In Focus

Avoid these Facebook faux pas

Evan Gerber
Social Media Posted on March 10, 2008

Make a great application for your group page

Procter and Gamble does a lot of great work with new media, and given its budget, it's no surprise that the execution is often impeccable. Its Crest Whitestrips groups page, however, is somewhat less than might be hoped for. With 8,696 members, it's only in the 50th percentile, but at least it's halfway there. Its "Smiler" application, on the other hand, might make its marketing manager frown. With only two active daily users, it is clear that the application is not as successful as the brand would have liked.

Users do check to see who made the application and how many others are using it. If the numbers start out low, they will likely stay low. When developing applications, make sure that there is a critical mass of users who can seed the application and make sure that it will be adopted.

In general, applications can be a challenging proposition; most users only have a few applications installed in their Facebook profiles, which they use on a regular basis, and it is difficult to develop something compelling for them.

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Comments

John Kaduwanema
John Kaduwanema March 10, 2008 at 12:16 PM

I think any social networking site is a calculated risk. You submit personal information and you are never quite sure how it is going to be used. I do some SEO work on

blood pressure monitors

and my work involves visiting some healthcare related sites. You will be amazed at how much information is in the hands of the network operators. They can literally do anything with it.

Marc Porcelli
Marc Porcelli March 10, 2008 at 11:32 AM

Evan,
Great pointers, Facebook has it's challenges, but the upside can be attained.

I am a DR advertiser, so I tend to shy away from any advertising like the group pages, which skew very much towards brand advertisers. In a recent blog post I spoke about Facebook's model and the importance of their sales team. I also discussed the sponsored story listings http://www.marcporcelli.com/2008/03/09/facebook%e2%80%99s-future-lies-in-their-sales-team%e2%80%99s-hands and importance of new placement offerings which readers of this article may find appealing.

Josh Gray
Josh Gray March 10, 2008 at 11:02 AM

This is a really good article and it addresses some very important points. What most brands fail to understand about social media is that when you create a page like this it takes on a life of its own. That being said, if the page is left with no follow up or maintenance, will die.

In any advertising we must consider that when we take the time to plant the seed, we must also take the time to nurture the plant if we expect to harvest the fruit. It's a very easy concept that most marketing "professionals" still don't get.

Add value, make the message clear and compelling then give your social media campaign the backup it needs to work. Maintain your brand and don't loose track of the conversation.

Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman March 10, 2008 at 10:55 AM

Let's not forget that at one point Ticketmaster gave away 10 free iTunes songs anyone who would add them as a friend. I hate Ticketmaster, but were they my friend (if only for a day)? You bet. Did I send the word out to everyone I knew? You bet. Did they accept their friendship if only to toss them aside once they got what they wanted? Again, you bet. I'm not sure that all these Ticketmaster "friends" are actually friends so much as one night stands. Not the kind of friends I want hanging around.

JMR
http://www.everyonebutyou.com