How To Make Facebook and Twitter Visually Jive with Your Brand (and why it does not even matter if you don’t engage)

January 13, 2010

So many of my clients ask me about the “right way” to highlight their social network links, such as Facebook and Twitter, on their existing websites.  Specifically, they want to know where they should place the social media icons or badges and what they should look like.

Some people just throw up an icon of the Twitter bird and the blue “f” for Facebook, link the icons to their accounts and that’s it.  And honestly, that works for them.  That’s all they need to be off and running.

However, there are other individuals and companies that want to create a brand synergy across their Twitter account, Facebook fan page and their website (and I think this is a smart strategy).

The word “branding” is a pretty loaded word and there is a lot I could say about it. But for the sake of this blog post, I am talking about visual branding and how to be memorable and stand out visually in a swarm of similar services and products. (Side note: For some great articles on individual branding, click here to check you these 10 posts by Chris Brogan.)

Just today I came across a company that created this type of brand synergy and it caught my eye instantly.

The company is called Theory and they are a high-end clothing company for men and women.  The stores remind me of a small New York boutique; almost everything is black, white or gray and their selection is small, but fantastic. I’m a fan of their clothes to say the least!

But despite my complete bias here, they really did a great job of making Facebook and Twitter their own.  I was impressed with the way they stylized the icons and used their own branding (a bit edgy, kind of cool) to create exposure for their social media platforms.  It seems like such a simple thing, but it really makes a statement.

Here’s their overall look:

And here’s how they created great synergy with their Twitter and Facebook icons:

Not only did they use the same colors and font of their brand, but I love the statement, “In Theory, everyone wants to be our facebook fan.”  It’s cocky, cool and makes you want to be a part of the in-crowd.  Smart.

Here they give the Twitter bird a little edge to create a synergy with their brand. This, along with their Facebook badge, gives their social media presence on their homepage a great shout out.

Here’s a little disclaimer: How you ENGAGE with your audience on these networking sites (listen more than you talk, connect, add value, listen some more) is far more important than what your social media badges looks like.  That’s a no-brainer.  However, if we were taking a look at the whole picture, this small branding piece is definitely part of the whole mix and it should not be overlooked.

And speaking of engagement, Theory unfortunately has missed the boat completely.  When I went to the Twitter account and the Fan Page, there was very little engagement (actually, there was no engagement). This company only pushes information and does not connect with their audience or try to build relationships.  I did not see even one “@ reply” on their Twitter stream. The info they put out is great, therefore it is a shame that they are completely missing the idea of community.

By only pushing out information, Theory is missing a HUGE opportunity to learn more about what their audience wants and turn interested buyers into RAVING FANS.  It’s a shame because they do a great job (visually speaking) of getting people to these networking sites once someone hits their website.

Now it’s your turn.  Take a look at your site.  How are you calling out your social media platforms . . .  or are you at all?  How could you put a spin on the look and feel of the badges to make them not only stand out more, but look more like an overall streamlined brand strategy, vs. just an afterthought?

New Studies Show Marketing Power of Facebook

January 12, 2010

Note to reader:  I wrote this article for Social Media Examiner a few weeks back and I am posting it  for my readers here in case you missed it earlier.  It is full of great facts that can support your marketing campaigns as you continue to master your Facebook Fan Pages and strengthen your engagement overall.  For other great articles on social media and online marketing, make sure to check out SocialMediaExaminer.com.

————————————————————

November of 2009 was a big month for Facebook.  And it’s not just consumers who are leveraging this titanic network.  Check out these crazy statistics.

ComScore reported that the popular networking site surpassed 100 million U.S. visitors in a single month, joining the elite list of sites (including Google and Yahoo!) that have also reached this milestone.

This major success led to another Facebook record as founder Mark Zuckerman reported they had reached 350 million users in total.

And the impressive stats don’t stop there.  ComScore also reported that Facebook took up 5.5% of all time spent online in the U.S. during the month of November.  Considering how big the “online world” actually is in terms of web pages, this was no small feat!  Check out this image:

Image taken from mashable.com



About the same time the Facebook stats surfaced, Morgan Stanley released The Mobile Internet Report. This report covers an array of trending themes, including an in-depth look at Facebook’s place as a social networking giant and soon to be “close partner” to the expansive world mobile.

Based on Morgan Stanley’s report, here’s a snapshot of Facebook’s reach, impact and marketing advantages:

Facebook Usage Stats

These stats may shock you:

• Shared content (web links, blog posts, notes): 3.5 billion/week
• Photos uploaded: 2.5 billion/month
• Videos uploaded: 14 million/month (more than 19,000 per hour!!)
• Events created: 3.5 million/month
• Users who have signed on with Facebook Connect: 80 million total across 80,000 websites since it launched in December 2008

The Power of Facebook Apps

According to Facebook, they currently house over 350,000 apps. Here are the top Facebook apps*:

1. Farmville (63 million)
2. Causes (35 million)
3. Café World (28 million)
4. Mafia Wars (26 million)
5. Happy Aquarium (24 million)
6. Pet Society (21 million)
7. FamilyLink.com (21 million)
8. Yoville (20 million)
9. Texas HoldEm Poker (19 million)
10. Farm Town (18 million)

*These stats fluctuate slightly each week depending on usage. 

Here’s an interesting fact:  7 out of the 10 apps above are actually social games. Social games are those played on social networks where there is a level of interaction with others (taking turns) and you can see others’ actions as the game progresses.

Because social gaming is currently the leader in app development, marketers can take advantage of this as they look for ways to cross-promote and engage with their audiences via new platforms.  It comes down to meeting your audience where they are already spending a good portion of their time.

Wonder if Facebook app development is a lucrative opportunity?

Here are two examples of successful Facebook app developers.  Zynga, one of the largest developers of social games on the web, has developed 36 Facebook apps, reported $67 million in ‘09 revenues and 183 million active users.

Playfish, also an online game developer, has created 10 Facebook apps, reported $30 million in ‘09 revenues and 60 million active users.  Pretty impressive when you consider how the top apps on Facebook are used solely for enjoyment.

To put the success of Facebook applications into perspective, the Morgan Stanley report listed a few impressive real-life examples. Here are two of our favorites:

Facebook Rivals a Guinness World Record:  Currently 7 games on Facebook get more monthly active users than all players on World of Warcraft (an online game that holds a Guinness World Record for most popular multi-player online game of all time).

Facebook Rivals the Home of the Quarter Pounder: According to the report, “It took McDonald’s more than 55 years to open 32,000 restaurants worldwide, compared to only 4 weeks for Facebook users to open more than 1.5 million virtual restaurants on Playfish’s Restaurant City app, a game in which users start their own restaurants, employ friends as chefs and waiters and compete with other restaurants in their area.” Wow!

Facebook Takes on the Mobile World

Here are some more interesting stats:

• It is estimated that 17% of Facebook users currently access the site using a mobile device, and that number is estimated to skyrocket to 90% within 5 years.
• Mobile Facebook users are 50% more active than non-mobile Facebook users.
• 1 million users commented on their friends’ status changes on mobile devices within the first 24 hours of the mobile feature’s launch.
• There are currently 180+ carriers in 60 different countries promoting Facebook mobile products.
• Here’s a graph to show Facebook’s steady rise of mobile users:

Image taken from The Mobile Internet Report by Morgan Stanley Research

There is no doubt that Facebook is in a class of its own in the social networking arena.

Do you think Facebook can stay on top? Do you use Facebook more often than other social media tools?  Have you had any major successes with Facebook? Let us know about your own Facebook experiences!

« Previous Page — Next Page »

• Name:
  Email:

• 

• Hot Topics
• Posts
• Comments