Here’s a test for you: Go to your Facebook profile. At the top of the page, you’ll see “Worked at…” Click on that link. What do you see? Well, chances are, most of you see something like this:

What is THAT? It’s your business’ empty company page, that’s what it is. Ahhh, the company page. The red-headed development stepchild of the more popular Facebook Fan page. Well, how then do you redirect your work profile to show your company’s glorious fan page? Here’s the step-by-step. Warning: it’s requires a little technical fiddling, but don’t be scurred.

1) Use Firefox.

2) Install the Web Developer add-on toolbar.

3) Once you install the add-on and restart your browser, go to your business’ Facebook Fan page (or the business page of the company you want to add, e.g. past employers). In the URL, you should see something like “id=123456789″. That’s your fan page ID. Copy the numeric string (but not the “=” sign before it or the “/” after it.) If the page has a vanity URL, click on the profile picture in the top left corner, and you should see the id in the album URL.

4) Make sure you are logged into your FB profile, and then go to Info on the far left side of the screen, then to the Edit Education and Work page.

5) Click “edit” on the business profile you want to change.

6) Now, on the Developer toolbar (that add-on you just installed), go to “Forms” and click on “Display Form Details” in the dropdown menu.

7) Look for <input name=”employer_id”>:

8.) Paste the business’ Facebook Fan Page id number into that box. Click save while still in the “Display Form Details” mode.

9) Go back to the toolbar and uncheck the “Display Form Details” mode. If the business shows up correctly, you are good to go! If not, the most likely culprit is that the name of the business does not match up with Facebook’s name for the employer ID. In this case, you have to create a new “job”. If this is the case, keep on reading.

10) Enter your company name in the box “Where have you worked” just as if you were to add an employer normally. Click on Add “[insert company name]“

11) You should now be in the page where you add all the company info. Don’t do it. Go back and get into “Display Form Details” mode.

12) Add the employer ID like you tried to do earlier, and click “save” (without exiting the “Display Form Details” mode). This should do the trick. NOW exit the mode, and go edit your employer information as usual.

Now you can properly link your businesses’ Facebook fan page to your profile. Likewise, you should be able to do this for all your former employer links, as well as your school links. Let us know if this was helpful for you!

This is a guest post by Ben Smithee. [tweetmeme]

In the world of market research (you know…that mythical land of statistical analysis, in-depth interviewing and the warm and fuzzy focus group) we are seeing a new type of shift in measuring ROI, impressions, likes, RT’s and all of those other mystical social media metrics. In the evolving social economy (also known as the interwebs) I see new marketing and advertising strategy leading to new forms of measurement. I like to think of it as “social measurement”, or the measurement of your campaign or initiative’s ability/likelihood to be shared on the social web.

Think about that last statement again, “the ability/likelihood for your campaign or initiative to be shared on the social web”, what do you think?

It’s no secret the emphasis on social advertising and marketing is taking an influencer approach. We see things like Mayors on Foursquare, friend, like and comment counts of Facebook, and follower and klout scores on Twitter. Companies and brands are looking to make marketing and advertising impact through interruption and inclusion in conversations and experiences that are already occurring between you and your friends. They seek to maximize efficiency of message spread, aka virality, by identifying the core influencers to target on a personal level, and having them act as brand champions, heralding the horns of influence.

So, in the land of influence we as researchers, marketers and advertisers are starting to look at new forms of identification and measurement. As people become the medium for the message, and brands seek out influence, we are tasked with identifying those who are most likely to move the word of mouth needle.

Social Measurement Factors

When creating campaigns and initiatives around influencers and brand champions, 3 main key factors come into play:

Relevance
Shareability
Conversion

Everything starts with relevance, and I think many marketing and advertising blunders can be avoided if you just simply head the relevance warning. Relevance can be the difference between the trending video on YouTube and an #EpicFail. People do not naturally avoid or hate advertising; they just expect it to be relevant. With the evolution of truly targeted platforms, such as the plethora of location-based apps, there is no reason for disconnect in the land of relevance.

“Shareability”, or the ease of sharing information, is something I see many companies forget about. They come up with great campaigns and extremely creative ideas, but fail miserably by not allowing me to easily share it with my friends! It’s hard to have an influential effect if the influencers cannot EASILY share the message.

Conversion is what it all boils down to in the end. Impressions are great, and having 500,000 “likes” is a great accomplishment, but if it doesn’t have a level of conversion attached to it, what is the real value? Conversion starts in the strategic planning phase and rears its ugly head throughout the entire campaign. From the very beginning, you must establish end-goals and identify what it is you actually want people to do. It sounds like a simple concept, but I have seen so many brands get caught up in the search for cool and making a viral video that they forget that the end goal is to cause people to buy something, adopt an animal, or some other tangible and measurable action. Identify conversion points early, and make sure you have the ability to specifically attribute each end-action back to specific initiatives and channels.

The future of marketing, advertising, and social measurement is still in a fast-changing mode, but as things evolve and expand, those three metrics of relevance, shareability and conversion will remain as core foundations for success.

What are your thoughts, and how do you see the metrics of buzz and influence changing over time? We would love to hear your comments.

image credit

About the guest blogger: Ben Smithee is a Managing Partner at Spych Market Analytics, which provides innovative solutions for companies seeking a better understanding of the Gen Y and Millenial market segments. He can be found on Twitter here.

[tweetmeme]

Screw #FollowFriday. One, it’s oversaturated now. How many people do you actually follow as a result of one of those tweets? Two, you can’t explain why they are worthy to be followed. So, why not start the week out right by following these brilliant netizens, tweeps, and bloggers:

North (Detroit, MI)
Scott Monty. He’s the head of social media marketing at Ford Motor Company, and host of iHearofSherlock.com (who knew?). Why do we follow him? Because we tend to work with medium-sized companies and non-profits who want to be big one day, we appreciate his insights on how he communicates for a global brand, and how he combines a fast moving industry (social media) with the gigantic bureaucracy that is Ford. His blog: ScottMonty.com

South (Austin, TX)
Aaron Strout. He’s the CMO at Powered Inc. in Austin, our second favorite city besides Dallas. Why do we follow him? He has the uncanny ability to sniff out the latest trends in social media and separate the wheat from the chaff. He stirs up the pot on Twitter – his twitt-ersations keep us hitting the refresh button. His blog: Citizen Marketer 2.1.

East (Boston, MA)
Tamsen McMahon. She is the Director of Digital and Strategic Initiatives at Sametz Blackstone Associates, and is the partner-in-crime with Amber Naslund at Brass Tack Thinking. Why do we follow her? She is always thinking about what is next, and how to apply those thoughts to practical marketing and PR applications. Our favorite post that she’s authored: 4 Things You Need to Know about Influence.

West (Silicon Valley, CA)
Jeremiah Owyang. He’s a partner at Altimeter Group. Why do we follow him? His reports from Altimeter are mind-blowingly deep, and the things that they produce influence us immensely in the way that we think about reporting and monitoring, two things that are vastly overlooked in the digital marketing world. His blog: Web Strategy.

Who do you follow?

(image credit: flickr)

[tweetmeme] There’s been a lot of talk about online influence lately, as seen in the buzz around Klout, the backlash against Fast Company’s Influence Project, and even an Influencer Project Conference, billed as “60 speakers, 60 seconds, and 60 ways to increase your online influence.” As much as we want to measure, quantify, and increase our (or our client’s) influence, the question still remains: what makes someone influential? Is it their message, their charisma, and/or their medium?

We found a little short film that tries to look at the essence of influence. They take a look at people like Jay-Z, the New York Times’ Bill Cunningham, and Steve Jobs, as well as the places, like SxSW, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and the TED conference, to see what makes people so influential.

From the directors:

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment.

The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach.

INFLUENCERS via R+I creative.

The filmmakers identified three things that make someone influential:
1) Confidence/comfort in what they are doing, whether it is inventing/originating, curating, or popularizing/promoting a concept, idea or brand
Influencers are usually comfortable in their own skin. While they may have a need for approval, they likely know what they like, and what they don’t like.
2) Respect for their thoughts within their niche or industry, regardless of whether they are liked as a person or not
Influencers don’t give a damn about what people think about them, but they are heavily invested in what people think of their ideas.
3a) The ability to see outside the mainstream thought, AND….
3b) The ability to pull it back into the mainstream conversation.
Influencers aggregate and curate unique thoughts and ideas and then, because they straddle mainstream and innovative worlds, translate and popularize those new concepts.

We loved what the film tries to capture in an offline sense, and we are trying to process how a film would be made were it to focus on online influencers. Is it all about compelling ideas in written or video form, or is there something (or someone) more? How does charisma translate online (Gary Vaynerchuk immediately comes to mind in terms of social video)? What do you think? Who are the influencers in your life? Why are they influential? How are you trying to become an influencer?

[tweetmeme] We often think of San Francisco as the home of the newest and best technology. However, it’s also a place where old school, handcrafted tools are used and respected. Take, for instance, the SF Fire Department ladders:

Ladder Shop for SFFD via AdamKaplan

Building wooden ladders for 21st century firefighting? On the face of it, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. However, in San Francisco, where ladder trucks can’t access many streets, electric wires are strung in the air, and a stiff breeze comes off the bay, aluminum ladders don’t do the trick. On the contrary, wooden ladders, heavy enough to stand the wind and non-conducting for electricity, make a ton of sense. And since the ladders are handcrafted, some of them are over 100 years old.

Likewise, we hear a lot of talk in social media about how Facebook or Twitter (or both) campaigns are the answers to all marketing questions, online or offline. While we should be big proponents of those tools, we need to also realize that nothing beats a bespoke, sustainable marketing strategy. We should look at all the available online and offline options, tailored to individual situations. This usually involves light, flexible email and social media tactics, combined with offline, “old school” marketing, like handouts, advertising, and face-to-face interactions. The end goal: to have movements, not campaigns, that endure and stay relevant to your communities.

So what is the lesson? Maybe we, as innovators and users of the latest and greatest tools, shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water when it comes to traditional methods. Maybe we should look to combine the best of both worlds. Sleek new fire trucks with 100 year old ladders? Makes total sense to us. What do you think?

Next week, Cameron will continue our fire-fighting theme, so stay tuned by subscribing to our RSS feed.

[tweetmeme] Now, we here at Buzzshift have a decent amount of style, some of us know The Sartorialist, Fashionista, and Brog NOT Blog cold, and one of us even knows how to properly pronounce “Givenchy”. And while we have seen our fair share of quality or luxury as a differentiator, or customer service as a marketing tool (a la Zappos), we have rarely seen the combination of a luxury brand using customer service as an effective marketing tool. Many companies have a generous return policy, but few have a “no questions asked” policy, and fewer still have a proactive return policy that is worth raving about.

Enter Coach Bags. This purveyor of mass luxury handbags is best known for its high quality leather goods and distinctive “C” logo on its handbags and wallets. They also have a great customer service experience that is remarkable, in every sense of the word. About a year and a half back, I bought a nice little cloth and leather purse for my wife (brownie points), and she has used it with semi-regular frequency. Recently, however, we noticed that the cloth was starting to fray around the edges, slightly unusual for the amount of usage and level of quality. So, on a whim, we took it back to the store, thinking that we could get some advice on how she could avoid further damage to it, or get it repaired. Almost immediately, the sales associate said that “We have seen this before with this style of bag, and it happens when the bag regularly rubs against the wearer’s arm or against itself.”

At this point, it could have gone either way in terms of what they could offer, and probably could have said something to the effect of “too bad, so sad.” Instead, the store manager came over and said, “Feel free to look around and pick out a new bag worth $X (which was the original price of the bag), or we can give you store credit.”  As @eddiemart would say: Shut the front door! Really?

And in one instant, they turned a marginally satisfied, one-and-done customer into a happy, life-long brand advocate. My wife was THRILLED about shopping around for a new free bag. She couldn’t believe it. We had to go (thanks to our crying kiddo), but she went home, searched for the right bag on the Coach website, and came back the next day to finalize the return. In between, and afterwards, she told every friend to whom she talked, about her experience.

The math on this one: $X (cost of bag) = 1 happy customer + 20 referrals + a blogging/tweeting husband = $4X (conservatively).  I posted it on Twitter, and @Coach even pinged me back for good measure. @elysa said:

So, what’s the takeaway for your business, you ask?

1) Do you have some sort of “No Questions Asked” return policy for your product/service?

If your service is as good as you think it is, you should make it easy for customers to come back to you in case it didn’t work like it should. And you should have enough humility in place to say “I’m sorry. What can I do to make you a raving brand ambassador?”

2) If you do have that policy in place, are you making it really “remark”-able? Like, tell-10-friends-because-it’s-so-damn-cool remarkable?

How you present and execute the return policy is almost as important as the policy itself. Think about how you can make your customer’s day out of an otherwise negative situation.

3) Are you providing channels for your customers to share their “remarks” with others?

This is where we are seeing leading edge companies go crazy, and where you can help amplify their experience. Now that you’ve turned your customer around, help them share it, or monitor for their reactions on your social networks to enhance their experience even more.

We are curious, have you seen/experienced a “No Questions Asked” policy become a “return” on investment? We would love to know if their are other examples out there.

Enjoy this post? Please consider subscribing to this blog in your RSS reader of choice, and follow us on Twitter here.

[tweetmeme] Today, Erik Qualman from Socialnomics released Social Media Revolution 2, an updated version of his fantastic video from a year ago. With over 2 million hits, the first version was an infographic barrage of stats and insights on how social media is changing the game. Version 2.0, while keeping the same soundtrack, has updated the statistics and provides further evidence that social media is changing the way we live, operate, and how we look at digital strategy and communications.

[tweetmeme] Do you remember your best professor in college? What was so good about him/her? Was it his teaching style? Or how she made the subject matter come alive? For me, Jim Olson was my go-to prof in  grad school. While his expertise in international affairs was undeniable, and his stories of his time in the CIA wildly fascinating, what really made him my favorite professor was his open-door policy. When his door was closed, you knew he had work to do. However, when the door was open, he loved having students come in and fire away with questions (within reason, of course. He WAS a CIA officer – he didn’t answer them all.) His office was just down the hall from mine, and it would always put a pop in my step to walk down the hall and see his door propped open, even if it was just to say hello.  Even so, we knew that his time was valuable, so we didn’t waste it with chit-chat, but if we had a question about foreign policy topics, intelligence, or just our careers and possible options, he was totally game. People really valued his office hours.

So, what does that have to do with you, the agency/business/non-profit? Well, do you have “office hours”? Do people who know you, as a subject matter expert on X, have a regular chance to ask you questions in a relaxed setting? Do business owners and colleagues feel comfortable sharing with you what they are excited about, without fearing that they are being “sold” something? Happy hours are great and all, but what if you just need a couch and an ear?

For us at Buzzshift, we want to open our office to our friends, colleagues, and clients. To talk, to bounce ideas, to hang out. Maybe we end up collaborating on something, maybe one of us helps you push your idea forward just a little bit more, or maybe we just talk about trends we are seeing in the marketplace. Whatever. The door will be open.

Buzzshift Open Office Hours

Every Wednesday – 4pm-6pm

5307 East Mockingbird Lane #500
Dallas, TX 75206
214.379.7408

A variation of this is David Cohen‘s office hours  (he of Techstars fame in Boulder). He hosts his availability on SparkCloud.

[tweetmeme] Yelp is making a huge splash on Gowalla and Foursquare by adding Check-In features for the iPhone this past week. It has plans to be on the Droid and other mobile operating systems very soon. 26 Million people connected with local businesses with Yelp last year and has over 1.25 million users in their community. The new release of the Yelp Check-In system is shaking up the competition. Mashable did a poll on who would win in a fight of location based mobile services which included Yelp, Gowalla and Foursquare. Of the 2495 votes Yelp received only 26% of the votes. That was at the brink of Yelp adding the Check-In feature and iPhone users are still updating to the new Yelp 4.0 software. I would like to see a similar poll at SXSWi this coming March, as we could see significantly different results.  Much like Foursquare and Gowalla, the sharing feature of the new Yelp app allows you to tell your friends on Twitter / Facebook.  Also enabling the push feature allows you to get instant alerts of where your friends. Yelp allows you to turn on “weekend only” push alerts which is new to the mix.

Why Yelp has Gowalla and Foursquare freaking out?

Yelp Monocle – this is the Augmented Reality feature Yelp added last year and has made significant updates with the new release including a new “map” feature that will move with you. Having the reviews, distance to location, type of business, and price point show up is a nice bonus with the Monocle.

Reviews - Foursquare and Gowalla both have Tips/Review systems but have a lot of ground to catch with the over 9 Million business reviews which puts Yelp in a sweet spot. Not only will you be able to see who posted the review but how many times they have been to that business.

Filtered Reviews – In 2005 Yelp added in a Review Filter which has evolved and helped businesses with credibility. The algorithm of how this is filtered is going to be quite a challenge for the competition.

Photos- The ability to add pics is a must.  When checking in on Yelp you can add pictures of the amazing dinner you are having or the coolness factor of the atmosphere. Foursquare and Gowalla do not have this as a feature.  You can however use third party applications such as Tweetphoto to check in on Foursquare just by simply taking a pic.

Maps- A Map that will show you the Check-Ins of your friends nearby and Check-In count next to your Yelp Star Rating once you write your first review.

Gowalla and Foursquare are focusing forward with virtual goods and a gaming aspect that Yelp has yet to release. It should be an interesting road forward.  Based on how Twitter spiked and took off in March ’09 ,whichever location based service company shows up to SXSWi in March with the most offline collateral and banners for all bars, restaurants, keynotes, panels etc will probably be the clear winner for 2010. Let’s see if Mashable’s poll will shift then… What App do you use to Check-In and what do you think of the new Yelp app?

[tweetmeme] Don’t be fooled by the all time high of Social Media Hype.  Coming from the tech world of Solution Based Selling I can see how easy it is to rush into using Social Media platforms before strategically building a Digital Strategy (aka Shiny Object Syndrome). Of course you need a Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr page for your company … right? I get it.. you might assume that by jumping on the Social Media bandwagon you will drive a good amount of traffic to your site… That’s not realistic unless you put a strategy in place first.  SXSW Interactive and Blogworld opened some eyes to a new breed of “Social Media Agencies” and “Social Media Experts” who primarily speak and consult about what they are doing for clients on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc.  Typically these “Experts” have a Tech, PR, or traditional marketing background which led me to the question a few things… Have these “Experts” ever run a successful business before? Do they even understand fundamental business processes? It seems so often that “Social Media People” talk up the Social Media Fluff but lack a understanding in key business principles and objectives.  Our Digital and Social Strategy always starts with Forrester’s POST Methodology.

P is People. Don’t start a social strategy until you know the capabilities of your audience. If you’re targeting college students, use social networks. If you’re reaching out business travelers, consider ratings and reviews. Forrester has great  data to help with this, but you can make some estimates on your own. Just don’t start without thinking about it.

O is objectives. Pick one. Are you starting an application to listen to your customers, or to talk with them? To support them, or to energize your best customers to evangelize others? Or are you trying to collaborate with them? Decide on your objective before you decide on a technology. Then figure out how you will measure it.

S is Strategy. Strategy here means figuring out what will be different after you’re done. Do you want a closer, two-way relationship with your best customers? Do you want to get people talking about your products? Do you want a permanent focus group for testing product ideas and generating new ones? Imagine you succeed. How will things be different afterwards? Imagine the endpoint and you’ll know where to begin.

T is Technology. A community. A wiki. A blog or a hundred blogs. Once you know your people, objectives, and strategy, then you can decide with confidence.

(Thanks to Jeff Bernoff of Forrester’s Groundswell Blog)

I tend surround myself with business and thought leaders, along with a great mix of Digital Strategy Rockstars. These business leaders and Rockstars leverage Social Media to help grow both their business and their clients businesses.  At the same time I run into daily “Social Media People” that talk all about “Social Media Stuff” and don’t understand business principles behind their message. So before you go out and build a Facebook fan page, YouTube channel, or Twitter account, make sure you know where your audience is and have clear defined objectives. That way when you start diving into your strategy you be able to leverage the right technology to help your business grow.