Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Coffin Media Works would like to wish all clients, readers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers and anyone who reads this blog a merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Above is a stocking logo for all the major social media outlets. Below are some links to other fun holiday themed logos.

Enjoy the holidays and any time you have off from work to spend family and friends and be safe! Looking forward to a prosperous and successful 2011!

Social Media Logos Wearing Santa Hats

Social Media Christmas Tree Ornaments

Cheers!

Tyler Coffin
CEO & Founder
Coffin Media Works

SNL Take on Time Person of the Year

SNL did a parody of Mark Zuckerburg and Julian Assange. I have to say, SNL nailed it! Quality jokes! "I think we all can agree, that's an algorithm for fun!"

Hilarioius!

Facebook Ad of The Week

Facebook Ad of The Week is back, and has a philanthropic angle this week. Small Business Saturday, by American Express. Cause related fundraisers are a great way to attract new fans.

For Small Business Saturday on November 27th, 2010, AMEX set up a fan page as the hub of this marketing promotion. For every person who became a fan of their fan page, they would donate $1 to Girls Inc. As you can from the ad above, the copy makes it clear, all you have to do is become a fan and a donation has been made for you.

The ad also clicks through to the Facebook Page and the landing page is fantastic. The copy of the landing basically states again, a $1 donation will be made for every fan.

The campaign is over and here are the results:
-Total Fans: 1,189,740
-Total Donation: $1,000,000 to Girls Inc.
Not to mention all the fantastic awareness AMEX brought to small businesses across the country on that Saturday!

How to Add an Admin : Part 2

There have been some minor changes to the layout of fan page management which has made it necessary to redo the HOW TO ADD AN ADMIN post from June 21st.

So here are the steps to adding an admin using the new fan page interface:

Step 1: Log into Facebook



Step 2: Navigate to Fan Page and Click on Edit Page Button.
The Edit Page button will be found bellow the logo of your Facebook fan page.



Step 3: Click on Manage Admins button. Go to the entry bar and either add an existing friend or add a person by entering their email. Now your done.

Coffin Media Works Supports the Chargers!

Coffin Media Works supports the Chargers every week. To show our support for tonight Monday Night Football game against the Broncos, we're changing our logo to be Chargers themed! Who is your favorite team?

"Like" Coffin Media Works, if you like the logo!

Social Media Sobriety Test

Is this for real? For some of us out there, this is a fantastic idea. Have you ever posted something one night, woke up the next morning and thought, "why did I post that." Never fear, there is a Social Media Sobriety Test out there.

This program makes you pass a field sobriety test before you can post on Facebook/Twitter and other social media outlets.

With the weekend right around the corner, I might suggest some of you install this program NOW! Visit www.socialmediasobrietytest.com to learn more!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Facebook Ad of the Week

This weeks ad of the week is very clever use of a call to action in the ad, custom landing tab, fan only content and a sweepstakes/content. Every detail to this ad will be explained.

Call to Action: "Entering for your chance to win an awesome Airstream trailer!" This gives the consumer a reason to click on the ad. Right off the bat, everyone who sees the ad has a reason to click on the ad!

Custom Landing Tab: When clicked, the ad directs consumers to the Little Debbie Fan Page. The tab designated for clickers has a great and short video for people to watch , a list of prizes, and copy that asks people to become fans of the fan page in order to enter the contest.


Fan Only Content: When the consumer clicks the "Like" button to become a fan, new content appears. This content provides a button to enter the contest. If you are not a fan of Little Debbie, you will not see the entry button. Not only will Little Debbie get people to enter their contest, but all new entries will also be fans of the fan page. Excellent strategy!


Contest/Sweepstakes: Little Debbie is asking consumers to upload and share their smiles. Very easy to enter and there are great prizes.

The incorporation of these four tactics make a for a sound campaign. From start to finish this campaign has a great game plan.

Coffin Media Works has extensive experience planing, creating and implementing campaigns similar to this. Contact us today to speak with a Facebook Marketing Specialist.

The Social Network, Directed by Terantino, Bay and More...

Let this hold you over till Friday. This is a funny video by College Humor that takes a look at what the Social Network would be like if it had different directors.

Pretty funny look into the Social Network. Love the Reservoir Dogs parody and the Rushmore parody. The Michael Bay parody isn't bad either.

What is your favorite?

"The Social Network" Rap

Happy Tuesday everyone. Lets get today started off on the right foot. Get a laugh out of this rap about the movie, "The Social Network."

Facebook Ad of the Week

In the previous two Facebook Ad's of the Week, we discussed some of the best practices in creating a successful ad on Facebook. We previously spoke about Facebook ads with a call to action and Facebook ads with successful landing pages. In the weeks to follow I will get back to the best practices in Facebook ads, but this week, I want to discuss one thing not to do with your ads.

This week I saw an ad that seemed extremely brief. As you can see with the image above, a short title, a small image and a very short description. To start, this ad needs a call-to-action. "Click Here," "Take Action," "Click Now." What reason does this ad give me to click on the ad? Unless I'm a major fan of monsters in general (which I am not), I'm not sure I would click on this.

Next, the title of the ad, Monster World, is also contained in the image used for the ad. With such little area and words available for the ad, it isn't the best to be redundant. You only are allowed 25 letters and spaces for the title, use them wisely. If you use a logo for your image and it contains the name of the product in the image, use the title to say "Click Here" or "Play this Game Now." The image isn't bad at all and if used properly, with a good title, can be very successful.

Lastly, I have a problem with the description of the ad. As an advertiser you are alloted 135 characters, including spaces, to entice people to click your ad. Telling me over four and a half million people play this game is not very enticing. Describe the game or how much fun it is.

Below is how I would have designed this ad. Is this better? What would your title have been? Would you have written a different description?

A Life on Facebook

This is a very cool video which takes us through a lifetime of an individual on Facebook, at warp speed! No marketing value for watching this video, but this is very interesting to watch!

Facebook Ad of the Week

Last weeks Facebook Ad of The Week revolved around the use of a strong call to action. This weeks Facebook Ad of The Week has been chosen because of the landing page. The ad for Bitbop takes clickers outside of Facebook to their website. On the website they make it extremely easy to get started with their free trial. In fact it takes only one click, one form and bam, you're signed up for your free trial.

Landing pages are extremely important. For Facebook advertising you have two options, link to a page within Facebook (Will review in a later blog post) or an external website. When linking outside Facebook, the landing pages need a few things. They need to be relevant to the content you are advertising. They need to be interactive. They should provide information. Below is an image of the Bitbop landing tab.

Have any examples of great landing tabs? Share them here!

Facebook Ad of the Week

With the last week in October coming to a close, I will be introducing a new weekly post to the Coffin Media Works Blog. Facebook Ad of the Week! Since Coffin Media Works specializes in targeted ad campaigns and ensuring clients get the most clicks possible (Highest Click Through Rate, CTR) it is a good idea to give examples of great ads on a weekly basis that I see myself.

A good ad on Facebook will be seen and clicked on occasionally. A great at on Facebook will be seen on Facebook, clicked more frequently and entice clickers to become a fan or make a purchase of a product or service depending on the advertisers goals.

This particular ad, I love the CALL TO ACTION, step 1 in Facebook targeted ads! Here I was targeted because I am a business owner and they use the copy of the ad to get my attention. Bold/clear lettering and size, bright colors, I was bound to click on this at some point. After I read "Business Owners Click Here" I stopped reading and did what the ad told me!

The landing page was, simply, the fan page wall for the business (http://www.facebook.com/simplebusiness). I would have liked to land on a custom tab on Facebook with another CALL TO ACTION asking me to become a fan of the page or land on the website with detailed information on the business. Here is an example of a Custom Landing Tab.

As far as the ad goes, they nailed it with the CALL TO ACTION, next step is to optimize their landing page to make sure that click was worth its money!

Have an example of a great Facebook Ad? Take a screen shot, email it to Tyler@coffinmediaworks.com, let me know why its great and maybe it will be next weeks post!

QR Codes... What are They?

Before you read this article, take out your phone, and scan the QR Code above. Most smart phones have barcode scanners built in (Android has Google Goggles).

Now that you have scanned the QR Code and followed the link, you should be on the Coffin Media Works Fan Page and have the ability to "Like" Coffin Media Works! This is a very cool piece of technology!

Now lets get to the facts:

• QR stands for Quick Response.
• The scan tells your phone to visit a website, dial a phone number, or send an email or text message.
• It uses your phones built in camera.
• If you do not have a barcode scanner currently you might want to download one.
• NeoReader, QR App, QuickMark and many more are fine readers for the iPhone.

With time, I believe the QR Codes will allow users to scan the code and directly become a Facebook Fan directly. In the mean-time there are many ways to incorporate a QR Code into your marketing plan. Here are a few uses off the top of my head: Link to a virtual business card, link to a coupon or discount, link to your website or Facebook Fan Page, extend traditional marketing (Put the ad in print and link to an exclusive video), scan the code in a museum and link to an artifact info page, and much more.

How would you incorporate QR Codes into your business?

Facebook Groups

Yesterday Facebook announced the revamp of Facebook Groups. Previously, this was a little used product that Facebook had to offer. Now, with the revamped product, groups can be used by almost everyone.

Personally, I believe this move was made because Facebook was getting "too big" and the use of groups can bring back a feel of small groups, just like it did when Facebook was launched only to Universities. Now you can have a group for your book club, fantasy football league or even for your immediate family to stay in touch.

Some noteable features:

• No longer used by brands (Brands should continue to use Fan Pages)
• Group Chat
• Less emphasis on the admin
• Notifications will be made to the group on all posts
• Opt out: once added to a group, users have the burden of opting out on their own if they don't want to be included in the group (Possible problems)
• Docs: Upload a document and get a group to collaborate on it.

Basically "Groups" allow you to create your own social networks within Facebook, meaning you can create your own Facebook within Facebook. I expect a bit of backlash because nobody likes change, especially with the "opt out" default setting. I have already created my own personal group for my fantasy football/baseball leagues and can see the advantages already. Watch the video above for a quick tutorial.

Watch Zuck Announcement Live

Watch Mark Zuckerberg live announce something big today. Rumors are the announcement will be about a new Facebook phone... Lets listen in!

Watch live streaming video from facebookinnovations at livestream.com

Zuck on The Simpsons

Mark Zuckerberg was on The Simpsons this past Sunday and did a cameo. The scene posted above is quite funny and is a play on the fact that Zuckerberg is a drop out.

Any way, hope this clip gets you off and running on this Monday!

Facebook Like Button Everywhere

Today I incorporated the Facebook "Like" button everywhere on my blog. What does this mean? You can like each of my posts individually!

Click the "Like" button which is located at the very top of this post to see how it works! Installation is quite simple! http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like

There are also tools on the web to install to your WordPress Blog or Blogger blog.

Contact Coffin Media Works if you need help generating the correct code.

Random Facebook Fact: Mobile Usage

There are more than 150 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users.

There are more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products

*Statistics provided by Facebook.com

Random Facebook Fact

Activity on Facebook

• There are over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages)
• Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events
• Average user creates 90 pieces of content each month
• More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each month.

(Source: Facebook Press Room)

Facebook Places Privacy Settings

For those of my readers who are not completely entrenched in social media and Facebook, you may not even know Facebook launched its Foursquare like functionality yesterday. In fact, some of you might not even know what Foursquare is.

Let me explain, when out and about (dinner at your favorite restaurant or grabbing a drink from your local watering hole) you can "Check In" there so all your friends can see where you are or where you've been. Very simple to use for those who have blurred the lines between their online and real life.

Whether you decide to utilize this function or not, YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE USING IT! And just like a friend can tag you in a embarrassing photo or a funny status message, YOU CAN BE TAGGED IN A LOCATION/PLACE. A lot of you probably do not want people knowing your whereabouts and you can personally control that by not "checking in" at different locations. But when your friends start tagging you at a dive bar and your boss wants you to be finishing your work project, you can run into some trouble.

Never fear, you can DISABLE the tagging feature for places and friends of yours will not be able to tag you. Below are the three easy steps:

Step 1: In the upper right hand corner click on "Account" and then click on "Privacy Settings"

Step 2: Click on the "Customize Settings" button at the bottom of the page.

Step 3: Scroll down to the section "Things others share," under the subsection "Friends can check me into Places," you need to select "Disable"

Random Facebook Fact

About 2.5 Billion photos are uploaded to Facebook every month. Which equals about 964 pictures a second! Thats a lot!

Fan Page Tab Changes

As reported by AllFacebook.com, Facebook will be making changes to the maximum widths of Tabs. Currently the Tab maximum width is 760 pixels. In early January of 2010, Facebook announced it will change the maximum to 520 pixels stating it would be a change to take effect in early 2010.

Facebook marketers and developers alike have been patiently waiting the change over and it now looks as if there is a target date. August 23rd is the set date for the change over.

The reason for the change given by Facebook is to "enable us to build the next generation of tools for growing your business with Facebook." Lets hope this is the sole motivation, growing YOUR business and not growing Facebooks business.

Either way, be prepared for the change over to 520 pixels.

How To: Add a Facebook Widget to Your Website

One way to increase the number of fans on your Facebook fan page is to convert website visitors into Fans! To do this you need to install a Facebook fan page widget on your website. Preferably, it would be nice to have this widget on EVERY page, but if you can't have the widget on every page, make sure it is on your home page! On www.CoffinMediaWorks.com, I have two different sizes of widgets. My home page widget is larger than the widget on the interior pages of the website (Click here to see the services page with smaller widget)

Here are the steps to add the widget to your website:

Step 1: Go to your Facebook fan page and click the "Edit Page" button

Step 2: Click "Promote with a Like Box" button

Step 3: Set Your Parameters

• Facebook Page ID: This will be set to the fan page you just came from
• Width: You can play with the width of the widget to put on your website (Default 292 pixels)
• Connections: The number of fans displayed who have already "Liked" the fan page (Default 10)
• Stream: Most recent updates from the fan page
• Header: Has the call to action on the top of the widget. "Find us on Facebook"

Step 4: Get the Code

• Click the "Get Code" then copy and paste the code into a portion of your website (You may need help from a website developer/programmer to complete the final step. If you have a WordPress Blog or Blogger.com blog it is quite easy to add)
• Typically I add the iframe code as opposed to the XFBML
• Once code is added to your website or blog, VOALA! Your widget will be live!

Visit www.CoffinMediaWorks.com to see how I incorporated different variations of this widget into different pages on my website! On my home page I have a different size widget than on the interior pages of my website.

Mark Zuckerberg Interview

Mark Zuckerberg recently had an interview with Diane Sawyer. It's not bad. Anyways, it's on YouTube, but it is blocked from being imbedded on blogs so here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSSeDJPVfrY&feature=player_embedded

Very interesting and also creates even more of a buzz for the upcoming movie.

Default Facebook Fan Page Landing Tab

What is a default landing tab?

When you visit a fan page, there are multiple tabs that all hold different information. Here are a few types of tabs on Facebook fan pages:

• Wall: Interactions and updates with fans
• Info: Website address, mission statement, physical address, store hours, ect.
• Pictures: Photos, company logos, ect
• Custom Tabs: Custom anddynamic content (can resemble a website layout)

You can set your fan page up so visitors land on a preselected tab

• Have visitors land on a ticket purchase page if you are promoting a concert
• Visitors can land on an online store to sell goods and services
• Direct visitors to the wall page to encourage interactions and comments

My personal favorite use for the default landing tab is to convert that visitor into anactual lifelong fan of your fan page! This strategy will enhance your marketing and will make your fan page run much more efficiently.

The best way to do this is to create a custom fan page tab, which includes custom and dynamic content with copy that asks the visitor to become a fan. Use copy with a strong call to action:

• Click the Like button above
• Become a fan today and stay up to date on all new information!
• For exclusive content only available through Facebook, Click the Like button above!

Using a custom fan page with great copy will increase your conversion rate and build a much better Facebook presence for your brand.
Here are the steps to preselecting your landing tab:

Step 1: Go to your fan page and click the Edit Page button below your fan page logo.

Step 2: Click the Edit Wall Settings button.

Step 3: Lastly, select the wall tab you would likeas your Default Landing Tab!

Want to know how to create a custom tab and set it as your default landing tab on your Facebook fan page? Contact, www.CoffinMediaWorks.com to get a free consultation!

Illegal Fan Page Contests/Sweepstakes: Punishable by Death

By death, I of course do not mean DEATH (like the guillotine, I know, one day late on the Bastille Day reference), but I do mean Facebook death. Your fan page will be suspended and deactivated. That makes this article very important to read and understand!

If you manage a fan page, you undoubtedly utilized your fan page to connect with your fans in many ways. The goal when connecting with your fans is typically to enact a long lasting bond with you customers and your brand. Here are a few ways to connect with your fans:

· Questions

· Premium Content

· Pre-Sales

· Exclusive Inside Look at Your Brand

· And Contests and/or Sweepstakes

For the topic of this conversation, I want to focus on legal and illegal contests/sweepstakes for Facebook fan pages. The first thing to think about when running a campaign like this is to understand how it will functionally work. According to Facebook Guideline 3.2.1, you must run a contest/sweepstakes using the “canvas” portion of your fan page. This means, YOU CAN NOT run a sweepstakes or contest that gives away prizes in the newsfeed section of your fan page. This means, technically you can’t create a post that says, “First fan to post a picture to our wall wins tickets to the next concert.”

ADVICE: To get around this, us a tab on your fan page to create a contest. There are many services out there publish content, contests and sweepstakes to a tab for you. From you fan page News Feed you can then say, “Visit our Sweepstakes tab on our fan page to enter to win tickets to the next concert.” This will make your contest completely legal and you will reward and engage all your existing fans!

Prizes are another thing to think about when creating a contest or sweepstakes. Now that your contest resides on a custom tab on your fan page, there are a few prizes that you are NOT allowed to give away:

· Alcohol

· Firearms

· Prescription Drugs

· Dairy Products (odd)

For a complete list of guidelines, visit: www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

Personally I have seen plenty of contests that are run through a News Feed of a fan page. And I have not seen a single fan page get busted. With over 1.5 million local business’s on Facebook with fan pages, contests are a difficult thing to monitor, but, it is clearly stated in Facebook’s guidelines and I have heard stories of business’s losing their fan page completely. Hence, punishable by Facebook death.

Want to know how to create a contest on your Facebook fan page? Contact, www.CoffinMediaWorks.com to get a free consultation!

New Pop Up Feature

Facebook has a new feature. It is a functional feature and does not affect how business's will use Facebook directly. I'm calling this a Pop-Up Feature. When you move your mouse over the name of a friend or a fan page for a business, more detailed information pops up which includes a list of mutual friends and a larger image of the logo/profile picture.

This allows you to see which friends you have in common at a quick glance. More than anything, this feature is simply cool!

5 Reasons to Have a Custom Fan Page

Reason #5: Consistent Branding

If you have a business, you probably have many marketing avenues (Print, Television, Website, Email Marketing). Doesn't it make sense to keep all your marketing branded and consistent? By default fan pages are very cookie cutter and fill in the blank. Use a custom fan page tab to create a fan page that has the same look and feel as your website or print ads.

Reason #4: Cutting Edge Image

While most of the competition in your industry is scrambling to just set up a fan page, you can be putting your effort in creating a dynamic and branded fan page for your business.

Reason #3: Promote a Product or Event

Does your business have a new product coming to market or an event coming up in the near future? Use a custom fan page to distribute content for a new product or event to all your fans!

Reason #2: Sell Your Goods and Services

If you are selling products online, promoting those products to consumers who are already fans can increase sales greatly. Use a custom fan page to list and announce new products to existing fans and customers!

Reason #1: Convert Visitors into Fans

You are getting visitors to your fan page through all your marketing efforts and you might as well make the most of it and convert those visitors into fans. There is no better way to do that than creating a dynamic fan page that encourages visitors to become fans.

How To: Tag a Friend or Fan Page in a Status Update

Have you ever seen a status update in your news feed that provides a link to a profile or fan page? When this is done, a friend or fan page has been tagged. It is much like tagging a friend in a picture or video. Tagging a friend in a picture is easy (Go to the picture, find the tag button and tag away).

Placing a tag in a status update requires a bit more technical knowledge, but don't worry, it requires very little technical knowledge. If you can address an email to someone, you will be tagging friends in status updates in no time.

To tag either a friend or a fan page, you only need to know one little trick. Type the "@" symbol, then start typing the name of the friend or fan page. The person or page you wish to tag will populate, then click on it. After that, you will have tagged that person or page in your status update.

Below is a step by step visual tutorial:

Step 1: "@" Symbol

Step 2: Type Friend or Fan Page Name.

Step 3: Click on desired Friend or Fan Page Name, Finish Message and Click Share.

You can see, the name you tagged is now blue and clickable when it is in your news feed! Once you get familiar with this, you can start tagging friends or fan pages in the middle of your sentences of your status updates. Give tagging a go, and feel free to use the @Coffin Media Works as your practice! Remember you will need to be a fan or friend of what you are tagging before you actually tag.

Click here to become a fan of Coffin Media Works