Brand Timeline: A 21st Century Publishing Tool in a

Paid/Owned/Earned World Presented by Geoffrey Colon,

For MEDIABISTRO Social Media BootcampJuly 24, 2013

Overview• Think of Facebook as a Publisher• Publishing is the Platform• Paid/Owned/Earned• Paid Tools Fuel Earned WOM• Graph Search• Future• Questions

Think of Facebook as a Publisher

• A storytelling engine• Visually appealing• Engaging• Targeted messaging• Publishing• Multi-Device Friendly• Timeline is the default for personal

and brand publishing

Publishing is the Platform• Timeline allows brands to become

a 24/7/365 content creation engine

• Many brands use timeline to tell their story and journey

• Note: The majority of users never visit a timeline on Facebook. But all actions on timeline are published into the newsfeed helping to create continued consumer engagement

• More pictures, more branding opps

• Serves more as a brand blog than simply a “Like our page for free stuff”

• Integrates well with Instagram

Paid/Owned/Earned• Timelines help brands

evolve on the platform from simply a publishing engine into a paid/owned/earned ecosystem:– Sponsored Stories– Visuals– Newsfeed advertising – Mobile UX-friendly– Targeted Sharing (All fans,

fans by geo, fans by gender, fans by age demographic)

Paid Tools Fuel Earned WOM• “Viral” is a dirty word• Due to the nature of the

network, emphasis has transferred from “likes” to “shares:”– Sharing and engagement propagate

content in the news feed seen by your opt-in audience

– To reach above and beyond the 16% published content will reach due to the Edge Rank algorithm, paid methods ala “Sponsored Stories are essential barometers toward success

– Organic and earned are still good ways to reach your existing audience but not mass

– 3 options: Get more page likes, Promote Page Posts, See Advanced Options (CPC on #hashtags)

– Facebook.com/advertising

Paid Tools Fuel Earned WOM (Cont.)

• How do I know what my goals are when using paid tools?If you’re advertising your timeline/page/brand/business presence: • Target people who are likely to like your page• Promote page posts by targeting people who are likely to engage with your Page post

If you’re advertising an Event:• Increase attendance by targeting people likely to go to your event/store/shop

Target by Desktop or Mobile• Figure out your brand/business demographic or spread evenly across devices

Paid Tools Fuel Earned WOM (Cont.)

• What can I track?Limited ROI…•Track multiple campaigns in one dashboard•Track if your campaign helped with impressions, CTR, indirect conversion•Change messaging on the fly with editing tools•Generate reports that can be used with deeper analytics tools including web analytics software, lead generation tracking, sales conversion (for those running commerce on their website)

• What can’t I track?•Deep personal user data•Direct conversion•Content originating on Facebook that get shared across other networks (“dark social”)

Graph Search• Graph search is Facebook’s new

search functionality on the platform*

• It is only open in beta for a few individual users but will ultimately roll out to brand timelines in the future

• A typical search would be: “People who live in San Francisco” or “Friends who like Metallica”

• Ultimately, the tool can be used for brand targeting, e.g., “people who like Pepsi” in which Coke can use to target with an offer**

*Disclaimer: Graph search is powered by my employer Bing/Microsoft.

**Currently it is only for use by personal pages.

Future• New News Feed debuting in

September. What effect will it have on marketing?– Multiple tabs– Less clutter– Same look across devices (mobile, tablet,

web)– Hi image quality– More mobile friendly– Less advertising friendly– More emphasis on “paid” to reach masses.– Facebook.com/newsfeed

Thank You!

Geoffrey Colon, Group Marketing Manager, Social Media

: @djgeoffe

Questions?