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Tag: Facebook

5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

• Ranking the 100 Most InDemand Employers Using LinkedIn Data [INFOGRAPHIC] – LinkedIn

In pulling professional data from their 175 million users, LinkedIn creates an infographic to display which companies are most attractive to potential job candidates. Software and technology dominating the top 5 positions, with Google taking the lead and Apple placing second. Makes you wonder if job candidates are willing to stick it out in hopes for landing their dream job with the top dogs of tech!

• 5 Important Post-Penguin Guest Post Prospecting Questions – Search Engine Journal

With Google’s most recent algorithm update, many have noticed an impact in their SEO efforts and rankings. However, having a well optimized link building approach may include guest posting or blogging. As guest posting is still imperative in SEO, SEJ explains how finding niche blogs, relevant topics, and having quality content can help your SEO in a place of Penguin!

• 5 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Engagement – Social Media Examiner

Promoting your brand or company on Facebook allows you to not only to engage with your demographic, but also reach potential customers. Check out Social Media Examiner as they explain the right time to post, best character count for posts, appropriate URL length, and the most engaging content to better interact with your fans!

• Why the iPod Still Matters to Apple – Mashable

Apple’s most recent launch of the iPhone 5 has all the Apple lovers flocking to the closest metaphorical orchard. Now the Mac bigwigs are the spotlight on one of its older products. On Wednesday night, Apple launched a new campaign featuring the redesigned iPod. With the iPod initiating the re-positioning of the brand over 11 years ago, Apple won’t be fading this product out anytime soon. Turn it up!

• What’s The Best Time of Day To Send Emails? [Infographic] – Read Write Web

Between newsletters, online marketing updates, and the countless emails we receive in a day how can we guarantee the recipient is actually reading our emails? This infographic illustrates when emails are opened the most, and shows at what times throughout the day people are engaging in their emails. Don’t stress if you forgot to send that email out at 5:15 PM — data shows it may be best to wait til tomorrow!

October 12, 2012
4 DIY SEO Tips for the Small Business Owner

My husband and I have some friends who are in town every year at the end of August, without fail, so we know we have a dinner date with this couple at the peak of hurricane season every year.

This year, we met our friends on the Saturday night after Hurricane Isaac passed through. Our friends had another couple in New Orleans who had been without power going on five days, so they were desperate to get out of their hot, humid house and enjoy good food in the air conditioning and possibly have a drink or three. The more the merrier, so the four of us were meeting the two of them at the bar.

This restaurant is usually very popular, but was especially hopping that night because they had power. Most of the items on the menu were sold out, but we enjoyed the few things the kitchen still had. So in conversation she asked did I work?… what did I do? … the way these conversations usually go. When I told her, her eyes lit up, and I was her best friend that evening. She had a 2 year old yoga studio that was doing decently, and she wanted the yoga business to be strong and really successful. She recognized that the web was an untapped potential for her, and she was overwhelmed with her known options and with the options she knew probably existed but didn’t know about.

Search Influence has a mission that simply states “We are here to help small business succeed online.” It is our company goal to help this small business owner who was sitting across from me, and I would love to be able to help her dominate the yoganistas in her city.

I have had this experience more than a few times, where a very small, very local business has absolutely no marketing budget, but they know they need to do “stuff” online to grow or even just to survive. I’m not talking about businesses local to their city; I’m talking about businesses that serve their neighborhood primarily. Super local.

A few suggestions for a very small business who has done almost nothing online yet.

If I met the owner of a very small, very locally-focused business who had done virtually nothing online and had very little time to devote to online marketing, what priorities would I tell that SMB owner for DIY SEO?

I polled our Account Managers to see how much they agreed/disagreed with me, so these priorities are the collective answer of most of our accounts team. The difficulty is there is so much an SMB owner could be doing, but my intent was to focus on those things that are not technical — i.e. no website edits. A lot of business owners that I meet that offer services to a very specific community don’t know how to edit their websites because they have never had to, and they are busy working on growing the business, taking care of personnel, managing operations, et cetera.

With that in mind, here is by no means a comprehensive list of all things a business owner can do on his/her own — just a few things that came up in my conversation and then bounced around our accounts team.

Countdown of DIY SEO Tips based on number of responses of my totally unscientific internal survey …

#4 — with only 1 survey responder considering it as the priority for an SMB’s very limited time and money … monthly newsletters. Monthly newsletters are a great tool for many businesses. However, the business has to build up an email list of recipients first. You can buy a list, but it’s so much better to build the contacts yourself with your customers optioning in to receive your message in their inbox. You also have the challenge of deciding what message makes an impact on your business but also is interesting to your email group.

You need to grow your email list first, and realize that you are messaging people who are likely already customers. In all I agree that this is a valuable tool, but not for a super small business at such an early phase of operations.

#3 – 1 response suggesting an offer made through Facebook. This also is a valuable tool, but again, the business generally has to have some Fans on Facebook before they start offering coupons and contests and all of that jazz. My yoga-diva dinner companion did not have a Facebook Page worth mentioning, so this would not be an option for her yet.

#2 – 4 responses voted for regular Facebook updating. Our accounts team sees every day how a well-maintained Facebook Page can work for a small business. It’s exciting to see strong fan building, active commenting, and referral traffic driving to the client’s website. All of this can be very effective (and fun!). It absolutely be a valuable tool when developed at the right time in a business’s growth.

One of our accounts team responded to my internal survey, “Facebook Updates and Newsletters are great, but they are worthless unless they have a following. To me, Facebook could be easier for one person to manage, but significant effort would have to be made to promote the Facebook Page.”

Just like monthly newsletters and making an offer on Facebook, you have to build to a level where you have an audience to whom you can broadcast your message. Lots of work has to be done for the Facebook Page before it’s going to work for you.

#1 – Tied for #1 … 5 responses for “Create/edit listings in 10 online directories other than Google+.” If a small business owner had only 1 hour to devote to their online identity, 5 of our accounts team suggested that s/he should review the businesses’ listing in 10 directories other than Google+. My totally unscientific survey didn’t indicate which 10 directories, but it can be assumed that the list would include directories such as Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, YellowPages, and Superpages. There are countless other examples, but you want to devote your time only to those directories that you have seen often enough like Kudzu or Merchant Circle.

#1 – Tied for #1 … 5 of the accounts team responded that claiming Google+ Local Page is the thing you should spend a few minutes claiming and filling up with your business information, maybe some pictures.

This was my priority suggestion at dinner that night. She wasn’t sure what a Google+ Local listing was, a lot of business owners don’t, and they should.

(TIP! If you claim your G+ Local listing, claim it in an email box that you won’t mind sharing with an SEO agency — that is, don’t claim G+ with your personal email account. One day you might hire a website promotion company like Search Influence to help your rank better in Google results, and when you do, you will want your account manager to have the login to your G+ — but if it’s the same account as your personal email, you might not want to share it.)

There are countless small business DIY SEO tips for the savvy owner out there. What are some of your favorites?

September 25, 2012
How To Use Facebook Timeline To Promote Your Business

While many users have opted to cling to the traditional Facebook design for as long as possible, all users are currently being forced to jump on the Timeline bandwagon — whether they like it or not. At this point in the game, though, the majority of users have been using the revamped page for some time anyway. The layout is familiar and users know what they’re looking for when they visit business Pages. But do you know what you should be doing to effectively reach your fans?

It’s no secret that you should be promoting your business on Facebook if you want to increase your social media presence. What you may not know, however, is that the way in which you go about it is pretty significant. If you fail to follow the rules outlined on Facebook’s Page Guidelines, you could find yourself suspended and unable to access your Page.

When Facebook’s Timeline feature was first introduced to Pages, the site was flooded with cover photos of promotional content. It makes sense that the cover photo would seem like the perfect place to tout your business’ latest promotion or encourage visitors to Like your Page. However, this kind of customization is actually against Facebook’s rules.

Pages cannot include price information whatsoever. That means that any special offers, like percentages off or coupons, cannot be referenced in your cover photo. Telling visitors to Like or Share your Page is also to be avoided.

It might seem like overkill, but you actually can’t even put your website URL, email, or address in your cover photo. Facebook wants you to utilize the About section of your Page for those purposes. Any calls to action (i.e. Buy Now!!!) also have to be excluded.

Previously, Page owners could customize their landing pages to include calls for action, special offers, and exclusive content in exchange for a Like — a process called like-gating. But, with the implementation of Timeline for Pages also came a discontinuation of the landing page. Now, your cover photo is what makes the first impression when people visit your Page.

So, how can you make the most of it?

Choose something eye-catching. Draw in your Page’s visitors with an image that reflects the heart of your business and/or engages your fanbase. Verizon Wireless’ Page, for example, features photos taken by fans using their products. It’s a smart way to involve users and encourage fan interaction.

Pick a profile image that compliments (and doesn’t clash with) your cover photo. This is a great spot to feature your logo or a good image of your product.

Optimize your About section. While you can’t include your website on your cover photo, you can display it here. The first 155 characters of this section are visible to your Page’s visitors, and they should be chosen wisely. Include a short, solid statement about your business, along with your URL.

Lastly, Like the Facebook Marketing Page for tips on how to improve other aspects of your Page. When fans search for or stumble upon your business on Facebook, you want them to stick around. If your Page is aesthetically pleasing, informative, and engaging, you’re more likely to capture those all-important Likes.

September 13, 2012
Hurricane Isaac & Social Media: Not Just For Memes & Self Portraits

What were we to do? Hurricane Isaac is raging outside our doors, winds ripping down the street at 100 miles an hour, suddenly our power dies and our city goes dark. New Orleanians are trapped inside our homes without a way to connect to the outside world. At this point we hopefully aren’t wasting precious phone battery playing Tetris or Words with Friends, because this is when social media takes a greater importance than creeping on our friends from high school.

In New Orleans, hurricanes and tropical storms aren’t a new phenomenon. Locals have become accustomed to evacuation procedures and preparing for torrential rain and screaming winds. What becomes difficult is communication during and following the storm. While Hurricane Isaac swept through New Orleans and plunged forward further inland, residents from all corners of Louisiana found themselves without power. After weathering the storm itself, those of us who chose not to evacuate were left without power and working appliances — so it was to social media we turned to receive the most recent updates on Isaac.

Throughout the storm, the local news stations used Twitter and Facebook to answer questions from residents. Several times during the live broadcast, viewers would see news anchors scrolling through their social media accounts to acknowledge questions and retrieve answers from the on-camera meteorologist.

For me, this was my first hurricane in New Orleans and I wanted to know exactly what Isaac was doing at every second. I turned to the only thing left in my house with power: my cell phone. In a matter of minutes, I was able to pull up maps, tracking systems and up to date information on Isaac’s movement. Also, by following the local news channels, the Weather Channel, New Orleans Police Department and other authorities on Twitter and Facebook, I was able to stay informed of evacuations and road closures.

By Thursday, the worst of the storm was over. For the most part the people of New Orleans were safe and dry, but bored. Almost the entire city was left without power: no air conditioning, no Law and Order marathon on the TV, no radio to listen to. Everything in the freezer and refrigerator was spoiled. Computers were basically useless without the Internet to connect to. What did we do? Lucky for New Orleanians (who have a bit of practice at this kind of thing), the city is filled with outstanding restaurants and local watering holes that know how to deliver great service even in the midst of an outage. We were then left with the question, “How do we know what’s open?”

Many homes, mine included, were left without power stretching into Labor Day weekend. While this is not the first time many locals had been without power for an extended period of time, it never gets easier to be without air conditioning in 95-degree temperatures and 90 percent humidity. We needed reprieve from the heat in the form of a hot meal, a cold beverage and a little bit of entertainment. Again, social media comes to the rescue. From Hurricane Isaac, new trending hashtags came to life! #NOLAopen #NOLAgas and #NOLAfood quickly became an easy way for businesses and restaurants to tell the community that their generators were pumping cool air and their doors were open.

On Facebook, businesses were updating their fan base through status updates on when their doors would be open and the availability of their service. Many businesses in downtown New Orleans were able to open as early as Thursday night with limited menus, but air conditioning and cold drinks — just in time for the Saints game.

One of the most impressive factors of the social media phenomenon was how involved the community became. Normal residents worked together to highlight open businesses. Including hashtags and sharing amongst friends, they continued to spread the word and fuel the conversation throughout New Orleans. Local businesses have historically gained a lot of traction via direct outreach on Facebook and Twitter, and this situation was a perfect example: customers checking their Facebook feed or liked pages were able to quickly and conveniently get the information they were looking for directly from the horse’s mouth, and reward establishments who stayed visible and in touch with their business.

One local New Orleans blogger made it her mission to keep the city informed of operational businesses. Leslie J. Almeida focused her Twitter, Facebook and blog on an eight-page hand written list of businesses open during and directly after Isaac. Without power herself, she was left with her phone, paper and pencil. As she learned of each business she would add it to a hand written list, take a picture of the paper with her phone and upload it to social media.

Needless to say, social media and cell phones also proved extremely useful helping people to connect. Once Isaac hit, landlines went dead across the city. Friends and family were able to check on loved ones via cell service and texts. As I recently moved here from Arizona, a state that doesn’t have natural disasters like hurricanes, my friends and family expected the worst. With a limited phone battery, a quick status update for my whole Facebook circle was easier than several texts and phone calls.

All in all, a hurricane isn’t the most fun Labor Day weekend you can imagine. Even a category one storm like Isaac can leave a city in the dark — but social media and influential members of the community are able to use their platforms to keep New Orleans residents safe, dry and well fed.

September 4, 2012
Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: A Step-by-Step Guide To Scheduling Updates In Facebook

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about how I had found the new Facebook scheduling tool improved EdgeRank for pages. The blog analyzed the significant gains we’ve seen in clients’ reach and interaction since we began using the tool rather than scheduling posts through HootSuite. It seems that fewer business owners and page managers were aware of the tool than I had imagined, so I created a comprehensive breakdown of how to schedule posts using a fictional cupcake shop.

Before doing anything else, you must set a “Founded” date for your business. This is a relatively easy step, but must be completed before Facebook will allow you to begin scheduling updates.

This is a great opportunity to write an enticing story about your company and post a high resolution image. This post will appear on your timeline and and is very visible when customers skim your page. It will always be the earliest post listed on the timeline, and will appear much larger than a typical status update or photo. Here’s the published result:

After setting the founding date, you can begin scheduling your updates for up to six months in the future. You will need to click the small clock icon in the bottom left corner of the update box. You will type your post as usual and select a date and time in which to publish.

This feature will allow you to post statuses in the future AND past. You can post as far back in time as your founding date, and as far into the future as six months. You can set the hour and minute that you want the post to appear on your wall in ten minute increments.

One of my favorite features of the Facebook scheduling tool is the ability to schedule photos and videos that look exactly the same as if they were posted in real time. The biggest issue I had with using third party scheduling tools was that video links often ended up broken and photos wouldn’t publish at their full size. This feature fixes that issue entirely. Here is an example of a photo posted through the Facebook scheduling tool:

You can use Facebook’s Activity Log feature to view all scheduled updates, videos, and photos in the order in which they are scheduled to post. This feature allows you to make sure there were no errors in the ordering or the timing of your posts. You can access this feature through the Admin Panel at the top of your page. You simply click the button that says “Edit Page” and then select “Use Activity Log” from the drop down menu that appears.

The Activity Log will open in a new page, with all of your scheduled posts appearing at the top. Below that will be a list of all of your page actions over time, including comments, likes, and updates, as well as posts by others on your page.

Once you’re within the Activity Log, you can also choose to change the publishing time of a scheduled post, publish it immediately, or cancel the post altogether by clicking an arrow that appears to the right of each individual post. Unfortunately there is no way to edit the text of a post after it has been scheduled, but hopefully that feature will be added to the Facebook scheduling tool eventually. Even without that feature, we’ve found the Facebook scheduling tool to be extremely useful for our clients’ pages.

August 28, 2012
How To Set Up WordPress Social Metadata

We couldn’t be prouder to announce that our own Doug Thomas’s video has won the SEOMoz Youtube Contest! Social metadata, the hidden content that displays your content in a correct and attractive way on social media sites, is one of the most overlooked aspects of posting a blog or article, and this tutorial provides a concise and thorough explanation of how to utilize it. Metadata lets Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ know what title, description, and image to show in the preview on the site. To implement Facebook OpenGraph, Twitter Cards and Google+ Authorship, you now just need one <link> tag rather than the more complicated three-link monte from earlier. In this tutorial, we use built-in WordPress functions to edit the theme of your site to create a semi-automated, scalable way to correctly generate this metadata.

Which Would You Rather Your Sharers See?
When we set this up, we use two sections of WordPress to push the data to the blog post. For the Twitter Cards and Authorship, you use unused fields in your User Profile like AIM and URL to house the information. For OpenGraph, the data is either pulled from Custom Fields or the post itself. If you can’t see Custom Fields under your post, go to Screen Options at the top of the Edit Post screen and check Custom Fields. By using what’s already existing in WordPress instead of a plugin, you avoid bloat in your database, reduce the risk of plugin conflicts, and make your code portable to other WordPress sites without having to install anything new.

Here’s the video, which will show you the code to set this up and a cute ferret. Enjoy!

Can’t Read the Code?

 <meta property="og:site_name" content="<?php bloginfo('name');?>" /> <meta property="og:type" content="<?php if(is_single()) {echo 'article';} else {echo 'website';} ?>" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" /> <meta property="og:title" content="<?php $viral_title=get_post_meta($post->ID,'viral_title',true); if(!empty($viral_title)){echo $viral_title;} else{wp_title();} ?>" /> <meta property="og:description" content="<?php $viral_desc=get_post_meta($post->ID,'viral_desc',true); if(!empty($viral_desc)){echo $viral_desc;} else{while (have_posts()):the_post(); echo substr(strip_tags(get_the_content(),0,197));echo '...';endwhile;} ?>" /> <meta property="og:image" content="<?php $og_image=get_post_meta($post->ID,'og_image',true); if(!empty($og_image)){echo $og_image;} else{bloginfo('template_directory');echo '/og.jpg';} ?>" />  <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@terrafalsa" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@<?php the_author_meta(aim,$posts[0]->post_author); ?>" />  <link rel="author" href="<?php the_author_meta(url,$posts[0]->post_author); ?>" />

August 21, 2012
When Did The Chicken Cross The Road? Chick-Fil-A, Facebook Foul Ups and Web 2.0

It’s January 1st, 1999.

The Euro is established. A month later, the U.S. Senate acquits Bill Clinton of impeachment charges. Then Star Wars Episode I, Napster, Columbine. And in an article entitled “Fragmented Future,” Darcy DiNucci states that, “The first glimmerings of Web 2.0 are beginning to appear…” That was thirteen years ago, and I don’t remember anything called Web 2.0. What I do remember are static web browsers, a screeching dial up modem, fights with my sister, and AIM chat rooms — certainly not the Post-Internet proposed by DiNucci.

So what was she seeing that I wasn’t? When she said “The web we know now… is only an embryo of the Web to come,” did anybody stop to ask her what she meant?

Is the Internet of today even knit from the same quilt as that of 1999? Perhaps. It takes benchmarks to notice the change. Here was my wakeup call: Chick-Fil-A.

Blasted by liberal groups for being opposed to gay marriage, the conservative corporation now finds itself in hot water for allegedly creating a fake Facebook profile (of a teenage girl), then using it to defend the company’s actions and promote blatant falsehoods. The non-existent girl, Abby Farle, even quotes the Bible, ending her post with “…John 3:16,” and “derrr,” which is appropriate because nobody says “derrr” anymore.

The wakeup call is not that corporations lie: it’s how saddeningly fickle this whole story is. More concerning than the fact that Chick-fil-A, a quick-service chicken restaurant, is opposed to gay marriage, is the fact that we care that a quick-service chicken restaurant is opposed to gay marriage.

What causes a billion dollar corporation to resort to such childish techniques? To actually embody a child to plead their case? Why can’t you just be you, chicken company? Do fake people defend better than real people?

Even the article “Did Chick-fil-A Pretend to Be a Teenage Girl on Facebook?” published by Gizmodo.com that “broke” the story seems strangely suspect. The story’s screenshot of Chick-fil-A’s Facebook page depicts the conversation, where would-be Chick-Fil-A savior Abby Farle is exposed for being non-existent just two hours after telling one of the belligerents, Chris, to “check his info…” Yet the odd part is that whoever took the screenshot only has one friend on chat. Who has only one friend, right?

If social media has come to serve as the hammer and anvil of democracy (see Wikileaks, Tahrir Square, Syria) and if our own voices are to be the liberalizing agent, what’s to be done when a conservative voice, like Chick-Fil-A CEO S. Truett Cathy, starts chirping “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.”

To me, this is the high water mark of social media: when an asshole can’t be an asshole in peace.

When a four billion dollar (and growing) corporation cares about public opinion enough to create a fake consumer to defend the owner’s socio-religious beliefs, something is very, very wrong. It’s not Chick-Fil-A. It’s us.

Take 400 years of rabid capitalistic mentality, add a dash of recession-inspired fear, introduce social media and you’ve got the current “debacle.” If Web 1.0 took our bodies, 2.0 has edged toward our souls. Is this what Darcy DiNucci was talking about?

The unprecedented access and information Web 2.0 provides to marketers (via social media platforms) allows businesses endless opportunities, if they only knew how to take advantage. Don’t overestimate the importance of assenting voices on Facebook, as Chick-Fil-A has. It’s at least reassuring to know that in our world of expressive freedom, backfires do still exist; genuine goodwill is the strongest form of PR a company has (and it’s free, too!), and faking it just won’t cut it. Moreover, the astroturfing of social media platforms, when discovered, inevitably leads to enormous backlash.

So to the people who post pictures of all their meals on Facebook, I say, “Just eat it,” and to Chick-Fil-A, I say nothing.

(P.S. I just found out Gore Vidal is dead. Welcome to Web 2.0.)

August 14, 2012
Facebook Scheduling Tool for Business Improves EdgeRank

Maximizing Facebook Fan engagement and excelling at the ever mysterious “EdgeRank” are top priorities for both business owners and marketing firms in this digital age. Unfortunately these lofty aims often take the backseat to more pressing demands, like actually running a business, rather than just writing about one online. Even if businesses have dedicated staff members available to not just to post but also to actively interact with fans, it can be difficult to coordinate posts for the right time of day for maximum fan engagement. Enter the Facebook scheduling tool for pages, which takes some of the inconsistency and stress out of posting regularly.

How To Use the New Feature

The feature is easy to miss inside the update box, and was added with little fanfare or acknowledgment from Facebook in late May. It appears as a tiny clock in the bottom left side of the box, and offers you the ability to backdate or schedule posts. In order to use the feature, you must first set up a Timeline event for the founding date of your business. After finishing this simple step, you are free to schedule posts in 10 minute increments within a window of more than a year into the future. You are not limited to simply scheduling written posts, as you can also schedule links and images, which appear exactly the same as if you had posted them manually. There have been some issues with the new feature, but most of those were resolved rather quickly by the Facebook development team.

Facebook Scheduler vs. Third Party Scheduling

This new feature is great because it replaces any need to use third party scheduling sites, such as HootSuite or Postling. Many users have reported decreases in EdgeRank when using 3rd party scheduling sites, not to mention the fact that the post is clearly labeled as coming from an outside source. Pictures never looked quite right when scheduled through a third party, and links often seemed to be truncated or dead when the posts finally appeared through Facebook.

One of the major initial complaints about the Facebook scheduling feature was that there was no way to go back and view the posts after scheduling them. This is untrue as a full list of scheduled posts can be obtained under the Admin panel, but is rather difficult to locate unless you already know its there. Once you’re within the “Activity Log” you can change the date of scheduled posts, cancel them, or post them immediately. At this point, there is no way to edit the posts that have already been scheduled, but hopefully that feature will be added eventually.

What We’ve Found

We began using Facebook scheduler instead of HootSuite to publish updates on many of our clients’ pages around June 15th. Over the course of the last few weeks, we have seen a dramatic increase in fan engagement and “likes”, as well as sharing. Here is a screenshot of one of our client’s organic reach over the last month. You can see that it has steadily increased (with a slight and expected dip on July 4th!) and is currently reaching about 500 more fans per week than it was in mid-June. These results are great, but we find something even more remarkable when we look at viral and total reach for this timeframe.

As you can tell from this graph, we do not do any paid fan-building for this client, so this data is based entirely on the increase in visitors and shares on the page. Our organic reach has increased by about 500 fans per week, but our total reach has increased to over 15,000 people per week. This number is especially remarkable because this page only has about 3,400 fans. Not only does it appear that this client’s EdgeRank increased dramatically, but that increase has had a huge effect on the viral nature of our posts, photos, and albums.

Have you tried the Facebook scheduling tool yet? Try it out and let us know if it’s successful for your business in the comments!

July 27, 2012
TV Ads vs. Facebook Ads: Targeting the Money

Go see this movie! …we know you want to…

I came across a kind of shocking figure the other day while reading about the Facebook IPO. It appears Facebook ad sales generated $3 billion in revenue in 2011. That’s as much money as JP Morgan appears to have lost recently. Whoops.

But here’s an even more brain-wrinkling number: traditional television ads generated $68 billion in revenue last year. You know what you could buy with that extra $65 billion? Bill Gates.

But here’s the real question: how many television ads missed the mark entirely? How much bang for their $68 billion bucks did television advertisers really get in 2011? Think about it – when is the last time you saw a TV commercial, and then immediately went out to buy that product?

It was a Super Soaker, wasn’t it?

Zeroing In

As we’ve discussed before, the beauty of Facebook pay per click ads lies in the ability to target your audience. If you don’t care about what grandmothers in Cincinnati think about your bicycle shop in New Orleans, you don’t have to show them your ad. But if you really want to move some spokes and pony up the big bucks to advertise on the major networks, everyone is going to see your commercial, whether they care or not. We won’t even get into DVRs. Fast forward feels like a minor miracle every time some idiot in a gaudy suit starts shouting at me about some car sale I don’t care about.

What I do like, on the other hand, is the movie Rushmore. At some point I probably sought it out on Facebook and liked it. Took me 30 seconds, and made my day a little brighter. Months or even years later, I see an ad for Wes Anderson’s new movie, Moonrise Kingdom, next to my news feed on Facebook. Up to this point, I had no idea that movie existed, but will I go see it now? Possibly.

More Hit than Miss

Now, if you look at the picture of my recent Facebook ad experience, you will see a second ad for SEO, and a third for Orleans Shoring. The picture on the SEO ad makes me want to go buy a donut, but that’s about all. I have no interest in joining some anonymous “Largest SEO Community,” but Facebook at least knows I have an active interest in SEO. Orleans Shoring, now that’s a wash. Can’t win every time.

But how many TV commercials have you fast forwarded through this week? How about this month? How many hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars were thrown your way while you were waiting impatiently for Ted’s baby announcement to load on your phone? The answer is incalculable, of course, but the point is that it’s a wash — literally and figuratively. The messages are so numerous and all-encompassing that they’re easy to tune out, while the hyper-targeted Facebook ads offer a precise and effective alternative.

So as Facebook chomps away at the massive amount of advertising dollars out there, what would you rather see? A commercial aimed at the largest possible audience, or an ad targeted at you?

May 29, 2012
Trading Privacy for Employability: Job Candidates Increasingly Asked to Provide Facebook Logins

In the fall of 2003, Mark Zuckerberg and a few friends created a simple social website to connect better with friends and classmates at Harvard University. Little did he know that this social website would become the lodestar of today’s social networking — not just allowing for connections with school friends and classmates, but outside friends, families, and people across the world. The term “friend me” or “Facebook me” is soon to be defined in Merriam Webster’s Dictionary:

– friend me (f’rend mē): “to give someone access to your profile, wall posts, information, and photos… including those pictures taken of you drunk last weekend.”

But how many friends should we have? How many people should we allow to view our profile? Recently, businesses across America are requiring more and more job candidates to provide their Facebook username and password during interviews for employment. These corporate executives want to do more than a little digging into these candidate’s personal lives before saying “you’re hired.” You know — just to make sure they don’t belong to a cult, or certain fraternity, or social group, or political party, or gang. Totally legal right? But why stop here? In addition to providing Facebook logins, should these candidates just hand over the keys to their home and give these companies copies of their bank statements and complete medical histories?

Whatever happened to references from previous jobs? When a job candidate gives a potential employer a list of references, does it give them the liberty to call and ask all the personal and professional questions needed? Yes, of course. But who needs potentially inaccurate or hard-to-get-a-hold-of references when we have the vast slew of information available in Facebook… right?

According to an August 2011 study by The Atlantic , 45% of employers use social networking sites to screen potential employees, with 29% using Facebook specifically and 26% using Linkedin. Funny how the statistics are higher for a social site rather than a professional site.

Many employers argue that people interact more on social networks rather than in real life, and viewing their profile will give them a better idea of what kind of person the applicant is outside the interview. Although this statement may be true, Facebook officials are encouraging job candidates to hold their ground and withhold all private information from potential employers. Even The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has spoken out saying “People are entitled to their private lives.”

In an economy where getting a job is challenging enough, should we just allow businesses to have access to all aspects of our lives, even the ones that aren’t business related? Or should employers be happy reviewing our resumes, our talents, attributes, and our contributions to their company, and leaving this privacy violation out of it?

April 17, 2012