how to effectively use facebook for your organisation.pdf

7/27/2019 How To Effectively Use FaceBook For Your Organisation.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/how-to-effectively-use-facebook-for-your-organisationpdf 1/22

How to effectively use: Facebook for Your Organisation



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Contents

Facebook for Your Organisation ....................................................................................................................................... 1

Profiles vs Pages – the rules ................................................................................................................................................ 3

Setting up your page .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

The elements of the page ................................................................................................................................................. 6

No more landing pages ..................................................................................................................................................... 7

Analysis tool .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Permissions ........................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Telling a story ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Best practices for setting up and initial use of a Brand timeline page on Facebook .............................. 9

Getting a unique page url. SEO benefits. ................................................................................................................. 10

Adding page administrators ......................................................................................................................................... 10

Applications ........................................................................................................................................................................ 10

Using the map ..................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Using events ........................................................................................................................................................................ 14

How to drive website traffic with Facebook.......................................................................................................... 16

What is edgerank and how to use it .......................................................................................................................... 17

What to post on your Brand Timeline Facebook page ...................................................................................... 19

Story posting Best Practices ......................................................................................................................................... 20

Harnessing new vibrant timeline stories and newsfeeds ………………...………………………………………21

Using new Facebook hash tags effectively…………………………………………………………………………... .....22



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Profiles vs. Pages – the rules

Businesses, brands and organisations can only be promoted on Facebook by using the Facebook

Page feature. Although you will need a personal profile on Facebook in order to set up a business

page, it is not advisable to promote your organisation via your personal profile. To do so would be

in violation of the Facebook terms; and will probably result in a warning or ban, and the deletion of

content.

For more information on Facebook rules, click here. Furthermore, ‘strategic friending’ or using a

personal profile to promote a brand page, is also not allowed under Facebook’s spam rules, and in

many cases has resulted in both the personal profile and the business page being banned from

Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=225967067429876#I've-been-trying-to-promote-my-organization/business-but-now-I%E2%80%99ve-been-warned-for-spamming.-Is-there-a-way-I-can-spread-the-word-about-my-organization/business?






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Before setting up your page it is well worth considering the Facebook rules and guidelines for

Facebook pages specifically with regard to advertising, promotions and the cover photo design –

which are the most common areas users can fall foul of.

Setting up your page

Facebook pages for business, since February 2012, are referred to as ‘Timelines for Brands’. The

concept from brand timelines centres upon using the chronological format of the page to tell

stories, and create a narrative context, for the brand. Rather than post pieces of information, the

timeline is designed to create a time ordered diary of your brand, its achievements and landmarks,

and development up to the present day. These stories are what Facebook would like you to use to

define your brand on the platform.

How to choose the right image

The first element of page branding is the cover photo. The image now extends to full page width.

The dimensions for photoshop or illustrator are 850x315 pixels. This is a landscape format graphic

space which sits above the fold. It is essential to maximise the visual effect of this image to grab the

user’s interest. There are several key rules regarding this image. The cover image must not featureprice or purchase info, contact information, calls to action (for example ‘like us’ or ‘buy this’ or ‘have

a look at our sale items’), or any references to Facebook features (for example ‘share’ or ‘like’ or

‘comment’) Arrows pointing t o features, such as the like button, are also not allowed. The graphic

should be used to provide an attention grabbing image which acts as a predominantly visual

depiction of your brand.

http://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php






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These tools will assist you in defining your cover image:

http://picscatter.com/

http://apps.facebook.com/aviaryeditor/

Here are some best practice examples:

http://www.facebook.com/subway












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http://www.facebook.com/harley-davidson

The elements of the page

The category and about section allows you 150 characters to describe your company in a sentence

or two. This is your chance to give potential customers your “elevator pitch”; as they are likely to be

at least somewhat interested in your if they click through to your About section. Ensure this

description is carefully key-worded for your niche. This increases the chances that your business

will appear more prominently in Facebook search results, but more importantly, in Google search

results. This ‘about ’ section can be enlarged, for example, to incorporate contact details or a

website address, by removing all but three of the application icons.

Next to the about box are the rectangular application icons, which replace the much smaller sidebar

application tabs from the previous Facebook page design. The “photos” tab is fixed, and the other

tabs can be rearranged by clicking on the down arrow present on the final right hand application

icon.

If your business is based in a particular location, it is well worth setting up the maps application to

feature your company address and geocoded map location. This will aid your business not only in

appearing in localised Facebook search results, but also in Google local place results – which appear

above standard search results.






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No more landing pages

It is no longer possible, or within the rules, to set a default landing page. In other words, you cannot

set the Facebook brand page to begin with an application – every page will “land” i.e. begin on the

timeline page, with the large cover image.

Applications which had been present on previous Facebook page designs, will still work – but they

are now accessible from one of the four application icons underneath the cover page graphic. The

rectangular110x74 pixel graphic for each of the application buttons can be customised and

therefore can be designed to lead the customer to your custom applications. For example, you

might style this graphic as a button stating “info” or “exclusive content”. It is also possible to link

your custom apps from the timeline, by posting a new story on the timeline which contains a link to

the page url containing your custom app. Alternatively, you might hyperlink a photo or image from

the timeline. It is possible to “pin” stories to the top of the timeline, to make them “sticky” and

appear first in the list for up to seven days.

The icon picture for the “photos” tab is dependent on the last photo which was uploaded to the

album. So this results in a great deal of flexibility for the branding of this section. Changing a photo

each day can result in a noticeable change to the site appearance each day and this section could be

used as focal point to draw in the customer.

Analysis tool

The new Facebook brand timeline offers brands the unique opportunity to analyse not only their

own brand page, but also brand pages of their competitors. The analysis section offers detailed

statistics on viewer demographics, reach, total likes, readership; and by quantity, location and timeperiod.



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Competitor stats from any brand page (click on ‘likes’ application button)

Permissions

The permissions section of the new Facebook brand timeline offers a variety of options which can

affect the reach and visibility of your promotion. From this section, it is possible to customise the

text and the graphic icons for each of the application tabs.

It is also possible to customise who is able to post on the timeline wall, whereabouts on the timeline

wall posts will be seen, who is responsible for screening or moderating the posts, and whether

customers or fans can send private messages directly to the person administering the brand page.

Although brands pages cannot initiate contact with users, the facility for users to contact the brand

is useful, and could have many customer service and helpdesk type applications.

Telling a story

Facebook has designed brand pages to promote by means of storytelling – a chronological feature

whereby the user sees a range of text, image, photograph, video and music items presented in a

timeline format, showing the development and changes of a brand over time. Stories can be added

retrospectively, to build a biography of a brand.



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Landmark events can be added as “milestones” on the brand timeline. Specific posts can be

highlighted to stretch across the entire width of the page to create an eye-catching design effect.

Highlighting can be achieved by clicking the star icon on the top right corner of any post. This could

be used to highlight a video, a photo, or a particularly useful post by a customer, or a new product

launch.

Furthermore, by using the edit icon, next to the star highlight icon, any recent post can be ‘pinned’

to the top of the timeline, ensuring maximum visibility and prominence for up to seven days.

Best practices for setting up and initial use of a Brand timeline page on

Facebook

Get maximum ROI by making best use of the ‘above the fold’ cover image. This cover image

represents your brand. Change the cover image, or tweak the cover image to provide a new

customer experience or to launch a new stage in your promotion.

Use the milestones and highlight features to provide a narrative experience for the viewer.

Pin key posts, such as new product launches, promotions, or competitions – to ensure

maximum visibility.

Make use of the direct messages feature as a help desk or FAQ service.

An above the fold image.



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The SEO benefits of a unique page url.

Once you have a certain number of fans (people who have liked your page) Facebook allows you to

change the URL address of your page to a customised address. For example – you might choose – www.facebook.com/mybusiness . Choosing this name can have huge SEO benefits. Since most users

will not find you page by directly typing in the address, choose a page URL that features the name of

your business and perhaps one or two keywords, depending on the length.

Try not to go over 30 characters. For example, for a restaurant called “Casa Pedro”, the custom

name “casa-pedro” would be good, but “casa-pedro-restaurant” would be better, and “casa-pedro-

restaurant-fulham” would be even better. Sometimes, if your organisation is focused on a particular

niche, and no one has yet taken the custom address for that niche, it might be worth trying to select

that address. For example a Reputation Management company might be better taking the custom

address “facebook.com/reputationmanagement” rather than the name of their company.

Adding page administrators

Once the page has been set up, it is possible to add multiple administrators. For example, you might

want to add your web designer who could integrate the Facebook page into your company website.

Or you might create a team of people to post status updates on behalf of your brand.

Applications

There is a huge range of custom and third part applications which can add functionality to your

Facebook page. Applications can add contact such as contact or registrations forms, word or pdf

documents, page turning prospectuses and marketing material, music and downloadable mp3s, file-

sharing facilities, enhanced location maps and contact details, Twitter inside your Facebook and

much more.

http://www.facebook.com/mybusiness





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There are some useful lists of suitable apps here:

http://www.facebook.com/Fanpageapps/app_4949752878

http://socialmediatoday.com/node/420440 - the birthday idea is extremely effective.

http://appbistro.com/#

http://www.kaywalten.com/5-facebook-applications-for-your-tourism-business/

http://www.johnhaydon.com/2010/10/facebook-page-applications-nonprofitonprofit/



http://socialmediatoday.com/node/420440


http://appbistro.com/













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Alternatively, there are companies you hire to create your own branded Facebook applications, for

example to create and administer competitions and viral promotions.

For example:

http://www.avenuesocial.com/

and

http://www.wildfireapp.com/









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Using the map

Using the map application is crucial to optimising the local search SEO on your Facebook page. Not

only does using the map provide a clear visual description of your location, it also ensures your

content is more likely to appear in local search results, both on Facebook, and on Google. Using the

map also localises any stories your post, pictures you publish or events you create. For more details,

click here.

http://www.facebook.com/help/timeline/maps





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Using events

The events application can be an extremely effective way to advertise and promote your Facebook

brand page. An event can be sent out to all the people who have ‘liked’ your page, and additional

email contacts. Once sent out, the event can then be shared and those who have ‘liked’ your page

can invite their own friends – rapidly building your promotion reach. Events are time limited and, if

you have completed the ‘map’ section, localised, so are very likely to pop up in search results or

user’s timelines.



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For more information on how to set up an event on your Facebook page, click here.

For instructions on how to invite users to your event, click here.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=116346471784004#How-do-I-create-a-new-event-through-my-Page?



http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=213851145302199#How-do-I-invite-people-to-my-event?







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For instructions on messaging people regarding your event, click here.

How to drive website traffic with Facebook

Use simple strategies to drive traffic to your website. Refer to your website in every timeline story

post.

Every time you publish a post on your website, share it on your Facebook page.

For all competitions or contests, direct the user to your website for further details, rules or

the results.

When running events, always provide further and crucial details on your website.

Embed Facebook onto your website to ensure two-way traffic, and to fully implement

Facebook into your statistics and analytics packages.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=218066228212658#Can-I-message-all-people-attending-an-event-hosted-by-my-Page?






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For further details on embedding Facebook into your website, click here:

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web/ and look in detail at this section:

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web/#plugins .

If you use Wordpress for your website, there are many free plugins in the Wordpress plugin

directory which make this process simpler.

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web/


http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web/#plugins






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What is edgerank and how to use it

Edgerank is the power of your facebook page in terms of reach and exposure. Edgerank is an

algorithm that ranks objects in the Facebook News Feed. Pages with high edgerank scores will be

more likely to show up in the news feed, than pages with low edgerank Scores.

Edgerank is made up of three variables: affinity, weight, and time decay. Affinity is dependent

on a user's relationship with an object in the news feed. Weight is determined by the type of object,

such as a photo/video/link/etc. The last variable is time decay, as an object gets older, the lower

the value.

Put simply, the higher your page’s edgerank, the better the chance of it appearing in news feed

searches within Facebook, and also in Google search results.

This website will measure your page’s edgerank and suggest next steps to improve it:

http://edgerankchecker.com

http://edgerankchecker.com/





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What to post on your Brand Timeline Facebook page

Ideas for what to post on your Facebook timeline:

News items which tell the story of your brand and link back to your website.

Videos and engaging visual content related to your brand.

News articles related to your niche – these automatically keyword your page. Use Twitter

feed or RSS Graffiti to automate this.

Comment on other pages in related niches.

Ask questions of your users – conduct informal polls.

Invite users to post on your page. Pictures, photos and videos can be tagged – this will

increase the reach of your page.

Tag users in news items which involve a lot of people.

Tag your employees in posts – all their friends will see it.

Ask users to recommend your page to their friends.

Like other businesses in your locality – they may well like you back, increasing your reach in

your locality.

Examples of best practice on Facebook pages regarding story posting:

http://www.facebook.com/Tiffany






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https://www.facebook.com/OldSpice

https://www.facebook.com/anders.lonnfeldt.photographer.cinematographer









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Harnessing new Vibrant Timeline Stories and Newsfeeds

The Facebook newsfeed is where most users spend the bulk of their time on the network, and the

primary method for content distribution. But these new changes are not just prettier colors and

flashier content. This could change the Facebook user experience altogether. This new Facebook design could significantly improve the users perception of their experience with the network,

making the social site even more appealing and engaging than it already is.

There are several ways that the new design will change the way that brands engage with their fans,

both organically and through advertising. It’s important that we understand these changes to avoid

being left behind.

The old Facebook design gave users two options for viewing their News Feed: “Most Recent” or

“Top Stories.” Both options show the same information, but “Top Stories” shows users what

Facebook deems the most important based off of engagement.

The new Facebook design will also allow users to group their newsfeeds by:

Most Recent

All Friends

Photos

Music

Following

Games

Groups

Custom Lists

Other than the main News Feed, all other feeds will be unfiltered and in reverse chronological

order. As long as your brand has engaging content that they want to interact with, there is no

reason to think that users won’t keep your brand in their newsfeed.

If users want to see your brand content, they will use their Following feed. These feeds are sorted

according to usage. So if you want to stay fresh, it is imperative to engage your fans and let them

enjoy big, lush photos and snappy page design. Be sure to have some kind of professional design for

your brand or you might be left behind in users new, more visual Facebook timeline.



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What do these Newsfeed changes mean for my business?

This ability to tell stories with your brand’s timeline could be a game changer. New newsfeed

features allow your brand to target your market with unique, engaging stories that make userswant to interact with you. Facebook describes it as “less clutter and more bright, beautiful stories.”

Strategies to use this ever evolving and exciting Facebook technology are likely best handled by a

professional marketing consultant or marketing agency. You can find one that best suits what your

firm is trying to accomplish.

If you’re like most businesses, you need leads. Leads that are engaged and excited about your brand

turn into sales and customers. Customers that are satisfied with your brands product or service

eventually become return customers. This process starts with their first impressions of your brand.

Make those big, pretty images count.

Using New Facebook Hash Tags Effectively

Finally Facebook has caught up with the Twitter concept of hash tagging keywords of importance to

your company and brand.

Some Facebook pages use these hash tag tools effectively, and others are overstepping boundaries.

Too many hash tags on any social network can annoy or confuse your audience and might redirect

them to a different page. Pick a few targeted keywords and stick to them. Some users got into the

bad habit of posting a slew of hash tags with images from Instagram, and this strategy is also

flawed. It is best to tell a brief story with Instagram photos such as the #NewProject at my #Work.

Apply these keywords to your blog, Twitter feed and other social spaces as well. This is very

important for SEO purposes. The more engaging content you have throughout Facebook Like the

old saying goes, you can only really be well known for one thing. Your audience and search indexes

will thank you for it. No need to recreate the wheel, just do a few things differently and watch the

results grow. A little goes a long way.

Marketers and social media analysts are currently strategizing the most effective ways to use

Facebook hash tags effectively. The key to effective hash tagging and key wording, in most cases, is

consistency and precision.

Credits: Text by Zoe Olsberg www.dragonfly-associates.co.uk , Tom Tolkien www.tomtolkien.com &

Jason Sander.

http://www.dragonfly-associates.co.uk/



http://www.tomtolkien.com/





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