Social Media Tools FACEBOOK PAGE OR FACEBOOK GROUP

Social Media Tools FACEBOOK PAGE OR FACEBOOK GROUP

Facebook PAGE Facebook Pages enable public figures, businesses, organizations and other entities to create an authentic and public presence on Facebook. Unlike your profile, a Page is visible to everyone on the internet by default. You, and every person on Facebook, can connect with these Pages by becoming a fan and then receive updates via News Feed and interact. Only the official representatives of a business or organization should create a Facebook Page.

Facebook GROUP Facebook Groups are the place for small group communication and for people to share their common interests and express their opinion. Groups allow people to come together around a common cause, issue or activity to organize, express objectives, discuss issues, post photos and share related content. When you create a group, you can decide whether to make it publicly available for anyone to join, require administrator approval for members to join or keep it private and by invitation only. Like with Pages, new posts by a group are included in the News Feeds of its members and members can interact and share with one another from the group. Groups range widely, from members of a church group or athletic team organizing activities to serious topics on politics and world events or even more lighthearted themes. Say that you and your friends have a favorite celebrity or cause you want to rally around, but you are not the official representative of either. You can either become a fan of the official Facebook page for the celebrity or cause and show your support there or create your own group on Facebook around the common interest.

Let’s REVIEW Pages : Groups: Allow organizations to communicate broadly with people who like them. Pages may only be created and managed by official representatives. Pages provide a closed space for small groups of people to communicate about shared interests. Groups can be created by anyone. Other differences include: Privacy: Page information and posts are public and generally available to everyone on Facebook. Audience: Anyone can like a Page to connect with it and get News Feed updates. There is no limit to how many people can like a Page. Communication: People who help manage a Page can share posts from the Page posts can appear in the News Feeds of people who like the Page owners can also create customized apps for their Page and check Page Insights to track the Page’s growth and activity. Groups Privacy: In addition to a public setting, more privacy settings are available for groups. In secret and closed groups, posts are only visible to group members. Audience: You can adjust group privacy to require members to be approved or added by admins. When a group reaches a certain size, some features are limited. The most useful groups tend to be the ones you create with small groups of people you know. Communication: In groups, members receive notifications by default when any member posts in the group. Group members can participate in chats, upload photos to shared albums, collaborate on group docs and invite members who are friends to group events.

Pros & Cons [PAGES] Page Pros: ü Pages are much easier to update and stand as better options for brands who frequently add new material ü A brand page looks more like a personal profile, so you can play to the social context of the site better and engage at higher levels ü Pages have customizable URLs and you can better promote the page to fans directly ü Pages give you more options for posting photos, events, various links, etc ü Page owners can distinguish their content from other content to make it stand out ü Pages allow you to create a banner and personalize the page more to your purpose Page Cons: ü Pages are harder to grow organically ü It typically takes a lot longer to promote a page, even though it’s easier to promote per options and function ü Conversations are more difficult to manage, especially between fans ü Everything’s more out in the open with a page, so you have to monitor things more closely

Pros & Cons [GROUPS] Group Pros: ü In groups you can easily communicate with all members via chat, email, wall posts, messages, and even create a shared Doc ü A business is allowed to promote an event through Groups in general, whereas a page doesn’t allow that option ü Groups tend to display a higher degree of personality and even personalization, since they’re often created to be personal presences rather than brand presences ü Making common connections is much easier through a group setting, particularly for businesses searching for contacts Group Cons: ü Unlike pages, groups don’t allow you to add on any additional apps for promotions or aesthetics ü For business purposes, it’s harder to keep track of what you’re doing in a group, because Facebook Insights is not available in this format ü The lack of a vanity URL makes it hard to fully customize and personalize a group ü In a group you’re always going to be playing to a much narrower audience ü Groups are very difficult for other people to find unless they’re already part of a group or have a friend who joins

. . . the bottom line Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause. Pages are better for businesses and organizations who want to interact with their fans, customers or clients without having them connected to a personal account.

How to: CREATE A PAGE Step 1: Choose a Classification There are six different classifications to choose from: Ø Local Business or Place Ø Company, Organization, or Institution Ø Brand or Product Ø Artist, Band, or Public Figure Ø Entertainment Ø Cause or Community Each of these classifications provides more fields to further define your entity. [next slide]

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Step 2: Complete Basic Information Facebook should automatically walk you through the following four basic sections to complete the fundamental aspects of your Page. Finish "About" Section The “About" section should consist of a 2 -3 sentence [HIGH IMPACT] description for your company. It will be on your main page, so make it CLEAR, CRISP & CONCISE! Be sure to include a link to your company website as well. This is also where you can select your unique domain (that, can only be changed once). For example, the Caddo Council On Aging Facebook Page employs the URL: www. facebook. com/caddocoa Upload Profile Picture Next you'll be asked to upload a picture. This will serve as the main visual icon of your page, appearing in search results and alongside any comments you publish. While any perfectly square image will work, the recommended size is 200 x 200 pixels. Add to Favorites Every individual Facebook user has a vertical navigation bar to the left of their News Feed. You can add your Business Page as a "Favorite" item here -- similar to bookmarking a web page in your web browser -- for easy access. Reach More People Facebook will prompt you to create an advertisement to draw attention to your Page. Whether employing paid tactics is a part of your strategy or not, I recommend avoiding starting any ads at this stage -- there's no compelling content on the Page yet that would convince them to ultimately "Like" your page.

Step 3: Understand the Admin Panel The basic skeleton of your Business Page is now live. Facebook will ask if you'd like to "Like" your Page. Again, I recommend avoid doing so at the moment. This activity will appear in News Feeds of those you're connected to personally on Facebook. Without any content on the Page, we want to save that ‘debut’ for when you're really ready for people to view the Page. In the top navigation, you'll see an option for "Settings. " Click that. Along the left side, a vertical navigation bar with different sections should appear. We'll focus on three core ones now: Page Info: This is where you can additional details about your business. This section will also unveil different fields based on the classification you chose in Step 1. Notifications: This section allows you to customize when and how you'd like to receive Page alerts. Set a frequency that fits your social media marketing schedule. Page Roles: There may be others at your organization who need access to your Page. Here, you can authorize others to make changes to your Pages. Some common roles include: ü A public relations manager who needs to respond to any delicate questions. ü A support representative who can assist those asking technical questions. ü A designer tasked with uploading new photo (jpg) material to the Page.

Step 4: Populate Page With Content Posts Let's start with the basics! Currently there are six different posting options: • Plain text status • Photo with caption • Link with caption • Video with caption • Event page • Location check-in When posting on your page, be sure to use a variety of content. What images would your audience like to see? What stats would they like to read? What links would they like to click? You can also click the little grey arrow in the top-right corner of each post and then click "Pin to Top" to move one of your posts to the top of your Page's Timeline for seven days. Use this feature for product announcements, business anniversaries, and other major events pertinent to your brand.

Step 4 (cont): Content Cover Photo This is the large, horizontal image that spans the top of your Facebook Page. Typically, this is a branded image to help attract people to your Page. The official photo dimensions are 851 x 315 pixels. Now that there's content, we can start strategically inviting users to “LIKE” it. I recommend inviting users in the following cadence: Ø First, invite colleagues to Like your page and its content to build some initial activity. Ø Second, invite supporters in your network. Encourage them to engage. Ø Third, invite customers. With some activity now on the Page, they’ll be more interested. With content published and users invited, you can go to the "Activity" tab in your Page's top navigation to monitor how people are engaging with your Page and content.

Step 5: Measure Your Growth. Finally, we need to measure our results! Fortunately, Facebook has embedded in some helpful tools for us to use. Simply click the "Insights" option in the top navigation to see the following: ØOverview: This tab shows a 7 -day snapshot of activity including: ü Page Likes, post reach, and overall engagement. Ø Likes: This tab shows your overall fan growth and losses. ü If you're employing paid efforts, you'll be able to see the breakdown of paid versus organic growth. Ø Reach: This tab highlights the raw number of people your Page is reaching. ü If you notice spikes on a specific day, try cross-checking what you posted that day to see if you can replicate that reach. Ø Visits: This tab indicates where on Facebook your viewers are coming from. ü You can see the difference in visits on Facebook Timelines, your information tab, reviews, and others.

How to: CREATE A GROUP Decide on a Topic/Theme Note: Choose a Descriptive/Evocotive Group Name Whether you have an open or closed group, choosing a descriptive group name will help people identify whether or not they really want to be part of your community. Once you have decided on the topic: 1) Log in to your own Facebook account and click the Profile tab at the top of the page 2) Select the Info tab from within your Profile. 3) Scroll down to the Groups section and select See All. 4) When you click See All a new My Groups window will load that shows all the groups you have subscribed to, as well as any group news and invitations you have. 5) Under the My Groups heading click the link to Create a New Group.

The Group form has 3 steps: Step 1: GROUP INFO Here you will need to provide specific information about your Facebook Group including: ü a Group Name, ü the Network (choose your own network location or Global which is available to all Facebook users), ü a description of the group, ü and a category. Optional Group Info: recent news, office, e-mail and address details. Once you have filled out this form, click on Create Group. This will load the second screen, Customize.

Step 2: CUSTOMIZE This is where you will specify member options and settings for the group you have just created. 1) If you have a picture you want to use you can upload it from this screen, and you can also specify an associated Web site URL. 2) By selecting (or deselecting) the check boxes you can choose to show or not show the following on your own Group page: related groups, a discussion board, the Wall, Photos and Videos and posted items. 3) You also need to choose a Group Access level open lets anyone join, closed requires Group admins to approve requests to join, and secret, will hide the group in searches and members can join by your invitation only 4) Once you have set all the Group Options, you can select Save at the bottom, which will open a window prompting you to publish the New Group to your own profile. After you publish the Group, the Member screen will load.

Step 3: MEMBERS The members page is where you can: 1) invite your Facebook friends to join your group 2) choose Group Officers 3) see who is currently subscribed to your Facebook group. 4) invite people who are not on Facebook (Simply enter their e-mail addresses in the form box, separated by commas)

Group Admin Options After you have created your new Group, on the Group page, you'll find options that you can access to maintain your Group page: Ø Message All Members: lets you send a Facebook message to everyone subscribed to your Group Ø Edit Group: lets you change the information you entered when creating your Group Ø Edit Members: lets you maintain your group members Ø Edit Group Officers: lets you select Group members to be Officers Ø Create Related Event: lets you create an event associated for the group

Top 10 Tips [PAGES] 1. Use engaging copy, images and videos Rich media like photos and videos get more attention and help your message stand out in News Feed. Lifestyle images like the ones you see from your friends on Facebook are always engaging. Try sharing images of your products or photos of your customers enjoying your services. Try to keep your posts between 100 and 250 characters to get more engagement. Shorter, succinct posts are better received 2. Create a two-way conversation Ask your audience to share their thoughts and feedback on your product and services. This is another way to listen to your customers and improve your business. Posting content that shows you took their feedback into consideration can build customer loyalty and show you value their ideas. 3. Share exclusive discounts and promotions Offer special deals or perks to your customers to keep them interested and to drive online sales. Include call to actions with links to the most relevant page on your website. To improve engagement with your promotions, include clear calls to action, redemption details, and when the promotion ends to add a sense of urgency. 4. Provide access to exclusive information Reward people who are connected to your Page and drive loyalty and online sales by providing them with exclusive information. Make them feel special by sharing exclusive product news, contests and events. 5. Be timely Your audience will be more likely to engage with posts when they’re related to subjects that are top of mind, like current events or the holidays. Timeliness is also important when replying to comments on your posts. The faster you reply, the more likely fans will engage with you in the future.

Top 10 Tips - Continued [PAGES] 6. Plan your conversational calendar The easiest way to stay in regular contact with fans is by creating a conversational calendar with ideas about what to talk about each week or month. A content calendar will not only help you post regularly, but will ensure your content is well planned, interesting, and that you don't miss major business events and news. Find a frequency that works for you and your audience. 7. Schedule your posts To better manage your time, you can schedule your posts in advance and plan for upcoming holiday events and specials. To schedule your posts, simply click the clock icon on the lower left-hand corner of your Page's sharing tool. Schedule your posts when most of your fans are online. You can find out when your fans are online by visiting your Page Insights and going to the posts tab. After you've scheduled a post, you can manage your scheduled posts by going to the top of your Page and choosing Edit Page and then selecting Use Activity Log 8. Target your posts If your posts are meant for specific groups of people, you can target your post in your Page’s sharing tool by clicking on the target icon at the bottom left corner and selecting Add Targeting. You can target your post based upon gender, relationship status, educational status, interests, age, location, and language. 9. Use link posts to drive people to your website Link posts now have a larger, clickable area that helps drive people to your website. In your Page's sharing tool, enter the offsite URL, then hit Enter. The title, description and image are taken from your URL, but you can still customize the text and image of the post. 10. Review the performance of your posts Check your Page Insights regularly to understand what's working to keep your posts relevant and engaging. Page Insights will help you understand your audience and what types of content interests them.

SOURCES

SOURCES www. facebook. com/mashable

SOURCES www. facebook. com/marismith

SOURCES

SOURCES www. facebook. com/john. a. bogan jbogan@caddocoa. org

Thank you!