When You Think You Have a Formula Down, Facebook Changes Something!

As you know (from my previous post) I was up in NYC for Facebook’s Marketers Conference Wednesday! My favorite quote of the day from Walmart’s, Wanda Young. And apparently, she didn’t tell Facebook she was going to mention that. But it’s the honest to god truth! Here’s my synopsis of the changes and what that means for us as marketers, PR professionals, advertisers, entrepreneurs, etc ….

Overview Brand pages and their stories are the core of the redesigned user experience with brands. This is primarily due to the Facebook finding that fans are 2x as valuable to brands than the average consumer. Big, medium or small businesses it’s time for you to harness social media to make a splash!

 

New! Brand Pages are a now your brand’s canvas and you’re the artist!

The brand page is the essential place for businesses to build connections with people. Facebook pages allows brands to express their identity and tell their unique stories on Facebook.

Now, the page is more visually engaging than ever with a cover photo and thumbnails for your profile picture, photos and custom apps.  The shift to a smaller profile picture is to maintain the continuity of the brand (and it’s logo) throughout the Facebook experience. The cover photo should be used to create illustrations around specific programs, products or events.

To maintain control of page content, marketers can anchor or pin the most important content at the top of the page and/or make specific stories and photos larger through the feature button on posts. Heritage brands can also feature milestones that highlight key events in brand history thus making the brand more personal and elevating its credibility (i.e. first store opened, product launch, etc).  Lastly, brands can launch offer posts, which are special deals delivered to user’s inboxes and/or shared with friends with just one click.

What this means for your brands The brand page is now a creative canvas from the cover photo to pinned posts to milestones.  Marketers will need to create innovative, compelling content for users to share and become ambassadors for brands across their personal social networks.

 

New! Fans (and potential fans) can see how their friends engaged with a page

To leverage the power of “friend” recommendation and drive engagement, users will see stories about how their friends are interacting with a page throughout the page’s timeline.

Facebook also introduced new ways users can interact with brand. The first being a new messaging feature for fans to engage in private conversations with brands. Additionally, page administrators can decide whether or not they want to feature community member posts through the “approve” or “disapprove” buttons on each post. All posts will live on the same page versus two separate tabs.

Applications will still be visible on the timeline but will now be in the top navigation base as thumbnails instead of below the profile picture as tabs. Developers will now have the opportunity to build apps in a “narrow” or “wide” canvas (specs in attached pdf).  Note: “Like” or “Fan” gating will still be available.

What This Means For Your Brands Fans will continue to be brand advocates and it is more important than ever to focus on their opinion. Facebook has enabled a variety of features to improve the user experience and prompt more connections and conversations with brands.

New! Advertising Opportunities (for brands with deep pockets I assume)

Facebook is now focused on creating stories versus creating ads. This derives from the way users interact on the platform and engage with information from friends and trusted sources. Users want to see how others have commented, liked and shared content. So, page stories will now be featured in ad units instead of marketing messages.

There are now four Reach Generator placements designed to deliver your stories to a wider audience. Brands who have tested reach generator in beta have seen a 5-10x increase in CTR and 140% increase in the “people talking about” metric.

Those placements are as follows:

1. Desktop Newsfeed
2. Right Hand Rail
3. Mobile Newsfeed (coming later this year)
4. Log Out Page (coming later this year)

What This Means For Your Brands Similar to the new brand pages, the focus should be on creating content that will prompt users to engage and discuss at a larger scale. If the content is unable to prompt discussion it will likely not appear in the four key ad units.

Here are some examples of small businesses (Magnolia Bakery) and huge ones (Burberry)!

There’s my take! You know where to hit me up with questions, comments, concerns! @ashley_spark or digifabelle@gmail.com

Quotes to Live (and Market) By

During my trip to NYC for FMC, Facebook’s Marketing Conference, I was able to absorb so much knowledge — more than I could ever convey on this blog post.  From new page layouts to sharing capabilities to advertising placements — everything is meant to connect users with brands seamlessly through storytelling. Outside of all the product advancements, the leading marketers in the world were present and ready to share their brands’ stories. Here are my favorite quotes and what the mean to me as an advertiser and brand advocate.

“Focus less on broadcasting and more on conversations” Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook   Facebook has transformed the user-brand interaction by creating a 2-way dialogue. It’s not just about brands broadcasting their messages. More importantly, it’s about brands listening and reacting to what customers need and want from companies, products and services.

“Try to become the company that will put you out of business”, Ken Chenault, CEO of American Express  This speaks to Facebook’s philosophy of “hack early”. Never stop thinking of ways to improve and innovative, even if you’re #1. For the first time, brands can make real-time changes and updates that affect millions of users worldwide. Harness the social web to make an impact.

“Connect, Engage, Influence and Integrate” Mike Fox Director of Global Vertical Marketing, Facebook  Page fans are two times more valuable than the average consumer. Brands must be “social by design” and should not be the brand pushing messages.  They should be the brand prompting conversation by connecting and engaging consumers. This is how brands can influence consumers and prompt them to integrate their messaging among their social circles becoming an advocate for the brand.

“Every time you think you have the formula, Facebook changes something” Wanda Young Sr. Director of Digital Strategy Walmart  Marketers, creatives, PR professionals and advertisers must be flexible and accepting change –whether it’s to Facebook’s platform or to their Facebook community’s needs. Facebook is constantly revising its platform to improve the experience of the user and brands should think the same way. The better the user experience the more likely there will be a shift in attitude and ultimately behavior toward a brand.

 

 

Casa

Pinterest has taken my housing obsession to the next level….Once the dresser appeared in my homepage, I  couldn’t stop adding things to my Anthropologie shopping bag that I definitely wouldn’t cash out anytime soon thus the collection is named Dreamy…

1. A mod dresser to house my vintage wardrobe 2. Ruffles to make me smile when throwing myself onto my bed after a long day 3. Monogrammed mugs for joe in the mornings, afternoons, evenings and nights

Bday Love: Pinterest

So, I was surfing Pinterest and found this FAB idea for Bday invites. I’ll be super low key this year for my bday (February 2nd is around the corner) but I am already planning for next year!

Thanks!

Digi Fab Chats

That’s correct. Today’s DigiFab chat is with one of PR’s most influential and dynamic duos. It’s still hard for me to believe Barb Martin and Jayne Sandman of BrandlinkDC took the time out of their busy holiday schedules to answer a few questions for me. Enjoy!

Many aspiring PR ladies look up to you and Jayne, what advice would you give those starting out in their career? 

First of all, THANK YOU! That is so sweet of you to say. The best advice we can give is to start by interning.  This is a job that seems amazing on paper (and it’s pretty amazing in practice too), but it’s also an incredible amount of work. The hours are relentless, the demands are great and the margin for error is zero.  So get into a company that aligns with your needs and see if you can hack it.

What is the most inspiring project you’ve worked on?

There are so many.  Of recent note was our H.Bloom (http://www.hbloom.com) 100, which was a social media campaign we devised to reach influencers and media. H.Bloom is a luxury floral subscription service that is surprisingly affordable, and we realized that the best way to explain their unique position in the market isn’t via press release, it’s by getting the product into the hands of the people who we thought would be the most excited about it.  It worked amazingly well, and it is something they are now replicating in other markets.

On the charity side, Jayne and I are two of the founders of the District Sample Sale (http://www.districtsamplesale.com), which is an amazing fashion event that also has donated over $250,000 to women’s and children’s causes throughout DC.

 

What do you like most about the DC PR scene?

Dealing with the media.  This is a small town, and it’s a pretty small community of writers here, the vast majority of which are smart, incredibly hard-working, and always in search of a great story. It’s our job to give them that story, and we love the daily challenge of that.

What your go to NerdLove item?

See montage! It’s basically BLDC in a nutshell.

(Yes Barb & Jayne actually sent us this fabulous montage to feature!)

What social media platform/website can’t you imagine your life without?

For fashion: We’re so excited that Refinery29 has finally come to DC. Holly Thomas is doing a great job.

For work: FishbowlDC for media gossip.

For news: The WEEK magazine and twitter.

Getting to know BrandLinkDC for this week’s DigiFab chats was lots of fun. Be sure to check out more of their campaigns via Facebook and Twitter. Lots of photos, tips and fun!

InstaLove

So the iPad has not only made the biz better, but now it’s making my life is even more retro and shareable via @instagram. Here are a few pics from my amazing NYC weekend with the college chums…

Throw it all against the wall

Happy New Year! The BF got me an iPad2 for Christmas. Woohoo! I still cannot believe it… I am still saving for my favorite Diane von Furstenburg Harper bag, but in the meantime, here’s a NerdLove solution for everyday girls and small businesses alike. The Wallee…

Get ready to revolutionize your business (or your office space) with the Wallee which allows you to mount your iPad(s) to the wall. But, you also have the option to remove whenever you’d like. And for the local sandwich shop who wants to add Facebook users, Twitter followers or just take orders, there’s an option to secure it to the wall here.

If you’re a small business owner, the uses of the iPad for your daily business tasks, customer engagement and more is limitless. Just in case you didn’t see the Mashable article stating that 75% of small businesses are planning to purchase the iPad 2 this year, you can check it out here. It’s time for you to make the investment. As always, email me if you have any questions on strategy.

New Year, New Facebook – UPDATED

Thanks Facebook for re-jigging our lives again! Don’t freak out it’s a good thing. You might remember in a previous article how ecstatic I was four months ago when Facebook announce the new timeline feature. Well apparently it’s here for the masses finally. So for you “newbies” here’s a quick tutorial.

To learn more about how to use for brands check out my post updated post here

1) The Cover Photo. New fun real estate you can use to fill a photo (or a few). The dimensions are 850×315 pixels. There are a bunch of tools,similar to the Twitter wallpaper design that offer standard designs like this one.

2) Activity Log I am a fan of this one. Anytime someone tags you in a photo, mentions you in a status or links to you in any way you are notified and all your notification sit in a window until you approve.

3) Enhanced Navigation It’s easier to find friends, music, photos, maps and more using the new navigation bar.

4) Featured Events You can decide to make certain photos, videos, comments, stories more prominent on your timeline. It become a fun game of scrapbooking. And of course you can remove photos or hide them from your timeline (everything’s right there in the corner for you!)

Before

After

5) Life Events Your timeline is broken out into sections based on events in your life (marriage, kid, graduated) and also by month/ year. It makes taking a trip down memory lane a lot easier. You can also make edits to this timeline so don’t worry about college pictures now being more easy to find.

**Now for the fun stuff…Brand Pages! Can Facebook beat Google+ or Twitter?**

Art Share: Back @ Ya!

I want this for my living room of my non-existent brownstone on U St. No harm in planning…after all isn’t that my title (media planner?!)

Found this oldie but goodie here

Digi Fab Chats: Alexis Grant

This week, I have the chance to feature Alexis Grant (@alexisgrant) of Brazen Life and The Traveling Writer. Here’s our backstory: I saw an article Alexis wrote on Mashable, noticed she was located in DC and knew I had to get an interview with her. And here we are today! So kick your feet back and enjoy my Digi Fab Chat with this inspirational entrepreneur.

You have launched so many amazing projects, which has been your favorite and why?

I tend to be most excited about what’s coming up because the process is what energizes me, not the final product. So right now I’m excited about How to Use Social Media to Make Your Own Luck, a course I’m hoping to launch in early 2012. I’m psyched about it partly because it will help a lot of my readers learn how to use Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn strategically to make new connections, and also because I love putting these types of projects together. This will be my first email-based course, so I’ll learn lots along the way.

What inspired you to take the huge leap into entrepreneurship?

I never envisioned myself as an entrepreneur; until the last few years, I wasn’t really business-minded. The reason I took this leap is because it allows me to do work I love on my own schedule. I enjoy the freedom of working for myself, the ability to pursue ideas as they hit me, take time to write when I’m inspired and really put my ambition to use by creating some fabulous products. I also really like sharing what I’ve learned with others who want to pursue freedom in their own careers and lives. That’s why I created How to Create a Part-Time Social Media Business and Solopreneur Secrets, a weekly letter where I explain what’s working for me — or not — as I grow this lifestyle business.

What advice do you have for Millenials who are in undesired jobs as a result of the tough economic times?

Start taking baby steps toward where you want to be. Maybe that’s through a side gig, or by saving money so you have a financial safety net, or by networking strategically.Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re stuck. You’re only as stuck as you let yourself be. Yes, the economy might be bad, but there are things you can do at this very moment to start setting yourself up for your next move. Let your go-getter spirit propel you toward something better.

You recently traveled to Africa, what did you learn? Who did you meet? What was the most amazing thing you did?

That’s a big question! I learned so many little things: I improved my French, grew a following for my blog, figured out how to navigate West Africa’s bush taxis. But the biggest affect Africa had on me was this: It reminded me just how lucky I am to have so many opportunities in my life. Why is that big? Because once you realize how lucky you are, you’re far more likely to pursue big dreams. You can’t let those dreams go to waste when you know how many other people around the globe would kill to be in your position!”Most amazing” is impossible; when you travel solo in a place so different from your home, you do a lot of amazing things! I explored rainforests in Madagascar, rode a camel in Timbuktu, and bargained for tomatoes in a market in Cameroon. What I love about travel is that it makes some of the most ordinary actions feel extraordinary. In that market, I met new friends, tried new foods, and noticed so many details about life in Central Africa — and life in general — that I wouldn’t have paused to think about if I’d been working day in and day out. Having that time to learn and reflect was amazing.Thanks again Alexis for being a part of Digi Fab Chats. Don’t forget to visit her blog today to jumpstart your career as a traveling writer, social media enthusiast, budding journalist or all of the above!