The New Facebook Timeline … Four Ways to Improve Your Facebook Page Right NOW

March 15, 2012

Does your Facebook Page need a little zip? Chances are it could be a little peppier.

I know how it is, you are busy busy working away and don’t always have time to make some changes. Well here are some great tips to make some little tweaks that can give you big results.

Use Your Apps Wisely

With the new Timeline you have 12 apps available to showcase but only the first 4 show on the first line. One of those Apps has to be the Photos App. Take a look at what EasyLunchBoxes has done with their Apps! Fantastic!

Powerful stuff to make you stand out from the crowd. Also make sure you have your website address in the About section. The About section is now very prominent on your Timeline and can have a call to action in it (unlike the Cover photo which can’t have a call to action)

These custom images for Apps are easy to add (just click the down arrow to show all your Apps, click on the pencil in the upper right corner of the App, then click Edit Settings – you’ll see the place where you can add the image)  Designing these App images doesn’t have to be hard either.  Use a tool like Paint, or Photoshop if you are handy with those.  Even take a look at how I created my Cover photo using PowerPoint in this tutorial:  https://andreavahl.com/facebook/hot-tips-on-facebook-timeline-for-pages.php

Or, if you are working with a graphics designer, use their services to have a cohesive branded look across your website and other social media sites.  But don’t let budget stop you from getting a new graphics.  There are designers that do a decent job on www.fiverr.com for just $5!  Such a deal.

Highlight Posts

Use your new Timeline to tell your Story. Now that Timelines are here, use this valuable real estate to showcase good things that have happened or products that you want to draw attention to. All you need to do is click on the little star in the upper right corner and the post will be bigger.

Talk to Other Pages

If you are having some trouble getting engagement on your Page, go out and talk to other Pages as your Page. Be social, people! All you need to do is Like their Page as your Page, then watch your Page News Feed and comment. See how social Professional Carpet Systems is? Very nice! And it only takes a few minutes a day to connect.

Post More

Are you just posting once a day? Once a week? Well I have some news for you, more is better. Studies have shown that posting 2-5 times a day is ideal. But it may depend on your audience. You need to vary your posts to appeal to different segments of your market. Some people like videos, some like photos, others want links to articles. Now it sounds like a lot of work, but it really doesn’t have to be bad. Remember those other Pages you Liked as your Page? Share some of their posts. Don’t be stingy. Spread the love.

Find articles on Twitter or post some of your best blog posts from time to time. It’s ok that some people have seen those posts. If it’s evergreen content it’s still relevant! Have an editorial calendar so that you know what you are posting when. Post a question or something fun and random. Mix it up. You will be surprised with your results. More engagement, more Likes, and more fun!

If you want to take your Facebook Page to the next level and use it to get leads for your business, you might be interested in my new product How to Use Facebook to Get Leads for Your Business.

Special thanks to Grandma Mary for this guest post contribution! (The 2nd guest blogger I have had on my blog – I’m flattered and honored to have made such great connections and Twitter friends. As I say and teach “Ask for what you want – all they can say is NO!” This thinking has paid off for me over and over again. This is absolutely one of those times. ~ Lissa

Grandma Mary is a slightly cranky Social Media Edutainer, helping small businesses leverage the power of social media. She provides entertaining how-to videos on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and more. Her alter ego, Andrea Vahl, is the co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies. You can find Grandma and Andrea at www.AndreaVahl.com.

What Small Business Can Learn From Big Business In Social Media

February 8, 2012

The social media marketing world is chock full of examples of how businesses can use social media to engage audiences and drive conversation. There’s also a growing number of case studies that show how businesses can actually drive customer acquisition, lead conversion and the like — which are all better business metrics.

But small businesses are often left by the wayside since the case studies are typically focused on companies that invest thousands of dollars into their social media livelihoods. Still, the big companies can offer lots of ideas and even corollary examples for the small- and medium-sized business in this realm.

Most of the customer service models in social media (Comcast, Dell, etc.) were not started with great budgets or sizable teams. Instead, it was typically one person responding to individual Tweets. Sure, the companies quickly scaled upward once they realized how much of an impact social media customer service could make, but small businesses can still do it. And for not much more than time invested.

The revenue-driving case studies we’ve seen to date, like Dell’s $6.5 million in sales from its @delloutlet Twitter account (As of December of 2009, by the way. They haven’t updated the figure since.) or even Cold Stone Creamery’s $10,000 monthly sales increases (per store) thanks to eGifting on Facebook, are inspirations as well. No, not all small businesses have insatiable products with fans lined up out the doors to buy, but understanding the mechanisms used to track and credit sales to social channels is good learning for any business.

When you’re looking at case studies from existing businesses, even large ones, ask yourself a few questions to help understand what you can take from their learnings. Questions like:

1. What channel or communications method did they use to engage their customers? Can I use that same channel and replicate that type of method without adding a lot of time or cost to my marketing?
2. What mechanism did they use the measure their success? Can I use that same mechanism without adding at lot of time or cost. How easy will it be for me to capture that information?
3. Take away the fancy design, fact they probably used an agency or two and had a big budget. Do the tools exist to help me do this on a budget? Google the functionality to see if something exists (e.g. — “free Facebook contest application”).

We can emulate the big businesses out there, often times for a lot less investment than we think. It just takes seeing how other’s success is working and finding more efficient ways to produce it.

Of course, there’s a big advantage small businesses often have over large businesses, too. They’re more in tune with location and a local audience than larger ones. That means they have easier access and more relevant messaging for the end consumer than larger brands. That’s probably the one area of social media that empowers small businesses most.

You and your small business can learn how you can attack the advantages of small business at Explore Dallas-Fort Worth on Feb. 17 at Union Station Dallas. Mike Merrill will be talking about that exact topic. Not to mention, you’ll have lots of exposure to ideas and inspiration from some larger brands and exposure to some high-level strategic learning from national speakers and experts.

Join me, Brian Clark from Copyblogger, Tom Webster from Edison Research, Zena Weist of Edelman Digital, Chris Baccus of AT&T and more at Explore Dallas-Fort Worth. The day includes breakfast, lunch and a cocktail reception, great learning and networking and a one-month free trial of ExploringSocialMedia.com, a question-answer site and learning community. Next Friday will rock. I want you to be there.

Head on over to register. Just make sure to use the code LISSASVIPS to get $150 off the full ticket price. (Lissa’s cool like that … takin’ care of y’all and such.) We’ll see you on Feb. 17!

Special thanks to Jason Falls for this guest post contribution! (The first guest blogger I have had on my blog – not to shabby, if I say so myself! Next guest blogger – who knows! You better stay tuned! You never now what rabbit I will pull out of my hat next. ~ Lissa

Jason Falls is the CEO of Social Media Explorer, host of Explore social media marketing events and author of the book No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing. Follow him on Twitter at @JasonFalls.