case study: wral: fragmentation and frequency — when are multiple pages appropriate and what is...

FRAGMENTATION & FREQUENCY

Facebook Training Camp

July 21, 2011

When does it make sense to have more than one Facebook page?

 • You have a big brand and multiple audience segments• You have a lot of good content to offer daily (deals, news, personality)• You have the resources to keep pages fresh, lively• You have support from upper-level management

WRAL has a growing number of personality / public figure pages:

• Monica Laliberte• Mike Maze• Nate Johnson• Brian Shrader• Bill Leslie• Kelcey Carlson

Brian Shrader’s WRAL Page

• Build a primary brand page first• Obtain a critical mass • Roll-out additional pages methodically

• WRAL (April 2009)• HighSchoolOT (May 2010) – WRAL had

10,000 active monthly users at the time• WRAL Weather (November 2010)• WRAL GoAskMom (February 2011)• WRAL SmartShopper (May 2011)

• Crowd source – find out what your users want

Strategies for offering multiple pages

WRAL (35,000)

WRAL Weath

er (19,00

0)

High School

OT (3,500)

WRAL Smart Shopp

er (1,900)

WRAL Go Ask Mom

(1,500)

WRAL Sports

Fan (350)

Six brand pages

• Each page must support an overall strategy• Brand building• Soliciting story ideas• Providing significant content updates• Feedback channel• Driving traffic to CBC web properties• Building audience engagement• Building e-mail lists or other marketing databases

• Use a consistent naming pattern (WRAL Weather, WRAL GoAskMom)

• Be sure to have your pages “Like” one another• Have multiple page admins, and have them invite

their friends to like your new pages (new)• Cross-post using “@” and the name of the page on

which you want your post to appear

Strategies for offering multiple pages

+15% growthFB page

launches May 25

Requires additional resources

Brand could become diluted

Content overlap,

repetition

Confusion

Cons

Large brands with multiple pages

Dell: Dell, Deal Deals, Dell for Business, Del Enterprise, Dell Go Green, Dell Spot, Dell Go Green

Cisco: Cisco, Cisco Networking Academy, Cisco Channel, Cisco Data Center, Cisco IT, Cisco Education, just to name a few

Salesforce: Salesforce CRM, force.com, chatter.com 

Large brands with single FB pages

StarbucksMcDonald’sCoca Cola – a true fan page

Frequency

How often should you post?How much is too much?Can you post too little?

Half life of a Facebook post

What does it all mean?

• Posts at 3 p.m. Wednesday to get the most comment, but results will vary• For active sites, you risk cannibalizing engagement on your page if you post more often than every 80 minutes – another argument for segmentation• You should post at least once a day• Be mindful of peak usage times (weekdays, 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., but don’t be controlled by it• Off-peak times represent opportunity; less noise • Analyze activity on your Facebook page and plan accordingly; stats are generalized • Don’t ignore evenings and weekends; users have more leisure time and may be more engaged with your message

Final thoughts

How do you know what level is posting is right for your brand or client?

 •Ask •The case for breaking news•Observe and measure reaction, especially comments on posts•Adjust as needed

Favorite Facebook Resource:Inside Facebook email newsletter

John Conwayjconway@wral.com

@jcconwayhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/jcconway

919.821.8849