December 7, 2011 - Posted by Amy Rose Brown
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Facebook Ads got you down? Frazzled? Some other negative adjective that you don’t want to be? Fret no more.
The best method for streamlining your Facebook ads and achieving maximum effectiveness is split testing. If you’re a beginner, and maybe even if you’re not, this can sound daunting. A split test? Do I have to have lots of technical knowledge and run a bunch of numbers to do this?
Nope.
The minimum resources needed for split testing are two similar Facebook Ads with small differences. You can run the same copy with a different image, or try the exact same ad on two different groups of people – the most obvious division being men and women. Try split testing with a larger groups: for example, test the same ad on both genders in multiple age ranges and with two different specific interests.
Run these ads for a day or two, and then see how they did. Eliminate the half of the ads that performed the least well. You have just successfully split tested your first set of Facebook Ads.
From the looks of it, this means that your ads get tired from running all the time (get it – “running” all the time). That’s not just a bad joke, because it’s also half correct. With ad fatigue, it’s not your ads that are actually getting tired.
It’s your Facebook target audience: they’re tired of seeing the same ad over and over and over.
It’s been shown that the more times a user is exposed to a given ad, the less likely they are to respond. This, by definition, makes them less likely to click on your ad and do whatever it is you want them to do.
To combat ad fatigue, you simply have to ensure that your target audience regularly sees something different from you. This means introducing new ads on a regular basis, or rotating your current images and copy so they don’t appear as frequently.
Gatekeeper apps: What drives Facebook users to like a page? Overwhelmingly, it’s the promise of a discount or promotional offer. A gatekeeper app or tab will reveal this discount or promotional offer to a fan, but only after they like your page. Send out an ad to your target audience featuring the promotion. You’ll be much more likely to create fans and even sales. If you can figure out a way to integrate a lead capture tool here to get people’s email addresses, that’s even more amazing.
Don’t spam and don’t be boring: Facebook advertising is not a midnight infomercial. Remember this. Tattoo this on your forearm. This is your new mantra – not just for Facebook Advertising, but in all areas.
How is Facebook Advertising working for you? Drop us a line and let us know. And if you need help, you can contact our Facebook marketing experts here.
November 21, 2011 - Posted by Amy Rose Brown
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The holiday season is all about friends and family connecting and reconnecting with one another. As a brand on social media, you want – even need – to be a part of people’s holiday traditions and memories. We’ve compiled some tips to help effectively transition your company’s year-round message to one of good tidings, sugarplums, mistletoe, and…you get the picture.
Photo contests are easy for participants and allow for more interaction with your brand than simply liking your Facebook page or filling out a form for entry. A fun, creative example of a holiday photo contest is last year’s 12 Days of LUV Twitter campaign launched by Southwest Airlines. Each of the 12 days had a different photo challenge, and the best photo of the day won the entrant a $1000 gift card. Other ideas: ugliest holiday sweater, best gingerbread house, pet with the most holiday spirit, or best/worst gift received.
If you’re a business with a storefront, set up a canned food or Toys for Tots drop-off site and promote it on your social media accounts. You can also pledge to donate a certain amount of money for every new Facebook fan you get during a certain time period: the 12 days leading up to Christmas, or even the whole month of December. It’ll help get you on the radar of new customers/fans, and you’ll be helping those who really need the most holiday cheer.
This one is probably the easiest tip, not counting the graphic design work involved. Think of holiday imagery and incorporate it into your existing Twitter background, Facebook photo, blog header, etc. Some suggestions include: a Santa hat or antlers on your logo, snowflakes, candy canes, snowmen, gingerbread men, strings of lights – the list really goes on and on.
What kind of tips? That depends on your target audience. If you’re targeting mostly males over 30, you could offer tips on how to shop for tweens and teenagers. If your target audience is made up of college students, you could compile tips on the theme of “Gift-Giving on a Budget.” Other types of tips include: traveling, entertaining, sticking to a diet, and pet safety. Whatever your industry, there’s a list of holiday tips just waiting to be unleashed.
Have you seen the Target commercials with the intense lady in the red jumpsuit? That’s the Christmas Champ, and she’s on Twitter this year. The Christmas Champ is a prime example of having fun with a holiday social media campaign. Twitter users constantly mention the account and that they “love” her (and she consistently tweets that she loves them back, or in one case, “I love you so much I’m afraid I’ll never be able to love again”). Fun is contagious: if you’re having fun, the people around you can’t help but have fun too. Unless the only two people around you are Scrooge and the Grinch, then disregard all previous advice.
Does your company have a social media marketing strategy for the holidays? Leave us a comment with your tips and tricks!
November 7, 2011 - Posted by Amy Rose Brown
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If you have a physical location:
Even if you’re not actively participating in Foursquare as a form of social media marketing yet, chances are users are already checking in to your business. If your business isn’t already there, that’s actually kind of a bad sign – any user can create a new venue, so why hasn’t somebody created yours yet? It’s not the end of the world, though, because it also means you can put yourself on Foursquare.
There are varying instructions if you’re a chain with 10+ (or 100+) locations. In any case, Foursquare will verify your ownership by phone or mail and then…well, what does being verified mean? Claiming your venue not only allows you to use Foursquare’s built-in analytics, but it also lets you:
Verified business owners get free access to Foursquare’s merchant platform, which includes the ability to create a variety of different types of specials and discounts specifically for Foursquare users, which they can “unlock” when they check in to your location. Specials can target new customers (newbie special: get a discount or free item on the first check-in) or existing, loyal customers (loyalty special: a discount or free item every third or fourth check-in). You can even print off a sheet that explains how Foursquare works to your employees to prepare to implement a special.
If you do not have a physical location:
What can pages do? Pages can have followers – users see your activity on their homepages. Pages can have a giant, customizable banner across the top of the page (it’s all about branding). All you need to create a page is a Twitter account, which you obviously already have. Right? Right. Unlike venues, which are created immediately, pages can take up to about two weeks to be implemented. Once your page is there, you can:
Foursquare describes a tip as “a tweet that’s anchored to a location,” although it’s a little bit more than that. Tips tell Foursquare users what to order, where to sit, if the bathrooms are gross, which exhibits to check out – they’re mini-reviews, but they can also do more than that. The HISTORY Channel page leaves tips with interesting historical facts. Foursquare’s brand platform home page has examples of how leaving tips can work for you no matter your industry, from non-profits to consumer goods to sports.
The previous four tips apply to everyone. This fifth tip applies to a very narrow selection of Foursquare pages. First of all, this is the only suggestion that isn’t free – Foursquare charges a fee to create a Partner Badge. Secondly, they’re very selective when it comes to creating badges. Foursquare receives a lot of submissions for Partner Badges, but has limited capability to make those ideas a reality. However, if you do get approved, you’ll be rewarded with vastly increased followers and a ton of exposure. Foursquare lists some tips to creating a campaign that they will approve.
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