Facebook for Business:
a primer.
ERIC WEAVER | MIKE BUCHMAN
COMCAST SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE
FACEBOOK BREAKOUT SESSIONS
AUGUST 20, 2009

You may ask yourself…
Self: should my business use social markeIng?
Should I be markeIng on Facebook?
Why?
What kind of page should I create?
What content should be included?
Who else is using Facebook for markeIng?

SHOULD MY BUSINESS USE SOCIAL MARKETING?
Social marketing is here to stay
CONSUMERS ARE DROWNING IN NOISE
Time and aOenIon starvaIon are rampant
Your markeIng efforts are fighIng consumer desires to get
their Ime back
SEARCH ALLOWS CONSUMERS FIND ANYTHING THEY
DESIRE
For many, markeIng and adverIsing are no longer needed
So be found, where your consumers are and where relevant.
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING AND MARKETING EFFORTS
ARE NOT TRUSTED
Trust is shaOered, more than ever before
Peers are the most trusted source for company/product info
And adverIsers are the least trusted. OUCH.

SHOULD MY BUSINESS USE SOCIAL MARKETING?
Customer engagement beats “communications”
Economist 2008 survey:
75% of business execuIves think higher levels of customer
engagement will translate into increased profits.
49% think inadequate engagement pracIces are to blame
for up to 25% of lost sales.

Your prospects are increasingly social
Adults having a profile on a social network:
75% of online adults 18‐24
57% of online adults 25‐34
30% of online adults 35‐44
19% of online adults 45‐54
10% of online adults 55‐64
7% of online adults 65+
More than 1/3 of all online adults say they visit a
social site “daily”
Sources: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 12/08

Social marketing is a good thing.
Consumers push for complete transparency
Pure feedback, ofen from brand zealots, drives
quality products that addiIonal consumers want
Social media can be a great customer service
channel
Consumers control the relaIonship, building trust
Consumers drive the content and conversaIon (even
more trust)

SHOULD I BE MARKETING ON FACEBOOK?
YES! Facebook is the #1 social destination
>250MM acIve users
100MM+ log in every day
66%+ are out of college
Fastest‐growing demographic: Women 55+
Younger folks WILL check out a brand presence
62% of millenials visited a brand or fan page
48% of millenials “fanned” or joined
More than 4MM people “fan” a page each day
SOURCES: Facebook 8/09 stats, Pace University 12/08 study

Why are they frequenting business pages?
Gekng news or product updates (67%)
Having access to promoIons (64%)
Viewing or downloading videos/music (41%)
Submikng opinions (36%)
ConnecIng with other consumers (33%)
If your business has prospects on Facebook and they
would find any of the above interes@ng, you should build
a business fan page.
SOURCE: Pace University study, 12/08

But do my older customers use Facebook?
276% GROWTH
INCREASE IN
CONSUMERS
AGED 35‐54
This demographic
is doubling
roughly every two
months
SOURCE: iStrategy Labs Study, 1/09

What’s the difference between a fan page, a
group and a user proJile?
SOURCE: hOp://slideshare.net/jdstar

Free vs. “partner” brand fan pages
Free brand pages can only add a limited number of
applicaIons
Basic photos, videos, events, RSS feed
Not all applicaIons that work on your personal profile
page will work on your business fan page
Businesses can “partner” with Facebook to create
highly‐impacoul brand pages
Typically around $25k‐35k to do a paid partnership
Buys you heavy specialized branding/skinning, a custom URL
Also includes ability to do sponsored stories

Pricey. So what can I put on my free Fan Page?
Event noIces (tradeshows, conferences, specials)
Custom modules/applicaIons
RSS feed from your blog (try “Simply RSS” app)
Videos (product demos, product manager thoughts)
Photos (from events, company meeIngs, new
product shots)
Links (to category‐affecIng legislaIon, helpful info)
Notes (equivalent of mini blog posts)
Music/audio (if it makes sense)

What’s a custom module?
Custom modules will allow you do preOy much
anything you would do on a desInaIon website on
your brand page
They use FBML (a Facebook‐specific variant of
tradiIonal HTML) and require specialized developers
Typical cost: $35k‐$60k

Tips for setting up your page
Do it right the first Kme. The URL, page name and other
data will be set ONCE.
Add (valuable) content oXen.
Switch around the modules to keep things interesIng.
Many apps “say” they can be used on a fan page, but in
reality, can’t. Test applicaIons. Play around. Have fun.
Set aside some $$$ for traffic building if possible
FB Social Ads are targeted and cheap.
Use your own network to drive traffic to your fan page
Ask friends and family to fan you
Give it Kme to work. Keep at it. Post the URL elsewhere.

Should I advertise on Facebook?
Carefully.
Consumers smell self‐interest a mile away. If you
adverIse, Ie in a truly valuable consumer benefit:
coupons, exclusive offers, freebies.
Social Ads
Ads appear in the right sidebar
Approximately 1.2 cents per impression. $50,000 ~ 4.2MM
impressions.
In reality, the most trusted adverIsing comes from
friends interacIng with your fan page, and their
friends seeing noIficaIons of this acIvity

Some great fan page examples
INEXPENSIVE PRESENCE
PCC hOp://www.facebook.com/pages/PCC‐Natural‐
Markets/21378269505
MORE EXPENSIVE
The Economist hOp://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist
Virgin America hOp://www.facebook.com/VirginAmerica
BRITA hOp://www.facebook.com/BritaFilterForGood
PRICEY
Dove hOp://www.facebook.com/dove

More examples

FINAL THOUGHT: “Who’s got time to tend
to all these social media efforts?”
Simply, this is the New MarkeIng!
Think of social markeIng not as an “add‐on”
requiring “extra effort” but as a paradigm change in
the way we do markeIng…a replacement for less
effecIve markeIng channels
Dedicate some of your spend from tradiIonal
channels to the new ones
Example: kill one tradeshow presence and dedicate that
spend to an Online Community Manager headcount

Where can I Jind out more?
Facebook Pages Insiders’ Guide
hOp://www.scribd.com/doc/8718197/Facebook‐Pages‐Insiders‐
Guide
AOend local social media events
Social Media Club SeaOle
SeaOle Net Tuesday
Local impromptu “tweetups”
University of Washington digital media events

Thank you!
ERIC WEAVER
TRIBAL DDB
+1 604 640 4350
hOp://tribalddb.ca
hOp://twiOer.com/weave