Forget breakfast, it’s Friday morning and as I wake up with a grumbling stomach I follow the same routine as every other morning: reach over and grab my phone, shut my alarm off and begin eagerly swiping through my social media notifications followed by quickly thumb through of my email. With 300 unopened daily messages in my inbox, I’ve got it down to a science: quickly scan for the words “sale” “50% off” or “rent due”, and then immediately delete the rest. Now don’t get me wrong, email is still a highly effective marketing method (see keywords above), but in many instances in the marketing world, it’s taking a backseat to social media.
50% of my downtime (I hate to admit) is spent on social media, with one of the main culprits being Facebook. Why is this? I like to blame it on the fact that I am a millennial- part of the generation known for being obsessed with their phones. Wake up- check social media, eat dinner- check social media, work out-check social media, commercial during the Bachelor? Another excuse to check my social media.
As marketers we continuously ask ourselves the same question- why do consumers spend so much time obsessing over the screen? Here’s one answer: Facebook is targeted towards what we like and it’s not overwhelming. You don’t have to scroll through 250 emails to see the 50 that you want to see. We choose what we click on, how much we scroll down on our newsfeed and when we want to use it. While some ads are just plain weird, the majority are spot on. We see things we wouldn’t normally see and actually make purchasing decisions based upon them. And this is why every company should be taking advantage of and implementing Facebook.
Do you want to create a Facebook for your business but you’re not sure how? Or maybe you already have one but you’re not sure what to do next? From the basics of setting up a page, to testing ads, it can be a tricky and sometimes frustrating process. To help, we’re sharing some tricks and tips we use when implementing Facebook marketing for clients.
1. Create a recommended image cheat sheet. While this may seem unnecessary, have you ever tried posting graphics or photos on Facebook? If you don’t know the correct sizes, it can lead to frustration, incorrectly cropped images with missing text and a frantic Google search. Cover photo (851 X 315 px), Profile image (180X180 px), Shared image (1200 X 630), Highlighted image (1200 X 717 px), Shared link (1200 X 627) are some of the ones you should have on your list.
2. Integrate apps with your Facebook page. Enhance your Facebook page with Facebook Apps- and improve your users’ experience. Some of our favorites are Iconosquare, Mail Chimp, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, Ripe Social and Ecwid. Other ones to try are Hey, Post Planner, ShortStack, Networked Blogs, Open Table, Survey Monkey or Love Chat.
3. A/B Test paid Facebook ads. While this can be taunting for beginners, the real magic in Facebook after optimizing your page is serving specific ads up to people. With options like page likes, offer claims, clicks to website or website conversions and endless targeting options, this is something you need to take advantage of. While it does require a lot of trial and error, here’s where the A/B testing (split testing) comes in handy. You can quickly test multiple ads, designs and target audiences to see which are the most effective. Not to mention it saves money.
4. Gain more followers by targeting your competition. In other terms, “steal” your competitions Facebook fans. In Facebook’s Ads creator, you can target people who have “ expressed an interest in or Liked a page related to” (i.e. your competition) using the “Interests” field.
5. Target your email list on ads. When creating a Facebook ad, click create a custom audience. Next, upload a list of contact information such as email addresses or phone numbers you have already captured. After you import Facebook will deliver ads to these contacts. This is a creative way to gain more clout to your Facebook with users who are already interested (but that you may not be connected with on Facebook).
