Facebook for Business: IIMA Workshop talk
On May 14, I was one of the speakers for a workshop organised by the International Internet Marketing Association. It was a fun event and I was able to learn a little bit about how businesses are using Facebook for advertising, brand marketing, and networking. I am really glad I was able to be a part of this event. There were about 70 people in attendance and the questions during our presentations and the subsequent panel were beneficial in helping each of us better understand some of the needs and objectives of business people.
One lesson to take from the workshop is that businesses are using Facebook to find information about potential hires especially questionable photographs or content on one’s profile page. For example, having a status update message about getting drunk every night could get your name removed from a short list against equally qualified candidates. Some people were also surprised at the amount of time and effort that is necessary to maintain a Facebook presence (e.g. updating a company page, responding to wall messages, or organising events).
Regarding one’s profile page, my advice would be to keep your profile friends-only (maybe even only be searchable by friends) and to create friends lists where you can hide and share personal content based on the closeness of your friendship. I am very careful about who I add as friends and even more careful about who sees my full profile.
My presentation was divided into 3 sections that I perceived to be of most relevance to the Internet Marketing audience. I first focused on how Facebook can be used as a networking tool to enhance real world meetings and potential connections made at events and conferences. I then discussed how Facebook can be used to create a brand identity and the importance of understanding the privacy filtering available. I used the book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by Erving Goffman as example of how you want to create a persona through Facebook — “I’m who Facebook says I am”. I closed with examples of how Facebook can be used as an information management tool and the importance of the News Feed feature to share and gather information of specific relevance to one’s work interests.
Both Maureen McCartney of Citizens Bank of Canada and Michael Fergusson of Kinzin had excellent presentations of their case studies. Unfortunately I was unable to take notes as I focused on running through my own talk.
Relevance: A useful opportunity to find out how business people are using Facebook and have an informative discussion of its value as a marketing, communication, and organisational tool.