Flyer Spirit

Facebook

Julie BennettMeghan BurkeEric DempseyErin FarrellyMary Orlet

Kaitlin SmithSara Stricker

3/24/2009

Current Flyer Spirit Fan Page

Problems with Current Fan PageThere are several problems with the current Flyer Spirit Fan Page. First, the page only lists 45 fans out of all students, alum, faculty, etc. at the University of Dayton. This reflects that there is not the proper awareness and buzz about the store and Flyer Enterprises need to get their fans excited about their company. Another problem is that the page is not continually updated with promotions, sales, etc. Customers are not aware of the activity that is taking place in the store. This Facebook page gives Flyer Spirit the opportunity to communicate with their target markets, but they are unable to effectively convey the message with their current activity.

Implementation of New Facebook PageA resolution to the problems posed above is to create a new Facebook page for Flyer Spirit that is a profile description of the store. This profile will include pictures, information about the store, status updates with store activity, and the ability to become “friends” with Flyer Spirit. Flyer Spirit will be marketed just like an individual person on the site. This will allow customers to continually check the page for updates and detailed information on the store that the Fan Page could not previously provide.

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In order to implement this new Facebook page, several steps must be taken to create the page and properly utilize it as a marketing tool. The outlined steps and procedures are listed below.

Steps in Creating a Facebook Page

Sign UpVisit Facebook.com where the above page will welcome you. Enter the appropriate information of name, email address, password, sex and birthday in order to sign up. The process is quick and easy and is very user friendly; encouraging people of all ages to join the social networking tool.

Facebook Registration ConfirmationOnce registered on Facebook.com, an email is received from The Facebook Team. Once received, you must click on the link in the email to confirm the email address and registration information to create the profile. Once clicked on, Facebook registration is complete.

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Add Friends to Your NetworkAfter clicking on the link in the registration email, you will be directly taken to the Facebook page where you can add contacts based on your email contacts. This step was skipped when registering Flyer Spirit because the email address, FlyerSpiritUD@gmail.com did not have any contacts.

Fill Out Your Profile InfoStep 2 of the process is to fill in the high school, college, and company information. The appropriate information of University of Dayton and company, Flyer Spirit, was filled in.

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Join a NetworkStep 3 of 3 is to join a network. This network will automatically recommend friends to you based on your location, school, company, etc. Flyer Spirit is registered under the Dayton, OH network and also joined the University of Dayton network.

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Welcome to Facebook: Home PageOnce the profile process preliminary steps are complete, you are welcomed to the home page of Facebook. On this page is a mini-feed that continually updates you on the status and activities of friends and people in your network. You are able to invite friends to your network, search for individuals or groups, update your status, create events and participate in several other activities. With promotions and sales in the store, Flyer Spirit will be able to create events and invite people to participate in them. This gives the company the opportunity to directly reach their target market and also promote the store.

Flyer Spirit ProfileBegin building your page by clicking, “edit page.” Edit the information fields. Since most people will be able to access your profile, you are not required to fill out every field, only the information you wish people to see.

On the Flyer Spirit Profile page, there are numerous categories that are filled in to help describe the Flyer Spirit Store and what it provides to the local community. There are many fields on the profile page such as basic information, contact information and education and work information which will provide users a quick glance about the product or service.

Under the basic information section, you will need to fill out the various categories such as your sex, birthday, hometown and relationship status. Once you are satisfied with the information, you click ‘save changes.’ Don’t forget, you can always go back and edit your page whenever you want. Then, you will need to fill out your contact information which includes categories such as your email address, phone number and current address. You should also include your company’s website so users can become familiar with your products and services. This information will help you better connect with your friends on your network. Another section you should fill out is the education and work information. These categories include the college you are currently attending and your present employer and where your work is currently located.

Another step in creating your profile is to upload photos or videos in order to bring color and life to your page. For example, on the Flyer Spirit page, there are numerous photos added to indicate the items that you can purchase at the store. You should also create a few walls to begin discussion topics and for other users to become familiar with your profile.

Other information that is not visible on the Flyer Spirit profile page is personal information. This section includes information that describes you such as your favorite activities, favorite tv show, favorite books and favorite music. You want to make your Facebook profile reflect your personality so

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you should include information that will describe you to the best of your ability.

The last item you will need to include will be to upload a picture from your hard drive that other people will be able to see as your profile picture. Click ‘browse’ find a picture on your hard drive, then click the box to certify that you own the rights to the image and then finally click ‘Upload Picture.’

Flyer Spirit Facebook Ad Schedule

We feel the most efficient way for Flyer Spirit to maximize Facebook they should implement an advertising campaign with a pulsing strategy. Flyer Spirit should advertise on Facebook year round, but there are various times throughout the year that that Flyer Spirit should increase the amounts of ads. By implementing the pulsing strategy Flyer Spirit will be able to maintain a relationship with current students, parents, alumni and faculty that use Facebook and be able to reach them with special offers when they ramp up their campaign.

Although this pulsing type of Facebook advertising requires a lot of attention and updating, we feel it will be the most beneficial for Flyer Spirit. This schedule will allow Flyer Sprit to reach all of its target markets at the most efficient times.

August -- October: There are a few times that we feel that this pulsing should take place. The first pulse should take place starting on August 10th. This will allow Flyer Spirit to reach current and new students, along with their parents. This pulse will end after the first week of classes. Parents of students are a very important market for Flyer Spirit so another pulse in advertising will be implemented two weeks before parent’s weekend in October. The fact that Facebook has opened up to the general public can really help Flyer Spirit because now more and more parents, and even grandparents, are using it.

November – March: Following parent’s weekend there is kind of a lull in terms of special events. Although there is a lull Flyer Spirit should still advertise to maintain the relationship with their target markets. The next major event would be the holidays and the basketball season. After Thanksgiving another pulse in ads should begin and last until the end of basketball season, this will be the longest pulse in advertising. This is a time when Flyer Spirit should really try to reach alumni. They should implement special offers specifically for Alum in order to drive their business to Flyer Spirit instead of the UD Bookstore. We feel that this time will be the most successful for Flyer Spirit in terms of sales so the amount of ads and special offers on Facebook will be the greatest during this time of the year.

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May – June: After basketball season there are two more major events that Flyer Sprit can take advantage of; graduation weekend and alumni weekend. The advertising that appears on Facebook for graduation weekend should start one month before graduation and should be specifically geared toward parents and students. Starting the campaign one month before graduation will allow parents and family ample time to order gifts for the graduate. This pulse will end after graduation weekend. Alumni weekend is the final pulse in our advertising campaign. The ads should be geared specifically toward alumni and begin two weeks before the actual event and end after the weekend is over.

Report Findings

Facebook Saves Store Ad Money, Hits Target 12/19/08 Advertise on and off campus Monthly sales, sales specials, signs on campus and in store. Students were not paying attention to typical ways to get the word out Facebook Page of Middlebury College Bookstore

o Easy way to tell students the Special of the Month, the Holiday Open-house, etc

o Contest for a 45-sec in-store shopping spree (25-30 ppl showed up just to watch)

Posted pics and video of event on Facebook – easy to doo Facebook is FREE and geared more towards college-aged (instead of

MySpace) Joined Facebook, small college, has ~100 friends

o Qualify for special offers only through their Facebook affiliation with the store

o Post signs around campus of Facebook page Interests other groups or school organizations to consider Facebook as a

college source and for promotiono Admissions, United Way drive

Still advertise in student newspaper, but stopped all other outside adv ertising

Saves store ~$200 a month Allows bookstore to target exactly who it wants to reach w/ certain promo

(ex: Alumni) Help plan store events by sending out messages to attend

o How much food/drink/product to be available for event Provided a guide for other college stores to start a Facebook page:

www.box.net/shared/v114cwzk00.

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