Facebook's In-line Insights Feature

Facebook is in the process of launching a new feature called in-line insights to its Facebook fan pages. The feature allows for an at-a-glance analysis of every post an administrator creates on their page.

The analysis is divided into two categories: impressions and feedback statistics. Impressions is the number of page impressions that a post has received, but it is is not the number of times the post has been read. A page impression is calculated every time someone views the page containing the post. [it is also known as a page view.] With Facebook, an impression is added as a result of someone directly clicking on the page, the post appearing in someone's news feed, or a result of a shared post between people.

Feedback is the number of people who have taken action on the post, with either a "Like" or a comment, expressed as the percentage of the number of feedback compared to impressions.

So how can PR professionals use this information?

They can see what kind of posts really engage their audience, and what is the most effective time to post. Professionals can monitor the number of impressions they receive in the first hour and compare it to the number of impressions when a post is posted at a different time. Also, they can see what kind of content works best for their readers by seeing if people comment more on articles, videos, or photos. Practitioners have the opportunity to experiment and evaluate content, which could help improve future content on the page.

~Olga Ball

Effective Social Networking for PR

These days, most public relations practitioners are given the task to come up with an effective social networking plan for the company. 

A big problem that has been detected in those who are just starting out with promoting companies through social networks is redundancy and frequency of updates. Some will post the same link over and over again, thinking that it will reach more people. This is not the case. In most situations, it has the opposite effect - posting the same information on Twitter and Facebook can annoy your followers and cause them to stop following your account. 

Frequency of updates is also important to consider. Those who tweet very often can overload their readers with content to the point which the followers decide to no longer follow them. I spent some time researching how often is too often to tweet or post on Facebook, and most websites say the same thing: quality matters much more than quantity. Twitter and Facebook are about building relationships with your readers so keeping others interested is essential to effective social networking.

~Olga Ball 

What I Learned at NCMC 2010: Blogging

I just got back from the National College Media Convention in Louisville, and I loved it! The hotel was beautiful, Louisville was wonderful (and much colder than here!) and the sessions were amazing. One of the sessions that really made me think was Lynn Hoppes of ESPN.com's session on "How to Make Money By Blogging."

So how do you make money by blogging?

Hoppes said that one should find a niche that one is good at, that no one else blogs about. He said it needs to be specific, like covering the building of new stadiums and arenas.

Hoppes said to increase readership, one should use key words to increase search engine optimization. For example, if you are talking about LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, don't just say "LeBron" or "Kobe." Always use their full names to increase the chances of your entry appearing high in a search engine.

Also, Hoppes suggests writing like you are having a conversation with someone. Don't try too hard!

He also suggested using the "monetize" options and adding advertising once the blog increases in readership.

I will write more about the convention later this week.

Olga Ball