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Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’

September4

In Defense of Facebook’s “Stalking Button”

By: David Rosen

I don’t know what Mashable and Valleywag are getting so freaked out about, but the so-called “Stalking Button” that Facebook is testing seems to be a pretty innocuous add-on to existing news streams. I’d be shocked if Facebook’s privacy controls weren’t added to this button, and for all the flack they’ve taken on the issue of late, it would be out of character to suddenly open this privacy loophole.

No, what’s really interesting is the terminology Facebook’s using with this button. As you can see in the screenshot, there’s an option to “Subscribe to Allison” (fill in your own name, of course). In the B2B world we’ve been saying for a while that companies and their executives need to start thinking of themselves as the publishers they are. Whether it’s writing original content or expressing their point of view by curating other people’s, scattershot word-of-mouth is now a continuous streaming feed. So yes, people will want to subscribe to…us.

Sounds less slavish than Twitter’s “Followers” at least.

As to whether the subscription allows for the full “us” of our updates, or to types of updates (new pictures, parties we’re attending, relationship status change), who cares? With the privacy controls maintained, this enhancement makes it easier for publishers to meet their subscriber’s needs. Think of it as the mass customization of shared life moments.

I welcome this feature and hope it comes soon to networks like LinkedIn. It would allow customers to subscribe to different streams of an executive’s thought leadership, for example. Or to just know what events they’re speaking at. Taking it further, how about a geographic overlay that alerts you when an expert on a certain topic will be in town — or in the same city you’re about to travel to.

At the least, Facebook’s rollout of the button will help B2B pros recognize their roles as publishers and speed adoption of social further.

So who wants to take bets that at some point you’ll be able to charge for Facebook-based subscription? Bonus points for guessing the cut Facebook takes.

Rating: 4.0/5 (1 vote cast)

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June2

GE: SocialMagination at Work: How Wind Blade Tour Hits all the Right Marketing Buttons

By: David Rosen

We’ve all seen the Ecomagination commercials, but have you been sucked down into their social media funnel? I just was, and it’s a textbook case for how to not just integrate social into your marketing effort, but use its unique properties to do something wholly new and very effective.

It started when I saw GE’s 15-story wind turbine blade at the American Wind Energy Association conference last week. This beauty requires a special truck to drive it around, and as I learned from the signage, it’s touring the country on a “Capture the Wind” tour.

There are thousands of signatures on the blade, turning the 1.5 megawatt beast it into a unique petition for the support of wind power. And right below it? “Facebook.com/ecomagination.” I checked it out and found three lessons every B2B marketer can learn from.

1. Make yourself part of a larger cause: Sure GE’s trying to make money, but they aligned themselves with a goal that’s widely shared with others. Diplomats do this all the time. They find an issue where everyone can agree and use it as a starting point to build relationships and trust. This is one of the most important elements about social media that companies miss. Sure, you can have a blog, YouTube channel or Facebook page, but using it to organize an action yields far larger ROI. I guarantee that whatever product or service your company sells, it’s making the world a more efficient, enjoyable, and somehow better place. Use that element as your own flash point to start an online community.

2. Build an integrated marketing funnel: At the top of GE’s is the blade in the physical world in front of a wind power conference. It was an irresistible draw for myself and the other attendees to touch. Below that was the banner for the Facebook page. Making the blade a petition tells you there’s some larger cause, some larger meaning that you can find out more about by going to the URL.

Once at the FB page, you absorb some key messages: “the right policies will play in delivering a clean energy future…transform how we live and work…urging America’s leaders to support energy policies that make this vision a reality.” Then you see several ways to take action: an online petition to sign, events you can attend (Note how many of the stops on the tour are B2B wind conferences) and resources to learn more, like National Geographic’s site on wind power (tip of the hat for pointing to an authoritative source that the public loves) and GE’s own materials.

3. Made community a conversion point: Usually when we say conversion, it means a sale. But with social media, an important type of conversion to add to every marketer’s playbook is joining the company’s community. That can be Like-ing a Facebook page, following on Twitter, or just signing up for email alerts. View the community as an asset class, like human capital or reputational capital, that can be tapped when needed to spread information for SEO value, lobby Congress, smooth the way through community approval processes for new wind turbines, or provide support when the company makes a mistake.