How to effectively use:

Facebook for Your Organisation

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 Facebooks spam rules, and in many cases has resulted in both the personal profile and the business page being banned from Facebook.

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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 users interest. There are several key rules regarding this image. The cover image must not feature price 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 to 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.

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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 time period.

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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-pedrorestaurant-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, filesharing facilities, enhanced location maps and contact details, Twitter inside your Facebook and much more.

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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/

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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.

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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 users 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.

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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.

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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.

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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 pages 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 pages edgerank and suggest next steps to improve it: 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. Its 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 wont 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 brands timeline could be a game changer. New newsfeed features allow your brand to target your market with unique, engaging stories that make users want 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 youre 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.

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