“To understand the mindset of the connected consumer, one must realize that everything begins with search and intent.”
Brian Solis
Many of us have heard the news about Facebook Graph Search, a new search and discovery tool. While it is still in beta testing with a select group of people, I found a few things that might be helpful in understanding what it may mean for all of us.
I love this video from Facebook explaining why they created Graph Search. This is a good place to begin understanding this new tool.
Lets first understand that there are two ways to look at this new feature. Personal and Business. I am going to focus on the business side for this post. The best way I can wrap my mind around Graph Search is to think of it as a super social, highly targeted and personalized Google.
Are You A Discoverable Business?
One of the most important things to understand about the social and digital Web for business is becoming more discoverable. As my hero and mentor Brian Solis says so well in the opening quote, everything begins with search and intent. People are looking for your business. Your job is to be sure they can find it. This is done by being highly engaged on social platforms such as Facebook, referral platforms such as YELP, and of course, having a good website that clearly communicates your why, what and how to engage with your business.
To learn more about becoming a more discoverable business on the Web, check out our Webinar.
What You Can Do Right Now on Facebook
Consistency engage on your business page
Post relevant content at least one time per day
Be sure your About section and contact information is strong and clear
Claim Your Page Name (URL) (Here is a post I did on that in case you do not know how)
Be sure your business is categorized correctly (Click here to learn more about Business Page Categories)
Here is another video from Slacktory on Facebook Graph Search, with a hilarious spin. It’s awesome.
PS: To learn more about Facebook Graph Search, click here.
We were working with a client the other day and were talking about planning and had a big AHA! We realized that many people with Facebook Business Pages do not know about the super handy feature called Scheduled Posts.
We firmly, 1000% believe that the social web is about real time engagement, two-way communication and building relationships, which means being very active on your pages. However, we see this as a great tool for when you want to take a vacation, have an exact plan of your posts for the week, or know that you will be out all night on New Years Eve and want to sleep in.
What it is NOT is a way to remove yourself from making authentic daily connections with your community such as posting shout outs to clients and team members, posting awesome pics from the day in the salon, commenting on posts from others on your page, responding to inbox messages, etc.
Here is how it woks. It’s super easy.
Step One
Create your post just like you always do.
Step Two
Click on the little clock on the left hand side of the Status Box.
Step Three
Select the Year, Month, Day and Time you want the Post to go LIVE.
Step Four
Click on Schedule. When you do, this little box will pop up to show you your Post is scheduled and where to find it if you want to edit or delete it.
Step Five
If you want to Edit or Delete the Post, you can go to Edit Page in the Admin Panel and click on Use Activity Log. You will see all of your scheduled posts and can edit them by clicking on the little arrow drop down thing on the right.
Congratulations! You have successfully scheduled your post. You are awesome. It’s time to celebrate!
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”
Walt Disney Company
We all know the saying a picture is worth a thousand words, and on your social pages, a picture can be worth a thousand likes, comments and shares. This is a pretty simple one. Images evoke the highest engagement on social platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest and of course Instagram. But what is important to take away from this super cool infographic is the types of images and the context in which we post them that makes all the difference.
Self-promotion and hard selling is NOT what the social web is about. What it is about is creating value, engaging, listening, sharing, two-way communication and building relationships. So instead of posting an image of a product you have for sale, think about posting a super cool hair image created with the product or client or team member using the product. See the difference?
Understanding these simple “rules of engagement” can transform your content on your social pages and dramatically increase engagement with your community. Awesome.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“More contact means more sharing of information, gossiping, exchanging, engaging – in short more word of mouth.”
Gary Vaynerchuk
Facebook for business is more than collecting likes and fans, it’s the “talking about this” number that is the true measure of how many people are truly interacting with your page. This number is made up of fans liking posts, commenting, sharing, RSVP’ing for events, etc. Those actions show how engaged your community is, and the social web is all about engagement.
How To Keep Fans More Engaged
Step One
Ask your Fans to go to your Page. Hover over the “Liked” button. A box will pop up. Then simply click “Show in News Feed” and “Get Notifications”.
One Step. Ta-Da!
We all know how crowded News Feeds can be and how it totally depends on several factors whether your posts will show up, so its really the “Get Notifications” that can make a HUGE difference in ensuring Fans are aware of your posts and engaging with your Page.
If your fans select “Get Notifications”, this is what it will look like when you post something to your Page.
Feel free to make your own How-To image for your Fans. (We are using a MAC for this example, if you have a PC, we suggested Google’ing it for instructions.)
How To Make An Image with Arrows
Simply go to your Page, and take a “screen grab” (command + shift+4) hovering over the “Liked” button. Then go to Preview, choose Tools, select Annotate, then Add Arrow, then click on the Arrow, and “draw” it on the image.
Step One
Step Two Step Three Step Four Now that you have made your own, you can post it to your Page, nicely ask your Fans to take these actions & show them how to do it with the super cool image you made. Awesome!
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“We’ve GOT to make noises in greater amounts! So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!”
Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears A Who!
One week from today, we will be electing a President. We are not nor would we ever tell you who to vote for, we just want you to vote. Because every vote, and every voice, COUNTS!
While many of us are exhausted by all the rants and ugliness being shared on our Facebook news feeds, there is a good news side to all of the craziness. This infographic on How Social Media Inspires Voters is an awesome example of the engagement and empowerment the social + digital web has brought to us all. Wow!
(Infographic discovered on Mashable, courtesy of Online College Courses.)
Has the social web inspired you to get out and vote? We sure hope so.
(shared with LOVE from your voting passionistas, Nina + Gordon)
PS: Please vote. Please make sure your voice is heard. It counts.
