How to Carve into the Facebook Wave

“We were born to unite with our fellow men and to join in community with the human race.” - Cicero

These days, Smartphones, voicemail, Skype, email, instant messaging, texting, Wikis, chat rooms, Twitter, Facebook keep us connected 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Facebook is the current king of the social media hill. As of Nov. 3, 2009, more than 316 million people belonged to Facebook, and 94 million Americans—nearly 30 percent of the entire U.S. population—are plugged in.


This Feed looks at the first three steps in establishing a successful Facebook community:



•    Choosing the community type: Facebook groups vs. fan pages: Navigating the differences.


•    Creating the community name: Some recommendations for swell times.


•    Administering the community: Riding the wave.  

Choose the Community Type:

Facebook- Groups vs. Fan Pages: Navigating the Differences

You’ve seen both on Facebook- groups and fan pages. They’re dedicated to just about everything. But are groups similar to fan pages? How are they different? Which is best for bringing together the right balance of individuals with a variety of opinions to keep your community lively?  

Here are some important criteria to consider when choosing between a group and a page to house your community. In general, Facebook groups are best for small, conversational, grassroots communities created for personal reasons and pursuits. Facebook pages are best for companies or organizations with a product or service that can benefit more than 5,000 people and want to generate more awareness and adoption for what they’re promoting.

Visibility/Searchability

Search engines like Google now include Facebook pages in their results. That means someone looking for your topic of interest may encounter your page even if they’re not a member of Facebook.  However, groups aren’t indexed by Facebook or outside search engines, which decreases your visibility.

The Winner: Facebook Page.

Messaging Capabilities

Pages primarily focus on giving fans information through status updates on its “wall” that fans can also read via their personal “news feed.” Groups allow administrators to provide status updates members can see within the group but that don’t show up in their news feed. Also, unlike pages, groups allow administrators to send private email messages to their members as long as they have less than 5,000.

The Winner: Either, depending on your messaging strategies and the content you want to share. Page messages are exposed to a wider public audience but groups allow for better personal messaging capabilities.

Administrators' Insights and Statistics

Facebook pages give administrators a lot of “behind the scenes” information about their fans through “Fan Insights,” which allow them to refine their messaging, content and strategies. Groups don’t allow for any community insights, keeping administrators guessing and fending for themselves.

The Winner: Facebook Page.

Customization

Pages can include mashup Facebook applications like those from YouTube or Flickr, allowing for more personalization and fan engagement. Groups cannot.

The Winner: Facebook Page.

Administrator Anonymity

Group administrators are associated with the groups they create. Page administrators are not.

The Winner: Either, depending on whether you want to remain anonymous or not.

Create the Community Name:

Some Recommendations for Swell Times

If you’ve decided your community needs a Facebook page, your next step should be visit this link and log into Facebook to begin the page set-up process. One of your first decisions will be to name your community.


Here are a few general tips:

•    Invest substantial thought in the community’s name because it’s one of the only things that can’t be changed later.

•    Don’t automatically assume your organization’s name should be the name of your Facebook page. The name must be relevant to your target audience and make it easy for prospects to quickly understand who you are and what you do. It should inspire a sense of personal investment in your issue, galvanizing fans to take action when called upon.

•    Make sure your Facebook page name clearly communicates your organization’s goals and objectives.

•    If your goals and objectives are difficult to communicate in just a few words, explore possible acronyms that fit your organization and will keep it “top of mind.” Example: S.W.I.M. (Storm Water Infrastructure Matters).

•    Consider more than one name, just in case your top choice is already taken. Use Facebook’s search function to find out whether a name already belongs to someone else.

•    Tap into your available resources. If you have any questions about establishing a Facebook user name, this URL of FAQs may come in handy.

Future tip:

To exercise stellar Search Engine Optimization practices, once your Facebook page has been established and you’ve gained fans, give it a customized or “vanity” URL. The URL should contain the page’s title. For example:  http://www.facebook.com/PageName.

All pages with at least 25 fans are eligible to receive a vanity URL. Click here to create one.

Administer the Community:

Riding the Wave

You’ve done your research, probed your creative mind for the best community name, set it up and began building a fan base. Now, to keep it thriving you’ll need to invest some time, resources and your best ideas.

Here are some suggestions:


•    Assign one person to be the primary administrator of the page to post updates, monitor it, respond to fans and ensure the updates have a consistent “voice.” If possible, then enlist support staff and train them on these critical elements so they can assist you on the back end.


•    Spend a minimum of a half-hour per day monitoring the page, responding to fan comments and posting. Posting updates at different times of day (morning, afternoon and evening) as well as maintaining a weekend presence are enough to keep your community visible to fans.


•    As an administrator, review and record Facebook page data (also known as “Fan Insights”) monthly. The data can be used to refine Facebook messaging based your audience’s demographics and behaviors.

•    Last, remember that as an administrator, you should not just “push” updates out to Facebook fans. Regularly engage them by asking questions and soliciting feedback through applications, polls, surveys and live chats. Ask fans what kind of content they’d like to see on your Facebook page.