Facebook Upsets Users by Deleting Discussions

Recently, page admins started seeing messages that Facebook will be deleting the discussion board app at the end of this month. Despite the fact that many Facebook pages have active discussions with tons of valuable information, Facebook stated that wall posts and comments are a better way to engage users, and all the discussions will be deleted! 

“We're Making Pages Better 

We want to make sure the tools you use to manage your page are as effective as possible. Here's an update that may affect how you connect with your audience:

· Improvements to Insights: You'll now see a new public metric called People Talking About This underneath your fan count to show the number of people on Facebook who have engaged with your page in the last 7 days. Learn more in your Page Insights. 

· Discussions: The best way to encourage conversation and feedback is through posts and comments on your Wall. To focus on this, we'll be removing the Discussions app on October 31st. Learn More”

I visited several gluten-free Facebook pages to see how they use discussions. While popular pages like Gluten Freely have many discussions, the most recent post was about one month ago. However, it used to be a very active discussion board, and there are some great resources.  

On the Food Network Facebook page, there are over 1,200 topics in their discussion board and posts are made daily. There are many comments from fans upset about Facebook deleting the discussion board and wondering how they can continue. Some suggested Google Plus or creating a Facebook group. One user created a blog in an attempt to continue the Food Network discussions. Perhaps some will decide to move them to LinkedIn or Ning.  What do you think of Facebook deleting discussions, and how will you preserve them before they vanish?

6 Easy Tips to Improve Your Social Media Marketing

Gail Goodman, the CEO of Constant Contact, shared great social media marketing tips in a recent article on Entrepreneur. In Six Quick-Hit Marketing Ideas for Social Media, Goodman shows how easy it is to “spice up your year-long marketing campaign without investing a lot of time and resources.” From discussing current events to thanking customers, these simple tasks can have a big impact.   

“You don't always have to ask customers for their business. Sometimes, you'll want to give back. You can do so by providing knowledge and insights in the form of how-to guides, white papers, service giveaways or some other limited-edition offer.” 

Are you looking for examples from gluten-free companies of how to give back to your customers? Jules Speaks Gluten Free is an excellent example of incorporating how-to guides in blog posts. Visit Marion’s Smart Delights for a terrific white paper. How do you give back to your customers?

Discover Google Fast Flip

One of the coolest ways to find news to share on social networks is by using Google Fast Flip. Simply enter a search term, and you will be instantly flipping through as many as 30 articles on one page.

"Google Fast Flip is a web application that lets users discover and share news articles. It combines qualities of print and the Web, with the ability to 'flip' through pages online as quickly as flipping through a magazine. It also enables users to follow friends and topics, discover new content and create their own custom magazines around searches."

Not all news appears in Google Fast Flip, so it is still important to create Google Alerts. For gluten free, only 10 results appeared from the last month, but for other topics, like cooking or social media, there were numerous results.

You can also browse news in four tabs: popular, recent, controversial, and headlines. My favorite is browsing the controversial health articles, where I found an interesting article called "In defense of naps."

Stonyfield Video: Just Eat Organic

Watch this fantastic video with Stonyfield CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg. Near the end of the video, there are products from other brands, including Applegate Farms, Amy's, and Annie's. 

Gluten-Free Hot Pockets

Today, Glutenfreeda tweeted a photo of their newest product, which looks like a Hot Pocket! The product line is called Pizza Wraps, and they will be revealing it at Expo West in March. This photo shows the new Italian Sausage Pizza Wrap. I can't wait to try it! 

Funny Celiac Video with Melinda Dennis

Melinda Dennis and One World Video made this funny viral video about celiac disease. The seven minute video is a little long, but it is a great and humorous conversation about celiac disease. Melinda Dennis and Daniel Leffler wrote Real Life with Celiac Disease.

Are Blog Giveaways a Good Strategy for All Companies?

Positive blog reviews are great cheap marketing for companies. The only cost involved is the shipping of free products. Of course, a negative blog review on a popular blog can be problematic. Often, bloggers will also do giveaways, but are they a good strategy for your company?

If your company is considering a blog giveaway, ask one very important question. Can most of the blog readers buy our products in stores? If the answer is yes, then do the giveaway. However, if your product can only be ordered online and there are shipping charges, it may not be your best option. It could be better to offer the blog readers a coupon code for ordering online.

As a company, you want potential customers to read a review and then immediately click to buy your products. When you do a giveaway, people will enter the giveaway instead of buying immediately. Will the interested people who don’t win the giveaway remember to come back and order your products later, especially after thinking more about the shipping costs? Probably not.

You may be missing out on selling to your target audience, the blog subscribers. However, in the future, new readers will find the review through search engines and social networking sites. They may be impressed by the number of comments on the review, so it may still result in sales. What do you think?

How much is your label and packaging worth?

Each week, Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru, reviews five new products, which often include gluten-free ones. This week he had some praise as well as harsh words for Shabtai Gourmet in his review of their Swiss Chocolate Roll.

"Forget about this ugly package – the cake itself has a terrific chocolate coating and the inside is great, although a mite dry."

"Change the package, change the label and this could become one of the best selling gluten free products on the market."

We all know not to judge a book by its cover, but that statement doesn't apply to grocery store consumers!

Watch the entire video. It really is a must-see with unique comments to kick off the new year. It starts with the lowest scoring product ever. The last product, Crofter's South America Superfruit Spread, received a near perfect score and Phil wants the bear on the package to have a name.