Discover recent Facebook Changes at Lanarkshire New Media Breakfast

While we have been preparing for our second ever Lanarkshire New Media Breakfast, Making The Most of Facebook Timeline Pages for Business, we realised that it has been almost a year since we last delivered a New Media Breakfast on Facebook!

The last time we focused solely on Facebook was back in April 2012 - and it is frightening how much has changed in that time!

Like last time, the breakfast will highlight the many features of Facebook Pages and explore the ways that you can take advantage of the timeline layout to promote your business and encourage people to join your community.

However, we will also take a look at lots of new features that Facebook has introduced in the past year, including Promoted Posts, Sponsored Stories and Targeted Videos.

On top of that, we will also discuss the Facebook Pages Manager which is now available for all devices, and the newly released Graph Search, which can make it easier for people to discover and learn more about your business.

Another important change is the ‘20% Text Rule’, which limits the amount of text that can be contained in graphics used for business page cover photos and ads.

Of course, we will also look at the following:

• Branding 
• Tabs and iFrame Pages 
• Using the timeline 
• Liking, Commenting, Sharing and Tagging 
• Photos and Video 
• Syndicating content to your page 
• Insights 
• SEO

The functionality within Facebook pages is often overlooked with many organisations missing the massive opportunities it presents to engage with their community and share the important facts about their business.

With all these changes over the past year, we think it would be extremely beneficial for you and your business to refresh your memory and find out how to promote your page and grow your community.

On top of that, it will also give you the opportunity to visit Lanarkshire Business and Conference Centre, which is a fantastic venue in the heart of Cumbernauld College.

YOUR QUESTIONS
We are also keen to answer any questions you may have about the new Facebook Pages or, Facebook in general so, please feel free to send us any questions in advance to gordon@fatbuzz.com or post them as a comment on the blog or on the New Media Breakfast Facebook page.

THE SPEAKER
The Facebook Timeline breakfast will be presented by Gordon White, Managing Director, fatBuzz Ltd

Venue: Lanarkshire Business & Conference Centre, Cumbernauld, G67 1HU
Date: Thursday 21st February 2013
Time: 7.30am for 8am
Cost: £10+ vat
Directions: Show in Google Maps
We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

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The new Facebook Timeline layout for Pages explained on video

No doubt lots of people will be throwing their hands in the air this week when they see the impending changes to Facebook business pages; we'll probably see the usual complaints, predictions of their demise and, threats to leave the platform all together.  It'll be no different from every other time they've made significant changes and everyone will eventually embrace them.

The changes to Pages are certainly significant and, they will have a real impact on some businesses, particularly those using fangates or, the "refresh page" operation on a default Welcome page to issues some kind of promotion or discount code when the page reloads.  Why?  Because there are no default landing pages anymore and, the page no longer refreshes when you "Like" it so it can't redirect to a "Special Offer" or promotion page.

I think Facebook has used these changes to try and increase their own advertising revenue; the restrictions about what you can and can't put in the new header are a clear indication of this.  Who can blame them?  It's the cost we have to pay for using a "free" platform and, with an IPO round the corner,Facebook are under pressure to prove its ability to generate revenue.

The restrictions on advertising may achieve higher sales for Facebook but, there is another outcome to consider; when blatant advertising is not allowed, businesses will rely on better content and greater engagement to make their pages work for them and that's no bad thing.

We have put together a short video highlighting the main changes to the Pages, it is important that you watch this and be aware of how these changes will affect the way you currently use Facebook.  Every page will be switched to the new timeline layout by the 30th March so, you should start to think about it now.

Here are the main changes and some of the new functionality:

If fatBuzz can help you with the changes or, your Facebook/social media strategy please don't hesitate to call us, we're happy to have a coffee and a chat.

PLEASE SHARE THIS
I hope you have found this video useful.  If so, please use the share buttons below to tell others in your online community about it, you'll be helping them to understand this very important change to Facebook.  Thank you.

We have lots more video tips, and advice on Social Media, Design, Marketing, PR and Events at fatBuzz.TV

Facebook has biggest privacy overhaul in the company’s history

You may already be aware of the Facebook changes that have been rolled out  over the past couple of days. fatBuzz want to give you a brief overview of the main points and how the changes should affect you as a Facebook user.

As Mashable point out, the recent changes made by Facebook is one of the biggest privacy overhauls in the company’s history. So let us take you through the main changes.

On your profile
Before the changes most of the settings for content on your profile were a good few clicks away on a series of settings pages. Now, content on your profile, from where you are to your latest photo album, will appear next to an icon and a drop-down menu. This menu lets you know who can see this part of your profile, and you can change it with one click.

Other changes include the tagging system, in that you can now approve what photos are tagged of you before they go public. So if a friend tags you, you will be notified and you have the option of whether you want to allow it or not. Take a moment to read this blog post for a quick run through the changes and what they mean by clicking here.

Making it easier to share with who you want
The video below illustrates the changes to sharing your content and the enhanced choices that you have so you know who you are sharing with right next to what you are sharing.

Places Check-In Feed will be scraped 
Although this has not been rolled out yet, Facebook have confirmed that they will remove the 'Places check-in' feed from its mobile apps and interface. According to Insidefacebook.com a Facebook spokesman has confirmed that rather than check-in, users will be able to add their city-level location or tag a specific Place in any post. So in other words, you wont actually have to be physically in a place to tag yourself there. This change will mean that it's likely to make it difficult to find exactly where friends currently are and meet up with them. Furthermore, those who currently enjoy checking in will probably just post status updates, tag their current location and friends who are with them, and add a description such as “Here at…”. However, some say that it seems unnecessary to remove the check-in feed and the ability to populate that feed by explicitly informing Facebook of one’s current location.

So there you have it folks, there are a whole lot of changes going on in the world of Facebook. But what we would like to know is how the changes have/will affect you? What are your thoughts on the changes? Do you think this is Facebook's way to try and keep ahead of Google+ or do you think these changes have been planned before the launch of Google+? Do you think this is a way for Facebook to remind everyone that they are at the forefront of social networking? Please let us know, we would love to hear your views, visit our facebook page to tell us your thoughts.

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I like clients who know their place...

I visited John Dick & Son for a meeting yesterday and I was delighted to see they are embracing social media and encouraging their customers to engage with them by promoting their Facebook Page off-line.

Too many companies forget to promote their on-line activities off-line. John Dick & Son have created A4 posters and spread them around their showroom to encourage people to join them on Facebook.  Furthermore, they are running a promotion to encourage people to "Check-in" on Facebook when they arrive in the showroom; the reward they get for doing so is a bottle of wine!

Facebook Places is an ideal way to encourage your customers to spread the word about your business; there are over 30 million Facebook users in the UK (that's more than half the population) with an average of 130 friends.  Look at it this way; half the people coming into your premises are on Facebook and have the potential to tell 130 friends each that they are doing business with you!  Now, don't get too carried away, not everyone will have the Facebook App on their phone and, not everybody will Check-In but, the ones that do will be helping you by sharing your location with their friends.  For the cost of a few posters this is well worth doing.

We also have Dean's the shortbread manufacturer in Huntly about to start an hourly prize draw to win shortbread if people Check-In to the Cafe Bistro in Huntly.  We will keep you up to date with how these campaigns work out and, if you're in the area of either of them, please pop in, Check-In and, tell them you heard about it on our blog!

Please also take a minute to join both John Dick & Son's and Dean's Page and you can keep up to date with what other things they are doing on-line.  And, you can keep up to date with us on the fatBuzz Facebook Page.

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Next Glasgow New Media Breakfast - 25th March 2011

Converting you to Conversion Rate Optimisation 

and... The new Facebook Pages explored

Friday 25th March at 7.30am for 8am
No.29 Private Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square Glasgow.

“There’s two ways to increase website sales: get more people coming to the site, or simply make better use of those coming to the site already”

This month the New Media Breakfast is going to focus on the second way!  “Converting” more visitors into sales (or leads or donations or subscribers) is less expensive than you would imagine and delivers rapid returns.

Kiril Bunin from Attacat Internet Marketing will, in his unique Russian style, introduce you to the processes behind the growing specialism known as Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) including:

• User testing on a shoestring
• Analytics beyond Google Analytics
• Getting direct feedback from prospects and customers
• The science of split testing

He will then illustrate the power of CRO to you with case studies highlighting both common and more subtle conversion roadblocks and mistakes.

To finish, Kiril will do a live review of your website* giving you pointers and showing you where you may be losing visitors.  If you’d like to volunteer your site get in touch with fatBuzz (Priority will be given to those registered on the New Media Breakfast website) *whilst stocks last

Expect straight talking and be prepared to make some changes to your websites afterwards!
(This seminar has been classified as PG. May contain some political incorrectness, swearing, violence or nudity)

Special Bonus Feature... Facebook Pages

Facebook have recently made some significant changes to Facebook Pages creating new opportunities for businesses. Gordon White of fatBuzz will update you on the changes and discuss the opportunities now available for businesses using Facebook. He will bring you up to date with the following:

• Notifications
• Switching from Business to Personal Profiles
• Posting personally on your business Page
• Pages liking other Pages
• iFrames

This short session is designed to bring you up to date with the latest developments, if you have any specific questions you would like answered about Facebook Pages please let us know in advance here.

No.29 Members Go Free – If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and he will add you to the attendance list.

We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

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New Facebook Pages - What are the changes?

Some interesting changes to Facebook Pages have just been introduced today and, they're much as we predicted in our Social Media Podcast No.29 recorded back on 21st December last year.  Here are some of the main changes:


Switching Accounts
You can now use Facebook as a Page or as a personal profile so, you now have the option to post to your Page using your personal profile rather than as the Page Admin.

Notifications
This is one that will please most people.  You can now get email notifications when people post or comment on your Page so, now no need to constantly check for activity, you will be notified (optional).

News Feed
There is now a news Feed on your Page.

Tabs
The tabs are now down the left hand column.  Along the top of the page there is now a feed from your photos.

Liking
Pages can now "Like" and post on other Pages.

Sizes
It looks like .fbml pages are now reducing from 520px wide to around 492 - 493px wide.  This will mean anyone using splash pages and welcome pages will need to resize their images otherwise the right hand side will cut off.  if you are a fatBuzz client, we will do this for you but, it may take a day or two because we have so many to change over.
Update 11.15am on 11th February: Thank you to Stephen K Knight (@FanPageGuru) who sent me a message on Twitter, apparently the width issue may be a bug in the Facebook coding and the width will be 520px as it was before so, please don't amend your .fbml page widths just yet)

Full Rollout
The Pages can be switched over to the new layout now however, the full automatic switch to the new Pages will take place on 10th March.

We will be exploring all of the changes in more detail over the next few days and we will let clients know if anything affects them or, what new opportunities are available to you as a result of the changes.

If you have any questions about the changes please ask in the comments box below or, email me at gordon@fatbuzz.com

Listen to Social Media Podcast No.29 here:

Download Social Media Podcast

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Facebook no longer allow you to "Suggest a Friend"

An interesting development of Facebook is the removal of the "Suggest a Friend" on Facebook Pages although, the option is still available to page administrators. Anyone using a call to action that includes the wording "Suggest to Friend" should change this to something like "Please Share". The "Share" Button is not as obvious as the previous "Suggest to Friends", it's located at the bottom of the left hand column.

I'm not sure the reasoning behind this but I assume it's something to do with the imminent changes to Facebook Pages or, is it to encourage more page owners to use Facebook advertising to promote their page?

Let us know your thoughts or, if you have any other information about this recent change.

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Social Media Podcast 29 - I've seen the new Facebook Pages

On Social Media Podcast 29 Gordon White, Iain Murray, Malcolm White and Lynsey Wight chat about social media and look back at some of the highlights from 2010.

Gordon reveals the elements of the new Facebook Pages he was lucky enough to see when reportedly a Facebook engineer mistakenly made them live last week. Gordon was working on the fatBuzz Page when the new layout and functions appeared for about 10 mins.

We also discuss the best new device of 2010 with surprising results from our poll. Listen in to her what our community though of this and many other favourites from the past year.

We also reveal a little more about the new fatBuzz offices, the new web site planned for New Media Breakfast and, the new fatBuzz App.

To round off the podcast we have music from Paul Levinson's album "Twice Upon A Rhyme" which has just been re-released as a remastered vinyl. Paul is author of the best selling book "New New Media" and he recently recorded a piece of video on Skype where he addressed the New Media Breakfast audience so, little urprise he chose the title, "Looking for sunsets (in the early morning) as the track for the Social Media Podcast.

The album is available in the UK as a download from iTunes, Amazon and eMusic and, the remastered vinyl is also available from Whiplash/Salvation Records in the UK. You can get it via eBay.

Or, from the store at:

Whiplash Records
Anthony Nyland
12 Cronton park close
Widnes
Cheshire
WA8 5DR
United Kingdom
Phone: 0151|4244040
Email: sales@whiplashrecords.co.uk

And people can get more of my music, for free, with reviews, history of the album, etc at http://myspace.com/paullevmusic

Play the podcast here:

Download Social Media Podcast

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