Today’s book is Gen Buy – How tweens, teens, and twenty-somethings are revolutionizing retail by Kit Yarrow and Jayne O’Donnell.  If you are running a business that appeals to this Gen Y audience then it contains a lot of great insights into how they tick, what they are looking for, what they want in a brand and how to communicate with them.

Gen Y is the generation that has grown up in the digital age, and that makes this book an important one to read when looking at social media, because they are very active on it and expect a lot from brands.  The book contains eight chapters covering why they buy, why they are different to their parents, shopping, sex and work.

My favourite direct quotes from the book are:

• Today’s consumers won’t be “sold”; they want to be seen, known, and respected – and only those marketers and retailers that invest in relationships through empathy, deep understanding, and insight will prevail.
• What works with Gen Y will increasingly work with all generations – which is why we say they’ve revolutionising retail
• Gen Yers demand an authentic relationship based on a deep knowledge of who they are and what makes them tick (and buy)
• What we buy and have is one of the primary ways that we communicate who we are to others in today’s speedy and more visual society
• Gen Y is seen as the most “self indulgent” generation, Gen X as the most “innovative”, boomers as the most “productive”, and our eldest generation as the most “admired”
• Having never experienced a world without computers, the internet, cell phones, and digital cameras, Gen Yers are free of anxiety and full of playfulness when they interact with the internet and technology of all sorts
• Four characteristics [of Gen Yers] stand out: their confidence; their connectedness to each other, their parents, and the world; their management of an overwhelming array of choices; and their warp-speed living and all that it entails
• Gen Y is a high-speed generation, and as such, compared with older generations, they’re easily bored and highly attuned to the power of visual symbols
• Manufacturers and retailers that want to attract Gen Y need to ramp up technology – constantly.  In stores, on their websites, and by making it mobile and interactive.  If your website stinks, for example, so does your store.
• To appeal to young people, the most important characteristics websites must have are free overnight or second-day shipping….. fast page loads, and zooms of all views
• this generation does not want to be lied to, or to be told what they should want or who they should be.
• Gen Yers aren’t more brand savvy, they’re more media savvy
• one of the more popular means of getting close to Gen Yers is through their interest and their favourite causes
• the products that celebrities pick are the products that consumers want.  First there’s the glow of association that a product receives if it’s also chosen by a celebrity.  Additionally, many consumers believe that an influential person has access to everything, therefore the things she picks must be the best in that category – it’s an assurance of quality and style
• Short attention spans and the quest for stimulation, variety, and attention makes “closet turnover” important – and consequently makes fast fashion a necessity for retailers hoping to get the nod from young women in particular
• shopping helps to create a sense of belong and connection – in other words, community
• many Gen Yers are so connected to their favourite retailers and brands they often feel like they are investing in a relationship, not unlike one they’d have at school or their jobs
• when kids feel close to and familiar with brands, owning them seems only natural
• Gen Y is even more hopeful than previous generations.  They’ve seen the power of technology, and they believe in “new” as better
• Shopping plays a gigantic role in helping Gen Yers connect with each other, learn about and understand themselves and feel more in control of the future.
• Gen Yers – particulary the younger ones – look for community and belonging through brand relationships and the products they share
• Peer reviews on websites help sort through the clutter and are considered more credible than merchant descriptions
• if we’re having a good time or feeling good and stumble across a product in that mood, there’s a rub-off effect on the brand

I think that this book can really give you some insights into how to interact with your gen Y consumers both on and off line, it is worth a read if that is who your customers are.  I know that for my Mocks brand I will now be looking at approaching the interaction slightly differently!

Until next week go and make them laugh!

Today I thought I would have a look and see what hairdressers are up to on Facebook, here are my findings of some great examples of Hairdressers on Facebook to check out.

Cheynes Hairdressers:  One of the best ways to increase sales is to offer your customer exclusive offers!  Cheynes Hairdressing in the UK has done just that, they have created a landing tab which is an exclusive offer for Facebook friends in September.  As a thank you to all of their new and existing Facebook friends and as part of the official launch of their Facebook page, they are offering an exclusive gift of 20% off all our salon services.

Another interesting tab that Cheynes Hairdressing have is the ‘Recommend a friend’ Tab.  You recommend a friend by printing out the voucher on the tab and filling it in, your friend gets 25% off, and when they use the voucher, you will be notified and you will receive £10 off your next visit.  What a great way to keep your customers happy!

Vern Hairdressing:  Vern Hairdressing has made great use of the landing tab on their page, they showcase videos from their global hair show in Las Vegas (which straight away makes them look like they are a big company that travels the world!), it also has other informative videos on their cutting techniques and their new series of scissors that they have bought out etc.  This is the first thing you see when taken to their page, so automatically you can see that they have great experience, their own product line and you can view their cutting styles, all on the one page.

Misel Group – Hairdressing & Beauty:  The Misel Group on Facebook have really made good use of the ‘photos tab’ on their Facebook page.  They have over 25 albums ranging from their spring show to glamour shows, seminars they run, products they stock and their cut and colour styles etc.  This is a great way to show people what they are capable of.

Emma Hemsley Hairdressing:  A blog tab isn’t something that you would normally expect to come across when looking at hairdressing pages on Facebook, however this is a great idea and it was the only page I came across that was using this application.  Emma is engaging her customers by telling them what new products are in the store, the treatments she offers, winners of previous competitions and much much more.

Ella Hairdressing:  A reviews tab has to be of the best tabs that a service based company can have on their page.  Ella Hairdressing has set up the page so that if you’re a ‘non liker’ of the page you are sent straight to her reviews tab.  Here you can see over 26 reviews that her customers have left, and you can leave your own review.  Out of 26 reviews, ALL of them have given her 5 out of 5, therefore she must be good!

William Anthony Hairdressing:  What a great way to utilise being an ‘online savvy’ company.  When you land on the page for William Anthony Hairdressing, you can click on their ‘online booking tab’, this takes you straight through to the website where you can click on ‘category’ i.e. colouring, highlights, gents service, ladies service etc, then ‘service’ which is tinting, cut, blow dry, full head etc, and then the employee who normally does your hair!  You don’t need to pick up the phone or go to the salon, you can do it all with the click of a button.

SUMMARY:

There are some really great ways you can promote your hairdressing business on Facebook, especially if you can get creative and think outside the box.  I found that most companies were using the basic wall, info, photos and discussions tabs, and half of them weren’t even being used.  Creating a landing tab with special offers and also having the ‘online booking’ tabs were the main ones that stood out – people like to be rewarded, and also like to be able to do things without leaving their chair!

If you need help with your Facebook page, let the Chief Rabbit review it for you – only $99 and you will come away with lots of ideas to improve your Facebook page as well as exposing your page to over 4000 people!

As a social Rabbit I get out and about and meet quite a few people, and I find that they are often asking similar questions.  I thought that today I would cover those off and hopefully help a few confused people.

1. How do I know who my 100th/1000th etc. Liker is?
   Click on see all next to the people who like your page when you are on the wall (note this only works for the page admins), the last person who joined the page will be at the top of the list, so just count down (if you need to).
2. How do I get my website address to hyper link in my info box?
   Make sure you put http:// before the www and it will automatically hyperlink
3. Help!!! Facebook have locked my account I can’t get into my page, what can I do?
   This is one of those cases where you need to contact Facebook directly to get them to sort it out for you.  Although for future I recommend ALWAYS having 2 admins on a page so that if one gets locked out you can still access your page.
4. Can you convert a group into a page?
   Quick answer is no.  You need to start a page and then ask the members of your group to move over.
5. How do I add a coupon?
   This depends how you’d like it to be seen.  You can use the FBML tab and add a coupon the same as you would add a welcome tab (instructions are here: http://www.socialrabbit.net/2010/06/how-to-add-a-welcomelanding-tab-to-your-facebook-page).  Alternatively you can use the coupon feature that Wildfire app’s offer but you have to pay for it to run, but it does mean that people can share the coupon with their friends.
6. Where do I go to find someone to build a Facebook app?
   Facebook has a list of preferred developers http://developers.facebook.com/preferreddevelopers who you can contact.  Alternatively if there is an app you have seen that you like and you want to get something similar built you could contact the developer directly.
7. Some companies can flood Facebook and become annoying. How often would you recommend making a post?
   Research shows that you will get the same results if you post daily or weekly, it is all about the quality of what you post.  You need to post consistently, so not 5 times one week and nothing for 3 weeks.  Work out what will work best for you that you can maintain and go with that and make sure each post is adding value to your readers.
8. My info tab only lets us input limited details – is there a way to include products/services rather than just opening times & parking/public transport?
   The information you have to fill in on your info tab depends on the type of page you choose when you set it up.  Unfortunately Facebook hasn’t set up great options for some pages in terms of info.  You will find that in the public transport box you can put as much text as you want, it is best to use that to put information about the business and products.  Once you have your info in there people won’t really see the public transport side heading, they will be reading what you have written.
9. How do I add more tabs to my page?
   Each tab is an application that the page admin has added, just go to www.Facebook.com/applications and find what you’d like to add to your page.
10. How do I add a welcome tab to my page?
    You can do this yourself easily if you have an image, or you can get someone to add it for you.  To do it yourself click to follow my instructions.
11. When I post on a page it always posts as my personal Facebook profile, can I get it to post as my page?
    No, only a person can post on a page, a page can’t post on another page.
12. How do I put the heart symbol in my posts?
    Just type <3 and Facebook will automatically change it into a heart when you post it.
13. Can people see my Facebook page if they don’t have a Facebook account?
    Yes, they can see everything on your page, however they can’t like your page or comment on your page without an account.
14. Do I need a Facebook account to start a page?
    No, you can just click on “create a page” which is under the sign up box when you go to www.Facebook.com
15. I want to change the name of my page how do I do that?
    Unfortunately you can’t at the moment, to change the name you need to delete the page and start again.
16. How many admins can I add to my page?
    As many as you want, although as above I would always recommend having at least 2 admins.
17. How do I add a blog to my Facebook page?
    You can see exactly how to do it on Social Rabbit TV here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZAlq3iRLMg
18. How big can I have my profile picture?
    It can be 180 pixels wide by 540 pixels high.  For ideas on what you could do with it check out the post on making your profile picture exciting.
19. If I set up a Facebook page is it connected to my personal Facebook account?
    Yes in that you use the same login details and that you can access the  page from your personal profile, but NO in that no one knows who the page admins are, and nothing that is posted in your personal profile will appear on the page and vice versa.

If you are still stuck, then check out the Facebook Equestions service from Social Rabbit, you can ask up to 5 questions a month by email for only $25/month.  It saves you lots of time and stress!

What’s working?

• Natural Form has their own Facebook URL http://www.facebook.com/naturalform
• There is a link to the Facebook Page from their website which is great cross promotion

Recommendations Going Forward

• There isn’t an ‘info’ box showing, normally located under the profile picture.  The info box is really important as it can include information about the company, what they do, a link to the external website/s and keywords so that they can easily be found through Google and SEO etc.  To add this in the page admin just needs to write in the box!
• There is no landing or welcome tab for the page, currently non-likers are landing on the wall of the page which doesn’t really tell them anything.  They could have a landing tab that includes what products they have on offer and why visitors should like the page.  You can easily create a landing tab for your page with NO coding experience needed.  Research shows that people are twice as likely to ‘like’ a page if there is a welcome/landing tab.
• The discussions tab and the reviews tab are both not being used at all; they should either be active or be deleted.  In regards to the reviews tab you can always ask the customers to review the products (and perhaps give them a discount on their next order if they do) or delete the tab as at the moment it makes it look like there is nothing good to say.
• There is a promotions tab that is also there however not being utilised, this either needs to be used or deleted.  Empty tab disappoint people!
• When you land on the wall, you only see posts from ‘Natural Form’ and no-one else, it’s really a good idea to change the settings so that when people land on the wall they see posts from everyone including customers.  People might be saying amazing things about the company, yet no-one else can see this unless they change the view.  To change the settings you need to click on ‘edit page’, ‘wall settings’, ‘default view for wall posts’ and change this to ‘all posts’.
• There is no information on the ‘info tab’ about what the company does.  The company overview has the postal address and that’s it!  They also only list two products they have available, however looking at their website they have a massive range.  The page is missing out on a huge opportunity in terms of SEO, but also in just giving information to fans, such as what products are sold.
• Also the info tab they can add in their Twitter account details in with the website to encourage people to joint hem on Twitter.
• The contact number for the company isn’t anywhere on the Facebook page either, this should be added to either the info box or info tab, as well as a contact email address.  You need to make it as easy as possible for people to contact you.
• The photos tab contains just the logo, this tab can be used to showcase their products, perhaps set up different albums for either ‘categories’ or ‘brands’ like they have on their website.  It’s also a good idea to make sure that the photos hyperlink back to the website or the Facebook ‘shop tab’ as well so that if people are interested, they can purchase right away.
• The boxes tab is showing on the page, however this is supposed to be discontinued by Facebook any day, so the information on this a) needs to be added (as it is currently empty) and b) moved to a tab
• Natural Form could use a shopping cart application like Vendor on their page to sell their products from the Facebook page using Paypal to generate more sales.
• Look at increasing the size of the profile picture (there is 180×540 pixels high to play with).  They could include images of their products or a small blurb in regards to what they offer etc. At the moment just by looking at the profile picture, it really doesn’t give any indication at all about what the company does.  Remember this can be changed as often as you like, so it can be used as a way to showcase products.
• There needs to be a posting strategy put in place as at the moment it is all over the shop.  There was a post in April and then the next post was in July, they need to make sure that they are posting engaging comments such as questions to make the posts interesting.  It is very important to respond to all comments on the page as well, it encourages people to post more as they know you are listening.  A customer asked a question on the 17^th February in regards to Iron drops that Natural Form had advertised, yet no-one from Natural Form responded – this is the quickest way to lose customers and fans from your page.
• Natural Form has 151 followers on Twitter yet only 69 followers on Facebook, perhaps they need to tweet about their Facebook page.
• There is a section on the Natural Form website where you can sign up for their newsletter, a newsletter sign up tab could be added to the page using the FBML app, to encourage more people to find out about the products on offer and build the database
• Natural Form have a blog on their website, this could easily be linked to their Facebook page using the NetworkedBlogs application, this is a great way to get the word out about your blog to increase your number of readers.  If you need help setting this up check out this blog how to video.

Summary

Overall this page needs a lot of work to get it looking good, setting up a page properly is important – remember first impressions count!  Once they have added in more detail and images they then need to start planning their posting and keep it consistent – that is what is going to drive more people to the page and keep them there.

Let the Chief Rabbit Review Your Page

If you need help with your Facebook page, let the Chief Rabbit review it for you – only $99 and you will come away with lots of ideas to improve your Facebook page as well as exposing your page to over 4000 people!

I often get asked what do I do to make my Facebook Page/LinkedIn profile/YouTube channel etc standout and be interesting.  It all comes back to marketing, remember social media is not a strange species from outer space, but just another way to reach your audience.

Last week I was down in Hobart and visited the Salamanca Markets, there are about 100 stalls there, with a lot selling Tasmanian food.  My favourite stall was a lolly stall which had a pink awning, pink signage inside the stall and the lady serving was in a pink gingham outfit (as per the image left).  There were probably 5 other stalls selling lollies, but this lady had found a way to stand out and be memorable in the customer’s mind.

Social media and online marketing is the same as offline marketing, you just need to use a bit of imagination to stand out, don’t just do what everyone else is doing, instead be different, be a Purple Cow!

I know what you’re thinking, how can I do that with my Facebook page?  no one will see if I am dressed in pink gingham while posting….  Yes true, so I have listed below some suggestions to get you going:

• The profile picture on your Facebook page doesn’t have to be just your logo make it more exciting!  Remember you can change this as often as you want, look at Google, they change their home page image depending on events that are on, the time of year or just because they feel like it, you to can do this.
• Make your Facebook page welcome tab stand out and be attractive to entice people in, and again don’t think it has to stay the same, if you create your own welcome tab then you can change it as often as you like.
• Look at how you can have some fun in your business, for example at Social Rabbit I am The Chief Rabbit and will wear rabbit ears when making my YouTube videos, which really makes me stand out from the crowd, and I get away with it because social media is a fun interactive industry.  Think about what you could do in your business with social media.
• If you use Twitter, choose to do the same thing regularly, if you are a regular on Twitter you probably know that lots of people tweet out #followfriday on Friday’s, which basically gives a shout out to people they think you might be interested in following, why not start your own shout out, for example, if you own a restaurant have fish Friday with fish recipes or tips
• Do something memorable regularly, like posting a funny video on a Friday.  Look at places like YouTube for videos and link to those, become known as the place to watch funny videos and pick up tips on x
• On LinkedIn why not make your summary stand out, write in an amusing way, or add a video that has you telling people about you, remember if you don’t tell them they won’t know.

Standing out from the crowd has two key ingredients:
CONSISTENCY: Be consistent, the reason that people stand out wherever they are whether it is on or off line is because they are consistent, this lady is at the markets every week dressed like this.  I wear my rabbit ears in every video I make.  If you consistently keep being different you will be remembered.
DIFFERENCE: Be different, just because you consistently post on Twitter it doesn’t mean you will stand out, you need to find something that you can do that will make people say “oh yes, I know you you do ….”  That way you will be memorable, not just another face in the crowd.

Everyone can stand out from the crowd it is up to you as to whether you choose to or not!  Will you accept the challenge?

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For those of you who haven’t yet used LinkedIn answers you should!  LinkedIn answers contains 22 different categories of questions that as a LinkedIn member you can ask and answer.  When you ask a question on LinkedIn any one of the 75 million people on LinkedIn can answer it!  Plus you can invite your connections to answer it.  I often meet people who just don’t understand the Answers, or who haven’t tried them – this post is for you!

If you want info on how to answer questions, then check out a previous post I did.  In this post I want to talk to you about why you should be ASKING questions, here are my top 10 reasons,

1. To find out information on your audience
   If you target audience is people in their mid 30s in professional roles, then look no further than LinkedIn.  Ask questions to find out what their thoughts are on certain topics, images or ideas, all while knowing that you will be reaching the right people.
2. To find out what your peers think
   Often it can be hard to get the opinions of people in the same industry as you, as some are reluctant to share information or ideas.  With LinkedIn you can build relationships and ask questions of people in the same industry but a different country or sector.  Off line this can be difficult to facilitate to the level of the number of responses you get with LinkedIn.
3. To research for presentations
   Many a time I have got stuck for information on a topic for a presentation, just because I haven’t found every article on that area, so by asking a question I am tapping into a larger database potentially with people who read different websites to me.  If you don’t want to ask a question for this you can just search the questions that have already been asked and see if someone has asked it before and the answers given.
4. To use as a source of blog post ideas
   I will often ask a question such as “What do you get stuck on with your Facebook page?” The responses I get I use as ideas for my blogs, it saves me having to think of topics, addresses the needs that people have and ultimately is a win-win for everyone!
5. To position yourself as a thought leader
   You don’t have to ask a question as such you can put out an opinion and invite people to comment with their thoughts on it.  By putting out the information you will be seen as a thought leader if the idea is slightly different.
6. To get noticed
   Every time  you ask a question those who you are connected to will be notified in their status updates that you have asked a question, hence, they will be reminded that you exist!
7. To stand out from the crowd
   Yes, there are a lot of questions on LinkedIn, however not everyone asks questions.  Use them as a way to stand out from the average LinkedIn user.  Having said this you need to ask a sensible question, remember this is your reputation on the line.
8. To get opinions outside of your usual network
   Far too often we ask the same friends/colleagues for their opinions or thoughts on ideas, this can mean that you don’t get any “earth shattering” ideas or feedback (depending on your friends etc).  By asking a broader and international network it is likely you will get a different range of ideas.
9. To get a quick response
   Whenever I have used LinkedIn answers I have got about 20-25 responses in 24 hours.  It is a great way to get quick information (particularly if you didn’t get your act together to do it early!).
10. To learn
    The answers you get to your questions can be very diverse, it opens your mind to other possibilities and ideas.

I hope that you can now see how useful this aspect of LinkedIn can be, even if you aren’t a hardcore LinkedIn user you can take advantage of these.  Do you have any other good reasons why we should use LinkedIn answers?  I’d love to hear in the comments below or on the Social Rabbit Facebook Page.

There are 500 million people on Facebook, this makes the site really well optimised for search engines, so you need to make sure you have your info filled it to maximise this.  First up there are two places that you need to fill in information on your page:

1)      The info box, this is under the profile picture

2)      The info tab

In your info box you are limited to 250 characters, however spaces are not counted in this.  The info box needs to contain a brief overview about what your business is and include at least one of your keywords.  Keywords are the words that people use when searching for your business, they are the same as the keywords you have for your website.  If you aren’t sure what your keywords are go to Google, search for the keyword tool and use the tool to find what your top keywords are.

With the info box try to space out the information so that it is easy to read, so you might have two sentences then a line of space then another three.  Also if you want to include your website make sure you include http:// before it so that it hyperlinks (ie when people click on it they go to your site).

For your info tab depending on the type of page you have set up, eg a product, a writer, a local business, a politician etc depends on the fields they give you to fill in on this tab.  Annoyingly a lot the pages have really unrelevant fields, for example “parking”, but no where to fill in details about what your business does.  In this case just ignore that it says parking and just put what you want, as in all honesty if the info you fill in is interesting then people will ignore the name of the field!

In terms of the information you include on your info tab you must include how people can contact you, include AT LEAST one of these:

• Website address
• Phone number
• Email address

You then want to include some text on what your business offers, eg the products and services, what makes your business so fantastic and why people should try you, plus again you want to try and include some of your keywords when you write this text.  Your keywords should not be listed out like a shopping list, but included in the sentences you write.

The reason that it is important to have these information sections filled in is that they are searchable by search engines, so the more relevant the info in them the higher your page will rank in searches, both in Facebook and on places like Google, Bing etc.

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Today I have searched high and low through Facebook to find some examples of Toy companies with great Facebook pages.  If you have your very own Toy Company or even if you don’t here are a few ideas of what you can do on your Facebook page to engage your visitors!

ToysRUs
The first example I want to show you is the ToysRus Facebook Front Page.  It is a great example of how to interact with your community and keep them coming back to your page. ToysRus hold a Featured Fan competition every week (this week it is a cute little girl called Zailey, her photo is on their front page).  Each week you vote for your favourite pictures and at the same time submit pictures of your own kids!  Every Monday the photo with the most votes will be featured as their profile picture.

Another good example from ToysRus Facebook page is their ‘Polls’ Tab. Everyone can answer questions to different polls regarding products that they might stock, or who is your favourite superhero etc. Polls are both entertaining (e.g. name your favourite super hero) and informative (e.g. what year did Nintendo come out in the US?

These kinds of questions address different target audiences.  Adults can try answering Trivia questions whereas kids are more likely to talk about their favourite toys.  This is a great marketing tool for ToysRus.

Barbie
The Barbie page has around 450 thousand followers which is great and some interesting features to examine also.  All of the Facebook posts are done as if Barbie is actually talking herself to her fans. One day she cleans the house, the other she talks about her favourite movie and asks her followers for their opinions. Definitely a creative way to talk to the audience and keep the young girls and boys interacted!

The side bar is done in very Barbie colours and it shows where you can follow Barbie on YouTube and also Twitter.  It’s is a controversial sidebar as once you choose to flip the pen, Kent appears topless. However I guess every gal loves Barbie regardless of age.

Monopoly
Monopoly has gone further than just using pre-designed tabs that Facebook offers. They have created their very own ‘What would you do if Monopoly money became real’ Tab!  Monopoly’s 75th Birthday is a big event for them where they promise to turn monopoly money into real money.  They ask you to write in and tell them in 75 words or less what you would do with the money, this is a fantastic  Idea to draw your customer’s to something new and to participate and interact on their page!

Leapfrog
Leapfrogs page is similar to the Monopoly page as they are both using their tabs in creative ways.   Under the explorer tab, Leapfrog will feature new products with videos on how to use them, information on the products and lastly what’s great about the product.   They also allow their fans to leave comments on this tab and tell them what they think about the new product.  This is a great way to increase customer’s awareness about the products, to advertise it and to find out their consumers’ needs.

TP Toys
One of the best ways to generate sales and obtain more clients is to advertise through a  newsletter.  TP Toys has done just that by creating a ‘Join the Muddy Puddles Mailing List’ or ‘Join the TP Toys Mailing List’ Tab on their Facebook page.  When you land on the tab all you need to do is enter your email address and you will automatically be added to their database where you will receive special offers, discounts and in–store news.

Growing Tree Toys
Growing Tree Toys have made the most of enticing their customers into ‘liking’ their page. They have set up a landing tab that gives you $10 off your next order if you ‘like’ the page.  They’ve also set it up so that you can invite your friends to ‘like’ the page as well and they will also get a $10 discount off their next order, it even automatically lists all of your own friends from facebook under the heading, so that you don’t have to click away from the tab.  Freebies and discounts are the perfect thing to entice people to join your page!

Duncan Toys
One of the best ways to show off all of the products you have on offer is with a catalogue, Duncan Toys were one of the only Toy companies I came across that actually had their toy catalogue on their Facebook page available to download.  They have set it up so that when you click on the catalogue it downloads it and opens as a PDF file, what they could do however is create the catalogue online through Facebook, so that you can click through each page as fast or as slow as you like, zoom in, zoom out and event print a copy if you like – without having to go to an external site!

There are lots of examples from the Toy industry on Facebook that you could adapt and use on your page and these are just a select few.  Having competitions, polls and adding a catalogue to your page is definitely a way to keep the younger ones interested and active on your page!  Next week we will be reviewing the hairdressing industry.

Tweetdeck is a great tool to use for your social media, but how do you use it?  Recently I got my brother into Tweetdeck, I thought it was quite self explanatory how to to use it, but he had to call for advice, which made me think – what a good blog post!

Tweetdeck is not just for Twitter, you can use it for your Facebook personal profile, your Facebook Page and your LinkedIn profile.  It is an application that you download onto your desktop (PC or MAC) or onto your iPhone, but it does need the internet to update.  Below is an image of what mine looks like.

Here I have listed 12 ways to use it to make your life easier, simpler and more carefree (well ok, maybe not carefree…)

1. You can add different columns to your deck (click on the + next to the Tweetdeck logo at the top), you choose what you add but in my opinion the must-haves are:
   - All friends you are following
   - Mentions of your twitter name
   - Direct Messages sent to your twitter name
   I also add columns for hashtags of events I am following, for research I am doing and my Facebook newsfeed
2. You can add in all your Twitter, Facebook personal, Facebook Page and LinkedIn accounts (click on the “spanner” at the top right), which means that you  can then send updates from all or any number of accounts at once!
3. Tweetdeck automatically shortens any URLs you put in the “what’s happening” box, so saves you having to go elsewhere to do this.  You can also set it to use a certain program to do this if you want to, just click on the “spanner” in the top right
4. You can add images/video directly into your messages from Tweetdeck you just have to find them on your computer and it does the rest
5. You can schedule your updates, just type in what you want to say and click on the time bomb button (next to send) and choose when you want it to go, then click on send and it will schedule to go at that time
6. There is a cloud button that you can click on in each column to see what is the most popular in that column, the results appear as a word cloud – the larger the word the more popular it is
7. You can easily retweet messages by clicking on the arrow that appears on the person’s Twitter picture that first sent it
8. You an easily reply to mentions that people post about you (ie when your twitter name is in a tweet) again click on the arrow that appears on that person’s Twitter picture
9. You can DM (or direct message) people from Tweetdeck and see the message you sent appear in your direct messages column, either type D Twitter name or click on the envelop that appears when you mouse over their Twitter picture
10. You can have it set up to alert you with an image and/or sound when new messages appear in any of your feeds.  This can be good, but can get annoying depending on how many people you are following
11. You can set it up so that it does an auto complete for Twitter usernames, saves you time, again just click on the spanner
12. Finally you can actually change the colour (just click on the “spanner”) if black is not your thing so that it is more aesthetically pleasing for you

Hopefully for all you none Tweekdeck users you are now going to give this a go and see the results for yourself, my brother has a massive 2 followers on Twitter, but is still finding it useful to have columns for topics he is interested in, rather than having to look them up each time.  Plus it is easy to see when you have been retweeted.

If you give it a go and have any questions let me know in the comments below or on the Social Rabbit Facebook page.

Today’s Facebook page review for Facebook Friday is the Secrets of Sydney Walking Tours page, the business offers ‘walking tours with a twist’ based in Sydney, NSW.

What’s happening on the Page now

• 76 people like the page
• The page has been going since March 2010

What’s working:

• The profile picture stands out and explains clearly what the business does, however they could utilise the space (180 x 540) a little better if they wanted to.
• The information tab is filled out with all the necessary information in regards to the company and what they offer, they have also included their website and contact email address so that it makes it easier for customers to contact them.

Recommendations Going Forward

• To gain more exposure the link to the external websites should be listed in the info box under the logo.  This needs to be include http:// so that it hyperlinks to the sites.
• They do not have their unique URL set up,  you can get this here: http://www.facebook.com/username/
• There is no landing or welcome tab for the page, currently non-likers are landing on the wall tab which tells them nothing!  They could have a landing tab that includes the walking tours that they have advertised at the moment or any ‘seasonal specials’ etc.
• The phone numbers are not anywhere on the Facebook page, these should be added as well, you need to make it as easy as possible for people to contact you.  The best place for these is on the info tab.
• At the moment the info tab has a testimonial from a customer, which is great to have, however initially looking at this you don’t  know what the company does, the info box really needs to  have  information on the company and products (such as what is on the about us website page), including the keywords that people search on.
• There are over 18 testimonials on their website, so they really need to create a reviews tab to show everyone what a great service they provide, and encourage visitors to write on it
• When you land on the wall, you only see posts from ‘secrets of Sydney’ and no-one else, its really a good idea for the settings to be changed so that you can see posts from everyone including your customers, they might be saying amazing things about you, yet no-one else can see this unless they change their view.  To change your settings you need to click on ‘edit page’, ‘wall settings’, ‘default view for wall posts’ and change this to ‘all posts’.
• While there are lots of posts by the page, there needs to be a posting strategy in place, as there were 5 posts on August 9^th, yet from the 10^th August until the 18^th there weren’t any posts.  Bombarding people with 5 posts in a day is going to turn people off the page.  You need to be consistent with the posting and ensure that you are giving your visitors value with each post.
• The posts that the page admin has put up are also very factual, they don’t really engage people or encourage comment.  Try posting up thing like: True or False xxxx or What reminds you of Sydney more and have a photo of the opera house and bridge.
• There is a Photo’s tab set up, however there are only two albums, one for profile pictures and one other.  It would make sense to split the albums up into the different types of tours that you can do, and then link each photos back to the website, people can click on them and go straight to the site to purchase.  It would also be a good idea to ‘tag’ the people on the tours in the photographs so that this shows up on their friends news feeds and will potentially reach a bigger audience of ‘likers’.
• The discussions tab is not being used at all, it should either be used or be deleted
• On the website they have a downloadable brochure of all their products, they could set up a PDF tab and have this available to download from the Facebook site as well, giving people more opportunity to see the tours they have.
• The Boxes tab is also empty so should be deleted, however as of August 23 Facebook will be automatically removing this tab anyway (however as of today 25/8/10 it is still there…)
• A newsletter sign up tab could be added to the page using the FBML app, to encourage more people to find out about the walking tours on offer and build their database, currently they don’t have a newsletter sign up on the website, however using free web based software such as Mail Chimp they could start this.
• Half way down the info Tab is the only place I found that tells you what tours they have on offer, I would suggest setting up a ‘Tours’ tab with the static FBML application (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878&v=wall&ref=ts) and include the different types of tours they have available, and what they involve, each tour image could then click through to the details on the website.
• On their website there is a section where you can enter your booking details and someone will contact you regarding confirmation and payment, they could set up a ‘Store’ on Facebook and sell the tours directly using PayPal
• Secrets of Sydney could create an events tab which lists all of the walking tours that are coming up and the dates etc, this makes it easier to find as at the moment you have to go to their website to find out more information. Having everything in one spot is easier for people to access
• Including a ‘likers only’ tab and offering customers who ‘like’ the page special offers and discounts off their next order via Facebook or the website will encourage more people to like the page and hopefully increase sales.
• Video could also be utilised on the page, with short snippets of what you see on the tours, or tour guides talking about their favourite parts of Sydney to give people a favour of what they can expect.
• Tips could be posted up each week about a different secret place in Sydney, which would give people more reason to visit the page, plus you could encourage them to post up their tips
• They could post up pictures on the page of places around Sydney but from a strange angle and engage people by getting them to guess the place.

Summary

Overall this page could very easily be turned into a fantastic place to visit and engage people.  Visitors and residents alike love Sydney, Secrets of Sydney need to turn that passion into exciting words and visuals to get visitors talking on the page.  There is so much information that Secrets of Sydney can convey to people through the page, especially when you look at pages such as I love Sydney that has 128,000 people liking it, there is huge potential for this business.

If you need help with your Facebook page, let the Chief Rabbit review it for you – only $99 and you will come away with lots of ideas to improve your Facebook page as well as exposing your page to over 4000 people!