Facebook Timeline for pages are no big burden for small businesses

Jay Baer is one of the smartest guys working in the social media space, but I don’t think he got it right when he claimed that Facebook’s Timeline for brand pages “betrays small business.”

I read the post and started applying Jay’s concerns to two Facebook pages I manage. Granted, they’re not small business pages. They’re even smaller than that. One is the page for my podcast, For Immediate Release, which I co-host with Neville Hobson. The other is the page for the Social Media Breakfast SF East Bay, which is a joint effort with my breakfast co-conspirators, JD Lasica, Dagan Henderson and Kenny Lauer.

While these are volunteer gigs… Read More »

Regulated companies need to make a plan for the rollout of Facebook Timeline

Come the end of the month, the timeline will become the gateway to all Facebook pages. That’s when Facebook plans to flip the switch so that all pages, not just those managed by companies that have opted for it, will get the timeline treatment.

Opinions about timeline for brands are divided, but there are examples of organizations that have already demonstrated that they can be a powerful way to convey a story.

President Obama’s page has made the switch. According to Sean Ludwig, writing for Venture Beat, “Obama’s team has taken great care to pepper the Timeline with notable events from the President’s life before and during his… Read More »

Less than half a percent of 28 million is still a lot

Some communicators I speak to at conferences and workshops are still surprised when I tell them that getting someone to like their company’s Facebook page is essentially meaningless.

Getting the like, they assume, is how they get their status updates into their audiences’ news feeds. But if those who have liked the page don’t engage and interact there, they may as well never have liked the page at all.

There’s plenty of advice to be had on how to engage people on your page. Get them to comment, vote in a poll, answer a question, watch a video, enter a contest, they’re all worth more than a like.

Yet even the best brands are having… Read More »

Rejoice! Employee use of social networks has tripled!

Palo Alto Networks is out with its annual numbers on employee work time spent on social networks. The company’s conclusions are based on analyzing raw data from 1,600-plus companies for a seven-month period last year. Their press release on the study confirms something we already suspected: “explosive growth in global social networking and browser-based file sharing on corporate networks, with a 300 percent increase in active social networking. (e.g., posting, applications) compared with activity during the same period in the latter half of 2010.”

The press release quotes the company’s CMO, René Bonvanie, saying “Whether or not… Read More »

Zappos sticks to its values in communicating customer database breach

Zappos is a social media darling. The company’s adoption of Twitter, its encouragement of employees to engage online openly during work and CEO Tony Hsieh’s commitment to social channels are all trotted out regularly in articles, books and talks. I’m as gung-ho on Zappos’ use of social media as anybody.

One test remained, however. All of Zappos’ social activities have so far been employed in pursuit of brand building and reputation by linking those activities to the company’s customer service-focused values. But how would the company do when faced with something negative, bad publicity if not an outright crisis?

By midday today, it’s… Read More »

Why block Facebook when it increasingly offers valuable work-related resources?

I’ve been spending a lot more time than usual on Facebook lately. Two recently formed groups are the culprits. Both are work-related. The first is the home to a largely intellectual discussion of how Wikipedia can work more closely with official representatives of organizations to ensure their companies’ entries are accurate and up-to-date. Wikipedia’s founder and Wikia owner Jimmy Wales has joined the closed group and the discussions with him have been mostly respectful, with information and ideas moving in both directions. Edelman Digital Senior Vice President Phil Gomes started the group after posting an open letter to Wales about… Read More »

Page 1 of 7 pages  1 2 3 >  Last ›