Tom Sullivan over at Turbo Social Media reviews the importance of having a custom landing page in Facebook. This ability to customize is known as FBML, or Facebook Mark-up Language (a nice little spin of “HTML” … see the connection?). DigitalEYE can create an FBML page for you to give your company personality, capture leads, engage with your audience and manage campaigns to strategically grow your fans.

View DigitalEYE’s FBML page here and the page of yours truly here.

“A couple of weeks ago I touched on the importance of custom, branded Facebook page in an article about how to make you business standout with social media. I want to revisit that topic and elaborate on it in more detail.

Your Facebook landing page is also known as your “welcome” page. It is the first thing people see when they come to your Fan page (for the first time). Your Facebook Fan page is likely the second most important piece of real estate online for your business, after your website. You need it to reflect that same uniqueness and creativity that your website does. Just like you website should be geared toward generating leads, your Facebook landing page also should be geared toward generating leads, or getting people to “like” your business. Here are some reasons why your business needs to have a custom Facebook landing page:

1) A custom Facebook landing page shows your business’ personality. Facebook has a pretty generic look as it is. A custom landing page is your business’ one opportunity to really give people an idea of what you’re all about. Show some pizzazz and creativity. Create that “wow” factor. Utilize video and a stylish design to brand your business and make you stand out from your competition.

2) A custom Facebook landing page allows you to capture leads. Along with branding, this should be your goal. While a “like” is valuable because it gives you an open platform to get in front of your Fans, and email address from an opt-in is even more valuable, and it should be treated as such. Someone who opts in for your services or offer on your Facebook page is just as valuable as someone who does so on your website. The best part is that you now have two lead generating machines: your website and your custom Fan page.

3) Your custom Fan page allows you to engage with your audience more. If a person goes to your Fan page and the first thing they see is your wall they are much less inclined to engage with you or comment than if the go to your landing page first. The reason is that your landing page can tell them exactly what you want them to do. You’re landing page can list an offer that is more enticing because it is bright and colorful, it can point directly to the “like” button requesting that they become a Fan, or it can use video to excite viewers or encourage them to interact with your business.”

Written By Brian Solis February 22, 2010 http://www.briansolis.com

What follows is the entire version of my recent post on Mashable, “The Maturation of Social Media ROI“

Over the years, Social Media experts attempted to redefine ROI for a new era of influence. While some introduced alternative philosophies for measuring the nuances tied to social media, others wondered aloud whether ROI simply wasn’t necessary as the tools and methodologies for analyzing yields didn’t yet exist. And furthermore, by focusing on justification and metrics, we were distracted from the primary objective of building relationships and cultivating dialogue.

The debate over ROI inspired certain brands to cannonball into popular social networks to join the proverbial conversation without a plan or strategic objectives defined. At the same time, the lack of ROI standards and established authorities unnerved many executives, preventing any form of experimentation until their questions and concerns were addressed.

But that was then and this is now.

In 2010, we enter into a new era of social media marketing, one based on information, rationalization, and resolve.

Business leaders simply need clarity in a time of abundant options and scarcity of experience and answers. As many of us can attest, we report to executives who have no desire to measure intangible credos rooted in transparency and authenticity. In the end, they simply want to calculate the return on investment and associate Social Media programs with real world business performance metrics.

Over the years, we explored ideas, driven by a passionate desire to find new meaning and vindication in uncharted domains. These discussions and the innovation they sparked, redefined the framework for traditional metrics, creating hybrids that would and will prove critical to modernizing business practices, improving products and services, and effectively competing for the future.

ROI: The Return on Ignorance

Where the “I” in ROI represents return on investment, marketers have also explored ancillary elements to address the socialization of media, marketing, and the resulting dynamics of engagement.

Adaptations included:

Return on engagement – the duration of time spent either in conversation or interacting with social objects, and in turn, what transpired that’s worthy of measurement.

Return on participation – the metric tied to measuring and valuing the time spent participating in social media through conversations or the creation of, social objects.

Return on involvement – similar to participation, marketers explored touchpoints for documenting states of interaction and tying metrics and potential return of each.

Return on attention – In the attention economy, we assess the means to seize attention, hold it and as such measure the responses activities that we engender.

Return on trust – A variant on measuring customer loyalty and the likelihood for referrals, a trust barometer establishes the state of trust earned in social media engagement and the prospect of generating advocacy and how it impacts future business.

But as we learn through experience, our views and techniques mature into more sophisticated strategies as we progress through the Ten Stages of Social Media Evolution.

For many businesses, the case for new metrics cannot arise until we have an intrinsic understanding of how social media engagement affects us at every level. To be quite honest, it is not as simple as counting an increase of subscribers, followers, fans, conversation volume, reach, and traffic. While the size of the corporate social graph is a reflection of our participation behavior, it is not symbolic of brand stature, resonance, loyalty, advocacy, nor is it an indicator for business performance.

ROI: Return on Investment

Sometimes we simply need ROI to signify a meaningful return on investment.

In 2010, Social Media endeavors are still funded as pilot programs to steer the brand towards perceived relevance in the hopes that they demonstrate momentum and as such, rewards materialize. Budgets are for the most part, borrowed from other divisions to fund the teams and programs lead by the internal champions who effectively make the case for experimentation. Where that money goes and from where it’s borrowed varies by department and by company usually tied to where champions reside internally today.

In many cases however, new programs are introduced without an integrated strategy. Money is allocated from existing programs, and if we’re going to take it away from something, we should therefore determine whether or not we’re justified in doing so.

According to a 2009 study performed by Mzinga and Babson Executive Education, 84 percent of professionals representing a variety of industries reported that they do not measure ROI.

Source: eMarketer

In 2010, executives are demanding scrutiny, evaluation, and interpretation. Even though new media is transforming organizations from the inside out, what is constant nevertheless, is the need to apply performance indicators to our work.

The Business of Social Media

The CFO, CEO, and CMO of any organization would be remiss if they did not account for spending and resource allocation, regardless of the allure and seduction of social media.

MarketingProfs recently published a study performed by Bazaarvoice and the CMO Club that revealed the true expectation of chief marketing officers. Bottom line, they want measurable results from social media.

Elusiveness continues to prevail however. The study found that the exact impact of social media tactics evade the grasp of CMOs.

- 53% are unsure about their return on Twitter

-50% are unable to assess the value of LinkedIn or industry blogs

More specifically however, roughly 15% believe there is no ROI associated with Twitter and just over 10% cannot glean ROI from LinkedIn or Facebook.

I believe this is the direct result of not tying activity to an end game, the ability to know what it is we want to measure before we engage. Doing so, allows us to define a strategy and a tactical plan to support activity that helps us reach our goals and objectives.

We first answer,

What is it we want to change, improve, accomplish, incite, etc.?

Doing so will allow us to establish goals and objectives that specifically tie activity to:

- Sales

- Registrations

- Referrals

- Links (the currency of the social web)

- Votes

- Reduction in costs and processes

- Decrease in customer issues

- Lead generation

- Conversion

- Reduced sale cycles

- Inbound activity

Customer Insight

Among the responses received from CMOs, customer ratings and reviews rose to the top of marketing activities that deliver tangible ROI insight. In 2009, 80% of respondents reported that customer stories and product suggestions shape products and services. As a result, brands earn the trust and loyalty of their customers for listening and responding – as long as they are made aware of their role and rewarded for it.

In 2010, CMOs will review opportunities for user-generated content sources to involve customers and advocates with many reporting…

- a 400% increase in use of Twitter comments to inform decisions about products and services

- a 59% increase in the use of customer ratings and reviews

- a 24% increase in use of social media for pre-sales Q&A

The Socialization of Monetization

Social media metrics will increasingly tie to revenue in 2010. To what extent seems to vary according to CMOs.

- 80% predict upwards of 5%

- 15% optimistically hope for 5-10%

In 2009, those companies that aligned social media investments with revenue estimate:

- 5% or less revenue tied to social in 2009 foresee an increase of an additional 5% in 2010

- 6-10% of revenue stemming from social is expected to increase more than 10%

- Those with greater revenues resulting from social engagement expect an escalation of revenue derived from social at 20%

Companies such as Dell are not only tracking the impact of Social Media on revenue, but expanding lessons learned across the entire organization. According to Dell’s Lionel Menchaca:

Our @DellOutlet is now close to 1.5 million followers on Twitter, and back in June we indicated that @DellOutlet earned $3 million in revenue from Twitter. Today it’s not just Dell Outlet having success connecting with customers on Twitter. In total, Dell’s global reach on Twitter has resulted in more than $6.5 million in revenue. In fact our Brazilian and Canadian accounts are growing rapidly too – and it was Canadian tweeters who asked to make sure Dell Canada came online to Twitter. Dell Canada responded because the team heard our customers. In less than a year,@DellnoBrasil has already generated nearly $800,000 in product revenues. Similarly,@DellHomeSalesCA has surpassed $150,000 and is increasing at notable pace.

The Forecast for Metrics in 2010

Earlier we mentioned generic forms of Social Media metrics. The survey revealed that indeed, many CMOs, 89%, tracked the impact of social media by traffic, pageviews, and the size of their social graph or communities. However, 2010 is the year that social media graduates from experimentation to strategic implementation with direct ties to specific measurable performance indicators.

In 2010, CMOs will seek to establish a connection between social media and P&L business goals. The study documents the adoption of three metrics:

- 333% surge in tracking revenue

- 174% escalation in monitoring conversion

- 150% increase in measuring average order value

A Call To Action

Among the most effective forms of any marketing initiative is the integration of a call to action. It is how I define influence as it gives us the ability to inspire activity and measure it – as designed. As stated earlier, revenue is only one form of metrics we can introduce, but defining the “R” in ROI is where we need to focus as it relates to our business goals and performance indicators specifically. Even though much of social media is free, we do know the cost of engagement as it relates to employees, time, equipment, and opportunity cost (what they’re not focusing on or accomplishing while engaging in social media). Tying those costs to the results will reveal a formula for assessing the “I” as investment.

When we truly grasp the ability to define action and measure it, we can expand the impact of new media beyond the P&L. We can adapt business processes, inspire ingenuity, and more effectively compete for the future.

Connect with Brian Solis: Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google Buzz, Facebook
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Pre-order the next book, Engage!

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There are many great tools to scan online social media content, and you can add these to your list of:

1. Backtype
2. People Browser
3. Addictomatic
4. Search Twitter

Click Here

This is a good video from Socialnomics that illustrates some old and some new information about Social Media trends and statistics.  Share this with those you know who are on the fence about what the phenomenon is all about.  Never has there been such a robust channel that is rapidly accelerating the time to market for customer acquisition, conversion, retention and optimization.  Ask us at Digital EYE how we can help you increase your referring traffic and conversions using Social Media.

By Mashable

We already knew that social media marketing budgets were on the rise, but now we know by how much. Forrester Research is out with their Interactive Marketing Forecast for the next five years, and estimates social media marketing to grow at an annual rate of 34 percent – faster than any other form of online marketing and double the average growth rate of 17 percent for all online mediums.

Of course, social media is starting from a smaller base. Forrester estimates that $716 million will be spent on the medium this year, growing to $3.1 billion in 2014. At that point, social media will be a bigger marketing channel than both email and mobile, but still just a fraction of the size of search or display advertising ($31.6B and $16.9B, respectively).  Read Entire Article

By: Jeremiah Owyang

Everyone will approach Twitter in a different way, and should find the way that works for them, here’s my approach on Twitter:

[Rather than answering "What are you doing" reframe your thinking to answer "What's important to my followers and me?"]
How I use Twitter, I try to add value, here’s how:

1) As a ’shared feed’ reader. I’ll post up links of what I’m reading that I find is interesting in near real time, and give some commentary. I try to add value here, rather than adding to noise. So use me as a news filter.

2) As a chat room. We collectively work out problems, issues, and I gain insight to other people’s viewpoints. Often when conversations are just between a few folks, I shift to direct messages or email –sparing my community from hearing my minutia.

3) Event capture: Lately, when I attend an event (like Mark Cuban’s presentation at BlogWorldExpo, or Teresa’s webinar on Facebook yesterday) I’ll fire off the top nuggets I learn.

4) Listening tool: It’s interesting to find out what others are sharing and talking about, from very personal to big concepts. I frequently use the search tools around different topics to keep on top of what’s happening.

5) Traffic driving tool: I use it to direct people to this blog, sometimes (I’ll admit) a bit too enthusiastically. Google Analytics indicates this is one of the largest referrers of folks to my blog.

6) For work: When I’m conducting interviews or briefings that aren’t confidential, I’ll state who I’m speaking to and what I find interesting, if you listen closely, you’ll hear me tweet about other interesting findings from my job as a social media analyst. Also, I will announce new research, request interviews, and promote workshops, conferences and other services.

How I don’t use Twitter

1) Personal Minutia: I rarely talk about waking up, eating lunch, or starting my car, instead, I want to add value.

2) Excessive personal discussions: I’ve been criticized for not @replying at people, but it’s because I’m sensitive to not overload the community with a discussion that’s only relevant to a few people. Instead, I may direct message them, favorite a tweet, or shift to email. Update as of Sept 2008, I have sent/received over 4000 direct messages, out of 10,000 updates. So 40% of my communications shift to private discussions.

A few people have found me too noisy (filling up their stream) but there’s a simple solution, although I would hate to see it happen, one can simply opt-out. You’ve got to do what’s right for you and I understand.

If you’re a Web Strategist at a company or agency, read Web Strategy: What the Web Strategist should know about Twitter.

I hope to see you on Twitter, add me as a contact. Also, one of the keys to Twitter is to add people you know, it then becomes more like a chat room. Following me alone isn’t sufficient, see a list of active twitter accounts on Twitter Poster.

So, how do you use Twitter?

We are seeing more and more restaurants using Facebook as a way to get more customers.  With the new FBML technology we can now build full Facebook Platform applications for our customers that deeply integrate into a user’s Facebook experience.  We can hook into several Facebook integration points, including the profile, profile actions, Facebook canvas, News Feed and Mini-Feed. This a real breakthrough and if you or anyone you know owns a bar or restaurant they should read this article on 8 ways restaurants can use Facebook pages to gain more clients. MySpace had this and I used it for my Golden Spoon Yogurt Stores goldenspoonyogurt to learn how to use Facbook Pages and build your fans click this link  Read More

Here is a list of 15 Easy Ways to Get Visitors & Tips to Build Traffic to a New Blog or a New Website:

1. Focus on creating content – do not create content just for search engines. Eventually people will stop coming if your content is useless.
2. Create New Content. This is easier said than done. Or you could create different content. As an example, you will find thousands of websites showing how to set up a free blog on WordPress. There is nothing new you can write about it. However, you can create a demo video about that. That’s different! Off course, there has to be good text around the video to please the search engines as well.
3. Look for exciting topics that people have consistently looked for. Typically, if your blog is not as famous as the New York Times or the CNN, people will most likely not come to you to find out what is the latest development in national politics! Instead focus on something that has proved to be popular for a long time.
4. Keep your blog software updated. Older versions often do not have many unique functionalities to make your presentation attractive. Google, for instance, noted that it will index WordPress blogs that use the most updated versions to prevent security flaws.
5. Create content regularly. And when you do, do not repeat your previous articles blatantly. Regularity is very important. It serves 2 purposes – search engines always look for newer, updated content to index & deliver in search results & keeps your blog fresh in the minds of your readers.
6. Write sincerely on the subject. Allow due credits in case you are using someone else’s content. Be cautious that you do not end up creating another set of links. There are too many directories with links telling what others are doing. There is always a serious need to sincere people who are offering something new.
7. If you have to show ads, then show them. But keep in mind that ads distract readers. Especially flashing ads, pop-ups, pop-unders, exit ads irritate the users. Moreover, such ads often conflict with the readers’ browser causing them to crash inadvertently. Go with Text & Image ads or Shopping Ads to begin with.
8. Get to know people who are equally trying to get traffic. Social networking is very important in the long run. But it could be a challenge to have your links up on the blog of a famous blogger. So look for other bloggers who are starting new & you could start sharing links with them. When I began, I used to request everyone to share my RSS feeds. Many did and many more did not. But whoever did, helped me in getting attention from their friends.
9. Write with facts. There is a saying that controversy gets attention. This is true. You can definitely write about something controversial, but at the same time, be open to criticism. Controversy also gets you harsh comments & critics. Also, while talking on a controversial subject, do not write false information. Keep the facts straight.
10. Write is very lucid language. Think of the reader while you write. Read your own post before publishing & correct grammatical mistakes, spelling mistakes & data errors.
11. Be open to ask for opinions. Not every readers would bother to write a comment, some will. Comments often form a sort of a mini-forum for your readers to talk on the subject. Remember to moderate such comments & always allow a healthy discussion.
12. Submit to search engines regularly, especially when you blog is very new. Once in a couple of months is a good time to submit your blog to search engines. If you are publishing a blog, submit to blog search engines as well. We have listed the important search engines that you should consider submitting your blogs.
13. Allow readers more than one way to keep in touch. Twitter, Facebook, Technorati are good examples that millions of readers use to track authors. Subscribing to feeds is another non-intrusive way to connect with your readers.
14. Join popular link exchange programs. They are like free advertising for your blog without paying any money for it. It is a simple system when you show other people’s ads & in turn they show yours.
15. Be consistent on your subject. You may have decided to create niche content or publish general content. But if readers want to keep coming back is because they find you as an expert or someone with good sincere opinion on the subject. If you have too much variety, like you talk to movies & physics in the same blog, you are trying to become a small mediocre news magazine.

For those of you who may be new to Twitter and are wondering how to manage growing number of friends and followers on twitter these tools can offer a solution. If you want to follow back people who are following you or opposite – unfollow people who don’t follow you back check out these amazing tools.  Read More

One of the most popular arguments of why NOT use social media is that it’s too hard to track and calculate ROI.  Here are 10 tools to utilize when monitoring your social media presence and ultimately verifying the success of your campaigns:

1. Google Analytics – This is a tracking service offered free by Google.  By creating a campaign in Google Analytics that allows you to track back any and all links you post to your website, you’ll have an immediate ROI.  Google Analytics is a great tool when used correctly, so you’ll need to make sure you have someone knowledgeable on your staff to set up a campaign successfully.  Once the link goes active, you’ll be able to see how many people clicked through to your website and track where they went or what they purchased upon visiting.  make sure you capture any sales derived from links you’ve posted on social media sites by setting up goals within your analytics campaign.
2. Backtype – A real-time, conversational search engine that gives you an update about what people are saying about your company and products.  Compiled from Twitter, blogs and social networking article sites such as Reddit, Backtype allows you to effectively understand which bloggers will help you and your company establish a presense as an industry thought leader and could lead to an additional story about your company.
3. Twitter Search - Gives you a live feed of people discussing your company on Twitter.  Check up on trending topics involving your company to find the latest compliments, issues and opportunities.  Can’t find anyone talking about you?  Twitter’s a great place for your company to start the conversation and get noticed by potential customers.  Developing an online community of “followers” helps you have candid conversations with people who may not otherwise have any exposure to your brand.
4. Facebook Fan Pages - Facebook is used for individuals to connect, share photos, and relate to like people.  This social networking site offers many opportunities for small businesses to expand their audiences externally.  Whether your’re trying to develop new talent, increase ecommerce, or simply build brand awareness, Facebook offers measurement tools within a groups’ admin rights.  By measuring number of fans, amount of comments and shares, you can benchmark where you started and set goals for impressoins and click-throughs.  Here you can tell if what you are putting our is actually being read and from there what those fans are doing with that information.  Are they clicking back to your website? Sharing it on their own pages?  Facebook might seem like a big project, but by listening and measuring, your time spent will have a good ROI.
5. Addict-O-Matic - Similar to Backtype, Addict-O-Matic creates a custom page highlighting conversations, pictures, videos and articles mentioning your company.  If you’re looking for an all-encompassing snapshot of the buzz you’re creating online, Addict-O-Matic is the tool for you.  From a coporate perspective, Addict-O-Matic is the perfect tool for a busy CEO.  It allows you to stay on top of your online presense without signing into each individual service.
6. Website Grader - A free SEO tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website.  Website Grader scores your website based on things like website traffic, social popularity and SEO and then provides basic advice on how to improve your website from a marketing perspective.  The tool is a perfect compliment to a well-positioned social media campaign, as it helps make it easier for search engines to find and identify your corporate website.  As a CEO, utilize this tool to evaluate where your website currently stands and where it has room for improvement.
7. Compete.com - Gives you the opportunity to compare your website’s popularity and analytics to those of your competitors.  By entering your website address, as well as up to two competitors’ website addresses, you’ll be able to see a line chart highlighting the traffic to each of the websites as well as top search terms and referring sites for each company.  This is a great benchmark tool to help track success of your competition.  If your competitions’ score is higher than yours, research what they’re doing online and create a campaign that incorporates their successes.
8. Delicious – A social media bookmarking site that allows users to tag, save and share web pages in one place, Delicious helps you to better understand whether or not people find the content you’re publishing interesting and relevant.  The more people adding your website to Delicious, the more popular your website becomes and the higher it appears in search rankings.
9. Digg – Digg allows people to share content published anywhere on the web.  Once an article is shared, users can vote on the internet of the article and increase its popularity.  As popularity increases, your article is sorted to the top of the Digg pile, appearing for more people.  Oftentimes, you’ll find a select group of people are “digging” your content.  Follow up with these people as they may be interested in your industry or company specifically.
10. Social Meter - Social Meter scans major social networking websites to analyze a webpages’ popularity.  It looks at link-backs on websites such as Digg, Delicious, Google search and Technorati and tallies any results in a comprehensive bar chart.  By releasing relevant information via press releases. Twitter and blogs, you can increase your social meter score.  The higher the score, the more people are reading your content.

By: Lois Arbogast, Vistage International