Q&A: Using Facebook to promote an integrated campaign

Question: What are the basics of using Facebook effectively to promote an integrated campaign?

Smart Insights Answer: Ultimately you"€™re looking to foster an ongoing relationship with someone, somewhere if you"€™re using social media. Facebook Fan Pages can be both "€˜home base"€™ for a brand (the place that will help you foster the ongoing connection with your audience online), and/or it can be one social media "€˜outpost"€™ (a channel where you are ultimately driving traffic from and through). I am assuming more an outpost since that"€™s most common.

What are your objectives?

Set your objectives clearly - WHY are you wanting to leverage Facebook as a communications channel, it"€™s important to be clear about why and how you"€™ll measure success before you start, what part of the campaign will Facebook play for you - traffic, awareness, lead generation...?

Who are you targeting?

Facebook is huge with over 500m global users logging in at least every 30 days - are you focusing on UK, single female professionals - for example? It"€™s important to define for your creation of your social media "€œproduct"€ and for promoting within Facebook and for designing your fan page. Creation of an effective fan page is central to success and must reflect the overall campaign.

What will be the purpose for your users?

What is your Facebook "€œproduct"€, what is the concept and point of the campaign in Facebook that defines the experience for your users - what did Burger Kings"€™ Subservient Chicken have to do with the brand? Everything if you wanted a fun, interactive brand online. And, yes - you will need to be creative or in the very least useful, so this is maybe the best bit to out-source - and remember it needs to tie back to your overall campaign.

Fuel interactions with your users

• Content fuels social media success, it is what creates discussion and interaction - so procure it, re-purpose, re-write it, edit it, film it - because you will need it - of course content is part of the "€œproduct"€
• Update and manage your content - frequency will be down to you - you"€™ll need to update and manage user generated content (feedback), as well as your own, including comments and maybe users own images or video - who"€™s going to manage it? Avoid it becoming a political minefield, define roles and responsibilities
• Anything with a feed can be pulled into Facebook with the RSS Graffiti app - so what would your users value that you, or others, have on other web sites?

Promote your campaign within Facebook

• Use Plugins:
  • Integrate Facebook plugins into your web site (or campaign microsite, if you are using one) so that users can interact outside of Facebook. For example the "€œlike"€ or "€œrecommend"€ plugins can be easily integrated into other web services and create a low level of interaction. Levi did this early on with their product pages
  • Even better, you can also add comment box plugins - these will post users comments both onto the web page they"€™re viewing the comment box on, and onto the users Facebook wall along with a link back to the referring web page
  • A few of the older widgets still exist too, for example the original "€œshare"€ page widget
• Create contests that can run within Facebook - maybe your campaign would push all contest entrants to Facebook - consider Wildfireapps.com as a service to help you do this. Contests are very successful in Facebook and there are lots of case studies out there to get ideas so it"€™s worth browsing sites like marketingprofs.com for these
• Advertise - "€œFacebook is the top publisher of display ads in the UK"€ with a 21% market share. You can get some serious insight via "€œEstimated Reach"€ in advance about your audience within Facebook completely free and many argue it"€™s the most targeted traffic that money can buy. You can also monitor performance tightly and rotate or adjust targeting as you need to. Note Facebook"€™s Engagement ads, this format can  create a lot more interaction as your getting more information "€œto do something"€ such as get product sampling or getting sent more information
• Depending on your campaign, you may or may not want to drive more visitors to your fan page depends how central it is to your campaign. Consider calls to action in this instance on other print media as well, for example: "€˜Join us on Facebook"€™, "€˜Get free xxxx on Facebook"€™ or simply "€˜Write on our wall"€™

Get engagement around your campaign

• Make sure that you"€™re involved in the Facebook Fan page, otherwise it will whither. Watch the best if you need ideas (Starbucks and H&M are two of them)
• Use video on your default landing page so that new (non fan) users can be engaged with maximum creativity! Check out the
• Respond to comments promptly - this is key!! Assign moderators properly - why? because fans will respond
• Try creating periods of "€˜live"€™ interaction for Q&A - check out clobby.com (free Fan Page app). Also Vpype.com which allows you to livestream - a one off broadcast or a weekly show maybe?

Refine Facebook"€™s relevance to your campaign

• Track the metrics - these are determined by your objectives. How are people interacting with your product, are they sharing it, is your fan base growing towards a target, are you leveraging leads or just growing awareness, what extra site visitors are coming to your commercial site
• Analyze and revise in order to see what is succeeding. If you"€™re campaign is showing that most traffic is coming from paid advertising in Facebook maybe you need to consider something more viral