gravatar

Inside Facebook

Inside Facebook

How to Use Facebook’s “Merge Duplicate Pages” Feature to Gain Fans

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 02:23 PM PDT

Facebook Marketing Bible

The following is an excerpt of a complete article available in our Facebook Marketing Bible.

Your official Facebook Page may not be getting all the fans it deserves because users are accidentally Liking unofficial community Pages with the same name. These missing fans cost you news feed impressions and clicks and ad targeting opportunities. Fortunately, Facebook now offers the “Merge duplicate pages” tool to allow you to roll fans from duplicate community Pages into your official Page.

In the full version of this article found in the Facebook Marketing Bible, we discuss why using the tool is important, how to use it to gain new fans, how to eliminate other duplicate pages, and how to properly greet the new fans of your Page to prime them for future engagement. Below is an excerpt.

Why Use the Merge Tool?

You want users to Like your official Page, not any of their unofficial community Pages, because you can only market to your official Page’s fans. To eliminate unofficial Pages, you should merge with any duplicate community Pages with the same name as their official Page, and report all differently named community Pages as duplicates.

Instructions for Merging Duplicate Pages

Go to your Page and click “Edit Page”, then click the “Resources” tab, and then select “Merge duplicate pages”. You’ll then see a list of any duplicate community Pages that are eligible to be rolled into your Page. To qualify, the community Page must at least have an identical name to the official Page. If you don’t see any eligible Pages, check back in a few weeks as Facebook may expand eligibility to similar but not identical Pages.

Reporting Non-Identical Duplicate Pages

The merge tool only works for community Pages with exactly the same name as the official Page. Therefore, you may not find the duplicates you were hoping to merge with in the tool. Admins have two sensible options in this situation:

  1. Report the Pages as Duplicates
  2. Wait and hope that Facebook will allow non-identical duplicate Pages to be merged in the future.

Greeting Newly Migrated Fans

New fans quietly added to an official Page may be confused as to why they’re suddenly seeing new content in their news feed. If admins are posting frequently and don’t greet users, they may receive spam reports which can reduce the visibility of their posts in the news feed.

To avoid this and get users excited about being part of your fan community, consider publishing a welcome message that lets them know you care about their Facebook user experience and explains the value your Page can offer them.

By following these steps, you can boost your Page’s Like count with new fans that are eager for your content. This in turn increases the value of your Page’s other marketing efforts.

A complete walk-through of the tool, a discussion of when it’s best to report non-identical Pages as duplicates, and more sample greeting messages can be found in the full version of this article available in the Facebook Marketing Bible, Inside Network’s complete guide to marketing and advertising through Facebook. 

The Facebook Marketing Bible August 2011 Edition Is Now Available

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 01:11 PM PDT

Facebook Marketing Bible

The August 2011 edition of the Facebook Marketing Bible: The Comprehensive Guide to Market Your Brand, Company, Product, or Service Inside Facebook is now available.

The Facebook Marketing Bible has enabled thousands of marketers, social application developers, publishers, and entrepreneurs to navigate and get the most out of the increasingly sophisticated marketing opportunities on Facebook.

The web edition of the Facebook Marketing Bible is comprised of detailed resource pages, comprehensive how-to guides, and case studies analyzing today’s most successful marketing and advertising campaigns on Facebook.

Now that Facebook is nearing the 700 million monthly active user mark, there’s never been a better time to reach your target audience through marketing on Facebook.

The August 2011 edition includes updated coverage of the following topics:

  • How Facebook Pages Can Use “Invite Friends” to Gain Fans, a guide to engaging your Page’s most dedicated fans while growing your overall fan base.
  • How to Sync Your Facebook Page Updates With Your Twitter Profile — and Why You Shouldn’t. How do Facebook and Twitter differ, and when is customization needed? This guide compares and contrasts the unique strengths of each platform and shows you how to get the most from both.
  • Commenting for Facebook marketers, a guide that shows you how to make the most out of public, and highly visible, conversations with your fans on Facebook.
  • Bringing the storefront to your Facebook Page, a breakdown of key features for storefront applications that bring sales transactions directly to your Page.
  • Our guide to the Facebook Send button that details Facebook’s latest addition to its social plugins.
  • Facebook applications versus offsite integrations and what works best for marketing your business or brand.
  • Our detailed style and strategy guide to Facebook’s Like button that helps you identify the right design for your off-Facebook content site.
  • An overview of Graph API metatags and how they enable you to maximize the value of your implemented Like buttons.
  • Facebook Applications, Social Plugins, Connect and Instant Personalization – details on how to use the wide variety of options available for engaging Facebook users.
  • Updates to Facebook Questions, and how recent changes to this user-facing feature will affect your approach to brand marketing through this ‘no-cost’ channel.
  • Strategies to help you navigate Facebook’s recent major Page redesign, whether you’re representing a major brand, small business, or public figure.
  • Facebook’s expanding options for advertisers, and how any advertiser can get more from new features like Sponsored Stories, self-specified landing tabs, and more.
  • The latest featured Facebook’s campaigns that show you how other brands are testing Facebook’s evolving marketing opportunities.
  • New frontiers in brand and performance marketing on Facebook, including opportunities within social games.
  • Facebook Places and Deals, the company’s evolving location-based feature that presents new marketing opportunities for businesses both on and offline.
  • Facebook Groups, a new way for users to connect and collaborate with others who share their interests and affiliations, and new ideas for marketing with Groups on Facebook.
  • Facebook's latest advertising guidelines updates and what they mean for advertisers throughout the ecosystem.
  • Audience growth and engagement, including best practices for holding on to fans, keeping marketing channels open, and re-engaging your audience on Facebook.
  • Plus, comprehensive walk-throughs of Facebook’s tools for advertisers, web content publishers, and Page administrators.

Learn more about the August 2011 edition of the Facebook Marketing Bible at FacebookMarketingBible.com.

Table of Contents excerpted from the full August 2011 Edition

Recent Featured Facebook Campaigns

  • Alamo Rent A Car, National Geographic Channel and Fox
  • Craftsman, Unilever and FarmVille Chinese, American Express and El Pollo Loco
  • Bucca di Beppo, Bissell, Bank of the West and the NBA
  • Coca-Cola, Qatar Ariways, Clearasil and Esurance
  • Marriott Resorts, The National Guard, Discover Boating, Bravo, and Nike

Building Your Brand through Facebook Pages

  • Facebook vs Twitter – What's Different, What's The Same And Why Smart Marketers Use Both
  • Page Destination Tab Ad Campaign Strategies
  • Facebook Pages and Public Profiles
  • The Profile Page – A Walk-Through

Designing Your Facebook Page

  • Facebook Page Redesign 2011: Marketing Stategies and Best Practices
  • The Wall Tab for Making Pages Dynamic and Viral
  • How to Choose a Landing 'Tab' for your Facebook Page
  • Adding Custom Modules to Your Page

Communicating Through Your Facebook Page

  • How to Sync Your Facebook Page Updates With Your Twitter Profile — and Why You Shouldn’t
  • How to Get Facebook Users to Like Your Page: The First Step to Engagement
  • How Your Business Should Reply To Facebook Comments
  • Demographic Targeting for Status Updates
  • How to Avoid Having Your Page, Open Graph Object, or Application Unliked, Removed, Muted, or Blacklisted

Growing Your Fan Base and More Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page

  • How Facebook Pages Can Use “Invite Friends” to Gain Fans
  • How Brands Can Advertise within Social Games
  • The Basics of Status Updates for Pages
  • Increase Engagement and Insight through Status Tagging
  • How to Grow Your Page's Audience through Page Invitations
  • SMS Subscription Service for Pages
  • Branded Virtual Gifts on Facebook Pages for Viral Advertising

Advanced Strategies for Facebook Pages

  • How Top Brands Conduct Ecommerce on Facebook: Best Practices
  • Facebook Ecommerce: What Features Are Important in a Page Storefront Application
  • The Best Facebook Page Strategies and the Pages That Use Them
  • Strategy: How to Promote Your Page in 6 Steps
  • Marketing Strategy: 4 Reasons Why Marketers Should Invest in Pages Before Groups
  • 10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know
  • 8 Best Practices for Retailers on Facebook
  • Marketers Actively Bidding for Generic Facebook Pages

The Facebook Open Graph for Marketers and Content Publishers

  • The Like Button Style Guide: How to Pick the Design That's Right for Your Website
  • How to Choose Open Graph Tags That Maximize the Value of Your Like Buttons
  • Facebook Connect Integration Best Practices from the Platform Showcase
  • Implementation Options: Like Button
  • Facebook CTO Bret Taylor Discusses the Open Graph

More Ways to Market on Facebook: Questions, Places, and Deals

  • How Pages Can Use the Relaunched Facebook Questions Product
  • How to Create a Deal with Facebook Deals
  • The Places We’ll Go: How marketers can use Facebook’s new location features
  • Facebook Questions – A Walk-Through
  • How Marketers Can Get The Most Out Of Facebook Questions
  • Groups and SEO – a Quick Overview

Advertising on Facebook

  • Page Destination Tab Ad Campaign Strategies
  • Sponsored Stories Ads: Walk-Through and Marketing Campaign Strategies
  • Facebook Ads: Read Before You Get Started
  • Facebook Ads – A Walk-Through
  • The Facebook Ads Manager
  • Facebook Self-Serve Ad Types: Page Ads
  • Facebook Self-Serve Ad Types: Event Ads

Ads Targeting on Facebook

  • 10 Powerful Targeting Methods Facebook Ads Every Performance Advertiser Should Know
  • Friends of Connections Targeting
  • Facebook Ads: Language Targeting
  • 4 Connection Targeting Tests Every Advertiser Should Run
  • From Keyword Targeting to People Targeting: Understanding Performance Advertising with Facebook's Tim Kendall
  • Time Scheduling

Tools and How-Tos for Marketers

  • Facebook "Insights" Metrics Dashboard for Page Managers
  • Using Third Party Tools to Manage Your Facebook Page
  • How Page Owners Can Restrict Content for Underage Users
  • How to Export Your Facebook Page Updates to Twitter

Policies, Privacy, and Guidelines to Watch

  • Promotional/Sweepstakes Policies for Facebook Pages
  • The Future of Sharing on Facebook: A Hybrid Public/Private Model
  • Facebook’s Guidelines for Promoting Pages Outside Facebook

Join the Facebook Marketing Bible at FacebookMarketingBible.com

New This Week on the Inside Network Job Board: King.com, FunCom, Tagged, EA and More

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 11:41 AM PDT

The Inside Network Job Board is dedicated to providing you with the best job opportunities across social and mobile application platforms.

Here are this week's highlights from the Inside Network Job Board, including positions at Dynamic Signal, LeadBolt, King.com, Funcom Oslo AS, Tagged, Pocket Gems, Glu Mobile, Kabam and Electronic Arts.

Listings on the Inside Network Job Board are distributed to readers of Inside Social Games, Inside Facebook and Inside Mobile Apps through regular posts and widgets on the sites. Your open positions are being seen by the leading developers, product managers, marketers, designers, and executives in the Facebook Platform and social gaming industry today.

Spotify, Photos, Calendars, Horoscopes, Profile Banners and More on This Week’s List of Top 20 Growing Facebook Apps by DAU

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 08:03 AM PDT

There was a wide variety of applications on our list of the fastest growing by daily active users this week. Everything from Facebook's mobile app to Spotify to photos and quiz apps to Page admin apps to horoscopes and Yahoo's app were on the list. The apps on our list below grew from between 101,900 and 1.1 million DAU, based on AppData, our data tracking service covering traffic growth for apps on Facebook.

Top Gainers This Week

Name DAU Gain Gain,%
1.  Facebook for Every Phone 2,525,530 +1,120,443 +80%
2.  Spotify 1,983,687 +1,108,921 +127%
3.  60photos 2,385,330 +619,219 +35%
4.  MyCalendar 624,545 +313,714 +101%
5.  Social Statistics 290,569 +271,260 +1,405%
6.  Yahoo! 10,674,508 +240,621 +2%
7.  21 questions 1,721,289 +232,370 +16%
8.  Texas HoldEm Poker 6,825,754 +196,402 +3%
9.  Daily Horoscope 6,264,824 +186,521 +3%
10.  開心水族箱 1,577,677 +150,257 +11%
11.  Windows Live Messenger 17,487,259 +141,176 +0.81%
12.  Ninja Saga 747,558 +134,588 +22%
13.  YouTube 2,478,638 +132,168 +6%
14.  MeinKalender 552,530 +125,370 +29%
15.  Astrology 3,259,038 +125,133 +4%
16.  Your Luck [daily] 419,581 +121,313 +41%
17.  Welcome tab app for Pages 508,858 +120,949 +31%
18.  Social Empires 360,788 +113,866 +46%
19.  森の物語 123,994 +104,333 +531%
20.  Banner de perfil en espagnol 317,832 +101,873 +47%

Snaptu's Facebook for Every Phone topped the list with a whopping 1.1 million DAU this week, outpacing almost any other app but for Spotify with 1.1 million DAU. We reported earlier this week that Spotify has been using popular musical artists to award accounts.

Everything else varied. 60photos grew by 619,200 DAU; the app basically posts tons of feed stories as users rate their friends' photos. MyCalendar in English with 313,700 DAU grew significantly over last week and its German counterpart, MeinKalender, grew by 125,400 DAU. Social Statistics jumped by 271,300 DAU this week; it's an app that publishes your "top friends." A quiz app that publishes copious feed stories, 21 questions, saw 232,400 DAU this week. Then there was Welcome tab app for Pages with 121,000 DAU and a profile banner app, Banner de perfil en espagnol, with 101,900 DAU.

There were horoscope-like apps; these tend to post to a user's feed daily, that's where they generate virality. Daily Horoscope grew by 186,500 DAU, Astrology by 125,100 DAU and Your Luck [daily] by 121,300 DAU.

Rounding out the list were apps from big names:  Yahoo with 240,000 DAU, Windows Live Messenger with 141,200 DAU and YouTube with 132,200 DAU.

All data in this post comes from our traffic tracking service, AppData. Stay tuned for our look at the top emerging apps on Friday.

torsdag den 4. august 2011 at 07.13