Facebook Timeline Design

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Sarah Lokitis

Facebook has officially released the Timeline interface to users worldwide and allegedly is releasing an official statement regarding Timeline for Pages at the very end of the month. While marketers don’t yet have access to the new design, there are a few ways to prepare and take advantage of the new profile design.

To give you a little background – I am a proud James Madison University graduate. I love to talk about JMU and visit any chance I get. I have two stickers for JMU on my car. I’ll drive an hour for dinner at the dining hall. I’m what you call an avid fan of JMU.

When the James Madison University Facebook Page posted a Timeline Photo of the Day, perfectly sized for the Timeline image, I jumped at the chance to upload the photo to my Timeline.

Many Facebook users don’t have a Timeline photo yet or aren’t happy with the quality of the images they have on Facebook to upload to their Timeline. Providing brand advocates with images provides free branding. The images JMU posted did not include a logo, but I think those brand fanatics would accept a small logo in the corner.

Posting the Timeline photos for users even inspired JMU alum and students to post their own photo and memory from the school.

Organizations that have huge brand advocates and quality photos would be wonderful fits for this marketing tactic. If Facebook Timelines for Brands is similar to the profile release, consistent updates and engagement will be crucial as users will notice if it’s been a while since updates were made.

The Patriots or Giants could take advantage of the Timeline feature by providing images for their fans to add as they build excitement for the Superbowl. How many football fans do you know that already change their Facebook photo to their favorite fan before the game?

Have you seen any other innovative ways marketers are using Facebook Timeline? Do you think Timeline for Brands will affect how users interact with Brand Pages and tabs? Let me know what you think in the comments below or by finding me on Twitter @Lokitis.

Google+ Brand Pages

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Sarah Lokitis

Google+ Brand Pages launched on November 7 and in the past few weeks I’ve had a lot of time to explore the opportunities and limitations of the Google + Pages. Google+ has a history of rolling out new features over time, but there are some key issues that were immediately apparent and should have been ready for the launch. Let’s get the limitations out of the way – I’m sure Google is working on these issues as I type anyway.

Limitations

1. Whoever creates the Google+ Page is the sole administrator of the page and content. The login would need to be shared, or only one person is responsible for monitoring the page. Google has said that within the year a multiple admin feature would be released.

2. Because the Page is created through a Personal account, the separation of professional and personal is a bit fuzzy. When using Google+, make sure you know which account is active and who you are posting as.

3. Email notifications are sent when people or pages add you to their circles, instead of when someone comments or shares your Page’s post. As a community manager, it is more important to see when someone shares your comment or references your Page, so you can quickly respond.

Opportunities

1. The competitive advantage for Google+ is that Google created it. There is immediate SEO value to Google+ and +1 as ranking factors. Linking a company’s website and social profiles together on Google+ creates a roadmap for Google and may even lead to improved rankings on brand searches.

2. Companies always have a tough time tracking social media. Google+ is going to have Google Analytics integration as well as Ripples, which is a way to track how your posts and content is shared within Google+.

3. You can become eligible for Google+ Direct Connect after placing a snippet of code on your websites header. Direct Connect allows anyone searching for your business in Google to put a ”+” before your brand name when typed into the Chrome browser and be taken directly to the Google Plus brand page. This has intriguing potential for online reputation management.

For more information about creating and optimizing your Google+ Page for Business, check out my post on the Search Mojo Blog.

Charlottesville Vineyards and Social Media

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Sarah Lokitis

What a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. I am sure the nearby vineyards were quite busy this weekend. Earlier I logged on twitter and looked at a few local vineyards twitter accounts to find out if anything exciting was happening today and was again reminded how important social media is in promoting your company. The fact that I went to Twitter first to find out what was going on shows a key shift in how companies are communicating and need to communicate with their audience.

Keswick Vineyards, located right outside of Charlottesville, has a strong social media presence with a twitter account updated by Kat Schornberg. The bio of the @keswickvineyard profile says, “Keswick Vineyards is a family owned & operated vineyard & winery east of Charlottesville, VA. I am one of the owners daughters & the wife of the winemaker.” Having one family member with a strong connection to the company or organization maintain the account is a great way to uphold their reputation as a family owned business and add a personal touch. Keswick Vineyards also has a Facebook profile and a blog. The blog is run by the winemaker Stephen and has a lot of interesting insights into the process of winemaking. The Facebook profile has 2,654 friends and the Twitter profile has 1,056 followers. The three tools are key ways to connect with their audience.

Veritas Winery has both a twitter and Facebook account. I went there a few weekends ago and was blown away with how beautiful and elegant the tasting room, lawn and vineyard were. I really enjoy the videos they post on their website about wine tasting too.

On that same day I made a stop at King Family Vineyards. The vineyard was beautiful and the wine tasting staffer was very helpful in making recommendations of places to visit during our day adventure. King Family has both a twitter and Facebook account, although they do not have a link to their twitter account on their website. More people are friends with them on Facebook than on twitter because of this, however that seems to be a trend of all the vineyards. King Family promotes their polo matches, music events and weddings via social media.

I only mentioned three vineyards social media presences in this post, but there are so many ways to engage with vineyards in Charlottesville online. Here is my twitter list of all things (and people) Charlottesville. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions of twitter profiles to add.

I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend!

** Today we honor those who have served to protect the freedoms of the United States and to the family members who have suffered loss. Words cannot describe the gratitude we feel. **

Arts and Social Media.

Posted on July 6, 2009 by Sarah Lokitis

Over Fourth of July weekend, I took a bus to New York City with my friend Nicole. We visited another friend who was participating in the Dance New Amsterdam’s (DNA) New York Summer Dance Intensive that I attended last summer. DNA was closed on the 4^th, so we took 3 classes in a row on Friday; 6 hours of dance! While that seemed like a good idea at the time, on Saturday we were in a lot of pain.

Before heading to NY, I researched my classes online and found DNA to have the most extensive social media efforts of any dance studio or company. Not only does DNA have Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, a blog and a Facebook page, DNA has their own social network, DNA World! DNA World allows you to connect and network with friends, dance teachers, choreographers, bloggers and dance administrators. DNA World also has forums for discussion about dance and DNA, as well as pictures and videos. The DNA World blog is used for listing upcoming events, classes, dance news and articles, and special offers.

Other dance companies and studios are slowly making their leap into the world of social media with Facebook applications and blogs. Many dance companies and studios have Facebook pages and groups. Facebook is much easier to update and maintain than a blog. Through Facebook, arts organizations can easily reach their audience and update with YouTube and news. Broadway Dance Center, Joy of Motion and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre have Facebook pages.

Dance Place, located in Washington D.C., has a blog, Twitter, as well as a Facebook Page. There are not many comments or followers on the blog (same with DNA’s blog), possibly indicating the dance world has not turned into avid social media fans yet, even though I know the audience is online. I believe those organizations testing blogs are still experimenting with what type of content to include and how often to update. It is exciting to see so many arts organizations take risks to stay current, especially in this tough economic situation.

I am especially interested in dance, but I found this video about how an orchestra has used social media to garner more attention. Listen for the different tools they use and how people are responding to their efforts.

Do you know of any other arts organizations, theaters, museums, dance companies and etc. using social media as part of their marketing campaign?! Let’s talk about how your organization is using social media. How are you making it work and what difficulties have you struggled with?

Limitations

Opportunities

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