Is this you? Read the page
Don’t worry, not everyone knows more about Facebook than you do. Many people just use it in it’s most basic form to keep in touch with friends, post some pictures, and share a funny joke. If you are one of those people, or someone who has never had any experience with Facebook, don’t worry, you haven’t been left behind but there are just a few little things about Facebook that you need to understand in order to let FaceTracks maximize your download revenues. Here is some basic terminology:
The Profile (Think of this as your home)
This is the essence of Facebook. When people first join Facebook this is where they put their information, amass their list of friends, it’s where their “wall” is and where you can see all of the things that have added and interacted with on Facebook on their “feed” – more on that in a minute. The important part to remember is that the profile page is for people, humans, folks, and not for a business, club, or some other type of entity.
Pages (Here is where you promote your business)
Sometimes these have been called “Fan Pages” or “business pages” but the official term is just plain old “Pages”. This is a the spot where people can set up an entity whether it be a fortune 500 company, corner store, special interest group or an Artist or Band. It is basically a free place on Facebook where anybody can publicize and promote pretty much anything they want (almost anything as there are thankfully terms of service that keep it from being a complete free-for-all). This is the part of Facebook where, if you are an Artist or a band, you really should have a presence. Remember this is free so there is really no excuse not to use it. The real question is how effectively do you use it. Will it be a little bit of fluffy window dressing or a “tool of commerce” that actually sells your music for you? In case it isn’t obvious by now, this is where FaceTracks come in. One thing that you will need to use FaceTracks is a page for your band so if you don’t have one, please go here to set one up. Don’t forget we are always here so please contact us if you need any help.
“Friends” and “Likes” (Your popularity gauge)
If you are on Facebook as an individual you have Friends. These are people who are also on Facebook who you have mutually agreed to be friends with. You can see their pictures, their news, their feed, and of course they can see yours. But with a page (remember a page is a business or some other entity like a band) you don’t become friends but instead you “like” them. When you visit a page there is a little button in the shape of a thumb that says “like” and you click on that to like the page (if you want to practice, then like ours right now click here). The “like” is a one-way interaction meaning the page does not have to “like” you back. In the world of Facebook pages, “likes” are currency in that you can never have too many of them. The goal of having the page is to generate as many likes as you can because of the next heading…
The News Feed (Cool peeps just say “feed”)
On a person’s profile they have a running feed of what all of their friends are doing when they choose to interact with Facebook.
“Suzy is eating lunch…”
“Jack just posted a picture”
“Alphonse likes drunk chicks”
“Bobby is now single”
“Suzy just saw Bobby and heard he was single ….Hawt!!”
“The Glidden paint company is now offering 50% on rollers, this week only”
“Suzy is now in a relationship” (and drama falls on Bobby because his profile still says single)
So the person who’s feed we just spied on is friends with Suzy, Jack, Bobby, and Alphonse so they are privy to anything those people chose to share on Facebook. For some reason this person also “liked” the Glidden paint company and, because of that, was just told about the sale on Rollers. Not only that but anyone who looks at this guys profile will also learn about the sale on rollers.
The magic
Imagine that instead of the paint company, our friend had liked your band? What if 500 people “liked” your band? When you post an upcoming concert or announce the release of a new single it gets instantly shown to 500 people and anyone else who happens to look at their profile. The other thing is that anybody who stumbles upon it in this way can “share” it with their feed so now all of that persons friends can see it too.
Groups
We put groups last because they really don’t come into play with the rest of what we discussed but they are often mistaken for Pages. Groups are kind of like clubs of people with a common goal or interest. Unfortunately groups don’t contain the functionality required to do the things that can be done within pages so for as far as FaceTracks is concerned groups are not part of the equation.
I hope that gives you a clear idea on some of the basics of Facebook. The bottom line is that it is an immensely powerful marketing tool based on it’s sheer size and the manner in which people use it to communicate and network.