In its announcement regarding the replacement of the “Become a Fan” button, Facebook is beginning to change the way individuals are able to interact with their favorite businesses and brands. Now, instead of asking people to “Become a Fan” of a business or brand, like Starbucks or Whole Foods, Facebook is making it possible for users to simply “like” it.

For anyone who has ever been on Facebook, it is clear how the “Become A Fan” and "like" buttons are used. The Become a Fan" button allows individual users to choose which brands they want to link, while also providing businesses and brands with free information regarding its fan base. The “like” button, which is also used to connect individuals, is a link placed by pictures, status updates and wallposts. While the "Become a Fan" link is seen to inspire more interaction, the "like" link thus requires less effort and user involvement.

This transition is important for two reasons. First, it makes it easier for users to link with preferred businesses and brands, while still “becoming a fan.” According to Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media, "The idea of liking a brand is a much more natural action…it’s a lower threshold." For some reason, users feel more psychologically comfortable simply “liking”an item  rather than “becoming its fan.” The “like” button thus offers the same ways to “become a fan,” with the added benefits of comfort and ease.

Second, this change embraces the way in which people have already begun to use the “become a fan” button. In most instances, people click the “become a fan” button simply because they like a brand, not because they want to interact with it. Whether the user is a "fan" of a brand or “likes” it, the meaning of each button is essentially the same. With this new feature, friends can thus still see that you “like” a page, just as it did when you “become a fan.” It is more a matter of word change than anything else.

A negative consequence of this change may be that it demands even less involvement and commitment from users.  If users begin to use the “like” button for business pages in the same way that it has been used for photos, wall posts and status updates, though easier and more comfortable, it could result in less brand loyalty. Based on the language alone, simply “liking” something requires less involvement than becoming a “fan” of it. Yes, the premise of the “like” and “Become a Fan” buttons remain the same, however Facebook may be underestimating the psychological effect of this word change.

Overall however, the transition to the “like” button is a strategic move on Facebook’s end. The way Facebook makes money stems from from the advertisements companies use on their pages to attract individual users. According to Facebook, users click the “like” button almost twice as much as they click the "become a fan" one.  Thus, if more and more people jump on the “like” bandwagon for business pages as they have done in the case of general profile notifications, then companies may be more inclined to increase their number of advertisements, which will translate into increased revenue for Facebook.

Though the new “like” feature is predicted to bring more users to your fan page, this alone will not keep up user interaction. Your fan page must still have a compelling purpose and content that will attract people from the fan page on Facebook and back to your brand website. If your fan page does not encourage fans to take an action, that at some point will be beneficial to your brand, then you will fail to recognize its entire purpose. It is unclear whether this Facebook change will be for the better or worse, but adapting to it can only improve your chances of creating a successful Facebook fanpage.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is giving social media workshops at UCONN campuses this March and April.

52% of people in the U.S. work at businesses with 20 people or less.  Small businesses have led the country out of every recession.  Many believe, including comScore, social media will be a big asset this time around.
                                  
Since I’m one of them, I’m grateful to contribute along with Rob Petersen of BarnRaisers, http://barnraisersllc.com and other small business owners (featured below) that have used social media successfully.  Here are 7 social media tips to build brands.

                                {^MediaFileControl|(FileGuid)a2aacf88-1633-45b6-8ac6-0c0ecc8d8f52^}

1. Strategy trumps technology:  A business strategy and social media strategy are the same thing.  Have one before you use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, apps etc.  Then, ask yourself:  Why do these  fit with my strategy and how do use them to engage, increase trust in customer relationships and re-engage?   
2. Set measurements and expectations first:  Never believe you can’t measure social media.  You can know more about buying behaviors on the internet (e.g. where customers come from, how long they spend with you, what they do and where they go) than you can in your store.  Plus Google Analytics and bit.ly links are free.  If you’re not convinced, David Berkowitz has a great presentation on 100 measurements at: http://bit.ly/pmadb
3. Social media takes time:  Small business owners, understandably, have lots of priorities.  Manage what you can handle.  Customers come first.  Social media is going to be around for a while.  Of course, this point applies to all businesses.
4. Live with the ups and downs: What you want is a following and fans.  It doesn’t happen overnight.  It doesn’t happen the way you thought it would, but, if you stick with it, it does happen.  Enjoy the journey.
5. Not all social networks are equal: In every case I’ve seen, not all social network rise to the top because of the unique nature of every business.  For AJ Bombers, a burger joint, it was Twitter acting as a virtual maitre’d and a video from Chris Brogen.  For a utilitarian product like Blendtec blenders, it was unconventional product demos from Founder/CEO, Jim Dickson.  You can learn from their experiences below and expect it will happen for you.
6. Have your online house in order:  If you follow tips 1-5, you’re likely to experience traffic.  It will come to your web site, the most important asset in any social media program.  There’s an old saying:  Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising.  Today, nothing kills a good social media program faster than a bad web site.
7. Believe in your product: The owner of AJ Bombers, Jo Sorge, who nows a book, #Twitterworks, spoke in a video call from Milwaukee.  What was most important to his success?  “If I didn’t believe AJ Bombers made the best cheeseburger on the planet, social media wouldn’t have accomplished a thing.”

If you’re in the area, the next workshop is April 27th at UCONN in Stamford from 6pm to 9 pm.  Details will be at:  http://bit.ly/bW22Ml  

For businesses looking to increase their web traffic and returns on investment, the use web analytics is the key tool for success. Through the measurement, collection and analysis of Internet data, web analytics allow you to understand how your site is being used and the ways in which its can be optimized. There are 4 main things web analytics help you to do:

Better Understand your Users: Web analytics provide you with information on what consumers are doing on your site, which will allow you to discover why these actions are being taken. Through consumer engagement strategies based on web analytics, you will gain an increased understanding of consumer mindsets, their needs and wants, what they are looking for and why they are attracted to your site. Various strategies include the development of personas representing real users, user tests in respect to webpage design and consumer feedback capabilities. Ultimately, the success of a website depends on the extent to which it supports users goals. By using web analytics to better understand these goals, you will be able to break down your target market and create tasks on your website which deliver them, thereby leading to superior consumer satisfaction.

Use Sound Data to Create Website Design: Using sound data that reflects the usage and click-through rates of your consumers is a vital factor to be considered for your  website design. Understanding these elements will enable you to decide on a page layout, areas in which you will place your products, colors and aesthetic elements for your overall site and relevant webpages. Since the human eye tends to look from left to right, your company’s name and logo should be strategically placed in the top left corner of your site. Have you ever noticed that every website you enter has the name and logo at the top left corner of the page? Well, this is why.

There are also some other terms to consider when creating a website design: above the fold and below the fold. Above the fold refers to the space that people see when they first land on the page. This section is like the real estate section for webpages because it not only sells your business to users, but also urges them to stay on the page and find out more detailed information by scrolling down. The content users see by scrolling down is called below the fold. Understanding the relationship between these factors will allow you to strategically place your most valuable information, advertisements and links to other webpages above the fold so that consumers can view them as soon as the page is loaded.     

Improve Your Website: Improving your website to make it searchable, functional and easy to navigate ultimately leads to more sales. When constructing your website it is important to consider the Internet abilities of both less competent online users, in addition to the web savvy ones. A cluttered website will make an Internet user of any kind frustrated and more apt to exit out of your site. Overall, a neat, organized and simple website is the goal to increasing web traffic and enhancing online consumer experience.

Improve Conversions and Sales: web analytics allow you to improve conversion of sales by identifying actionable metrics. These metrics reveal the number of visitors and times in which they enter your site, popular content, click-through rates, success of your SEO strategies, location and loyalty of visitors and effectiveness of overall marketing campaigns. Analytics also allow you to assess your business’ visions, goals and outcomes and how well your website reflects them. There are various resources you can utilize in order to acquire these metrics, which include:
                 Google Analytics
               Webtrends
               Omniture

The goal of any website is to gain customers and future sales, but in order to do so you must take strategic action through web analytics. According to Forrester Research, 53% of marketers said the biggest challenge they face is acting on findings. Although measurements on the web are important, it are the ways in which these metrics are implemented that lead to valuable results. So, take action…NOW

Social media is beginning to displace traditional consumer management strategies in the online arena. With the prevalence of social media sites like Get Satisfaction, Yelp and Blogosphere, consumers are now able to receive and share more accurate, timely and unbiased information, while drastically shifting channel power away from organizations. So what is the answer for companies seeking to embrace this new trend and regain consumer relationships? The answer is simple: Social CRM.

Social CRM gives organizations the opportunity to reconnect with consumers in a way that fosters and anticipates the success of consumer-company relationships. Though it is important for companies to continue engaging in social marketing and sales, with the unprecedented introductions of new media channels and response expectations from consumers, it is vital that companies begin to develop an organized software approach that links business initiatives with social media. According to Altimeter Group, “Vendors touting simple Facebook Connect and Twitter integration only scratch the surface in embracing social technologies.” To fix this, companies must begin engaging with customers in new social platforms in order to improve corporate reputation and network of trustworthy consumer relationships.

Social CRM is not simply about creating a social media presence to track customer satisfaction, but also integrating each social media tool to respond and build relationships through a coherent, holistic approach. Social media allow companies to understand more than just consumer preferences and likes, but also their opinions about a product or service. By more effectively listening to consumers’ opinions through these sites, companies will thus be able to develop better products and marketing strategies, while also defending its brand through organized online PR efforts. Zappos.com is a great example of a company utilizing this holistic approach in social CRM. Yes, Zappos has a dominant Facebook and Twitter presence, however it intertwines these webpages through various backlinks on each page, in addition to its YouTube and blog pages. On its main webpage, Zappos also has “Page Sharing” and “Registration” features that encourage consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-business interaction regarding the company’s products.

Social CRM also allows companies to enhance their R&D strategies by fostering real-time innovation and feedback. Since traditional consumer response strategies are becoming outdated, companies must utilize social media channels to leverage their products and quickly respond to consumer complaints. Take this scenario with UPS for example. When a particular customer failed to receive a package from UPS on time, she immediately posted a complaint on UPS’s twitter page. Within an hour, UPS responded to this dissatisfied customers tweet and ensured that her package would be delivered within the same day. Within a few hours, the woman not only received the package, but also had it hand delivered with a “thank you for being a quality customer” card. This marks usability of social CRM at its finest.

For small businesses, implementing social CRM may seem like an expensive task, however a few websites are being created to facilitate these endeavors in a relatively inexpensive manner. Websites like Flowtown and Buzzstream provide companies with software solutions to discover who and where valuable word-of-mouth customers are on the web, manage communication with them and develop targeted marketing, engagement and retention campaigns. This software also provides companies with influencer metrics and conversation trackers, which allows for more personalized outreach between consumers and company employees.

It takes an incredible amount of work to employ such social media efforts, so it is vital that companies begin to integrate these solutions into their marketing teams and entire corporate level strategy. A key item to remember is that social CRM serves as a tool to enhance, not replace, existing consumer management strategies. Businesses should thus continue to use some of their traditional CRM strategies, but do so with a twist. This twist clearly involves social CRM.

There are still spots open for our Social Media – Getting Started presentation. Come, help us pack the house and learn something too.

Customer relationship management, or CRM, is a marketing communications strategy geared toward the managing and facilitating of interactions with customers and potential sales prospects. As companies seek to increase their revenues, enhance productivity and improve customer interaction, a creative spin on relationship management has formed more integrated and organized customer service activities. CRM offers more efficient ways of nurturing customers already loyal to the company, while also utilizing technologies to introduce new customers on the Internet media platform that now defines the marketing world.

The expectations of consumers have risen dramatically. Given the immense power of the general population on the Internet, it is now up to media communicators to understand their audiences’ needs and wants and respond to them in real time. With the average rate of webpage retention of 5 seconds, partially due to all the unnecessary pop-ups on the Internet, many audiences have become weary of the content being displayed to them. Consumers are therefore looking for content tailored specifically to their needs and wants, so they do not feel as though they are simply being “sold something.” CRM offers a way to bypass this by fostering personal connections with customers.

CRM is the key to truly understanding your business’ consumer base, your most valuable audience and prospective consumers. According to Forrester Research, spending on customer relationship management is expected to top $11 billion annually by 2010 by companies, in hopes of finding, attracting and winning over new customers. There are 3 main ways in which CRM should be utilized and implemented into the communication tactics of your business: social media, marketing automation and consequently, email marketing.

Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have increased consumer advocacy in regard to the marketplace and are beginning to have a dominant impact on company and customer relationships. Since social media sites aren’t moderated or censored, individuals have created “user-generated content” where they are able to share their true opinions and experiences with various companies, products and services in an open and uninhibited manner. This not only provides marketers with the unique opportunity to gain insight on customer satisfaction with their products, but can also translate into sales by new customers who have received positive feedback on a company’s product or service. Recently, according to Inbound Marketing, over 40% of customers using Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and company blogs have generated a customer from that channel. By maintaining a company social media page, companies can respond to any consumer questions, complaints and concerns on a quick and personal level, which undoubtedly increases its reputation and profitability.

Marketing Automation is a vital tool in consumer relationship management. A part of this system controls CRM by maintaining lead and sale member status. As we have discussed in many blog posts and product offers, one key part of marketing automation capabilities allows you to track present and potential customers and communicate with them through personal, segmented messages in auto-blasts. Through the execution and measurement of multi-channel consumer marketing programs, marketing automation offers yet another way to cycle and address consumer concerns both successfully and professionally.

Email marketing is a key ingredient of marketing automation that even further maximizes the relationship with your customers. This type of relationship management offers a unique way to maintain and monitor your network of subscribers, while also allowing you to assess the clarity and success of your marketing messages. Email marketing systems, like Constant Contact or MailChimp, are valuable email marketing resources that allow you to upload all your contacts, archive mail content and send out email blasts easily and efficiently. Once an email blast is sent, these sites also provide you with comprehensive click-through and email statistics, including the number of sent, bounces, spam reports, Opt-outs, opens, clicks and forwards your email received. Since all to often consumer’s opt-out of emails they find irrelevant or resemble advertisements, this email tool allows you to assess the validity and success rate of your email blasts to your target market.

Building and maintaining an online presence in the marketing world is becoming increasingly competitive. As consumers are becoming more involved on the Internet, it crucial that companies listen and track user-generated content and provide a one-to-one marketing relationship with their customers. CRM is a key application for your overall success of marketing strategies and customer service.