Social media marketing evolves with the platforms it stands on, and Facebook has announced a series of significant changes at the first Facebook Marketing Conference (fMC) that are certain to impact the entire industry as we know it. The influx of new features and products for Facebook pages has me excited for so many reasons. I’m mostly excited because these changes add a layer of complexity to social media marketing that will finally reveal the myriad of phony ‘social media marketing experts’ that exist– yes, the same clowns that Gary Vaynerchuk so appropriately called out (couldn’t agree more with this). Without further adieu, let’s take a brief look at some of the changes that Zuck & Co. revealed at fMC:
Timeline for Pages: (Update: See my detailed post on Timeline)
An array of new features come together to form Timeline, which really allows brands to express themselves, establish and cultivate a brand identity, and ultimately build a community of engaged fans. Here’s a little more on the individual features.
- Cover Photo: The new equivalent of the landing page tab, without the gimmicks and promotions. (Update: See my detailed post on Cover Photos)
- Friend Activity: Transformed from an afterthought to a main attraction, with a friend’s recent post to bolster a personal connection between a page and a (hopefully) user-to-be. (Update: See my detailed post on Friend Activity)
- Pinned Posts: Control what a user sees upon arrival, push extra traffic to that special promo or important video post.
- Messages: Listen to customer feedback in a private setting, and respond directly to the fan to engage in a one-on-one conversation.
- Admin Panel: As every speaker at fMC said, ‘Mission Control For Your Business’. Everything begins and ends with your page and this is at the center of it all.
Coca Cola Fan Page with New Timeline Feature: Includes Cover Photo, Pinned Post, and Friend Activity - www.facebook.com/cocacola
Reach Generator: (Update: See my detailed post on Reach Generator)
Facebook does all the hard work– at a steep price– for big brands and celebrities with Reach Generator. With this new, fixed-cost feature (based on fan count), Facebook guarantees reach to 75% of fans monthly and 50% weekly. The burden of showing the right person the right post at the right time now falls on the shoulders of Facebook. Big brands using this tool can rest easy knowing that Facebook can handle this ‘pressure’. Early testers like Ben & Jerry’s have seen extraordinary results, achieving 3x ROI and 98% monthly reach.
Reach Generator Impact - Facebook
Facebook Offers: (Update: See my detailed post on Offers)
Facebook Offers…..
Real-Time Insights: (Update: See my detailed post on Insights)
Facebook to a big step in the right direction toward accomplishing their goal to help page owners ‘turn insights into engagement’ by releasing real-time insights. Social marketers will now wait minutes– rather than days– to analyze post performance and adjust accordingly. An added level of stress comes with real-time insights, as page owners will need to act quickly to push high-performing posts out as Sponsored Stories and remove posts garnering a high amount of negative feedback.
I’ll be touching on these new releases in greater detail in the next few posts, so stay tuned. (Update: Links included above with associated topics.)
Mike
