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Inside Facebook

The Like Button Style Guide: How to Pick the Design That’s Right for Your Website

Posted: 22 Mar 2011 01:01 PM PDT

Facebook Marketing Bible

The following is an excerpt from the Facebook Marketing Bible, the comprehensive guide to marketing your company, app, brand, or website using Facebook. The full version of this article, available through a Facebook Marketing Bible subscription, includes a guide to choosing whether to use the verb “Like” or “Recommend” in your button, what button color scheme will match best with your site, advantages and disadvantages of showing users the faces of friends who’ve clicked a Like button, and exactly what signals are summed to determine the Like count that a button displays.

This is the first installment in a three part series detailing how to use the Like button. Subsequent installments will cover how to choose the Open Graph meta tags that will give your Like buttons the ability to publish news feed stories to users, and strategies for implementing Like buttons on a variety of sites ranging from news publishers to brand websites to social games.

The Like button is an embeddable plugin for third-party websites and Facebook apps. When clicked by a Facebook user, it publishes the piece of content the button is attached to to the user’s wall and the news feeds of their friends. In many cases it also causes the Liked object to appear in the user’s profile and allows the owner of the button to publish news feed updates to the user in the future.

Facebook offers several different implementations of its Like button social plugin. Here we’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different stylistic options, and provide a guide for choosing the Like button implementation that will drive the most clicks and thereby generate the most referral traffic for your website.

Like Button Creation and Implementation Steps

To create and install a Like Button:

  1. Visit the Like button documentation page
  2. Input the URL of the website page or piece of content you want the Like button to represent
  3. Use the configurator in Step 1 to choose style options for your Like button
  4. Click the “Get Code” button
  5. Copy the iframe or XFMBL code
  6. Paste the code into your website’s code
  7. Return to the Like button documentation page
  8. Use the configurator in Step 2 to select Open Graph tags in order to describe the website page or piece of content your Like button represents
  9. Click the “Get Tags” button
  10. Copy the tag codes
  11. Paste the tag codes into the <head> of your website

Like Button Options

URL to Like: Use the URL of the entity you want the Like button to represent. You can embed the button on multiple website pages, such a both a ecommerce product page and a directory of products. However, his URL should the one dedicated to what the button represents, such as the product page.

Layout Style: This determines the size and amount of social context that appears next to the button. There are three options

  • Standard – displays social text to the right of the button and the profile pictures of friends below of applicable. Minimum width: 225 pixels. Default width: 450 pixels. Height: 35 pixels (without photos) or 80 pixels (with photos). The widest, and all around largest Like button, and the only one that can display the names and faces of a user’s friends who have already clicked. Best for sites with ample empty space, or which dynamically resize, such as blogs. Its large size makes it especially noticeable, and the faces of friends creates a compelling personal social recommendation to click. For most sites that have space for this button, this is the best layout option.

 

  • button_count - displays the total number of likes to the right of the button. Minimum width: 90 pixels. Default width: 90 pixels. Height: 20 pixels. The shortest and all round smallest Like button. Best for sites displaying large quantities of Like buttons on a single page, or that are trying to integrate the button into a short header of a news article. With no protruding elements, it is the most elegant Like button, and is therefore the best choice for those trying to minimize Facebook’s presence or impact on their site’s design.

  • box_count - Displays the total number of likes above the button. Minimum width: 55 pixels. Default width: 55 pixels. Height: 65 pixels. The narrowest Like button. Best for sites displaying multiple social media sharing buttons side by side. It depicts the total Like count more prominently than other layouts, and is therefore good for sites that receive a lot of LIkes. It is also good for niche sites as it provides the most compelling social recommendation that doesn’t require a user’s friends to have clicked, as the Likes of non-friends are displayed prominently in the count.


    • Access the full Like button style guide including tips for choosing between Like and Recommend terminology, pros and cons of showing the faces of friends who’ve clicked the button, and more marketing best practices at the Facebook Marketing Bible, Inside Network's industry leading resource for marketing and advertising on Facebook.

    Facebook Tests “Related Adverts” That Target Based On Status Update and Wall Post Content

    Posted: 22 Mar 2011 12:44 PM PDT

    Facebook is testing a new type of ad unit called “Related Adverts” that that targets users based on the words they use in their status updates and wall posts, the company has confirmed with us. Though currently only appearing to a very small audience, if this service became publicly available it could create a wealth of new targeting options for advertisers on Facebook.

    A new sidebar module called “Related Stories” that shows relevant posts from friends based on the content of a user’s wall posts has also been introduced. This module, though not connected to “Related adverts,” could suggest compelling content for users to discuss with their friends.

    Currently, Facebook’s self-serve ad tool only allows advertisers to target based on demographic characteristics, such as their age, gender, education level and the Pages that they Like. Advertisers have not been able to create their own ads targeted based on the words users write in their status updates or wall posts.

    Facebook has been testing other new ad designs recently, including one that ask users which they prefer of the displayed ad set. It also recently released a new ad unit called Sponsored Stories that convert news feed posts by users into ads shown to their friends, and began allowing ads to point to a specific tab of a Page. For an in-depth walk-through and strategies for to drive the maximimum number of clicks and return on investment from these ads, visit the Facebook Marketing Bible, Inside Network's complete guide to marketing and advertising on Facebook.

    While this Related adverts test is only appearing to small number of users, and it could be quickly scrapped, the potential for new targeting parameters should excite advertisers. This type of data could help them serve ads based on what a user is currently thinking and posting about, and therefore might be interested in purchasing. This could close the historical gap between advertising on social networks where opinions are formed, and search engines, where users go directly before making a purchase, which is seen as closer to conversion and therefore more valuable in some cases.

    Though the data would likely only be available in anonymous, aggregate form, some users may wish to opt out. A minority of users already leave their profile’s demographic information blank to reduce Facebook’s ability to target them. If Facebook decides to expand the test it will need to be careful in how it decides to frames the data usage to users and what, if any, opt out options it will provide. Otherwise, it could see users trying to convince their friends not to post status updates or wall posts

    Years ago, Facebook offered a public tool called Lexicon that compared the frequency of words contained in wall posts from across the total Facebook population. Facebook took this powerful keyword analyzer down, leaving a note that it might return in a new form. Maybe this new ad unit is it.

    [Thanks to Paul Miller for the tip]

    Last Week to Pre-Order Inside Virtual Goods: Profiling the Social Gaming Middle Market 2011

    Posted: 22 Mar 2011 11:00 AM PDT

    Games on social networks became a billion dollar business in 2010, enabling the market's big developers to secure significant investments and pursue sizable exits. Now that Zynga has clearly established itself as the 800 pound gorilla, EA/Playfish are bringing more IP to market, and Playdom is being integrated across Disney, what opportunities remain for other small and medium sized social game developers in 2011?

    Inside Network is proud to announce a new original research report by Justin Smith and Charles Hudson profiling social gaming developers outside the largest, most established companies, entitled Inside Virtual Goods: Profiling the Social Gaming Middle Market 2011. This report presents direct interview results from today's most influential small and mid-sized developers aside from larger players Zynga, Playfish, Playdom, CrowdStar, and Kabam.

    Get the Annual Membership

    Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495 $1,995 USD*

    OR Buy Single Report: $995 $795 USD*

    * Pre-order discount ends March 28, 2011. All pre-ordered reports will be delivered on March 29, 2011.

    Inside Virtual Goods: Profiling the Social Gaming Middle Market 2011 is available for discount pre-order now, and will be released to the public on March 29.

    What are top mid-sized developers' expectations for the social gaming space in 2011? How will existing players fare as Facebook shifts the social gaming landscape through the rollout of Facebook Credits and continued changes to the platform? Inside Virtual Goods: Profiling the Social Gaming Middle Market 2011 shares insights directly from the front lines on social game monetization, development, and customer acquisition and growth.

    About the Report

    Inside Virtual Goods: Profiling the Social Gaming Middle Market 2011 shares insights from over two-dozen developers into key questions facing social gaming in 2011.

    As with previous editions of Inside Virtual Goods, researchers Justin Smith and Charles Hudson have conducted several months of original research comprising interviews with developers and entrepreneurs in social gaming. This edition of Inside Virtual Goods will present exclusive interview results from the developers themselves, preceded by original profiles of all companies included in the survey. Social gaming is among today's most competitive areas in technology; specific responses have been anonymized to encourage authentic, critical response.

    What We Cover

    1. Overview of the competitive landscape – Over the past year, the social gaming industry has been shaped and reshaped by enormous growth, market consolidation, and changes to payments and monetization brought on by the spread of Facebook Credits. What kind of competitive landscape and new opportunities should today’s developers anticipate in the year ahead?
    2. Profiles of key players – Companies like Zynga, EA / Playfish, and Disney / Playdom are regular topics in business news, but social gaming is an industry with dozens more key players whose rivalry and innovation are determining what the industry will look like in six and nine months. This section presents detailed, original profiles of the middle market companies to watch in 2011.
    3. Developer perspectives on the key issues – The responses in this section have been curated to reflect the diversity of viewpoints in today’s vibrant social gaming industry, and cover the following areas:
      • Distribution
      • Monetization and credits
      • Game design and development
      • Fundraising

    See the full table of contents below:

    Table of Contents

    I. Introduction

    II. Company Profiles

    1. 50 Cubes
    2. 6waves
    3. A Bit Lucky
    4. Casual Collective
    5. Cie Games
    6. Digital Chocolate
    7. Five Minutes
    8. Funzio
    9. Gaia Online
    10. GameHouse
    11. GSN
    12. Happy Elements
    13. iWin/Backstage
    14. Lionside
    15. Lolapps
    16. Metrogames
    17. MindJolt
    18. Omgpop
    19. Popcap
    20. RockYou
    21. Social Point
    22. TheBroth
    23. Ubisoft
    24. Wooga
    25. ZipZapPlay

    III. Developer Perspectives

    1. Distribution
      • Viral Channels
      • Paid Acquisition
      • Off-Facebook Channels
    2. Monetization
      • Credits Integration
      • Results with Credits
      • Credits Issues
    3. Game Design & Development
      • Projected Budgets and Timelines
      • Target Audience
      • Genre Innovation
    4. Financing Landscape
      • Fundraising Plans
      • Perspective on M&A

    IV. Conclusion

    New Insights on the Competitive Landscape

    In 2010, social games began to show what kind of value can be created on top of social networks. 2011 will be an even more important year.

    The social gaming market is evolving rapidly against a backdrop of shifting challenges, and still-emerging opportunities — social gaming will be this year's industry to watch. If you're involved, or are considering jumping in, Inside Virtual Goods will be one of your most important tools.

    One year of original data and exclusive in-depth reports delivered on a quarterly basis is $2,495 and contains:

    • A detailed overview of the current state of the industry
    • Specific estimates on market size by segment
    • Diagnosis of key opportunities and issues by segment

    About the Authorsjustin-smith-headshot

    Justin Smith

    Founder, Inside Network

    Justin Smith is the founder of Inside Network, the first company dedicated to providing news and market research to the Facebook platform and social gaming ecosystem. Justin leads Inside Network's Inside Virtual Goods and AppData research and data services, and serves as co-editor of Inside Facebook and Inside Social Games.

    Prior to Inside Network, he was formerly Head of Product at Watercooler, one of the leading application and game developers on the Facebook Platform. Prior to Watercooler, Justin was an early employee at Xfire, the largest social utility for gamers, which was sold to Viacom in 2006. Justin holds a degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford University.

    charles-hudson-headshotCharles Hudson

    Former VP Business Development, Serious Business

    Charles Hudson is the former VP of Business Development for Serious Business, a leading social games developer on the Facebook platform.

    Prior to Serious Business, he was formerly the Sr. Director for Business Development at Gaia Interactive, a leading online hangout for teens. Prior to Gaia, Charles worked in New Business Development at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile, and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, a leading provider of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $830 million in 2007. Charles holds an MBA and BA from Stanford University.

    Get The Annual Membership

    Get Annual Membership (Includes Report + 3 Additional Quarterly Issues): $2,495 $1,995 USD*

    OR Buy Single Report: $995 $795 USD*

    * Pre-order discount ends March 28, 2011. All pre-ordered reports will be delivered on March 29, 2011.

    Although the report will not be released until Tuesday, March 29, we are offering a special pre-order discount for those who purchase now. A one year subscription is $1,995 until March 28, at which point the price will go to US $2,495. The one year subscription includes three quarterly updates on key developments in the space.

    Or, you can download just this report. The pre-order price is $795 until March 28, at which point the price will go to US $995.

    Facebook Ecommerce Storefront Provider 8thBridge Takes $10 Million in Funding

    Posted: 22 Mar 2011 09:50 AM PDT

    Social commerce platform 8thBridge has taken $10 million in a second round of funding led by Trident Capital. The money will go towards developing an interest-based product recommendation engine and a brand evangelist rewards program within its StoreCast Facebook ecommerce app.

    8thBridge, formerly Alvenda, was an early entrant into the Facebook ecommerce space, creating stores for 1-800-Flowers.com and Delta Air Lines. Other clients now include Hallmark, Land’s End, mark by Avon, and Brooks Brothers. The company previously received $5 million in a first round of funding in January 2010 from Split Rock Partners, a firm that also joined in the latest round.

    The company currently offer storefronts which can be embedded in tabs on Facebook Pages and within news feed stories. This in-stream shopping has great potential because a single brand evangelist can enable all their friends to make purchases.

    Along with recommendations and rewards programs, 8thBridge will use the funding to work on a social promotions system that might allow users to gain discounts if they can get their friends to purchase as well. Currently some of 8thBridge’s storefronts load as canvas apps, opposed to offering a shopping experience directly from a Page tab, which it may seek to change to reduce friction.

    The funding continues the trend of companies aggressively pursuing the Facebook ecommerce solutions market. Storefront services, rewards program, and Facebook Connect-powered shopping sites are all rapidly proliferating. Storefronts including 8thBridge looking to succeed will need to offer simple onboarding and product catalog importing, intuitive checkout flows, deep social sharing options, and innovative promotions. Trident Capital and Split Rock’s investment should help 8thBridge concentrate enough resources on these problems.

    onsdag den 23. marts 2011 at 07.09