Here’s some statistics about effectiveness of Facebook marketing tactics:

Looking at the numbers, we see that creating Facebook applications was the most effective tactic. Surveying fans had pretty good results too. Advertising on Facebook is the worst performer.

Usually, a good Facebook application will engage users in a fun or meaningful way. Facebook applications have the potential of engaging for long and can exploit viral channels available in Facebook. I also thought it was the most effective approach in Facebook in the long term since brands can use an application to grow a user base with time. Then, the brand has a base of operation to pitch their fan page, contests or other timely promotions. I’m glad to see that numbers are confirming what I believe.

Here are the statistics for Twitter:

For Twitter we see that try to sell was giving the worst results. The best performing tactics were those involving answering tweets about PR problems or responding to other negative tweets about the brands.

I also like the fact that in-person events are performing well with Twitter. Twitter is always proving to me that it is an amazing bridge between online social interactions and real world interactions. What’s more engaging that meeting persons face to face? Fun stuff!

It’s common sense for people in social media but it proves that really engaging with users or customers is the most effective social media marketing approach.

Brands cannot afford to not be on media social anymore. Whether you like it or not, people are taking about you on the Web. It is better for the growth and long-term survival of your business that you monitor and participate in those discussions.

Where do you start?

The answer depends on your goal, how confortable/savvy you are with the tools, how much time and ressources you can allow to the task and what is your industry (B2B vs. B2C). In short, there is no one size fits all answer. Instead, let’s go over the 4 main tools for business to become an active participant in social media.

Remember to use a friendly, casual tone conversation in all your messages whether you are posting on Twitter, Facebook, writing a post on your blog or commenting another blog. People are looking for authenticity. They do not want to read formal messages that look like they were taken from a press release. Use as a reference how you speak in every day conversations at the office.

Twitter

Twitter launched yesterday its Twitter 101 guide for business. An excerpt from the guide states that

From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.

What I like about Twitter is that it is easy to setup an account. It allows brands to experiment the benefit of social media without investing time and money on an infrastructure. All you need to do is open your account – finding the right user name may be the most time consuming for some. Import your brand avatar and a branded profile background before you launch your account. Make sure to fill up the bio with the description of your Twitter account and put a link to your Web site or blog.

Tweeple (users of Twitter) prefer to talk with a brand that identifies their spoken person(s) on their bio. It is not an absolute must but it helps to humanize the conversations.

Facebook Fan Pages

If a brand wish to get a presence on Facebook, they created a page. Facebook can be used to find employees and know better your prospects. Clara Shih wrote Facebook Era, a book about tapping online social networks to build better products, reach new audiences, and sell more stuff. I encourage you to read it. While you are buying Facebook Era, get your copy of Tribes by Seth Godin.

Beware that it takes more work to have a dynamic fan page on Facebook than to engage the conversations on Twitter. This is why I often advise businesses who hired me as a social media expert to start with a Twitter presence. Once they get a grip on how to interact in social media, they can start their own blog and then have a Facebook presence.

I covered how a brand can use their Fan page on my social media blog. Therefore, I am referring you to the last 3 posts I wrote on the matter:

+ How I Use the Facebook Fan Page of My Blog
+ Properly Setting the Fan Permissions on Facebook Pages
+ The Need for Fresh Content on Your Facebook Fan Page vs. Your Blog

LinkedIn

If Facebook is for many their private life social network, LinkedIn is where they keep business relations. LinkedIn is suited if your brand is on the B2B market.

A Corporate Blog

I am a full-time blogger. Thus, it is no surprise that I strongly believe in the power of the blog. The blog is where you can really highlight your philosophy, your approach. You can operate a corporate blog to educate your customers about how to use your products, talk about what is going on in your industry, be a leader by explaining what it takes to run a successful small business. I strongly believe that a corporate blog should be written by an employee of the company.

A blog is a conversational Web site where you share your ideas, your finds and your solutions about a niche topic. You invite people to discuss what you write about. The author of a blog is the investigator of the conversations. You put your stamp on the conversation through the topic you selected and the angle that you presented. You are also the moderator of the discussions going on on your blog. I wrote several posts on On the Web with Kim Vallee about how to write good blog content.

Twitter, Facebook and the blog complement each other. Each one promotes the other two.

An interesting thing about unconferences like Podcamp is the relationships you make and entertain using social networks. We had a good discussion on the subject on the train back to Montreal with Sean Power which was sitting next to us.

Real life social media events are rewarding and fun because you actually meet virtual friends. It is not new for online communities to meet in the real world. Social networks are great at bridging online and real world relationships. Twitter is most powerful at that.

The number of Twitter friends we met for the first time in person at Podcamp Toronto is simply amazing!  It sometimes feels strange because some people know you, but you don’t recall them or you know them under an alias.

It made us think: Twitter is an augmented virtuality device! Wikipedia says:

Augmented virtuality (AV) (also referred to as Mixed reality) refers to the merging of real world objects into virtual worlds

With Twitter, what you do online becomes complemented by the real world. When it does, you realize Twitter’s incredible added value.

Meeting online friends in the real world enhances connections in the virtual world. Of course, you will meet new people with whom you will continue having online conversations.

Another extension of the AV concept is that when assisting presentations, comments and thoughts are exchanged through Twitter in real time (instead of whispering and disrupting the presentation) and then followed upon after the presentation in the real world.

By using hash tags and limiting conversations to the conference, the virtual and the real world are further blended when you virtually meet or discover people in the same room than you. You then look around, exchange a smile, continue the conversation in the virtual and finish the follow-up in person after the presentation.

Of course, for the same reasons, we also think Twitter is a form of augmented reality. What comes first? The chicken or the egg? The blending of the reality in the virtual or the virtual in the reality? Online or offline, one thing is sure, Twitter relationships remain real.

What do you think? Should Twitter be considered a form of augmented virtuality?