Lessons from the Classroom: Facebook Business Pages, Blogging and Twitter

It began simply enough. The goal was to be able to show my Internet-based Marketing students how the new FB Business Profile Pages, Blogging and Twitter all serve different purposes to further the brand. Oh, and while doing that work in how to develop the content for each in order to achieve that mission. And...um...how to know when to use which and when not to...and do it in less than an hour.

So, here it is:

• Facebook Business Profile = Engagement
• Blogging = Expertise
• Twitter = Value

I know. That's not quite enough info is it?

Facebook Business Profile
The facebook redesign which seemed to be the bane of my students' existence has become a golden opportunity for businesses. In today's social media landscape, a brand that wants to fully engage with their customers now has a way in which to do that -- through Facebook. How? By doing the same things I can do as a person -- connect with my friends, comment on their walls, send messages, posting photos, joining groups...and my friends can comment on my posts and engage in discussions. Many others can see and take part in these discussions hence my emphasis on engagement.

Take a look at how Magic Hat is ENGAGING with their customers on their Facebook Profile Page



When you first go to the Magic Hat FB page, you come to this tab (Did I mention above that businesses can control the "landing page"?) Lot's of great pics and videos that show an exciting and interesting brand (which is what Magic Hat is all about).





So they caught my attention above. And now on the Wall I, as a consumer can comment on their status posts along with other fans and Magic Hat can respond to me directly. (Which they've done)





Is Magic Hat fully there yet? No. But as a local Vermont-based Company they are really taking advantage of a great opportunity to provide a space where they can engage with their customers and their customers can engage with the brand.

Should Magic Hat have a FB page at all? YES. Their target market is there. Their brand image fits with the FB landscape.

How should they measure their ROI? Number of fans is one simple way, but the true test is engagement. How many people are engaging on the page? How many in discussions? On events? Just like ANY site, Magic Hat should set clear objectives that are measurable so they can determine the ROI for their use of FB.

Blogging to build Expertise

My point of view on blogging is that it is not about selling. A blog is about showing your customers and potential customers who you are and what you are about. It boils down to creating a sense of expertise. Why would I, as a customer, trust YOU? Some great examples (also from Vermont, of course) include Seventh Generation's Blog: The Inspired Protagonist. I LOVE this blog. It really highlights why I have built a trust for Seventh Generation.

Here's another by local Web Development and Marketing Firm Union Street Media. If you don't have them bookmarked and aren't grabbing this firms FREE expertise (in the form of a well written, team blog with timely, important information) you are missing a great opportunity. So, why would they give this information away for FREE? Simple. Their blog shows their expertise. As a reader you learn to trust them and when it comes time to do something with your website, or enhance your Internet marketing strategy or focus in on blogging, who are you going to remember? Yep. They got you because they have shown, more than titles and puffy language, that they know their stuff.

Building Value with Twitter
Perhaps the biggest challenge right now is to address how something like Twitter can help in a brands marketing strategy. There are many words of advice out there so I'll add to the chaos (grin) with my thoughts.


There is NO VALUE in engaging in what I call "Follow Fever". You know what that is. It's a sickness that has struck many a Tweeter -- how many people can I get to follow me and how fast can I do it? Like a race. Mass follow tools are sprouting up like so many weeds. At the end of the day if 5,000 people are following you and you mass follow them back, how has that helped to increase your brand image? How does that help you reach your target market? At the end of the day you have a bunch of useless Twits (yeah, not a typo) following you for no good reason other than they might have follow fever too.


So, STOP with the follow fever. Start by assessing your brand image and how you will use Twitter to ADD VALUE for your customers, because at the end of the day, that is what it is all about.

Why would I follow anyone? I follow the people I do for specific reasons:

1. They provide valuable information for the work I do. People including (but not limited to) @rohitbhargava, @prsarahevans, @bethharte and @dannybrown and locals @gahlord, @cresmer and @rnadworny all help me do the work I do every day.
2. They expand my business and local network. Do they share my professional interests? are they in my local geographic region?
3. Are they my students or students at Champlain College?

Who don't I follow?

1. Anyone who is a "self-proclaimed" expert/wizard/maven/guru...etc.
2. Anyone who doesn't tell me who they are.

For a business, the value of Twitter is that you can reach out to customers who are passionate (either really really happy...or really really unhappy) in a way that brings value to the relationship. ComcastCares is a great example. Customer Service via Twitter. Provides VALUE for the customer. JetBlue is another example that provides the customer service access via Twitter. Locally we have some great examples of value creation through our Print News Media from Seven Days and the Burlington Free Press who are both utilizing Twitter in interesting ways. This was clearly evident today in Vermont during the veto override of the same sex marriage bill. Historic day in VT and Twitter is how I followed the process thanks to @shaytotten.

Another great local example of a company that is adding customer value through Twitter? Magic Hat! Their recent "Twitter Taste Live" event where they had several of their brewers available along with a Beer critic Tweeting Live responses to customers questions as they all sampled beers from the Spring Fever Pack. Um WOW! Great way to provide extra special value. Not only do I get my beer, but I get to Tweet about it with other people and learn great information.

How do you measure the ROI on something like that? How many people participated? Was there a spike in sales prior to the event? How many people blogged about it? What kind of "buzz" (yeah, I had too) did it create?

So there you have it. Why I think FB is for customer engagement, Blogging is for building expertise and Twitter is for creating customer value.

One final point that I made to my students was that if your brand is using any combination of these then they should all be linked to each other.