Clearly from this blog you can probably surmise that I enjoy Facebook quite a bit. I accept the fact that privacy concerns are valid and Facebook simply isn’t for everyone – as evident by the May 31st Quit Facebook Day that thousands are now supporting.

So, for those who are considering leaving Facebook, I thought it would be helpful to simply have someone point you in the right direction to delete your Facebook account.

You can do this fairly easily. There is a specific link and form to fill out on Facebook that allows you to close off the account. You can find it at https://ssl.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account. All you need to do is to confirm with Facebook that you wish to deactivate the account. It can then take up to two weeks for the process to occur.

Note*** If you log into your account during that two week period, it will stop the deletion process.

I wanted to call your attention to a post I wrote for our sister blog [www.emarketing-newsletter.com] regarding training your staff on social media.

While it doesn’t deal directly with Facebook, the examples of the negative implications that a companies staff can have while posting and browsing on Facebook increase every day. As a result, being educated or educating itself is vitally important for employees and managers alike.

Here is a short exerpt from the post and I would encourage you to check out the full post!

An ever increasing failure by many corporations when undertaking a social marketing campaign is transparency. Telstra is being as transparent as it gets – publishing their entire social media training guide online. I would encourage you to check it out, learn how you can implement something similar in your company and critique it for additional opportunities to improve the training.

The training guide takes on the forms of a comic book but also includes narration from a speaker with a pretty cool Australian accent. It starts with the most basic social media elements – like “what is Facebook?” From there the training gets into more complex issues like “what if my personal blog post is critical of Telstra?”

Facebook Fan Pages are gaining popularity due to their high adoption rates among Facebook’s 300+ million users. Currently more than 10 million users become fans of Pages each day. However, the basic fan page layout is quite, well, basic. Adding some simple modifications can really make a Fan Page standout and  attract those valuable fans. By doing so, you’ll benefit not only improved appearance, but it is easy and cost effective as well.

The average Facebook Page lacks the ability to modify a page so that the visual appearance can match that of your website, promotional material or landing page. One simple application can add this functionality to your pages and pull in Facebook statistics as well.

The application Static FBML will allow you to create a new tab on your Facebook Page that can be completely customized to mimic your web presence and branding by displaying HTML and FBML so that you can render a truly customized section for your fans. Here is a step-by-step look at how you can implement this tactic.

First, you must have an active Facebook Page that you have admin access to. Then, head over to the Static FMBL Page and choose the “Add To My Page” link:

Once clicked, you will have the ability to choose a page (or pages) that you can add this application to. The application will then be added to the chosen Page(s) and will be labeled “FBML.”

Next, you will want to click “edit your page” then choose to edit the “FBML – FBML” application.

This is where the magic happens and the customization occurs. You can use simple HTML to fill this page and really have it stand out from your competition. Important: javascript is not supported, so stick with plain old HTML for best results.

There is also a good deal of helpful conversations which can enhance your troubleshooting within the “Discussions”  box of the FBML Page if you get stuck.  Coca-Cola and Gap both offer a great example of a customized FBML Page if you are looking for a few creative ideas.

Now, you should have your customized look in the newly named box … but you are not done yet! If your newly created page is really important for your brand (timely promotion, special savings or just an all around improvement from your wall) set this new box as your default location that users will arrive on when they visit your site. You can accomplish this by simply editing your “Wall Settings”. Select your new box in the “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else:” drop down tab.

So there you go! With these simple steps, hopefully you can step up the presence of your Facebook Page and differentiate yourself from your competitors!

Over the weekend Facebook removed the sidebar action link that sends Fan page updates to your Facebook fans directly. You will now need to go through an extra click to get your updates sent. According to All Facebook, since the new Facebook inbox launched the click through rates on Fan page updates has increased significantly! We highly recommend Page administrators take advantage of this increased visibility.
So how do you send the updates? Simply click on the “Edit Page” link on the sidebar. On the right hand side under “Promote Your Page” you will see a link which says “Send an Update to Fans”. Despite the decreased visibility page updates are extremely useful for reaching those Fans who’s feeds your stories may not be displayed in.

As Fan Page updates continue to be implemented we’ll be sure to keep you up to date!

This past weekend, the National Association of Realtors held a conference in San Diego which focused quite a bit on social media and more specifically, Facebook. Ginger Wilcox form the Social Media Marketing Institute, helped Realtors get a better grasp on social media and how to use Facebook for personal use as well as a way to reach out to clients. Attendees were taught about various techniques for using Facebook as a tool for your business. Here are a few techniques taught in the conference as well as a few of our recommendations:

• Make contact personal- As personal as Facebook can feel at times, often contact can come off as somewhat impersonal. Rather than just sending a cold friend request which basically just says “i know you”, take the time to write a quick note, acknowledge them and make it personal.
• Don’t do mass invites- If you’re twenty years old and trying to get all your buddies to your house for a “kegger” than maybe a mass invite is appropriate, but for special events like an open house, take the extra time to customize an invite to only qualified candidates. If John and Julie are looking for that perfect 2 bedroom condo with an ocean view, don’t keep inviting them to an open house in the desert. You don’t want them thinking of you as a “spammer”. Hold back on the mass invitations unless its really necessary.
• Facebook is no longer just for Gen Y- The fasting growing demographic on Facebook is 35+. Nuff said.
• Be casual- Even though you may have a profile primarily for business, try to keep your profile casual. This is the perfect opportunity for your potential client(s) feel a connection with you by seeing you with your hair down and outside of that suit and tie. However, keep those Vegas conference pictures with your F ME Cufflinks and pimp suit on your hard drive. No need for them to see your alter ego.
• Create a business page- If you’re on there strictly for business, or perhaps would like to make a clear distinction between business and personal, create a Facebook business page. Make sure you engage with your community, listen to their requests and build your brand by establishing trust.
• Keep it brief- Don’t make updates with the first six paragraphs from todays Wall Street Journal. Just leave a brief update/comment/opinion(be careful with this one) and send them to your blog for more information. Now we’re talking!
• Integrate your blog- You can upload your blog through the notes tab. Great way to get populate your profile and show people all that hard work you’ve put into your blog.

“I’ve got a profile” or “yeah, yeah, yeah i get all that” . Great! Music to our ears, check out the next step and learn about advertising on Facebook or learn how to build your own app with the new Facebook software developers kit.

As with all marketing channels, you must consider the mindset of the user. Unlike advertising on Google or Yahoo you need to think about targeting a user (or group of users) who is part of a demographic rather than a specific keywords.  The concept of targeting a ‘query’ needs to be thrown out the window! Rather, target a group!

Facebook Marketing Tips

So what are the benefits of  advertising on Facebook?  The simple answer is it’s cheap and targeted.  The average CPC across the board is around 20-30 cents. One of the benefits of the Facebook ad platform is that it isn’t completely clear on what someone might be buying (think trademarked  or branded terms in paid search). When this comes to branded terms, you can really tell if you’re bidding on a specific brand in Google/Yahoo!/Bing and your keyword could be declined/deleted as such. However, this is NOT the case in Facebook.  By leveraging “interests” for advertising, you can bid on users that might like your competition, and it would be nearly impossible to find because it isn’t query based.

Facebook Advertising Tips

Similar to pay per click advertising, you should always test your ads.  Put simply, test everything: alternative landing pages, different phone numbers and most importantly make sure you have analytics in place to track your results.  One word of caution, “interest targeting” can provide a great return but watch out for burnout.  Sending the same message to the same group of people over and over again can stop working quickly so be sure to vary your messaging every so often. A potential alternative is to send people to your fan page because you get higher viral multipliers.  By taking them and turning into a fan, you can get more and more life from your spend.

Facebook Analytics Tips

We recommend viewing Facebook’s suggested best practices and these common reasons for ad rejections prior to getting started!