10 Tips For Successful Facebook Marketing

There are a ton of social media websites that you can participate in today like Linked In and Friendster, and they all have their good and bad. The best way to choose a community to participate in is to look at the people who have already joined. For me, Facebook is quite possibly the best sites for networking personally and professionally. I also use Linked In and Myspace. Of all the social networks, Facebook is the best place when it comes to all around marketing and networking.

I have been using Facebook for the past two years, and it is an attractive tool for marketing to add to your marketing strategy. Following are ten ways you can use Facebook to introduce new people to your for FREE!

1. Make a Top-Notch Profile: This is absolutely the FIRST thing that you must do to make an impact on Facebook . Think of your Facebook profile as part of your branding. A effective profile will include a photo of you. Don't use the one of you at a Christmas party, unless that's what your selling. Make sure your new Facebook profile is complete. You should include your contact information, your web address (this is so important), education, work experience and your personal interests. A complete profile is the only way to go.

2. Add Friends: This is what makes Facebook a great platform - the ability to make friends, build relationships and foster them. The more relationships you build, the more worthwhile your marketing efforts will be. You can use Facebook's own tools to find friends that are already on Facebook. Once you add your friends, you can search for kindred spirits. Make their acquaintance, become their friend, build a relationship. One cool feature on Facebook is that you can see friends of your friends. This will help you build a extensive network in no time.

3. Join Facebook Groups: You can join groups within Facebook that are associated with what you do. There are groups for wealth building, coaches, and experts of all kinds. Almost every supposable type of professional service provider has some type of an online group. I belong to several groups on Facebook and have made hundreds of new contacts this way.

4. Create your Own Facebook Group: Can't find a group that really makes sense? Create your own! You can add members, publish articles, carry on discussions, and probably build some long lasting relationships. And even if you find great group to belong to, start your own. This gives you the opportunity to be the trendsetter!

5. Syndicate your Blog Using RSS: You can syndicate your own blog on your Facebook profile page. This inherently means that every time you make a post, it will automatically show up on your profile page. More Exposure = More Readers = More Leads = More Business. And the bonus is the back links to your site. I syndicate headlines from three blogs on Facebook.

6. Comment on Other Peoples Profiles: Are you a fan or devotee of someone's work? Reach out to them on Facebook! Many of my business acquaintances check their Facebook messages more regularly than their email. They are also more likely to respond to Facebook messages. Don't feel comfortable sending a message to someone you don't know? Don't worry! Leave them a "just saying hi!" or "I enjoy your work!" blurb on their wall. All profiles come with "virtual walls" where friends and acquaintances can leave messages. The more messages you leave on your friend's Facebook profiles the more exposure you get!

7. List your Events: Launching a New Service? Create an events page and invite all your friends and acquaintances. You can even see who RSVPed and get feedback from your guests. Marketing doesn't get much simpler (or cheaper!) than this.

8. Send Virtual Gifts: Want to show your appreciation for someone? Send them a virtual gift. You can choose from a bouquet of flowers to a potted plant that actually sits on the your friends profile and grows over time (plus hundreds of others). With all the 3rd party applications for gift giving available, what are you waiting for. This is a proven way to build long lasting relationships!

9. Use Some Cool Apps: Facebook has literally tons of applications that were built just for the site. Gaming, music, movie trivia and more. When you use an application, you get to invite your friends to use these interesting little applications (Apps). So just like number 8 above, this allows you another way to stay in touch with your Facebook friends. Again, this helps you build long lasting relationships.

10. Create a Community: Perhaps Facebook's greatest benefit is that it lets you to build a community. It provides you a group of people who are perpetually connected to you, and they are open to hearing what you have to say. Write on people's walls, give them feedback, and introduce them to each other. Start building your brand and leveraging Facebook for business building!

Facebook is a great place to introduce yourself to a ton of new people who may also become customers and/or clients. Just keep one thing in mind: don't get too carried away and spend all your time there. Facebook is a tool, part of your marketing strategy. Use the tips above, use them wisely and have a little fun at the same time.
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Lennie Appelquist is the Owner of FreeMarket Media Group. FreeMarket Media Group is dedicated to helping individuals and small businesses generate leads, convert those leads in customers/clients and build a web presence that works for them. We can show you how to make your online business profitable.

Is Affiliate Marketing Safe For Social Networks?

Social networks, like YouTube, MySpace, and Flicker have taken the internet by storm.

One of the greatest challenges for most individuals and businesses is how to harness the enormous amount of traffic these sites are receiving and monetize it, either by growing their business through lead collection, or promoting either their own products, or affiliate products where they receive a commission.

Because of the social nature of the networking sites, the user community tends to frown upon promotion methods and many of the social network sites have included restrictions prohibiting promotion on their member pages.

However, there is one social network that is growing in popularity with business and individual internet marketers. This site is Squidoo.com, a simple concept similar to a blog, originated by author and speaker Seth Godin.

Squidoo is unique among social networks because it actually encourages members to use the site to promote products. Additionally, Mr. Godin actually recommends members to create multiple pages, called lenses, to promote anything they want.

Members of Squidoo have the option of either earning a revenue share of the revenue generated by their lens or they can donate the revenue to a charity of their choice.

Besides earning revenue through the ads shown by the Squidoo network, some members have also used some advanced html to include their own advertisements and subscription offers.

Copywriter Tiffany Dow started out on Squidoo.com just promoting her writing services. She is now considered one of the leading authorities on how to use this service to promote your services and affiliate products.

Tiffany had this to say about marketing on social networks:

“In a nutshell, Web 2.0 is centered around socialization on the ‘net, but as you probably already know, the biggest social giant site to date (MySpace), bans the practice of marketing, leaving entrepreneurs scrambling to play hide and seek with their customers without the risk of getting banned.

I started using a website called Squidoo to promote my writing services but once I realized how powerful it was, I started using it to market my own products and affiliate items - with amazing results that turned me into the Internet’s residential expert on Squidoo by accident!”

Tiffany has documented her success in a popular ebook called “Social Networking on Squidoo”. As a result of the 30 day challenge, an updated ebook is being developed, documenting the techniques used within the challenge.

Whether you are an individual, or a small business, Squidoo.com is a very powerful resource to promote your business. The ebook Tiffany created provides a blueprint to a successful promotion on Squidoo.
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Kevin Davis has been marketing online for 3 years. For more information about Kevin, the services his company provides, recommended products and more, visit his blog at kevinhdavis.com.

Currently, Kevin is the leader in Tiffany Dow’s Squidoo 30 Day Challenge. You can check out his Squidoo lens at squidoo.com/internet-marketing-strategy. (February 4, 2007)

Good Night,
Kevin

Business Social Networks: For the People, By the People

Niche Social Networks have been a hot topic on this and many blogs for a few months now. Their popularity has been increasing exponentially to the point that businesses who are normally behind on the internet are now starting to take notice and find out “what is social networking and what can it do for my business?”

It is in the wording of the question itself that the problem lies.

First, here is a brief explanation of what a social network is done Twitter-style in 140 characters or less:

Niche social networks are websites where people with shared interests can network with each other, share thoughts and ideas, contribute resources, and be a part of a virtual community where they can interact with people anywhere in the world.

Okay, it was longer than 140 characters. Still, niche social networks are sweeping the internet and businesses are starting to take wholesale notice. The problem is, many are approaching it wrong. They are looking at it as “how can I get more business from it” instead of approaching it as “how can I help contribute to my industry and my customer base by offering a genuine resource, and thereby potentially increasing business as a result?”

For this example, we will look at the car business. For the most part, social networking in the car business has failed. Many dealers have tried to get into it by creating MySpace and Facebook pages. Some are putting social networks on sites like Ning and GoingOn. In almost every case, the focus is sales, plugging in the inventory, or talking about how great the dealership is. It isn’t working.

If a dealership (or any other business) really wants to participate in Web 2.0 by offering a social network for their client base they need to take it a step further. Here are some pointers:

• Keep it Local, Publish Global - A good niche social network for a car dealer will be centered around their community but offer tools, articles, videos, and photos that can appeal to anyone.  Why?  Keeping it local has obvious advantages, but you want anyone who comes to the network to be able to gain something from it.  The more people involved, the more content there will be.  Fresh content, even from people out of the market area, can keep the locals coming back for more.


• Offer Resources and Fun, not Sales Pitches - People might be interested in the nice trade-in that came in last week or the 0% financing that the manufacturer just released.  Might.  They will almost definitely be interested in things that pertain to them whether they are buying a car or not.  Humorous stories, videos, and photos arre crowd pleasers.  Tips on car maintenance, buying advice, and local auto clubs can keep them coming back.  Features on local events and charities touch the community in different ways.  The sky’s the limit, but keep it centered on benefits, not sales.


• Avoid MySpace and Facebook - This goes against what many recommend, but here is why. Both Facebook and MySpace are antiquated formats that get spammed a lot and are, in general, unattractive.  People who use these networks regularly are used to them, but new users trying to join your network will probably be unimpressed.


• Promote it with Customers - Someone buys a car.  Why have them on your social network?  You want them there because they will give the best content.  People who are happy with a purchase may be willing to tell the world about it.  We know the ones who want to complain will find a venue, so why not give a place for positive statements?  Give them the URL and encourage them to join.

Any of these examples apply to other businesses, not just the automotive industry. Translate them to your business and you have a chance to really tap into areas of the internet where you aren’t currently present.

socialnewswatch.com

Social networks and conversations

Source: Microsoft Email
Author: Richard Huggins, regional sales director of Microsoft digital advertising solutions.

5 tips to maximize online marketing through social networks

How can advertisers make use of social networks to engage the audience with their brand?

The fundamental growth of social networking is based on having a simple and easy platform for people to stay connected. Sites such as Facebook, My Space, Windows Live Spaces and Friendster encourage and allow people to exchange information, while email and instant messaging help support this form of communication. Social media today provides an outlet for creativity, allowing users to express themselves whilst satisfying the need to be part of a community.

For advertisers, this platform spells new ways to engage the audience with their brand, while adding to a consumer’s overall online experience.

Power of social recommendation

A strong element of trust exists among online social networking communities. Forrester estimates that 80 percent of consumers trust recommendations from friends online -- that is three times as much than in advertisements via traditional outlets. From this alone, it is apparent that social networkers have a strong influence, so it is important for advertisers to identify who the key influencers are.

Advertisers also need to examine various ways to engage with these opinion leaders online. As with advertising in the offline world, digital ads need to reflect the environment within which they are placed, and ensure its relevance. This will enable brands to develop interesting content that consumers will forward directly to their contacts, and ultimately, express a positive opinion about it publicly.

Below are five tips to bear in mind when conducting online marketing through social networking.

1) Understand consumers’ motivations for using social networks

Through different online networks, users will have different levels of engagement. Advertisers need to understand the mindsets that are occurring within these networks and think about both the author’s and reader’s incentives. By tapping into these behaviours, advertisers will be able to fit more seamlessly in -- without intruding -- and create relevant messages that are appropriate for their target groups.

2) Express yourself as a brand

People are using social networks to express their individuality. Advertisers should allow their brands to express its character, too. To fit into this environment, a willingness to have a voice is important. The network can be used to express a side of a brand people don’t normally see and encourage them to interact with it -- but it needs to remain authentic.

3) Create and maintain good conversations

Individual social networkers are powerful content creators. Their ability to make, or break, a brand by starting a conversation or community online means that brands that are willing to have a dialogue fit more naturally into this environment, and could truly benefit from its viral power. Advertisers need to tap into those individuals with a clear call-to-action, so consumers can make a decision whether or not the message is relevant to them. The benefit lies in the potential to spread to other networks, so the message not only has a viral impact, but arguably more longevity.

4) Empower participants

Some networkers actually welcome brand association as it allows them to express their individuality and preferences within their chosen network. As marketers, we are entering a world of consumers who have been given the power to control what content they receive, and when they want to receive them. By associating the brand with these online communities, advertisers are immediately offered a welcoming environment and more importantly, relevance with their messages. However, it must be noted that, in order to truly become “part of the conversation”, brands must open up to interaction. Advertisers need to ensure that they have carefully selected the right reason to create an online dialogue, such as for product launches.

Brands that are willing to venture into the online space by opening up for public expression create a positive experience for the end-user, thereby extending its appeal to consumers.

5) Identify online brand advocates

Advertisers need to identify relevant networking sites, preferably one that includes a group who already use/buy a company’s product. The simplest ways to analyse the network and see which users bring in the most traffic is by examining the content to see what their areas of interest are. By researching blogs and comments on a product in forums, for example, advertisers can reach out to them in this environment and begin an outreach exercise, such as offering free samples or news on upcoming product releases.

This is the future of advertising: interactive ads that not only draw customers in, but makes customers, themselves, active agents in your advertising campaign. In this way, the new digital revolution is simply a light-speed approach to the oldest and most trusted form of advertisement: word of mouth buzz, passed from one trusted friend to another.

Social Networks Matter Less to Marketers than You (and They) Might Think

Yesterday’s much-awaited announcements by Facebook regarding its new advertising initiatives were quite in-line with the rumors that had been circulating in the lead up to ad:tech. Facebook’s move comes shortly after MySpace’s announcement of its advertising platform.

With these moves, Facebook and MySpace have tried to position themselves as powerful players in the online advertising space. Some have speculated that Facebook will eventually rival with Google. Previously, everybody knew that Facebook and MySpace were building data “gold mines” but they seemed ill-prepared to extract the valuable gold. Anecdotal reports indicated that despite their captive audiences, the most popular social networks were little more than a major disappointment for marketers.


The new Facebook and MySpace offerings are designed to finally leverage the two most valuable assets social networks have to marketers:

Deep demographic and interest data. In an age where the targeting of advertising has become increasingly sophisticated, the massive amount of data that popular social networks have amassed on their users in theory seem to provide the ability for targeting on a level never before seen.

The “social graph.” Word-of-mouth is arguably the most powerful marketing vehicle because it’s cheap and highly-effective. Many marketers make a considerable effort to create brand “evangelists” who will spread the word about their brands. Social networks potentially provide the perfect platform to spark viral word-of-mouth campaigns because they connect people together.

Now that Facebook and MySpace have wisely developed robust offerings that are tailored to take advantage of their strengths, the $15 billion question is: will these offerings deliver for advertisers? I would argue that Facebook and MySpace will wind up mattering less to marketers that some might expect because their new offerings will deliver lower returns than marketers are hoping for.

Targeting: Only One Part of the Equation

One might get the impression that targeting is the be all and end all of marketing. If you can target the right people, you have a solid basis for a successful campaign. But successful marketing is a bit more nuanced. Being able to reach the right people is not enough - you must reach them at the right time. I think many have overlooked this fact when evaluating the potential of social networks as advertising platforms.

MySpace may know my age (85), my location (Beverly Hills, CA 90210), my income ($250,000 and Higher), my religion (Scientologist), my marital status (Swinger) and even my body type (Bodybuilder). The company knows that my interests include brandy, cigars and yachts, that I listen to Young Jeezy, T.I. and Kylie Minogue, that I watch the Sopranos, the Colbert Report and Dancing with the Stars, that Scarface is my favorite movie of all time and that I enjoy reading Machiavelli and George Orwell. It can probably target me with relevant advertising based its knowledge about who I am. But if I’m more focused on viewing my friend’s party pictures from Tijuana and sending a message to a girl who wants me to chat with her on her web cam, the chances that I’m going to be receptive to the advertising MySpace serves up to me is pretty slim. And that’s where social networks face their biggest challenge: they are platforms for social interaction and when you’re busy socializing, you’re less likely to be interested by advertising.

While Google AdWords, for instance, may not offer the same deep level of targeting that the new Facebook and MySpace offerings can, the effectiveness of AdWords is a result of the fact that it provides good-enough targeting coupled with perfect timing: the AdWords ads I’m served are relevant to something I’m actively searching for. The ads do not compete with my current activity. Ads on social networks inherently do.

Word-of-Mouth: It’s Not Mechanical

I think Facebook recognizes that targeting ads better is not going to dramatically improve the dismal CTRs many of their advertisers have reported and thus their Social Ads offering is designed to more deeply integrate marketing messages into the Facebook experience with the goal of being more noticeable yet less intrusive to users. As Facebook describes, “Facebook’s ad system serves Social Ads that combine social actions from your friends – such as a purchase of a product or review of a restaurant – with an advertiser’s message.” The ability for Facebook to group ads with actions from friends, including your purchases on third-party websites, is clearly an attempt by Facebook to turn its service into a vehicle for viral word-of-mouth advertising.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, “Social actions are powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people.” Zuckerberg is partially correct in that social actions can be powerful but the socially-awkward CEO of Facebook seems to miss a critical point. A system that turns social actions into recommendations via a mechanical, automated fashion risks marginalizing that power. Recommendations from friends are inherently powerful primarily because they are not artificial. When Pete called me up and let me know that I need to buy The Gilmore Girls 7th season on DVD, I valued the recommendation in part because Pete is not constantly bombarding me with recommendations. The fact that he thought that the 7th season of the Gilmore Girls was so good he took the time to call me and suggest I buy it is the reason I considered purchasing it myself; I was not interested because he tells me about all of his purchases. Facebook is doing the latter as opposed to the former. While being able to view what my friends are purchasing could be addictive and entertaining, the value it’s going to offer marketers in terms of driving tangible customer acquisition is, in my opinion, quite limited. A recent study revealed that social networks are not driving purchasing decisions for online shoppers and therefore it seems quite unlikely that Facebook’s Social Ads are going to become a panacea for marketers focused on customer acquisition anytime soon.

The Bottom Line

Facebook and MySpace have created decent offerings that leverage their best assets. But in my opinion, the challenges that social networks present as an advertising medium are likely to lead to disappointment for marketers who expect that social networks can become significant drivers for commerce. This does not mean that marketers will not spend money in this space. To the contrary, many continually spend in areas that don’t deliver results. If you’ve had the opportunity to talk frankly with interactive brand marketers, for instance, most will probably tell you that the CPM advertising model rarely delivers good results. Yet CPM lives on and they continue to do deals. It’s simply part of the “marketing mix.”

The real winners in all of this are Facebook and MySpace. Facebook, in particular, has masterfully played the PR game. Its offering is sexy and appealing even if the results aren’t likely to be. In the final analysis, Facebook and MySpace may be the best marketers of all. Coca-Cola convinces consumers that its product tastes better. Louis Vuitton convinces consumers that its handbags represent membership in a special club. Facebook and MySpace have convinced marketers that marketing platforms with significant limitations are the best thing since sliced bread. How ironic.

mashable.com

More Time to Communicate

The social network is the main reason for the increasing amount of time now spent on the Internet. This is conclusion of Never Ending Friending. The study was prepared jointly by the company TNS, Teenage Research Unlimited Marketing Evolution and instructions on MySpace, Carat and Isobar.

As it turned out, a third of those surveyed aged 14 to 40 years who enjoy the social networks, have increased as a result of this time presence on the Internet. And only 8% of users who communicate in social networks, the total period of stay decreased in Networks.

E-mail became more use 26% of respondents (less than-14%), internet-messengers -24% (less than-16%).

While those users who have become more time to conduct on the Net, not necessarily do so at the expense of viewing television programs. The authors of the study noticed that the fans of social communication in the network, there is a tendency to watch less TV. That is the difference from those whose pastime on the Web devoted not social networks, and other types internet activity. On average, social networks amatores watched television about two hours a week less than the general Internet users.

What are the same sites visited by amatores of social networks? The first is MySpace, the principal asset of the blogs communication amatores. That it spent most of the time that users spend on the Internet. In top ten of most popular portal sites also hit Facebook. In December 2006, at MySpace spent 12% of the total online time, which users had in the United States Network.

However, according to eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson, though these portals enjoyed great popularity among network users, it does not mean that they are good marketing channels. In eMarketer optimistic about the key benefits of social networks - users the opportunity to voice their concerns, to share it with otheres and make a relations with the pertinent people, -noted Williamson. However, she said, now it is time to social networks to prove its worth marketing. "They should not simply force users to communicate on the Net, but also show that social marketing networks can bring real results."