The folks at Facebook have shown us repeatedly that the only constant we can expect from the layout and design of their site is CHANGE. In the midst of this continual challenge the developers at Facebook have also given us a gift: the new ad and promotions service is, simply put, a revolutionary solution to the problem of change. With this tool you can push new potential fans and page-likes to a specific tab. The key to this system is creating a dynamic, custom, and engaging tab that encourages your audience to like, engage with, and promote your company to their friends.
In the last two years the custom app tabs market has exploded with companies offering to assist in the process of creating your first customized Facebook app tab. These platforms have empowered you as the user to create your own dynamic content, customize the look and feel of a section of your page, and then rely on the fact that this tab will be static when deployed. In combination with Facebook’s new ads system you can create customized campaigns that push your prospective audience directly to a tab where you can completely control the message. This functionality effectively nullifies the pain of constant change because Facebook has finally given a small piece of control to the user to manage their page.
This raises the next big question: How do you create custom app tabs on Facebook to utilize this functionality? The answer is actually quite simple. There are a number of apps that integrate to the Facebook API to allow you to inject your own custom HTML pages, or use a third party service to create custom tab content.
Engaged Video offers comprehensive social engagement services to help our partners identify the right solution for their needs. We work with your team to implement those solutions so that you don’t have to waste precious time unraveling the inner workings of these solutions in order to get your new campaign online. We also recommend a series of web publishing tools that can help get you started right now. We believe in empowering our partners and community to better understand the tools they use everyday to engage their audiences online. Below you’ll find a few web apps that Engaged Video recommends to help you get started in leveraging your Facebook page more effectively.
Pagemodo:
The Pagemodo platform offers a comprehensive set of tools for creating content and customizing your social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Pagemodo service is not free, but they offer a free 30 day trial of their services and it’s worth giving them a look. The system is geared towards making the process of creating custom tabs for your Facebook page as simple as possible. The site features a complete graphical design engine with a variety of photo art and graphics to get your project started quickly. If your organization can’t afford Photoshop, or doesn’t have the skills to produce your own custom graphics content in-house, Pagemodo can help fill that gap. They offer a variety of tab templates and feature sets at each level of their service. Engaged Video is currently using this platform for our custom Facebook Tabs. Check them out right here. You can also feel free to ask any questions you may have about their service below in the comments. We’re happy to answer them!
Woobox:
Woobox offers a free service for new users who want to add apps for Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube to their Facebook page for free. They also offer basic “Pick a Winner” and an HTML fan gate page. To be clear these apps are very rudimentary and don’t offer a lot of customization because they’re free. But if you want to simply add content tabs from your other social media channels this is a great and free option to back-link your content, and centralize your social presence on Facebook. The paid services from Woobox are very similar to Pagemodo, but their monthly rates are based on likes. If you have less than 100 likes you only pay $1 per month; however, with an effective tool like this at your disposal you should exceed 100 likes in about a month (which is the same term as the free trial from Pagemodo). After you cross this threshold you pay $15 per month. At this point you will be paying more per month that you might with a basic plan at Pagemodo for VERY similar services. The advantage of Woobox is that once you’re in you have access to all their products and services at a higher monthly rate. With Pagemodo their services and app features are tiered based on the plan you choose. Engaged Video usually counsels our partners during the selection process to identify the solution that’s right for them. Woobox is powerful and comprehensive and has features that extend potentially beyond Pagemodo, but their pricing model means that users will spend more money per month as their fan base grows. Food for thought.
Thunderpenny:
These guys are crazy. A few years ago this service was 100% free because they only offered HMTL i-frames in an app tab. Now they’ve expanded their services to offer a variety of other tab formats at the same great price (FREE). There are some draw backs to this option, though they may not be obvious at first glance. You are expected to come ready with all your own content and art when you want to create a custom tab. They offer a pretty good selection of tab types for free, and another selection of advanced tab types with a paid account. Their website doesn’t offer any real explanation of their pricing model, or even how to sign up for the service. (It’s kind of crazy.) But the product works. We tested their free page creator and it gets the job done. The real drawback is that you may need some help from a web or graphic designer to get your custom tabs launched and ready for public consumption. This is a hurdle, but it’s not insurmountable. The only reason the Engaged Video team didn’t explore this solution more thoroughly is because we couldn’t figure out how to register for their service and test it out properly! In the area of Sales 101, creating barriers to buy is a big no-no. Thunderpenny likes giving things away for free so much that they’ve practically hidden their purchase portal. It’s a great service, but it’s still kind of crazy, right?
Having the right tool only takes you so far; understanding how to effectively use that tool to strategically engage your audience is the next, critical step. Engaged Video can help with both implementation and training your team in how to use these tools to their fullest potential. Check out some of our social engagement services right here on our website.
