Facebook has launched a new structure for global brands, using a new feature called Facebook Global Pages. This new feature allows for one global Facebook page to track insights and metrics across all of its pages. And thereby, have the opportunity to understand fan behavior in one single place and for each page.
Also as part of this change, Facebook offers users a better localized experience, while letting the brand maintain its global presence. Users will automatically be redirected to the most relevant brand page, based on their geographic location, and brands will be able to link to the main global page with a single vanity URL.
The purpose of the POV below is to:
1. discuss the implications of Facebook’s Global Page feature for brands,
2. provide strategies for how brands can leverage this new feature, and
3. provide suggestions in light of this announcement to make content management for Facebook more effective.
2. 2 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
Table of Contents
POV: Facebook Global Pages 3
How does Global Pages affect the functionality of the other pages? 4
Facebook’s Global Pages feature allows a brand to communicate
to its customers globally, as well as locally. 5
Why should a brand take advantage of this new feature? 7
How are brands activating Global Pages? 8
Frequently Asked Questions 9
About Social@Ogilvy 11
3. 3 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
POV: Facebook
Global Pages
Summary
Facebook has launched a new structure for
global brands, using a new feature called
Facebook Global Pages. This new feature
allows for one global Facebook page to
track insights and metrics across all of its
pages. And thereby, have the opportunity to
understand fan behavior in one single place
and for each page.
Also as part of this change, Facebook offers
users a better localized experience, while
letting the brand maintain its global presence.
Users will automatically be redirected to the
most relevant brand page, based on their
geographic location, and brands will be able
to link to the main global page with a single
vanity URL.
The purpose of this POV is to:
1 discuss the implications of Facebook’s Global Page feature for brands,
2 provide strategies for how brands can leverage this new feature, and
3 provide suggestions in light of this announcement to make content
management for Facebook more effective.
4. How does my main brand page work?
There will be one main global page as the default
experience just like you are currently used to – local
fans will be directed to a bespoke local experience, when
created by the brand. Based on the brand’s organizational
structure and communication strategy, it will be important
to ensure that the default global experience is the main
hub of interaction, while other key markets have their own
versions as needed.
How will the local page experience
differ from the global page?
Each local page will have its own Timeline, cover photo,
profile picture, insights, and apps that can be attached to
it in addition to what already exists from the global page.
Local pages can be created for both single countries or
entire regions.
Will my fans hear global brand page
or local brand page?
Either, it is the brand’s preference. A fan will always hear
from a local or global page, not from both. All fans will
“Like” the same brand globally, but fans in regions that
have local pages will potentially receive targeted local
updates from these as well, depending on the local/
regional communication strategy.
4 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
How does Global Pages
affect the functionality of the
other pages?
5. 5 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
How does my brand utilize
this change if I currently have
multiple local pages?
Take inventory of your current localized pages,
and create any additional pages for your major
markets. Map out which countries should be
assigned to each regional page, and record
it in the global pages Excel file provided by
your Facebook representative. Be sure to sync
with your global team ahead of time, so that
they’re aware of the upcoming changes. Add
pages to the Global Pages structure one at a
time, to get comfortable with the process. If
your brand only has a single global brand
page, they have to create local pages for key
markets, to allow for better targeting and
engagement.
How will my fans
see posts now?
Brands have two options that are not mutually
exclusive with how posts will be displayed:
1 After moving to the new Global Pages
framework, Facebook will migrate all fans
to the best local Pages for them. Users
will always hear from the best market for
them.
2 If you want users to stay mapped to their
existing Pages the users will continue to
hear from whichever Page they liked most
recently (but this is not a recommended
strategy).
Facebook’s Global Pages feature
allows a brand to communicate
to its customers globally,
as well as locally.
6. 6 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
What will happen to Facebook
Insights after the transition?
Both global and local pages will have their own
set of Insights, measuring the demographics
and activity levels of their associated
audiences. For example, a local page will
only be able to show Insights about fans who
are subscribed to that page. The global page,
however, will have aggregated insights about
fans across all brand pages.
Can admins see country-specific
Facebook Insights for the main
global page?
Not yet. Facebook recommends building a
separate page for every country/region for
which brands want Insights. For example,
if a brand wants US-specific Insights, we
recommend creating a US-specific region
page. For each page created, there will be an
additional need to manage the conversation
with the local audience.
Do global page admins have
access to each local page?
No. There will be no special super-admin
permissions granted with global pages. If
admins would like permission to a particular
page in the brand page family, they’ll have
to request it from the current admins of that
page.
Can admins ban a user from
posting on all of its pages?
Banning a user from a local page or the global
page will only ban them from that particular
page. In order to ban a user from posting on
all pages, brands will have to manually ban
them from each of their pages. Alternatively,
brands can work with a third-party developer
to auto-ban a user from all of its local pages.
7. 7 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
F
acebook’s Global Pages allows a brand to convey
a cohesive global message, while maintaining
country-specific versions for product/communication
differences that vary by market.
Brands can consolidate multiple countries to a single
regional page for efficiency in management, based on
division of responsibility:
Why should a brand take
advantage of this new feature?
Through this new feature, brands will be able to compare performance and share learnings
from local markets across the globe to raise the knowledge of its global enterprise:
8. 8 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
Are there any examples of
other brands that have already
adopted Global Pages?
Yes, in Facebook’s announcement, they
specifically referred to the following
Facebook pages: Unilever’s Dove, Disney’s
Frankenweenie, IHG’s Holiday Inn, and
Nestle’s Kit Kat.
Can you show me what it looks
like when one of the brands
activated the new Global Pages
feature?
Nestle’s Kit Kat team has adopted Global
Pages. The verbatim below displays Kit Kat’s
global Facebook page. If the user visits Kit
Kat’s page from another location, say, from the
United Kingdom, then users would be directed
to the default landing page for Kit Kat’s United
Kingdom page.
How are brands
activating Global Pages?
9. 9 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
How does my brand use the
global brand page effectively?
To effectively use the global brand page
feature, it is recommended that your brand
develops a regional content strategy to deliver
the most relevant content to the right people,
while still remaining cost-effective. Doing so
will help you ensure your brand is delivering
the most relevant and targeted message to
an audience member, which will increase
engagement for each post.
How does my brand determine
whether to combine countries
for a regional page, or maintain
existing individualized country
pages?
In order to determine whether countries
should be combined for a regional page,
it’s important to evaluate key factors, such
as how the audience for each of your pages
varies, whether or not there are similarities
in language, demographics, content types
typically shared on each page, as well as
parameters of your business. Lastly, it’s
important to analyze the overall performance
of the page, to pinpoint any common trends in
engagement and interactions and to determine
whether or not combining pages into regional
pages is the most effective strategy for your
brand.
How involved is the strategy and
planning for launching a global
brand page for my brand?
The time involved in developing a strategy to
launch a global brand page depends on the
scale of your brand’s existing global presence,
and how quickly your brand wants to be in-
market with this new feature. Depending on
how your brand wants to adopt regional or
local pages, the planning time will vary.
Frequently
Asked Questions
10. 10 HOW THE FACEBOOK GLOBAL PAGES INNOVATION AFFECTS BRANDS
NOVEMBER, 2012
If my brand wants to implement
this new feature and we are
using a CMS tool like Buddy
Media, how does this affect us?
John Bell, Global Managing Director, Social@
Ogilvy spoke to Buddy Media about Global
Pages. Here’s what they had to say:
“This doesn’t really affect us. While there
are no more roll-up pages, it’s really not
needed anymore. Could be something smaller
brands are still interested in doing, if they
don’t have the resources for a full network of
country pages, but for big brands, it is not a
good option. Our solution for that was more
of a workaround for FB’s shortcomings than
anything else. One timeline and one set of
insights was never a recommended solution.
But now, brands can use the new FB native
capes [capabilities] to have a single URL/
page name with a redirect, consolidated fan
base. There is a ton of value in managing all
separate country pages in one place via our
tools. Category tabs, seeded posts, unified
analytics, better permissions, work flow
management, other networks, and the other
standard benefits by using a platform.”
I want to get started today.
What do I do?
The Social@Ogilvy team can set up time
to walk through this new feature as well
as discuss its implications for your brand.
Contact your Ogilvy partner representative for
additional details.
11. About Social@Ogilvy
S
ocial@Ogilvy is the largest social media marketing communications
network in the world. Named 2011 Global Digital/Social
Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report, the practice
leverages social media expertise across all Ogilvy Mather disciplines,
offering an extensive list of services within the foundational business
solutions – Listening and Analytics; Social Business Solutions; Social
Media Marketing and Communications; Social Shopping; Social CRM;
Social Care; and Conversation Impact.
For more information, visit social.ogilvy.com and connect with
us at www.facebook.com/socialogilvy, www.twitter.com/
socialogilvy, www.slideshare.com/socialogilvy.
Contact: dan.schreibstein@ogilvy.com and john.bell@ogilvy.com