Archive for Facebook

Nov
14

Maximizing Facebook Ads Strategy

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7 Reasons Your Facebook Ads Do Not Convert by Marie Page on Social Media Examiner.

Are your Facebook ad campaigns underperforming? Wondering how to diagnose the problem?

In this article, you’ll discover seven common factors that impede Facebook ad performance and find troubleshooting tips for fixing them.

Read more: 7 Reasons Your Facebook Ads Do Not Convert via Social Media Examiner

There are two words that can either inspire intense feelings of excitement or fear in the hearts of advertisers – and those words are “Holiday Advertising”. Or, if you fancy hashtags, #CrazyCompetition

Imagine every marketer trying to use Facebook Ads in every shape and form for Black Friday and holiday sales… because that’s what happens, and you know it.

We also know that when the holidays roll around, big brands spend a lot and the cost of Facebook Ads goes up for everyone (Merry Xmas!).

Read more: 10 Facebook Ads Strategies To Maximize Your Holiday Advertising via Ad Espresso

7-Step Facebook Marketing Strategy to Dominate 2018

Let’s be honest here–Facebook isn’t slowing down. There are more than 1.86 billion monthly active users on Facebook, which includes a 17% spike in two years. For your business, brand or enterprise company, this channel is unavoidable if you’re truly trying to create a worthwhile play in social media marketing.

Your Facebook marketing strategy has to be unique. There’s an ocean of potential customers you can reach on Facebook. But with a larger pool, it’s harder to dissect and find your spot within its space.

That’s why we created this Facebook marketing strategy for 2018, which includes seven essential steps to not only get started, but also create an impressive plan. Get started now.

Read more: 7-Step Facebook Marketing Strategy to Dominate 2018 via Sprout Social

Categories : Articles, Facebook
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This is my tasty story about Facebook Messenger Saved Pumpkin Scone.  Makes me doubly glad I know how to use Facebook. 🙂

I was sitting in the living room playing solitaire on my iPad and up popped an ad for pumpkin scones.  I am a sucker for pumpkin, it’s my favorite pie and I make it every Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Occasionally a pumpkin loaf or cheesecake in between.  It’s Thanksgiving here in Canada so there are lots of pumpkins around!

Are you surprised?  I clicked on the pumpkin scone ad!

It was for COBS Bakery, a voucher for a loaf of bread of your choice when you purchase 6 pumpkin scones.

Since I had to go out anyway on this rainy blustery day, I thought “Why Not?”, and printed the voucher.

Much to my surprise, when I presented my voucher I was informed that it did not include any sweet bread or bread with cheese.

Dumbfounded I pointed out the phrase “a loaf of bread of your choice”.  That didn’t work either, so I left and indicated I would take my complaint to Facebook.  The voucher I attempted to redeem had been posted on Facebook, so I figured I would go back to the source.

Once I arrived home I went to the Cobs Bread national Facebook Page and created a post.  There were others who had experienced the same challenge posting on the page.  So I added my complaint to the list.

You can see the whole post here.

How very disappointing, I made a special trip in the pouring rain to COBS Bread to pick this up AND even though the voucher I had printed out list absolutely no restrictions I was too was denied the “complimentary loaf of my choice”. Personally, I would question this marketing tactic. Please do one of 3 things, 1) better inform the staff 2) note on the voucher “restrictions apply” 3) stop offering vouchers that don’t work as stated.

Much to my pleasant surprise, the owner of the store responded within 30 minutes, via Facebook Messenger.

Yes, it was a miscommunication between her and her staff. She would speak with her staff and make sure I could go back and redeem the voucher as stated.

I mentioned I would go back that afternoon and she was able to respond to me that they were sold out of the type of bread I wanted.  Could I come back tomorrow or another day?

She indicated she would set aside exactly what I wanted so that when I arrived it would be ready.

I went back the next day at 5:00 PM and as promised my pumpkin scones and the complimentary loaf of my choice was waiting for me!  As you can see by this picture I ate one of the pumpkin scones right away and it was delicious!

Facebook Messenger saves Pumpkin Scones

Much to my surprise they also gave me a free gift to thank me for coming back. It was delicious too!!

Facebook Messenger and Pumpkin Scones Equal Free Gift!

If it wasn’t for Facebook Messenger I would no longer be a happy COBS Bread customer. My thanks go out to the owner of that specific COBS Bread location, she is one of the few business owners who respond to her Facebook Page right away!

Do you use Facebook Messenger in your business?  Here’s a tool that will enable you to really take Facebook Messenger to a whole new level.  It’s called InBoxr and it allows you to auto-engage with your Facebook fans 24/7 so that you never miss an opportunity like my Pumpkin Scones.

Categories : Facebook
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You saw a great new pair of shoes, you clicked on them to check out the details, they weren’t exactly what you were looking for so you moved on.  However, for days after that everywhere you went online you saw that same pair of shoes.  It’s not malware or even spyware and “they” can’t see everything you are doing! There is no malicious intent, they are not tracking you as an individual just the product you visited. It really is a “love/hate the way ads follow you” relationship.

But, now you’ve got to thinking, could I use that in my business or is it really complicated? You had been retargeted and that process starts with a pixel. If you have the right pieces in play (Facebook Page, website, etc) it is actually quite simple.

A pixel is what drops a cookie which is what enables retargeting.

A pixel is just a piece of code that is put on a webpage. You don’t have to know what it means or how it works, you only need to know how to copy and paste.

In Facebook’s own words, this code “is an analytics tool that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your advertising by understanding the actions people take on your website.

As the World Wide Web becomes more and more competitive it is important that you are spending your marketing and advertising dollars in a way that brings you a return on investment.  The only way to know that is if you are tracking. You may be like I used to be, mention the word tracking and your eyes roll back in your head. However, it is very important to know that you are getting bang for your buck.

Tracking, where to start

When I first started tracking anything it was simply by using bitly.com.  It worked well for me because now I knew which of my blog posts was the most popular. However, that lead to me writing more blog posts on the popular topics rather than investing my time and effort on posts no one wanted to read. And that was definitely a good thing!

From there I moved to a call to action link.  You probably have seen it ClickHereNow.co. This one was definitely a bit more techie to set up. It meant I was tracking two things, not just one.

  1. Direct readers to actually click
  2. Track the number of people who actually clicked

However, I still didn’t know where my sales came from.  That was when I moved up to the Facebook Pixel.  Back then it was not as user-friendly as it is now, Facebook has done a lot of work!

The beauty of using the pixel code is that it enables you to

  • Drive a small amount of regular traffic
  • Fine tune that traffic USING that info (from your visitors)
  • Market directly to those people you know are interested

Besides those listed above there are lots of different ways to use the pixel code but I discovered one that is pretty sweet, I’m experimenting with it right now.  But more on that in the follow-up blog post.

Set up Your Tracking Pixel in Facebook

Here are the directions from Facebook to set up your pixel;

Create a pixel in Business Manager
  1. Go to the Business Manager Settings tab in the Ads Manager. 
  2. Click Pixels under People and Assets.
  3. Click Create a Facebook Pixel.
  4. Type in a name for your pixel.
  5. Check the box to agree to the Facebook Pixel Terms.
  6. Click Next.
  7. To start installing your pixel on your website, click Set Up Now.

Next question is what are we going to do with the pixel now that it’s created?

Categories : Facebook
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Jun
30

How to Curate Quality Content For Facebook Page

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Are you challenged with finding quality content for Facebook page?  First lets figure out just exactly how much content you will need to find, create and or curate.  Then I’ll show you my tips and tricks. 🙂

Woman with post-it notes all over her

How often should you post content for Facebook page?

Statistics have shown us over and over again that no matter the size of your page content needs to be posted on a consistent basis.  The size of your page is important but if your under 10,000 aim for one post per day.  Afternoons are usually best but again it depends upon the location of your audience.  If you have fans from many different time zones, post at different times for a while then check your stats and uncover when you receive the most activity on your page.

How to discover content for your page

So now we know we need to aim for one per day where on earth do we find all that content.

One of the first places I look is to the experts in my niche.  For that I start with Google.  I go to Google and type in experts in “my niche” and see what comes up, in this example I searched for experts in dog health. Don’t just limit yourself to what is on page one of your search, take a peek further down, even page 5 through 10 will likely provide a great resource.

 

Depending on your niche another great source is magazines.  Take a look at what comes up when I look for “home decor magazines”.  There are 1,000’s of magazines in just about every niche you can imagine, look for your! 🙂

Once I find a dozen or so of sites that I like I go to a website called SimilarSites and see what they can find for me.  Often I have found some real gems using this strategy. Do your best to find another dozen sites.

Evaluate the sites you have found

This step is critical!  We all want quality content on our Facebook pages.  Content that keeps people coming back again and again.  Four of the criteria I use to select content from other sites;

  1. Information is generic to my audience
  2. Site is free from excessive ads
  3. Quality content is posted on a regular basis
  4. Has good quality pictures

You will need to read all the different posts in order to make that informed decision; Will this work on my page? Create a list of criteria you can follow, this will ensure the consistent quality of your content.  Keep a running list of links to great articles you believe your audience will appreciate. Personally I have both Word docs and text files full of potential content.

Now that you have a list of content you want to post on your Facebook page it’s time to schedule them.  I recommend posting one full week at a time, 7 posts.

Time to Post all that Content for Facebook Page

  • Pull up your document full of great links
  • Go to your Facebook Page
  • Copy paste the URL into a regular Facebook post box, let the link auto populate.

  • Once the link has populated, you can tell it is populated when the picture and title appear, then delete the link.  The information will stay and you can add your own comment, question or observation.

Use Keywords as Hashtags

Within Facebook keywords are known as interests.  Be sure to add the appropriate hastags to your posts.

  1. Your Facebook Insights on your Page
  2. Audience Insights in the Facebook Ads area
  3. Suggested Keywords (in Detailed Targeting)

Click the down arrow at the bottom of the post window in order to schedule your post.

Repeat the process until you have your week’s worth of posts scheduled.

Occasionally you will find posts that you really want to share, but they don’t have a picture or graphic.  In these cases you find a graphic, free or from one of the many sites where you can purchase great graphics.  Next is to create the new post.

  1. Add your graphic
  2. Add the link to the content, let it populate
  3. Remove the link
  4. Add your comments to the post

You may want to check out my previous post-Startling Benefits of Facebook Page Quality Content Curation

If you have a blog you can take 2 or 3 of the links you have shared on Facebook and add them into one blog post. It’s a great way to leverage all the work you have done on your Facebook page.

Need help getting all this done, we’re here to help with a 50% off Special content for Facebook Page.

 

 

 

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Content is the currency of social media and the entire web. It’s one of the major reasons people go to the web; to look things up!  Quality content curation can be a lifesaver when you do not have a ton of your own content.

Content curation is the little-known shortcut that lets you catch up and maybe even pass your competition. You can also position yourself as an expert.

So what exactly is content curation?  The process of gathering articles, blog posts, research, information, etc relevant to a particular topic or area of interest.

Easy To Do

Owl Pointing to content creation is easyFind content you believe would be of value to your readers and share it.  Most websites today make it very easy to share their content, it can be as easy as clicking a share button on their website. The challenging piece here is you have to know your subject well in order to weed out the fluff.  If you are knowledgeable in keyword research it can be even easier as you would know the specific phrases and subjects to search.

Once you find these great posts, articles, stories, etc add your thoughts, insight, this is where your value comes into play. This is the secret sauce, where you can make a difference because to your audience your opinion counts. When you add an article to Facebook it can be as simple as asking a question.  EXAMPLE: I recently added an SEO post, I identified one task I wish I had implemented when I first started and one task I was not doing but because it was such a good idea I was going to implement immediately.

Content Curation Engages Your Audience

Using many sources computer, pencil to engage audience

Everyone who comes to any of your online content, be it a blog or any social media profile may not ready to buy from you immediately.  It is in our best interest as business owners to nurture relationships.  This means we have to provide valuable content that keeps them coming back again and again.  I don’t know about you but creating my own content takes time and I have other tasks that prevent me from writing a post every day.

This is one of the main reasons I love content curation is that I can provide information I know my audience is interested in, can use and implement in their business.

Be sure to curate content from a variety of different sources, introduce new sources of information.  If you only share from 3 or 4 sources every week your audience will likely lose interest.  Quality content curation allows you to be that trusted source, by doing the “legwork” for your audience.

Quality Content Curation Establishes Authority

Your email list becomes more powerful when your connections know you provide valuable content.   The ability to give the content away on a continuous basis is key.

When you discover the little known or up and coming experts in your niche, share their insights and perspectives you are providing your audience with a broad panorama of what is available.

You wade through the quagmire of rehashed content to find powerful tidbits to bring back to your followers. Filter out the noise and link to valuable content your audience can use instead of rewriting the same old tired information.  When you curate content with integrity and honesty – you become that trustworthy resource.

Saves Time

Hand inserting clock into piggy bankLike everything else in life when we learn how to do something new it initially takes more time. Quality content curation is the same.  You will definitely save time for your audience right from the start.  They will not have to plow through everything as you have already done it for them.  As you are learning and setting up your “trusted sources” you want to make sure that you save them in a safe place.

It’s frustrating when you know you discovered this great blog that had great content and now you can’t find it.  Initially, I just kept a list in a Word doc.  Then I upgraded to a special bookmark folder.  Both of these methods worked well for a while but they didn’t save me a lot of time.  If you decide quality content curation is for you, you may want to invest in a content curation program, there are tons out there, personally, I use Kudani.

Identify Valuable Resources

This can be the most interesting part for you!  Here is where you will definitely “wade through the quagmire” because that is what it will take to find abstractly woman using binoculars to find resourcesrelevant content.  When you post/share the “same old – same old” on a consistent basis you will become stale to your audience.  As you read blog posts in your niche be sure to click on the links embedded in the posts on a regular basis just to see where they take you.  In my experience, this is one of the great methods to find the abstractly relevant content.

EXAMPLE: During the research for another blog post I discovered a list of the up and coming social media experts.  From that list I took a look at a number of them, starting at the bottom and only names I didn’t recognize.  The links to the experts were for their Twitter feeds, I scrolled through a number of feeds. It was awesome to be going down the rabbit hole with purpose. 🙂  As a result, I discovered a new blog with content that is definitely worth sharing.  Why Inconsistent Messaging Is Undermining Customer Experience

The other method I use to find the abstractly relevant is all of the sources I check to create each and every one of my blog posts.  I keep a list of everything I looked at and read. When required I can then go back and review when I need something that is relevant to that specific topic.  All of this valuable information is saved in a folder called “Blog Post Outlines”.

Content curation can be easily implemented check out my previous blog post Content Curation Made Easy, Look Like The Expert

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Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn: An Unofficial, Step-by-Step Guide to Creating & Implementing Your LinkedIn Brand – Social Networking in a Web 2.0 World (Paperback)

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