We ran through several scenarios, from using internal resources, to outsourcing, to hiring a new employee. My suggested strategy combined internal resources with an outside consultant, but the client pointed me to a competitor of theirs that employs a full-time social media consultant.

I found this interesting, since managing a company blog and social networking is not usually a full-time job. Many consultants recommend spending six hours a week on social media, and even if we double that to include a researched, well-written blog, it doesn’t add up to 40 hours a week. Unfortunately, we don’t know what was included in the competitor’s job description, but we do know some of the responsibilities of the position.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Maintain the blog, which has posted about six times a month on average for the last twelve months
• Update the Twitter account with corporate news and relevant industry information
• Manage the Facebook Page

I could not find the Facebook Page, but the Twitter account has a respectable Klout Score of 50. The blog is well-written and well-presented in a standard blog format using the Thesis WordPress Theme. The job is done fairly well, but does it take 40 hours a week to do? If our client were to hire a full-time social media specialist, what other responsibilities should they include in the job description?

We would love to hear from our network of social media professionals. What’s your social media job description?

Comment and Post as Yourself

Until now, Page admins have not been able to post or comment as themselves on their own Pages. For instance, on the Bloomfield Development Corporation Page, any posts or comments made by an admin would be attributed to the Bloomfield Development Corporation rather than the individual author. We had been dealing with this by using the caret symbol and our initials (e.g., ^JC) after any personalized communication, but this will no longer be necessary. With the new upgrade, you are now able to choose whether to allow admins to comment and post as themselves.

Click Edit Page, then under Your Settings > Posting Preferences, uncheck the Posting Preferences box. Admins will now comment and post as themselves by default, but will still have the option to post as your Page.

Comment and Post as Your Page

On the right side of the Page is a link to “Use Facebook as [Your Page].” Click that, and not only can you post to your Page as your Page, but you can get notifications about fan activity, Like, comment and post on other Pages as your Page. Just click it again, or click on Account then “Switch back to [You]” to start using Facebook as yourself again.

This may take some getting used to, and if you have a social media policy, you may want to revise it to include guidelines for posting as your Page and interacting with other Pages.

Email Notifications

By default, Pages will now send email notifications to admins when people post or comment. This is exciting news for some, but it may be overwhelming and unnecessary on other Pages. To turn it off, go to Edit Page > Your Settings and uncheck the Email Notifications box.

New Page Design

Showcase Your Latest Photos

The new Page design more closely matches the recent profile design changes, including photos at the top of the Page. This area will display photos that you post to your Wall or photos that you tag your Page in, so double-check these when you upgrade. One of our clients had several of the same photo, so we deleted the extras. In this case, we were lucky that only one of the photos had comments, so we deleted the other duplicates.

Featured

Your Page will continue to show other Pages you have liked, but you now have the ability to specify which of your Liked Pages appear hear. You’ll find this setting under Featured when you click Edit Page.

Also under Featured is the ability to Add Featured Page Owners. Here, you can choose which of your admins to feature on the left of your Page under a “Page Owners” heading. Unfortunately, you can’t edit the “Page Owners” text, and for many clients this isn’t the ideal way to present the site admins. For the Bloomfield Development Corporation, we don’t want our staff and volunteers to be seen as “owners,” but we do want people to know who they are. To do this, we are using a Static FBML tab to display the Bloomfield Development Staff, instead of using Featured Page Owners. This requires a bit of coding, but can be customized according to your needs.

For at least one of our clients, confidentiality is important, so rest assured that both Featured options are disabled by default. As a Page admin, you will also see a section on the right called Admins, which lists the Page admins. Only admins can see this section. We tested this by logging in under a different account.

Navigation

Navigation links have been moved to the left, just like on profiles. The old tabs have been replaced with a simple icon and text menu. We’re not going to argue for one navigation system over another, but there is one feature of the new menu that we don’t like. Remember that Static FBML tab? Static FBML allows us to render HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language) for enhanced Page customization, but unfortunately, the new menu uses the Static FBML app icon. While the content within the tab can be customized, the icon cannot be. We hope this bit of irony gets fixed in a future upgrade.

Profile Picture

One result of this navigational shift is a resizing of the left column width from 200 pixels to 180 pixels. Check how your profile picture looks in this new layout, and upload a smaller image if your current picture doesn’t fit well.

Wall Filters

Last and maybe least is the ability to filter the Wall to show posts by Everyone or just your Page. The default is Everyone, but can be changed in Manage Permissions if you have a reason to do so.

As search engine optimization and social media are becoming more and more intertwined, it is imperative for businesses to know how people are searching and finding information online and how businesses can better control their website’s search engine rankings and online presence.

In this hour-long seminar, you will learn how search engines are incorporating social media websites into their search results and what that means for your website rankings and your competitors’ rankings. You will learn how to integrate social media tools and widgets into your website and how these tools can work together to save you time and effort. You will also learn how blogging plays a role in being found online, and how to market your blog through other social media channels.

Incorporating social media into your online marketing strategy is a must for any business with customers and prospective customers online — this seminar will help you start implementing that plan so your website can be found, and you can grow your business.

Where:
Art Institute of Pittsburgh
Room 730

When:
Friday, August 13
11:00 AM

Cost:
SEO Group Members*: $35
Walk-ins: $40

*Membership to the Pittsburgh SEO Group is free.

Presenters:
Jami Broom of Clicks Internet Marketing with John Carman of Avenue Design Studios

Register at the Pittsburgh SEO Group site or email info@clickstomysite.com

Qualifications

Candidates are required to have:

• Exceptional design skills
• Exceptional craftsmanship and attention to detail
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite

Ideal candidates will also have:

• Proficiency in using social networking sites

For an unpaid internship, I insist that the student get school credit so that they’re not working for free. I also make sure that the student has goals for the internship beyond college credit, and that ADS will be able to provide enough experience to help them achieve those goals. Interviewing for internships is tricky because the candidates have little to no work experience in the “real world”, so it’s very important to listen carefully and ask the right questions.

Some companies feel that interns require too much supervision. Teaching is certainly part of the job, so it may not be for everyone. Perhaps my experiences teaching at Pitt and PodCamp have helped prepare me, but I really enjoyed teaching — and learning from — our intern, and I’m looking forward to this term.

I’d like to thank Margaret Ondrey for her work with Avenue Design Studios last semester. Maggie is majoring in film studies and English writing at the University of Pittsburgh, and worked with ADS specifically on projects for the Bloomfield Development Corporation. Maggie’s main job was writing for Bloomfield Now, but she also helped manage a larger social media campaign that includes a Flickr group, a Facebook page and an interactive Google map. We wish Maggie the best of luck in her last semester and into the real world.

I would now like to introduce Alexis Foster, and welcome her to Avenue Design Studios. Lexi is a senior at Pitt in the Media and Professional Communications program with a focus in Corporate and Community Relations, and will be working with ADS on marketing & PR campaigns for several of our clients. I’m very happy that she found Avenue Design Studios, and I’m looking forward to working with her over the next semester.