The Think eBiz Blog

Facebook: Losing its Touch with Real People?

Banner Blindness; test subjects that "...either consciously or unconsciously ignored information that was presented in banners". Could this happen to Facebook; as a majority of updates are originating from commercial groups - rather than "friends"?

In the beginning; Facebook was about individuals sharing worthy (and at times mundane) information about themselves. Brands began to realize the value; the social aspect of Facebook. And some manage their social communications extremely well. Others simply have a Facebook presence because they believe they must be there. Not a worthy nor a successful Social Media Marketing strategy.

Side note: if you have a branded Facebook page and yet you "do not" allow people to write on your "wall", is it indeed social?

On my own Facebook page; dozens of news agencies and corporate brands present daily updates; while my friends communiques are buried in-between. At some point; will the people, the real faces of Facebook, drift away due to over-commercialization?

Brands should become aware of this; and present their updates when they have socially relevant information to share. Where they eagerly wish for their "faces" to come and respond and be social within their company Facebook page. The strategy should inspire responses; evoke shared experiences (including photos); and clearly not over-communicate. The branded sites that create a socially welcome environment will deliver on the ROI promise. We would like to see individuals vote on this with their "like" and "dislike"; which would send a clear message to the best and worst sites.

We'd like to know what you think of the current state of Facebook and how brands can enhance the experience - not cause its downfall.

Social Media : A two-way street leads to success.

Recently I encountered Facebook fan pages for brands that left me feeling flat about their online social intent. My concern was that they did not allow their visitors (fans) to post on their wall. In other words, they presented themselves with the privilege to start the conversation; yet not allowing others the same accord. They do allow comments in their posts however. One of these is Quaker Oats.

A very good example of social intent on Facebook is Best Buy. When I had problems with service for a digital camera, I posted my complaint on their fan page. I stated my concerns clearly and received a helpful response. Best Buy monitors their fan page and responds. In the end, their response helped to satisfactorily resolve my issues (and I posted my appreciation on their fan page). Quaker does not allow for this level of interaction and therefore, their social conversation is one sides and unsatisfactory for a consumer brand.

Consumer brands can learn much from their "fans"; whether from positive or negative comments. The value of this interaction can be powerful. In the case of Best Buy, turning a negative situation into a positive experience.Coca Cola recognizes this power as well and openly shares their Online Social Media Principals.

We recognize the vital importance of participating in these online conversations and are committed to ensuring that we participate in online social media the right way.

Company's that care about their consumer audience can learn from Coca Cola and Best Buy. Are you listening Quaker?

 

 

Facebook: Privacy and 350 Million Connected People; a real challenge

Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that "It has been a great year for making the world more open and connected. Thanks to your help, more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online.". He does on to discuss privacy, a real challenge when you manage a community of this size. How to you maintain an "open and connected" society yet place rules to protect ones privacy?

One thing is for sure, Facebook need to implement the ability to control privacy in an easy to  understand - intuitive manner. This is not as easy as it may sound, as this community has highly advance technology people - and those far less so. Yet online privacy is critical to the success of this and other social platforms. failure to secure personal data could be crushing to a social platform.

Currently, we can control who has access to our Facebook page and we restrict access to the content and images from 3rd party entities. The question; is it working? How do we know if the security structure we setup is actually what we intended and is correctly in place. To this; we suggest a privacy wizard that, after making your selections - it provides an easy to understand report and analysis. Further , we suggest the use of a graphical representation of your privacy settings; so it is clear who is in - who is outside.

We personally use Facebook for fun and pleasure (which is why we don't publish our Facebook page here); and yet we believe this is a highly strategic social media platform for B2B and B2C organizations. We will explore this aspect further in the coming days. Add your comments and concerns about privacy n Facebook; we'd like to hear from you.

Facebook for business?

Is your business on Facebook? If not -why not?

Facebook can enhance most brands - in both the creation of "fan" pages or groups - and with targeted banner advertising. The idea of social networking is allowing a forum where your consumers can talk to you and each other. Facebook facilitates this - relatively easily - and at a far less cost than if you created your own social network site.

Of course, you have to take the good with the bad - as your consumers can tell others about a bad experience they had with your product. Yet this is a golden opportunity to turn a negative into a positive by addressing the concerns in the open - transparently. facebook facilitates this openness - and how you respond could add legions of new "fans" to your brand.

Before you begin, look at how Starbucks and Heineken and others create their page and hold court....   and see how they push promotions out via their page and through inexpensive (and targeting) banner ads. Facebook is good for business, we believe.

Six Degrees of Separation - Busted by #Twitter (#networking)

In Networking, as the theory goes, you are (up to) six degrees separated from anyone else in the world. Experiments have played tested this theory and we have written about this in our Business Networking Blog. Need to speak with John McCain or Steve Case (ex-AOL)?  You should be able to find someone in your close network that knows someone in their network... and so on.. that could lead to an introduction. All within up to six steps.

Six Degree's, in fact, has been the mantra of Business Networking. In the social networking sphere, there is no better platform than LinkedIn. This business social platform is based on the six degree concept.

Then along comes Twitter... a networking game changer.

Twitter is an open social environment made up of “followers” (who see your valuable 140 character musings) and those that you “follow” - to see their words of wisdom. Some top twitterers have 100,000 and more followers. Shaq has (as of this writing) 644,038 followers, CNN Breaking News is about to achieve over 1 million...  and your humble blogger has...  just over 200!

So let's say you want to reach Steve Case for a business deal. You would have to do some homework, to locate AOL or Time Warner Management, and work your way through the business networking food chain... eventually (hopefully) gain an audience. Yet on Twitter - just “follow” him - he Tweets often. And respond to him with a well worded attention getting "reply" to one of his writings. If your peaks his interest, he might reply back to you (or “reTweet your comment) and even “follow” you...   then shoot him a "direct" message...   and who knows what that could lead to.

There are no guarantee of success, as he receives 100’s of replies – but if you are successful - you just skipped the '6' degree step process.

Of course, your intended target has to be in Twitter.