What is the value of getting someone to Like your Facebook page? Hitwise released research that claims that a Facebook Like will produce 20 additional visits to your site over the course of a year.

If that’s true, it’s easy to back into an allowable cost-per-like. You can follow along with this Google spreadsheet.

Let’s use the example of an ecommerce website. If your target is 1 order and your conversion rate is 1%, then you need 100 visits to generate 1 order.

If 1 like produces 20 visits, then you need 5 likes. Next, plug in your average order value (AOV) and target ROI. That tells you how much you can spend in total on Likes (Max Like Spend). Divide that by the Likes Required (5) and you get a Max Cost/Like, $3.33

The same logic applies to a lead gen business. In this example, I’ve calculated a target Cost-Per-Lead, which is then the same as my Max Like Spend. If you want, you can add in a line or two for Target ROI or other conversion metrics, but I kept it simple:

Check out the Google doc to see my formulas.

Calculate How Much Should You Pay for a Facebook Like

Paul Adams is a user experience research at Google. He recently gave a speech outlining research by Google and others into how people connect with each other and what that means for the internet.

It’s easy to follow, persuasive and, most importantly, not about technology. It’s about persistent facts about how people behave and what that means for designers (his audience) and marketers (my audience).

It’s a long read, but well worth the time.

The Best Social Media Presentation I’ve Seen

I’m spending the holiday with my family, but much of my time is spend with my digital family — the folks who keep me informed online.  I’m creating a Twitter Wreath — a ring of links to some great people I follow on Twitter with the hopes that they’ll share their favorite Tweeters (twits?) as well.

I’ve listed some of the savvy professionals whose updates I track through Twitter. Am I missing you or someone good?  Please comment with a link to your/their Twitter profile!  Better yet, make your own Twitter Wreath.

Happy Holidays,

-Alex (aka @digitalalex)

• @clickequations – http://twitter.com/clickequations | www.clickequations.com/blog
• @kintecap – http://twitter.com/kineticap
• @johnleeclark – http://twitter.com/jonleeclark | http://www.ppcforhire.com/
• @eelco_van_kuik – http://twitter.com/eelco_van_kuik
• @kittygux – http://twitter.com/kittygux
• @ppchero – http://twitter.com/ppchero | http://www.ppchero.com/
• @dylanlewis – http://twitter.com/dylanlewis
• @webmetricsguru – http://twitter.com/webmetricsguru | http://www.webmetricsguru.com/
• @bobpage – http://twitter.com/bobpage | http://bobpage.net/
• @tealeaf – http://twitter.com/tealeaf | http://tealeaf.com/
• @semoe – http://twitter.com/SEMOE | http://www.semoe.com/
• @avinashkaushik – http://twitter.com/avinashkaushik | http://kaushik.net/avinash
• @ivinay – http://twitter.com/iVinay | http://www.juretic.com/
• @lucindadh - http://twitter.com/LucindaDH | www.clickequations.com 
• @billysblog - http://twitter.com/billysblog | http://testingblog.widemile.com/
• @dennismortensen - http://twitter.com/DennisMortensen | http://visualrevenue.com/blog
• @TheGrok - http://twitter.com/TheGrok | http://www.grokdotcom.com/
• @randfish - http://twitter.com/randfish | http://www.seomoz.org/
• @erictpeterson - http://twitter.com/erictpeterson | http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/
• @greggorio - http://twitter.com/greggorio | http://www.semgeek.com/
• @cgrantski - http://twitter.com/cgrantski
• @jdersh - http://twitter.com/jdersh | http://june.typepad.com/
• @jenniferlaycock - http://twitter.com/JenniferLaycock | http://www.searchengineguide.com/
• @dannysullivan - http://twitter.com/dannysullivan | http://daggle.com/
• @skellie - http://twitter.com/skellie | http://skelliewag.org/
• @mjasra - http://twitter.com/mjasra | http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/
• @storyspinner - http://twitter.com/storyspinner | http://www.searchmarketinggurus.com/
• @jimsterne - http://twitter.com/jimsterne | http://www.emetrics.org/

Twitter Wreath: Who I Follow on Twitter

Here are some useful online marketing links you may have missed.  I published quite a few on my Twitter profile, so follow me.

• Check out this new link tool – http://tinyurl.com/4swbmo
• Interesting thread on PPC quality score – http://tinyurl.com/3zhlbj
• Geography as a part of AdWords quality score – http://tinyurl.com/4k2zev
• Someone recommended Mercado for site search today – http://www.mercado.com/
• Prep your PPC campaigns for the holidays – http://tinyurl.com/4xuwvo
• Good video on linking – http://vimeo.com/1762989
• Check out this cool custom sticker creator – http://tinyurl.com/49ka77
• I love this post about thinking bigger – http://tinyurl.com/3jkl6c
• Deloitte has a whole series of free management books/soft sales – http://tinyurl.com/4x8t97
• SurveyGizmo is an alternative to SurveyMonkey and has a free option – http://www.surveygizmo.com/
• Google Chrome has an Incognito mode where “all new cookies are deleted after you close the incognito window” #wa http://tinyurl.com/5bqzfm
• Commerce360 is hiring a Sr. Relationship Manager – http://tinyurl.com/5tmpd3
• The first review of ClickEquations – http://tinyurl.com/6er738
• Did you know there’s a whole bunch of AdWords training videos online? http://tinyurl.com/d6ffg
• Google takes aim at MyBlogLog with Follower – http://tinyurl.com/6ggl5e
• Top 3 Google links get 79% of traffic says a new post by @TheGrok – http://tinyurl.com/5mvkks
• Wow, Google Chrome is fast. I’m tempted to switch from Firefox – www.google.com/chrome
• Want to improve your PPC performance and analysis? Separate out your brand terms – http://tinyurl.com/63gd26
• Need more B-to-B leads? This guide is now on sale for $200 off – http://tinyurl.com/6bez3q
• What does your website look like to a search engine? – http://www.seo-browser.com/
• Important new quality score changes – http://tinyurl.com/5btzda
• Cool feed analysis tool – http://tinyurl.com/3chk6r. You can use it for blog intelligence too if someone has a # of subscriber chiclet
• Heard at #xchange – Intuit is using Magnify360 to customize site content for search visitors – http://magnify360.com/index.

A Whole Buncha Links from Twitter

On this week's very special episode of Digital Alex, Alex optimizes your landing page.. with his mind!

I’m out and about on the web. Thanks to Li, Rich and Corry for the opportunity to be a very special guest on their blogs. It’s like an after school special…

Jim Sterne!

I interviewed Jim “The Godfather” Sterne about his upcoming session “Measuring Success in a 2.0 World” at Search Engine Strategies San Jose. I know, I know, 2.0 is a really awfully moniker, but Jim’s got a lot of great thoughts, especially about social media measurement and video analytics, so read up.

The Secret to a Web Analytics Career: Stop Learning Web Analytics

IQ Workforce recruiter Corry Prohens (who is looking for Philly web analytics talent) let me write up a storm on his blog Web Analytics Rock Stars. My topic du jour? Web analytics career advancement.

In my guest post “The Secret to a Web Analytics Career: Stop Learning Web Analytics” I advocate that people who analyze numbers should spend more time learning about the channels their measuring. Radical concept, right? Learn more web analytics career secrets right here.

I have Corry’s contact info if you need a web analytics job in Philly, alex @ alexlcohen . com

Wait, Am I a Web Analytics Guru?

Definitely not. Rich Page kindly interviewed me for his Web Analytics Guru series. I am so not a guru. I’m just a guy with some opinions and a blog. But, I do love to talk and write, so he found my weak spot.

Check out the interview for my thoughts on the Micro-Hoo debacle, the future of web analytics and learn what Avinash told me to do. Check it out right here!

Still reading? I like to guest post or write for lots of sites. If you have a website or newsletter with substantial readership and want some content, drop me a line alex @ alexlcohen . com

A Very Special Post: Jim Sterne, Career Advancement and Guruocity?

I often stumble on a lot of great articles that don’t trickle down to my blog. Instead, I often share them on Twitter. Follow me to get all of the resources (DigitalAlex).

You can also check out my FriendFeed. I share great posts from my Google Reader there.

1. Sample Correctly to Measure True Improvement Levels
2. Writing for the Web — And Getting It Read
3. Creating a Positive Professional Image
4. Stats on the growth of mobile video
5. Breakdown of each search engines share of mobile search
6. Yahoo Developer’s Ideas to Improve Site Speed
7. An overview of landing page design
8. Form analytics from ClickTale
9. Learn linkbait from Matt Cutts
10. PR Secrets for Startups
11. The WordPress SEO Guide
12. Get a free web analytics industry report
13. Web Analytics Data Reconciliation: How To Guide
14. The SEO Success Pyramid
15. Learn how Google uses testing
16. Analytics for iPhone Apps
17. Non-profits can get free money from Google!
18. Interesting thoughts on PPC testing

18 Must Read Articles from my Twitter Account

On a non-blog note, I’ve been on Twitter for a couple of months now.  If you tweet, follow me on Twitter as DigitalAlex.

For those who don’t know, Twitter is a micro-blog platform.  Your communications, or tweets, are limited to 140 characters.  I use my Twitter account to share good links and chat with industry folks.  Here are a few you might also want to follow:

• Jim Sterne – eMetrics
• Eric Peterson – Web Analytics Demystified
• June Dershewitz – SEMPhonic
• Jeremiah Owyang – Forrester / Web Strategist
• Steve Rubel – Micropersuasion

See you there.

Follow Me on Twitter

You can’t read a blog or magazine these days without finding some mention of Facebook, especially their decision to open up the Facebook platform to 3rd party application developers. Techcrunch recently cited O’Reilly’s research about the adoption and use of the over 5,000 applications that are on the Facebook platform. Guess what, only 84 account for 90% of the usage. Here’s the top 5 and the associated developers (full list at either of the aforementioned sites)

1. Top Friends (Slide)
2. FunWall (Slide)
3. Super Wall (RockYou!)
4. SuperPoke! (Slide)
5. Video (Facebook)

Like blogs, podcasts and social networking before, Facebook apps are the tactic du jour for marketers. So what makes some apps take off? Like every other good strategy it starts with the users and thoughtful planning.

What Do Successful Facebook Apps Have In Common?

Scanning the list of top applications and having watched my own social graph (fancy language for friends) adopt applications, a couple of things stand out. First, many of the top applications are simply porting over popular features of other social networks. Case in point: Top Friends. In addition to being proven, these applications are built on familiar concepts that speed up their adoption.

Second, they’re enhancing already existing, but limited, features on Facebook. Take the SuperWall for example – it’s just a suped up version of the wall. The same can be said of SuperPoke (which I love!).

Third, many of them are simply Facebook versions of already popular tools. iLike, the social music and discovery site, is the notable leader in this category. Just because these are the apps that have taken off so far, it doesn’t mean that’s the only way to be popular. This, of course, begs another question…

Yeah, But Why Do Some Spread Like Wildfire?

Facebook application development is, on some level, another variation of viral marketing. There’s a built-in viral component when the news feed function is enabled and each user’s friends can see who else is using what. For those who don’t know, the news feed is an RSS like tool that notifies a user of recent changes to her friends’ accounts. Even with this, the fundamentals of viral marketing still hold true: people have to want to do what you’re asking them to do.

Facebook applications have an interesting degradation cycle. It starts when the user either finds the application by browsing through the applications section or, more likely, when one of their friends adds it and it shows up in the news feed, then has to click through to the application page, add the app, use it once, going on to repeat usage and help spread it. Each of these steps is a key link to adoption.

1. Attention - The application name has to clearly communicate the function/benefit and catch the user’s attention in the news feed (although having an influential or authoritative contact add the application may also be enough to catch the user’s attention).
2. Interest - The landing page has to clearly merchandise the application. Make the most of the pictures and the text to shorten the gap between page visits and adding the application. This is the only place you have to sell your features and benefits (and quell any privacy or security fears), so make the most of it.
3. Desire - When it comes to Facebook apps, the ones that most likely to be initiated and continued are extensions of the social experiences of site: either you’re sharing something with someone (such iLike or video), do something to them (like poking them, giving gifts), or otherwise cementing the back and forth of friends (e.g. Top Friends).
4. Action - The more strategic developers have structured their Facebook applications so that users are encouraged to spread them. The most common way is for the application itself to include an action you do someone. A more clever approach rewards users with additional functionality the more you spread them. For example, you get more actions in Superpoke the more times you “poke” people with the application. It’s like leveling up in exchange for recruiting your friends.

Facebook Application Best Practices

There are some basic best practices that app developers should consider. First, earn goodwill by asking permission before you do anything on behalf of a user. Don’t spam his or her friends with unwanted emails. Any short term gain will ultimately erode when users, or Facebook, lash out against you.

Just like every other marketing tactic, just because you build it does not mean the users will come. You have to seed the market – with connected people and even your own connected profiles (you are actively building your profile, aren’t you?). Speaking of seeding the market, much has been made of advertising on Facebook and the mixed or lackluster results. The one thing I haven’t seen much of is advertising on Facebook for things inside of Facebook, i.e. your application. It could very well be a smart way to get things moving…

Of course, you have to remember the end game and the fact that you’re playing by Facebook’s rules. Compete’s article on the role of applications in Facebook’s growth had an interesting anecdote about how one entrepreneur is building a brand and site based on his app:

Sage old rock star, Mitchell Kapur headlined Saturday’s presentations [at the Community Next conference]. He advised the young developers of the unavoidable tensions between their applications and the platforms they are developing upon. He counseled:

• Platform owners have the power
• Innovations migrate into the platform
• Some platform owners want to control the whole system
• Platform owners need their applications, but they are destined to absorb the best of them into the platform.

…

One of the hot young performers listening to Mitch was Craig Ulliott. In 2007, he launched Where I’ve Been which has quickly become Facebook’s most popular travel application. Craig is now pursuing the transformation of his Facebook application into a successful online travel company with its own web service (www.whereivebeen.com) and additional applications on MySpace and other social networks, beyond just Facebook.

For much more expert reading on the topic, look up admitted Facebook fanboy and expert Dave McClure‘s article on Techcrunch. As a parting thought, the social media platform business is about to heat up with MySpace’s new platform set to launch next week and Google to follow with their own version going across products in the coming week. Obviously, a lot of the lessons learned from Facebook are going to carry over to MySpace and, to a lesser extent, Google. After we clear the wild west of “me too” apps, the winners are going to have to be much more targeted and user centric.

Facebook Application Strategy – Why Do Some Apps Rule?

Yahoo!, possibly reeling from the rejection of their bid from Facebook, is once again testing out a new angle on social media–Yahoo Mash. With an enormous user base of their Yahoo! services, there’s a huge potential for Yahoo if it catches on. I got beta access to the service and took it for a whirl. It my opinion, Yahoo Mash has a long way to go.

Yahoo! Mash – The Social Wiki

Mash is trying to fuse the idea of a social network and a personal wiki into one interface, a social wiki, if you will. Users can tweak their own pages and can directly edit the pages of other people. Obviously, this could get out of hand pretty quickly, so you can limit editing access to just friends, family or some other inner circle. When you invite someone to Mash, you can even create a page for them in advance that they ‘claim’ and make their own. This begs the question: who actually wants to do this? I’ve got a few theories:

1. Tweens, Especially Girls – All social networks lend themselves to a frequent echo effect and inside jokes. The bar for Mash is even higher than a post or a poke. Cliquey groups with ample free time and a love of customizing
2. Superfans - There’s no limit to the amount of time a true believer will dedicate to his or her favorite actor, show, etc. I could see the power of user generated content benefiting celebrity profiles and the like.
3. Pranksters - Sad, but true. If new users are inclined to leave their profile editable, Mash could see a rash of punk edits. Presumably there are safeguards for this, but the temptation is there and goodwill is fleeting…

As far as looks go, Mash has opted for a more Facebook like approach with its Ajax-style drag and drop interface. Unlike Facebook, you have some more control over the design of the page, though not as much as MySpace (which I would argue is a good thing, though some of my friends think Facebook is “stuffy”). Mash also features apps, which are slated to open up to 3rd party developers in the near future, a mini-feed called the Pulse, and the ability to tag other users.

A Solution To Social Network Overload – Niche Networks

Just like micro-blogging platforms (my friends hate Pownce), we’re quickly becoming awash in social networks. It’s to the point where I might have more social networks than actual friends. Constantly porting people over to the latest and greatest is an ever difficult challenge without some unique selling proposition. For LinkedIn its professional advancement while Facebook pushes a streamlined and tech-savvy interface. Personally, I’ve largely reached my limit for general social networks and I think it’s time for a more targeted approach.

As it exists now, I don’t see Mash as a Facebook or MySpace killer. I think Mash’s greatest potential is in becoming a niche social network and targeting one particular group to own with a feature set built around them. The social network race is only going to continue to heat up, so keep your eyes open.

Would you like an invite to Mash? Leave me a comment or send a link my way. I will send you one.

Yahoo! Mash Wants to Dethrone Facebook: My Review