to work first on the relationships/credibility factor. Let’s go back to the example of meeting new people. When you meet someone new, what makes you want to speak with them further and get to know them better? I’m willing to bet it’s not the person who talks on and on about themselves and won’t let you enter the conversation.

Follow the 60/40 rule for Facebook.

Use about 40 percent of your posts promoting yourself/your business directly and about 60 percent on what interests your fans. Use the 60 percent to share your expertise—tell your fans how to use your product in ways they hadn’t thought of, share a recipe, tell them about industry news, local events, even share a funny photo or video.

Using Facebook takes work.

It takes time to develop a vibrant Facebook community, but it’s worth it to make your business the go-to for your niche. Plan what you’d like to accomplish, write down how you’re going to accomplish your goals, and most importantly, be yourself! Check out this great article from Constant Contact on how to let your authentic self come through. You’re not Coca-Cola, some big, nameless brand, you’re Jane Doe, owner of a local business reaching out to local people, who will are, or will be, customers. Here are some good local pages—you can tell by the posts and interactions that they love what they do, and they love people, too!

Catoctin Creek Distillery
MacDowell Brew Kitchen
Great Country Farms

About Lisa Karl

Lisa Karl is the president of Nova Creative Media, a social media/marketing firm in Ashburn, VA. She is also the publisher and editor of Find It In Ashburn! Connect with Lisa via Facebook (NCM), Facebook (FIIA), Twitter and LinkedIn.

Anatomy of a Successful Tweetup

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Lisa Karl

A tweetup -– a meetup meets Twitter -– is a great way to actually meet the people behind the @name. Taking the time to get together allows for longer conversation and networking beyond 140 characters. And while some tweetups are huge and start to resemble conferences, with guest speakers, famous Twitter personalities, and lavish food and drink, putting together a simple, local tweetup need not be daunting or extravagant. Here are some easy steps to organize your local tweetup, along with notes from our recent Loudoun County tweetup:

Where? Ideally, you or another Twitter user you know has connections to a local restaurant. If not, approach a local restaurant to see if they are open to hosting the tweetup. Be prepared to offer a day/time that is normally a slow period for them. You are looking for the restaurant to provide the space, and possibly appetizers to share. In return, you’ll be mentioning the restaurant before, during and after the tweetup. One key: the location should offer free wifi!
-One of our organizers recently opened MacDowell Brew Kitchen, and he agreed to host the tweetup. The venue provided some homemade chips, and attendees ordered food, if they wished.

When? This may depend on space availability. If not, try and schedule the tweetup around lunchtime or just after the workday. Do you foresee frequent tweetups? Then alternate the scheduling times, so people can attend one or the other.
-The LoCo tweetup was at 12:30pm, but we did get feedback about having one on the evening, which we are looking to do next time.

Who? The easy part! Send a call out through Twitter for the group you’re targeting. Will it be for a certain industry? Or a geographic location?
-Ours was open to all those on Twitter from Loudoun County.

How? You certainly want to get a head count, as your locale may require it, and it will help spread the excitement.
-Our organizers used Twtvite for RSVPs.

As the organizer, it’s your job to generate excitement about your tweetup. Tweet about it often, at different times, to make sure your catching the attention of those you’d like to come. If there are those you definitely want to attend, @ mention them in your tweet. Decide on a hashtag ahead of time, so those tweeting during the event are all on the same page -– and those who couldn’t attend see what fun it is!

At the tweetup itself, relax and have fun. Mingle, tweet, take and upload photos. Remember that the key to social media is the word social, so get out there and meet your folks!

Top 3 Reason Why Social Media Doesn’t Work for You

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Lisa Karl

It seems that ‘everyone’ today is involved with social media in some form, but when I talk to small business owners about their social media presence, I often hear this: It doesn’t work for me.

Why doesn’t it work for you? It works for so many businesses, both large and small. I find when I dig deeper, small business owners feel that social media doesn’t work for them because of unrealistic expectations. What are the top three reasons I hear?

I don’t have a lot of likes or followers. You are not Coca-Cola. Expecting that the day you set up your Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and have 10,000 people clamoring for your wisdom is very unrealistic. Stop thinking that your social media success equals your number of followers! Think quality, not quantity when it comes to developing your social media presence. If you have a beauty salon in Leesburg, VA, does it matter if someone from Timonium, MD is following you? No! You want your local customers to be following you, interacting with you, and more importantly, sharing your information with their friends and neighbors, turning them into customers for you. A good number to look at on Facebook is the “Talking About This” number, which is just below your number of likes. Would you rather have 750 fans, but only 15 talking about you? Or 150 fans with 50 talking about you?

I don’t know what to say. This is a huge obstacle, and as a result, I often see small business pages with post after post that are just ads. For example, “Our dining specials today are_____,” “Sign up today and receive _____,” or “Come in now and see____.” It’s not all about you! Those posts have their place, but if that’s all you post, people will leave you in droves or simply skip over your posts. So, what to say? When you interact with your customers in person, do you just sell, sell, sell? No, you talk about the benefits of your product or service, you suggest ancillary items (maybe that you don’t sell), you chat about local events and happenings, and you share photos, videos or stories you find interesting.

I don’t have the time. There is no doubt about it, social media tools are free, but your time is not. And it does take time to organically grow a social media presence. I speak with small business owners who are disappointed at the lack of fan interaction. If you post every couple of weeks, and only about your current promotion or special, you will be disappointed. You must take the time to be involved in your social media outlets. Studies have shown that at about six hours a week, business owners start seeing results. Schedule time in your day – every day – to be involved. As you progress, you will find it takes less time to engage in your networks.

Social media creates a two-way street, allowing for a comfort level – a bond – between you and your customer. A happy customer is a buying customer. With time – time to develop and grow – small businesses benefit greatly from social media with new customers, partnerships, improved sales, and lower marketing costs.

For more in-depth analysis on how small businesses are successfully using social media to grow their business, check out the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from Social Media Examiner.

Facebook Metrics Decoded

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Lisa Karl

Facebook recently changed – improved! – the insights they provide to business pages. This means you, the business owner, get more information, enabling you to better understand what your fans like, and don’t like.

Find your insights. Pull up your page and look under your profile picture. Click on the Insights link. First is a graph, and across the top you see:

Total Likes – The number of people who like your page.
Friends of Fans – The total number of people who are friends with your friends (potential reach, as they can see their friends’ activity on the ticker).
People Talking About This – The number of unique people who ‘talk’ about your page, by either liking a post or comment, commenting, tag you, share a post, checks in, responds to an event, and on and on.
Weekly Total Reach—The number of unique people who have seen anything associated with your page (i.e. through a share, a mention, or through a ticker).

Just below the overall graph, is the Post Graph. Along that you see:

Date—Date of the post.
Post—A snippet from the post; hover your mouse over it to see a pop up of the post.
Reach—The number of unique people who saw that post.
Engaged users—The number of people who clicked on that post.
Talking About This—The same definition as above.
Virality—The percentage of the people talking about your post out of how many people saw your post.

What do you do with these numbers? When you click on Engaged Users, the column sorts your posts from the highest number of engaged users, to the lowest. You can instantly see what type of content your fans prefer—photos, video, links or updates. Very simple!

On the left side of your page, under Insights, click Reach. The first graphs give you demographics on your fans. Scroll down to see How You Reach People. The left graph show how you reached people. On the right, you’ll see Unique Users by Frequency. This tells you how many times people saw your content, either by going to your wall, seeing it in their newsfeed or a friend’s ticker. You want to be reaching multiple times with your posts. If you aren’t showing up in your fans’ newsfeeds, then change your posting – the timing, the frequency and the type. Monitor this graph to see how your adjustments are reaching fans.

Next click Likes under Insights on the left side of your page. See Where Your Likes Came From and pay attention to the spikes. If you had a high number of unlikes on a particular day, go pack to posts to see the activity. Maybe too many posts? Maybe too much video? Pay attention to spikes of likes as well, what were the posts that day? Open ended questions, a poll, a link? Go with what works!

Schedule time in every week to look over your Insights page. Then, give the people what they want!

Tell us in the comment show using Insights has helped you manage your Facebook page.

Tips to Jump Start Facebook for 2012

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Lisa Karl

Both personally and professionally, this is a busy time – the race is on to get everything done by the end of the year! Here at Nova Creative Media, it’s no different, but I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some tips to get your social media plan moving for 2012.

Facebook is a rich tool you should be actively using to reach out to, connect with and interact with your customers. Here’s how you can pump it up for 2012:

Post often. You can search the internet and come up with 100 different opinions on how often to post on Facebook (and other social media, as well). Aim for one post a day and add to it as you can. You will know when you’ve reached that break-even point when you see a trend of ‘unlikes,’ or you receive comments.
Change up your posts. Please don’t post the same thing every day, such as a lunch special or a sale item. If you do, make it one of several posts you do during the day. Start to add photos and video to your posts. If you post links or repost from others, add comments – don’t just throw it out there, add your own insight or description.
Time your posts. When are your fans on Facebook? Most likely in the late afternoon, evening and on weekends. Use a social media management tool such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck (there are others out there). This allows you to schedule posts during your busy times or when you know many of your fans are online. This leads me to…
Use Insights! Facebook offers you this information-rich area called Insights. If you just glance at it to see how many new fans you have, you’re not getting even a sliver of the picture. Insights tells you about your fans (who they are, where they live) and which posts draw the most attention (letting you know what content they like and when they are online).
Do not push Tweets to Facebook! Your Twitter audience and Facebook audiences are different and have different wants and needs in terms of information from you. Some businesses think they are saving time by posting once to multiple social media platforms, but nothing turns a Facebook user off more than seeing Tweets in their Facebook newsfeed. Just don’t do it!

Please connect with Nova Creative Media for information and advice on connecting with your customers. We wish you a happy and successful 2012!

Give Value, Not Noise

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Lisa Karl

Having your company on the Internet exposed you to many potential customers, but the Internet also exposed you to many more competitors. Most likely customers have several outlets to choose from, no matter how unique your product. You need a plan to give your customers value. And I don’t mean perceived value, but real, true customer service value. How to stand out:

Entice. Convert your potential customer in to a customer by offering coupons or free offers.

Social marketing: I’m on Facebook and Twitter several times a day; that’s where I hear about specials at local restaurants or events at wineries.

Interact. Offer how-to videos and online seminars dealing with your product or service – or a related product or service. Offer referrals to local companies that would benefit your customers. Work together with your customers to make your community a better place by supporting local charities.

How do you know you’re giving a particular customer value? Ask questions and listen. Wow. Seems so simple, yet many of us are focused on ourselves or our business in a general way, that we forget to care for the details. And our customers are our details. So ask…carry on a conversation…and listen. Find out your customers’ concerns, their worries, and their joys. From there, how can you offer a solution to a problem or a boost to an achievement?

Real example:

A local restaurant owner is looking to get more traffic in the door. She is also very community-oriented and knows that I am on the board for Loudoun Interfaith Relief. She called and said she’s like to start offering people free ice cream if they bring in canned food on Thursday evenings. Of course! I brought her materials from LIR, and she gets the added bonus that I post her promotion every week on Facebook, which in turn gets reposted by some of my friends. The restaurant gets more customers and her customers feel good knowing they are helping their community.

What do you do to offer value to your customers? Share your successes with us in the comments.

What You Don’t Want to Do With Social Media

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Lisa Karl

There has been a bit written here about what to do regarding social media platforms and your company; not let’s look at a few don’ts.

Twitter:
Don’t set up a Twitter account and not Tweet. If someone runs across your business on Twitter and doesn’t see any Tweets, or worse, only a few Tweets and the last one was from January 2009, they just surf away, taking with them a bad impression of your company.

Don’t follow anyone. Just get people to follow you on Twitter, but don’t return the favor. There will be people whom you want as a follower, but will be turned off by the fact you don’t follow anyone.

Don’t be responsive to customers/clients concerns. If someone Tweets about your company – especially negatively – and your response comes forth days – or weeks later – really, don’t bother. In Internet time, you might as well have answered years later.

Facebook:
Don’t set up a Facebook Fan page for your company and just let it lie there. You need to post something at least once a week. If you don’t have anything exciting going on, post something – advice or a link – that is interesting to your audience.

Don’t tell people why you are there. It should be a place where your customers can get useful information, and be able to provide feedback.

In general:
Don’t rush out to set up all kinds of social media accounts without any planning. You need to know why and how you will use social media

Don’t just throw up ads and marketing content – this is not the place for it.

Don’t ignore your customers – I’ve seen Facebook pages that don’t let their customers post – that’s the whole point!

Your company needs to engage in social media – and the correct verb is engage. Customers today expect to be active participants with the companies who take their money – they want friendly, chatty banter, helpful advice they can see (as in You Tube), and know that their complaints and suggestions are taken seriously. Set it up, keep it fresh – just get it done!