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Are you telling your brand story in social media?
Author: Hollie Clere
#MarketingTrends2018 – Using Facebook Boosting and Facebook Ads
It might surprise you to hear that Facebook ended 2017 with 2 billion monthly active users and is still growing. That’s a lot of people. So it’s no wonder that 93% of social media advertisers use Facebook advertising. That’s not even close to the next most popular platform for ads, Instagram (owned by Facebook) which weighs in at 24%.
If you are a social media marketer with an advertising budget, you are probably already on Facebook. But are you meeting your goals? If not, maybe you aren’t focusing on the right tool to get your Facebook content seen and, even better, converting.
When it comes to advertising on Facebook you have two choices—news feed ads or boosted Facebook posts. Understanding the difference between the two can be a little tricky, but it’s SO important to choose the right type of advertising!
Knowing which route is best for your business objectives means you’re using your money wisely, and your advertising is in front of the right people.
What’s the Difference?
Simply put, a boosted Facebook post is a type of ad that takes content that you have developed for your news feed and shares it with a larger audience. Status updates, photos and videos, and special offers are all popular types of content that people choose to boost. When you boost, you are paying to have the content you posted show up in people’s news feeds. You go through Facebook’s ad manager to do this and you have the option of selecting the audience you want to target.
Facebook ads work the same way except you have more options for narrowing down or expanding your audience. You also have the ability to include a call to action. Depending on your goals you can have users “Like” your page, visit your website, or take some other action. Since you can target users by very distinct characteristics such as age, gender, and hobbies, ads can be more effective than boosted posts for a planned campaign with well-defined goals.
A key difference between boosting a post and placing an ad is that with boosting, you can only focus on visits and engagements. If your objective is simply to build a greater awareness for your brand, then boosts may be just what you need. If, however, you hope to do more than that, your investment will be put to better use with ads.
For most social media managers, developing a plan that incorporates both boosting and ads is the way to go. But if you are trying to accomplish something a bit more specific, like sell a certain product or push the audience toward engagement with your page, then your dollars will work harder with ads. The exact combination will depend on your objectives and your business but both have a part to play.
Much like traditional advertising, Facebook is a sandbox where – if you haven’t built up a loyal community yet – you’re going to need to pay to play. Thankfully, Facebook ads are affordable and their targeting system so refined that, if done properly, the financial investment is worth it.
If you want help navigating Facebook ads, or simply want to hand the process over to an expert, schedule a Discovery Session call with me at hollieclere.youcanbook.me.
Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars
#MarketingTrends2018 – Sharing Your Content Online
So you just finished writing a killer blog post. It’s on point, tinged with humor, and loaded with insight. You’re feeling pretty good. All that’s left to do is post it. You push the publish button and bingo! You’re done.
…not so fast! You’re just getting started. Creating great content is hard work. It takes a lot more than time. It takes planning, thought, research, and creativity. And unless you’re a world-famous blogger with millions of followers, your blog post isn’t going anywhere without a little extra work. You might get some likes and shares but are you really going to get the return on your investment that you deserve?
So how do you get the most out of your blog post? Promote your content in other places. To help you get started, we’ll talk about a few of the most effective places you can share your content.
- Social Media Platforms: We’re assuming you’ve posted your content to your own blog since that’s the way most people do it. And that way can certainly be effective. You want to be sure you also post it on your social media profiles–Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest…wherever you have a presence, share your content! When posting, be sure to include a featured image since tests have shown that you are much more likely to get engagement when a graphic is included.
- Your Website:If your website is not connected to your blog, post your content on your site. One popular way to do this is to have a section for featured articles. Even better, link your blog to your site.
- LinkedIn Pulse:LinkedIn is a powerful tool for connecting with others in your industry. You can publish articles, connect via groups, and make contact with key influencers. Depending on the content you share, you may be able to utilize LinkedIn’s article publishing tool that is integrated into your feed. For more specialized content, it may make more sense to post in a group. Either way, LinkedIn is an effective way to share all sorts of content.
- Quora: Quora is a Q&A platform where users submit questions and people of the web provide answers. It may take some time to find a question that matches your expertise but once you do it’s a great place to post a link to your content. Check the guidelines for using the site to make sure that you comply with the rules.
- SlideShare: SlideShare, owned by LinkedIn, is a hosting platform designed to allow users to upload slideshows so they are available to the world (think YouTube for slideshows). While you may not be able to post your content without repurposing it, SlideShare can enable you to reach a whole new audience.
- Email Marketing: Sharing your best content to your subscribers is often considered an excellent way to grab the attention of the followers that matter most. To ensure that you list feels like a VIP club, don’t share everything – just the best of the best!
There are many places to share your existing content. The trick is to find the sites that are most appropriate for your industry and the people you are trying to reach. With a little homework and a little extra time, you’ll soon be reaching a much wider audience and getting the attention your content deserves.
Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars
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