Social Media Dynamics

Is Facebook becoming just another website?

April 30th, 2012

By Sharon Hill

Facebook started out as a way for people to connect with others. School buddies, former co-workers, families and friends.

Create a profile, friend others and search for people you lost contact with over the years.

Next, we had Facebook for business. For many companies, this has been a struggle to maximize benefits of Facebook. Contests, coupons are popular along with utilizing Facebook for customer service purposes. Two way communication is the goal.

Now we have the new timeline format. Where Facebook used to default to the Wall, it now defaults to a Profile page that has little to do with connecting. You actually have to scroll down to see the posts.

Looks like a dating, Classmates and Facebook page all rolled up into one.

Interesting under Facebook’s Business help page it shows Pages, Ads, Sponsored Stories and Platform.

Platform is described as: “Transform your website into a social experience with plug-ins and custom apps.”

The key word here is website. Most companies already have a website and are looking for something else from Facebook.

In looking at the Facebook page of several large businesses, the top is a large photo with the company logo. A short paragraph about the company is placed to the right under the logo. To the left are photo links to photos, Likes, Welcome, featured product etc. Then and only then do you see “Highlights” by scrolling down.

This is where your fresh content and connections are placed. The company can post something on the left and recent posts by others are shown on the right. Three posts are shown with a click to see more.

Below that are most recent posts following the timeline by month.

Am I remembering correctly that there used to be more connecting and less selling?

Tags: Facebook, Facebook for business, Facebook website, social media websites
Posted in Facebook, Local business, Social Media and Social Networking, Websites | No Comments »

Building your social sites – Is it a slower process than you thought? Continued

March 28th, 2012

By Sharon Hill

Our second case study is a local alumni association.

Brief History

The national alumni association for our case study university has puts its focus on social media for the local chapters to engage the local alums.

Gone are the days of a website page created and maintained by the university and updated by the local chapter president. Now it is all Facebook.

For this university, there are approximately 800+ alums in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 49 have liked the Facebook page.

This local university alumni club has issues with engagement such as attending events, volunteering and interest has declined over the recent years to a unsatisfactory level. The reduction in the number of printed mail outs, emails and a website page mostly likely contributed to this decline.

The national website directs alums to the individual chapter Facebook page (if available). The Facebook page is well maintained for events, but lacks in postings beyond events. Engagement is poor.

Here a chart comparing our case study (Ours) and similar universities. These are similar in that they are not geographically close to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are private universities of the same mission/faith and similar in size.

University	National University Facebook Likes	National University Alumni Facebook Likes		Local DFW Chapter Facebook Likes
University	National University Facebook Likes	#	Ratio	#	Ratio National	Ratio Local
Ours	20,000	600	3	49	.2	.8
University A	36,700	4241	11.5	21	.06	.5
University B	16,500	2493	15.1	46	.3	1.8

One the differing factors are how long the Facebook page has existed. The earliest appeared in 2009.

University B is far and away the most successful in utilizing Facebook. I would not stand up and cheer for University B. With an annual enrollment of 7000 students, 16,500 total Likes is not all that encouraging.

The expression “Don’t quit your day job” applies. “Don’t quit your website” should be the new motto.

Do you consider this acceptable?

Twitter: @social_dynamics

Facebook: socialmediadynamics

Tags: Alumni Associations Facebook, Facebook, Universities Facebook
Posted in Facebook, Non-profits, Social Media and Social Networking, Websites | No Comments »

Building your social sites – Is it a slower process than you thought?

March 20th, 2012

By Sharon Hill

Watching two non-profit sites add Likes and the level of engagement is an interesting and frustrating endeavor. One is a local alumni chapter and the other is a neighborhood association.

Being involved with both of them since their inception provides a long-term view and perspective.

Neighborhood Association

The neighborhood association Facebook page has been active since December 2010 making this page 15 months old. There are approximately 600 homes in this association. Even using a low factor of 1.5 persons per household that equates to 900 potential Facebook Likes. After 15 months, only 159 Likes. The high was 163.

The neighborhood association had full-scale promotion to introduce Facebook to the residents. A neighborhood printed newsletter was delivered at every door. An email blast was sent to all residents signed up for neighborhood email notices. The website had a prominent write up and continues to have a link.

The age of the residents in this neighborhood is quite varied. Young married, families with school age children, empty-nesters and seniors. The neighborhood is affluent.

The engagement has also significantly dropped off after the first 6 months. When really cute pictures of kids or pets are posted, the engagement and postings spike.

Comparing this activity to the website for this association, the website had 386 unique visitors in December 2010. In February 2012, the unique visitor count was 441.

While not directly comparable, both the website and the Facebook page are public.

The home page was viewed 670 times (duplication included) in February 2012 and the neighborhood history section 58 times.

The original goal of the Facebook page was to provide a means for neighbors to reach out to other neighbors, post to the wall such things as garage sales, lost pets as well as pictures of events and neighborhood happenings. The admins have been fabulous in their postings. The residents who Liked the Facebook page are not using the site to its full potential.

Sounds like an article for the next newsletter. If there is an article, I will keep you posted on the change in Likes and engagement.

See our next article for results to date regarding the local alumni Facebook page.

Twitter: @social_dynamics

Facebook: socialmediadynamics

Tags: Facebook, Facebook engagement, Facebook Likes, website versus Facebook
Posted in Articles, Facebook, Non-profits, Social Media and Social Networking, Websites | No Comments »

Online Surveys – Questions about Methods, Value and Ethics

February 29th, 2012

By Sharon Hill

Recently I have participated in online surveys from two different sources. My intent was to see if social media questions are being incorporated into these surveys.

To my surprise, not so much. In other words if social media is included in the survey questions, it is one or two questions such as “Do you have a Facebook account?” “Do you use Twitter?” Since I do and answer yes, I would expect to receive additional questions; however, no additional questions follow.

Many of these surveys are regarding purchases and preferences. You would think that social media would be included.

Methods

To my disappointment, these online questionnaires are lacking in standard research methodologies. I know because I worked at a large, well-respected media and marketing research firm (quantitative and qualitative studies) for 16 years that conducted surveys and provided research to media outlets, advertising agencies and advertisers.

Most of the questionnaires do not allow for a non-answer such as not applicable. For example, I answered yes to 10 different candy brands and received additional questions which included 12 brands. One of the questions was for all brands was “When you bite into an Almond Joy (which I had not selected) the experience feels like [check the appropriate box]. The questionnaire was designed to force me to provide an answer on an experience I had not had. Bad survey design.

This appears to be a common problem with these surveys. Another issue is not testing that the surveys actually work. Recently a survey I participated in went into endless loop on watching commercials.

Some of the surveys are so redundant and boring I have to believe that some people will push ahead with quick answers to get through the survey.

Value

I also question the value of the results. In most cases, you are awarded points for completing the survey. In some, you are entered into sweepstakes. You take enough of these surveys and you know what the survey is looking for in age and answers to the pre-screening questions. When working for points or a chance at a sweepstakes prize, what are the odds that after 10 times of not being selected, some folks will answer differently just to get past the pre-screening questions? There is a rejection factor.

Ethics

With one of these survey firms, the pre-screening questions are enough for a short survey result. The demographic questions are asked such as age, gender, state of residence, race, income, education along with a few questions about products or services. You are then magically not qualified however spent 15 minutes answering survey questions. What do they do with those results? Typically, these are for 100 points or 300 points which can eventually be turned into cash. It does make me wonder about the ethics of the survey firm in asking so many pre-screening questions.

Surveys are supposed to be random. The overage by demographic is weighted upwards or downwards depending on population. These surveys are not random and are actually quite restrictive in the screening process. Surveys should be random to remove the potential of the rejection factor.

Decisions are being made using these types of quick surveys. When utilizing this type of survey to provide some direction and/or as part of a larger research or marketing study, they have value if the deficiencies are understood. Making decisions solely or heavily based upon these type of survey results maybe is not such a great idea.

@social_dynamics

Posted in Articles, Direct Response, Facebook, Social Media and Social Networking, Technology, Twitter | No Comments »

So if Everybody Else Jumps Off the Bridge…

January 3rd, 2012

By Sharon Hill

Remember the days when not everybody had a website. Yes, we acknowledge there is a small minority of companies that still do not have a website.

Today it appears there is an expectation for all companies to be involved with social media, especially Facebook.

There are all kinds of studies about social media success regarding engagement, persuasion, referrals, etc. Maybe or maybe not. It does appear the most successful campaigns have some promotional element such as a coupon, contest or giveaway or a place to play games. A good promotional element will generally work in almost all type of campaigns.

Another expected result from social media was helping companies in the search rankings. It is getting better but it truly depends on how information is available in news stories, press releases, Wikipedia pages and sister companies websites.

We randomly chose Lowe’s, Sears, CBS, Audi and Levis.

Facebook showed up in a Google search for Lowe’s and Levis on the first page of results. Twitter ranked higher than Facebook for Sears and CBS but neither were on the first page of results. Twitter was on the first page of results for Audi.

Using Bing, Twitter appeared on the second page of results for Levis and Facebook on the fourth page. Facebook and Twitter did not make the first 4 pages of results for Audi.

Interestingly, Facebook is the #2 result with Bing for CBS. The result looks like this:

This maybe an Ah Ha moment. The true Facebook listing for CBS shows on page 3 of Bing. In checking after NCIS Los Angeles aired, the result was not longer listed in checking back a week later, an alert for Survivor appears being delay is still present 18 hours later and after the show has aired.

Twitter and YouTube show results for Lowe’s on page 2 and 4 of results respectively. Facebook does not make into the first five pages of results.

Facebook for Sears showed on page three.

What does this tell us? If these five large companies are not getting higher results with Facebook and Twitter in the search engines, how will your company?

The key difference between a website and social media is the amount of updating, fresh content and monitoring it takes with social media.

Since the goal with social media is engagement, your company must be engaging first and always.

Look for our upcoming blogs regarding the level and depth of social media activity that is right for your company.

Check us out on Facebook to look for a new product announcement as well. Another key reason folks return to a Facebook page they have liked, is to find out about new products.

@social_dynamics

Tags: Facebook Google rank, social media engagement, social media rankings, Social media search engines, social media versus websites., Twitter Bing rank
Posted in Blogging, Email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Local business, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Video, Websites | No Comments »

Social Media ROI – Change the Criteria

December 19th, 2011

By Sharon Hill

Much has been written and will probably continue to be written about calculating your Return On Investment (ROI) on your social media campaign.

Why attempt to calculate? Simple question.

Because you spend money on social media? You spend money on entertainment of clients, training on employees, company picnics, holiday parties, employee awards and the like. These are mostly social in nature. Do you attempt to calculate ROI on these investments?

Let’s use a company picnic or holiday party as an example. Do you figure in the expense of the company picnic including hours spent by employees planning the event, foods, rentals, etc. and the hours lost by employees attending the event? How much money did your company make or how much money did your company save with the expenditures allocated to this activity?

What is your ROI on your website? What is the ROI on a printed brochure? For that matter what is the ROI on your broadcast media campaign?

Some things can be calculated, some can be attributed and some cannot be calculated easily or at all.

To be clear, we are not suggesting that social media campaigns not be evaluated. Social media campaigns should be even scrutinized. Let’s just not get too caught up in the ROI calculation.

You can’t calculate the ROI on employee feelings toward your company. You can attribute lower turnover, positive attitudes, attracting better talent to the way your treat your employees. Or maybe you just pay better?

You can have trackback links in Facebook and Twitter. You can offer coupons, create contests and give away prizes to generate interest and pile up the Likes and Followers.

Social media is about creating “feelings” towards your company and increasing brand loyalty. Why would anyone expect to be able to definitively calculate the ROI of Likes on Facebook? Isn’t Like a feeling?

We have a better idea…more to come.

@social_dynamics

Tags: social media brand loyalty, social media contests, social media coupons, social media ROI, social media ROI calculation
Posted in Articles, Direct Response, Ecommerce, Facebook, LinkedIn, Recruitment, Social Media and Social Networking, Technology, Twitter, Websites | No Comments »

Frank Abagnale of “Catch Me If You Can” Fame on Facebook, Debit Cards and Poor White Collar Punishment

October 24th, 2011

By Jan Carroza

“If you make it easy for someone to steal from you, chances are someone will.” Frank Abagnale, advisor to the FBI whose story became famous in Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can.”

Abagnale on growing your children’s credit

Speaking recently at the PCI Community meeting in Scottsdale, Abagnale explained why he chooses credit over debit cards: “I have a credit card because I have 0 liability. If you use a debit card, you expose your money. If may take 2-3 months to get it back. With a credit card, you get a new one in 24 hours.” He continued with great advice for parents: “You do nothing for your credit with debit. No points. No rewards.” He got supplemental cards for his children so the kids’ credit score would be established and grow while he paid the bills. Then he let his kids know he’d be monitoring their expenditures for good choices. By the time one of his sons went to buy a home, he had 7 years of good credit. Establishing credit while at school earns credit. Debit cards can’t do that.

Abagnale on fraud and pitiful punishment

Consulting with the FBI, Abagnale continues to advise on white collar crimes while teaching at the FBI Academy and helping on some investigations. “We just arrested 17 police officers in Baltimore. It’s amazing that you can steal a card and get 5 years, but you steal $10 million and you get a slap on the hand and community service.”

39 billion checks/year are processed in the US. 75% of payments between companies are checks. “ People wonder why we still use checks when there is so much fraud. Abagnale says, “When will we be paperless? When the toilet is paperless. No time soon.”

Abagnale’s concerns about Facebook

“Ten million children on Facebook are under ten years old,” said Abagnale. “I was recently testing Pathmark, a new iPhone app that can be used to take pictures of strangers in public, then run through Facebook to make a match. It’s just a couple of more steps to steal an identity.”

Don’t let your children put up their pictures, date of birth or birthplace on Facebook. Watch what your kids post. Teach them to make good choices. When they apply for jobs or college, they may be denied entrance for a thoughtless post made on social media.

Protect your credit. Abagnale offers several tips at his site: http://www.abagnale.com/pdf/27169_final.pdf and recommends getting a security micro cut shredder to make confetti out of records and credit cards you want to destroy. For the same cost as a regular shredder, this kind will make it nearly impossible to recreate documents.

More advice: choose a good credit reporting service by asking two questions:

1) Do you monitor all 3 services 24/7 and

2) Will you notify me in realtime?

Abagnale offers booklets on protecting yourself and your business at his site: www.abagnale.com. He says he checks email sent to frank@abagnale.com

Learn how to spot a phony credit card or bill at his site: http://www.fraudtips.net/abagnaletips.htm.

@social_dynamic

Tags: building children’s credit, business protection, consumer protection, credit card fraud, Facebook privacy, FBI, Frank Abagnale, identity theft, PCI Community meeting, white collar crime, “Catch Me If You Can, ” Steven Spielberg
Posted in Articles, Facebook, Social Media and Social Networking | No Comments »

Media performance tracking with QR Codes

September 16th, 2011

By Jan Carroza

If you haven’t tried QR codes yet, what are you waiting for? Creation and tracking is free. This is accountability of your media at its finest. You’ll be able to watch the growth of smart phone interaction with your sites, landing pages, social media, print, television and much, much more.

Why are QR Codes important? 11 out of 50 Fortune companies are leveraging QR Codes in their marketing strategies. The instant gratification of coupons, discounts, product information and so much more is clearly pleasing to consumers.

Are you using QR codes in your marketing yet? The interest is growing. QR Code scanning increased by 4549%.

See the full Infographic by Sujay Haheshwari of Queaar at:

http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/the-rise-of-qr-codes-infographic-051087

How are they being used? Currently the biggest use in the US is by women capturing coupons. Smart phone users are also looking for special promotions, and more product information. Learn more about QR code usage and growth from Heidi Cohen’s blog post of stats: http://heidicohen.com/qr-code-data/.

Want to get better feedback on the performance of your advertising? Use QR codes and track with Google Analytics and/or Bit.ly link shortening. We offer a variety of QR resources in our previous post: QR Codes Kick up Interaction by 15-25%. The QR code to the right is for that blog post (read: another great use to promote your writings in social media, for instance).

Do you have a trade show coming up? Put a QR code with a link to your site in all your print materials and ads. You can even put a QR code on your business cards. To really track every element of your campaign, build different QR codes with different links and create a spreadsheet so you can evaluate results.

Say you had several print ads. Create a code like http://yourdomain.com/PrintAd1_Nov11 for the first ad. Shorten that link at Bit.ly. Then just change the code for each element of your campaign. I customize the shortened links to something like: j.mp/SMDQR2. I have to use 6 characters after j.mp (a Bit.ly option for a shorter link), so I choose 3 identifiable company letters and supplement with a descriptive alpha-numeric finish. (You may want to consider your own shortener: http://j.mp/nK41vp, but that’s a topic for another day.)

Bit.ly will create a QR code for you in your account and you can return to track the traffic to your QR code. You can see the result of my test (below) of the QR code (above right) created for this blog post from our Bit.ly account.

Here’s what it looks like when Bit.ly creates the QR code.

Here is a nicely set-up spreadsheet that you can use as a template for keeping track of your QR codes by media. Then add your click results to evaluate performance by medium and creative.

Find the spreadsheet and more help here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtFk-wwlhvpockZwRkRxMWRqdnI5QngyVXotSzhDRlE&hl=en#gid=0

You can also track your QR codes with your Google Analytics. Here’s a blog post that describes how: http://blog.redclayinteractive.com/how-to-track-qr-codes-in-google-analytics/ with the Google Analytics URL building link here: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=.

There is no excuse not to begin to track your online clicks from offline activities any more. It’s available and free. Smart phones make it easier than ever to get a grip on the performance of your marketing, advertising and press efforts. As you go create new print and magazine ads, press releases, sales sheets, outdoor billboards and bus-boards and other signs, interact in social media and tv, even business cards, implement QR codes and track the reaction. As you create new blog posts and landing pages, create new QR codes to promote offline.

@social_dynamics

Tags: Bit.ly, Business2community, Google analytics, Heidi Cohen, media tracking, performance advertising, QR codes, Queaar
Posted in Direct Response, How To, Social Media and Social Networking, Technology, Websites | No Comments »

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