Facebook Marketing Archives

How to Look at Post Details on Facebook [VIDEO]

January 17, 2014/by Corey Padveen

Your post details on Facebook can give you some tremendous insights into the success of your Facebook marketing.

When it comes to marketing on Facebook, the network has come a long way. That’s not surprising, considering it is now a public company and needs to provide value to the businesses that use it.

That said, Facebook is constantly going through changes – some more drastic than others – and it is not always easy to keep up.

One of the great features that Facebook provides for marketers is the ability to look at post details on Facebook to see exactly what your audience is doing when they come across and engage with your content.

Superficially, it’s a simple feature. But when you tie it into some of the great data that Facebook Insights provides, it can be extremely valuable.

Have a look at the video below and see for yourself why the ability to look at your post details on Facebook can be a great asset when marketing your brand on the world’s largest social network.

Why Your Facebook Posts Organic Reach is Down

December 19, 2013/by Corey Padveen

A lot of brands have noticed that their Facebook posts organic reach is down and many are asking why.

More and more, brands are noticing that their Facebook posts organic reach is down, and continuing to drop. This is not the first time companies have noticed a dip in reach and engagement, but there is something unique about this change: Facebook is acknowledging it.

Yes, it’s true. The reach of your page posts is not going to be quite as far without some financial stimulation. After all, Facebook is a business with a valuation roughly ten times its revenue, and they are going to have to find a way to even that out. So what is their answer? Make brands pay for their marketing efforts.

What is happening?

About a year ago, Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm underwent some changes and brands started to see a decrease in reach. According to Facebook, this was their way of providing people with the best possible experience and removing spam from individuals’ news feeds. This time around, Facebook is being much more blunt about what they are doing.

It is no secret that brands use Facebook for marketing efforts. Sure, the approach on the network is a much softer sell than say, on their website. But still, Facebook is a marketing and advertising medium, and the social network realizes that. So, another recent overhaul of the Facebook algorithm has resulted in this: brands have to pay to play.

The paradise of ‘free’ (and I use that word very lightly) marketing is over. With over a billion users, Facebook is no longer letting brands access these pools of potential customers without paying for permission. In a recent publication by Facebook, it was revealed that brands are going to need to consider investing in the network in order to reach fans in their news feeds.

Why are brands upset?

This is pretty clear. Brands have spent a tremendous amount of time and resources building loyal fanbases. Now, Facebook is telling them that that they are going to have to pay to reach that audience.

So naturally, companies are asking, “What was the point of building up my audience if I was just going to have to pay for people to see my content?” Well, that’s a fair point. But there are certain benefits to advertising that very few brands have taken advantage of to date; they’re going to have to now.

What’s so great about advertising?

Facebook advertising offers a whole selection of great targeting options. In addition to the usual demographics, brands can also choose to target users by device (FYI, mobile is the way to go), pages liked and even interests!

Even if you had built a large audience on Facebook, you still would not have been able to specifically target these users. All you could do was post to your page and hope for the best.

What’s more, advertising on Facebook is still very inexpensive. Currently, only 4% of companies on Facebook are leveraging the power of ads. Facebook needs to keep them affordable if they want people to take advantage of them. So, before prices skyrocket (look at Google AdWords for competitive categories) your brand should take advantage of the great advertising platform.

Have you noticed a drop in your Facebook posts organic reach? Tell us if you plan on advertising in the comments below or on Twitter!

Why You Need to Focus on Facebook Mobile

December 5, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Facebook mobile is now more important than ever, and your strategy needs to incorporate Facebook mobile in a number of ways.

It is no surprise that Facebook mobile is now among the most important focal points of a successful social business strategy. Over 70% of Facebook’s users are accessing the network through a mobile device, and an increasing proportion of Facebook users are now only accessing the network via their mobile devices.

In order to capture the attention of this large and continually growing audience, you need to incorporate Facebook mobile into your strategy in a big way.

Some Interesting Facts About Facebook Mobile

A recent study by Shareaholic has revealed some very impressive data with regards to the importance of Facebook mobile.

In the last year, the referrals generated from Facebook (for businesses) have grown by 58.81% (year-over-year). How did they do this? Mobile.

As the chart below shows, referrals from mobile devices have increase a whopping 253.25% in the past year! What’s more the study finds that more than half of Facebook’s referral traffic growth has been the direct result of mobile activity.

As more and more people rely on their smartphones for everything from phone calls to everyday business and social use, the importance of a mobile component to your social strategy increases.

Below are a few ways you can take advantage of this growing trend and capitalize on the value of Facebook mobile referral power.

Create Mobile-Specific Ads

There exist some incredible features on the Facebook advertising platform that so few businesses are taking advantage of.

When you create a Facebook ad, you have the ability to target your ads to mobile devices. What’s more, you can specify the type of mobile device being used. Now, if you pay attention to your Google Analytics, and see that a large proportion of your mobile audience is coming from iOS, you know that you can create an ad on Facebook that targets only users with an iPhone! (Yes, this is actually something you can do.)

All it takes is a little tweaking and you will be able to really boost your success with Facebook ads click-through rates.

Create Mobile-Friendly Content

This is really more about creating content that is Facebook-friendly. Writing a long-winded story as a post is going to be annoying enough as it is for your fans on their desktop. Imagine how much more frustrated they would be if they had to scroll past in on their mobile devices as well. And do you expect anyone to click on images and see the full thing if it does not simply show up on their mobile News Feed? Probably not.

People want something fast and easy – that goes double for mobile users. Your content should have a clear message delivered fast and in an easy-to-view way. This way, you can encourage your mobile fans to click on links and read more if they are interested.

Share From Your Device

If you are using Facebook as a business – or even as a professional – then you should be using it to share content from your device. Post to your page from your mobile phone and check in at different locations. Generally, this increases engagement with your mobile audience, and should certainly be tried. This tactic also helps humanize your brand, and helps users relate to your company on a more personal level.

Try out some of these pointers and see if you can start capitalizing on the huge surge in mobile referral traffic from Facebook!

Do you access Facebook on your mobile device? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

3 Great Features on the New Facebook Insights [VIDEO]

November 30, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Take a look at these 3 great features on the new Facebook Insights!

4 Social Media Campaigns to Test this Holiday Season

November 19, 2013/by Corey Padveen

As the holidays approach, you need to find a way to leverage social media campaigns to boost your presence in the market.

Every brand is vying for the attention of consumers as we approach the holiday season and year-end. So what can you do to stand out? This year, why not take advantage of the benefits offered by social media campaigns?

Below are four very simple and potentially lucrative ideas for social media campaigns that your company should invest in this holiday season. The holidays are all about bringing people together, and what better place to do that than on social media (with the exception of home, of course)!

Holiday Pin-To-Win

People love pin-to-win campaigns on Pinterest. They allow people to express themselves creatively and share their pinspiration with a large audience. If you have an active social audience and are part of a visual industry, consider hosting a pin-to-win campaign on Pinterest!

There are a lot of easy ways to run these types of campaigns. You can either host the campaign yourself, or use a software provider like Woobox.

Facebook Holiday Offer

Have you ever created an offer on Facebook? For brands with a physical presence, offers can be of great value. If you add a theme to your offer – in this case, the holidays – it can be even more beneficial. People love the idea of specials and savings during the holidays. After all, the season is expensive enough as it is. If you show your fans and followers that you are giving them a way to save this year, they will certainly appreciate that.

With the right offer designed for your fans, you can certainly expect the returns on your investment in boosting that offer to a wider audience to be very high.

Promoted Holiday Tweets

If you have created a landing page for a holiday ebook, service or special, or simply want to attract new followers by appealing to their holiday spirit, then promoting specific tweets with a holiday motif will certainly give your Twitter marketing a boost.

Target specific users and interests on Twitter and share your content to increase clicks to your pages and conversions from a targeted audience.

Promote Holiday Pins

Have you seen or used the new promoted pin feature on Pinterest? Yes, the photo-sharing network has gone the way of Facebook and Twitter and begun allowing advertisers to promote their content. Just in time for the holidays!

Try promoting pins with embedded links to your website that follow a holiday motif. This can be your marketing experiment this holiday season.

These are just a few social media campaigns you can consider launching this year.

Can you think of other social media campaigns that might generate high returns during the holidays? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Everything You Need to Know About Privacy and Security on Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC]

November 14, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Privacy and security on Facebook are concerns for both companies and individuals.

In Deloitte and MIT’s social business research report, companies cited that one of the top barriers preventing them from going social is a concern with security on social networks. As the reality about privacy and security on Facebook comes to light, this is a concern shared by individuals as well. When you consider how many people have been rejected from or even lost their jobs because of what was said or found on social channels, it is no wonder that this is such a dominant concern.

That is why Inside Facebook has put together this infographic with every bit of information you are ever going to need (at least until the next major overhaul) when it comes to your privacy and security on Facebook.

Of the information presented below, perhaps most startling is the fact that over six-hundred thousand accounts are compromised on Facebook daily. Sure, that’s only a small fraction of a percent of the active accounts on the network, but that is far from a negligible statistic.

Take a look at the data below and consider if you have properly protected your information.

Have you ever had any major security issues with Facebook or another network? Tell us about it in the comments below or on Twitter!

How to Measure ROI on Facebook in 3 Easy Steps [VIDEO]

November 9, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Measuring ROI on Facebook is essential to knowing the success of your program, and it is much easier than you think.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here.

4 Important Facebook Targeting Options

November 5, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Have you put together an ad campaign using the Facebook targeting options?

Have you ever tried to promote your content to a broader audience by developing a Facebook ad campaign? Boosting a post is one thing, but if you know how to properly use the Facebook advertising platform, you can reach very targeted audiences and get a specific message across to groups you know will want to hear them.

Below are four Facebook targeting options that are going to be very important when it comes to putting together a successful ad campaign.

Location, Age and Gender

These are the most obvious targeting options. We all know that we have the ability to target by location, age and gender, but we often forget that when it comes to advertising, the more specific we are, the greater the likelihood that our campaign will find success.

With Facebook, you have the ability to target not only countries, but states/provinces, cities and, if you are running a campaign in the United States, by zip code. Why is this beneficial? Well, if you are a local business, this gives you the opportunity to target only those people who are potential customers based on location. It also means that if you are running a campaign in the United Kingdom, for example, you could filter out any users outside of the UK and prevent your ad (and your dollars) from going to users that cannot benefit from the offering.

As for age and gender, figure out exactly who is going to be most responsive to this campaign. Maybe you don’t know – that’s not a problem. Use these targeting options to test different markets. Maybe you create one version of your ad targeted towards males in the United States between the ages of 25 and 39, and another version targeted towards females in Canada over the age of 45. (On a side note, that’s one versatile product!) You might be surprised by what you find.

Precise Interests

Now we’re getting into the real value that exists with Facebook targeting options. One of the great features that a lot of marketers tend to overlook is the ability to target audiences by interest. For those familiar with AdWords, this is something that Google determines based on search history and other criteria, but on Facebook, this is determined by a user’s expressed interests. They are telling you what they like!

You are going to want to include as many Precise Interests or pages (yes, company or brand pages) as you can – just make sure they relate to your ad and landing page (whether it is your Timeline or a page off of Facebook). Just begin typing and you will see a drop down menu of interest options along with the number of people that have listed this item as one of their interests.

Broad Categories

Interests are great for getting right down to what a person might like, but perhaps you will find that you want to target people with a number of diverse interests and one commonality. This is where Broad Categories comes in handy.

Here, you are able to target users based on broader criteria. One of the best characteristics to consider targeting is precise mobile devices. Over 70% of Facebook users access the platform via their smartphone. Don’t miss out on a chance to target those users with your campaign.

Choose Your Users

Maybe you are running a campaign that is targeted specifically to people that are already your fans; this could be something along the lines of a loyalty program. Maybe you are only looking to target users that have not yet liked your company, and are offering something to new fans. In any case, you are going to want to specify whether you want your ad to target users that are already fans, or potential fans.

If you have not already done so, then definitely take a look at the Facebook targeting options for ads. You might be surprised at how much more effective it can make your campaign.

Have you found any surprises with your ads? Tell us what they were in the comments below or on Twitter!

How to Optimize Facebook for SEO [VIDEO]

November 2, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Do you know how to optimize Facebook for SEO? It’s easier than you think!

Scary Fun Facts About Social Business and Commerce

October 31, 2013/by Corey Padveen

It’s that time of year again, and we thought we would share some ‘scary’ fun facts about social business to keep with the spirit of Halloween!

Wait, how can something be scary and fun at the same time? Well, for businesses that are leveraging the possibilities that social business presents, these facts are a lot of fun. For those that have not yet invested in social initiatives, seeing that they are missing out on these facts about social business is very, very scary.

The Pinterest Witch Has Cast a Spell

A spell on female consumers, to be exact. On Pinterest, 47% of women say that they have made a purchase based on a recommendation they saw on the network. Considering that women make up a vast majority of Pinterest users, you can see why that might be an opportunity one would be terrified to miss.

People Are Trapped on Facebook

People are spending over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. Hours of time online is being devoted to one website. So the billions of other pages on the web need to compete for the attention of this Facebook user base. Rather than trying to direct their attention elsewhere, wouldn’t it just be easier to make your presence known within a community that is already active and highly engaged?

We Are Brainwashed By Cats

Over 6 billion hours of video are watched every month on YouTube alone! So whether you are creating videos for your audience or advertising in the video space, you know that there is at least one hour per person on Earth where you can be found on YouTube.

Shopping Zombies Hungry for Information (Kind of like Brains, I Guess)

Research shows that 40% of consumers compare prices on their mobile devices before making a purchasing decision. It also shows that 64% of consumers have made a purchase from a brand because of a digital experience (web site, social presence, email, etc.). Consumers are looking to the web for information and a positive user experience. If you do not have a presence there, you can rest assured that your chances of getting someone’s business decrease dramatically.

Scared yet? The importance of engaging with your audience and becoming a social business has never been greater. People are looking to each other and to brands in order to make purchasing decisions. If you are not a part of the conversation, you are not a part of the market. Now that’s scary stuff.

How are you conquering your fears and becoming a social enterprise? Find out how t2 can help you here.

We would love to know what facts you find interesting, and be sure to send us a picture of your costume on Twitter! Happy Halloween!