*Note (Preface): I think I’ve started to figure out. Double-post + normal Howard posts…until then…

*Note: I’m gonna be honest here. I don’t know what to do when I’m blogging in two places and I know the subscribers don’t completely overlap. I’ll figure it out soon, I promise. Until then, I guess I’ll double post. Punch me in the face, @reply me, or e-mail me if it’s a problem. 

KISS – The usability mantra, the creed of the web designer, the secret of marketing…we’ve already heard it all before.

It’s one of those messages that gets drilled home so much to the point that it becomes noise and we forget about it; …not so fast.

These tools available on the social web…have you remembered to K-I-S-S?  Have you gotten lost in the buzz and forgotten the simple things? I know I have.

We do get lost in the “coolness” of it all dont’ we? Looking around at what others have accomplished, what we think is possible, and though we don’t admit it…we really do care more about the numbers when we lead on.

When’s the last time we heard somebody say something like, “Oh, the web is great for amplifying a message via word of mouth.” Probably last year because that’s when there were a bunch of buzzwords floating around. Now that message has been stripped down to, “Oh, the web is great for amplifying a message.”

On the most basic level, we love the social web because it helps us connect with other humans (people behind brands/universities/etc. included). That human connection helps us build relationships, along with buzz, and connects us in a community. It doesn’t exist solely to help amplify your message, just to make your brand more popular, or anything along those lines. Having a Facebook Fan Page, does not give you the “license to spam” as Joe puts it.

When we remember our roots, remember what enchanted us so much about communicating on the web, we have the greatest success. People miss the simple things. So here’s your friendly reminder…

Keep it simple, stupid.

Original Post for comments: http://bluefuego.com/index.php/2010/02/keep-it-simple-stupid-no-not-you/

*Note: I’m gonna be honest here. I don’t know what to do when I’m blogging in two places and I know the subscribers don’t completely overlap. I’ll figure it out soon, I promise. Until then, I guess I’ll double post. Punch me in the face, @reply me, or e-mail me if it’s a problem.

“Well, in 2014 we’re adding a new science building with the newest in digital innovation.”

“There are plans right now of adding a student union to campus soon.”

“I think there may be a chance of adding a collection of 1st Edition Dr. Seuss books to our library in the future.”

In higher ed we encounter this kind of language all the time. For some reason there seems to be an overemphasis on what’s happening in the future and what we’re hoping or planning to get instead of appreciating and embracing what we have. I’m not saying that looking to the future or looking forward to the next step is bad, but do think that you could be missing out on appreciating some of you hidden strengths.

Your students also notice these future oriented statements. It makes your institution seem inadequate. Imagine meeting a new person you were trying to judge. Let’s call him Guy. Guy says to you statements like, “In 2011, I’m totally going to have a kickin’ bod!” or “I’m hoping to have own and tend a perfect lawn someday.” What Guy says about his future is interesting in the sense that you get a feel for what he’s striving for, but you’re also left thinking…and? What about now? An overemphasis on future plans leaves a perception that what your currently have isn’t enough. If you don’t think it is, do you think the prospective students will?

An innumerable amount of other institutions students are looking at have similar future goals  and have things like “small class sizes where you’re not another number.” Still, given those facts, no two universities are exactly alike are they? Those are your “hidden strengths.”

Last fall I visited Winthrop University and I saw a student with a shirt that said, “Winthrop Football…still undefeated.” The joke? They don’t have a football team. Students have actually come to embrace the fact they don’t have football. There are passionate students like Eagle Man who cheer on the Eagles with pride. It speaks to the culture of their university. Will Winthrop embrace football if they get it? Probably, but the students don’t seem to mind not having it.

These hidden strengths often may be hinted at or mentioned in passing during preview days, but I think they’re often glazed over as nothing more than ancillary details, when really those small details are what some potential students fall in love with. I can name several students that immediately knew UIS was the right fit for them when they learned that our library architect designed it with no right angles so that students could think differently and creatively.

I think it’s time to shift “in the future we’ll have…” thinking to “this what we have and this is why we rock.” The small things, that when you consider it really help contribute to your institution’s identity.

Own it, be proud of it, and spread the word. Your future students will notice.

Original Post: http://bluefuego.com/index.php/2010/01/your-hidden-strengths/

I’m just going to be completely blunt and tell you that I think the social media portion of my web strategy has been a failure so far. Yes, I’m only a month in and awareness has increased and volunteer numbers have gone up, but I want more. It isn’t that social media is “not working” or that the numbers aren’t there. It’s that it hasn’t looked like what I expected. I had hoped the pages would be burgeoning with active engagement. I dreamed of times where students and members of the Springfield community would @reply a quick question to @uisvolunteer or write on our fan page’s wall to discuss how they liked an event and start to use the space as their own. That simply isn’t happening.

So I started to dig into the problem to understand why. I talked to students and looked at different trends and numbers for our campus and Springfield in general. I found a few good nuggets. I learned that students here don’t want to use Facebook or Twitter for information, they want to limit it to social networking. Students also don’t care for blogs. Most didn’t know what a RSS feed was. Further, out of all of our students (both undergraduate and graduate level) less than 1% are using Twitter. In the entire Springfield community? Less than .01%. Those numbers are staggering and factor into the big picture, but still doesn’t address the level of engagement. Low usage simply isn’t a sufficient excuse.

I’m noticing the voluntary nature of social media leads to a level of interaction that is unpredictable. Think about it. I could post this and you could forward it to some friends, retweet it on Twitter, comment, or do nothing. I may have an idea how something may go over and predict possibilities to a certain extent, but never completely know what will happen. So what does this mean for social media strategies? A cornerstone of any strategy should include periods of evaluation that include three stages: the Research stage, Adjust stage, and Build stage. It is my belief that if you’re not doing these things, you’re not creating the best strategy possible.

Research

We’ve all been told to listen, but here’s the thing, listening isn’t enough. It’s just one piece of an entire puzzle. What other points of data are you analyzing? Are you considering and learning about the target’s environment? How are you actively getting to know the people you’re targeting?

This is also a time where your organization analyzes internally. How is our progress looking? Are we still adding value and helping solve problems? Do our objectives align with our mission?

The marketing world revolves around the buzzword of influence. A major problem I have seen with marketers is incredible rigidity. Instead of reevaluating, time is wasted attempting to influence people to adopt a failing system. This research portion is the first step in meeting people where they’re at; focusing on relationship, trust, and collaboration, not simply influence. We need to focus on relationship and trust because we should come from a short-term and long-term perspective and this heavily influences positive word of mouth.

Adjust

After doing research it’s now time to set a plan of action. That’s why it’s important to have an overarching mission, flexible goals, and solid objectives so that plans can be perfected as you learn more. You need to do something with your research. Your strategy should never stay the same because people always change. As needs, desires, and be interaction shift, you should be right there moving with them. Don’t forget to consider long-term goals as well. Social media isn’t actively used on our campus now, but it will be in the future. That’s why I am focusing so much on building a sustainable system that can function well even when I’m not around.

Build

Now it’s time to implement your objectives and build on your foundation. Remember to think big and build small. Every small victory leads to more accuracy, more reach, and better content.

One thing I’m also working on that is important to remember is patience. I’m heavily engrossed in social media so it affects the rate at which I expect things to happen, i.e., immediately. Not everybody works on 140 characters and real-time communication.

Think of crafting your social media strategy as art. In photography there are rules that help you compose good photos, but ultimately rules can be broken and one photo can have forty different interpretations. Photography also requires trial an error to see which shots work. Building a masterful strategy can be arduous, but as you test the waters, evaluate, and learn, you’ll be creating an amazing community of engagement and effectively reaching your niche.

Today I’ll be focusing on the elements that can help make your Facebook Fan Page for your office/business/organization remarkable and tips on how to promote it.

Facebook Fan Pages used in the most effective way are gateways; one-stop-shops. What do I mean by that? Think of your fan page as the exterior of a house. You want it to look as welcoming as possible; lawn trimmed, a little gnome here and there, a welcome mat, you know what I mean. It sets the stage for people to enter the home, connect, and go deeper. You don’t want to target your Facebook Fan Page to be a destination, but an open door to the separate rooms in your house. Your facebook fan page should be set to point your target audience in the right direction of what they’re looking for and help them connect on a deeper level (whether that means groups, link to your website, social media, etc.).

Before anything is started marketers usual ask the question, “Who’s our target?” I’m going to be honest with you. It kind of matters, but it doesn’t matter. Target everyone, not anyone. The better question organizations can ask is, “Who are we and how do we want to represent ourselves to everyone?”

Look at these numbers:

1. Facebook Demographic Statistics (allfacebook.com)

2. istrageylabs reports: 2009 Facebook Demographics and Statistics Report: 276% Growth in 35-54 Year Old Users

With these numbers and your Facebook Fan Page being a one-stop-shop gateway do you REALLY want to ignore all these users? It’s their choice if they want to enter and go deeper. Let them decide.

What does this mean for the Facebook Fan Page?

The picture you select is more important than you think. It represents your brand to everyone. Do you want to go with a logo, a more organic photograph, simple text? It will be different for everyone. I chose to go with the organic photo route for our office because I think a logo looks too rigid and doesn’t send the right message when representing a volunteer office. Here’s the photo I went with:

I found a picture that I felt could represent service, but not show faces or specific action. Our target is everyone, not anyone. If we focus on a picture of someone serving, we brand what a volunteer looks like, what volunteers are doing, and possibly unintentionally alienate people. Focus on everyone, not anyone.

Important Notes for a Remarkable Fan Page

1. Choose your title wisely. It’s what will be a “badge” on profiles and also serve as your keywords for search engine optimization.
2. Don’t launch your fan page bare. Facebook has a great feature where you can work on your fan page before you publish it. Use that to your advantage and have everything you can set before you start to promote it.
3. Watch clutter. Know your brand and what’s necessary and not necessary. Games may enhance user experiences for some, but not for others.
4. Make it easy for others to connect, whether through wall discussion, forward to blogs, pictures, etc. Make it easy to connect and find what they want. It will help convert fans as well as give people a reason to visit your fan page
5. Open communication is key. Watch, listen, discuss, and help where you can. People take notice when organizations take time to add to discussions and help. Send periodical updates through the update feature, but don’t be spam.
6. Have the mentality that your page is OUR page, not your page or my page.

Applications I Use & Recommend

1. RSS-Connect - Pull your RSS Feeds directly into your page
2. Static FBML – With basic HTML knowledge you can create custom boxes to cater to your needs. I used them to create a box to direct users to our social media sites.
3. YouTube Box – Integrate YouTube videos from your account (*can add to clutter)
4. Other then that I use the default applications: photos, videos, etc. I don’t use Notes due to RSS-Connect

Notes on Promotion

While you can’t send mass invites for Facebook Fan Pages to the people you’re not Facebook friends with (use suggestion feature for that), fan pages are easy to build a buzz around. How can you get your word out?

1. Tell people your fan page exists. We have an e-mail distribution list we notified & are including some links in our press releases.
2. Let others evangelize you. When people become fans it shows on the profile as well as their mini-feed. Post photos/videos of your community. As pictures become tagged (and show up in their profiles) your community will become infused with your fan page. Even just ask people to help out. Some people will do it for free, others may require incentives.
3. Be creative. During National Volunteer Week there will be a campaign asking people to donate their status in support of volunteering & become a fan of our page. If you’re a bar run a promotion that cover is free on a certain night if they’re a fan of your page. Give away free things. The possibilities are endless! Use the analytics with the fan pages and see what’s worked for you.
4. Transfer members from your group and notify them. Starting a fan page and already have a group? No problem! Collegewebeditor.com outlines some great instructions. *Note: Facebook has discontinued transferring groups to pages.

I hope these ideas help you get started on your road to creating a remarkable fan page. Comment up your thoughts or if you think anything else needs to be added!