Engage121 | Digital Blog

TANSTAAFL and other Facebook EdgeRank tales

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Jon Victor| Leave a comment

The acronym for “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch . . .” rings true for a reason. Because there ain’t.

What about the idea that companies would have the opportunity to engage their consumers directly, and at no cost?

Consider: Facebook provides brands the opportunity to post to a fan page. That post is presented directly to fans in their News Feed. A direct marketer’s dream. Almost sounds like a free lunch.

But . . .

Facebook employs a well-discussed, and still mysterious, technology called EdgeRank. Find a good description by “Inside Facebook” here. The key part is:

EdgeRank is the algorithm that determines what items populate your News Feed. With all the friends people have and pages they like, most users would be overwhelmed to see all of the activity generated by these connections. Facebook, therefore, assigns a value to every possible story that could end up in the feed. This value is based on affinity, weight and time.

I added the emphasis on the only inputs into EdgeRank: Affinity; Weight; and Time.

Affinity is an attempt to quantify the importance of the content to each individual fan; weight recognizes that some types of content are more engaging (presumably rich links or photos are more attractive than text) and should be ranked higher; and time is . . . time.

So, it seems that Facebook will tend to deliver brand content . . .

To enthusiastic fans, even if the content appears a bit dull and some time has elapsed;
To all fans if the content is exciting and new;

but, once content is posted, every minute that goes by works against a brand’s effort to accommodate EdgeRank’s filter.

Even more troubling, we need to face up to the fact that not all fans are rabid brand ambassadors. And, not all content posted makes hearts race. So, time works against us even more.

Can we fight back? Yes. But, TANSTAAFL!

We believe Facebook’s Sponsored Stories are a great answer. And, while not free, these ads can be little dynamos! Think of Sponsored Stories as your best weapon against the time bomb ticking away inside EdgeRank.

- Jon Victor, CEO Engage121

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Posted in Community Manager Tips, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media Marketing

Tagged Facebook, Facebook EdgeRank

3 Steps to Increase Engagement on Facebook

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Jack Monson| 3 Comments

Facebook Fan Page + Facebook Post + Facebook Ad

This week’s International Franchise Association Annual Convention included several opportunities to learn about localizing social marketing from new IFA member Facebook and its representative Brian Wheelis, Manager of Agency Management Operations.

Brian shared valuable data including new research on where consumers are spending their time on Facebook. The good news is that they are spending more and more time on Facebook. The bad news is that they may not be spending their time on Facebook with your brand. We can fix that in 3 easy steps…

1. Create Engaging Content on Your Fan Page

Many brands’ Fan Pages consist of a slick picture and a blatant advertisement. Why would anyone return to this page after his or her first visit? Very few brands will garner millions of fans due only to loyalty and without having anything interesting on their page. These include Apple, Starbucks, and … I think that’s all.

Your page must include something of value to a consumer: coupons, freebies, rewards, virtual gifts, or downloadable digital content.

Value can also be in the form of assets or tools like informational (or fun!) videos, financial calculators, “ask an expert” type features, polls, quizzes, contests, and games. Remember, it must be valuable for the consumer and potential customer, not just for your brand.

All of the above must be refreshed frequently with new reasons for the consumer to come back. Each time something new is created on your page, you must do step 2: create a post.

2. Publish a Post About Your Page’s Content

You can build the most engaging, fun, or valuable Fan Page on Facebook, but if no one knows about it, they won’t come. Facebook currently has over 800 Million users, but I’m guessing most of them are not looking at your Fan Page right now! Well-executed posts will drive some of them there.

Users spend 27% of their time on Facebook looking at their News Feed. And, with the proliferation of smart phones, most mobile users are looking at the News Feed exclusively. So on a regular basis, post a status update inviting everyone to come play your game, take your quiz, or get the new coupon. This is the quickest, easiest thing to do in all of social media! Write a little text, add a link to the tab on your Fan Page where the feature lives, and submit.

Your update will be seen by your fans on their News Feed and Ticker. Next, we move beyond your fans with step 3: create an ad.

3. Create a Facebook Sponsored Story About With The Post

The Facebook Ad, or more specifically, the Sponsored Story, is the spark that will ignite the inferno on your page. Facebook’s Brian Wheelis says that these ads will be seen by 3 to 5 times more Facebook users than the post alone.

Why? Facebook Sponsored Stories appear not only to your fans, but also to their friends.

That’s the key! Too many brands focus only on the number of fans they have accumulated. That number is important, but the goldmine is in those Fans’ Friends.

Our team has recently launched Engage121 Version 2.1, which now includes the ability to instantly create a Facebook Ad out of your status update. More importantly, you can also instantly create multiple localized ads for each of your franchisees’ or outlets’ local pages.

A marketing misstep is spending too many resources on converting customers to fans. If that sounds backwards, it’s because it is! Yet we see it everyday: print displays or customer service messages asking current customers to become a Fan. I supposed that has had value, as you do want your customers to be a part of the community. But don’t stop there; the people seeing those “please Like us” messages are already in your store, visiting your website, or receiving your invoice! Don’t market Social Media to them; market your business to new people using Social Media. Using the above 3 steps will refocus your attention to converting Fans (and their Friends!) to customers!

Fan Pages: Seen by your Fans
Posts: Seen by your Fans in their newsfeed
Sponsored Stories: Seen by your Fans and their Friends

- Jack Monson, Vice President at Engage121

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Posted in Community Manager Tips, Facebook, Marketing, Marketing Tools, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Platforms

Tagged engagements, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Facebook Advertising, Facebook Business Pages, Facebook Fan Pages, Sponsored Posts, Sponsored Stories

Client Letter Emailed February 9, 2012: Engage121 v2.1

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Jon Victor| 1 Comment

I am delighted to announce the launch of Engage121 version 2.1, including:

Facebook Ads,
Integration of our new partners SocialFlow and Traackr, and
A new dashboard and enhanced permissions to help your workflow.

That means, as of today, Engage121 will:

Integrate paid placement. As social media continues to expand – exponentially! – your message risks getting lost in the noise. We believe that – for some messaging, some of the time – the solution is to pay for your message to persist. So, today we integrate Facebook Ads to allow you to turn each post published through Engage121 “Speak” into an on-target ad that gives your message hang time! Once you enable your account for Facebook Ads (your Account Manager will help), you will be prompted to target and promote your Facebook posts (these “ads” are displayed on right side of Facebook). Engage121 handles the entire process and we will simply invoice you for the cost of your Facebook promotions – but, of course, you control the budget. And, we’ll be adding new options – in Facebook and through other platforms – soon.

Open to new ideas and opportunities. We are as amazed as you are by the continuing innovation, creativity and technical sophistication that forward-thinking people have focused on social media. We work long and hard for you, but we cannot possibly keep pace with of all the great ideas out there. So, today we begin a process of integrating into Engage121 other companies’ products and features that we think you will find helpful. Of course, there will be an additional charge for many of these applications, but they will all be optional – you choose which, if any, you want to use. The benefit to you, of course, is that you will increasingly find the most useful and technologically advanced features all together inside your Engage121 account. We start today with:

SocialFlow. WHEN is the best time to post? SocialFlow “times” the distribution of your posts by comparing your content to the prevailing conversation. Your post is optimized to obtain the most reactions, such as retweets, comments and shares. When enabled, SocialFlow is fully integrated with Engage121 “Speak.” Currently, SocialFlow is limited to Twitter; Facebook is coming soon. Again, please ask your Account Manager about the SocialFlow new user promotion available now.
Traackr. WHO should you engage? One answer, of course, is that you should engage your “influencers.” But that begs the question – which influencers impact each part of your business? Traackr provides you targeted lists of influencers and then Engage121 integrates each list directly into a dedicated “Listen” page. Again, please ask your Account Manager about the Traackr new user promotion available now.

Focus on your workflow. Was it just a couple of years ago that all we had to worry about was following more than one Twitter account? Interest in social media has now spread throughout our organizations, from top to bottom and everyone in between. We need to ensure that Engage121 meets your needs – even as your needs get more complex:

Dashboard Upgrade. Our new dashboard offers easy access to charts and analytics, as well as convenient navigation to frequently-used features.
Agency and Multi-brand Dashboard. We have added new connection options to keep you in touch with your team, and more.
Permission Management. Need even more multi-tiered permission options to control access and content management? Now you have them.

Also, you might be interested in my recent post on the IBM report that is keeping CMOs awake at night. You guessed it; social media!

Your Account Manager will be calling soon to answer any questions.

And, please don’t hesitate to share any of your thoughts and suggestions directly with me,

Jon Victor, CEO

P.S. COMING SOON! A new and enhanced Engage121 “Evaluate” that improves your analytics and reporting. I’ve seen the changes and my reaction is “Wow!” I expect yours will be, too.

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Posted in Announcements, Engage121, Engage121 Product Features, Facebook, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing, Software updates, Twitter

Tagged Facebook Ads, SocialFlow, Traackr

The question still remains for Top Executives: What should we do about Social Media?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Jon Victor| 1 Comment

When we first developed our social media management application in 2009, our product development team benefitted from the insights of well over one hundred companies that were clients of our grassroots communication service. These clients included national real estate companies, automobile companies and a broad cross-section of the franchise industry. All wereasking us the same question: “What should we do about social media?” We heard that question so often that we decided to invest a substantial sum and many hours of hard work on the development of Engage121.

A few years have now passed. Engage121 has launched – and so have hundreds of other companies and products also focused on helping companies manage their social media presence.

Every once in a while, we get an objective glimpse of whether we – as a company and an industry – are meeting the needs of our clients.

In both cases, our work is far from done.

At the suggestion of a client, I recently read IBM’s October 2011 survey of Chief Marketing Officers, “From Stretched to Strengthened.” I recommend the survey to all marketers – but, I especially recommend the survey to social media professionals who consider the survey a report card on whether we are meeting the needs and expectations of CMOs, arguably our most important constituency.

A quick summary: “CMOs see four challenges as pervasive, universal game-changers: the data explosion, social media, proliferation of channels and devices and shifting consumer demographics.” Note “pervasive” and “game changers” – those are noteworthy choices of words. And, how do CMOs feel about all this?Among many of the statistics reported, 68% of CMOs feel unprepared to manage social media, and 65% express concern about managing the growth of channels and devices.

In my mind, CMOs are expressing one big concern, and that’s “what should we do about social media?” CMOs are expressing the same concern today that I heard several years ago – notwithstanding the proliferation of new products, more data, sophisticated analytics and the explosion of digital media professionals offering help.

Our business objective – as Engage121 and as the “social media management services” industry – is to provide the data, analytics and functionality that marketers require to survive and thrive.

We have more work to do.

– Jon Victor, CEO Engage121

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Posted in Engage121, Social Media Marketing

Tagged Marketing Executives, Social Media Management

Engage121 – 2011 Mashable ‘Digital Company of the Year’ Finalist

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Jon Victor| Leave a comment

Wow. We are thrilled. Engage121 made it to the short list as a finalist for Digital Company of the Year for the 2011 Mashable Awards . This is our second year of being part of the Mashable Awards. Last year we were nominated as a finalist for 5 Superior Social Media Management Tools.

Mashable describes Digital Company of the Year as:

This category honors the reader’s choice for the top traditional (non-digital) company that has excelled in the digital space in 2011.

Thanks to all who voted for us. Voting for the finalists will continue until December 15^th so please continue to show your support by voting daily here

We appreciate it.

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Posted in Announcements, Engage121, What's new - Marketing

Facebook Comments Versus Likes

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Guest| Leave a comment

Which is more powerful a Facebook Comment or Like?

Likes may be the most popular but comments hold much more weight reports a post, Facebook Comments Are Four Times the Value of Likes All Facebook credits EdgeRank Checker for the following data:

An average Facebook post generates 1.103 clicks per like, 14.678 clicks per comment and .005 clicks per impression.

I suppose a comment requires more thought, time and is an interaction that reveals the commenter’s views which are then broadcast to friends – so this should not be surprising.

The key for businesses is to offer relevant content that engages and asks the opinions of its fans.

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Posted in Facebook

Consumers Check Review Sites Before Facebook

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Jack Serpa| Leave a comment

Our friends at eMarketer posted a news article* that highlights the increasing importance of Review Sites in driving local store traffic.

We weren’t surprised that 70% of consumers search online sources before visiting a local business or restaurant. Even my Mom does Google searches before heading out.

So after the common Google glance and other search results, can you guess what is the next most popular online resource for tips on where to spend your cash? My first guess was Facebook. Wrong!

Online Yellow pages are the next resource, followed by Review Sites….then Facebook. (See chart of research results).

At Engage121, we have integrated the top 41 (and counting) Rating and Reviewsites into our social media management application, along with 20 social platforms and publishing tools.

So if you need to “listen” to what’s being said about your local business or global brand, we’ve got you covered. As important, Engage121 enables our clients to “engage” most of the conversations discovered through our application.

Article Excerpt: “Some 70% of consumers checked an online source before visiting a local business or restaurant, according to a survey from local content and advertising network CityGrid Media conducted by Harris Interactive in March 2011. Google was the top source, 13 percentage points ahead of online yellow pages. Consumers also checked review sites (13%) and Facebook (12%). “

For more information on rating and review sites and Engage121, please contact Jack Serpa, executive vice president of Engage121, at 203-849-7246, jserpa@engage121.com, or @jackserpa.

* Source: eMarketer: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008679

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Posted in Community Manager Tips, Consumer Reviews, Engage121, Facebook, Franchising, Marketing Tools, Social Customer Service, Social Media Events, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Monitoring, Social Media Platforms, Social Media Revolution, Uncategorized, What's new - Marketing

Tagged Franchise, IFA, Retail Ssales, Stores

Audit Risk: Review Sites and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Jack Serpa| 2 Comments

Financial institutions have a new reason to pay serious attention to online rating and review sites, according to a small article with big impact in the Monday, November 7^th edition of Wall Street Journal.*

According to WSJ: “The [audit] manual also encourages its auditors to consider complains lodged not only with the [Consumer Financial Protection] Bureau, but with such political actors as state attorney Generals and “on-line consumer complaint boards such as http://www.ripoffreport.com and http://www.complaints.com.” [Emphasis added.]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created with regulatory authority that far exceeds current financial industry regulations. Banks have long endured regulatory audits for possible “unfair” or “deceptive” practices when conducting business with consumers. However, the CFPB has the newly expanded authority, granted by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Law, to look for “abusive” acts.

The first concern for banks is that the definition of “abusive” remains unclear. The second and larger concern for banks is the CFPB can source online rating and review sites for evidence of possible abusive acts. The article mentions two review sites as examples: RipOffReport.com and Complaints.com. Engage121 monitors these two among the top forty consumer rating and review sites.

Evidence of this expanded authority was first published (buried) in mid-October in an 802 page tome called “Supervision and Examination Manual – Version 1.0”.

Last Wednesday, the brawn of CFPB’s expanded authority came to light when the new head of the Bureau, Mr. Raj Date, addressed Congress. Mr. Date described how the CFPB is empowered to “focus on the consumer” when regulating the nation’s financial institutions.

Engage121 is a social media management application that monitors all the consumer review sites that impact financial institutions, plus twenty social platforms and blog publishing tools, all in one integrated interface. The Engage121 application allows our financial clients—ranging from large insurance and financial planning companies to regional and community banks—to engage consumers while maintaining compliance with regulatory institutions including FINRA and the SEC.

For more information or guidance on monitoring social media platforms and review sites for financial institutions, please contact Jack Serpa, executive vice president of Engage121, at 203-849-7246, jserpa@engage121.com, or @jackserpa.

* The WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203716204577013804002477724.html?

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Posted in Social Customer Service, Social Media and FINRA, Social Media Compliance, Social Media Investing

Engage121 – 2011 Mashable ‘Digital Company of the Year’ Finalist

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