Marketing Elements Episdoe 33 – Social Analytics – Facebook from Tim Goleman on Vimeo.

This is the second part in my analytics posts. The first was an overview of what analytics there are in social. This specifically deals with reporting Facebook Insights. The spread sheet, as given by Chuck Hemann at the Social Media Conference at Kennesaw State University. It’s a great way to do the reporting manually.

I am joined by by Eric Ungs and Reid Travis. Both from Cedar Rapids, IA, and members of the 380 Social podcast.

The last time we spoke we had just seen the release of Google+ and now we have the full release and pages. We go over what we think of the service.

Then, we go into Facebook and Timeline. We touch on how Timeline will eventually come to Business pages and pondered the future of Tabs.

Lastly we talked about the Muppets and social media.

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WordPress now has some great features, like the Drag and Drop uploading. Check out the video for all the details

I know many out there aren’t fans of Google+ and many of our social media folks have written it off. First, let me say I feel that Google did botch the launch of +. They should have run a smaller beta and then had pages and everything ready to launch.

With that said, I am enjoying Google+. I think it has a lot of potential and good competition to Facebook. Here is why:

• It is a less cluttered layout then to Facebook
• They are slower to release things, unlike Facebook that put out the ticker, story grouping and highlighted stories.
• It’s easy to use, very intuitive
• I have actually been using it to communicate with friends, more so then Twitter or Facebook.
• Hang Outs are easy to use and now includes the ability to call anywhere in the US for FREE.

These are just a few reasons why I like it. I will be realistic here and know they have a long way to go before the mainstream will start seeing it as an alternative to Facebook. Some things that will be needed for that are:

• Better integration with other Google properties i.e. YouTube
• Google Analytics integration on pages
• Vanity URLs for profiles and pages
• Integration into third party applications like HootSuite, Tweetdeck, etc (HootSuite is in limited beta testing just for enterprise customers)
• Multiple admins on pages

I hope we see more from them and it won’t die like Wave, Buzz and many of the other social program Google has come up with.

Well the long wait is over. Today Google announced Google Plus Pages. It took most of the day for me to get in and set it up, but I finally did it. Some of the problems I have seen are:

• Only one admin is available right now, so who ever creates the page will be in charge of community management
• It took me a while to figure out how to get back to my page, ask Drew Hawkins, but next to your picture/avatar there is a switch menu
• Google extended YouTube this week but I hoped to see greater integration with it for a page.
• People can’t self select what circles they are in under the page, it will be done by the community manager
• No dedicated URL for the page, Facebook just opened up so that any page, regardless of # of fans, can have a user name with a dedicated URL. Google Plus needs to have this feature ASAP. The search using +(page name) has been acting wonky today, so I hear.

Just a few concerns of how to manager and put together a page. This leads me into another issue. How will Timeline affect brands? It hasn’t been officially announced that it will come to brand pages. But, if you remember correctly when the profiles were last made over, it was carried over to Brand Pages. This was also released early and caused Facebook to go down for an hour!

I haven’t heard when Timeline is coming for personal profiles. I have applied to be submitted, but Facebook doesn’t get in a hurry to release new updates. It took me 10 months to get Messaging, which was supposed to be a email killer. Does anyone even  use their Facebbok email?

I Know what you are thinking, I hear you now. You say, “Tim you have written about how Google+ missed their mark, started too soon, and is just ok.” Yes I did say all that, and more if you know me. BUT, and I say this will all caps, as marketers, we better get ready to hit the ground running with Google+ for our clients.

What Google+ Can do to Make pages for Brands Better

• Google Analytics will be the “insights” – let us put our Google Analytics in the pages. Depending on your knowledge of Google Analytics you can track what people do and if they go to your site.  However, Google will need to put in engagement results in Google Analytics, such as +1 (aka Likes), impressions, shares, comments and the like.
• Integration directly with YouTube – I think this will be a great advantage. Right now there is the debate, should I put the video in YouTube and Facebook? Now, once it is in YouTube it can be instantly carried over to the page.
• Let Fans/consumers to self select into Brand circles – This will be something I think would really be cool. Let the brand set up circles, and then let the consumers select which one or ones they want to be in. This would allow pages to post more then once and actually target their messages depending on circle. A perfect example of this is if you have a sponsorship, ex if Coke created an American Idol circle to put out updates. We haven’t seen much  EASY, segregation of fan/followers, this could be the first.
• The design is clean – One of the things I like best is that Google+ is clean. It’s not as cluttered as Facebook. I know that ads will be coming to + but I hope they keep it as clean with pages.

These are just a few things I think Google+ can do to really be a competitor to Facebook. Google has lost momentum on + but for once I don’t think it’s a total failure like Wave or Buzz. They can still turn it around and make something of it, but it will take some effort.

I saw this on Facebook last night, it is a post by Southwest Airlines. I love this because they really show the personality of the brand. It’s no the typical “The site will be down.” The part about infomercials actually made me laugh.

It’s great to see a brand bringing humor in. If you look at the engagement, 24 comments and 133 likes in 12 minutes. I can only imaging what the Edge rank is for this post. More brands need to find their personality and use it. Social should be fun and really engage your fans to make them an advocate for you and your brand.

I just wanted to share this and say this is a great example of social media on Facebook

There seems to be a lot of talk lately about what are metrics in social media and how to measure them. I have taken a crash course in analytics the last few months and have discovered some of the key metrics you should look at in judging success.

The metrics for Facebook are:

• Likes – How many people clicked the Like button
• Shares – how many people clicked the share button
• Impressions – How many people potentially saw your post
• Edge Ranking (Engagement Rate) – a algorithm by Facebook that takes into account, impressions, shares, likes, etc of posts and comes up with a percentage score.
• Comments – how many people commented on the post
• Clicks – How many people clicked the link that was in your post

The metrics for Twitter are:

• ReTweets – how may people retweeted your content
• Replies – The number of people who replied to you
• Direct Messages – The number of people who sent you a Direct message
• Clicks – How many people clicked your link
• Impressions – The potential number of people who saw your post.

Google+

• Stay tuned because your guess is as good as mine

Note one metric missing. Its sales. While it is important and everyone is in the business to make money, Sales should be a secondary goal. If you look at some of the sales funnels on the net, you will see Social is usually at the top of the funnel. Therefore it takes longer to make a sale then with other forms of media.

The important thing is to figure out which one or ones of these are most important to you and your business. I have found out every company is different and you will need to adjust the mix as needed. This is determined if you want branding, a new product launch, if you are a service or consumer good.

For 102, I will go more into what each metric means and how you can apply it to the business. In 201 I will go into how to create a spread sheet and judge which posts are working and which are not. Remember you should experincment in social and have fun with it!

Yesterday I found out about the death of Steve Jobs, while playing trivia. I kept seeing Steve Jobs on the screen. I first thought it was about the iPhone announcement on Tuesday, but when I read the screen it said “Apple confirms the death of Steve Jobs.” I will say I was shocked. I knew he had been battling cancer for years, and resigned from Apple (but remained on the board). I thought there would be a few years left and he would still be a force in Apple.

I think as a self proclaimed Apple Fan boy, that Apple as a company will be fine. I say this because I think Steve knew that his days were ending and he put in people who would carry on the legacy of Jobs at Apple. The culture of the company is set, and they have been very successful for 10 years. I know they will keep innovating and bringing us products that will revolutionize the way we conduct every day business.

Shortly after the death, statements came out from various people:

Bill Gates:

“I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.

Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”

Mark Zuckerberg

Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you

President Obama

“Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.

The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him.”

The one that got me was President Obama’s last sentence. How many out there actually learned on an iPhone, iPad or Mac?

Steve was one of the people I most admired. He brought his vision to life, and like it or not he changed the way we live in many ways. Time will tell what will happen to Apple but its going on to the next chapter

Last week F8 announced the new changes. The first was Timeline, if you watched the video above or the F8 conference you know the massive changes in the way profiles will be displayed. It will be more of a lifestream rather then the profiles we know. I eerily reminds me of Tumblr. The second are changes to the Social Graph. Which I won’t cover too much in this post.

It was said that there will be no changes to Facebook Pages or Tabs. However, if you remember with the last profile revision, they did change the Pages about 8 months after the profiles changed. We can pretty much guarantee that pages will be Timelines, but Facebook has not said when, so stay tuned.

I have come up with a few areas businesses need execute to have an easier transition to Timeline.

Likes on Facebook are not showing up in the News Feed – I haven’t confirmed this but I have read in many places, if you like something on Facebook it’s not showing up on the users news feed for friends to see. This really will affect the way business is conducted on Facebook. I am not sure if this will change but in the mean time businesses and marketers need to get likes off Facebook. This would include content, pictures, videos and such. From what I understand, likes off Facebook are still showing up on the news feeds. This may change, so keep reading Mashable and other blogs to see. Implication: Drive people to your off Facebook properties to gain exposure on Facebook.

Apps will take a Bigger Role on Facebook – As stated in the F8, Facebook is going to integrate apps into the Timeline. Brands are going to need to develop apps that interact and give consumers something interesting and different. One of the apps they profiled was the Nike app, that showed running routes and how they are shared. Apps that aren’t engaging or bring value to the consumer will be ignored. Implication: Apps are going to be a new way for brands to connect with consumers. They must bring value, be engaging and easy to use.

Consumers have more control on what shows up in Timeline – Consumers now have a lot more control on what shows up on their profile. Its now about the person’s life and milestones. Brands that currently engage and create content that is meaningful to consumers will get shared. Those who push sales or irrelevant messages will be hidden. Implication: Brands need to create engaging content that consumers will want to interact with.

Brands Must Become Part of Peoples Lives – as I have mentioned above, brands must now become a part of consumers lives. Before it was about consumer taking action to like a brand, now it’s going to be about how brands become part of the story. I can see certain brands will have problems with this. If you use Facebook like traditional media you are not going to be successful. It’s time to really engage fans if you are not doing it. Implication: Brands need to show how they part of peoples lives.

These are a few things I see. I got inspired by an article I believe from AdAge. I bookmarked the article at my previous job so I can’t recall who I read. If you remember this article let me know.