August 26, 2010

The State of the GeoSocial Universe [Infographic]

The infographic above shows the number of users on each network, and what portion of those users overlap with the huge mobile “sun.” For instance, Facebook has 500 million active users, with roughly one-third of them accessing their accounts via mobile devices. Services like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt, being entirely dependent on mobile tech, have 100% of their users within the mobile sphere.

August 13, 2010

Nike - Write the Future Campaign

During this years FIFA World Cup, Nike ran a social media campaign called Write the Future. Inviting people to become fans on Facebook and tweeting messages related to Nike players, playing the world cup.

One great crossover was the projection of Tweets from around the world, displayed on huge buildings in South Africa. A great example of using social media and bringing it into the real world.

April 20, 2010

Showcase Of Top Football (Soccer) Facebook Fan Pages

Below is a showcase of some of the top football Facebook fan pages from around the world. These pages demonstrate top practices for fan page development, from creative profile images, to landing on a specific promotional page rather than the wall. Think I've missed any? Let me know.

Barcelona - 1,740,242 Fans

Real Madrid - 1,394,082 Fans

Nike Football - 441,608 Fans

AC Milan - 556,217 Fans

Chelsea - 675,511 Fans

Liverpool - 1,296,491 Fans

Galatasaray - 2,782,163 Fans

Adidas - 186,007 Fans

Olympique Lyonnais - 118,838 Fans

Melbourne Victory - 16,259 Fans

April 18, 2010

How to get more out of your Facebook fan page

The best way to devalue your brand on Facebook, is to have a lack luster fan page. It isn't sufficient to simply chuck up your company logo in the profile picture, get a few fans and then sit back, relax and wait for the millions of people on Facebook to become a fan of your brand. So to help you avoid being in that category, or to improve a fan page you already have running, here are 10 tips to help maximise your presence on Facebook.

1. Create a Vanity URL

A vanity URL is simple your brand name after the facebook URL. For example, Nike Football fan page's URL is http://www.facebook.com/nikefootball. To be eligable for a vanity URL, your page needs to have 25+ fans. Not only will this make your page much easier to find for users, but it also makes it a great marketing tool.

2. Create an awesome profile image

It's not good enough to simply have your logo as the profile image. Make use of this real estate! Use it to market different promotions or to promote a new product or event. A great example is Nike Football's (you may have figured out that I'm a bit of a fan!) profile image. They could have just put the Nike tick logo on there and been bland and boring, instead they decided to use it as a promotion for their new Mercurial boots with a great looking ad, turning their page from good to great. The optimum size for profile image is 200px wide x 600px height (this is the maximum height), if it's any bigger, Facebook will automatically resize the image proportionally. Go on, update your profile image now, it's a simple way to really improve your page.

3. Join the conversation

Conversations are at the heart of social media platforms, so to use your fan page as just a news board, without interacting with your users, is pretty much missing the point. If you're the person responsible for the Facebook page, make the time to regularly monitor it and respond to any questions. Why would people want to write on your wall if you're not going to respond? Yes - this is time consuming, but it's worth it. For example, check out Melbourne Heart FC, they posted some images of a training session (which is a great behind the scenes look into the club), however some people had some questions as to where the training was being held. Props to whoever is managing the page, as they were monitoring it, and responded accordingly.

4. Relax! Write like you would having a conversation

Users don't want to read the latest media release as the status update, they want to see short, relevant information that it written in a way that shows there is a person on the other end. A good indication if your doing this right is that people are commenting or liking your status.

5. Post Quality Content

If you want to keep your fans involved and coming back, then it's crucial to post quality content. What is quality content? Content that the user wants to see. Profound! Post images, videos, ask questions, create user polls, post behind the scenes information, give snippets of what's coming up that will get people excited.

6. Update regularly!

Updating your wall once a week isn't going to cut it. Aim to update your status at least once a day. The best way to do this is to create a content strategy. Figure out what your going to post and why, then create a simple weekly schedule that outlines what your going to publish and when. Not only will it stop you stressing out on what to post, but it will show your fans that your page isn't a one hit wonder, that your committed to it and want to interact with them.

7. Don't land on the wall

Why? The wall is one of the few things you can't control, who knows what kind of comments people are going to see when they first jump on your page. Control the controllable, and direct users to another tab. Make use of the different tabs you can create and utilise these. An example of this is Nike Football.

8. Use Static FBML for your sidebar

FBML stands for Facebook Markup Language, and this great tool can be used to create some interactivity into the page. That includes changing the landing page for your page, adding graphic and buttons into your sidebar, basically allowing you to really customise your page to get the most out of it.

9. Get Your Fans Involved!

Get your fans involved in your page - answer their questions, maybe follow up on an idea that they came up with, get users to post videos or photos that relate to their brand, better yet, tag users in photos.

10. Monitor your page

There's no point in setting up a Facebook page and then not monitoring it. Again, to get the most out of Facebook for you and your fans, listen, join the conversation and start conversations. It isn't rocket science, but it does take time. What are other tips you've done to get more out of Facebook? What have you done that has or hasn't worked?

April 16, 2010

Facebook Fan Pages and A-League teams

Facebook Fan Pages are nothing new in the social media landscape, being a vital part of any brands social media strategy to engage and grow their fan base. I decided to have a look at how the Australian A-League clubs were utilising such a tool and if it was working for them. For some clubs, it was evident that they had a clear grasp of how to use the platform to keep their supporters updated and feeling a part of the club, while others struggled. I was surprised that out of the 11 clubs, only 6 had official fan pages, indicating that clubs were slow to adopt and utilise social media platforms to market their brand.

Adelaide United FC

The Stats: 6777 Fans - 56 Fan Photos - 11 Albums - 19 Discussion Topics - 2 Videos - 1 Fan Video

Lots of recent status updates, no surprise with the club being involved in the Asian Champions League, however the updates are generating lots of user interaction, plenty of likes and comments, with a good mix of broadcast information, on the ground/behind the scenes info and questions to their fans. There is also a great number of fan comments on their wall. Adelaide seem to be doing a good job, however they can still improve their Facebook presence. One way is to address any kind of negative feedback left on the site. Below is a screen shot of a comment left on the wall of their Fan Page.

[caption id="attachment_49" align="aligncenter" width="464" caption="A disgruntled fan leaves a message on the Adelaide United Facebook page wall"]

[/caption] The fact of whether Adelaide United are in the right or wrong is somewhat irrelevant, what is more important is that the club has not responded to this. I'm not sure if the person in charge of the page checks their wall or not, but it would be in their interest to. Social media has really become a crucial component in delivery great customer service, and Adelaide would to well to respond to this comment and any more in the future.

Brisbane Roar

The Stats: 2373 Fans - 5 Albums - 50 Fan Photos - 5 Discussion Topics

The Roar seem to be using Facebook as simply a broadcast channel, feeding news stories straight off their website onto the social media platform. I don't believe this is the best way to use Facebook, it really misses the whole point of using Facebook as a tool to connect and engage their fans, create new fans and build a community where their supporters feel close to the club they support.

Central Coast Mariners

The Stats: 3049 Fans - 30 Fan Photos - 1 Video

Central Coast have a pretty dismal effort on the Facebook front, their last wall post being April 26, 2008, which is surprising given the number of fans they have. They have one post that tries to clarify the difference between a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group, saying there is no difference, which isn't totally true. Facebook Pages should be seen as brand pages, they were created for this reason. They also don't have cap on the number of fans, where groups do.

Gold Coast United

The Stats: 1080 Fans - 1 Video - 12 Photo Albums - 6 Fan Photos - 1 Discussion

The first thing that strikes you about the GCU page is the great use of the profile image, utilising a the left hand banner to give a great branded feel to the page. I must also give props to the GCU for also setting down some guide lines for interaction - We welcome your contribution and participation, but please keep it clean, respectful and constructive. Go United! GCU seem to be using it as a broadcast channel, with the majority of status updates being news items with links back to their website.

Melbourne Victory

The Stats: 16,168 Fans - 83 Albums - 108 Fan Photos - 45 Videos - 5 Fan Videos

Without doubt, Melbourne Victory win the title for best social media presence on Facebook - all other A-League clubs take note! With a commanding presence on Facebook, it's no wonder the Melbourne Victory has such a horde of followers. From the strong profile image to the information regarding how people should act online, to a substantial list of there presence online (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube), the Victory have a strong supporter base that are active on Facebook. The status updates are a great mix of photos, game information and behind the scenes photos, giving supporters a real sense of belonging to the club.

Melbourne Heart FC

The Stats: 5,079 Fans - 13 Albums - 23 Fan Photos - 6 Music Files

Coming into the league this year is Melbourne Heart, and already they have a strong Facebook Fan Page presence. For a club that hasn't even filled it's playing roster, it has done a great job in connecting with supporters with what is happening in the club, providing constants status updates, photos as well as audio interviews with players and coaching staff. I can only imagine that the number of fans will rise as we draw closer to the upcoming season and as more players are added to the club.

Clubs without offical Facebook Fan Pages

It was surprising to see that 5 A-League teams didn't have Official Fan Pages, instead, many fans have created their own to support the club:

Newcastle Jets

North Queenland Fury

Perth Glory FC

Sydney FC

Wellington Phoenix

It would be a good idea for these clubs to at the very least, monitor these pages, and if possible contribute to them. Alternatively, they could create an official page, which, combined with official updates and information would succeed.

Creating a strong following takes time

To achieve the kind of success that Melbourne Victory has with the Facebook Fan Page, it's clear that it takes take and effort, and that social media platforms like Facebook, can't be seen as just an add-on to the marketing strategy, but rather an integral part of it.

January 22, 2010

Conversationalists get onto the ladder

Forrester Research have just updated their Social Technographics Ladder, which is a way to analyze your social technology behavior, according to the way they use the internet.

As you can see in the above illustration, they have added the Conversationalist profile second from the top. They have position this user as one who: - Updates their status on social networking sites (ie. Facebook) - Post updates on Twitter

They make up 33% of the audience - which is alot!

Another point to note is that they are 56% females. So what does all this mean? Your brand and organisations need to seriously look at whether or not they need a presence on these social media platforms - Facebook and Twitter. These are where the people are and the conversations are taking place, so make sure your there to listen, learn and share. You can work out the consumer profile based on your target audience with the tool below:

January 22, 2010

Australian Museums on Twitter

Jim Richardson over at Museum Marketing has quite a comprehensive list of museums that are currently using Twitter as a platform to connect with users. The only problem for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere is that it is very US and UK dominate. So below I've made a list of museums or other cultural institutions in Australia that are currently using Twitter. If I missed you, leave a comment with the Twitter URL.

October 24, 2009

Social Media - the stats

Gary Hayes has put together developed a fantastic app that shows you the power of social media - in real time.