2. FIELD GUIDE TO FACEBOOK MARKETING
At the end of 2013, there were 1.19 Billion active Facebook users. To put that figure into perspective,
consider that approximately one in every eight people globally are Facebook users, and about half of them
are logged in on any given day. With staggering figures like these, marketers cannot afford to ignore
Facebook. Regardless of size or marketing budget, brands can benefit from an effective Facebook strategy.
WHY YOU NEED THIS GUIDE
Are you currently searching for ways to:
•
Accelerate the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns through Facebook and social media?
•
Integrate social and CRM data to grow subscriber lists and update or strengthen subscriber information?
•
Implement paid, owned, and earned content into your social strategy?
•
Understand how Facebook Timeline and other recent interface changes can be used to promote
consumer engagement?
Consumers are more active on social media than ever before, and not surprisingly, many marketers are
struggling to keep up. It seems that, with an ever-evolving sea of data and technology, marketers don’t know
where to start. Marketers are told what they need to do, but no one’s telling them WHY these tactics are
important or HOW to execute a campaign around them—until now.
In this Field Guide to Facebook Marketing, you’ll get the tips and detailed instructions you need to
confidently build a branded presence on Facebook and beyond. Each page of this guide is filled with
commentary on recognizing, implementing, and nurturing your social communications for cross-channel
success.
As you continue on your social marketing journey, take this guide with you to make social success a reality in
your organization. Happy hunting!
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3. OPTIMIZE CAMPAIGN PERFORMANCE!
OVERVIEW
Most successful marketing campaigns running today have one thing in common: they include
consumer touch-points that cross multiple channels. And in today’s consumer landscape, the
one channel you cannot afford to ignore is social media.
Want to increase conversion and consumer engagement across ALL of your marketing
campaigns? Integrate Facebook, Twitter, and other social channels consistently by offering
engaging content that gives your consumers a reason to come back.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
• Build a social brand presence on Facebook by publishing Pages that facilitate consumer
interaction.
• Then maintain consumer engagement by posting frequently and being an active part of your
brand’s social conversation.
• Offer Facebook fans and Twitter followers a reason to engage via social channels and drive
conversions with fan-gated promotions and coupons.
• Engage loyal users through contests, polls, videos, and consumer-driven content.
• Keep your content consistent—people like to know what they’re signing up for and are quick
to disengage if content is too frequent or uninteresting.
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Once you’ve established
your Facebook presence,
expand into other social
networks including Twitter.
4. GROW YOUR SUBSCRIBER LIST WITH FACEBOOK!
OVERVIEW
Data collected via social media, combined with CRM and behavioral marketing data, has
proven to increase overall campaign effectiveness. After all, the more you know about your
consumers, the better you can deliver relevant, timely messages. Where marketers have
previously gone astray is failing to tap into the rich resources they have at their disposal—most
notably, the social web. Facebook contains a wealth of consumer intelligence and social data
that marketers are anxious to get their hands on. And through the use of Facebook’s Open
Graph technology, finding ways to collect social data from customers and prospects is easier
than ever.
FIELD FACT: Open Graph
is an extension of
Facebook’s core
technology. It allows
Facebook actions to be
replicated across the web,
which provides marketers
with valuable opportunities
to leverage Facebook data
and connections
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
If you want consumer data, you’ve got to ask for it. So
start by promoting a branded lead form on Facebook that
requests email addresses along with basic demographic
information.
Social Pages: Simply drag and drop Gears onto
the editor to design your Fan Pages.
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5. ENGAGE LOYAL CUSTOMERS BY “STARRING” & “PINNING”
STORIES ON THE TIMELINE!
OVERVIEW
Don’t overthink
it: email best
practices for
engaging
content apply to
Facebook too.
The way consumers interact with brands on Facebook has recently changed
with the introduction of Facebook’s new Timeline feature. The basic profile or
Fan Page that was previously a vessel for promotion now requires much
more thought and creativity to be successful. In order for a brand to be
successful on Facebook today, they must see engagement from their fans.
While it does require more strategy and higher-quality content, it also
provides a greater opportunity to engage with previously idle fans, turning
them into customers and eventual brand advocates.
FIELD FACT: A “pinned”
post always appears in the
top left corner of a Fan
Page Timeline and is
identified with a flag. It
stays at the top of a Page
for seven days. After that,
it’ll return to the date it was
posted on the Page’s
Timeline.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
Gather your most engaging content and draw attention to it
by “starring” and “pinning” it to your Timeline.
For your brand, this may include:
• Video footage
• Commercials
• Event promotions
• Special announcements
Example of a “pinned” post.
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Whatever content you decide to “pin” or “star,” make sure it’s
capable of enhancing your Facebook presence. Your
network of Facebook fans should find it interesting, relevant,
and be eager to engage with you because of it.
Engaging
content
produces
resultsclicks, “likes,”
comments, etc...
6. USE FACEBOOK INSIGHTS TO MONITOR PAGE AND APPLICATION
ACTIVITY!
OVERVIEW
Facebook Insights allows users to easily monitor their Facebook Page or app
activity. By better understanding consumption of content, user growth, and
fan demographics, marketers can make better decisions regarding their
Facebook brand presence.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
Facebook Insights is free—but available only to Page administrators and
developers on Pages that have been “liked” by at least 30 users. If you
have technical resources at your disposal, you may also consider
utilizing Insights API, which helps you access metrics beyond what’s
available through the standard Insights dashboard.
Overview screen of
Facebook Insights.
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7. UNDERSTAND YOUR NEWS FEED!
OVERVIEW
Heard of
EdgeRank?
It’s the same
concept.
Facebook uses an algorithm to determine which connections are most
important to a user, what content should appear most frequently in their
News Feed, and what socially-enabled ads they see. It carries a lot of
weight, so it’s in your best interest to get familiar with this algorithm, and
adjust your social strategy accordingly. The way to succeed and have your
content appear in fan News Feeds is to consistently show high activity and
engagement. For an individual consumer, this might include making frequent
status updates, uploading images, or changing relationship status. For a
brand, this is driven by fan base engagement. This means your fans might
not even see your content unless you receive consistent engagement!
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
Produce content that encourages your fans to engage and interact with your brand through
Facebook. This might include:
•
•
•
•
Polls
Surveys
Video downloads
Status updates
Remember, the more engaged your fans are, the more likely your brand is to show up in
consumers’ News Feeds, making your socially-enabled ads more frequent and effective.
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FIELD FACT:
Consider these three factors
when evaluating
content relevance:
• affinity refers to the
relationship between two
Facebook users. Each time
a user engages with you on
Facebook, your affinity with
that user goes up. Note that
your engagement with a
user doesn’t influence this
—only their engagement.
• Interaction considers what
actions users have taken
with your content. Each
action is recorded and
given more precedence
based on the amount of
energy required to engage
(i.e. a comment shows
more engagement than a
click).
• timeliness takes into
account the age of the
content. Recent content is
most likely to show up in a
News Feed.
8. BUILD YOUR FANBASE!
OVERVIEW
Sound familiar?
You might be
using these
same tactics to
manage your
email program!
There’s no question that a robust and healthy fanbase provides numerous
opportunities for brand engagement, promotion, and loyalty. But, while
building a substantial Facebook fanbase won’t happen overnight, it’s
important to lay a sturdy foundation by establishing both a plan for
acquisition and maintenance. Remember that getting a “like”
isn’t enough—you need consistent engagement to turn a Facebook fan into
a customer.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
• Remember that regardless of the channel, a feeling of exclusivity goes a long way for most
consumers.
• Pair that with a promotion, and you’re sure to see engagement from new audiences.
• Take that strategy one step further and geo-target by utilizing data provided by Facebook
Insights.
• Consider where you’re delivering this content—Timelines, News Feeds, or Facebook Tabs.
Identical content is rarely appropriate for all locations, so be selective and strategic.
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FIELD FACT:
Research reveals that 40% of
Facebook users are motivated
to “like” a company, brand, or
association to receive
discounts and promotions.
And, 51% of fans say they
rarely or never visit a
company’s page after “liking”
them.
9. EXTEND REACH AND DISTRIBUTION OF YOUR MOST COMPELLING
CONTENT!
FIELD FACT:
OVERVIEW
Facebook’s Reach Generator is an “always on” premium package that recently became
available to advertisers. Facebook guarantees that with this product, content will reach a higher
percentage of fans more frequently than it would organically. By increasing overall content
distribution, brands can ensure that their most compelling content receives visibility, traffic, and
page engagement.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Facebook estimates that a
company’s branded Page
reaches just 16% of their
fans per week on average.
Remedy this by ensuring your
most valuable content is
prioritized through Reach
Generator or Premium on
Facebook
• Reach 75% of your fans on a regular basis.
• Double brand engagement through “likes,” comments, and shares.
• Receive monthly reports that review reach, engagement, and brand tracking.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
Focus on creating compelling messages on your Facebook page—and don’t forget
that you can borrow content that has proven successful in email, and use it here.
Reach Generator does the rest!
Facebook’s Reach
Generator.
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10. INVEST IN PREMIUM ON FACEBOOK
OVERVIEW
In the past, Facebook advertising has been posted on the side of the screen, away from the News Feed or
profile Pages. With the introduction of Premium on Facebook in early 2012, advertisers now have the
opportunity for their content to appear in more prominent, eye-catching locations including:
•
•
•
•
The far right side of the homepage
On a mobile News Feed
On a homepage News Feed
On a user logout screen
Location is Key
WHAT TO EXPECT
5-10x more engagement is seen with ads that appear within the News Feed or right side of a user’s
homepage in comparison to any other site location.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
Customize URLs with important keywords or phrases that are relevant to your campaigns. You can even
include subscriber information like name or email address as part of the link, providing the ultimate
personalized touch that your site visitors will love.
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11. MASTER FACEBOOK TIMELINE WITH ENGAGING CONTENT!
OVERVIEW
Facebook Timeline offers brands a great outlet for promotion, but places an
emphasis on images and engagement. It offers brands the opportunity to provide
personalized experiences and a forum to promote interaction across other channels
including email, Twitter, or your website.
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
Deliver a personalized experience by using metrics collected from Facebook Insights
to determine your brand’s most popular content and the demographics of your most
engaged users. Then distribute targeted messages that drive social conversation.
And don’t stop there—turn highly-engaging posts into new content and add
important milestones to keep content relevant and fresh. Use Timeline’s imageheavy layout to humanize your brand, highlight popular products, or facilitate acrosschannel experience by repurposing creative from TV, print, email, or other non-social
campaigns.
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Example of a Facebook Timeline.
12. ASK CUSTOMERS TO DRIVE YOUR BRAND’S CREATIVE!
OVERVIEW
FIELD FACT:
Making sure that consumers are receiving the type of content they want is critical to staying fresh
and relevant, especially in the ever-evolving social landscape. Testing content on Facebook is one
way to stay on the pulse of what consumers want. This also allows marketers to gather customer
insight and actionable performance metrics that can provide valuable campaign lift.
Facebook reports that “wellrun campaigns that leverage
social media drive ROIs of 3x
or greater.”
HOW TO PUT IT INTO ACTION
One way marketers can get the data they need is to ask customers to provide feedback on your
marketing content.
Launch Facebook polls and surveys:
• On a homepage News Feed
• On a user logout screen
• Offer incentives for submitting feedback
• Add a level of excitement by publishing the results daily or weekly
Or, a more traditional way is to perform A/B tests to gather:
• “Like” counts or user growth
• Page views
• Demographic information
Facebook
Insights is
perfect for
gathering these
metrics.
Then, adjust your creative strategy accordingly, making sure the insights you’ve gained translate to
the creative you produce for other channels.
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13. GLOSSARY OF FACEBOOK MARKETING TERMS
ACTION RESPONSE OR “AR”
The percentage of users who complete an action (such as a “like” or “RSVP”) or are exposed to a Facebook ad.
ACTIVITY LOG
A new administrator control on Facebook Pages found under the “Manage” button at the top of the admin panel. Users can view Page
posts and “star,” hide, or delete stories, or change the date of a post.
ADS AND STORIES
Facebook Advertisements or featured News Feed stories that consist of an image, ad copy, and title. Sponsored Stories are considered
the evolution of Ads and provide additional exposure in the News Feed, which is where the majority of Facebook fans spend their time.
APPLICATIONS OR “APPS”
Brand and consumer-made interactive outlets for sharing and engaging in games, news, activities, events, and more.
CPC OR “COST PER CLICK”
Allows marketers to specify how much advertising spend they are willing to pay each time a user clicks on their ad.
CPM OR “COST PER THOUSAND IMPRESSIONS”
Allows marketers to specify how much advertising spend they are willing to pay for 1,000 impressions (or views)
of their ad.
FAN PAGE
A business profile used to help brands market themselves on Facebook. Often referred to simply as “Pages,”
they have many similarities with personal Facebook Profile Pages, but present additional administrative
and marketing capabilities.
FANS
Fans are Facebook users that “like” a Fan Page.
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14. GLOSSARY OF FACEBOOK MARKETING TERMS
GESTURES
Actions that mirror real-life activities like “read,” “watch,” or “eat,” instead of just “like.”
INSIGHTS
A dashboard which tracks and displays user activity within Pages and Applications, providing baseline analytics capabilities.
MILESTONES
Story types that mark important events, such as store openings or product launches.
NEWS FEED
The homepage of every Facebook user where Stories from friends, brands, and applications are aggregated and updated in real-time.
This is where most Facebook users spend their time and is the center of activity on Facebook. Algorithms based on engagement and
recentness determine when and where a Story shows up in a user’s News Feed.
OFFERS
A promotion delivered as a Story on a brand’s Facebook Page, allowing fans to claim it easily and share with friends.
OPEN GRAPH
As an extension of Facebook’s core technology, Open Graph allows Facebook actions to be replicated across the web,
which provides marketers with valuable opportunities to leverage Facebook data and connections.
PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THIS
A Facebook Insights metric that calculates the total number of people sharing and commenting about your
page over a seven-day rolling period.
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15. GLOSSARY OF FACEBOOK MARKETING TERMS
PINNING
A way for brands to highlight their most important or relevant content on their Facebook Page. Marketers can anchor their most
important stories to the top of their Page for up to seven days.
PREMIUM ON FACEBOOK
Allows marketers to create content or Stories that appear in premium user locations including News Feeds and logout screens.
REACH GENERATOR
Takes Facebook posts and moves them to the top of a user homepage to for additional distribution and exposure.
SOCIAL CONTEXT
A metric that determines the percentage of an organization’s ad impressions that were “liked” by at least one friend.
SOCIAL GRAPH
Describes the public web and the interconnectedness of people. Various APIs are available to access and leverage this information.
SOCIAL PLUGINS
Extensions of the Facebook platform that enable marketers to see what their fan base is doing across the broader web.
STARRING
Enables marketers to enlarge a Story so it receives more attention, and is managed in Activity Log.
STORIES
Any content, whether created by a user or re-purposed from an external website.
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16. GLOSSARY OF FACEBOOK MARKETING TERMS
TABS
Also known as Views, Tabs are a way of navigating to different locations within a Facebook Page. With the latest design, fans see four
Tabs at once.
TIMELINE
Facebook’s latest personal page layout design, which includes a chronological history of user actions taken.
TREND
A record of what topics and Stories are trending, gauged when multiple users share the same link or discuss the same topic.
VIEWS
Also known as Tabs, Views are a way of navigating to different locations within a Facebook Page. With the latest design, fans see four
Views at once.
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