The Tendo View

One of the questions we frequently get asked at Tendo is how to put social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to work. By “work,” I mean build maximum buzz with minimum effort. I’ll skip all the usual (and 100% true) caveats about how it takes time, insight, a credible voice, and consistency to build an online following (and the buzz that accompanies it) and skip straight to the juicy part.

Normally, I might post a link to an article on my Facebook page and maybe post to the Tendo Twitter account. The link will show up on my wall for my friends to see and on the Tendo Twitter feed right here on the TendoView.

Yesterday, however, I started tagging specific people and companies in my TendoView wall posts. For example, I tagged Top Gear’s wall in the article we posted about Top Gear’s viral campaign. This time instead of just my 300+ friends seeing it, 3,000+ Top Gear fans and followers saw it on Top Gear’s page. 

This has the potential to increase awareness of our content and encourage others to pass along the link. Plus, it’s easy to do. Note that not all people or companies allow tagged wall posts to show up without approval, but enough of them do and will approve the link if it’s relevant, so this is absolutely worth doing.

Here are the nine easy steps to implement this approach:

1. When writing a blog post, think about the companies and people mentioned in it that add to the analysis. 
2. Before you finish writing, check Facebook to see if the companies/people have Facebook pages (these days, most everyone does).
3. Friend them. After all, if you’re taking the time to mention them, why not friend them?
4. When publishing your blog post, be sure to hyperlink thoroughly. This includes linking to the pages of companies discussed, linking to sources consulted or referenced (blogs or online articles), and even linking to prominent persons of interest (for people, look for Twitter feeds or LinkedIn profiles).
5. Publish your blog post.
6. Once live, post it as a link with an associated thumbnail image to your Facebook wall. Before finalizing the post type an ampersand, which will prompt you for names of your Facebook friends.
7. Enter the names of the new companies and people you have friended.
8. Once you have tagged them, post the link.
9. If you linked to personal or corporate Twitter accounts, “follow” that person or company. In addition to tweeting your article generally, tweet the article link directly to them, alerting them on Twitter that the post is live and mentions them.

Voilá! Easy, free content promotion that will instantly get a lot more people reading and discussing your article.

After sending along this info, my brilliant colleague, Siobhan Nash (see what I just did there), alerted me to an article, ”Facebook Tagging for Business,” by Jason Falls. While I’m convinced that my “tagging walls” headline is cheekier, I have to give props to Mr. Falls for adding some great insight and perspective with his five tagging rules.

Now, if only my tags were as brilliant as Banksy’s….