Click If You Like Me: Expanding Your Reach on Facebook

I “Like” you. I’ll “Share” you with my friends if you impress me. If I really “Like” you, I may even “Comment” about you. No, these are not notes dug out of a middle-school girl’s locker. They’re the short version of what (hopefully) goes on in the minds of your Facebook fans every time they see your content in their newsfeed. Want to know how to engage your fans even more? First let’s talk about how you earn a spot in the newsfeed to start with, and then we’ll discuss some strategies that will increase visibility.

EdgeRank Demystified

Edgerank is the mysterious algorithm used by Facebook to determine which news stories show up in the newsfeed. Fortunately, the Facebook wizards have given us three factors that affect this all-important process:

  • Affinity—Likes, shares, and comments determine a fan’s affinity, or engagement with your brand.
  • Weight—Weight measures how popular your site is overall. It’s determined by how people engage and how often they engage with your content.
  • Time—Time refers (obviously) to how old your post is. Newer posts are deemed more important than older ones.

How to Build Your Brand With EdgeRank

Now that you know the three factors that determine your Edgerank score, you can build your Facebook strategy around maximizing their impact.

  • Create Fabulous Content

Valuable content is still the best way to earn fan engagement, and of the possible content formats, photos tend to carry the most bang for your buck. Make your content fun, upbeat, and relevant to the reader’s life.

  • Give Your Audience What They Want

People are on Facebook to interact, smile, or otherwise get a boost for the day. So give your fans what they want. Study them to find out what kinds of content they engage with most often (pictures, videos, or witty comments?) and when they’re most likely to consume that content. Then tailor your posts accordingly.

  • Practice the Three S’s

The most popular posts tend to be short, straightforward and seasonable. As people scroll through a newsfeed, they don’t generally take the time to read long posts. So keep it short. Don’t be afraid to ask for likes, shares, and comments. And be sure to include current content about breaking news, trending topics, and holiday items.

  • Follow Up

Once you’ve earned the coveted engagement, follow-up by replying with a comment yourself. Many times, your comment will earn another like, strengthening your connection with that fan even more.

Capitalize on the Edgerank process by catering your posts to your audience. As you earn their loyalty with quality content, engaging and readable posts, and reliable follow up, you’ll see a boost in your Edgerank score. And that’s the key to staying visible.

Five Email Apps to Spice Up Your Email Campaigns

Today’s consumers have moved beyond being impressed with social media marketing efforts. Nowadays, it’s not impressive; it’s expected. But that’s old news for most marketers. If you don’t have a solid social media strategy in place, you’re a step behind. For those of you that do, the next step is integrating the various aspects of your marketing approach so that they work together.

Far from being competitors in the marketplace, email marketing and social media should be viewed as allies in your broader marketing approach. To accomplish that goal, start by integrating some of these popular email apps:

Social Sharing

This is a broad category that includes sharing buttons for a variety of popular networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, and more. Create a copy of your email to share with your social media contacts with the click of a button.

Facebook Share/Like

Even if you don’t include a variety of social sharing buttons, you’ll want to at least make it possible for your subscribers to share your email content on their Facebook pages. Include a share/like button and recruit your loyal followers to help spread your message among their friends.

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Facebook Timeline Has Begun

Facebook - eConnect Email Fan Page

As you probably already know, or maybe are just noticing, changes for your brand’s Facebook page have just rolled out as of this past Friday, March 30th.  All Facebook brand pages have now been converted to the Timeline layout that most of us have seen on many of our friends’ personal pages.  With this conversion come many changes your company should be aware of; there are pros and cons.

First, notice that the images and application thumbnails have been resized so these graphics should be updated to fit the new dimensions; new icons may be needed. The Timeline cover photo should be 851 x 315 pixels, while the new application tab thumbnails are 111×74 pixels.  I’m sure the Graphic Designers Association (if there is one) must have lobbied for this change.

In designing your cover photo, be aware that it CANNOT contain any links, deals or any call to action.  Doing so could result in a visit from the Facebook Police.  The ability to select a default landing page is also no longer an option; so keep this in mind when creating the cover photo.  Get creative, but follow the rules.

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You Don’t Want Them To Like It – You Want Them To Love It.

So your company has a Facebook fan page. Maybe you’ve got a couple hundred likes, and you want to take it to the next level. You added a “Like us on Facebook” link to your eConnect email campaigns, expecting your Facebook fan club to explode like Justin Bieber’s.

It’s been a week since you hit “send” on your email campaign, and you’re getting a fraction of the results you wanted.

What happened? Perhaps your Facebook page doesn’t have the value it should have in order to attract attention on Facebook. Read on for some tips to generate excitement for your company’s Facebook page.

Your Facebook Page Needs Purpose

There’s more to having a Facebook fan page than just having a spot on the social network. Many businesses start a Facebook fan page, but have no clear direction for it. If you’re going to market your Facebook page through email marketing, then customers need to know your Facebook page has something to offer.

Facebook is an invaluable way for customers and the business to interact. Even complaints, when handled publicly with tact and grace, can make your business look good when handled on the Facebook page.

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Email and Social Media: How to Reach “Everyone Else”

Facebook has been hyped to the point where some marketers have pronounced email to be dead. Of course, it should be intuitive that as long as people still have email addresses, email can’t be dead. Email marketing reaches people where Facebook can’t. Just like Facebook reaches people where email can’t. That’s why the two must work together to reach the broadest possible audience. Facebook reaches the “everyone else” of email marketing, and email marketing reaches the “everyone else” of Facebook. Successful marketing campaigns must learn to integrate the two for greatest effect. Here’s how to get started:

  • Provide email signup options on your Facebook page and Facebook like buttons in your emails. Make it possible for people to engage with your company wherever they encounter you. Asking them to sign up for additional marketing options keeps your company in the forefront of their minds as often as possible.
  • Promote Facebook contests in email and announce the winners in an email newsletter.  Let your email subscribers know what they’re missing out on by not being a fan on Facebook. You can use Facebook pictures to showcase your winners, but always get permission and give the subscriber an opportunity to choose which picture he wants you to use.
  • Promote email marketing contests by asking people to provide their email address on your Facebook page.  Again, let people know they’re missing out by participating in only one of your marketing venues. If you intend to add these addresses to your subscriber list, make sure your viewers know that up front or you could end up with disgruntled subscribers.
  • Use the same design in both places for continuity between venues.  People shouldn’t wonder whether the email they got was delivered by the same company who created that awesome Facebook page. It’s important to create brand recognition across multiple venues, so make sure your social media and email follow the same basic design structure.
  • Recognize the differences between Facebook and email.  Email remains much more personal than Facebook—perhaps even more so since people don’t have to give their email addresses out in order to stay in touch. Most people guard their email addresses much more closely than their Facebook pages and will unsubscribe quickly if you bombard them with unwanted messages. To remain on the nice list, keep emails on point and make sure each one provides something of value.

Email and Facebook can work together to accomplish the same marketing goals as long as you recognize and respect the differences between them. eConnect Email can help you create opt-in forms, manage subscriber preferences, and create custom email templates that will keep your audience engaged, no matter where they encounter your brand.

5 Email Marketing Trends You can Expect to See in 2011

The explosion of social media and mobile devices has proved to be a game-changer for email marketing. While email marketing is alive and thriving, strategies must change to capitalize on consumer behavior in order for companies to leverage their email marketing campaigns most effectively.  As we look back over 2010, we can note the shifts in online behavior and use those to project the coming trends for email marketing in 2011.

1. Consumers want real-time value.

The ability to post instant updates, tweets, and comments have trained consumers to expect those things from marketing campaigns as well.  You can begin incorporating real-time value into your email marketing by tracking customer behavior on social networks and using that data to create automated campaigns that deliver relevant messages based on triggers and auto-responders created with eConnect Email.

2. Mobile versions increase in popularity.

Some experts predict that 2011 will see mobile device sales outperforming PC sales for the first time in history.  Because people check email on mobile devices more frequently than ever before, you’ll need to make sure your email templates/ campaigns are designed to accommodate these users.  Curious how your email campaign will display within a specific email system or mobile devices?  We’ve got you covered, check out Inbox & Mobile Previews, a premium feature available within eConnect Email.

3.     Social media takes center stage.

2010 was the year social media came into its own, and 2011 will be the year that it takes center stage in a wide variety of marketing efforts, including email marketing. You can incorporate you social media efforts into your email marketing campaign by including links to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites within your email campaigns. You can also include eConnect Email’s built in social sharing tools which will allow your subscribers to share your email campaigns via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Buzz (talk about expanding your reach).  Now also available is a feature that allows you to integrate a Facebook “Like” option into your email campaign, the whole process takes less than 10 seconds!

4.     Social media gives back.

Not only can you use email to help promote your social media efforts, but you can also begin using social media to increase email opt-ins. By placing opt-in opportunities on your Facebook fanpage and in your Twitter posts, you can increase the number of overall subscribers.

5.     Dynamic content becomes the norm.

As people share their opinions and product review information, they’ll become more likely to expect businesses to incorporate this data into their marketing campaigns. Using eConnect Email’s Dynamic Content tools will allow you to create a one-to-one email marketing experience which will keep your subscribers engaged!

As email marketing sets sail in 2011, businesses will need to embrace social media and look for tools that will enhance and engage your subscribers like never before.  eConnect Email can help you stay on course by giving you the tools you need to meet and exceed user expectations every time.

Believe it… Email is here to stay!

Believe it or not, there were some techie types (otherwise known as nerds) who thought that Twitter, Facebook, etc. would completely eradicate the need for and use of email.  Well, here we are in 2011 and email isn’t going anywhere, at least not in the foreseeable future.  The smart ones have figured out how to incorporate email marketing with the social media outlets.

One example is Biz Stone, who launched his first edition of the new Twitter Email Newsletter.  Yes, he could have done the Twitter thing with it, but it is one smart guy who realizes that information flows through various channels, and people tend to receive information in a variety of those channels.  Also, tweeting a newsletter in blocks of 140 characters at a time is a little less than efficient.

The big thing holding all the social media together, according to some, is—you guessed it—email.  Where do updates and recaps of your day in the social media appear?  Your inbox.  One such example is Nutshell Mail , where you can sign up for these types of updates to hit your inbox a few times daily.  Also, Brady Sadler wrote a great post on Gowalla.  Gowalla uses email to try to create a more personal bonding experience with its users.

What about Google Wave?  I doubt that it will replace Gmail anytime soon.

Yes, the bottom line is that email is the foundational tool for communication.  You use it every day.  At work, at home, at school, and at play.  Goodmail is creating ways to use video in the inbox and companies like Brightcove should join the bandwagon. Gmail has let us know that you can run YouTube videos inside an email sent to your Gmail account. And Outlook 2010?  Yes, even  Outlook 2010 is going social, streamlining social communications into one platform.

Features of Inbox 2 recognize the many data streams constantly bombarding us and this is a perfect opportunity for the creation of a unified platform.  Exact Target has bought CoTweet.  HubSpot has packaged Inbound Marketing in such a way that demonstrates that they understand the whole “email is glue” concept.  It also demonstrates that they know how to turn potential customers into customers.  So what is the point of all of this?

Email is the way things are and the main line flowing through the Internet. As far as we can see into the future, it will remain so.  Just ask Mark Cuban.

Add an email signup to your facebook fan page

Here’s the rundown: you are like one of the many companies out there with a facebook fanpage…as you should, especially if you have a product or service that lends itself to the world of social media, which is pretty much anyone these days.   You also have an email marketing database that you would like to grow and you have an idea of  “how can I get my Facebook fans to join my email list”.

Lucky for you, this process is easy and soon your facebook fan page and eConnect Email database will have a complimentary relationship.

Here’s what you need to do:

  • Navigate to your fan page and select Edit Page (under your main image on the left hand side).
  • Scroll down to Static FMBL under Applications. Click ‘Add To My Page’ when the pop-up window appears.
  • Go back to your page, hit ‘Edit Page’ again and look for FMBL. Click the editing icon at right and click ‘Edit’.
  • Cut and paste the code from your Subscription form which you’ve already created in your eConnect Email account.
  • You’re good to go. Just like that. Simply rearrange everything how you’d like and you’re off to growing your mailing list.

Now when your boss complains about your Facebook usage, let em’ know you’re working. The crew @eConnectEmail will vouch for you!

Social Sharing Has Arrived, eConnect Email 3.0

In case you’ve had your head buried in paperwork, social media is only getting more popular.   In an effort to foster the growing relationship between email marketing and the world of status updates, eConnect Email has integrated Social Sharing into our application and now it can easily be added into your emails with the addition of a tiny little tag, Welcome to Social Email 1.0.

Any emails sent through eConnect Email that include the social sharing tag can now be shared with the following social networks with ease:

Email (of course)
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google Buzz

Our email marketing application simply grabs your email’s subject line and creates a tiny URL using bit.ly to share a copy of your email to your social media world.  We have also integrated the Forward-To-A-Friend functionality in the Social Sharing center, making it easier to send your email to another inbox, although that is so last year.

So now that you’ve done the work to create your campaign you can leverage it to another audience with the click of a button.  Easy right?

Awesome. How easy is it?

Super, duper easy. If you are coding your emails by hand, you’ll simply include the following tags where you want a share prompt.  If your using the editor, simply click Custom Fields and you can insert either a text link or share  image automatically.

%%socialshare-icon%% will give you this:

%%socialshare-link%% will give you this: Share this

Below you will find a screen shot of what the Social Sharing landing page looks like once the “Share This” link or image is clicked.

So, can I tell how often it was shared?

Of course! When you log into your Reports area, you will see a Share Statistics tab.  Every time someone shares with a specific network, that number will be displayed in the reports, broken down by network.

What else should I know?

We started with the most popular social networks to share to, but may add more down the road depending on user feedback (so send us your feedback!).