Online Marketing Blog from metrocafe311

Six months ago, we were all amazed that social media started a lot of our conversations as online marketers; but it’s no surprise that the speed at which this space has grown in Ireland has quickened. With that, there is a requirement to ensure that we are no longer just throwing up a Facebook Page, Setting up a Twitter profile, or posting our television ads on YouTube. We need to look to more sophisticated methods for harnessing the power of social media marketing and this means only one thing: Strategy. So while we are building our social media strategies for 2010, we must think outside of the box and make all of our online communications more “social” and one way to make it happen is through Facebook Connect.

A key consideration for using Facebook in a social media strategy, is to allow consumers to engage with your content without ever taking them away from the positive user experience they have on the site. With that, Facebook Connect allows us to enhance the experience users have on our own site by bringing in pieces of their relationships within Facebook; and again, they don’t have to leave your website. It seems the ideal solution.

Officially, Facebook defines the services as “Facebook Connect has many features to help you drive traffic, increase engagement, and grow revenue on your website or application.” They outline what all that means in their official overview of the Facebook Connect benefits here. The crucial benefit metrocafe311 observes from this, is the ability to see a greater influence of Facebook on your social media revenue. A blog by Ken Barbary, written in August ’09, goes through his reasons why companies should use Facebook Connect; and one of them is increase conversion. One of the examples he highlights is CBInsider.com, with over 85% of new user registrations happening because of Facebook Connect.

The examples show the real power of this capability that a lot of us in Ireland have yet to adopt. At the Simply Zesty Winter Camp the week before last, Gail Power of Facebook walked through where Facebook Ireland stands today; and Facebook Connect was outlined by one of the better known examples: CNN’s coverage of the Obama inauguration and its integration on site with Facebook Connect. Gail said her experience of the event was enhance because while she watched the event live online, she was able to view comments not only from people that shared her interest; but from her real friends. This takes user engagement to a whole new level.

metrocafe311 are increasingly looking to make websites more “social” in addition to making brands and organisations active on the social networks. And in order to do this, we must not ignore the fact that people have already developed their persona in larger social networks like Facebook. The point being that “everyone is on Facebook.” Or according to Facebook Ireland, 1 in 4 people are! So sometimes trying to create a new community on your own website is not feasible; and this is why Facebook Connect is so powerful.

I myself might try out the Facebook Connect Wordpress plugin, that is outlined on the Sociable! Blog. And for the metrocafe311ers, we might consider using Facebook Connect to develop our internal social media communication, the way Tac from New Comm Biz discusses it on his blog.