Use Facebook to Tear Down Virtual Walls with Your Audience
Think of The New York Times building or 30 Rockefeller Plaza, home of NBC. They are imposing places. Facebook allows media companies to tear down intimidating walls by allowing for more informal interaction. A big-city newspaper wouldn't put a photo gallery of its messy newsroom anywhere in its print edition, but posting those pictures in a gallery on its Facebook page gives people a glimpse behind the scenes and brings your brand warmth instead of corporate chill.
Facebook provides a platform for relaxed, human interaction. Encourage comments, so that people get to see their faces and their words on your page. Make sure you answer any questions or complaints about your company, so that users feel as though you really do listen and care about them. You may want to publish a comments policy, which you likely have for your website.
Resist the urge to delete unflattering input from your Facebook page, except when it is obscene or offensive. Part of being in the Facebook community is allowing people to share their thoughts with you and with each other. If they feel as though they're being edited or removed from the conversation, they will turn on you and could damage your brand.
Get Facebook Visitors to Like You
Skimming your Facebook page is like having your audience standing at your door. The next step is compelling them to hit the "like" button, which benefits your brand in several ways.
Check out the TV station Facebook pages in your city -- one station may have significantly more "likes" than the others, regardless of its place in the Nielsen ratings. That's probably no coincidence. Some media outlets have launched aggressive campaigns designed to increase their "likes", which brings with it the perception of popularity versus their competitors.
Consider launching a contest by forcing people to like your Facebook page in order to enter. You will likely see a spike in your statistics. The same is true with offering coupons from your sales clients.
An easier option is to simply like anyone who likes you and everyone else you can think of. People want to see their own numbers increase, so like the mayor's office, the chamber of commerce and people in the community.
Ask your Facebook Fans for Help
The days of putting out a newspaper, magazine or broadcast and wondering if it hit your target audience are over. Now you can seek input from your Facebook fans as you develop your products by setting social networking goals.
An oldies radio station can ask whether people would rather hear more songs from The Beatles or The Temptations. Sure, the results won't be scientific, but they're free, unlike an expensive market research study. The station also gets the benefit of appearing to listen to its audience instead of blindly programming music.
A magazine doing an in-depth story on school bullying might ask its fans if anyone had a child who'd been the victim of bullying, and if so, to call the newsroom. It's an appeal for help that wouldn't likely be made in print. The result would be a personal story that brings home the message in a way that institutional statistics can't. It's easy to research stories using social media, even by simply checking out trending topics.
Take Advantage of Facebook's Media Tools
Facebook's myriad features can level the field for all forms of traditional media. A newspaper's sports department could create a video analyzing the weekend's football games, just like a TV station's sportscast. A radio station that had been trapped by only offering audio can suddenly post photos from Saturday night's big concert.
This content doesn't have to appear as professionally created as it might on your company's website. It's better if it doesn't, so that the homemade appearance brings humanness to your brand. Think hand-formed hamburger patties instead of those pre-formed by machine.
Bring Your Facebook Users Home to Your Media Brand
All this effort would be mostly wasted if you didn't see results for your newspaper, magazine or station. You've used Facebook to build goodwill, but you need to turn around to build your traditional media brand.
Promote your content on Facebook. If you see a discussion on the mayor's plan to boost taxes, post that you will have an exclusive interview with the mayor in tomorrow morning's paper. Remind people that the World Series starts tomorrow night at 8 p.m. on your television station.
You can easily drive people to your website, because they're already on the computer. Use analytics tools to track how users move through your site once they arrive.
Remember, these are people who've already indicated an interest in your brand just by being on your Facebook page. You can target your promotion to these people and possibly get better results than just simply advertising to the world, which includes people who don't care about you or your products.
Moderation is the key. People may leave your Facebook page if they feel as though they're getting bombarded by advertisements.
Think of Facebook as a friendly, casual companion to the slick website you probably already offer. If you take the time to manage your Facebook message and participate with your audience, you will bring better results to your traditional media offerings.
