How to increase your fans by 48.9%

What I am going to introduce you to today is something special that has almost doubled the conversion rates with all the companies that I have worked with. Typically when a visitor visits your Facebook page, 23% of people will click the “Like” button. How would you like to increase that conversion rate to 47%? Have you ever heard of a “Fan Gate”  or “Welcome” Landing Tab?

Usually when a person who has not “Liked” or has not become your “fan” of your Facebook Page, visits your page, they land on the Your Page’s “Wall”. The “Wall” is the place where all your Page’s content is aggregated including the comments, videos, posts and photos. The downside of sending your Non-Fans to the “wall” is that when they get there, there are no specific calls to actions.  And even if your business has some calls to action on the page, these messages are most likely lost in between all the other content that has been posted. The reason for a call to action is to get people more to “Like” your page. Once they have done so you can start to build a relationship with them on an on-going basis.

If you have made a welcome/landing/fan-gate tab for your Facebook page, you need to change the default view for non-fans to this specific tab.

Why do You want people to “Like” your page?

When someone “Likes” your page, your business page messages show directly into that person’s personal “News Feed” (the homepage and centre-point for most interaction on Facebook). This means that you are able get in front of your customers more often, and in time you will be able to subtly market to them, increase brand awareness, and gradually attain new potential customers. Moreover, if you a good sales funnel, and ways to measure you online strategy, you can get a return on investment. Hopefully now you can appreciate why you need people to “Like” your page and hence the need to implement a welcome/ fan-gate tab.

What is a Welcome Tab exactly?

A welcome tab can be as simple as a single unique page that entices people to click the ‘Like” button before proceeding to other content.  (see image example 1) or as as complex as image example 2. Both have different purposes, strategies and objectives.

 *** Update 27/03/15: Welcome pages removed as they are non-current and do not properly represent the current Facebook layout.

Facebook groups, pages, profiles - which is best for you?

A lot has changed over the last year on the internet. In fact the rate of change is so fast  that it is not uncommon for people to say, “that was a year ago”, or now even more common “that was two months ago” or even “last month”. If you’re business is to keep up with the times and with your  customers, you are going to have to adapt to these changes. However, one change that is here to stay, or at least in the mid-to short term are Facebook Pages. For those who are unsure there are four types of products Facebook has launched; pages, groups, personal/or business profiles, and community pages. The challenge occurs when you have to decide which is the right option for your business.

Key Points Takeaway points:

• Use a Facebook Fan Page for your business
• Use personal profile for your personal relationships
• Groups are old news
• Do not invest time in "Community Pages"

Personal/Business profile

Business profiles can be used by individuals to manage ad campaigns and administer their various “pages” on Facebook. However, people with business profiles cannot view other people’s profiles that are not connected to the pages. Therefore there are limitations.

Personal profiles are as the name suggests are personal. From a personal account the individual can administer “pages”, “groups” and can additionally view other people’s profiles. Furthermore, those who own a personal profile can also run and administer pages as well as ad campaigns.

Each person is only allowed one profile and therefore it is a violation of Facebook’s terms and conditions to have both. Hence an individual cannot have a business profile and a personal profile. Your personal profile should be the place where you “hang out” with your friends.

Both personal and business profiles cannot be found in search engines, so they are not the best for exposure online.  Consequently from a business perspective it is not the best idea to invest your time in these accounts. Keep profiles for personal not business relationships. Additionally, you are only allowed 5000 people on your profile, something to keep in mind.

Pages

Pages are the way to go for Business

• Unlimited members
• Can add custom content or Apps to create a unique customers experience
• Can message people through “updates”. These are not private messages and you may not even know they are there.
• These pages are “indexed” by Google which means these Pages can be found in Search engines. Therefore, they help your business rank or be seen higher in Google searches. This is great for awareness.

Groups

Groups are the 2008, and early 2009 version of Pages

• You can have over 5000 members, but you can’t message more than that. Because of this you cannot manage a group properly and therefore they are not the best option for business in 2011.
• Can’t add custom content
• These pages cannot be found in the search engines and hence are not indexed by Google.

Community Pages

These community pages are like a Wiki. Facebook has created all of these based on your activites and interests and has added you to the to “quote unquote” group you. They are really good SEO (search engine optimization) for Facebook (as the company itself) but not for you and for business purposes they are certainly NOT a good idea.

When these first came out i tested building a community around them, however after i hit 10,000  fans Facebook took over the administration and all my time and effort was wasted to a large extent. It was a hard lesson but I think I’m better for it.  Moreover, you don’t have a lot of control of these pages because anything said about a topic goes on the Wiki Page.

Recommendations & Moving forward...Facebook Fan pages are the only way to go. If you have a business I would certainly start building and extending your brand here.

Maximise Your Facebook Fan Page effectiveness with Thumbnails

Have you noticed that some of the pictures that you have posted on your Facebook company page show up in the area just above your status updates, in the form of little photo thumbnails? If not you should definitely take a look. 

Unfortunately, I am seeing a lot of businesses miss-using these thumbnails when they could be using them a lot more effectively. When this Facebook feature first came out, there were quite a few people with very creative profile pictures and thumbnails like the one below. This was great, and it sparked the idea in me that the same thing could be tailored for businesses so that businesses could get an actual benefit from it.

It is true that companies have been very slow to adopt a creative way to use this area to greater customise their pages and capitalise on this opportunity. And even those that have used this space creatively are not doing such a great job.

So What Should You Do?

You should be using this area to showcase your products. This is a great opportunity to create awareness for your products and gives you a way to indirectly advertise to the people connected with you on your page. When a heat map was done on Facebook pages, this area (the tiled thumbnails) received quite a lot of attention.  People are naturally curious and if you make this tiled area really creative people will want to click and take a look. Eye-balls can be monetised and this is definitely something to keep in mind.  

Why not take it a step further and use this as an chance to get more people to your website. Experiment with a short description after the image, as well as a link to the product or service you are offering. Under Armour do a great job of ensuring a tight marketing funnel. Take a look at how they are using this space. 

It would be great to hear your thoughts. Is it something that you will implement?

Interaction Is Key

Interaction is key for businesses that want to use social media to its full potential. I was walking through an art gallery today and came across this beautiful piece of aboriginal art, when it reminded me...we are inherently social and community orientated beings. Just like the circular communities shown in the paint, our world and our lives are full of these vibrant communities.  However, too often I am finding that businesses are not treating their customers on social media like they would their friends in an off-line situation. The fact is, is that only 31% of consumers believe that a company has the right to market to them. Therefore just pushing sales messages out, without interaction, is suicide.

Moreover you have to be "likable". As the saying goes, "people buy from people they like", and it is no different online or on social media for that fact. You have to create a likable brand with personality, and interaction and engagement is the crux of creating this. The only way campaigns can work is if you build trust and reciprocity. Remember, you are dealing with real people with real emotions; not merely a number. Furthermore, you cannot force people to buy anything.

Trust is an integral part of any relationship. And as you know, it is something that takes time and hard work. However, when you can gain trust from someone, it can be extremely rewarding. The same principle  applies when you are talking with customers on social media. Communication channels and trust needs to be established before you can  market anything.

You can gain trust by giving away content, being genuinely interactive and interested in your customers, asking questions, or facilitating topics of conversation that are related to you brand, but done in a way that is indirect. Building trust, and offering free content for instance, will pay dividends in the long run.

Not only does great content and value build trust, but it also increases what psychologists call “reciprocity”. Have you ever heard, the more you give the more you will receive? This describes this psychology and is exactly what business need to be thinking about when entering an online relationship with customers. However, not many businesses are actively interacting. In fact, most do the opposite

Dunkin Donuts' Facebook Page does a really great job of interaction. They are definitely a company to watch and learn from. As a result of actively engaging with their fans, they have increased their brand awareness, received new customers and raving fans, and if they manage it correctly and have the right systems in place they will get a return on their investment.  Not bad? Plus you will also notice that fans stick up for the company when someone posts a negative, engaged fans are there to rescue your brand.

Having the right conversation with your customers

Deciding on the type of conversation you should have with customers can be quite difficult, especially if your business is relatively new to the online space, let alone social environment. However, what I intend to do now is help you to gain a clearer understanding of what customers expect from you and how you can have the right conversation online. When i first started on social media it occurred to me that  the online and offline worlds are very similar worlds and that online marketing and business is basically just old business in a new space. It is still my opinion that this is the case to a large extent. Let's take a look.

Just because you, as a business, are entering a very personal space for customers, it does not mean that you have to be extremely personal with your advice, updates, and tweets. In fact, just as in real life there are two types of relationships; business and social. There is a fine line between the two whether you are online or offline. You see, you must be likeable enough to gain people’s trust, but not so personal that it’s creepy, or indeed a relationship that leads to friendship rather than a transaction at the end. Although the difference is prominent offline, it is emphasised online. This heightened difference not only happens because building context to a situation is more difficult online, but you also have many more people that you are  talking to at the same time, and that means many more eyes and different opinions.

With this in mind the types of relationships that you need with customers is where you are positioned as knowledgeable, trustworthy, helpful, and the best source for... (whatever you do as a profession) To do this you need to add value, have useful tips, provide articles and resources, as well as announcements.

Even though this may be the case, you can occasionally say something about your personal life. However, it should resonate with your target audience.

For example you could own a “wedding reception”, and you have an audience of people online who are engaged and about to get married, or have just been married. In this situation it would be ok to let your audience know that your cousin is getting married, which consequently could build hype and give you a chance to showcase some of your services. On the other hand, if Bunning’s warehouse or a builder shared the same news, it might not be received as well by their specific audience.

Like I said before, if it is relevant to a large proportion of people, i.e. if you audience is Australian and you say “ Happy Australia Day”, go for it :-)

Quick Case Study

Starbucks do a great job of interacting with their fans and producing positive engagement. Starting a conversation such as the one below is appropriate for Starbucks because of their brand image and their target audience.