Tag: Facebook

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The URL Shortener Contest

Which URL shortener are you using on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? Do you even care? Well you should! URL shorteners are not all created equal. In fact one of my colleagues reamed me out for using www.TinyURL.com just the other day.

If you use any social networking platforms then you know you have a limited amount of space in which to say what you want to say. Well, what if you want to link to something on your website or online? Here’s where a URL shortener is necessary. You can take a big URL like:

http://searchengineland.com/analysis-which-url-shortening-service-should-you-use-17204

and turn it into a itty bitty URL like this:

http://bit.ly/ZuUw

Big difference right? In fact if you click either of the links above you will go to a nice article reviewing the different URL shorteners that are popular. Search Engine Land even lays it out graphically so you can see what you think is important in one glance. Personally I use www.Bit.ly as my shortener when I have a choice. Some social networking services do not give you a choice and some use www.TinyURL.com as their default, but there are some nice reasons why you should evaluate which one you use and then stick with it.

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Facebook Vanity URLs

There’s still time, but you should act quickly. You can get an easier URL to remember and share for your Facebook page. Facebook launched the vanity URLs several weeks ago, so many of the best and smallest names are already gone, but there is no time to waste.

Next time you log into your Facebook account you will probably see a list of URLs that Facebook suggests for you. You can even check some of your own selections. If you are like some of our clients, you clicked this closed and now that you want a vanity URL you cannot find where to get one in the Facebook control panel settings.

Here’s how to get your vanity URL:

1. Log into your Facebook account.

2. Enter this URL in your browser: http://www.facebook.com/username/ 

3. This will bring up the Vanity URL screen and allow you to select your vanity URL.

So what’s the big deal? Well my vanity URL is www.Facebook.com/nancy.mccord that is a whole lot easier to remember than what it was before with a huge string of numbers and characters.

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Should You Advertise on Facebook?

If you use Facebook, then you will understand my post more clearly. If you have just heard of Facebook or know that it is popular, you may want to consider advertising on Facebook. Due to its reach Facebook may be a good place to advertise your products, but only if you are interested in brand identification.

I have been using social networking for quite a while. I have quickly embraced LinkedIn and Facebook when they arrived on the scene, and I am an active user. I have never clicked a Facebook ad – ever! In fact, as I did research for a client who wants to place ads on Facebook, the web consensus was that the exposure is great but if you want sales use Google AdWords.

Facebook would be considered the content network if we were talking about Google AdWords. We know from years of professional account management that content exposure has its place but is not right for every client. The content network is excellent for introducing a new concept and helping people to know your product’s name, but if you want sales, you don’t want to invest a lot of money for this exposure in this network.

If you feel like you want to ride the popularity curve on Facebook, you may want to advertise, but keep in mind the parameters and set your expectations accordingly. You may get better bang for your buck by investing your personal capital to build your Facebook friend network, create a fan page, and then create a fan group and network for your business instead of paying by the click or thousand impression for an ad. If you do a Google Search on success of advertising on Facebook you will be able to read some real world examples of advertisers and their comments and that they found the results better with Google AdWords.

Don’t take my advice in this area, but take time to review others experience on this topic. I just know that with as many items found on a Facebook page and ad can get lost. I also know that personally as long as I have used Facebook, I have never clicked on a single advertisement, do you? Let me know by leaving your comments below.

Here are a few links to other’s problems with Facebook advertising:

Proctor and Gamble Failure

LinkedIn Answers Comments

Statistical Results from One Advertiser

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Are You Using Facebook to Win Clients?

You know sometimes promoting your business is not all about you, sometimes its about having fun and becoming a “real person” to people who are looking to connect and not a “corporate profile”.

I got one of my large web design projects from an exchange on Facebook. It was a random thing. I invited a whole bunch of people to join me on Facebook from my e-newsletter mailing list. One of the people who I invited joined and we interacted online for a few days. When her boss told her to find a web designer, I got the job. You know why? Because I invited her (the office manager and gal Friday to the boss) to join me on Facebook and she loves using it.

If you totally sanitize your message on Facebook and other social networking sites to match your “corporate face” you may have on your website, you are missing the power of connecting with others. People want to know and interact with the real you, not some cardboard cutout or marketing message! They want to see YOU warts and all. People want to see your family, your kids, know what you are doing, and what you like. This is the real world view that I have received from prospects who have interacted with me and become clients from social networking platforms.

For business owners who say they want a separate corporate site from their personal Facebook site, I say be careful there. If you are a big corporation this may make sense, but if you are a small to medium sized business and a business owner with “personality”, you are better served showing your full profile and letting people into your “circle of trust” to experience who you really are. I think you will find, as I have, that you can win business doing just that.