Apparently virtual kitty cats, beer pints and roses aren’t profitable enough to satisfy Facebook’s virtual ROI goals. So, they are closing the Gift Shop that features these goodies. It’s just this week’s reminder of why you still need a website.
It’s tempting to consider the possibilities of starting a “Facebook only” web presence for your new product, business or interest group. And while it absolutely should be part of your marketing plan (see Starfish Strategy) you can’t afford to make it the single touch-point for your new “whatever”. Why? Because regardless of how open a platform Facebook presents, it remains their platform. As such, it will expand and contract at the pace necessary to see Facebook toward their goals. Need proof? Consider this:
Closing the Gift Shop – if you want to send a virtual cupcake, get it done before midnight July 31st. The store is closing. At least this change came with a notice to users. Others didn’t. Including:
Notifications Change -- one of our favorite services was Facebook Notification. Using an app created by Bigfish clients could enable their customers or members to choose Facebook as a preferred notification system (i.e. email, text message, Facebook), write it to their customer/member record thereby integrating Facebook into their communications strategy. It was a great way to connect communication to preference and continue dialogue until Facebook change their process.
Custom Tab as Default change – there has been some back and forth on this but the situation remains, Facebook will decide which tab you can display to your audience. The custom tab is the mechanism that enables administrators to set a preferred display page for their guests, fans and/or those who like it. If this were a permanent setting you could control, you might give more consideration to the idea of a Facebook-only web presence except…
Privacy Settings – by default your personal information is set to be included in Facebook search and other engine searches. You can change this setting but will you? Facebook may never get this part right (to your liking) but maybe they don’t have to. It’s still their site.
Read enough? Thought so. You need control of your message and its delivery. The platform that offers you such control or predictability is your web site.
Prospects, customers, fans or members may spend most of their time facebooking, tweeting, watching YouTube videos or googling. So, connect with them there. Then direct them to the one place where you can enable their preferences, determine which messages to present and where you set the hours of operation: your website.
Let's talk. I'm on Twitter @timbigfish or visit my site http://www.timcnicholson.com/
Whose Face is This?
It's the newest Facebook feature but there is more to it than meets the eye. This holiday weekend found me near the pool but never far away from my iPad. It's one of those things most people don't know about me. But should they? They would likely recognize my face but would they recognize my habits and trends? You know, the things that make me - me?
Here's the deal. While surfing Facebook this morning I saw a familiar face in the right hand margin. Above it the headline, "whose face is this?" and a field in which to write a response. On this occasion the pretty face belonged to my wife. So of course I recognized it. As she already knows, I'm a face guy. Still I'd like to think that if the feature had listed attributes like, "loves old movies, broke her arm as a little girl, has an authentic joyful laugh, is a great hostess, listens to Sinatra, doesn't know her own beauty, graduated summa cum laude, likes brunch at the Beauty Shop, and enjoys summer watermelon", instead of her picture -- I still would have recognized her.
The non-visual part of your brand is what resonates beyond the first glimpse. It’s the result of reflection, planning, teaching, marketing and market dialogue. It takes time to develop and years to establish. For those who read this blog looking for speed consider this: if you subscribe to the same “farmer’s approach” to social media that I do, you can begin getting the non-visual messages about your brand into play quickly and at a lower cost than ever before. You’ll even find members of your brand audience who are already in step with you and willing to advocate your brand message right away via platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
So, whose face is this: original, consultative, loves ideas, tech savvy, creative, and treats customers like the big fish?
Let’s get to know each other. I’m www.twitter.com/timbigfish or on Facebook www.facebook.com/timcnicholson.
Here's the deal. While surfing Facebook this morning I saw a familiar face in the right hand margin. Above it the headline, "whose face is this?" and a field in which to write a response. On this occasion the pretty face belonged to my wife. So of course I recognized it. As she already knows, I'm a face guy. Still I'd like to think that if the feature had listed attributes like, "loves old movies, broke her arm as a little girl, has an authentic joyful laugh, is a great hostess, listens to Sinatra, doesn't know her own beauty, graduated summa cum laude, likes brunch at the Beauty Shop, and enjoys summer watermelon", instead of her picture -- I still would have recognized her.
The same should be true for your brand. Sure, any person familiar with your logo will know who it belongs to but what about the essence of your brand? Does the marketplace know your brand personality, its voice, how it interacts with its constituents, and the value it proposes to bring absent the "mark"?I know of a recent instance when a small segment of a brand's audience attributed certain unflattering characteristics to the brand. It happened largely because the organization wasn’t teaching the market about itself and so the market chose to create its own definition. A couple of years later the brand owners are still working through it.
The non-visual part of your brand is what resonates beyond the first glimpse. It’s the result of reflection, planning, teaching, marketing and market dialogue. It takes time to develop and years to establish. For those who read this blog looking for speed consider this: if you subscribe to the same “farmer’s approach” to social media that I do, you can begin getting the non-visual messages about your brand into play quickly and at a lower cost than ever before. You’ll even find members of your brand audience who are already in step with you and willing to advocate your brand message right away via platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
So, whose face is this: original, consultative, loves ideas, tech savvy, creative, and treats customers like the big fish?
Let’s get to know each other. I’m www.twitter.com/timbigfish or on Facebook www.facebook.com/timcnicholson.
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