figure 2.1–At tagging someone and posting question with link back to fan page

figure 2.2–lt will post to their wall

Post out offers or questions using a Twitter hashtag (for example: #dinnerwithstarr), that entices fellow Tweeters to find more information or register at your website, where the offer information is. You can also post this as a question, for example, would you like to have #dinnerwithstarr? You would follow that with your website link. A hashtag is used as an identity. It’s a short set of words or a word to describe a group, event, offer, or cause. People on Twitter can then follow that hashtag to stay informed on the conversation about it.

Power boost your information social wave

All information online or off comes in waves. I call these social waves. Some are small and barely circulate; others are mega big and can pound you almost uncontrollably. There is a method, a science, an approach to having a better chance to make these waves become larger. You can add power to your social wave by taking your content posts and creating a webpage called a “lens” on Squidoo, which includes any and all resources related to your top tips, favorite things, or topics of interest. Squidoo houses millions of pages of content, advice, and recommendations from people around the globe. These pages, or lenses, are getting high placement in search engines as well. We will learn about search engine optimization shortly, but for now just know that high placement on a search engine is a good thing. When you make your lenses, make sure you add as many keywords (tags) as you can that are related to your topic to bring in more traffic. Treat it like a blog and update it daily. This helps drive traffic to your site as well as your Squidoo lenses. You can also earn royalties from the traffic and clicks to your Squidoo lenses using Google Adwords, as well as add affiliate links related to your topic from Ebay, Amazon, CafePress, and Netflix.

Start a group or fan page

Utilizing a fan page or group on Facebook, or a group on LinkedIn, is an excellent way to position yourself or business as an expert in your field and to gather, connect, and engage on a topic of interest, whether it be in a private-member-only group or a public fan page. If you do not yet have one of these set up for your business, it is time. Yep, it is time to learn all about them, choose the best option(s) for your brand, and make it happen. Let’s quickly review them.

For updates on Facebook fan pages and groups, Twitter lists, and LinkedIn groups, visit the website update center for this book at www.socialwavebook.com.

Facebook fan page

Fan pages allow unlimited numbers of fans to join, whereas with personal profiles there is currently a 5,000 person cap. You can now switch to your fan page at anytime, so you can just post as your brand, instead of from your personal profile. You can also add administrators to help post and manage your fan page activity. Facebook offers analytics for your fan page called “Insights” that enable you to check the activity and demographics of those that join in as a fan or like your page (see Figure 2.3). Access to a page can only be restricted by certain ages and locations. If you want to remove a fan and block them individually, you will have to click on their name under the people that like you link, then click on Ban Permanently (see Figure 2.4). To create a fan page, go to facebook.com/pages/create.php.

figure 2.3–People who like, click on the “x”

figure 2.4–Ban permanently

Facebook group

With groups you can set join permissions so they are either open to anyone, closed (where users must get administrator approval to join), or secret (invite only). Public groups can be found via Facebook search; however secret groups cannot. Groups can have administrators that manage the group, approve applicants, or invite others to join. There are now live chat features as well. To create a group you go to facebook.com/groups/create.php.

Facebook pages vs. groups: how to choose

Pages can be created to represent only real organizations, businesses, celebrities, or bands, and may be created only by an official representative of that entity. Groups can be created by anyone on about any topic as a space for people to share their opinions and interest in that subject. Groups can be kept closed or secret, whereas pages are intended to help an entity communicate publicly. Groups are generally meant for smaller numbers of people, those you know personally, and have limiting functions in place when the group members exceed a certain number. Pages are intended to be a place for organizations, businesses, celebrities, or bands to connect with users who like them. Pages can host applications, so a page can essentially be more personalized and show more content. Groups can’t do this. Another key difference is that pages are indexed by external search engines such as Google and Bing, just like a public profile, while groups are not. Groups offer far more control over who gets to participate. Ads can be purchased to promote either groups or pages, but pages can benefit from social ads that publicize the fan connection between a page and a specific user.

In closing, fan pages and groups are great platforms for your loyal followers and customers to come together for your product or service, all supporting the growth of your online community. Creating a fan page or public group also gives you more footing in search-engine ranking. By publishing backlinks to your business’s pages as well as having a Facebook fan page or public group with your name in the title, your business can get some bonus points when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). Did I mention it’s completely free and you can be up and running in just a few minutes?

LinkedIn groups

LinkedIn provides a wide range of tools that allow you to stay connected with your members in ways that feel personal. The “templates” feature allows you to provide automatic responses to new members and even to those requesting to join your group. It’s an easy way to make new members in your community feel welcome. One of the biggest complaints about LinkedIn groups is the number of people who join simply to promote themselves or their business and then hijack the group discussion boards. They usually aren’t interested in engaging with others and can have a negative impact on your community. One way to manage this type of posters is by designating a place, like a subgroup, for group members to promote their service offerings.

Subgroups are automatically available to all of your group members and are easy to set up. Highlighting this promotional opportunity satisfies those who want to self-promote and keeps your discussion boards open for business. You can also feature members in other ways, such as in your occasional emails to the group membership or in a featured discussion that you update regularly.

figure 2.5–LinkedIn’s poll application

You can always add newsfeeds and post articles of interest on your topic for other members to read. You can also use LinkedIn’s polls application to get feedback from your members on group features and functionality. Create a free poll and then highlight it in your group, either by linking to it on the discussion boards or by submitting the poll’s URL to your News section (Figure 2.5). The member size of LinkedIn means that your group is more than likely to get some members without much effort on your part. However, I encourage you to use the promotion tools.

Fan page and group rules in general

Encourage member participation by praising and highlighting valuable contributions to your fan page or group. This motivates others to share their content and engage. If you encounter negative or counterproductive behavior from a member or fan, it’s important to be professional and civil. We will look at exactly how to respond or handle this type of situation in Chapter 6, “How to Deal with the Sharks Online.” For now, know that should it become necessary to issue a warning, handle the matter privately. Apart from unusual behavior or spam, it’s also a good idea to give a member a warning or two before banning her from the group.

Interactive campaigns and contests

An interactive campaign is basically the same thing as a contest or sweepstake. As long as the consumer actively has to click, answer, post, Tweet, sign up, or sing in exchange for conversation or in this instance a prize, it is considered interactive. At a time when consumers increasingly resent being marketed to, interactive promotions like sweepstakes, contests, and give-aways are a form of marketing that consumers actually like. According to Jupiter Research, an internet-based market research company, 50 percent of internet users enter sweepstakes at least once a month and 23 million Americans report that they enter contests or sweepstakes at least once a week. Interactive promotions are quickly becoming a great way to fulfill a number of marketing goals such as building a company’s social network page fan base. Companies that run contests on their social network pages have twice as many fans or e-newsletter subscribers as those that don’t, according to Wildfireapp.com.

There are dozens of interactive and sweepstakes campaign applications online. A couple that stand out for ease of use, results, and low to no cost, are wildfireapp.com and zoomzio.com. Make sure that the site you choose is in line with incorporating contest rules and disclosures for entries.

Businesses are recognizing the power of interactive promotions to engage social network users. Yet the majority of such promotions are advertised on the social networks but are not integrated with them. Companies need to take advantage of the social networks’ viral features like friend invites, activity streams, and notifications to get the best results from interactive promotions. Such viral features have the potential to spread the word about a promotion to tens or even hundreds or more users for every one person that enters. A few different options for running an interactive campaign, whether on Facebook or another social site are:

1. Sweepstakes. You can launch a sweepstakes-focused campaign to give away prizes by drawings of chance. It starts with an entry form that you can design with custom pictures and graphics. Next you need to determine eligibility criteria, how long you want to run the campaign, and the prize. The main benefit on your end should be easily downloaded data gathered from participants. Sweepstakes promote responses among customers by enticing them to submit free entries for drawings. Large grand prizes tend to attract more entries, regardless of the odds of winning.

2. Coupons. They are a great way to engage your target market get it to consider purchasing your product or service. You can start by giving away coupons on your Facebook fan page. Coupons are a great way to make important connections with potential customers, introduce new products, and increase brand awareness and loyalty. There are several sites that allow you to publish coupons you design, input unique discount codes compatible with your website, create entry forms, send notifications to participants, and download entry data. Don’t try to recreate the wheel here by coming up with your own systems; these sites have already automated this for you.

3. Trivia tests and quizzes. Trivia tests and quizzes offer multiple-choice questions that can help you create a word-of-mouth wave and reach a large and growing number of active users online. You can make these fun by surveying people’s favorite foods, cars, hobbies, silly sayings, etc. As long as the survey is tied into your industry, have fun with it. For example, if you are a dessert food company, you can survey people or have a quiz asking people what their favorite desserts are. This is fun for your users while you gain popularity and build awareness of your company.

A few viral quizzes have been simple questions left unanswered: What did the chicken see when she crossed the road? or Which is better: milk, orange juice, or apple juice? Again, just relate the questions to something that would actually benefit your brand by having the answers. You can add fun to any trivia contest or quiz.