Are you looking for an innovative way to get your customers to your social media pages?  We’ve got just the thing for you!  Connect Pads!  Or Connect-Its or Social Pads or Link Ups or…well, let’s just say we’re still working on the name.

The bottom line is, you have customers and they need to be fans, friends and followers of all your social media efforts.  So how do you get them there?  You get a custom-printed Post-It with all your information and stick it…everywhere!

A graphically interesting sticky pad design, showcasing links to your social media pages with a call to action like “Fan us on Facebook for exclusive specials!” (and a QR code for convenience) works wonders.  Stick them on invoices, receipts, letters and more.  If you have a restaurant or bar, put them on the tables for people to take.

You’ll be surprised how well the information “sticks” — when people have the details at their fingertips, they’ll take action!

Interested in working up a design for this?  We can help!

If you’re a Facebook user, you’ve probably noticed that in the last month, Facebook has changed…well, everything. From basic design (including how you view your photos and content) to how you create posts, Facebook has put in some serious overhaul time this month.

Largely a result of their June acquisition of Amsterdam-based design team SOFA, Facebook’s design has become more refined and modern, with a debated increase in usability.  Facebook’s photo viewer now sports a more design-appropriate white (versus the old black), posts in the newsfeed have lost their little x-es in favor of 3D dropdown arrows, and top posts have minimalist blue corners, among other things.

Beyond design, Facebook has basically spent the last month incorporating the best parts of competing social networks into its functionality.  Love the way Twitter loads in new posts using a dynamic “XX New Posts” box at the top of the feed?  Facebook has it.  Love Google+’s Circles?  Facebook has them.  Love Twitter’s Lists?  Facebook has them.  Love Google+’s ability to post just to certain Circles?  Facebook has it.  Love how you can check-in and tag people in Twitter and Google+ posts?  Now you can do it on Facebook, too.  Love Google+’s integrated video chat?  Separate smartphone messaging app?  The list goes on, and Facebook has it all.

In addition to what it has already changed, Facebook will be rolling out a complete overhaul to its profile next week, as well as changes to how we use apps.

Facebook is pretty sure that it has pushed itself further ahead of competing social networks with the implementation of all these new features.  Many users are resisting the change, however, claiming Facebook has changed too much.  While a number of users are unhappy with the new changes, we feel pretty sure it’ll take a lot more than that to negatively impact the social media giant.  What do you think?

Hot on the heels of last week’s question about merging Facebook Pages and Facebook Place Pages, here’s a “Social Success” story from a client of ours who did just that — and lots more motivation to make sure you merge yours!

The Library Food & Spirits is an awesome restaurant and pub in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  This place has lots of character — it’s really reminiscent of Cheers — and enthusiastic, loyal customers.  Recently, The Library’s proprietor discovered Facebook had created a “Place” page for him in addition to the business page we set up for him.  Facebook allows users to “check in” to places from their mobile phones.  It’s great publicity for a business, and if the business doesn’t already have a “Place” page, Facebook will create one for it.  In many aspects, this is a great thing — however, it does create a problem.  Namely, your loyal following is now divided between two pages, because your customers can like and comment on the “Place” page in addition to your normal business page.

Luckily, Facebook provides a mechanism by which you can claim your “Place” page and merge it with your existing business page.  This is one of the best things you could ever do for your Facebook page.  By merging your “Place” page and your business page, your business page gets all the fans from your “Place” page.  Additionally, because your customers can now check in to your business page, you’re vastly increasing the rate at which people find, like and interact with your page.

The Library Food & Spirits has seen a distinct increase in Facebook fans since merging its pages, and the proprietors feel the merge is really paying off.  The lesson here — merge your pages!  If you need help with it, get in touch with us and we’ll handle the merge for you.

To view The Library’s newly merged page, click here.

We’ve been absent from our Q+A duties for a while, so it’s definitely time to start again! This week’s question comes from Mary in Arizona. Mary asks:

I want to tell my Facebook friends on my personal profile about my business’s facebook page. How do I do it?

Great question, Mary! There are several options, depending on what you’d like to accomplish.

If you’d simply like to mention your page and link your friends to it, you can tag your page in a post. Tagging a page is just like tagging a person, so you’ll write your post and when you want to mention your page, type @ and then start typing the name of your page. Facebook will pop up with a list people and pages it thinks you might mean. Just select your page from the list and finish typing your post. That would look something like this:

Hey guys! Check out my page, @Social Kaboom — and don’t forget to like it while you’re there!

If you’d like to offer your friends more information about your page, you should “Share” it. Navigate to your page and scroll down to the bottom. Towards the bottom of the left column, you’ll see the “Share” link. Click it, add your optional message, and click “Share Page.” That will post your page to your news feed with your page’s profile pic and some basic information about it.

The first two methods both work the same way, in the end — they post your page to your news feed. The third option works different, but does require you to be an admin on your page. In this method, you’re actually inviting specific people to like your page, and they’ll get a notification about it once you do. To invite people to your page, navigate to your page and find “Invite friends” in the right column. It’s the last link under the “Admins” box. Click the link, then select the friends you want to invite, and click the “Submit” button.

There you have it — three ways to tell your Facebook friends about your page. Try them all to see which is best for you! In addition, you may want to ask your friends to tag or share your page with their friends, helping you spread the word about your business!