Facebook Page Before & After: Little Blue Deer

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Betsy Jacobs

Little Blue Deer created a beautifully simple custom Facebook page using a WixPages template. By utilizing the clever Facebook site menu at the bottom, but changing out the images and of course the textual content, Little Blue Deer made its page completely unique. While the colors, fonts and backgrounds stay close to the template’s original design, it’s both fun and easy to customize the look and feel of the template even further. Now let’s take a look at the before and after.

BEFORE: Online Outfit Timeline Facebook Template

AFTER: Little Blue Deer Facebook Page

Fab.com Doubles Referral Traffic Through Facebook

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Kieron

No matter how many visitors you currently get to your brand’s website, increasing that number gradually, let alone doubling it, can take months of planning, networking and consulting with SEOs. But in a short space of time, Fab.com has seen massive increases in visitor numbers and membership after they integrated social media into the very workings of their website.

Fab.com is an e-commerce site that features daily design-led products, that are all on sale (of up to 70%). Since August 2011, Fab.com have been gradually integrating their website more and more with Facebook’s social features, which has resulted in a doubling of the visitors they get Facebook, as well as increasing their new memberships from 1.8million to 3.2million in that time.

So what have Fab.com done with Facebook to obtain such a vast following?

Daily Exclusive Sales

Every day, Fab.com posts a new sale to their Timeline, fans comment and share those links with their networks, and they spread like wildfire. All the products on sale are mid – high end designer goods, with some sales including several products from a line, and only last for a couple of days at a time. One of the reasons that the posts spread is because the products are genuinely beautiful, or hilarious. But another reason is that Fab.com introduces these sales as well-designed objects first, and as products on sale second.

Now, that may sound strange, but one of the clever things that Fab.com do, is to only provide a limited amount of information about the spotlight item. There are no prices on their Timeline, just a photograph, temptingly written blurb about the item, and a link to their website – which helps to drive the curious visitors that may not all spend big bucks on that product, but what they do get see is a wider range of products that they might buy. Even if they don’t get a sale from these design-hungry visitors, once you’re on the site, membership is quick and free, so Fab.com are almost guaranteed a sign-up to their newsletter if nothing else.

Its simple techniques like this, that use a sense of mystique to entice more visitors into becoming customers, and when you’re Facebook referral traffic doubles, using mystery to you’re advantage starts paying off.

Obviously, not all businesses have the volume of product or business model to sustain this level of daily exclusives, but why not try to create a regular, exclusive offer for potential customers?

Whether that’s a discount on your products, free giveaways in the next hour, or small events to get your fans into your shop. If you can create some hype, and a small following around these offerings, then people are more likely to share and to talk about your brand, which means more followers, and hopefully, more customers.

Live Feed of Purchases, in Real Time

One of the other ways that Fab.com has upped it’s social integration is through their clever Live Feed page, showing what real people are liking, talking about, and most importantly: buying, all in real time.

This has a twofold affect on potential customers:

People are encouraged to buy items because (lots of) other people are buying them, and there’s safety in numbers, so why wouldn’t you join them?
Products feel time sensitive, so people subtly get the impression that they should buy now, before these highly-coveted products are sold out

Now, this kind of feed requires some more intensive development work, which may seem out of the reaches for smaller brands that are looking to get the same kind of return on their Facebook pages, but with a little creativity, you could probably find a way to use your Timeline to boost interaction by shouting about the fact that people love your products too.

However you decide to use your Facebook business page, take inspiration from successful and innovative social marketing campaigns like this one, and you may end up doubling your own traffic (fingers-crossed).

Facebook Page of the Week: Marifer Duran

Posted on April 12, 2012 by WixPages Team

Marifer Duran created a custom Facebook page for its boutique graphic illustration company. The layout’s soft palette of pale pink and white compliments the clean, professional tone . A simple quote about design is placed on the custom-built homepage so that visitors learn immediately what Marifer Duran specialize in. An About page provides more details and a Project page highlights the company’s work with beautiful, image gallery, both easily added with WixPages. A link to the company’s main website remains static on site’s master page so that visitors can check it out in a simple click. Take a look:

All these features, such as menu tabs, striped backgrounds and beautiful graphics are easy to add to any free Facebook page template with WixPages.

How Facebook will help you find your next job

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Betsy Jacobs

New research shows that a whopping 75% of companies peek at job candidates’ social networking profiles.

But, contrary to recent tales of employee password hijacking, many would-be bosses, HR execs, and recruiters are using Facebook for business, alongside LinkedIn and Twitter, to scout out the best candidates, not snoop at their holiday snaps.

According to data compiled from various sources by OnlineDegrees.com, some 95% of recruiters have already hired candidates via the three social media giants. While, throughout 2012, social networking is forecast to play a part in four out of five job openings.

Professional social networking appeals to recruiters for a number of reasons. It saves both time and money, boosts brand awareness, and lends itself well to targeting folks with specific skill sets. In addition, 84% of recruiters believed social media enabled them to reach potential candidates they may not have otherwise made contact with via traditional channels.

A recent Northern Illinois University study backed recruiters’ growing social media bias. It found that participants were able to predict with greater accuracy a candidate’s likelihood of success in a specific role by viewing their Facebook profile as opposed to assessing a detailed personality questionnaire.

What’s more, research by Cornell University showed that job applicants were less likely to embellish their professional experience on their LinkedIn profile versus their traditional resume.

Think recruiters are spending hours lurking on your Facebook page? Think again. Eye tracking studies show that, on average, people spend just 5.7 seconds looking at your profile.

Though a mere 140 characters per Tweet, Twitter packs an almighty punch in the recruiting segment. Research shows that it drives twice as many job views per job as Facebook, and 3X as many applications per job.

Looking for your next dream job? As with many things, it pays to advertise. In addition to optimizing your social media profiles, OnlineDegrees.com recommends touting your skills on About.me, Prezi.com and Jobzey.com.

How to Avoid Facebook Page Underachievement

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Vail

Whether you have just launched a new Facebook Fan Page or have been trying to promote one for awhile, gaining Likes may be your biggest challenge. Nothing is more demotivating than putting in time and effort to an audience of one, or few. If you think you’re alone, you may be delighted to know that of 1.7 million Facebook pages, only half have more than 250 fans!

Recommend.ly is a brand new service offering daily recommendations to fan page owners to help motivate and formulate a solid content strategy. They recently studied 1.7 million Facebook pages to reveal the truth about our own successes and that of our competition.

Venkata Ramana, CEO of Recommend.ly says: “We recognise Facebook as the online marketing forerunner and with Timeline, Facebook is clearly pushing Pages to become more social! Critically, Businesses are stumbling at the starting blocks. Failing to share the right type of content at the right time; respond adequately to fans; participate in conversations; and understand engagement metrics.

Their Infographic illustrates some surprising statistics reflecting the sharing and engagement habits of fan page owners:

This shows us that a staggering 31 percent of pages have fewer than 32 fans and 82 percent of pages had fewer than five wall posts per month, with bands and politicians coming out ahead.

According to Recommend.ly, businesses make the fewest posts compared to all other Page categories.

Local Business Pages average 15 posts per month, the lowest of all categories, and business pages in general have the fewest user interactions.

Getting Ahead

You can propel your Facbeook page into the top 50% in just a few hours per week by following the lead of Politicians, Bands and personal brands, who have 3 times the number of user-generated posts on their pages. The primary ingredient is activity. The most successful pages have an average of 2 updates per day, which encourages shares and generates traffic. Traffic turns into Likes and the momentum builds from there.

Here are some recommended posts with tips on content strategies and posting ideas to help generate interest and boost your page over the 250 fan goal!

Spring it on: Freshen up your Facebook Page

Posted on April 10, 2012 by WixPages Team

Now that Spring has arrived, some of us might be thinking about new wardrobes, house cleaning, or even starting a new project. So we thought it would be a fun time to conjure up some fresh visual inspiration to help carry that Spring feeling into our Facebook pages. Whether it’s through a colorful banner, a new product gallery, or even a custom font, creating fresh new content for your Facebook page can be a great way to attract new eyes to your business. Here are a few inspirational Spring 2012 designs blossoming on Facebook.

Spring Images - The always bright and cheery Kate Spade switched up its Facebook page banner to an even livelier, more colorful graphic full of flowers.

Spring Colors – Clothing boutique, ModCloth switched up their winter’s Facebook page for a eye-catching and trendy color palette of neon pink and white.

Spring Events – Fashionistas, Madewell created a custom Facebook page that promotes its spring event, with a countdown encouraging visitors to Like its page.

Common Facebook layout mistakes

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Betsy Jacobs

Despite the best of intentions to embrace all things social media, many companies enter the space blindly.

In the same way you wouldn’t launch a print or TV campaign without first researching demographics and compiling killer creative, it’s a big no-no to create a Facebook layout without careful planning.

To ensure your Facebook layout is optimized, keep an eagle eye out for the following common mistakes.

Common Mistake #1: Overdoing apps
Contrary to some companies’ beliefs, Facebook apps don’t necessarily equal increased engagement.

The reality is, most popular apps have big brand names or marketing budgets backing them.

Unless you’re convinced your app is compelling enough to push people through the ‘Request for permission’ part of proceedings, you’re probably better off opting for a straight Facebook page.

Common Mistake #2: Failing to set a Facebook marketing budget
If you simply sit back and wait for folks to stumble upon your Facebook page by chance, you’ll soon find yourself disenchanted.

The Facebook ad network is an inexpensive way to acquire targeted fans for your page – for goodness sake use it. In fact, depending on the parameters you set and the niche you hail from, you could acquire people for as little as 1 cent.

If you’re tempted to skimp on your Facebook ad budget in favor of indirect tactics, remember to factor in the time you’d spend tweaking and tinkering. And don’t forget that an untargeted fan is unlikely to produce the ROI you’re ultimately after.

Common Mistake #3: Posting like you live on ‘Planet Me’
When it comes to all forms of social media, engagement is the name of the game. Therefore, it’s essential that your Facebook business page doesn’t come across too me-centric.

And don’t even think about faking it. Facebook fans can spot an employee posing as Average Joe Customer from 20 paces.

Common Mistake #4: Hard selling, not engaging

While it’s tempting – particularly in harsh economic times – to clutter your wall with ‘Buy my stuff, buy my stuff, buy my stuff’ messaging, ultimately that won’t earn you any points with the Facebook crowd.

Instead, follow the widely-accepted rule of thumb: 80% interaction; 20% selling. Your fans will reward you for it with their loyalty.

Research Reveals the Secrets of Facebook Timeline

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Kieron

This month, the Usability Research agency Simple Usability released findings from a study that attempted to gain a better understanding of how the average Facebook user was interacting with the new Timeline interface using eye-tracking technology and interview techniques. The research focused on several popular organization’s Facebook pages, including American Express and Coca Cola – so the results should be useful to any brand that’s thinking about using Facebook as part of their marketing strategy.

You can read the full report here, but in summary the 6 key points the report makes are:

People don’t pay attention to cover images, profile pictures, or apps
People are interested in learning your company history
A Timeline that’s not up-to-date can be ignored, or even confusing
People take notice of friend interactions with a brand
Pinned posts aren’t that aren’t that obvious to people
Users aren’t interacting with apps…yet

Now, all of these points are interesting and can help you to prioritize your time when getting your fans engaging with your Facebook page, but there are a few things that we need to be thinking about in the long term, because as we all know, the web changes fast.

People Learn & Behaviours Change

Firstly, just because cover images, profile pictures or apps aren’t drawing much attention now, we’ve got to remember that the “Timeline” interface is actually a completely new format for a web page to take in the eyes of most users. It can take time for users to get to grips with new interfaces, and there is often some resistance to the up-take of new ways of doing things, but as the Timeline becomes more familiar, users may start to interact with them differently.

In time, cover images may become an important part of the Timeline interface, especially as people and organizations are starting to experiment with what can be done. Don’t throw the idea out of the window, but understand that right now, getting your Timeline and brand story right should be a priority.

Don’t be Afraid of Trends

A huge number of services offering optimization for Timelines have appeared since organization profiles have been switched-over, and it’s easy to get drawn into the hype around new trends, or feel like you’re getting left behind, but this research shows that some of that hype has been misplaced at the moment. By focussing on the new features that people are actually using now, like Timeline’s story-telling value, you can start engaging users earlier without wasting time on unnoticed extras.

Prepare for Change

User behaviour is sure to change as more and more people adopt Timeline in their personal profiles, and start to make the most out of the interface, so keeping an eye on what other brands are doing can give you an idea of how you want to use Cover images and Apps when they do start to get noticed.

Watch the Big Players
If you can understand what their million dollar marketing budgets are doing with Timeline, then you can see how much of it is relevant to your brand, and how much can be done on a more modest budget.

Watch your Competitors
Find out what techniques they’re using to engage with their customers – the goal here isn’t to outright steal their tactics, but to learn from them and go one step further, armed with your other research.
Talk to your Customers
This research confirms that what we’re seeing is a greater shift towards consumers getting more involved in the ethos and personalities of brands. So tell your story, air your relevant opinions, and ask your customers to share their experiences too. If you can create an honest dialog that isn’t just geared towards gaining Likes, you’re more likely to gain long-term customers that will support your brand for years.

The final thing, is to start using Timeline now.

Facebook Page of the Week: Return of the Dragon

Posted on April 5, 2012 by WixPages Team

Jason Enriquez created a custom Facebook page layout to promote his art, stories and overall personality in one fun space called Return of the Dragon. Visitors are immediately transported through the adventurous mind of a funny, yet wimpy storybook character, Jeffrey Foofie. Menu buttons at the top of the page guide fans to read more stories and view more art, and a Contact tab enables anyone to get in touch with the writer. Most importantly included though, is the PayPal button at the bottom of the page which allows visitors to buy Enriquez’ book in one easy click. Check out this fun-filled Facebook page below.

All these fun features, such as menu buttons, cork board backgrounds, PayPal buttons and funky clipart are easy to add to any free Facebook page template with WixPages.

How to Create an HTML5 Promo for your Facebook Page

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Vail

If you haven’t noticed, HTML5 is now on Wix! This is exciting, because no other service aims to offer a full HTML5 builder for Facebook yet. Where Facebook in concerned, HTML5 means mobile-friendly. We’re set to roll out a few updates in the near future to make WixPages even better, including more templates, presets for the new wider format, an improved user interface for the Flash builder and additional features to increase social activity/ user engagement on your page. Whew!

What is HTML5 Anyway?

HTML5 is a new standard that defines how browsers and websites interact. It includes a set of semantics and rules for the markup, which is the basic code that makes up most of the web. The new standard is more straightforward and streamlined, and allows the browser to do some things like display video and play audio without needing a plugin. For the future of the web, this means faster websites that do cool stuff without a lot of load on your connection.

HTML5 + WixPages = Awesome

With the change to Facebook pages in March, this is a perfect time to take a look at your custom page tab and make some changes, or do a complete makeover. Here are just a few things to consider:

1. The page area is wider.

While our templates haven’t been updated yet, you can still edit your page and set the width of your elements to 800px.

2. The Like button is on the right!

Because Facebook does not allow you to ask for likes on your Timeline cover image or app graphics, it is more important than ever to use your custom page tabs to drive call-to-action, paired with social promotion through your Timeline posts. Make sure any call-to-action graphic you currently have is pointing to the right place!

3. You have app graphics to promote pages.

Because you can’t set your custom page as your landing tab any longer, custom page tabs are even more powerful as stand-alone pages when combined with an app graphic. The app graphics sit on the upper-right of your Timeline, and you can make three of them visible all the time. These are prime spots for promotions or links to specific pages such as shops, forms and galleries.

Creating an HTML5 Promo

Here are a few quick steps for creating a promo page using the HTML5 builder and what we’ve talked about so far. Of course, before you begin, take a look at Facebook’s Promotion guidelines so you know what to avoid.

1. Go to wix.com and click Create.

2. Click HTML5 on the left side

3. Click Facebook Welcomer at the bottom-left.

4. Choose a design to start with and click Edit.

5. Begin by clicking the Gridlines button in the floating toolbar. This will help you keep everything lined up nicely.

6. Click Design and start with a custom background.

7. Move on to Colors and Fonts by clicking Customize Colors/Customize Fonts at the bottom of each panel. For more information on creating styles, visit the help page.

8. Customize your welcome page by clicking the various elements to edit them. Add more through the large plus icon on the left-hand menu.

9. The best promo pages send a single message and illustrate it with a strong visual. Add these three elements to your page:

Image/Slider: Your image should be at least 800 pixels wide for best results – this prepares your promo for the wider format later

Large Text: Text on promo pages should be large and use a clean font. Try using a size above 16.

Call-to-Action buttons can be created using shapes and text, or a button element. Use this link to send visitors to another tab such as your shop, a special website or a hidden page of your Wix tab containing a special offer10. Move your Like Usgraphic to the right edge of the grid guideline to better align with the new Like button placement.

11. From here, you may continue to add auxillary pages containing text or other content you don’t need to promote directly from your main page. When you’re happy with your design, click Save. If you already have the WixPages app installed on your Facebook page, your new design will be updated automatically. If this is a new page, click Publish to install the WixPages tab app and select your Facebook Fan Page from the drop-down.

12. Put on the final touch by visiting your Timeline and editing the app icon to insert a custom image representing your promo. Check out our Facebook Tips for details on using this new feature.

View the above HTML5 Facebook promo page demo or, for detailed help with using the new HTML5 editor, visit the WixPages Support Center.