Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 about Facebook on Tuesday 15th March

What should brands do when their reputations are taking a beating in front of millions of eyes on the world's largest social network?

If they're smart, they won't go the way of Nestle, which chose sarcasm and silence on its Facebook Wall in confronting an attack from Greenpeace earlier this year.

Instead, brands will follow the lead of companies like Capri Sun, which responded to a major customer complaint by regularly sharing the facts and then truly listening to their fans, ultimately averting a crisis.

From discussions on striking the right tone, moderating fan comments, and planning content, our panelists will share stories and best practices that demonstrate how brand marketers can answer and engage their Facebook critics.

LEVEL: Intermediate

With the growing prevalence of Twitter and Facebook, social contests are a dime a dozen. Nearly every day another wave of "Tweet this to win" memes clog up my stream. So do these tactics really work? Or are they just easy-to-execute, lazy marketing methods? Join this session for a look at which social contests work best at building brand fans & which ones land in the lazy marketing hall of lame. Count on real-life examples, privacy & legal stuff, & my opinionated suggestions--steeped in experience--on which contests work best to win friends & influence people. Oh and I’ll probably give some stuff away, just to stick with the theme.

LEVEL: Intermediate

If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. 2008-2010 showed us that Social Media is huge and here to stay.

What 2011-2013 will show us is that the value developed and shared within social media efficiently influences our purchase decisions [social commerce]. We will no longer search for products and services, rather they will find us via social media. This new world is one in which consumers win and companies that produce great products of value excel.

Join social media specialists Brian Solis (Author of Engage) and Erik Qualman (Author of Socialnomics) as they discuss:

+ Current Social Commerce Trends & Technology

+ Case Studies: The good, the bad, the ugly

+ Review how can companies capitalize today and 2-3 years from now

Notes: Per SXSW request of having more duo presentations this year, we feel this is a dynamic duo (well rated past SXSW speakers) discussing a new and very important technical topic.

LEVEL: Advanced

It’s likely that your consumers check Facebook, Twitter, newspapers and other online sources every week, if not every day. But how many times a week are they coming to your website? Today’s brand sites do a great job of communicating a message, but what most sites lack is fresh content that keeps visitors coming back. Major brands can take a lesson from blogging sites that do an excellent job of keeping content fresh by creating stories around their products, adding video, and integrating social networks like Twitter and Facebook. This session will examine the smaller brand sites that are already starting to structure their sites more like blogs, and the audience will walk away with actionable ideas for turning their big-brand site into a place where people want to keep coming back to. The session will also explore how to carefully add on-brand community features to your site in order to your consumers a place to interact with one another and with the brand.

LEVEL: Intermediate