New Facebook Opportunities

Facebook recently added some new services such as "Places, Questions, and Groups" and expanded their services on "Photos and Likes". Mashable also does a good job of explaining their new services in this article. Here are a few of our ideas on ways to leverage these updates and services, and create value.

1) Photos
Photos are an integral part of Facebook's value. As Facebook continues to upgrade their photo offering and sharing features, there will be more opportunity to expand your brand and engage your customers and advocates. Photos also help bring your companies Facebook page to life. Businesses should not overlook the interaction power and sharing opportunities that photos can create between you and your customers. Video falls into a similar category as photos.

2) Groups
You can read more in this previous article on facebook's new groups in a weekly recap. The new group features allow for live chat, and can be used for business purposes by creating more targeted customer focus groups or event oriented groups. Be aware though, when using groups you must have a definitive strategy regarding who you invite, and the purpose of the conversation.

3) Questions
Facebook Questions is an area that will continue to evolve and shape the boundaries of social search. Businesses can take advantage of Facebook Questions by answering these questions as a business and/or thought leader or expert in that particular field. It is also important to tread carefully with this and use as soft sell approach when asking questions as a marketing or informational tool to your community. It is important to note that all questions are open to everyone and live outside of your community, so this needs to be remembered when asking and answering questions.

4) Places
If your business has a physical store or location, than Facebook places is another utility (Foursquare) that can help increase foot traffic, by encouraging people to check-in. An "I was here" message gets delivered to the friends and posted to the place page. So go claim your page, because Facebook has 500+ million users, which means most the people that come into your business are on Facebook and have a network of friends that you can easily reach out to.

5) Likes
Some consider "likes" and "fans" as the end all, which I disagree with. A smaller but more targeted fan base can be far more effective than a large number of likes by unqualified people. However, having more people that "like" your company or page creates a larger distribution network, and therefore has incredible marketing power. There are many creative ways to drive people to "liking" your company, however the most effective way is to have a strategy and be persistent... which I'll save for another post.

7 pages every business Web site must have - Office Live Small Business Community

7 pages every business Web site must have - Office Live Small Business Community

Facebook Pages Update

Facebook recently released a new Admin Panel for Facebook Pages. The new panel is designed to make your Facebook Page easier to control and more intuitive than the previous setup.

Now when you click "edit page" under your Page's profile picture it will take you to a screen that looks like this:

The red box indicates the new "top level" admin menu as a column on the left hand side with a "help" link at the bottom.

John Hayden does a good job explaining the changes in further detail HERE.

Social3i on the Road

It'll be a busy couple of weeks for the Social3i team, and you can find us in a few alternate locations.

• Monday 11/1, we'll be at the University of Washington, taking part in a panel discussion for the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship's "Entrepreneur Week."
• Wednesday 11/3, we'll be at Williams-Helde Advertising, running a Northwest Entrepreneur Network "eIQ Session" on "Social Media for Startups."
• This weekend, our Sports Division heads to LA to participate in activities around the U.S. soccer community and the 2022 World Cup bid.
• Next Friday, 11/12, we'll be all over the Northwest Entrepreneur Network's "Entrepreneur University" at the Bellevue Hyatt. Xavier will be moderating a panel entitled, "You Get What You Measure" featuring Rand Fishkin, Galen Ward and Kabir Shahani. It should be a great event. (And don't miss Cranium founder Richard Tait, as he takes the stage for a keynote speech about lessons starting his newest project that launched last week.)