Are you a nonprofit organisation that has spent considerable time and resources (some corporate brands spend up to $50,000!) creating your interactive Facebook fan page? Have you developed fun content (polls and quizzes, videos, the latest news, etc.), for your fans to interact with? Maybe you’re running campaigns, promotions and contests or wanting to increase your membership and donations as well. While all of these activities are considered a must in order to successfully connect and interact with your supporters on Facebook, here’s some hard hitting evidence that you may be wasting your time (and money) with the fan page!

 

90%

The unofficial percentage of fans who visit a Facebook fan page once and never return is at just slightly higher than ninety percent! I must repeat this…ninety percent!! Did you realise this? Most organisations do not.

Want more bad news?! Enter Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm…

Because of Facebook’s EdgeRank system, only 1-2% of that fun, interactive content I mentioned above actually reaches your fans’ news feed!

Here’s why…

Facebook looks at the content (videos, pics, wall posts, etc.) you create as “objects.” An object’s EdgeRank is determined by three factors: affinity (the score given to the relationship between creator and user), weight (interaction with the object – likes, comments, tags, etc.) and timeliness (length of time between when content was created and engaged with).

So, because every object receives its “ranking”, this determines if it will show in your fans’ newsfeeds or not. Obviously, objects with a high EdgeRank appear in their “Top News” feed and objects with a low EdgeRank will not.

When a fan actually does interact with your page, EdgeRank makes the assumption that they are interested in hearing what you have to say and thus will deliver your posts to them more frequently. The more the fan clicks to your page and interacts with the content you’ve posted, the more consistently you will reach them through the news feed.

On the flip side, if 90% of your fans are not returning to your fan page and interacting with your posts, all that you are creating will err to the side of a low ranking and this is where the 1-2% figure that I mention earlier comes in.

Wait, there’s more…

According to a study by The Daily Beast,objects with a really low EdgeRank may not even show in your “Most Recent” news feed. Ouch!

So, what does all of this mean for your nonprofit looking to market, promote or just interact through Facebook?

Know this…

“Top News” is the default setting for content on your fans’ personal pages, so unless they change their default, it’s quite possible they’ll never see your updates.

So, no matter how good the content, no matter how well you manage your Facebook page, EdgeRank is a “wall” between you and your fans.

I ask, then, what is the point of creating a Facebook fan page at all if you are only going to; a) lose your fans after their first visit (over 90% of them) and b) they are not even going to see your content (low EdgeRank)?!

The solution: Bamboo – not a Fan Page – a Facebook Application!

Bamboo is a simple, cost-effective, out-of-the box Social Rewards Platform (it’s an App) that mobilises your core supporters to take action immediately whether that is for a campaign or to get donations. In essence, Bamboo is a robust, flexible and completely private labeled “Brand Ambassadors Club” that allows companies to leverage Facebook (and Twitter) to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI).

In its simplest form, Bamboo is a game in which your organisations core audience earns and redeems points for creating more awareness about you, your campaigns, products, etc. Leveraging this core audience allows them to share all kinds of content (same stuff you’d create for your fan page – wall posts, invites, virtual gifts and coupons, to real time campaign alerts, interactive polls and quizzes, videos, product info and the latest news, etc.) with their friends on Facebook and Twitter – they become “Brand Ambassadors” and market to their friends on your behalf!

The Big Difference…

Surpassing the reach of a fan page, which only offers a 1:1 communication channel, Bamboo features a 1:240 communication channel (that’s because each of your Brand Ambassadors generally has 240 unique friends). This “leverage” helps you reach untapped audiences to engage in your campaigns and fundraising efforts, thus generating a new incremental mobilisation network or revenue stream while continuing to engage and raise funds from your existing fan base.

In fact, Bamboo is so effective, you do not even need a fan page for it to work! Here’s how…

The LOVE Button…

It’s done via Bamboo’s ingenious “Love” button, their social plugin which is added to your website, email newsletter, confirmation email, fan page, web page or shopping cart to entice your loyal supporters to join your Bamboo Facebook App. Bamboo, with the “Love” button, becomes an out-of-the-box “Ambassadors Club” that allows your supporters to join your new Facebook loyalty program – simply by clicking “Love.” This, in essence, removes the need for a fan page.

What’s more, the Bamboo Love Button is not connected to Facebook’s “Like” Button and thus the amount of people who ‘Love this’ can be controlled by you. For instance, if your organisation has 5,000 “Likes” on Facebook and 25,000 current supporters, you can count those supporters as those who love your nonprofit. You no longer have to start over from zero and Facebook does not control this widget. Offer them 1,000 points (or however many you want) to join your loyalty program simply by clicking on “love.” When they do this, they are brought into an “Allow” screen (this is normal for any application on Facebook). Once your supporter clicks on “Allow”, they are brought right into your branded Bamboo application and can begin earning points.

And, Lead Generation through Bamboo is greatly re-defined. As “Allow” is clicked, you pick up all of the visitor’s info without requiring them to type in their name, email, city, etc. into an annoying form. Anyone who has ever developed a lead generation program knows that the abandon rate on filling out those empty fields in a form is ridiculous! Now the entire process is streamlined to just hitting one “Allow” button!

Great Analytics

For your Marketing or Fundraising Managers,Bamboo records and measures every impression, hit, visit, page view, click path, lead, and sale. Equally, it records who did it, when, where they came from, and measures the audience (friends and followers) and their interconnections. From all of the data collected, Bamboo allows you the ability to run an exhaustive statistical analysis and create reports: projected/actual reach, popularity and conversion rates of specific pieces of content, results of polls, etc. Some reports are similar to conventional web analytics, and some are specific to social media such as virality and popularity of the content, size of unique audience, etc.

Bamboo Connects it all Together…

If you are serious about reaching deep into the Facebook network (600+ million) to connect with new audiences, the Bamboo platform is the only platform within Facebook that truly allows you to do this and for the travel space, it’s the ultimate social loyalty program!

So if this sounds like an application it could meet your campaign, marketing or fundraising needs get in touch with Eco Change today to arrange an obligation free demonstration or to find out more about how it might meet your needs.

Tags: apps for facebook, bamboo, community engagement, engagement, facebook, facebook application, facebook apps, facebook fan page, manutamix, nonprofit technology, nonprofits, online pr, social enterprise, social media, social media networking