How to send an automated email follow up when a user answers your TidalWave App.

October 31, 2012 by 3 Comments

You can customize your TidalWave App to automatically send users a followup email after they have submitted a response to your App. For example,  you may want to send your user a simple email thanking them for filling out your App or  you want to send a follow up email announcing a new contest coming up soon, this is easy to accomplish with TidalWave.  This article assumes you have already created an App with TidalWave.

  1. Navigate to TidalWave.  Open your App, by clicking the Edit App button on the toolbar or double-clicking it in the grid.
  2. Click on the App tab and check the ‘Send User an Email’ checkbox and click on the Customize button that appears.
  3. The ‘Customize your Email Template’ dialog opens.
  4. In the Subject edit control, enter the subject you want to appear in the email.
  5. In the Message edit control, enter the text you want to send in the body of the email.  This <b>Hello $user_name$!,</b> is provided as a default by TidalWave and inserts the name of the user who responded to your App. We advise that you leave this ‘as is’ as it will personalize the introduction to your email.
  6. Once you are satisfied with your message, click the OK button to close the dialog.
  7. Save and Close your application.
  8. To test your customized email, click the Preview button on the toolbar and fill out and submit the form.  Check the email associated with your Facebook account to view the email that has been sent.

Filed under Facebook

How to spread your TidalWave Apps virally using Facebook Like and Send controls

October 30, 2012 by 2 Comments

Have a cool App that you created with TidalWave and want to spread the word? Or have you answered a cool App and think a friend might be interested.  This post will show you how to add a Facebook Like and optional Send control so you and your users can easily tell and invite  friends to use your App.  Encourage friends or fans who have answered your App to do the same!  This article assumes you have already created an App with TidalWave.

  1. Navigate to TidalWave.  Open your App, by clicking the Edit App button on the toolbar or double-clicking it in the grid.
  2. On the Fields tab click the Like button, this automatically places the control on your form.  You can also ‘drag and drop’ the control anywhere on your form.  Hover over the Like button and right click, then simply drag it to position you want on your form and drop. Tip:  This is especially useful for forms that have two columns.
  3. To customize the Like and Send Control:
      • In the URL to Like edit control, put the URL of your Facebook Page  or the App URL itself. To get the App URL, click the View button, TidalWave opens a new Tab or Window with a preview of your App. Copy and paste that URL into the edit control.
      • Select the style you want to apply from the Layout Style dropdown list.
      • Select the width of your control in the Width edit control by using the up and down arrows.
      • Select the font for your control in the Font dropdown list.
      • Choose what verb you want the control to use from the Verb dropdown list.
      • Choose the color scheme for your control from the Color Scheme dropdown list.
      • Check the Send checkbox to add the Send button to your control. This allows users to send the App to their friends. This is highly recommended.
      • Check the Show Faces checkbox so that users can see the profile photo of people who have liked the App.
      • Click the Apply button once you have finished customizing your control.
  4. Save and Close your form.
  5. To test your new Like and Send controls, click the Preview button on the toolbar.  TidalWave opens a new tab or window displaying your App with your new control.
  6. Click the Like button and you will see the number increase.
  7. Click the Send button to send the App to your friends and fans. Simply type the names of the people or group you want to send the App to and add a message, then click Send.

This post may be biased towards the San Francisco Giants, 2012 World Series Champions, as TidalWave Interactive is based in San Francisco!

Filed under Facebook

How to Set a Start and End Date for your TidalWave App.

October 29, 2012 by 2 Comments

You can customize your App so that your contest or event begins and ends on a certain date and time. Your users will see a customized  page telling them when to come back and enter or sign up! This is a great way to build anticipation. This article assumes you have already created an App in TidalWave.

To Set a Start Date:

  1. Navigate to TidalWave.  Open your App, by clicking the Edit App button on the toolbar or double-clicking it in the grid.
  2. Click on the Advanced tab, check the Set Start Date checkbox and select the Customize button that appears.
  3. The Set Start Date Dialog opens.  Use the controls to select the date and time you want your contest to start.
  4. If you want to add an image that the user will see if they visit the App before it starts, click the button to the right of the Page Image (URL) edit control.  The Select an Image dialog opens.
  5. Either select an image from an existing Facebook Album or click the Upload button to add a new image. Click the OK button once you have selected or uploaded your image.
  6. In the Page Text edit control, you can add optional text to give the user more information about the upcoming contest or event.
  7. Click the OK button to save your changes.  Save and Close your App.
  8. To Preview the App, click the Preview button on the toolbar.  If you have set your contest to start in the future, TidalWave will open a new tab or window showing you the page that your users will see before the contest begins. Once the time and date of your contest arrives, your users will automatically proceed to your form.

To Set an End Date:

  1. Click on the Advanced tab, check the Set End Date checkbox and select the Customize button that appears.
  2. Simply follow steps 2-8 above.

Filed under Facebook

How to increase Facebook Likes using a Fan Gate on your TidalWave Apps.

October 26, 2012 by 1 Comment

Adding a Fan Gate to your App is a great way to increase the visibility of your Facebook Posts and grow your fanbase. This article assumes that you have already created an App in TidalWave.

  1. Navigate to TidalWave. Open your App, by clicking the Edit App button on the toolbar or double-clicking it in the grid.
  2. Click on the App Tab, check the Fan Gate checkbox and click on the Customize button that appears.
  3. The Configure Fan Gating Dialog opens.  Here, you can configure content that non-fans will see before they hit the Like button.
  4. TidalWave provides a default Fan Gate image for you to use, this is the URL that appears in the Fan Gate Image Page edit control. It looks like this:
  5. If you want to  use your own image, click on the button to the right of the edit control  .  You can either select an existing image from your TidalWave Image folder or upload a brand new image.
    • To select an existing image, simply select an image from the folder and click the OK button.
    • To upload a new image, click the Upload Image button on the toolbar, then select the image you want to upload from a folder on your computer and click the open button.  Select the newly added image  and click the OK button.
  6. Next, you have the option to add text above the image to clarify what you want your new fans to do. Enter the text in the Fan Gate Page Text edit control.
  7. Once you have finished configuring your Fan Gate, click the OK button and then Save and Close your App.
  8. To see your Fan Gate in action, you will want to publish your app to your Facebook Page. Simply, click Yes on the  Publish App dialog that appears. Alternatively, you can click the Publish button on the right hand side of the toolbar.
  9. TidalWave will spawn a new browser window that enables you to select the Facebook Page on which you want your App to appear.  Select the page from the dropdown list (if you administer more than one page) and click the Add button.
  10. Your App now appears as a Tab in the upper right hand corner of your page and TidalWave opens a preview of the app.  If you have already Liked your page, you will have to Unlike it to see the Fan Gate (see the tipbelow!) Fans who have already Liked your Page will simply bypass this screen.

Tip:  To Unlike a page click the Gear Icon  next to the Like button on your Facebook Page, then select Unlike from the drop down list.

Filed under Facebook

How to promote your Photo Upload Contest so your users can enter on a mobile device.

October 24, 2012 by Leave a comment

In order for your followers to see your App on their mobile device, you have to post the mobile URL to your Facebook Page.

Grant, let me know if this helps.

  1. Navigate to TidalWave. On the Apps Tab, right mouse click on the App that you would like to promote, and hit the “Promote” menu item.
  2. In the subsequent New Promotion Dialog, select the radio button entitled ‘Post using Facebook “Share this Link”‘. Also, select the checkbox entitled ‘Promote using a Mobile Link’
  3. TidalWave will spawn a new browser window that enables you to Post to your Facebook Page’s Timeline. On this page, pick the page on which to display your post, type in a message, and hit the “Share this Link” button.
  4. Next, navigate to your page on a mobile browser.
  5. Click on the mobile link.  You will want to make your App as simple as possible for mobile consumption. When the end user fills out the form you’re already getting their first name, last name, and email so you probably don’t want to ask for these items again. Most likely, you will want to limit this to the Photo Upload control. You will also want to use the Single Pane Layout.

Filed under Facebook, Mobile

How can I update my Tab App Icon on Facebook to something else?

October 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

To update your Tab App Icon

  1. Go to the Facebook Page that you’ve installed the TidalWave Facebook Application on.
  2. If you have multiple tab applications on your Facebook Page. You will need to click the the button with the downward pointing arrow. The button is highlighted in the next screenshot.
  3. Mouse over your TidalWave Tab App on your Facebook page.
  4. Select the pencil icon in the upper right hand corner of your Tab App.
  5. Select Edit Settings from the drop-down menu.
  6. The Edit Settings Dialog opens. Click the Change hyperlink.
  7. Facebook opens a new browser window or tab, select the Change hyperlink on this page
  8. The Upload a Page Tab Image dialog opens.Select the Choose File button and pick the image you would like to use to represent your Application.
  9. Close the tab or window and go back to your original tab or browser and click “Okay” on the Edit Setting dialog.
  10. The new Tab Image for your TidalWave App should appear.

Filed under Facebook

How to further customize your Photo Upload Contest on Facebook using TidalWave

October 24, 2012 by Leave a comment

Let’s say you want to make the following customizations to your Photo Upload Contest on Facebook using TidalWave.

1. Display the photos that your users uploaded in the Photo Upload Contest on your Facebook Page’s Timeline.

    • Right now, TidalWave doesn’t have an automatic feature that posts the uploaded photos to your Facebook Page’s Timeline, but what you can do is navigate to the Reports Tab of TidalWave.
    • Double click on the response that you want to use. When the Response Dialog displays, click on the View url highlighted in red.
    • A new browser window will pop with the image.
    • Highlight the url that begins with https://app.tidalwaveapp.com. Copy it and paste it onto your Facebook Walls’ Page’s Update Status. Hit the Facebook Post button.
    • Alternatively, you can download the file from TidalWave and upload it to Facebook.

2. Hide the portion of the Results Page that says “If you would like to participate again, please click on the link below.“

You have two options here.

Your first option is:

  • You can show a completely different results page by clicking on the “Advanced” Tab of the App Editor. Then selecting the “Customize Results Page” checkbox and hitting the “Customize” button.
  • You will then see the “Customize Results Page” dialog. You will have the opportunity to put in some custom text for the H1 and a custom image, but you will lose the virality functionality.
  • So when your end user submits the Photo Upload Contest, they will see your custom image and text, and nothing more.

This next option will be available in the next release. This option is to override the CSS that is used to display the results page.

  • To do this, you’d make sure the “Customize Results Page” on the “Advanced” tab of the App Editor is deselected. Next, you’d go to the “App” tab of the App Editor, select the checkbox “Custom Page Layout”, and hit the “Customize” button.
  • On the subsequent “Custom Page Layout” Dialog, you’d select the “Custom Style (CSS) Tab”>
  • In the CSS Editor, you’d put in the following CSS code: .tw-css h1 {visibilty:hidden;}
  • Click the “OK” button on the “Custom Page Layout” Dialog.  Hit the “View” button on your App Editor. Make sure your popup blocker is turned off.  Now, navigate to your app, submit the App, and the H1 is gone.

Filed under Apps, Contests, Facebook

How to build a Photo Upload Contest on Facebook using TidalWave

October 22, 2012 by 1 Comment

For this tutorial, I’m going to assume you:

1. Have already created an account at TidalWave, http://www.tidalwaveapp.com.

2. Logged into TidalWave.

3. Are staring at the Apps tab of TidalWave.

If you’ve met these assumptions, then this tutorial should take you a couple of minutes.

1. Click on the “Create New App” button.

2. In the Application Wizard, click on the “Contest” item.

3. Enter the Name and Description of your Contest. Pick a Layout. Pick a Color Scheme.

4. In the App Editor for the Contest, click on the “Img Upload” control from the Fields Palette.

5. Drag the “Img Upload” Control onto the Form Builder

6. On the toolbar of the App Editor, hit the “View” Button. This will save the application, and launch your new Photo Upload Contest in a new window. You may have to turn off your popup blocker. The other option is to hit the “Save and Close” Button on the toolbar of the App Editor, and then hit the “View” button on the App toolbar. You will see your new app in the browser.

7. Fill out the First Name, Last Name, Email, and hit the + Button. You will be prompted with the “Select an Image Upload”

8. Hit the “Choose File” button to specify an image to upload. Your Image will draw in the Image Upload Box.

9. Submit the Form, and navigate back to the Reports Tab in Tidalwave.

10. Double click on the Response to open up the Response Dialog.

11. Click on the “View” Value to see the Image.

12. If you want to see all of the Images  that have been submitted at once without having to click on each response. Go back to the Apps tab. Right mouse click on any App that you’ve built. Select “Process Portal” from the context menu.

12. The TidalWave Process Portal will open in a new window. Click on the “Content” button at the top of the TidalWave Process Portal.

13. In the Content Management view, you will see all of the uploaded images in the Public Folder with Owner being the person who submitted it.

You can do the same thing with the File Upload control to have your users upload a document, spreadsheet, etc… You can then view all of the responses in the TidalWave Process Portal.

Filed under Apps, Contests, Facebook

How 4Sixty6 uses their Facebook Page to Drive Business to their Club

October 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

4Sixty6 first started using TidalWave at the beginning of April 2012. In the subsequent 6 months, 4Sixty6 has amassed 2400 responses and 1400 users.  4Sixty6 could put a Fan Gate in front of their Facebook App to use these promotions/apps to get more Likes. The issue is what does the Facebook Like really get you? What 4Sixty6 cares about it is getting their customer’s actual contact information, building their profile, and doing business.

Club 4Sixty6 has built a number of different Facebook Apps using TidalWave that currently reside on their Facebook Page, http://www.facebook.com/4Sixty6 , and web site, http://www.4sixty6.com. The majority of this discussion will be focused on the Facebook Page, but all of these promotions also reside on the http://www.4sixty6.com web site.

The most popular of these promotions are Guest List and Bottle Service. These promotions are permanent. They do not have a lifecycle. They run permanently on Club 4Sixty6’s Facebook Fan Page.

Here is Club 4Sixty6’s Fan Page.

These promotions have been built by the page administrator of Club 4Sixty6 using TidalWave. These promotions are styled to fit into the look and feel of the rest of his Facebook Fan Page and Web Site.

The Guest List application is designed to request information from the user that enables 4Sixty6 to

  1. Know who the person is according to Facebook.
  2. Prompt the user for their contact information.
  3. Prompt the user to enter the contact information of someone else.
  4. Specify which night of the week they would like to be on the Guest List.
  5. Acquire feedback about the user’s experience at the club.

Most of the information entered into forms on the Internet is not reliable. Through the use of Tidalwave and Facebook, TidalWave is enabling 4Sixty6 to obtain reliable information on their clients and provide 4Sixty with an excellent idea of who is attending their club.

https://www.facebook.com/4Sixty6/app_202545366449811

After the end user fills out the form to be on the Guest List, they will then be prompted to give TidalWave access to the Facebook information that Club 4Sixty6 has configured, e.g. users_birthday. For a club, this is especially nice to have in the event of a fake ID. Only upon the end user granting this permission to TidalWave via Facebook will the end user be on the Guest List.

After submitting the form, the end user is presented with the opportunity to spread the Guest List virally making use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus.

Club 4Sixty6 also has the Guest List and Bottle Service promotions configured to use OpenGraph to post to the user’s wall.

Club 4Sixty6 also has their Guest List Promotion configured to send a confirmation email to the user. This email can be brought by the user when they attend the club.

If 4Sixty6 is willing to pay more, the TidalWave branding can be removed and replaced by 4Sixty6’s. Club 4Sixty6 also has the promotion configured to send an email each time a new user signs up so they can see by scanning their emails who is attending.

Club 4Sixty6 also runs their Bottle Service on both their Facebook Page and Web Site.

The Bottle Service Promotion handles requests for large parties requiring Bottle Service on a particular night. The Bottle Service promotion is styled in a similar fashion to the Guest List promotion.

https://apps.facebook.com/TidalWave/web_form.html?bf_context_id=93&bf_process_design_id=689&campaign_id=235&application_id=540

The Bottle Service promotion collects similar information to the Guest List promotion. The Bottle Service promotion asks for the number of people in your party. The Bottle Service promotion is also configured to fire an email to the email address of the person who handles bottle service so they can call the bottle service requestor to confirm their order.

When users fill out these different Facebook Apps, these responses are then displayed in TidalWave. TidalWave runs on any desktop, tablet or mobile device. Club 4Sixty6 chooses to run TidalWave on an IPad at the front door of their club. When users come in with their confirmation email stating that they’re on the Guest List or have purchased Bottle Service, Club 4Sixty6 is able look up their entry in TidalWave quickly.

In the screen shot below, you can see that Fernanda has signed up twice for the Guest List this upcoming weekend.

By opening up one of her responses we are able to see which night she’d like to attend. For the first response, we can see that Fernanda wants to be on the Saturday Night Guest List and enjoys house music. We’ve acquired her profile picture from Facebook, her email from Facebook, an email that she’s entered that matches her Facebook email, her Birthday from Facebook, and her cell phone that she’s entered. We’re now able to re-market to Fernanda via Facebook, email, and SMS.

By clicking on the Next Button, we’re able to see the other entry that she submitted.  It looks like Fernanda likes to party and she has booked herself on the Friday night Guest List, as well.

This makes me curious about Fernanda’s prior behavior, so let’s take a look at her fan profile. When we click on her fan profile, we realize that Fernanda has filled out the Guest List 13 times. In Fernanda’s case, she’s only signed herself up, but in other scenarios, friends will add their friend’s to the guest list.

If we click on the Fernanda Almeida link at the top of the dialog, we’re taken to her profile page.

The Bottle Service promotion works in the same exact manner.  In fact, we’re able to filter on the active promotions to see the Bottle Service.

In this particular scenario, Donny is bringing his fiancé to Club 4Sixty6 for her birthday, and he’s requesting a table for 10.

The data acquired from the Promotions that run on Club 4Sixty6’s Facebook Page and Web Site are put into TidalWave enabling TidalWave to build Fan Profiles of their customers.

4Sixty6 is also able to promote to this client base through the use of Facebook, Twitter, and export the data to csv to actively drive additional traffic through the use of email and SMS campaigns.

Examples of these campaigns are

A. Email  campaigns

B. SMS campaigns

C. Facebook – Ads and Wall Posts.

D. Twitter Posts

By having customers fill out their Facebook Promotions, Club 4Sixty6 is able to

  1. Build Fan Profiles of their customers.
  2. Do Actual Business – Guest List and Bottle Service
  3. Generate leads to enable Club 4Sixty6 to ensure that the club is full every night.
  4. Create creative promotions quickly to engage their audience to continue to learn more about their customers.
  5. Promote to their existing customers.

Filed under Night Clubs

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