Archives for January 2014
5 Ways to Use Facebook Like Gates
Interested in getting more fans for your Facebook page? Consider using a Facebook like gate (or like-to-reveal) tab as part of your social media strategy. Like gates make it possible to publish content exclusively for fans and incentivize visitors to become fans. In this post, I will briefly outline how like gates work, and then show you five ways you can use Facebook like gates as part of a larger social media strategy.
What are Facebook like gate tabs?
If youâre familiar with Facebook tabs, you know they are additional pages of content connected to your businessâs Facebook page. Tabs can show the same content to all visitors or they can show different content to fans and non-fans.
Hereâs an exampleâŠ
As you can see, non-fans see an invitation to âLike GroSocial to enter to win a gourmet cheesecake.â If they like the GroSocial Facebook page, the tab will reload and they will see a modified tab that includes an entry form. If someone who is already a fan were to visit the tab, all they would see is the entry form tab.
How do I visit a Facebook like gate tab?
You can get to a like gate tab in two ways. First, you can click on the tab cover underneath the hosting Facebook pageâs timeline cover.
Second, you can go directly to the like gate tabâs URL. This is helpful when you are directing traffic from Facebook ads, your website, emails and Facebook posts. (Note: Facebookâs default tab URLs are not mobile friendly. If you are a GroSocial user, we provide a mobile link for each tab, so all users can access it regardless of the device they are using.)
5 Ways to Use Facebook Like Gates
Here are five great incentives to use with a like gate:
1. Giveaway â Like the cheesecake example above, making a giveaway conditional on entrants liking your page is a great way to get more fans.
2. Photo or Video Contest – Unlike a giveaway, contests are not random; instead, whoever gets the most votes wins, so entrant usually share the contest with all of their friends. By requiring people to like before entering or voting, you can quickly grow your fan base.
3. Discount â Why not give an exclusive 20% off coupon or discount to your fans? This can be a great incentive for a new visitor to become a fan as well.
4. Ebook or Whitepaper – Have a great ebook or whitepaper you think your fans and potential fans would be interested in? Like gate it.
5. Video â Have you created a great tutorial or other video that you want to make exclusive? Put it on a like gate tab.
All of these examples are incentives for tab visitors to like your page and become a fan, so make sure you tell non-fans whatâs in it for them. For example, on the before-like tab say, âLike our page for 20% off your next purchase,â instead of something generic such as, âLike our page for a discount.â
How can I create a Facebook like gate tab?
While it is possible to code your own Facebook tabs, the easiest solution is to use a Facebook tab builder like GroSocial. Sign up for a free trial to build your own like gate tab today.
Can I like gate my whole Facebook page?
No. Several years ago, Facebook did have a feature that required visitors to like your Facebook page before they could see your pageâs posts. This was discontinued, and now it is only possible to like gate a tab, not your whole Facebook page.
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100âs of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
Sharing and Facebook Promotions
In its most recent update to promotion guidelines, Facebook made a subtle change to the way sharing can and should be used as part of a social promotion. In the past, you could not require users to share your promotion, but you could incentivize sharing by giving better odds to those who shared. Th
If you visit Facebookâs page terms, you will notice some additional text, âPersonal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions (ex: âshare on your Timeline to enterâ or âshare on your friend's Timeline to get additional entriesâ is not permitted).â These guidelines do not prohibit companies from encouraging sharing, but itâs important to note that you cannot make sharing a requirement or reward fans for sharing.
If you visit Facebookâs page terms, you will notice some additional text, âPersonal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions (ex: âshare on your Timeline to enterâ or âshare on your friend's Timeline to get additional entriesâ is not permitted).â These guidelines do not prohibit companies from encouraging sharing, but itâs important to note that you cannot make sharing a requirement or reward fans for sharing.
To make this easier for those who use GroSocial, we updated our Promo widget to reflect the new policy, and also made some design changes to make it cleaner and more modern. The widget still encourages fan sharing, but removes any allusion to requirement or incentives.
If youâre curious about how this affects photo or video contests, it doesn't. For these types of contests, the person with the most votes wins. You can mention sharing as a way for entrants to encourage their friends to vote, but itâs purely in the entrantâs control whether or not they share using Facebook, or encourage their friends to vote through a different method.
Overall, this change wonât diminishing Facebook promotions in any significant way. Those who are genuinely excited about a company, prize or products often share a promotion out of sheer excitement, and donât need an incentive.
Iâm excited for the update to the Promo widget, and weâll keep you posted as Facebook continues to evolve.
10/24/2013 by Matt Broderick | GroSocial by Infusionsoft
Business Etiquette; a Lost Art?
Is business etiquette a lost art? Perhaps the new era and next generation of business people are not aware of the intricacies of etiquette or simple manners? Or is that the easy answer to excuse a lack of knowledge or perhaps, poor management and/or training?
In general, business etiquette follows the same rules Miss Manners became famous for, many years ago.
âGrace, good manners, and good sense. â
- Say Please and Thank you.
- Admit it when you are wrong. Then apologize and make it right.
- Donât blame.
- Donât steal: leads, time, promotions, credit, money, customers, or appointments.
- Donât be late, donât be on time. Be early.
- Actively give credit, where credit is due. Recognition for work well done should not be a lost art.
- Help others. Helping others get what they need or want, will help get you what you need or want.
- Be present.
- Donât gossip. My mother always reminds me; If they gossip with you, they are gossiping about you. This has proven to be true every time.
- If you ask someone to do something, be prepared to do it yourself. Donât be afraid to get your hands dirty.
- Any job worth doing, is worth doing well. And every job is worth doing.
- Build people up, donât tear them down. Bullying does not just happen in school.
- Start with respect. When you start here, it is easy to stay here. Every person: client, prospect, peer, boss, employee, deserves respect.
- Donât lie. Ever.
- Donât interrupt.
- Listen. Actively. (I am reminded of the question, are you listening, or just waiting to speak?)
- Communication is the responsibility of the communicator. Make sure what you are saying is what is being heard.
- Be nice. Even the toughest negotiator can still be nice.
- Be transparent.
- Donât stoop. Even when your colleagues do not practice, or follow these rules, donât slip to their level.
I wrote this post as a reminder to myself. In this age of inclusion, it is easy to keep everyone in the loop and to make sure your colleagues are informed of all the appointments that they should be aware of. The trigger was when a colleague rescheduled one of my appointments, with one of my business contacts, so that they could attend. Rescheduled without my direction, permission, or acknowledgement. They hid behind supervisor direction. I was labeled as inflexible, and not a team player. All I could do was muster as much grace as I could, hold my head high, and accept the decision. Perhaps next time I will handle it more gracefully. That, and no more ccâs on any other appointments.
Thereâs good manners, and then thereâs good sense.
Recovering from a Social Media Faux Pas and Avoiding Future Relapses
Whether you misspelled a word, said something stupid, gave horrible advice, ignored a complaint, or overused hashtags, social media blunders can be embarrassing. They can also turn off or alienate your audience, making it important to recover from the faux pas and try to avoid a repeat episode in the future. Use the tips below to recover from and avoid common social medial blunders.
1. Assess the severity of the faux pas – Not all blunders are disastrous. So you misspelled a word? Thatâs not nearly as bad as insulting a customer.
2. Hold yourself accountable – If you make a mistake on social media, own up to it. While you may not need to apologize for every typo and misspelled word, you should hold yourself to a higher standard. After assessing the severity of the faux pas, youâll be better equipped to address it. For example, if your blunder is minor and easily corrected, take care of it right away. If you can edit your post to correct a spelling mistake, by all means go ahead and do so. On the other hand, if itâs major, such as insulting a customer, you need to address it head on. Donât ignore it or delete the post and pretend it never happened. Start by apologizing. From there, you might want to remove the offending post or edit out the offensive statement. Some people will place an explanation within an edited post such as âremoved by moderator.â
3. Recognize that youâre human – Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone can learn and grow from them. Forgive yourself for the blunder, but donât necessarily forget. After all, you donât want to make the same mistakes over and over.
4. Come up with a plan to avoid future blunders – Keep a list of social media blunders youâve made or seen others make. Now, think of ways to avoid making the same blunders in the future. For example, if you tend to over-share personal details of your life, write that down. Now, how can you tone that down? You might create a short checklist to use before you ever hit the âpostâ button. Your checklist might contain questions such as:
- Is this too personal?
- Is this relevant?
- Is this business related?
5. Develop social media post guidelines – Whether youâre a one-person social media manager or have several people on your team, developing guidelines can help you to avoid social media blunders. For example, if your guidelines require that each post and comment you make must have a positive message, youâll be less likely to disparage your competition or use offensive language. Likewise, if your guidelines call for all posts to be proofread by a colleague before going live, youâll likely catch embarrassing typos before publication.
Due to social mediaâs immediacy, itâs easy to make a blunder in the heat of the moment. Unlike at a cocktail party where you can quickly recover, your social media mistakes could live on in infamy if you donât address them quickly. Use care and do your best to avoid making mistakes in the first place.
What is Lifecycle Marketing?
Lifecycle Marketing for Small Business
What's the difference between businesses that thrive and those that seem to just survive? A sales and marketing plan that brings in a constant stream of new prospects and maximizes the value of existing customers.
Join Infusionsoft co-founder Scott Martineau for this free, first-of-its-kind online workshop as he shares with you the principles of Lifecycle Marketing for Small Businessâthe seven steps thriving businesses are using right now to grow, nurture and retain valuable customers.
While previously only available through limited, in-person seminars, customers have asked for this information to be made available on the internet, so Scott is bringing this sought-after information directly to you through this online workshop.
Download the Guide
Attend the On-Demand Workshop
You'll Learn How to Gain More Customers, Plus…
In just 75 power-packed minutes, Scott will help analyze areas of opportunity in your business and develop a customized sales and marketing plan to open your customer floodgates.
You'll also learn how these seven steps can help you:
- Drive more prospect traffic without increasing spend
- Convert customers at a much higher rate
- Squeeze maximum value out of your existing clients
- Grow your referral business to have people begging to be your customer
What is Lifecycle Marketing for Small Business?
Lifecycle Marketing for Small Business is a sales and marketing framework designed to help small businesses maximize customer growth and value.
Developed by Scott Martineau and the Infusionsoft team over a decade of working with over 10,000 small businesses, this is the same approach Infusionsoft has used to grow from a start-up to a $38 million companyârecognized five years in a row as one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine.