Hey there, it’s been a while since we last blog about useful tips and tricks on Facebook marketing.
After spending about more than a million dollars on Facebook advertising. I am going to write about 5 common pitfalls that amateur facebook marketer made. I’ll make it short and sweet so you get a basic concept of the mistakes to avoid.
Boosting of the post is the easiest options for facebook advertiser. However, by boosting you limit yourself to a few disadvantages
The advantage of boosting a facebook post:
Likes is a vanity metrics to us because a like on your Facebook post doesn’t mean a sales conversion to
I define vanity metrics as “you feel good about it, but no actionable data to act upon”
Vanity metrics include data such as Facebook Likes or Instagram followers, page views etc. But no actionable metrics to help you move forward to reach your business goals (such as sales conversions or a lead opt-in).
Go for actionable metrics like cost per conversion rate, turn-up rate on events campaign, return on investment campaigns, lifetime value of customer etc.
I’ve seen a lot of small agencies and small businesses using Google Forms as the landing page for their offer ads. It’s a BAD, BAD, BAD IDEA. In our industry, we view it as a “cheapskate” way of doing it. It somehow defines a lot of a company’s capability. Why?
Benefits of Facebook Pixel Code includes:
So, are you missing out BIG Time when you use a Google Forms?
By being able to clearly see which ads campaign perform better in the A/B ads set, you will then be able to tweak and optimise further to gain more traction.
Things that you can test more to minimise risk and scale your campaign further:
However, never OVER test your campaign where you have too many data that you cannot make a decision on.
You need to insert the right dimension to match your Facebook ads unit.
For example, you are running a traffic ads objectives, you should use 1200px x 628px for a single image placement ads. Not a square image and force it into a landscape dimension.
If you are running a boost post, I will highly recommend a square dimension image 1080px x 1080px for maximum exposure.
Other tips to create good ads for creatives:
Try to avoid these 5 common mistakes and I bet you will have a great headstart than your competitors!
About The Author:
Kai Teing is the founder InnoSavv.com. Kai Teing is committed to grooming SMEs in Singapore, and possess diverse experience in a multitude of sectors, including interior design, home appliances, lifestyle furniture, F&Bs beauty and wellness, childcare and telecommunications. This portfolio has developed and honed her suite of unique methodologies for each industry. Over 24 months, she has spent more than 1 million on Facebook advertisement and has an impeccable track record for the performance of her marketing and lead generation strategies. Under her management, a 2-days event by Northwest Interior Design successfully drew in a revenue of between 2 to 5 million. Moreover, her strategic planning was also responsible for the 40% growth in enquiry rate for Cellini. In her partnership with WhizComms, her marketing efforts contributed towards a record of 150 solid installations for a 2-weeks campaign. She is proficient in managing awareness campaigns and has partnered with brands like Ariston and 19 Chefs in doing so. To date, she has worked with more than 50 interior design firms and continues to service a growing client base.
Source: www.everydayetiquette.info
Every sphere has its own set of norms and social etiquette, and that applies to the world of social media. Every platform has its own inherent culture, approving certain types of tone, register and behaviour while frowning upon others. For example, informal speech with a playful personality, tinged with modern-day references is an appropriate way to speak on Facebook and Twitter. Similarly, memes and interesting pictures are tools to capture your audiences on Instagram. However, language has to be a little dressed up before published on Linkedin. Are you aware of the nuances across the different platforms? Are you able to move with the groove or do you stand out like the new kid on the block? Here are some helpful tips to help you navigate the ways of an adept social media business user!
Social Media Etiquettes For The Management Of Your Business Accounts
Source: Webtraffic.agency
1. Complete your social media profile
Research has shown that the first impression forms within the first 8 seconds of meeting someone for the first time. This applies to your social media page as well. The text and images published speak volumes about you and your company. As such, having an uncompleted social media profile (photo included!) is a social media faux pas, as it greatly diminishes a company’s image of professionalism and credibility. Choose a name that clearly identifies your business, and thoughtfully fill in the fields on your page, paying particular attention to the “about” section, location and contact number. Use a high definition logo and cover photo to establish your page as a reliable and legitimate one that welcomes viewers to understand more about your company.
Source: Redbubble.com
2. Use automation with caution
With the advancement of technology comes the temptation of sitting back as your artificial intelligence sort out all the tedious work. However, be wary of automated replies on Twitter DMs, Facebook messages or Instagram comments. An automated response tells the audience that your company does not value the interaction, and also reveals the lack of interest in listening to their concerns. On the contrary, nothing draws the audience in like a sincere and genuine reply that addresses their problem. Therefore, strive to infuse a personal touch to your replies, even in the cases of bulk message scheduling.
Also, try varying the type of content published on your business page. This offers a variety of knowledge to your audience, and also show that you are not a robot churning out a barrage of similar data. A diversity of topics covered also showcase your brand as an informed and knowledgeable one.
Source: Medicalxpress.com
3. Invest in a few platforms rather than being everywhere at once
Instead of being moderately active on multiple social media sites, it is wiser to devote your effort and energy to a few selected one, especially if your business is newly-established on social media. Stretching yourself across multiple platforms may compromise your quality of interaction offered to your audiences, and also diminish your ability to respond quickly to negative comments that affect your business and reputation. Based on a research on Econsultancy, 53 percent of the customers who pose a question to companies on Twitter expect a reply within the hour. This statistic stands at 72 percent if the comment made was a complaint.
Source: Nationalreview.com
4. Is your grammar and spelling on point?
Many times, what you say is just as important as how you say it. Errors in grammar and spelling reveal a lack of professionalism, and also a general attitude of carelessness that significantly discounts your professional image. Before publishing any text, paste them on a word doc for the system to flag up grammatical and spelling errors. A misplaced apostrophe, extra letter, or a punctuality mark used incorrectly may be more jarring than you think.
Source: Blog.linguistica-international.com
5. Create shareable content packed with value
As you browse your newsfeed, what influences your decision to click on a link? Ultimately, it boils down to the value it provides, in terms of entertainment or education. Thus, a successful business account inspires its readers to glean knowledge from its writing, and motivates these convinced parties to share the content with their own network. Doing so raises greater brand awareness about the company, giving the company a boost! Plan before writing, and proceed with your readers’ best interest in mind- how your writing can value-add to their lives or businesses.
Source: Muscleandfitness.com
6. Business and pleasure don’t go hand in hand
Needless to say, selfies or other fragments of personal information have no place on your business page. However, toggling between one’s personal and business account on the same device (i.e handphone) introduces the possibility of publishing on the wrong account. Hence, taking a moments to check if you’re posting on the correct account is always worthwhile. Otherwise, a page manager app that does away with the need for signing in and out of accounts is another method to make sure the nightmare of publishing on the wrong account never happen to you.
Source: Jinavie.tumblr.com
Sounds like hard work? Sip a cup of tea and let the experts get to work. Let InnoSavv establish and maintain your online presence on Facebook with our Facebook Management experts! This service includes the posting of engaging content, Facebook ads, monitoring of customer response and distillation of progress reports for you to stay on top of your business!
Find out more about our social media marketing, lead generation, search engine marketing services and more here!
Source: Tim Lee Illustration (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C)
A brand story of a company is its soul. It is the root of its existence, the very reason why company was found.
In a society of increasing affluence, customers are starting to look beyond the function of products and services, and the price tags attached. They are seeking more than a monetary transaction with the vendor, but rather, a human connection that informs them of their identity and sense of self. For example, buying a product that donates a part of its profits to the less fortunate establishes the consumers as charitable individuals with a role in bearing a positive impact on the community. A brand story hence defines the interaction between your business and your customers, moulding a unique brand experience that forms a vital part of your brand’s appeal.
Is your purpose, mission, vision and reason for existence a cause that are drawing customers to invest themselves in? If not, it’s time to unveil your compelling brand story.
Everyone loves a good story. Since the beginning of time, before the truth was explained through scientific facts, the greatest mysteries in life have been explained through the medium of stories. The human mind is imaginative, and bears a natural proclivity to make sense of the world around them through tales of magic and wonder. A story also engages your audience on both the logical and emotional level, building trust and rapport. A New York Times article has shown that the human brain responds to the descriptive power of stories in profoundly affecting ways, influencing both the sensory and motor cortex. Your story hence enables your audience to feel and experience, even to adopt the perception of the subject of the narrative. This is integral in the processes of convincing and converting potential customers into loyal buyers.
At the same time, a brand story portrays a personality, demonstrating the human side of your business. This debunks the misconception that your company is a faceless enterprise interested solely in profits.
Done right, your brand story will stick, and will be shared by persuaded parties to those around them. This fosters active word of mouth advertising, amplifying your brand awareness. A unique brand story also engenders brand differentiation in a saturated market.
What Your Story Needs:
1. A Goal That People Will Rally About And Support
This is linked to the value your products, services or company are able to bring to the community and society at large. Instead of drawing the focus to your personal ambition, turn the spotlight towards how your company’s works can value-add to the lives of others.
Source: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Robotic Edition (Themarysue.com)
2. A Main Character To Follow
A good story has a main protagonist who earns the empathy of the readers, encouraging them to take on his perspective of the unfolding of events. Likewise, be sure to establish the main actor of your story – the founder- and make him the central actor in the tale.
3. A Group Of Target Audience To Influence
Given the diverse personalities, worldviews and penchant of your audience, your cause may not resonate with everyone who chances upon it. It is thus of paramount importance for your company to determine specific groups of people to engage. This direction will subsequently inform the tone and register which your story is conveyed, and frame your interaction with them.
4. Growth And Progression
How has the company grown since its inception? The rise of the underdog is a favoured plotline because its humble beginnings is remarkably relatable to the everyday man, but yet the fulfilment of potential shows how greater things can be achieved amongst the mundane. The effect is akin to a feel-good movie. Movement forward is also a sign that your business is not built on sand, but is a sound model that is reliable and deserving of their trust.
5. Simplicity And Authenticity
Avoid complex storylines and dramatic trajectories. Convoluted timelines are less capable of delivering a clear and impactful message, while exaggerated plots make you seem like a magician pulling flowers out of his hat. Instead of trying too hard to impress your audience, be genuine and authentic instead. In an age where the market is saturated with information, the discerning audiences have been trained to acquire an acute eye of judgement that can see right through poorly-crafted content easily.
6. Consistency
Be sure to maintain the same personality from start to end, and align that personality with the way you interact with your customers. Nothing can be more mismatched than a company starting with a lower-class individual working his way to the top, only to offer a suite of exclusive services aimed solely at the higher strata of society. Thereafter, exude that personality through tactful tone and register in content, and coherence in design on your website.
Source: The Ya Kun Success Story (Vulcanpost.com)
7. Interesting Memorabilia
On one hand, this would attest to your story, and also show a sense of history and growth in your journey. For the older audiences, it may even evoke a pleasant sense of nostalgia.
8. A Connection To Resonate With Customer
Create an atmosphere of inclusivity, where your audience is part of something larger. Make them feel valued in that community. The contribution towards a charitable cause is a good example of this.
Source: Techcrunch.com
The End. Now What?
You have just concluded your brand story with its last full stop. What’s next? What your story needs now is exposure and activation in the market, for people to read it and learn more about your business.
The ideal method is to publish your story on a webpage where the visuals contribute to the story, and interfaces take your customer through the flow of the brand experience. InnoSavv expertizes in website design and development, in creating responsive and effective web pages adapted to all digital devices.
Source: Coolcolony.com
Further engagement is needed to retain audiences captivated by your brand story. Are you ready to paint a rosy picture? Let the specialists at InnoSavv help you! We’ll establish and maintain your online presence on Facebook with our Facebook Management experts! This service includes the posting of engaging content, Facebook ads, monitoring of customer response and distillation of progress reports for you to stay on top of your business!
Find out more about our social media marketing, lead generation, search engine marketing services and more here!
Source: Jokerwebhosting
In an age where globalisation has made the world more interconnected than ever, social media networks are touted as one of the most unifying internet platforms, whereby people can connect over shared passion and common interests despite geological barriers and time differences. In fact, more than 2.5 billion of the world’s population are users on social media avenues, and the numbers are expected to grow in light of the increasing ease of accessing and using them.
As such, these channels are the new marketplaces. However, online marketing is not merely about posting and putting your brand and products out there. Rather, the success of accomplished social media marketers lies in their ability to manipulate a variety of sophisticated and deliberate strategies, designed to raise brand awareness, fuel new business and inspire followers.
Does your business need a boost? We’ve got 5 winning strategies that’ll transform your business.
1. Having Your Goals In Mind
Determining your goals is like drawing up a roadmap for the rest of your actions towards success. That’s why creating goals is akin to setting the foundation of your social media strategy. Realistic and achievable goals that bring tangible results will spur you on your endeavour, chart your growth, and also motivate you in overcoming the adversities that come your way.
Start with a favoured few social media channels that bear the most importance for your brand,and have the highest demographic of your specific target audience. Trying to establish yourself on every possible avenue at once can compromise the amount of engagement afforded by your team on each individual channel.
What are some goals that you can consider?
Source: Komando.com
2. Spy On Your Competitors
This is not an encouragement to jump on the bandwagon for seemingly promising practices conducted by similar firms in the industry, nor is it a hint to steal ideas from them. Rather, understand their successes and failures and learn from them. This method of vicarious learning saves you the cost of going through the lessons yourself.
Also, what are some areas that they are focusing and investing in? This would be telling about their judgment of impending trends and the shifting of the market.
3. What’s Your X-Factor?
In addition to the function and specificities of your products, invest in creating a unique story about them. What ideas are your products associated with, and what ideals do they embody? In an age of influencer marketing, branding and lifestyle have become inseparable. As such, the lifestyle and attitude your products and services embody are just as important as their actual function. What would your products and services say about your customers? What effects would they bear on the social image of these end users?
More importantly, how does your product or services distinguish itself from others in the market?
4. Understanding Your Audience
Before you sell products, it’s important to understand who they are, what they are like, and what makes them tick. Find out the demographic and psychographic traits of your current or prospective customers. For example, are you having more female or male buyers? What age group are the most receptive to your content? Is it possible to know what income level makes up the majority of your viewers or customers? Process these information and tie links as to how these information affect your marketing strategies on the various social media channels.
Understanding more about your audience begins with social media dashboards. With it, you’ll be able to toggle between various social media accounts effortlessly, get a comprehensive view of your social media calendar (schedule of posts), monitor campaigns, grasp deeper social media analysis and even monitor the performance of your staff!
Source: digitalprakhar.com
5. Pay Attention To Your Engagement Metrics
Your page’s number of likes and followers are not the be all and end all of your online marketing plans. In fact, they only tell a small part of the story.Here are some engagement metrics that will present a more accurate diagnostic about your page:
You carefully configure your privacy setting, scrutinizing every possible aspect that may render your social media account susceptible to data compromises. In an era of malicious software and international hackers, does being careful on your side ensure immunity for your business and resistance to all forms of intellectual theft and data leakages?
The recent Facebook scandal has shows us that this is not the case.
Just last month, Facebook came under fire in their tacit compliance to data manipulation by engaging in data harvesting. Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm employed by president Trump’s 2016 election campaign, used the platform to harvest millions of Facebook profiles to micro-target voters in the US presidential election. Cambridge Analytica did so by creating psychological profiles on the users who have downloaded their personality prediction app. Meanwhile, Cambridge Analytica was also able to harvest the data of those within the network of the downloaders, extending their reach for data mining.
Zuckerberg has claimed ignorance about the implications of data harvesting on swaying elections. However, with criticisms coming from within the tech arena, such as from Apple’s Tim Cook and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, Facebook appears to be isolated in the storm. Since then, Facebook’s shares have plummeted by 16 percent within 2 weeks after the exposé.
In fact, Facebook’s case is not a stand-alone incident. Within a 10-year period of 2008 to 2018, the increase in Facebook and Twitter-related crimes has amounted to a whopping 780 percent.
Source: http://www.copyrightuser.org
During the scandal, what Facebook essentially did was data harvesting, sharing your data with unrelated third parties. Users whose data was collected by Cambridge Analytica may have legal claims against Facebook. However, Facebook’s policy protects it in such situations. Facebook’s platform policy states that developers must “obtain adequate consent from people before using any Facebook technology that allows [them] to collect and process data about [the users]”. Moreover, third-party developers like Cambridge Analytica is bound to Facebook’s platform policy, to “indemnify and hold [Facebook] harmless from and against all damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including reasonable legal fees and costs) related to any claim against [Facebook] related to [Facebook’s] service, actions, content or information”.
What does this signify? This shows how the use of our data is inevitably beyond our control. Nevertheless, this does not disempower you from protecting your data as much as possible. What can be done?
Source: www.business2community.com
1. Configure your security setting
Under “Settings”, click on “Security and Login”. From there, you’ll be able to identify where your account is being logged in at the moment, and immediately exit any session that’s operating under a third party. If this occurs, the password must be changed to limit further breaching of security.
2. Be stringent about admin access
Reserve page administrative privileges to a distinct few in your business. When access is given to peripheral contributors of your page, such as the freelancers, interns and developers, be sure that administrative privileges are minimized to the basic ones. Staff that have left the company should also be removed upon their departure, to prevent unauthorized changes to your page.
3. Limit work to company computers
Discourage your staff from logging into your corporate Facebook account from their home computers, or worse, on public computers. This is to ensure that all private and confidential information lies within a controlled domain. Moreover, it would reduce the drastic consequences of staff forgetting to log out of the account.
4. Leverage Facebook’s 2-step authentication for extra security
Setting up a 2-step authentication adds an extra layer of protection in addition to your password. When your account is logged in through a computer that is not recognized by the system, the system would request for a special security code. These unique codes could be text messages codes sent to your mobile, a security key on a compatible device, or security codes from a third-party app. With these implementations in place, a hacker without your handphone or compatible devices would have little option but to give up despite possessing knowledge of your password.
5. Create strong and secure passwords
Despite having a 2-step verification in place, it would be wise to maximize security with a strong and secure password. This would be a creative assemblage of numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and symbols. Avoid creating passwords that bear associations with the company, or have personal connections with the staff using it.
6. Monitor your page
While your page enables visitors to post public reviews and feedback, be wary that such avenues present risks that could compromise your company’s reputation. Monitor all posts and reviews on your page on a daily basis to prevent spam or malicious links that may be posted by visitors or bots. This safeguards your reputation and keeps the page welcoming and proper.
Conclusion:
It seems that data mining is the inevitable price that comes with free and effective services like Facebook, and the necessary consequence of living in a highly-interconnected web sphere. It doesn’t help to know that our very existence in the society allows data to be collected through programmes run by the biggest technology companies that can follow us around the web (i.e., Amazon A9, Google DoubleClick, and Verizon Oath), collect information about our public and private lives (i.e., Oracle Data Cloud (Datalogix), and gain insight to our credit and financial resources (i.e., Experian, Equifax Workforce Solutions, and CoreLogic SafeRent). However, with conscientious effort and utmost care, it is possible to draw the line between data mining and more malicious ramifications such as intellectual theft, hacking and hijacking.
Source: www.campaignasia.com
Are you losing your younger audience? According to a study by eMarketer, more young people are turning away from Facebook to Instagram. eMarketer analyst Oscar Orozco sites Instagram’s success as its ability to align the system “with how young people communicate- through visual content”. Indeed, to a generation with a shortening attention span, images that can be perceived in a single sweep are infinitely more appealing than lengthy, unanimated text.
According to The New York Times, Instagram earns 100 million users per 9 months. In 2017 alone, its user base grew to an astounding 600 million users from 500 million within just six months.
Instagram’s speed of change is extremely rapid for a network of its size. As a result, it significantly changes the users’ daily experience. However, many experts see this as a plus point. Instead of alienating its audience, these changes are seen as new methods of communication that greatly foster self-expression. To business owners, Instagram’s forward-looking attitude in pursuing engagement is exactly what they need from an advertising platform.
Source: http://blog.gnackapp.com
Why Instagram and what’s in it for you?
Attention is the new currency. To businesses, such vast pools of users are viable sources of attention that their services and products can appeal to. Indeed, the reach and engagement of Instagram is impressive. In a research undertaken by Dreamgrow, it was shown that Instagram boasts of around 500 million daily active users, with 80% of these users outside its country of origin, the U.S. Such reach translates to increased visibility for brands.
Moreover, quality accompanies quantity on this platform. Instagram users are proven to be highly engaged, publishing more than 95 million images and videos per day, that earn a staggering 4.2 billion likes on average within each 24-hour time span. Such stellar results have allowed Instagram to beat even Facebook in terms of audience engagement.
Here, we’ve gathered some tips on how you can jump on the Instagram bandwagon.
Preparation stage
Firstly, determine the business objectives you hope to achieve through Instagram. What’s the purpose of your account? Is it to boost product sales, to increase brand awareness, or perhaps both? With these goals in mind, a content strategy has to be formulated, one that includes the frequency of posting, the content of your posts, and the style in which they are conveyed to your audience. Your content strategy should be closely informed by your business objectives and corporate image in order to present a coherent identity and clear voice.
Impeccable presentation skills to firm up a strong brand name
A picture speaks a thousand words. Visual consistency is also the secret behind top brands who use Instagram. This does not refer to monotonous or lacklustre profiles, but rather, a series of professional, curated, high-quality images that tell a single compelling story. These brands achieve consistency by presenting their photos with similar filters, in specific shooting mode, or captions that are unique to them. This makes their posts stand out in a sea of images in a user’s newsfeed.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/mcdsg/?hl=en
For example, the employment of vibrant colours, clean lines, simple silhouettes and simple phrases presents Macdonald’s as a place of simple pleasures. The lively artwork and incorporation of cartoon portray Macdonald’s as a child-friendly playground, appealing greatly to families with young children.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/nike/?hl=en
On the other hand, Nike’s style of presentation is an exhibition of youth culture at its best. While the hamster on a treadmill looks like an image on a humorous meme, pictures on the bottom left and right showcase hip-hop and leisurely youths. These images of pop culture correspond with the envisioned lifestyle of relaxation aspired by many youths, entrenching Nike as a leading sports and lifestyle trendsetter.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/marinabaysands/?hl=en
Fine dining, beautiful cityscapes and spectacular live performances galore. These images promote a luxurious lifestyle that would draw the attention of the high-power spenders in the society. The visual showcase of captivating experiences also plays well with the tourism board’s aims.
Schedule posts for timely engagement
Just like on Facebook, enjoy the freedom to plan and schedule posts in advance before they reach your audience’s eyes. That said, this function is only available for business accounts, which can be set when you first register, or adjusted even after your profile registration has been completed. This design endows greater flexibility for business owners with many other tasks on hand.
Include a link to boost traffic to your site
Under your brand name and your short bio, Instagram allows you to include a link that leads your audience to your main webpage! Due to the clean layout and blue font, the link would catch your audience’s attention easily.
Source: https://blog.bufferapp.com/instagram-analytics
Track your performance with Instagram insights
Just like Facebook, Instagram possesses analytics tools that can assist you in fine-tuning your marketing approaches. Business profiles have access to Instagram Insights, which provides information on your engagement rate, brand awareness, traffic and sales. These telling results would advise you on the optimal target audience, posting time, and style of photos. What’s more, these tools can be used on your Instagram stories as well!
Source: http://www.kuwait-solutions.com/instagram-marketing/
Posts and stories as ads
Unsatisfied with the disabling of links for posts? Fret not. Instagram now allows you to post ads that are featured as “sponsored” content on your target audience’s newsfeed. The call-to-action captions in colored banners would transport your audience directly to your webpage. Furthermore, Instagram business profiles are able to share links on Instagram stories as well! These new modifications are significantly game changers, modifying the nature of Instagram from a platform catered to personal interaction, to a growing marketplace.
Source: https://jumpermedia.co
Conduct giveaways and promotions
Sometimes, attractive freebies work better than a thousand persuasive words. That is the principle behind giveaways and promotions. By inviting your audience to claim these real and tangible rewards, the inertia towards engaging with your brand is lowered, boosting both your brand awareness and engagement rates!
In summary
Instagram was once deemed as an unsuitable place for business owners, due to its heavy emphasis on images over text, which has severely limited its effectiveness in the dissemination of information. With the recent adjustments, such barriers have been resolved. The strategic listing of multiple links, powerful business analytics tools, and multiple placements of links and linked advertisements have transformed the nature of Instagram, from a personalized sphere to a growing commercial space that extends your reach to the younger demography.
Ever wondered why those hours of brainstorming and meticulous planning don’t translate into improvement in sales? The reason could be one or more of these factors! This time, we’ve summarized the biggest mistakes made by advertisers into 4 big categories.
1. Your ad lacks specificity in audience targeting
According to Forbes Insights’ and their publication ‘Reaching the Right Audience’, 9 out of 10 companies spend at least a quarter of their digital advertising budgets on specific targets. 84% percent then expect such investments to rise with time.
Casting the net wide and far may, at face value, seem like a good idea. After all, you are speaking to many at once, increasing your chances of attracting potential buyers. That said, this often comes at the expense of your ad’s relevance, which results in the undermining of your campaign’s success.
Out of the multitude of people viewing your advertisement, can you envision the type of audience that your products or services will appeal to? What would be their gender, age range, and lifestyle habits? To really sell your product, you would need to delve into greater detail to focus your resources on a specified group of audience.
Many times, the root of the problem lies with inadequate audience research. For the perceived group of people, what would some of their concerns be? What are some pages they follow on Facebook? Are there any micro or macro influencers that they respect and admire? From there, you would be able to derive this group’s unique interests, which differentiates them from the rest of the population! Thereafter, adjust your ad such that it speaks exclusively to these people, in a manner that connects with them.
2. Your visuals and headlines failed to catch their eye
Did you know, that images account for as much as 75-90% of an ad’s performance?
In the same study, research by David Ogilvy reveals that images are viewed and absorbed first before any text is consumed. In an age where your viewers are bombarded with colourful, spectacular, and high-definition photos from multiple sources, it’s not easy to present an image that would make them stop and really look. However, to succeed in doing so would bring your campaign so much closer to success.
According to Justine Timoteo, writer at Impactbnd.com, the right image should be closely linked to your product or service. Choosing stock photos is an easy way out. However, they do not carry your message across aptly, nor do they exhibit the value of your goods. A picture that does not convince your audience has no part in your campaign. It is thus wiser to choose a photo that relates to your products closely, rather than one that grabs your viewers’ attention, only to be dismissed as being another gimmicky “view-bait”.
For your headline, use clear and concise language that renders the meaning of your message as transparent as possible. Reducing your viewers’ effort in grasping your advertisement, and the boosting speed at which your message is carried across, is paramount. Also, your headline should explicitly explain how your audience stands to benefit, to boost their interest in your ad.
3. You sought instant results
In an age of instant gratification, the time taken for things to work is often an index of its effectiveness. As such, ads that are not performing can often be met with frustration, especially since money has been invested. This is where the urge to edit and reset the ads kicks in.
However, have you considered that Facebook would require time to gather insight and data? Braveen Kumar, a Facebook Marketing expert at Shopify, advises advertisers to put on hold modifications of the ads, like pausing or editing them, until a number of 1000 has been reached. This is because the time passed would offer valuable feedback about the ad’s performance and audience, even if they do not reap tangible sales.
Facebook Pixel is another software that empowers your ads, as it uses pixel to track and learn based on performance data. The end result is improved audience targeting, which carries your ad to the people who are the most likely to procure!
4. You tested multiple variables at once
The lack of visible performance would plunge most marketers into a frenzy of frantically changing multiple variables in a bid to improve their ads. However, the lack of isolating factors leaves one with unanswered questions when the ads eventually do bring in sales. What was done right? The format of the ad? The placement and schedule? Unfortunately, the reason for success cannot be traced back because the approach formulated was not carefully planned, but rather, a lucky coincidence.
The benefit of insights should not be exchanged for results. After all, the insights form a repository of experience that translates into ever-improving ad creation skills that would garner greater good in the future.
There are many sparks that could ignite the fuse leading to the bomb named ‘social media disaster’. These include careless E-mails, misinformation on your social media pages, misdirected marketing campaigns, sensational but insensitive taglines and so on. With the reach of social media comes the onus of keeping these multiple frontiers error-free. The web can be an unforgiving place, where the traces of accidents remain in the fine lattice of its binary code. How then should companies contain and salvage a social media catastrophe when it strikes?
1. Build a strong crisis management team
As the saying goes, “always be prepared for the unexpected”. With large amount of data being transferred and content being published daily, a social media crisis in any scale is inevitable. Set up a crisis management squad skilled in assessing the potential minefields that compromise your brand image and company.
According to Korena keys, the founder and CEO of KeyMedia Solutions, the team should assign members to be responsible for responding to various parties (marketing, public relations, agency, management). Recommended responses should also be formulated beforehand, including the message, tone and location of response.
After that, rehearse the solutions formulated. Have a reliable team that remains active even during after-work hours and on holiday as to minimize the damage of disasters striking at any hour.
2. Cognizance of the types of crisis
On a related note to the crisis management team’s anticipatory plans, being aware of the types of crisis could lead to improved vigilance. According to Social Media Today, social media crisis comes in 4 levels of severity and scale.
“Level 1 – Self-inflicted”
This is the lightest degree of damage, where error results from carelessness or the team’s overlooking of fine details.
“Level 2 – Unanticipated Data Error”
This type of mistakes are usually unforeseen ones in the financial or technical aspect.
To most, this may raise a red flag concerning the company’s effectiveness. To the minority of the more forgiving audiences, rare errors in these “complex systems of leviathan proportions” is largely inevitable, placing it at level 2.
“Level 3 – Public Misinformation”
This type of error concerns incorrect information dispensed by the company. Mere carelessness or unforeseen circumstances no longer excuse these mistakes as the information ought to be carefully processed and checked before coming from the company themselves. Such errors heavily penalize the professionalism and credibility of the firm, causing a drop in the public’s trust in them. The damage done here is fatal, but hold your breath for what’s to come.
“Level 4 – Outside Force”
This encompasses an attack from external, malicious parties that breach the company’s security. By intruding into the company’s servers and databases, they jeopardize private data of the customers.
Unlike the errors of levels 1 to 3, the crisis at level 4 compromises more than the company’s image. Customers are directly affected and implicated by the lapses in security. The sheer scale of impact of such errors places it at the highest level of danger.
3. Turn it into an ingenious marketing strategy
When it’s all been said and done, does it signal an irrevocable end? Not necessarily so. With some innovation, risk-taking, luck and impeccable planning, the company’s misstep can be maneuvered into a refreshing marketing strategy! According to Chad White of Marketing Land, this tactful turn of events does not exclude the orthodox apology, but includes one strong and compelling reason for your readers to forgive you. This reason takes the form of an attractive offer or reward. Endearing images of animals, big discounts, and self-directed humor make a tactful appearance to dilute the negative feelings evoked by the error.
Why would these tactics work? It reminds your readers you are first and foremost a group of humans, rather than a faceless organization. Executed to perfection, such apology-turned-PR-strategies can establish closer relations between you and your customer. It also shows your customers the vibrant and humorous side of your company!
Photo Credits: https://marketingland.com/top-5-favorite-apology-emails-153243
4. Offer a frank and genuine apology
Unfortunately, for mistakes in level 2 to 4, the strategy above loses its magic. They can resolve lower-level errors with negligible impacts, such as those in level 1, but do not resolve more damning consequences that require a more serious approach. As such, a prudent choice is a prompt, straight-forward and sincere apology that clears confusion and appeals to the goodwill of your audiences.
According to Jay Baer on Convince and Convert, it’s wise to follow a strong acknowledgment of the problem with “social media water” that extinguishes the “social media fire”. This means addressing the outbreak on the very platform that it has occurred on. For crises of greater scales, Baer suggests a ‘Crisis FAQ” that breaks down the chaos into manageable sections. Such an appearance of organization and control works towards redeeming the company and its failure to keep things regulated during the catastrophe.
5. Reflection
As the crisis winds down, take stock of your company and the damage that has been incurred. More importantly, recognize the origins of the crisis, and the measures that could nip the problem at its bud.
Since humans can’t be inerrant, leverage the precision afforded by technology. Use monitoring tools that can assist you in managing social media channels, capture complaints and feedback quickly, observe industry trends, and stay on top of the competition! Paid and free choices are available online, the former being brands such as Brandwatch and Sysomos, with the latter being companies such as Cyfe and SimplyMeasured.
Above all, nothing replaces the values of vigilance and watchfulness. Nevertheless, with each crisis comes new experience and lessons to enrich your crisis management team and company.
Have you heard of the saying that it’s harder to maintain than to attain? This rings true for customer retention as well! With a wide number of competitors becoming increasingly social media savvy, keeping a strong and growing fan base does present new challenges. What are some methods you can adopt to convince, convert, and retain for the long haul? Read on to find out!
1. Share their images to strengthen the relationship
As a consumer, nothing beats the feeling of being recognized by a brand you support. Business owners, leverage on this mentality! It’s a good idea to share photos of your customers on your social media pages. This establishes your brand as one that values and cherishes your band of supporters, and also makes your customers feel positive about the moment of fame received! Encourage your customers to tag your brand name on their social media pages for your team to locate and reward them easily.
2. Keep them keen with loyalty schemes
In the midst of acquiring new customers, don’t forget about your old fan base! According to Social Media Today, it is 7 times cheaper to retain an existing customer, than it does to engage and convert a new customer! Existing consumers are also 1.5 times more likely to try new products and services as compared to new ones. They also contribute more to your revenue by spending 31 % more on average, as compared to newly acquired customers! As such, creating loyalty schemes that reward your existing customers as VIPs is paramount to your expansion!
3. Be concise with content that value-add
With the influx of live videos that do not go to the point, and long-form content filled with superficial information known by the majority of the readers, our era has reached new heights of content overload. It happens on social network, communications and marketing channels, and continue to occur even as you read. How then can you set your brand apart in these mediums of overflowing information?
The key lies in being concise and direct. This does not necessarily translate to sparsely written content where brevity is the only objective. Rather, it is content constructed with the desires and attention span of its readers in mind, content that with the right amount of knowledge to value-add, and yet the right dosage of entertainment to draw them in and keep them reading. Cut out the convolution and go for powerful and evocative communication instead!
4. Know what your customers want and personalize your materials to suit those wants
One golden rule of communication is that listening and speaking come in equal parts. Social listening is a vital component of your social media activity! Monitor which products and services are garnering the most attention, and what your customers are speaking about them. Encouraging reviews is another method of eliciting valued information from your consumers. Understanding their consuming habits and behavioral patterns would assist you greatly in fine-tuning your approaches in casting your marketing net.
Providing exceptional customer service is another method to directly engage with and understand your customers. Reply promptly to queries and show your customers that their interests are valued. According to The Social Habit, a third of the customers look forward to a reply within 30 minutes after an inquiry has been posted. Another 42% of them anticipate an answer within the next hour. 57% of these customers also expect response speed during night time and over the weekends to be comparable to regular working hours. To satisfy the expectations of these customers is the first step to winning them over.
5. Seize the right time of the day for engagement
When are the best times to gain readership for your material? Try 7.30-9.30am in the morning, and 6-7pm in the evening. Doing so will help you capture bored commuters on the way home, scrolling through the social media platform for entertainment. Besides these golden periods, weekday lunchtimes and weekend mornings are also ideal for the dissemination of information!
Brace your business for Facebook’s new algorithm. With this new system, person-to-person interaction will be in focus on the platform. This means that personal content will be valued and prioritized above advertising and marketing shout-outs from business pages. With the tables turned, less materials from media and business sources will appear on users’ newsfeed in an organic manner. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has altered the goal of the product teams from “helping users to find relevant content” to “helping users to have more meaningful social interactions”. What would this spell for business owners and how can they remain relevant on this changing platform?
Here are 3 tips to help you re-orientate your business in light of Facebook’s new algorithm.
1. Grasping How The System Works
Knowing the crux of the issue and adjust your strategies accordingly. Keenan Beasley, contributor at Forbes.com asserts that “for most businesses, it will be as simple as understanding what the ambition of your brand or product is and aligning that with the target consumer that has a similar ambition”. Indeed, understanding the rules of the game and streamlining your approach in accordance would do your business good.
2. Increase Engagement
With Facebook’s shift from marketing content with a distant, corporate tone of voice, to stories with a more personal feel, business have to execute relevant adjustments to make the cut. One method is to switch from wholly didactic material, to vibrant content that stimulates thinking, sharing and commenting. Indeed, doing so will require a longer preparation time for content writers, not to mention creativity in designing the point of entry into the topic. However, as Facebook’s filtering algorithm kicks into full swing, companies who do so will get to keep their readers. Instead of focusing on the reach of an article, consider factors of sustainability such as its relevance and impact as well.
Nurturing an active community that suffuses your brand’s digital space with active energy is also crucial! The relationship these digital natives share fit into the mold of meaningful person-to-person interaction promoted by Facebook, allowing your business to thrive despite the shift in paradigm.
Facebook’s preference for live videos has not changed under the new algorithm, with live videos gaining higher privilege as compared to pre-recorded ones. Zuckerberg observed that videos were often garnering more discussion amongst Facebook users, with live videos getting around 6 times more interaction than other types of videos. Adam Mosseri, Head of News Feed, Facebook explains why. He asserts that watching pre-recorded videos is a passive activity that neither inspires interaction with others, nor spark conversation. It clearly does not fit into Facebook’s new approach of strengthening person-to-person relations. On the other hand, live videos have a compelling sense of immediacy that sucks its audience in, and also strengthens the relationship between the brand and consumers as the viewers feel a sense of privilege in being involved in the freshest happenings.
With the inundation of visual stimulations on the web, only the most beautiful photos will gain the prized position under the spotlight. As such, make your brand shine with the high definition images that tell a story.
3. Rope In The Influencers
At the end of the day, influencers are people after all. Marketing through influencers would hence fit into Facebook’s championed model of person-to-person interaction. With the new algorithm staunching the flow of materials from media outlets and businesses, influencer marketing is expected to gain in traction. In recent times, leveraging the popularity and reach of established individuals has become a mainstream strategy for driving traffic within niche categories like beauty, fitness and food.
Keenan Beasley, contributor at Forbes.com introduces what he terms “equity matchmaking”. This refers to the discovery of your target audience, their preference and consumer habits, and the selection of an influencer that they can resonate with to be one’s brand ambassador. The most successful brands are able to facilitate a seamless blend of the products and services into the influencer’s lifestyle.
