Facebook Fan Pages: Company A's Story, part 5b

The Story

I received a phone call from one of the Public Affairs Specialists (PAS) at Company A. He let me know they were going to launch a new Facebook page and asked that I post nothing else to the old one. He also asked for a list of questions he could use to spark discussions on the page.

That afternoon I started crafting a list of a dozen or so questions or leads that could help spark conversation on the company Facebook page. The next morning I looked at the list again, did some fine-tuning, added some discussion sparks, and then e-mailed it to the PAS.

When the Facebook fan page went live there was one discussion topic posted--the first one from my list:

Tell us about an experience you've enjoyed (because of/ with/ through Company A). What made it special?

The Discussion

It's great that Company A was thinking ahead. In the social media plan I'd put together for them I had stressed that conversation with their audience was important. It's one of the major reasons to implement a social media campaign. Company A wanted a list of questions to spark conversations and discussions, and they wanted that list before they ever launched the company Facebook page. That's a great example of the company being proactive and planning their strategy.

Probably because so many people use it every day, many business people think they should be able to handle their own social media marketing. But using social media to keep in touch with your friends is a lot different than using it to promote your brand. Reaching out for help from someone with more expertise and experience, as Company A did, is smart.

Unfortunately, after the launch of the Company A official Facebook fan page, things fell apart on this front. Although the page was launched a month ago, that first discussion spark is still the only one posted by the company. And, although there have been a few posts in response to the discussion spark, no one from Company A has chimed in. Without some official feedback, there is no conversation.

Company A gave its audience control of any discussion to be had on its Facebook fan page. While asking for feedback and listening to what customers have to say is important, if you don't use that information, it's worthless. One way to use it is to let it help you lead and shape the conversation you have with your public. If you don't respond, you can't do that.

Social media marketing is unique because it allows such easy interaction between the company and its customers. If you don't take advantage of that, you're wasting social media's power.

Facebook Fan Pages: Company A's Story, part 5a

When I sent my plan to Company A, I had already visited the Facebook fan page for the site, and had even become a fan. There was very little traffic on the page, so one of the steps I outlined was to start posting regularly to the Facebook page. Until they were ready to do that, though, I said I would take it on, posting links to relevant news articles and posting upcoming events that they sent in-house e-mails about.

For the next three weeks, I did just that, posting two or three times per week. As I started posting, so did others. The site, which had hundreds of fans, was starting to wake up.

And then I got an e-mail from the person who had initially contacted me. He had just found out that this was not an official Facebook fan page. The powers-that-be had decided to take down the unofficial page and launch an official one.

I immediately shot an e-mail back.

"Gah! Don't do that!" (Though worded more professionally.)

I shared Coca-Cola's story.

In essence, many fans had created Facebook pages as tribute to their favorite soft drink, but one page rose above all the others in sheer number of fans. Rather than Coca-Cola getting upset about this page, or trying to start their own official page from scratch, they contacted the page's "owners." They worked with the two fans who had created the page, and turned that page into the official Coca-Cola Facebook page.

The fans (on that page they numbered in the thousands) got to stay put. They got to see Coca-Cola as a company that respected its customers and fans, which wouldn't have happened if the company had tried to shut down that fan page. And the two who created the page became minor celebrities in the world of Coke. (Read more about Coca-Cola's Facebook fan page story .)

The following day my contact in Company A wrote me and said he'd shared the story with the decision-makers, and they were going to migrate the existing fans to the new page. The fans wouldn't have to do anything.

What happened, instead, was that a new page was created and the fans from the old page were asked to become fans of the new page.

In theory, this isn't a bad approach, but the reality is that the fans of the old page have no reason to take action. They don't necessarily care that one page is official and one isn't. They just want to feel like they're part of a community and have discussions about things that are important to them. Official, for those purposes, is irrelevant.

Company could have made it relevant. They could have posted links, invitations to events, and plenty of other information that wasn't available on the fan-created page. But they didn't. They've given their fans no reason to leave the original fan page. Over the next few posts we'll look at things they could have done differently, and things they're doing right, with their new Facebook page.

The Company Blog: Company A's Story, part 4b

Responding to reader comments

Briefly:

• Respond to comments to encourage discussion
  
• Respond to comments to show you care what your readers have to say
  
• Do not respond to every comment
  
• Respond appropriately and in a reasonable amount of time

The head of Company A is very good at responding to reader comments. He does not get drawn into flame wars, but does respond to legitimate complaints and concerns. He answers direct questions, and even poses new questions to his audience in response to comments left. His comments are worded so that he puts no one down, but when he sees a suggestion or question he finds particularly insightful, he is quick to praise.

He also reads through his comments more than once, recognizing that more comments are likely to be left after his first round of responses. He seems to check post comments two or three times in the week after he posts something to the blog, responding to comments when appropriate. If the discussion calls for it, he may continue checking the comments after that first week, too.

Social media has to focus on social, and that means conversations. If you don't respond to comments on your blog, you lose that conversation.

Social Media to Change Our Image: Company A's Story, part 3

In the story I posted about Company A, the decision makers agreed to try a social marketing campaign because they had heard it could change the company's tarnished image.

Social networking through social media is important, and I think there are very few (if any) organizations operating in first world countries today that can afford to ignore its power. But it isn't a cure. It needs to be part of an overall campaign, an overall strategy. You need to know why and how you want to use social media. And you need to be flexible enough to revise the why and how as you learn what works and what doesn't work for your organization.

Social media isn't magic. Facebook. Twitter. Blogs. These are all part of the general media, just like print adds, radio spots, television, and newspaper and magazine articles. Simply beginning to use social media isn't going to change your image. You still need to work at it. Anyone who tells you you don't is wrong.

Search Amazon.com for "business branding"

Company A's Story, part 1

Here is a story about a large, national company I'm currently working with. It's a story of some of the decisions they've made about their brand new social media marketing campaign. Over the next few posts, I'll focus on different parts of this story and talk about the good or bad of a particular decision.

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I'm currently working with a large company that's been around for several decades (I'm not allowed to disclose which one, so I'll call it Company A), helping them get a fledgling social media PR campaign off the ground.

It began when I left a comment on Company A's new blog. One of their newer, younger employees--an assistant to the head of the company--contacted me after reading my comment. He agreed that Company A should have a social media campaign and wanted something he could take to the board.

I outlined a basic plan that specified a few social media outlets they should focus on and how to use them to engage their customers in useful conversations. He took it to the decision-makers--largely people who don't use or understand social media. And, like so often happens, they were afraid of it. But this employee, this assistant to the head of Company A, understood the power of social media. He convinced them to try it. But the decision-makers still were not comfortable.

"As you know, Company A has an image problem. Almost all of the press we've gotten lately has been about The Problem. The only reason we're even considering this type of program is because we've heard it can change our image."

They passed my plan to their Public Affairs department where, based on what they were used to and directives from above, they quickly changed it.

The first decision they made was to shut down all unofficial Facebook fan pages and create a new, official Facebook fan page. They asked me for questions they could use to engage anyone who visits the page.

"But nothing that might get someone talking about The Problem."

I created a list of discussion points, the first of which they posted to their Facebook page the day it launched.

The day after their Facebook fan page went live, Company A's PR department sent an interoffice memorandum to every employee, informing them that there was a new social media marketing campaign and giving a brief overview of it: a new Facebook fan page, and possibly using twitter for important bulletins.

The Facebook fan page went live last week. Right now, that's as far as this social media marketing campaign has gotten.

Check out my upcoming posts to see what I think of individual decisions they've made, and what I think will happen because of them.

Search Amazon.com for social media for business

What is the Five Hive?

What is the Five Hive?

The quick answer--it's the people I'm connected to.  My middle name is Five (really), and everyone I'm connected to makes up my hive. Some people call it a network, but that doesn't rhyme with my middle name.

Why another blog about social networking and social media? Fair question.

I've been using online social networks in one form or another since 1989.  Back then it was all BBSs. Those were the local Bulletin Board Systems that I would physically call by having my computer and modem dial a local phone number and connect to someone else's computer.  Usually only one person could be on a BBS at a time. Each BBS had various forums (similar to chat rooms) for conversations, and real time chat (IM) with the sysadmin (the person running the BBS). These were social networks in their early form, but they led to what we have today.  And I'm still friends with many of the people I met on those BBSs.

Once it became easier to connect to the Internet (back then it was still written with a capital 'I'), I found the next step in the evolution of social networks and social media--various real-time chat (IRC, ICQ, AIM, etc.), forums that mimicked the BBSs I was used to, and web pages run by people who wanted to reach out and meet the world. The global social network was real.

And then the internet blew up. It expanded and grew and became this amazing living tool. I've had websites. I've had blogs. I joined twitter in 2007. I've been active on most of the big social network sites at various times, using a variety of social media. I love them. I love watching as social media has evolved. I love playing with it and growing my hive, my social network.


When friends need help coming up with ways to promote their businesses, personal blogs, or what have you, they come to me.

When the huge organization I work for decided to finally start using social media to promote themselves, the main office (several states away) asked for my help because I'm a social media evangelist.

When I see businesses failing at using social media to support themselves, I cringe.

In short, through years of experience I've become an expert in social networking through social media.  I want to use that expertise to help you and people you know.

Search Amazon.com for social media marketing