Mike Lewis and Sal Giliberto of Awareness Networks, the social marketing software company, invited me to conduct a free webinar called  Creating a Breakthrough for Your Business on Facebook on February 8^th at 1 PM EST.

In anticipation of the webinar, I answered a few questions for a blog post about using Facebook for business. Below is an excerpt from the full post.

What effect does Facebook page design have on fan growth and engagement?

The design of your Facebook Page can help convert fans and increase engagement in a at least two ways ways:

• Main Profile Image – Your main image should be designed so that the thumbnail clearly communicates who you are. The name of the page and the thumbnail are the only pieces of information most Facebook users will be able to identify you by, so you have to make them count.
• Branded Welcome Tab – All Pages must have a custom welcome tab that’s set as the default tab non-fans will see when they first arrive at the Page. Studies have shown that Pages with a branded welcome tab will convert fans at a 25% higher rate than Pages that don’t have such a tab. My favorite example of a branded welcome tab is the Dog Bless You Facebook Page.

Engagement and content will always trump page design

After you’ve converted a fan, the design of the Page doesn’t really matter that much. The reason why is that everything happens in the newsfeed, NOT on your Facebook page. According to a study by ComScore, Facebook users are 40-150 times more likely to engage with Page content the newsfeed instead of Fan Page itself.

Your main job on Facebook is to keep people interested in your organization so that they spread the good word. Your primary tool for doing that job is the News Feed.

Read the rest of this post over at the Awareness Blog

Last week, Facebook announced the release of more than 60 new Timeline apps which allow Facebook users to automatically share application actions on their timeline. You first became aware of Timeline apps when all your friends were telling you what songs they were listening to on Spotify.

How do Timeline apps work?

Once you authorize an app (which only needs to be done once) a live connection is established with your timeline. What this means is that as soon as you take an action with an app, like finishing a run with the RunKeeper app, the app automatically posts that action on your Timeline (as shown below).

What is Frictionless Sharing?

Frictionless sharing is Facebook’s new model for more digestible (both psychologically and technically) social sharing. In other words, Facebook has redefined sharing.

There are two components to frictionless sharing:

1. Gestures That Make Sense – Facebook is now allowing app developers to use gestures other than“like” for news feed stories. In the example above, it says that I just “completed” a run with Runkeeper (by the way, I can run further than .27 miles…).“Completed” works better because although I definitely completed the run, I may have not “liked” it.
2. Permission Hurdles Removed – Timeline apps asks permission only once to access and share a user’s data. As shown below in the RunKeeper app, it’s easier for me to understand what the app needs to work. The app authorization also lists activities that will appear, and allows me to choose who can see your activities.

It’s important to realize that frictionless sharing is about removing both technical AND psychological hurdles to sharing.

Are Timeline Apps intended for mobile?

Facebook is not a bunch of dummies. They know the future of the web exists in mobile devices. Frictionless sharing will encourage the use of Timeline apps via mobile devices in at least two ways.

• Trust – With the old app permissions, it wasn’t really clear what your were authorizing. This created mistrust (a psychological hurdle). But the new app permissions explain exactly what personal data will be shared the first time you give that app permission. This is critical for mobile devices that previously had to ask permission repeatedly.
• Thumbs – The new gestures like “read”, “cooked”, “pinned”, “completed” and “donated” are thumb-friendly. Notice how the emphasis is NOT on writing comments, or entering data into fields (where you ran, who you ran with) in a browser. The emphasis is on very small actions – perfect for thumb-friendly mobile devices!

Finally, almost all of the 60 Timeline apps can be found in the iTunes App Store. This reinforces my theory that their ultimate use is to capture actions from mobile users and not necessarily people using Facebook through a browser (please disagree in the comments!)

Learn more about Timeline Applications

Want to learn more about the implication of Timeline apps? Read “Facebook Timeline Apps: A New Way To Engage?” by Debra Askanase and “What Do Facebook’s New Timeline Apps Mean for Nonprofits?” by Beth Kanter.

Do you think Timeline apps are about mobile apps?

If you want to increase pages views and site engagement, it’s critical that you create a more social experience when people visit your website.

For example, when people view an article from your blog they’d see which of their friends have already read that article. They’d also have the ability to share content on your site with their Facebook friends.

Gigya published data showing that web users spend 50 percent more time on websites that use Facebook Social Plugins. They also view twice as many pages.

Increase the amount of time spend on your site with social plugins

As you can see in the bar graph above, users spend most of their time commenting, which according to Giya, “allows them to share opinions on content and interact with other users – including those from their social graph”.

This makes sense when you remember that people are busier today than ever before, but still want to converse with their friends on topics they care about.

Increase page views with social plugins

They also found that page views more than doubled for sites that use social plugins. Again, commenting and sharing were the two biggest activities.

What does all this mean for your website?

The more pages people view on your website, the more chances you have to convert them into an email subscriber or donor.

View your website as a fishing net. Web visitors either keep swimming on by your site or get caught in your net (subscribe to your email newsletter, etc.). Social plugins encourage these fish to swim around a bit more, giving you more chances at catching them!

Which Facebook social plugins should you use for your website?

Putting your organizations goals aside for a moment, and viewing the data above, it’s safe to say that you should at least be implementing Facebook’s Like Button and Comments plugin.

• Like Button: When a user clicks the Like button, a news story publishes to their News Feed, and this story includes a link back to the content on your site. If your site offers a lot of content that users can like individually (such as in a blog), you’ll invariably increase referral traffic from Facebook to your site.
• Comments: This plugin allows you to add a comment box to your website content so that Facebook users can enter their comments which can automatically be published to their Facebook News Feed. These republished comments also include a link back to the comments on your site.

Facebook has excellent tutorials on installing these plugins, and if you use WordPress all you need is to install a few Plugins. The plugins I use on this site are Facebook Like and Send and Disqus for comments (users can login with Twitter or Google in addition to Facebook).

Have you installed Facebook social plugins on your site?

By now I’m sure you’re aware that profiles (what people use to connect to each other on Facebook) have a completely new layout called the Timeline. Briefly, the Timeline shifts the focus from a user’s most recent update, and instead focuses on important events in their life.

Ever since profiles have received this new layout, people what to know when pages will get a Timeline layout.

I say, don’t worry because it doesn’t matter much anyhow…

What will be awesome about the new Facebook Page layout

When Facebook Pages finally do get the timeline layout, there will be a few marketing advantages:

• You will be able to have a much stronger brand presence on Facebook
• You’ll be able to tell the story of how your nonprofit is changing the world
• You might even come up with a very creative way to do outreach
• You’ll be able to feature more content above the fold
• You can swap out covers that promote your latest outcomes and events

These are pretty awesome benefits, but even these benefits really don’t matter in the grand scheme of your Facebook strategy.

Why you should stop obsessing about when Facebook Pages with get the Timeline

The short answer is that everything happens in the newsfeed, NOT on your Facebook page. Your main job on Facebook is to keep people interested in your organization so that they spread the good word. Your tool for doing your job is the wall.

Now don’t get me wrong –  your branding is an important part of your overall marketing plan. It just doesn’t keep people interested.

What do you think?

Facebook is a raging river most days. And that raging river can either feel like an exciting ride, or a complete terror.

One thing that makes a huge difference is whether you can tie your tiny raft together with other rafts so that together, you achieve more than you could as individuals.

This video shows you how to Facebook (verb) as a Page:

• How to login as a Page
• Viewing your notifications
• Viewing your most recent fans
• Viewing a summary of your Page stats
• Engaging with other Pages in your Page News Feed
• Re-posting updates from other Pages
• Tagging other Pages in updates

Are you using Facebook to nurture partnerships?

Are nonprofits raising any money with Facebook? The answer really depends on how you define “fundraising”.

I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on Tony Martignetti’s NonProfit podcast. The topic of this particular podcast was how nonprofits can best use Facebook. One thing Tony and I talked about was the difference between fundraising with Facebook and collecting donations with Facebook and how understanding the difference is absolutely critical.

Facebook stinks for collecting donations

Razoo recently published research showing that 33% of online donations come from e-mail appeals, while only 7% come from Facebook. Shocking, I know. However, it would be a mistake to conclude that Facebook is a waste of time.

Facebook is awesome for fundraising

Making a value judgment on Facebook based only on donations received completely overlooks the inherent value that Facebook offers.

Facebook creates awareness for your campaign

When was the last time you actually forwarded an e-mail appeal to a few friends? Exactly. Facebook’s strength is in the reach that’s created as users talk about your campaign.

Your fundraising strategy should include ways to get people to converse about the cause. The more they talk about it, the more their friends become aware of your fundraising campaign.

Facebook helps begin relationships with donors

So let’s say that one of your current Facebook fans makes a few comments on your page, and one of their friends becomes interested in that conversation. They click over to your page, add their own comments, and become a new fan. You just acquired a future potential donor! And although they probably won’t donate to your cause any time soon, they might in the future.

Read the rest of this post over at the Care2 Blog.

By now you’re probably aware that your Facebook profile has automatically been upgraded to the new timeline layout, which features a large cover at the very top.

Many organizations, like the Ocean Concervancy, are creating covers that supporters can use on their timeline (see the example Beth is using above).

Dave Connell, of the OC said they’re “offering up these covers is a way for our supporters to express their personal support for the ocean.”

Notice that there is no hard-sell pitch for donations (which could violate Facebook’s TOC). Rather, the OC covers are “lightly branded” beautiful photographs of various ocean life.

How to create a custom Facebook cover for your nonprofit

The easiest way to create a custom Facebook cover is to get a designer to create one using Photoshop.

Have your designer use the dimensions shown below, or download the Photoshop template here (zip file) which includes three layers:

• Background color – Which can be deleted or edited.
• Profile picture box – This is intended to show you exactly where the user’s profile pic will appear on your cover. You want to know where the profile pic will be displayed so that you don’t block an important part of your Facebook cover. You can also use the profile pic to make your Facebook cover stand out.
• Dimension layer – This layer is informational only and should be hidden or deleted.

What if you don’t have Photoshop? If you don’t have access to a designer or Photoshop, you can use pixlr, which is an online photo editing website that allows you to upload and crop photos at any dimension.

How to upload your new cover into Facebook

After you or your designer have created the images, create a Facebook Page photo album and then promote these covers via email, news feed and any other means.

Let’s see your Facebook Covers!

Post a link to your Facebook covers on the Nonprofit Facebook Guy wall.

If your Facebook Page no longer has the growth and activity it did when you first launched the Page, you’re not alone. Many nonprofits have experienced the similar flatlining due to shifting priorities, turnover, or ineffective strategies.
The good news is that you can start fresh, with a few proven strategies meant to resuscitate your Page:

1. Use a Likebox – This is what you call “low hanging fruit”. Adding a LikeBox to your website might just be one of the easiest and most effective way to create more attention for your Facebook Page. Likes gained though a LikeBox can also be tracked via Insights.

2. Promote Your Page in Emails  - Hopefully you haven’t been neglecting your email list in addition to your Facebook Page. Assuming you haven’t, make a habit of linking to your Page in the sidebar or footer of your emails, and also in mentions of your Page in the email body.

3. Promote your Page Stories in Emails - Another powerful way to integrate your email marketing with your Facebook Page is to regularly highlight specific discussions on your Page wall that you think your subscribers will find useful. You can get the permalink to any update by clicking on the date (as shown below).

4. Post Diverse Content Types – Like you, your Facebook Page fans have certain preferences for the content they like to engage with and share. Some love photos, others love links. Posting a wider variety of story types will eventually get you in more news feeds. And never underestimate the power of simple questions.

5. Allow Facebook Users to Post Diverse Content – One thing that impedes engagement is when you don’t allow Facebook users to post their own content on your Page. You can update these settings under the “Manage Permissions” admin tab (shown below). And if you’re concerned about offensive comments, you can always block specific types of comments and posts on your Page.

6. Revisit Past Conversations – When you reply to comments in an existing thread, anyone who has commented on or liked that update receives a notification via email, drawing those users back into the comment thread and renewing (hopefully) their interest in the Page. Start with the updates that have the highest Virality and go from there.

7. Think Like a Person - One thing that might be hurting your Page is unknowingly harboring old marketing paradigms.

Facebook is not a website, it’s not a direct mail. It’s a community. It’s people. Facebook users spend most of their time interacting with friends on Facebook, so the more you can come across as a friend, the more likely they’ll respond.

8. Show Appreciation – One way you can express appreciation is to state it simply: “We have the best Facebook fans on the planet!” (notice how many comments you get after that update). I’ve tested this on several Pages and it’s always one of the top Page stories within a 30-day period.

9. Work With Your Social Fundraisers – If your uses a tool like Razoo to empower your biggest fans to fundraise, find a way to bring them to the Page. They already love what you do. Give them more of what they love on your Facebook Page!

10. Concentrate on Core Fans – A powerful way to have this group help you get a huge boost in fans is to coordinate with them to use the “Recommend This Page” feature. Tell them that you’re struggling with your Facebook Page, and ask them to all use this feature on a specific time and date. Ask them to recommend your Page to at least 10 friends, which will be specific and doable for most of them.

11. Detonate Like and Comment Bombs – Using crowdsourced content from your core fans, have them like or comment on specific stories as soon as they’re published. This will give your edgerank the boost it so desperately needs, which will be followed by organic engagement.

12. Conduct a Wall Chat – One of the best ways to inject your Page with a jolt of engagement is to conduct a scheduled chat on the Page that you promote using other channels. Think Hashtag chats but on Facebook. All you need to do is schedule a date and time that a specific topic will be discussed on the Page, and then have a topic expert available to moderate the discussion as an admin.

13. Hold Post-event Q&A - Another way to create a concentration of engagement on your Page is to conduct Q&A following an event. Charityhowto does this for all of their free webinars and it’s been their number one way of acquiring new fans and boosting Edgerank.

14. Use Facebook Ads – You can use sponsored story ads to create more reach for specific Page stories. These ads – called Page Post Ads – allow you to pick one of your latest stories and display it in the form of an ad seen by all of your fans (as shown below). Obviously this tactic sidesteps Edgerank, which is good if you’re still trying to figure out what content works best for your fans.

15. Use your Cell Phone – Chances are making enough time to engage with fans is a constant struggle. Fortunately, there are a few ways you can update your Page from a mobile device:

1. From a smart phone – If you have a smartphone, you can use one of six different apps developed by Facebook. You can’t view Insights, or configure your Page settings, but you can post updates and reply to comments.
2. From an email – You can also email a status update or photo to your Facebook Page by following the steps in this blog post.
3. From a Test Message – Finally, you can update your Page via SMS. To activate text messaging for your Page, login to your Page, click on the “Mobile” tab and follow the instructions (as shown below).

16. Post Diverse Topics – A common mistake many Page admins make is that they only publish content directly related to their cause.

What they don’t realize is that even the most rabid fan wants to talk about other topics. For example, a breast cancer organization should talk about topics that are interesting to women and not just breast cancer survivors. After all, survivors are also women, mothers, and possibly leaders in their local community.

17. Get Some Insight – Last but not least, use your Page insights to quickly find the posts with the highest engagement. Insights helps you determine how you can improve your content strategy, and how your efforts are translated into new donors, and volunteers. Check out the free videos on the Nonprofit Facebook Guy’s Page.

What else can you add?

This Friday at 1:00PM I’ll be answering your Facebook questions on Nonprofit Radio with Tony Martignetti.

Learn how to listen live or download the podcast on this blog post.

Following is a guest post from my good friend, Jon Loomer who is a dad, a digital strategist, and a Milwaukee Brewers fan. This is one of the most thorough articles I’ve read on the topic of engagement – one you should print out and stick in your cube!

————————————

The secret to a successful Facebook page is a highly engaged community. You can drive thousands of fans with ads, but the number will be hollow if they aren’t active and engaged.

Why is this important? An engaged fan who interacts with your page is developing a loyalty for your brand. By being actively involved in your page, they are aware of your product launches and special deals, and are therefore more likely to purchase. Just as important, an actively engaged fan is sharing your brand with their friends, thereby expanding your fan base.

Engage, engage, engage. It’s been said so many times that the word is losing meaning. So what does this mean? Here are a few examples of how to engage fans on your Facebook page, but feel free to get creative.

1. Be Interesting

This may be easier said than done, but only post information that is interesting to your customers. Make sure it’s relevant and timely. If you’re not sure what your customers like, ask them!

2. Be Human

Feature the humanness of your brand. Post with a personality, feature photos and videos of staff members, and show another side of your organization.

Along the same lines, no one wants to follow an endless PR stream. People don’t trust PR. Be authentic and honest. Recognize mistakes and involve your customers in the solutions.

A more literal way to “be human” is not to use automated services to post to your page. This isn’t interesting. Most such services don’t allow you to add personal description to the post. People easily sniff it out, especially since these posts are highlighted with a third party icon. Studies have shown that posts made with third party services — automated or not — are less successful.

3. Prompt a Response

An engaged fan is someone who not only reads your content but actively comments, likes and shares. How do you get that response? Ask for it!

Ask questions in your posts. Ask for fan feedback. Get their opinions. Ask them to share your content. Ask them to recommend your page to their friends. These are your most loyal customers. Involve them!

4. Be Brief

Don’t write a book. Whether you’re providing a description of a link you’re sharing or writing a status update, get to the point. Short posts have a clearer purpose and are much more likely to receive a response.

5. Share a Variety of Content

Mix it up. Share links, video and photos. Include the occasional status update, but you can’t rely only on that type of post. The most viral types of content on Facebook are photos and videos. If you share a link, make sure that it has a corresponding thumbnail image that is interesting. People are much more likely to read a link that has an interesting thumbnail image than content that does not.

6. Share Exclusive Content

You need to provide value to being a fan of your page. It’s more than just being interesting and human. Provide content that your fans can’t get anywhere else.

Share information about your company that isn’t available on your website or blog. Provide exclusive behind-the-scenes content. And if you sell a product, share exclusive deals available only to Facebook fans.

7. Use Questions

Want to get feedback from your fans? Use the built-in Questions app by Facebook. Keep questions short (longer questions are cut off) and make sure you have a clear goal. It’s usually to find out more about your customers or what they want.

But also feel free to use this to help customers make decisions about your brand or your page. If you’re a restaurant, poll them on what menu item should get a special Facebook fan price. Ask them to vote on the name of a new product. Involve them in big decisions to help give them a sense of ownership in your brand.

8. Use Events

Having a big event you’re looking to promote? Launching a new product? Use Facebook’s Events. This built-in app allows you to make events more official. When fans and non-fans respond with an RSVP or an indication they can’t attend, it also gives you an idea for an expected turnout.

Of course, it’s more than knowing who will be there. Like with anything else, when you engage your fans and get them to respond, that information is shared with their friends. So by creating an Event that generates a response, you increase the potential for reaching a new audience.

9. Encourage Check-ins

Do you have a physical location that relies on foot traffic? Encourage check-ins. It’s one more way for your fans to interact with your brand. Remind them with signs at your store. Maybe even provide incentives.

Once again, this engagement has benefits that go beyond building a relationship with this customer. That person is telling their friends where they are. Whether or not their friends join them, the check-in acts as a recommendation from your fans.

10. Recognize Fans

You need your fans. Remind them that you appreciate them. Thank them for liking your page and for being a customer. Highlight milestones when you reach a certain number of fans. Have a Fan of the Week feature. Find ways to recognize your most loyal fans and thank them for their involvement with your brand.

11. Hold Contests

Every once in a while, get your fans excited with a giveaway or some other contest. Of course, Facebook has some specific rules about holding contests on your page. Make sure you follow them. But a good contest is an excellent way to build some buzz around your brand, add value to liking your page and reach a larger audience.

12. Encourage User Generated Content

Your page shouldn’t be only about your brand, it’s also about your customers. Ask your fans to share their own stories, photos or even videos that reflect their interaction with your organization. When they go to your restaurant, ask them to take a picture of their meal and share it on your wall or with their friends. Make your wall a combination of your posts and posts from fans by encouraging user generated content.

13. Be Consistent

Your fans need to know what to expect. Don’t post twice a day for two weeks and then go quiet for the next two. You need to be consistent.

That could mean creating a content plan. Schedule out what you’re going to do a week or two in advance. It could also mean having a specific theme for each day of the week you post.

You don’t need to post every day. You may only post a couple of times per week. But be consistent.

14. Target by Location or Language

If you’re a local company or if your message is the same for everyone, this may not be useful. But if you are an international, national or even regional company, targeting may be useful.

Maybe you’re promoting an event or special that applies only to a specific area. You don’t want to annoy your fans in the areas where this isn’t relevant. So when posting, click the lock and then customize. From there, you can choose to target your message by country, state, city or language.

That’s a Start

There are certainly other ways to engage with your fan base and keep them involved with your brand. But this should be a good start. What other creative methods have you used to keep your fans interested in your content?

What can you add?