Facebook announced yesterday that their ads can now be customized for Pages and Events.

One way to quickly compare how it’s going to work is to look at how Facebook already allows you to already interact with other items in your right sidebar.

Pages and Events using Facebook Ads will allow for becoming a fan or RSVPing Events, all without leaving the page.  You will also see friends’ interaction with the advertised Page or Event.

Facebook says, “As with all Facebook Ads, you will never pay more than your max bid per click (CPC). Facebook Ads for Pages and for Events cost-per-click (CPC) metric includes clicks on your title, image, or body and clicks on the “Become a Fan” link or “RSVP to this Event” link. It does not include clicks on the friend actions.”

I think this is a brilliant use of an already existing and familiar social format. The fact that they already have “Insights,” Facebook’s analytic tracking of user-to-Page interactivity, which is based on solid user demographics, could make this very informative for advertisers attempting to market themselves in the social networking venue.

Totera has already got an ad using the new format and we’ll follow-up with pertinent feedback regarding our experience.

Donna

Totera Web Systems

e-mail Donna

*originally posted 06/04/2009

Tags: facebook, internet marketing, smm

That’s the question of the day.  What’s the difference between a Page and a Group?  Before Facebook’s most recent makeover, I would have said: Not a heck of a lot.  It took me a while to get used to the “new” Facebook but, being me, I jumped right in to figure it out.

I now find the differences between Groups and Pages to be enough to  warrant putting some thought into your choice.

Facebook Group

I will liken a Group to a club.  It can represent anything: business, person, movie, sorority, your baby, lavender bath soap, the color white, lizards…you get the picture.

The Group creator decides who can join: everyone on Facebook, networks, only those invited, etc.

Group members, depending on how the creator set it up, can post links, comments, images and/or videos.  The Group creator and administrators are visible and you can also choose “officers,” which you can title yourself.

As long as your group is under 5,000 members you can send out mass private messages to their inbox or selectively choose whom to send messages to.  When someone posts something new to a group, there is no real time notification to the members, although, if your settings allow, you will be notified if someone replies comments on something you posted on the Group.

Whom do I think Groups are good for?

1. Users who want to be able to approve or invite only selected potential members.  Class reunions/classmates, work colleagues, clubs, families and other similar entities.

2. Unofficial place to discuss topics, people of interest, etc.  Politics, religion, beer, travel, Disneyland, baking, Brad Pitt’s movies, etc.

Facebook Pages

Pages are public once they are published and operate nearly identically to a profile page (your personal Facebook account page).  They are meant to represent an organization or industry brand, movie, band, artist, public figure, celebrity, etc. and Facebook users can become “fans” of your Page.  This makes them like a friend on a profile page and they will get real time notifications of your Page activity via their newsfeed.  You cannot privately message all Page fans like you can with Group members.

To create a Page you are supposed to be the official representative for whom you are creating the Page.  I have heard that Facebook has a Page filter with names of a lot of the larger public profiles and will ask if you to prove you are the official representative if you, for example, attempt to create a Page for someone like Brad Pitt, Toyota or The Killers.

Once you create a Page, you are an administrator and can choose from Page fans or use e-mail addresses to add others as Page administrator.  No one can ever see who administrates a Page.  When an administrator posts information on their Page, it shows as the brand/entity making the post.

Depending on what type of service you are representing, you will be given different options for your page.  Bands are automatically given Page properties supporting music-type services, businesses are given business-type layouts.  More and more app developers are creating apps for Pages, also.

Facebook Pages are indexed by Google and the biggest bling Pages has to offer is their “insights.”  It is Facebook’s own analytics collecting who has been to your Page, who your fans are, basic demographics and if anyone has interacted with information off your Page.

Whom do I think Pages are good for?

1. Those wanting to market their business product or themselves.

2. Those wanting to create a place to interact with their clientele and have their clientele interact with one another.

3. Those wanting to spread a grassroots message to support a cause.

You can read more about Pages and Groups on Facebook.  The most important issue to consider is, do you have someone who can spend the time building a Page or Group on Facebook, which I mean to include being on Facebook, inviting users, responding to comments and questions and posting engaging content to provoke interaction?

Social networking is an amazing resource for marketing.  I say, Get yourself ready and go for it!

Donna Winter

Project Development and Marketing Coordinator

Totera Web Systems

e-mail Donna

*originally posted 05/29/2009

Tags: facebook, internet marketing

There was buzz that Google was going to announce something über-wonderific at the I/O conference.  Once again, they fail to disappoint.

Meet Google Wave, what may be the epitome of collaborative mashability.  Part instant messaging, web chat, file sharing and project management, Google Wave claims it will provide it all plus pretty pictures of the collaborative group members to boot.

In a rich-text format, users will be able to drag and drop files from their desktop, share RSS feeds, chat, add other users to any part of the conversation and watch what others are doing in real time (character-by-character typing) AND go back for a play-by-play from any point.

As a web developer, Totera has clients and contractors all over the world.  I can’t wait to try this as a possible addition to project management tools.  I’m SOOO ready…but, alas, this goddess o’ geek will have to wait.  Google Wave has no concrete release date. The code will be open source, as is Google’s typical m.o., so developers will be encouraged to get on the bandwagon.

I have signed up to go Beta (bugs and all) so if I am approved, friends, clients, colleagues beware–we’re GOING to try this out and I’ll certainly follow-up here on Tera-Bytes with feedback.

Donna Winter

Goddess of Betability (aka Project Development and Marketing Coordinator)

Totera Web Systems

e-mail Donna

*originally published 05/28/2009

Tags: collaboration, google, google wave, smm

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone announced yesterday that they do plan to release Twitter business tools by the end of 2009, which they will charge for. They do not plan to sell advertising but enhanced services like light analytics and enhanced methods for businesses to update clients.

When I work on SMO for our clients (and our own sites) I recommend and use Twitter more than any other social media as it fits with any business category: technology, music, retail, restaurants, etc. Twitter can be used alone to notify followers of weekly specials, sales, performances, classes or how much you love that new movie you saw last night. It can also be used with blogs and other social media via RSS and widgets. I like to call myself the Goddess of the Mash-up (has not caught on like I’d hoped it would???) but, really, I’m lucky to hold court to Twitter’s mashability.

And, everyone is using it.

I grabbed this from Alexa today:
Twitter_stats

mmmhmmm…we’d all love to see that kind of traffic, eh?

That’s Twitter’s daily users over the last 6 months. Those of us Tweeters know that, once you create a Twitter account, you don’t need to ever go back to twitter.com unless you want to edit the look of your profile; most of us Tweet from a third-party app or our cell phones. Yet, that is the percent of total people on the Internet going to twitter.com. By the time I finish writing this post statistics say Twitter will probably have 170,000 sites linking back to them and over 17 million users.

At last glance, Twitter was number 15 on Alexa’s Top 100 Sites in the United States and ranked 37 globally. Think about that for a minute…EVERY site on the Internet…

…why would anyone NOT ride that wave, especially when your sole purpose is to develop a larger web presence?

If you are not sold on social media’s place in Internet marketing: Facebook is ranked 3rd in the U.S. and 4th globally, only to be preceded by Google and Yahoo!.

This is a rapidly changing Internet and I am having a great time following the progress!

You can check out Totera Web Systems on Facebook and Twitter

Donna Winter
Goddess of the Mash-up and/or Project Development Coordinator
donna@totera.com

*originally posted 05/19/2009

Tags: internet marketing, smm, twitter

No, I’m not singing with a Julie Andrews voice (unless your hills are alive with a howling dog named Julie Andrews). I’m sitting here watching the snow fall, amazed that 2008 is almost over, pondering the fun projects I’ve had this year.

There has been concern over the current economic state and that, with the impending Hood Canal Bridge closure, business in our local area could decrease. A lot of our clients have opted to spend some time adding some “bling” to their online presence to boost their market-share and sales.

As I’ve mentioned before, I really enjoy staying on top of the rapidly-changing marketing strategies the Internet has to offer. For various reasons we’ve had several clients wanting to reach out to new markets and we’ve been more than happy to share what we know and find the perfect fit to match their goals.

We’ve set clients up with Twitter accounts so they can “Tweet”–heck,we’re even Tweeting! We’ve got some Facebook groups going, which have developed into small communities, all discussing subjects they enjoy and we’ve connected with some fellow developers on Ning.

I have mostly loved watching our clients who have started blogging. It is an amazing way to share what they sell and know along with increasing their search results…plus, they’re fun!

Here are a few we’ve most recently assisted clients with:

fishing-report.raincoastguides.com: Jim Kerr’s pictures and writing show how much fun he is; giving a great idea of what taking a guided river fishing trip would be like.

blog.greatbearcharters.com: Andrea and Matt have also opted to post a lot of pictures. You get to see their sailboat Singawing at sea and guests enjoying a trip with them. And, looking at the snow fall, I’m considering asking if they’ll whisk me off to anywhere south of here!

blog.entertainmentengineering.com: Bruce and Terry have linked their blog to their Facebook page and then post the editorial for their subscribers before the monthly magazine comes out.

These are all first-time blogs for these people and I love how they’ve embraced the idea. Of course, we have other clients who are blogging, and I’m sorry I can’t mention them all now.

Thanks to all of Totera’s clients, long-standing and new; I’ve had so much fun working with you all this year and I truly look forward to learning, sharing and providing more ways for you to be found in the wide open sea we all surf called the Internet.

Enjoy the holidays and ring in the New Year with brilliance…I promise not to sing ~ Donna

*originally posted 12/18/2008

Tags: facebook, seo, smm, smo, twitter