3. Direct Links in Email
If you’ve got an email campaign, chances are, right now, someone is reading one of your messages. Email is a huge part of how modern companies do business, and the easiest way to get your social media in on that sweet, ecommerce action is to build a pathway for it. Facebook provides numerous free icons that can be hyperlinked to your Page, and many email Service Providers support layouts encouraging fb tie-ins. Icons can generally be placed anywhere on your emails and, depending on the amount of attention you want them to receive, rearranged in a number of different ways. Don’t have the technical know-how to modify images? No worries, there are numerous applications designed around integrating social media into emails. The image editor in Email Design Builder, for example, allows you to add an icon and hyperlink it in one easy step.

“Why should I add another link to my emails?” You may be asking. “What’s in it for me?” The answer is, put simply, that Direct Linking is for Facebook what dynamite was for digging holes. Or fishing.

The new Facebook Timeline format prevents businesses from designating landing pages from within the site. However, outside sources can direct to any Page feature with a url, including Like-Gated Applications and other conversion-generating content. Giving your customers the option of following these links will net you fans and help ensure that your business has a strong social media presence.

2. Cross-Promotions
People who opt-in to your email or social campaigns are expecting updates from your company. This interest can be leveraged by both platforms to draw business for themselves and each other. Say you start running a contest over Facebook. Send an email out letting your customers know about it. Running an email campaign? Alert your Facebook fans to send you their email addresses for a special promotion. Knowing how and when to best use tactics like this can be tricky at first, but your ability to identify opportunities will develop quickly once you get started.

1. Facebook Signups
While having followers on your social pages is a great way to update people about your company, exposure is spotty and you don’t really have control over who sees what. To get your Facebook fans more engaged with your marketing, try creating Applications offering special deals or exclusive content that require an email address to sign up. Be sure to include a clause about marketing materials and BAM, contacts.

To set up a form-based Application, you’ll need a Facebook Tab creation tool, like Social Page Builder, and a dedicated list building service to pass the addresses to. How you treat these contacts is up to you, though it’s important to remember that they came to you from a social setting and are probably used to a fairly informal exchange.

5. Flooding
Staying in contact with your customers is important. The longer a person goes without hearing from you, the sooner they’ll forget about you. As a result, many businesses send a rolling schedule of emails and updates to their customers. This is a normal and, if executed properly, a very smart thing to do. However, you need to be aware of how often your customers want to hear from you. Most companies run on a weekly/bimonthly schedule. Audiences expect that kind of thing and are willing to take it so long as the messages are helpful and varied.

Where lots of businesses run into trouble is in bland or repetitive content. At best, you’re boring. People will tolerate it, but they won’t be engaged by what you’re sending them. At worst, you’re annoying, and that’s when you start to lose customers. A business should be evolving constantly, so use your development to keep your audience in the loop and interested in what you’re doing.

4. Over-Concentrating
Different products are relevant to different people. Yes, the group that most appreciates your marketing is invaluable to your business’s development, but they’re not your only potential customers. Right now, most audiences are segmented and left to their own campaigns. That’s great for the short term, but after a while you’ll be micromanaging several small strategies instead of a master plan.

Occasional crossovers between product groups should be encouraged. Try creating an email that uses multiple products to appeal to a larger portion of your audience. Be sure to stay relevant to all involved. Most Email Service Providers will allow you to select multiple groups to broadcast to, so this shouldn’t be difficult.

3. Miscommunicating
The first thing anyone will see in an email from your business is the Subject. If it doesn’t appeal to the reader, then the rest of your message won’t have much hope. Always be sure that your subject lines are grammatically correct and relevant to your target audience. Remember, nothing will get you flagged as a spammer faster than misspelling words.

2. Over-Stimulating
Most desktop email clients disable images by default. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.* So how do you get your diligently-rendered jpegs and pngs to appear on your targets’ screens? Sadly, most of the people who open you email will never view the full message. While all of the tips in this article will help get people interested in your marketing, only those who are legitimately engaged will override their email settings to see your layouts. Those targets are valuable in their own right, but to make sure your message gets across, you need to include text and proper placement.

*Many desktop clients also filter incoming emails based on a preset image/text ratio. If you exceed the limit, it’s likely that your message will be blocked before it can get to an inbox.

1. Trapping
Probably the worst thing you can do in an email marketing campaign is make people feel trapped. A bad email is one thing, but a bad email you can’t stop will start a customer service nightmare. Fortunately, most large Email Service Providers require built-in opt-outs, so this is a disaster most marketers won’t have to deal with. Still, it’s often a good idea to request a second opt-in from customers, especially if they haven’t been contacted in a while. At the very least, this will show you how many people are still interested in your marketing.

For more email marketing tips and tricks, you can check out Email Design Matters or The State of Email Marketing.

Early last week, High Impact Designer released Timeline Image Creator, a free application for designing and downloading custom Cover Photo and Application Images. To help you make the most of this tool, we’d like to provide you with this creative guide for building sleek, engaging Cover Photos for your new Timeline Page.

Pick a Theme
As it takes up almost a third of your visible profile, the Cover Photo sets the tone for your entire Page. Before you begin planning your Photo, you should have an idea of how you want your page to look. If your company has a set color scheme, you’ve already got a good start. If not, start thinking about what you want your theme to be. Ideally, it will be simple; lots of colors and information will only overwhelm visitors.

Create Informative Content
Now that you’ve got a theme, you’ll want to start developing content. Think about what would best visually represent your business. Is it an object? An action? Remember, the most important thing is to keep it simple; too many words will confuse your visitors and discourage them from investigating your page further. You’ll also want to consider Facebook’s new Terms of Service which explicitly forbid any calls to action or pricing information on a Cover Photo. While announcements and product information are fine, requesting Likes or listing discounts will probably get you temporarily booted from Facebook (it happened to NBC when they put calls to action on their show pages).

Generally speaking, the best use of your Cover Photo is to encourage engagement and Likes. Facebook’s Page Guidelines now allow admins to share promotional information and direct visitors to the Like button. Try and think of creative ways to compel your audience and drive engagement.

Integrate it With Your Other Material
While not every Cover Photo has to flow seamlessly into the Profile Picture, the two images need to complement one another. If you can, you should also integrate your Application Images, as these will drive most of the traffic for your Page (more on that here). If you’ve planned properly, you should already have an idea of how these images will appear.

Example:
Henry Construction is converting their Facebook Page to Timeline. They don’t have a graphic designer, but they do have access to stock images and company records. Using their logo as a color base and Timeline Image Creator, they can take a standard construction photo like this one:

And turn it into a banner complete with layers, text, and transparencies:

They can then take color-matching images of some of their completed projects and, using the App Image Editor, layer on text to make engaging banners for their Applications:

With Timeline Image Creator, this process took only minutes, and was 100% Free. You can find information about Timeline Image Creator and our Social Marketing Products at www.highimpactdesigner.com/social-page-builder.htm.

On March 30, 2012, Facebook will be switching all Business Pages to their new Timeline Profile format. While this move has several long-term implications, the first and most important concern of any Page manager should be preparing for the transition. Fortunately, Facebook has made this fairly simple for existing Pages.

Step 1: Preview

Viewing your Page as an Admin should give you the option of previewing the new Timeline format. From the Preview mode, you will be able to see what your Timeline will look like and alter new features without changing the content of your original layout.

You will notice that some of the components of your old Page have transferred to Timeline, namely, your Profile Picture and business information. Both of these sections are editable. However, it should be noted that any change made before switching to Timeline will alter your original format.

Step 2: Design Your Cover Photo
As the centerpiece of your landing page, the Cover Photo will have a large impact on your final layout as well as a visitor’s initial impression of your business. You’ll want to create something engaging that both reflects your company’s interests and conveys the principles behind products/services that you sell.* An excellent Cover Photo customization tool can be found at www.timelineimagecreator.com.

To post your Cover Photo, look for the small box at the top right of the page labeled “Add a Cover” and click it. This will open a dropdown menu that will allow you to choose from the photos you have on your page or upload an image from your computer. The Cover Photo displays at 851×315 pixels, so you must pick a large image to use. Images under 399 pixels wide cannot be used.

Once you have selected your Cover Photo, it will be placed in the Cover Photo socket where, depending on the size of the image, you will be able to adjust the crop. After you’ve cropped your image, click “Save Changes” to publish to your Timeline.

*While designing your image, keep in mind that Facebook has placed several restrictions on Cover Photo content. You can read more about Facebook’s Terms of Use here.

Step 3: Modify Your Applications
Applications allow you to engage your customers directly and develop a relationship through Facebook. It is therefore important that they be as enticing and eye-catching as possible. Your first step is to find a third-party Application creator, such as Social Page Builder, and design Apps that will attract viewers to your business. Secondly, you must choose Application Images to display under your Cover Photo. Each Page will display a maximum of 12 Apps, though it is possible to publish and stage an unlimited number. You can edit your Apps by opening the App area and clicking the Pencil icon.

Step 4: Profile Picture
Your Profile Picture is the image that will precede every post that you make. Measuring 125×125 pixels, your new image should have a clear and definitive connection to your business, i.e. a logo or headshot.

Step 5: Publish
Your Page is complete and you can now publish it to Facebook. Once you’re live, be sure to follow Facebook Timeline’s best practices.

*All Cover Photo and Application Images seen in this post were developed using Timeline Image Creator, a Free timeline customization tool from High Impact Designer.

Every business has a unique story behind it. Whether you started big or ran out of a dirty basement for three years, your background is important to how you developed as a company. Facebook Timeline is different from other Business Pages because it encourages us to share these stories, building on our common history to form a more grounded and comfortable environment for the visiting public.

If your business was around before Facebook launched Like Pages in 2007, you missed out on the opportunity to build your history organically. This is unfortunate, as the trust that can be established through providing a company background can go a long way in creating support for a small business.

Consider the case of Beatrice Kennedy. She started her design consulting business in 1998 after spending over twenty years in the graphic design industry. She joined Facebook in late 2010 and, after a rocky start, built a small social presence for her firm. Before Timeline, visitors to Beatrice’s page wouldn’t see her years of experience or long history of design excellence. If they wanted to find that, they’d have to go looking for it, and that’s something most Facebook users won’t do.

Now that Beatrice has switched to Facebook Timeline and backdated her profile, her visitors are immediately presented with a simple, accessible visual history of her design experience. As they click through the years, they can see how she’s helped her clients and how her business has grown and developed over the past decade. By understanding these things, Beatrice’s visitors are able to appreciate and trust her more fully, opening the door to much more business and growth potential.

If you were lucky enough to already be on Facebook when you started your business, then your history will transition to Timeline automatically. Still, take the time to go back and check if anything needs to be included. There’s a new “Founded” feature that lets you mark exactly when and how your business got started which is always good to fill in.

In order to backdate a post, you must first enter it into your Timeline. You can then click “Edit or Remove” in the top right corner of the post. Select “Change Date…” from the drop down menu and select the month/year. Once you click “Save”, your post will be automatically placed in the appropriate spot on your Timeline.

Your Cover Photo might be the largest image on your new Timeline Page, but it’s not even close to the most important. Even with all the changes Facebook has made by switching to this new format, Tab pages remain by and far the most important part of your Facebook marketing strategy. Since Tabs are now represented by Application Images, that little bar next to your company name is where you should be focusing your sales and marketing efforts.

Make it Look Right

The core component of a successful Application Image is consistency. Does it have similar design elements (colors, layout, etc.) to your Cover Photo and other App Images? Does it reflect an image or message consistent with your company’s values? Basically, is it recognizable as yours even without the rest of the Page around it? If so, congratulations, you have the foundation to a solid and effective Application Image. But there’s more to a good ad than just looking right.

Make it Look Good

App Images are, by their nature, very visual, so it’s important that yours reflect that fact. While text is great, it’s not the whole picture, and you should be sure to spend some time brainstorming relevant images for the topics you want to get across. The simpler you can make your visuals, the better, as they need to convey a thought without forcing people to dissect it. There will be room to explain yourself elsewhere.

Make it Make Sense

The final component of the Application image is the title. With Facebook’s new Application Editor, you can instantly change the title of your App to anything you want. Remember, you want to be concise, so be sure to limit your wording as much as possible. For example, instead of saying “Tell us how our product has helped you”, write “Share Your Story”. Really, anything more than four words is probably excessive, so try hard to keep it under that limit!

Make it Work

Now that you’ve created your App Image and given it a title, the last step is to make sure people are looking at it. Believe it or not, you have more control over this than you might think. While Facebook has strictly prohibited putting calls to action on the Cover Photo (“Like Us”, arrows, etc.), there are still plenty of visual cues you can use to draw your viewers’ attention to your Applications. Try making your Cover Photo’s focus rest close to the bottom right or, as Livestrong cleverly did, you could integrate your App images into your Cover Photo’s visual.

You now know everything you need to get started building your new Application Images. Remember, Facebook’s Pages Timeline is an exciting and different experience for all of us, so be sure to try a few things out and find out what helps you to best take advantage of this great opportunity.

How Does It Work?

With tens of millions of users, Twitter is an indisputably important tool for web presence and social media marketing development. It’s surprising, then, how reluctant so many people still are to sign up and start using it. A lot of people I’ve talked to say it seems “too complicated” or “flat”, and while I understand completely where they’re coming from, there really is a lot more to Twitter than you can see on the surface. This guide will hopefully be helpful to those of you who are unfamiliar with the platform and are looking to gain a better understanding of what Twitter really is and how versatile it can be.

Overview

The most basic function of twitter is to post small phrases or updates that can be seen and shared by the general community. Social exchanges on Twitter are essentially based on interactions between followers. Users create profiles and can choose to follow other users. Those selected users’ tweets will then be displayed to the follower on their homepage. There is no limit to who can be followed.

Having followers grants one a collection of advantages. Besides reaching more people, one can also send private messages to individual followers. The more followers one has, the more likely their tweets are to be seen and the greater their ability to generate interest in their subjects.

Tweets are composed of 140 characters and rely on a tagging system to signify common goals or connections. These tags are accomplished with the help of two symbols:

@: Reply – Placed before a username, the ‘at sign’ tags that user in the tweet, simultaneously creating a link to that user and notifying them of their tagged status

#: Hashtag – Placed before a subject of the poster’s choice, the ‘pound sign’ signifies that the tweet is associated with that subject and can be viewed with other posts containing the same tag. This feature is not restricted to private use and can be used by multiple parties to post about the same topic

Out of necessity, many tweeters use abbreviations instead of full words, allowing them more space to get their messages across. Some popular ones specific to the site are:

DM: Direct Message
EM: Email
FB: Facebook
FF: Follow Friday (tweeters posting #FF give an endorsement to people, companies, or products that they find interesting)
HT: Heard Through
LI: LinkedIn
RT: Retweet
YT: Youtube

Twitter is in fast paced and constantly changing, so it’s important to maintain a regular presence; posting two to three times a day is recommended, with anything up to five or six well-paced tweets being acceptable. As with any social media, try not to focus too much on individuals – no one likes to be spammed – but be aware of their presence and their importance to your campaign. Above all, stay current. That’s what Twitter’s all about, and your followers will drop you if you become boring or start telling them things they already know.

A great way to stay on top is to organize you and your follower’s tweets with a twitter management service. TweetDeck by Twitter is excellent for grouping, though it lacks technical features and is mostly used for collecting tweets more efficiently. A great tool for actually analyzing your activity is HootSuite, a web-based analytics service that monitors Twitter and other social networks and combines the data in order to form a more coherent picture of your profile’s efficiency.

Things to Remember

1. Twitter is a VERY public place with lots of users; everyone sees what everyone posts. If you have an issue or complaint about someone or something, be sure it’s constructive before you decide you need to vent. Not only will people find out about it, they’ll more than likely make an issue of it at some point in the future. Unless you’re trying to raise awareness, it’s better to share negative comments privately through Direct Messages or not at all.

2. People aren’t looking to get spammed. Including people in your daily business is an integral part of Twitter, but it’s also important to recognize established boundaries. Don’t tag individuals without cause and absolutely do not insert yourself in conversations that aren’t directly relevant to you or your business. There are people who monitor Twitter, and they are not at all kind to spammers.

3. Above all, stay fresh, stay connected, and make it fun; be the user you’d like to hear from. It’s a long road ahead, so stay energetic and attack the world with positivity. Tweet, develop, and make the internet a better place for you and those around you.

Should We Like-Gate Our Content?

The Facebook Like-Gate is a key tactic for marketers including myself. I am a huge advocate for the Like-Gate, but that doesn’t  mean I will not be critical of the marketing tactic. The concept behind a Like-Gate is simple: Offer some type of exclusive content to users who like your page. This give them an incentive to follow your page making them subject to various status updates. The Social Page Builder has a Like-Gate feature, that will combine two existing designs or add a light boxed ‘Like Us’ message to your Facebook page.

I think the use of a Like-Gate has become ubiquitous with Facebook marketing, and it is always beneficial to go back and tally up the pros and cons. If you are not constantly evaluating your current marketing methods, you might want to start. Even your most central tactic may need to be re-evaluated!

The Case For Like-Gated Content

- A study by ExactTarget found that 58% of people who Like Facebook pages ‘Like’ the page in order to access exclusive offer or deals.

- The ‘Like’ action has been trained into Facebook users, and is nearly frictionless. Keep in mind reasons why people don’t like Facebook pages and put their worries to rest with your page’s Terms and Conditions.

- The Like is a simple Call to Action, you aren’t asking for email addresses or phone numbers (yet).

- Users who Like your page are apt to see your latest status updates, keeping them connected to your page which adds to your brand’s virality.

A Like-Gate is a one-two punch. You have a visitor who is interacting with your brand and not just passively reading. This is the best time to squeeze out more information such as an email address. Ask for the Like, then ask for an email address to deliver the goods.

- Like-Gated Content can be tailored exclusively to new users, since they will be the only people who are eligible to see this content. Your page will never send a mixed message to your users since users who have ‘Liked’ the page already can only see the resulting page.

- Landing Pages are effective when increasing your PPC campaigns, as custom pages are more effective when increasing your Like Count. Why would you send a user to your wall or a non-specified page that lacks a Call to Action? You wouldn’t.

The Case Against Like-Gated Content

-The Like-Gate creates a faux community and doesn’t ensure fan retention

- The Like-Gate may be considered an annoyance by Facebook users, especially those who haven’t been conditioned long enough in the ‘Like Community’

- A large Like-Count is generally considered to be a vanity metric. Facebook pages should focus on their current fans rather than new fans

- Lead Generation Forms aren’t immediately available and the friction caused by a Like-Gated page may decrease your Facebook leads

Verdict

I believe that the pros of Like-Gating your content is an extremely effective practice that ultimately outweighs the cons. One of the most important factors of a Like-Gate is that it can be implemented for all of your pages (except the wall), which allows you to create content that is catered exclusively to new visitors. I also believe that the friction a Like-Gate add is minimal and is a part of the Facebook experience. In comparison to Facebook sign ins, clicking the ‘Like’ button has become a trivial action.

If you want to generate more than just numbers on Facebook, it is important that you try to get more information form the user on the resulting page, e.g., through a form that ensure the deliverable.

Though I am not a huge fan of saying ‘Well everyone else is doing it’, but when it comes to Like-Gates it does matter that everyone else is doing it. Specifically, your competition is doing it and since the Like-Gate friction is almost non apparent, you ought to as well.

What pros or cons did I miss?

Related articles

• Only 1% of Facebook Page users engage with brands (zdnet.com)
• 58% of Facebook Users Expect Exclusive Content From Business Pages [Data] (hubspot.com)
• 3 Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses (highimpactdesigner.com)

LinkedIn is More than an Online Resume

Professionals have been using LinkedIn to connect to other professionals for years. During some of the talks I have given over the past year about Social Media Strategy, I have even told people (at least at the beginning) they can regard LinkedIn as a more stagnant social network. I tell people to complete their profile to their liking and connect with people they know personally. At least then they will have a modest number of connections as well as a complete profile filled with the relevant information.

When companies and individuals are getting started on Social media, I advise them to look at other networks at this point as they require much more attention during their inception. I generally advise users to start building their Facebook presence at this point, because 95% of the time spent on social media in the US is spent on Facebook.

Let’s fast forward, you have build up your Facebook presence and are confident with your Facebook Strategy. You decided that you aren’t ready to start work on Twitter, but want to get more involved on LinkedIn. Remember, not all social media sites are created equal, there are pros and cons to each network. In this example I am assuming you have taken the time to figure out which network is best for you to work on next.

Now that you have decided to grow your LinkedIn presence, here are some results you will get from LinkedIn:

1. Detailed information about new connections
2. Increased Traffic to Your Website
3. Partnership/Business Opportunities
4. Status as a ‘Thought Leader’
5. Help with Specific Business Problems

Now how do you reach these results? You need to interact with the users on LinkedIn. Your first step should be through joining LinkedIn Groups. 81% of LinkedIn users belong to a group on LinkedIn. The benefits of a LinkedIn group is it gives your profile more visibility (insofar as you are active) and when you connect to new people that is your common ground.

I think the real power behind a LinkedIn profile is ‘LinkedIn Answers’. There are already large online communities dedicated to answering questions, e.g. Quora. The content on these sites is all user created, and LinkedIn Answers is no different. So you may not consider yourself an expert, but I bet you have enough experience to answer a few questions. You are the expert insofar as you know more than the person asking the question, and as long as you are adding value with your answers people will be grateful.

Scroll through the questions people are asking and genuinely answer their questions. Provide sources, if you are an active blogger provide a link to your blog that further answers the question (this helps increase site traffic). If your answer is well written, solves a problem, and provides proof you will likely be awarded the ‘Top Answer’. As you answer more questions and receive more top answers your opinion will be valued and more people will want to connect with you.

LinkedIn Answers are a two way street, maybe you aren’t looking to become a thought leader but have questions of your own. Before you ask a question be sure to check if it had been asked before, redundancy is annoying. If your question hasn’t been asked yet, ask away! Whenever I ask a question on LinkedIn, I make sure to ask some of my connections who I think may have some insights. By getting some activity on the question you asked, other people’s networks will be aware of the Question and you may get answers that you didn’t expect. One thing I can’t stress enough, thank people who answer and then choose the best answer of the group. People are taking the time to answer your question, so if someone has a truly outstanding answer make sure to reward them with the top answer.

If you take part in Groups, Answers and follow up with a LinkedIn invitation after real life networking events you will have a stellar profile.Good Luck!

Pushing People from Facebook to Your Website?

I got a tweet from @RachaelCollyns1 today asking me the following:

‘Hey, do you have any good tips on how to generate more traffic to a website using the Facebook Page’

Run a Contest

Running contests on Facebook can be a hassle, there are some very specific Terms of Service on Facebook for running a contest. For example, you cannot use any of the Facebook buttons as a way of voting or entering a contest. So instead of jumping through hoops on Facebook for your contest, design a tab that links users to contest entry (on your website).

Use Facebook Ads

Facebook ads don’t have to just direct traffic to your Facebook page. Create an ad that brings users to your website. Make sure they hit a landing page that resonates the message in the ad and you will have new visitors from Facebook on your website.

Post Relevant (Linkable) Content

Content is King and is the best way to get people interested in your brand. Do you have a blog? Post some of your updates on your page. Studies have shown that people interact and view photos and photo albums, so post relevant images with captions that link to your page.

Overall people interact with brand pages through the status update, so if you are trying to generate more traffic by publishing content through status updates you will need to be aware of Facebook’s EdgeRank.

Entice Fans Post Like-Gate

When a new visitor land son your page, you do not want them to hit your wall. You want them to hit a custom default landing tab with a clear Call to Action, e.g., Like Us. By creating a page that serves up new content after the like, you are using what is called a ‘Like-Gate’. This is the perfect time to get people to sign up for an email list, visit your website, watch a video, etc…

Add them to your Email List

Email marketing is still an incredibly powerful tool, and I have talked about how you can generate leads on Facebook by using Lead Capture forms in your Like-Gate. Have users join a newsletter of yours and then link them to your website in the newsletter. This process isn’t as direct of a method as some of the other processes, but it will increase traffic to your site from leads captured on Facebook.

What are some ways you get people to visit your website from Facebook?

I wanted to take the time to answer that question here on the blog. If you have any questions you want answered here send a tweet out to either @jtrondeau or @templatezone. DON’T FORGET to submit a Facebook page for our Live Review Webinar Series next month.