More and more businesses seem to suddenly want Facebook pages, but my first question when asked to get a company started on Facebook is: “Why not a blog, first?” The answer usually is a combination of: they didn’t think about it; they don’t know how to do it; everyone’s talking “Facebook”; and a blog seems too hard. Those concerns are all valid.
Why a Blog before Facebook?
It’s like putting the cart before the horse. Blogs are the work horses of Internet communications. They are the definition of dynamic content and conversation starters.
Facebook needs to be continually fed with information about a company, events, interesting social tidbits, whatever. A Facebook page is not static, but the fact that a Facebook business presence is called a “page” implies a false sense of security that it’s more like a website and can be built by someone else and then left alone.
I maintain that if you can’t think of enough material to blog; or if you don’t have enough to say about your industry, topic, company or product to blog, then you probably don’t have enough “toys” to engage on the Facebook playground either.
Facebook somewhat misrepresents itself as having blogging capabilities through the Notes function. Considered by some as Blogging “Lite,” Notes do allow for longer posts and can be a way to get started in blogging, but they really are not blogs. I will admit, however, that they can be a way to get people started down the road to blog-ville. So if a company is going down the Facebook road first, make sure to consider the Notes function as a first blog.
Without a doubt, blogs are the major content driver in the social media world. Links on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter generally go back to blogs, the content engines of most conversations. You could start a Facebook page and link to other people’s blogs or content, but then ask yourself what is your reason for being on Facebook in the first place? If it’s to find customers and engage with prospects, what are you achieving by not having your own material for a so-called social media sales call?
Premise Three on social media is don’t sell, but let’s be honest — businesses go on Facebook to find customers and even if the “call” is extremely soft and subtle, it’s still a sales foot in the door. Therefore, if you can’t blog, what’s your pitch when the door opens? See all the great stuff I don’t have to talk about?
My advice is go back to Premise One. - Content is King. And why is that? Because the social media world is foremost about Communication. Blogs are the King’s Throne – a chit chat playground.
So if Premise One is “Content s King” and Premise Three is” Don’t Sell,” what’s Premise Two? That’s “Relationships” and a topic for another day.
Rhona,
I agree with most of what you say, however, the third premise, not to sell on social media, seems to be going by the wayside more and more these days — esp on Facebook and Twitter — and studies show that many users do not mind being sold to on these platforms. Hence, certain companies have more than one page — some are soft sell and others make a clear sales pitch. The user can then decide how they choose to engage with the brand.
Even so, you’re right about a company needing its own material for the sales call. Social media does not negate the fundamentals of marketing, it only adds to them.
Deni – Thanks for the feedback. It’s true that day by day more people are selling on social media and if it’s a soft sell preceded by content, I think it can fly. But the more businesses negate the intent, the faster a new medium will pop up and readers will flock to it to get away from the incessant ads. Would be interested in an example of a company with more than one page that you feel needs both pages and is using them effectively.
Rhona, I struggle with the “sell” question all the time. When I post a new blog I promote it on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook but I try to do it with restraint. That means one mention each on LinkedIn and Facebook and a sprinkling of posts (3-6) on Twitter between my RT’s, replys and links to “interesting” stuff over a couple days.
It seems to work. My numbers continue to rise, I’m getting some RT’s and no one (yet) has blasted me as a spammer.
Steve: I don’t consider cross-linking as selling. To me, that’s making people aware of content, especially if it links back to content that provides value in information. It’s a line in the sand, but I think the distinction is there. Selling, to me, is companies putting coupons on Twitter (found effective for local pizzerias, so OK because in the purest sense it provides value) and selling services directly on Facebook. I think its more egregious on Facebook and will ultimately drive the kids and then the rest of the later adopter audiences to a new, yet-undiscovered medium. Until businesses understand that interruptive advertising doesn’t belong on social media, they will continue to throw money and relationships away.
I read the comment of a person I know on the topic of blogging. It was at a forum that has to do with automobiles, so we’ll cut him some slack.
Anyway, he described blogging as being kind of “last year” and that Twitter and Facebook were the place to be. I, of course, gave my own opinion on this and it was to the effect that: “blogging as a type of new media simply wasn’t really newsworthy anymore, that it had gone main-stream, that now business people and professionals were increasingly entering the blogosphere.”
I did stick up for Facebook and Twitter, too.
I had recently purchased ads on Facebook for The Bloggers Bulletin and saw how the information FB had on its user-base enabled very demographically precise ad targeting. So I said to the effect: “Facebook has a good thing going and, if it goes public, I think it will operate as a fairly successful, sizable business (provided users don’t get scared off with how their information is utilized).”
With Twitter my comments were similarly positive as with FB, but with a couple of reservations.
Oddly enough, Twitter and Facebook are starting to strike me as maybe gateway formats that ultimately lead businesses/professionals to create blogs.
So, maybe the way to go, Rhona, is to give your clients the Facebook and Twitter pages, let 6 months go by, then say: “ok, you guys have been doing a lot of microblogging and appear to have warmed up to the idea of posting online. How about you broaden what you’ve been doing with your microblogging posts and lets start you on a full-fledged blog?”
You’re right, Chris, probably the best way to get a company blogging is to back them into it. Unfortunately, it is the back door way to go. Best would be to get them blogging and then introduce Facebook and Twitter as means for marketing the blog. One is a content play. the other two are promotional outreach plays.
The way I figure it is that if you set them up with Facebook and Twitter pages/accounts, they’ll get the drift before too long that they really need to set up a blog with some serious posts to give themselves something to refer their friends and followers to. I agree that, technically, blogging is about content and Twitter/Facebook are promotional. But, your clients might not know that and right now just want to be able to say: “hey we have Twitter account and Facebook page so we’re par for what we hear is the marketing course going in to 2010.” Of course, I am saying all this without any idea of who you’re dealing with and you are probably reading them right on anyhow.
No, you’re right. Clients want in on Facebook because “everyone’s talking Facebook,” so it’s par for the marketing course. But the danger is that you set them up with a Twitter account and it goes dormant because they realize they have nothing to say. The same happens, frequently, with blogs. People think they have a lot to say and are amazed at how quickly they run out of material. Sustainability is the name of the game.
As a lawyer, I would like to see the firm create the blog first and make sure that we have something to say consistently day in and day out before we start trying to drive too much traffic to it using Facebook or Twitter.
Nils, a daily blog (as you know) is a big commitment. If I may, I’d suggest you only post once a week. That is all that’s needed to lure the search engines and may be enough for y’all to test your skills and commitment level.
The most successful law blogs are called “blawgs.’ Most that I’ve seen are compiled blogs meaning that several lawyers in the practice provide copy similar to how The Blogger’s Bulletin is structured. I agree with Steve that once a week is more than enough for a start and to maintain a “professional” presence. For a law firm, a blog is really an e-newsletter and doesn’t need to come out more than weekly, but should come out at least weekly.
In one law firm I’m working with, the senior partner is assigning the blog writing as part of the lawyers performance goals. For reference check out these links:
http://digitalHHR.com
http://www.blawg.com/
and the New York Employment Attorney blog (find it through Google)
and the directory on legal blogs:
http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/library/the-top-100-law-and-lawyer-blogs.html