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Facebook Deals, its about Time

May 3, 2011 By Lisa McKenzie Leave a Comment

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan off all group-buying, flash deals sites that can introduce us to local offers at a fraction of the cost, deals that will entertain, pamper, primp and fill our bellies. But there’s one thing that sites such as  Groupon and Living Social fail at, and that is to tap into our “Likes” and serve us with customized and targeted deals. I’ve yet to get a survey from Groupon or LivingSocial to weigh in on my preferred deals or to be crowd sourced for ideas of where I’d spend more money.

Facebook, however, has been capturing our likes, loves and habits for years, this data is gold to marketers. Tapping into this goldmine and launching Facebook Deals will benefit small businesses and consumers alike in addition to creating a very lucrative revenue stream for Facebook. Which is why we need to ask… Facebook what has taken you so long? Who wouldn’t love the idea of saving money on discounted deals for products and services they already “Like”? And, sharing these deals with our friends is a no-brainer.

Emily White, director of local at Facebook, writes “While many Deals on Facebook offer discounts, it’s more important to us that you find interesting experiences around you to do with friends.  We’ve worked with partners and local businesses to help deliver the best social activities in your area.  And once you’ve found a deal you like, having the deal on Facebook makes it easy to share, buy and plan with your friends.”

Facebook is piloting Facebook Deals in 5 cities including San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas and Austin, Texas.  If you’ve listed one of these test cities as your “current city”, upon signing in to Facebook you will see the deals logo at the bottom of your page. Clicking on the dashboard brings up a list of currently available deals. You can then purchase a deal as well as “Like” the deal to recommend it to others and/or share the offer with friends. Purchasing or sharing the deal will show up in your friends’ news feed announcing your latest action. Words of caution to our significant others and friends, forget about surprise purchases of spa days or romantic dinners and getaways, we’ll be watching and hoping they’re for us.

Facebook has partnered with 11 companies already in the “Deals” business such as OpenTable for restaurant deals and Viagogo for events.

So, does Facebook Deals seem like a competitive threat to Groupon and LivingSocial? Absolutely, but Facebook may also lose two of their biggest advertisers in Groupon and LivingSocial who spend loads of money every month teasing us with promises of up to 90% off deals. In full launch, Facebook will serve more than 600 million users while Groupon has 70 million members and LivingSocial has 28 million.

Small caveat; Facebook Deals must be purchased using Facebook credits, their proprietary currency, a smart move for Facebook in their attempt to position themselves in the consumer payments market but that’s an additional step that may stand between the impulse buyer and the deal.

Do you think, as a consumer, you will be tempted and score a Facebook Deal or two? As a business owner, will you consider Deals as a viable promotional tool?  We’d love to know.

 

Filed Under: Facebook Deals, Facebook Marketing, Images Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Facebook re-instates the “About” section in Pages | Tell me About You!

April 7, 2011 By Lisa McKenzie Leave a Comment

In one of Facebook’s many profile and page re-designs, they did away with the “About Me” section found under your profile image. No warning, just gone in true Facebook fashion.

Most people who invested time in connecting and building relationships on Facebook, truly appreciated this quick way to peruse a profile or page, learn more about a person or brand, and quickly access links to the brand’s website or other social spaces. Since moving the tabs from the top of the page to the left hand side, Facebook re-engineered the look and consequently, did away with the “About Me” box.


Now that the dust has settle and everyone is getting use to the new design, Facebook has brought back this strategic “introduction” feature to pages. The new box, now simply called “About” has been reinstated on pages and can be found below the tab links on the left hand side of the page. This free form text box will now automatically pull the first 58 characters from the “Company Overview” section on your “Basic Information” tab of your page dashboard. To edit the content of this box, click on the typical Facebook “Edit” link on the top right hand side of the box which will bring up your “Basic Information” page. Find the “Company Overview” section and edit away. Be sure to use these 58 characters wisely to describe your company, mission or call to action. This field will no longer allow you to publish a hyperlink taking you away from the page but it’s a start. Hopefully Facebook will re-instate that option as well.

Why is this tiny “About” box important?
Positioning. It is marketing fact that people’s eyes will gravitate to the left-hand side of a web page first, from the top to the middle of the page, giving more justification to why Facebook moved the tabs which used to be at the top of the page to links now on  the left hand side.

People visiting your page will first look at the page’s image/badge, see ours on the left, and form an opinion on the professionalism of the page. Now, they will also  have the opportunity to quickly glance at the “About” section not far below the image to further confirm their belief or sway their opinion. Many other factors will play into whether or not someone decides to “Like” your page, but if you’ve invested in a branded badge or profile image that represents your company well and are crystal clear in your brand message or call to action, strategically using the “About” box, then you’re well on your way to attracting more fans that are genuinely interested in your company’s products or services.

Filed Under: Facebook, Facebook Marketing, Images, Social Media Visibility Tagged With: , , ,

Nice is a Brand Strategy | *Blueprint for Social Media Success* Tips

March 14, 2011 By Cindy Ratzlaff 2 Comments

It cannot be said often enough.  People do business with people, not companies.  The “know, like and trust” factor will differentiate your brand above others.  This is especially true for companies who want to market to women through social media.  We do not want to have messages pushed at us by strangers. We want to be seen, and heard and we want brands to respect our time and offer us value.  We value them even more if we develop an emotional response to the brand and the product.

Social Media platforms evolved as a quick way to stay in touch with friends.  Individuals posted short updates about their state of mind, their plans for the day, invited others to join them and, in general, used social platforms as expanded text messaging.  These social beginnings have rapidly morphed into highly sophisticated spaces for marketing, building brand awareness, real time data mining, list building, selling and community building.  Yet what has endured is the value placed on a culture of nice.

Nice is the underlying attitude that people connect on Facebook and YouTube as friends or fans, people on Twitter follow one another and even on the more formal sites such as LinkedIn people are connected.  Brands who understand social media language are mastering the art of nice by remembering that friends, fans and followers expect to be treated differently than clients or customers.  Social niceties are not a surprise.  They are expected and respected.  Acknowledging comments from fans, retweeting something important or interesting from a follower, saying happy birthday to a friend, solving a problem for a frustrated connection—these are the ways successful brands use social media to increase their social currency, develop brand evangelizers and promote positive feelings about their brand.

Gary Vaynerchuk understands Nice. So does Dani Johnson, Kathy Kinney, Mari Smith, Zappos, and Social Media Examiner. Zappos highlights a “fan of the week” on their Facebook Wall, Mari Smith holds regular free Facebook chats to help fans solve problems, Gary Vaynerchuk says Thank You and encourages others to do the same.

There are unlimited strategies any brand can take to make sure Nice is at the heart of their social media marketing strategy.  Here are five ideas to jumpstart brand nice-storming:

  1. Notice your fans:  Everyday visit the Facebook profile of at least one fan who have commented on your brand fan page.  Acknowledge the comment and answer if there was a question.  Thank them for taking the time to visit your brand page. Take an extra moment to read their last two posts. Make a mental note.  Are they a parent? Do they love the Knicks? Is there some emotional connection you can make with them over a shared interest?
  2. Acknowledge your fans: Once a week, on your business fan page, do a mini profile of a fan you’ve connected with during the week.  Introduce them to your community and thank them for being involved with your brand. Invite them to post their business page or website link. Celebrate them.
  3. Reward your fans:  Once a month give something away—advice, coupons, a personal consultation, something that rewards the community for being involved with your brand. Their “like” action is valuable.  Make it worth their while.  Let them know they were smart to like you.
  4. Build face time into your strategy: Once a year, engage with your community in person.  Offer the community the opportunity to meet you, your brand representatives or someone from your company in person.  If you’re traveling, host a meet up.  If you’re in one location, simply set aside a lunchtime and let people know where you’ll be.  This doesn’t have to be hard or expensive.  Just be available and make it known that you are.
  5. Put a face to your brand: Occasionally post video messages on your social media sites.  Make these short, pertinent, timely, useful or simply grateful messages designed to let your friends, fans and followers know that behind your brand is a real person—a nice person.

Brands that do not understand the importance of Nice are losing mind and heart share to those brands actively courting the friendship of millions online.  Nearly ten million people chose to be fans of brands on Facebook—everyday!  Every marketing and publicity firm needs to be asking themselves where Nice fits into their overall brand strategy for clients.

Filed Under: Facebook, Social Media Visibility Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,