Oh No!!! Facebook Killed the Landing Page! Well, Not Really...It's Just Different

Dear Facebook,

You drive me crazy, but I still love you.

Sincerely,
Bill DeRosa
That's the short succinct letter I would send to Mark Zuckerberg if I had to put it into less than ten words. The latest changes on Facebook are not a simple new button or sorting tab...its a major interface update called Timeline. In addition, Facebook has or is in the process of releasing a ton of new tools or advertising programs to help pages get more visibility and better targeting for their content and ads. I like Timeline a lot and the direction Facebook is going. It would seem, on the surface at least, they are trying to make their platform more valuable for Page owners, and a better experience for the users.

The tough part for many page owners was the loss of a Landing page/Welcome tab. This was a fantastic place to tell people: who you are, what you do, "benefits" of why they would like your page, and a call to action ("Like" us...). It also had a pre-qualification component built in to let people decide based on your page description whether they really want to hit that Like button or not. And if you know about Edgerank, qualified engaged Likes are far more valuable than the Like itself. As well, it is a branded component of your page to really separate you from the pack. Finally, without a Landing page, people are typically just dumped into conversations on the Wall, and may not really know what your Page is all about.

The Timeline Cover Photo, while perfect for branding has a lot of restrictions, so this cannot make up for a properly built Landing page. Here are the rules for your cover photo:





So are the Landing pages/Welcome tabs gone? Nope…big misconception. How they work is a bit different, however.

Let's dig in.



What you see above are our metrics for external referrers to our facebook page from 1/31 - 2/2712. This shows how people outside of facebook found our page. In the past, they would have landed on our Landing page/Welcome Tab. Now they can't...or can they?

Click the link below:

Talking Finger On Facebook

Did you land on our Wall? Or our Landing page? Unless someone came in and edited my blog to mess with my head, it was the latter.

Every Landing page and most apps have a specific URL associated with them. Having people from anywhere outside of Facebook land on your Landing page/Welcome tab is actually quite easy!

1. Go to the Landing page
2. Copy the complete URL address
3. Paste it wherever you are creating a link

I already went around to all of our platforms (Google+, YouTube, Twitter, website, even my LinkedIn and email signatures) to change the URL's to point to the landing page. It didn't take too long, and now everyone will still go where I want them to on our Page. Walla.

As well, any Facebook ads you run can be pointed to that Landing Page. Just simply copy and paste the URL into the destination field. So any ads you run, drive them there!

While that covers all external referrers, internal to Facebook it isn't going to help (if anyone figures out how to do it within Facebook, please let us know!) but what you CAN do is make your Landing page/Welcome tab the second tab in. Such as we have on ours:




Note the "Welcome to TF" tab. Now while people within Facebook may not land on this anymore by default, it is still available and still useful within the platform. As people get used to the new interface, I guarantee they will start looking for the apps and tabs in this area. If you title it well (Im actually iffy now on "Welcome to TF" and may change description to "Learn More About TF" or something clever- suggestions welcome!) people will be curious.

While you may lose a small portion of people within Facebook actually landing on your Landing page, I hope we have shown you some ways in which these will still be valuable assets for your marketing. So if you have one, don't fret! Just change what you are doing. If you are in the process of making one, go for it!

One final note, once someone hits the "Like" button, the page will not flip as before to the Wall. So in your description, or your call to action, you may want to instruct them a bit. " 'Like' us, then click here to go to our Wall".

We are currently redoing our landing page to accommodate the new call to action, but we really wanted to get this info out to you asap! So check back in a day or two to see the updated, full size and rocking landing page we are working on.

And if you send a letter to Zuckerberg, tell him Talking Finger says hello.

-Bill

Moo-ve on over, boring marketing strategies!

Today I was reading an article on Mashable about a start up company getting some major buzz. The company has not yet launched a single product, yet they have over 10,000 registered users to their website, 750 followers and over 3000 mentions on Twitter.

What makes the brand without a product so special? Simple: their website has a game called "Click the Cow". Its pretty self-explanatory, but visitors literally click the picture of a cow and earn 1 point. If they tweet about the page, or "like" it on Facebook, they get 100 points. The leader on their "Utterly pointless leadboard" has over 878,000,000 points!!!

Without selling a single product, this new company already has a strong following. I decided to check the website out, and all you can really do is register for a username, so I did. I have no idea what the website will be about, but I am already curious.

That is the crazy thing about social media, buzz can generate just from about anything. Regular marketing tactics don't work as well, and often, the most out-of-the-box or weird tactics catch users attention! That is what I love most about social media, you can be as creative as you want to and actually be YOU! Transparency is key, and if you can show users the fun, crazy you, they will be more likely to relate with you. So next time you have a crazy idea, just go with it, you never know what might catch someone's interest! Have fun!

Everywhere I Go...

{EAV:8b80eb30119da3de}
Just the other day I took my mother to her appointment at her chiropractor and noticed they had a sign taped to their door that said, “Like us on Facebook”. Another place that did something similar was The Paul Mitchell School of Hair. They had a sign up for people to write reviews for their haircut experiences on Yelp. I am starting to see things like this more often at a faster growing pace. I think people are just starting to realize the true importance of social media because I feel that it is at it’s peak right now. I just started a Marketing class at Gateway Community College and after the class ended I told my Professor about Talking Finger and what we do for businesses and she had mentioned that the textbook doesn’t mention anything about social media and that it should because of it’s growing importance. Social Media Marketing is almost comparable to Underground Rock Music. It’s there, but not everyone knows it exists just yet. But when they do it’s going to blow up even more.
-Chris Durso

Newest addition to the TF Family!

Hello!

My name is Dana and I am the newest addition to TalkingFinger! I first met these guys during the summer when I interned with them, and I am glad to be back!

I recently graduated from Southern New Hampshire University in December, a semester earlier than planned. I majored in marketing and minored in both social media marketing and fashion merchandising. My roommate and I were actually the first two day undergraduate students to graduate with a minor in social media marketing because the program was introduced just last spring.

First two undergraduate day students to get a minor in social media marketing!

I love that social media is so versatile and can be used by anyone. All over now, companies are directing people towards their Facebook or Twitter instead of their website. QR codes are popping up everywhere; even containers of strawberries and grapes now have them printed directly on them. Applications on smartphones also make it easy to access all social media outlets practically anywhere. 

After taking note of all of this, I knew it would be a good idea to look into the social media aspect of marketing. I feel that if a company does not look into social media, they will be left in the dust behind their competition. It is also a great way to connect with others and allows you to meet people you never would have had the opportunity to meet with otherwise. 

I am excited to be back and to learn all I can about social media from Bill and Erik. They are some of the best social media marketers out there and I am happy to be working along side them.