Facebook Introduces New "List" Feature

by Ashley Haugen
@AshleyKaia

Facebook announced today a new feature that allows users to create "interest" lists for brands, groups and public figures. It's a nice feature, and offers a convenient space to view content tailored to your liking. Similar to Social Reader, Facebook Lists gives you third-party content, except it is all housed within Facebook.

With Facebook Lists, users can subscribe to lists from other users, or create their own. The process is incredibly simple. I had a list titled "social media news" up and running in under 5 minutes. Within this list are updates from sources like Mashable, TechCrunch and Adage.

Lists can either be made private or public, the latter showing up in the News Feed. There are additional controls for users to select what type of stories to include or exclude in the feed. For example, you can select to see only photos from a page or only music and videos from a public figure.

I find it another nice tool for content curation, albeit thinly veiled behind Facebook's true goal of keeping you on the site for as long as possible. Of course the longer you're on the site, the more appealing Facebook advertising becomes. However, the feature is so nice I can almost ignore the sound of ad dollars cashing in.

I am always grateful to find new, efficient ways of curating information that is tailored to my needs. As any social media manager will tell you, finding quality content is half the battle. This feature provides an individualized tool to help connect with the information you want.

Have you checked out Facebook Lists? What do you think? Would you use it?

The Time Has Come: Transitioning Facebook Brand Pages to Timeline

by Shelly Gustafson

22 days and counting. Time is quickly running out for brands to make a seamless transition from traditional brand Facebook pages to the new Timeline Facebook Brand Pages. The drop date when Facebook will automatically switch all pages is Friday, March 30th. Brands better plan and adapt now, because there is no way around it.

Top three changes with Timeline:

Photos Front and Center
Graphic-friendly brands rejoice. Timeline allows for additional graphics and large beauty shots to take over your main-page and attract new and old fans alike (Top display photo is a maximum 851x315 pixels or a minimum of 399 pixels wide).

Highlighting Content
Not all content is created equal. A huge benefit on the Timeline design is that admins can now highlight content they want to showcase (larger photo, top billing etc.). Page admins can use this feature strategically to get the most out of fan comments and great posts.

Admin Panel
It’s never been easier to administer over a Facebook Brand page. Rather than taking you to a separate page, the admin panel simply drops down for easy access when needed. Among the panel is a listing of new likes, snapshot of reach, and post volume.

While timeframe may be daunting there is still time to create a beautiful page. Here are a few tips to get you started: 

1. Check out what other brands have done already. Several brands have jumped the gate and gotten their designs out early. Check out their pages for ideas before you commit to anything yourself (a few examples are: Coca Cola, Ben & Jerry’s and Starbucks). 

2. Don’t wait for March 30. You can choose to update to timeline anytime between now and then if you are ready. Additionally, you can utilize the preview button to create your page and tweak it before the deadline hits. This great feature allows you (and your admins) to test out ideas and designs before your page goes live (just make sure to not hit the “publish now” button until you are ready).

3. Plan out your main photo. What are you hoping to display to visitors with one glance – usefulness, lightheartedness, playfulness or seriousness? Whatever you wish to convey create an image that imparts that and test it out for feedback prior to launch. 

4. Tabs are gone but apps are here to stay. Everything will be cleanly housed on the main page and apps will be housed on the bottom right side of the cover photo (only four will be automatically viewable at a given time though more can be accessed when clicked). In other words, pick the four that are the most important to you and grow from there. 

5. Create an editorial calendar for the next month. While all social media should be in part determined by what is happening in the moment, it is always a good idea to have at least a minimal plan. This will keep the updates going when you hit your busy season and can no longer dedicate hours to content creation.

At Axiom we strive to not only be on the cutting edge with our own in-house social media but to guide our clients through this often daunting and ever changing landscape. If the process is too daunting for you at the moment we encourage you to reach out to a designer, social media expert or marketing team you know and trust rather then pulling the plug on your existing page.

And check out Techcruch’s article for more great ideas on managing the transition.

Facebook Introduces "Premium" Ads: What You Should Know

by Ashley Haugen
@AshleyKaia

Facebook users could soon be faced with a lot more advertising, although they won't be your typical ads. At its Marketing Conference on February 29th, Facebook unveiled "Premium ads," a new plan to increase ad revenue and hopefully appease those questioning how Facebook was going to monetize it's 425 million mobile users.

"Premium ads" will appear in four locations: In the timeline of a company or brand's Facebook page; on the right-hand column of the user's homepage; in the user's News Feed; and on the Facebook log-out page. Most of this is already familiar to us, with the exception of the new "log-out" ad and the updated algorithm Facebook will use to create a larger social graph.

In order for a Facebook advertisement to show up on your News Feed or elsewhere, either a friend has to interact with a brand's Facebook page (by Liking that page or posting something on that brand's page), or you yourself must be a fan of a brand's Facebook page. If you are a fan of a brand on Facebook, that brand will now be able to post sponsored content (or, an advertisement) next to your News Feed. The reason behind this? Research shows that ads have a much higher success rate if they show social engagement. 

According to Facebook, over 37 million people log out every day. This new ad space will utilize the log out page real estate, very much like the highly prized back page of magazines. And instead of CPC or CPM, Premium ads are based on impressions and reach, similar to TV ads.

In addition to the new places you'll find ads, Facebook is encouraging marketers to make the ads appear less like explicit advertisements and more like regular updates or Facebook posts. This way, of course, the advertisement can slip seamlessly between the updates and posts of your friends. Advertisements will increasingly strive to become more and more like regular Facebook updates or posts.

Lights, Camera, Inaction: Dealing With Unexpected Delays On Location

by @davesniadak

Here at Axiom, we get to tell a lot of really cool stories. From a kitchen remodel project that brings a family together, to a neighborhood baseball league that convenes in a delicately detailed backyard diamond, our video team has captured some great moments.

However, despite our best efforts, the best laid plans don’t always stick to script. During a recent commercial shoot for a client in California, we had to deal with several variables that made our Hollywood moments more challenging than we had hoped for.

Nearly Gone With the Wind

Spring in Orange County, California, is notoriously windy, thanks in part to the infamous Santa Ana Winds. Wouldn’t you know it, while we were shooting customer testimonial interviews, the winds picked up and made it hard to capture clean audio. Our solution? Change locations across the street and use the neighborhood infrastructure to cancel out some of the wind. Sure, we had some noise from the rustling trees swaying in the wind, but the use of a lavalier microphone tucked under the shirt and thick wind screen on our boom ensured two clean voice tracks.

Beauty and the Bricks
Because we were shooting this spot out of season, we needed to take a few liberties in staging some pretty product shots. Seeing that our ‘bread and butter’ come from the gardening and outdoor industries, we made a dull sidewalk rock-scape look like a beautifully maintained garden with splashes of color and stone. Our agency president, Mike Reiber, really rocked this display - literally. Four rolls of sod, a handful of annuals, and one flat river stone gave us the ‘money shot’ we had all been waiting for. 

The Landscape Before Time (Ran Out)
In order to capture the most beautiful images of our client’s new product, our crew went to painstaking detail to bounce light and enhance the quality of the video. Take after take, we made tiny tweaks to get the shot right. And while things looked great, the swiftly setting sun made additional takes tough to tackle. So, in order to preserve the continuity of the natural light, we had crew members crawling on the turf, brushing back the grass after each pass of the lawn mower.

When the sun set on this shoot, we had exactly what we needed. We’re excited to say we’re in post-production on this project and hope consumers embrace this product as much as we have. If it was up to us, the Oscar/Emmy/Grammy/Tony/Telly would go to everyone who helped make this project possible.

Newspapers Are Happily "App-ing"

by Mike Reiber

The newspaper business has been bleeding red ink for many years. Is it on it last breath? I think not. Adversity has unleashed long-needed innovations in the newspaper business. Innovations which can be harnessed to create consideration, preference and purchase in addition to basic awareness.

Consider this. According to the Newspaper Association of America, newspaper websites averaged more than 111 million unique visitors in Q4 2011. This represents an increase of 6 million compared to the same period in 2010. The association reports that 63% of adult internet users visit newspaper websites. Reach among the key 18-34 demographic remained at or above 60 percent. Lastly, seventy percent of households with income above $60,000 are reached by websites. This number climbs to 75 percent for households with incomes above $100,000.

These are just a few reasons why newspapers underpin many of our successful marketing and sales campaigns. The real question is how to harness the new innovations which are predominately app-focused. Whether it's fashion, gaming, ticket sales or even cause-related, these days it's the Wild West for apps.

Below are a few questions to ask yourself, your team and your agency partners:

1.) What apps are under development by your local daily newspaper?
2.) How can you creatively partner with the newspaper team while the apps are in beta test mode?
3.) What non-traditional resources can you bring to the partnership that will bring a unique twist to the app launch?
4.) What's happening in other countries where newspapers are under siege?