Facebook is once again making some changes to its guidelines and terms of service for business pages. As of January 15th, 2013, ALL Facebook Cover Photos and ads will now be restricted to just 20% text.

Is your business’ Fan Page in compliance

My guess is quite a few of you out there will say ‘No’, because even our own Cover Photo was breaking Facebook’s rules. If you don’t run ads on Facebook, this new rule will only apply to your Cover Photo. While you can still post images to your Page’s Timeline that are text, you can’t use them as the Cover Photo. You also won’t be able to use one as a Promoted Post or Sponsored Story. Facebook’s new rules will, however, allow them as ads that appear on Facebook’s sidebar, but they won’t be able to be used in the news feed. (Side note: I really don’t recommend using text in a sidebar ad anyway, unless it’s your logo. This is small real estate and you want to make the biggest impression you can. Think images. Think simple.)

So, what ARE the official rules for Cover Photos?

In addition to the new 20% rule, Facebook’s guidelines explicitly state:

Cover photos must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not contain:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off,” “Download it at our website,” or “Free Sunglasses All Summer Long.”
• Contact information, such as a web address, email, mailing address, or other information intended for your Page’s About section.
• References to user interface elements, such as ‘Like’ or ‘Share’, or other Facebook site features.
• Calls-to-action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”
• Cover photos may not be in violation of Facebook’s official terms.

The rumor is that Facebook has been cracking down on violators of these rules. NOW is the time to replace your cover photo.  For best results, we recommend creating a cover photo that is sized correctly at 851 pixels by 315 pixels. If you need help, give us a shout!

You must also note that any logos within a Cover Photo DO count towards your text limit, so choose your images and build wisely!

UPDATE: There is now a handy tool to tell if your cover photo is in compliance with Facebook’s rules. Click on this link and just type in your Page’s URL. For example, our page is /socialvisionmarketing.

I recently had the wonderful honor to be featured in an article by Northwest Michigan Second Wave as one of the “Next Generation of Leaders”. What a fantastic recognition and I’m so thankful to be included.

I completely agree with Kristin Knoll (the other featured next generation leader) in that it’s always important to be genuine and have a passion for what you are doing. That’s something that I aspire to every day.

What does the next generation of leaders in Michigan’s business community look like? They might be a lot like Erin Monigold and Kristin Knoll. Monigold, of Traverse City, and Knoll, of Saginaw, both are 29, and are making names for themselves in their respective fields with leadership skills.

…in Traverse City, Monigold is making her presence known by starting her own company.

Erin Monigold founded Social Vision Marketing in Traverse City after finding there was a dearth of social media marketing services in the area. She graduated from Michigan State University in 2006 with a bachelor of arts in marketing, worked for a search engine and marketing optimization company, followed by a year in a marketing and communication company in Traverse City. Monigold thought she had what it took to branch out on her own.

Turns out, she was right….

Read the rest of the article on Northwest Michigan Second Wave’s website!

LinkedIn announced this week that it has passed 200 million members. It has taken the social network a while to get to this point. I bet you didn’t know that LinkedIn was actually created in 2002, and officially launched in May 2003 – long before Facebook.

The social network has always stayed true to its original purpose – to be the social network for business professionals. It is now the world’s largest professional network on the internet and is used in over 200 countries and territories.

With over 200 million members that means if LinkedIn were a country it would be the fifth most-populated nation in the world, according to the infographic created by LinkedIn (shown below).

The United States has the largest share of members at 74 million. India is second with 18 million, followed by 11 million in Brazil and the U.K., and 7 million in Canada.

Read More…

You already know the importance of optimizing your business’ website, but what about SEO for your Facebook Page? Is it even possible? While you may not have traditional meta tags and meta keywords to work with, there are some general rules of thumb to use while developing (or updating) your business’ Facebook Page.

1. Customize your Facebook Page’s URL - While adding a custom username to your business’ Page not only makes it easier for you and your customers to find your page, it also helps with your business’ branding and SEO. Rather than having a long drawn out www.facebook.com/pages/your-business-name/19381910234190, consider using your brand’s name. It’s much easier to tell your customers to go to www.facebook.com/socialvisionmarketing. This also helps to improve your search ranking. To set up your custom URL, go to www.facebook.com/username. Choose wisely! You can only change this URL once per page.

2. Utilize your About Section. - Whatever you do, don’t leave this area blank! Search engines love social media and will most definitely pull from your About section as part of your Facebook Page’s meta description. Use this area by writing a detailed and keyword rich description of your business, your products, or your services. Side note: if your page isn’t a location, the “Short Description” area is used under your Page’s cover photo. Keep this short and sweet and include a link to your website for some added oomph.

Read More…

I was recently interviewed for a Crain’s Detroit Business article all about Traverse City’s booming tech industry and how there is a trend happening in northern Michigan, homegrown young people are moving back to the city where they grew up. Writer Howard Lovy describes us as “boomerangs”. He sees a youthful and innovative social movement developing in Traverse City, thanks to homegrown young people. In his article The Boomerang Effect, Lovy looks at the current trend of Traverse City-born 20-to-30-somethings returning to Traverse City. And as the generation takes roots, we are paving ground for smart and creative business opportunity.

I’m honored to be part of such a wonderful group of young people. I started my own business, Social Vision Marketing, almost three years ago. In that time I have seen a lot of growth of young people in my hometown. Through fun events like the Traverse City TweetUp and Traverse City Geek Breakfast, I have been able to network and socialize with a big percentage of young and innovative people.

It’s an exciting time for Traverse City!

Read the Crain’s Detroit Business article: “The boomerang effect: Young people who left Traverse City to find their future… back home.”

You’ve definitely heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but did you know today is Giving Tuesday? Giving Tuesday is a new holiday focused on giving back. We spend so much time at Thanksgiving saying and showing what we are thankful for and on Black Friday and Cyber Monday buying more things to be thankful for, but what about giving back? Because, really, that’s what the holiday season is all about.

Giving Tuesday officially kicks off the giving season. It’s a simple idea. Find a way for your family, your community, your company, or your organization to join in acts of giving. Tell everyone you can about what you are doing and why it matters. Join a national celebration of our great tradition of generosity.

Giving Tuesday officially launched in September, and the social networks has turned #GivingTuesday into a powerful digital movement with over 2,500 partners in 50 states and over 1,000 social media ambassadors who are ready to engage their communities around giving.

At Social Vision Marketing, we give our time and energy to AC PAW Animal Rescue every day. AC PAW is a non-profit animal rescue that is 100% volunteer based. They have been rescuing sick and unwanted dogs and cats in northern Michigan since 1995. We have been working with AC PAW for almost three years. It has been an honor to work with such an amazing organization, so today on #GivingTuesday, we are giving to AC PAW.

Who will you be giving to today or this holiday season?

If you’d like to give to AC PAW, they are always in need of pet food and supplies or monetary donations. You can find out more by visiting their website at www.acpaw.org.

Pinterest, the online virtual pinboard, announced this week the addition of Pinterest for Business! Up until now, brands and businesses on Pinterest, have had the same accounts as you and I have. With the arrival of designated business pages, Pinterest also added a feature to convert your page to a proper business profile. (I wonder why it took Facebook so many years to add this feature?) Along with the new business page, brands will also receive new business tools, tips, and a new terms of service.

With the news this week, Cat Lee, Pinterest Product Manager said, “We want to help more businesses provide great content on Pinterest and make it easy to pin from their websites.” She goes on to explain more in her blog post for Pinterest…

Read More…

We’ve all seen QR codes plastered across magazines, direct mailings, store windows, and more. Now that Americans are used to seeing these codes, we’re also used to seeing them used incorrectly.

One of my favorite authors, Scott Stratten of Unmarketing, even said, “Every time you use a QR code for something and don’t think it through, a kitten dies.” Maybe that’s true; let’s hope not. It sure does make people like me cringe when we see them used incorrectly though.

Below are some tips and pointers on where not to use QR codes.

Don’t Use QR Codes…

1. On a moving vehicle – Talk about a safety hazard! I have seen QR codes as bumper stickers and branded wraps on vehicles and trucks. Why? Because whoever thought this was a great idea didn’t take the time to think it through. While you could use this for a cool purpose (say a food truck and a QR code that when scanned takes the visitor to the food truck’s online menu and a schedule of where they are going to be), many aren’t used properly. Your customers don’t want to (and shouldn’t) scan your code while they are driving.

2. In an email – A huge segment of the population now uses email on their smartphone. So what’s the point of including a QR code in an email? It’s already on our phones. Unless your customer is the type to have multiple phones, please don’t use a QR code in an email blast.

Read More…

On March 30th, your Facebook fan page switched over to the new Timeline format, but have you taken the time to spruce up your page? To fully take advantage of all of the cool new features, we’ve put together this handy checklist for you.

1. Cover photo – Have you taken the time to add a cover photo? This is precious real estate! With the timeline feature, Facebook took away the default landing page option. That means that your cover photo is your new landing page. It needs to grab users’ attention and explain your business. That’s a lot of jobs for one photo. Sometimes just a photo of your business won’t cut it. You can create a new cover photo using Photoshop or design software (dimensions of 851 x 315 px) or you can have your new cover photo professionally designed by our staff. Whatever you do, don’t leave it blank!

2. Profile photo – Gone are the elongated profile photos. Your new profile photo or avatar is a square photo. Upload a photo that clearly represents your brand. Keep in mind that this is the photo that will be seen in your fans’ news feeds. (Dimensions of 180 x 180 px.)

Read More…

You have a community of customers who care about your business. Invite them to like your Facebook Page with signs you can customize with your Page’s web address.

Thanks to our friends at Facebook for these 8 pages of free printable door and wall signs. Simply change the address in the first box and the rest will change for you. Print, cut out, and add to your wall (the real kind, not the Facebook variety).

Get yours by clicking Facebook’s link here.