My March Social Media Reading List

 

I’ve been contemplating the possible role of Facebook Public Profile pages as the primary hub for all consumer-facing social media efforts. Since Facebook can handle all media types used in social communication, and now has micro-blogging as well, it seems realistic.

 

Best Article on New Profile Pages – Mashable: New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers

Facebook Resources

• How to Promote your Profile Page outside of Facebook.
• Profile Page Best Practice Guides:
• Public Figures (Celebrities / Athletes / Politicians / etc.)
• Music & Bands (Musicians / Songwriters / Bands / etc.)
• Communities (Non-Profits / Universities / Religion Organizations / etc.)
• Facebook Ad Guide (this information gets out of date quickly, but the basics are all correct in here.)

Relevant Research

• Nielsen  Global Faces and Networked Places report on the global impact of social networking on marketing.
• Mashable Coverage: Social Networking More Popular than Email
• Mashable:  10 Smartest Brands on Social Media

Discussions of Brands on Facebook

• Measuring: Facebook Profile Page Statistics
• Replacing branded social networks: Mashable – Is a Facebook Page a Complete Social Media Strategy?
• Vanity URLs:  Facebook Getting Serious About Vanity URLs (Michael Arrington)
• Community Guidelines: Facebook Group and Brand Page Best Practices (old, but useful information on guidelines)

Example Facebook Public Profile Pages

• An example of how different geographies can confuse a search, and how a small market can dominate by having more fans (Finland): MTV
• An example of a Page using the Graffiti app to let people draw on their page: MTV Boxes Tab
• Simple, global, infrequent but universal updates: Starbucks
• Retail – prominent coupon offer and Fan-only content: Sears
• Extensively re-creating an online service on Facebook and advertising it heavily: CareerBuilder
• Multi-page Strategy – Dell: Main Page (conversation), Dell Deals (promotion), Dell Social Media for Small Business (community), Dell Lounge (Entertainment)

Twitter

Twitter Usage/Growth	Twitter for Brands
TechCrunch – Twitter Mania	Custom backgrounds
McCain on Twitter	Best Twitter brands
Compete.com – Twitter Search	Twitter / Dell
	Twitter brand sponsors (Advertising)