Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are helpful in reaching different markets. It is important to understand all types of ads in order to gain optimal exposure. Here are the primary types of ads:

Link Click Ads: These ads are by far the most common and are effective in gaining likes. They typically contain a headline, 90 character ad copy text, and an image. Link click ads, like the name suggests, point to a landing page on a website or blog. These ads have the farthest reach including the right column, Instagram, mobile, and desktop newsfeed platforms.
Video Ads: These ads are essentially like link click ads except they feature a video. These videos can be continuously looping. The best performing ads, however, are typically short at 15-20 seconds long.
Boosted Page Posts: All posts made on a Facebook page can be boosted for around $5. Posts can have unlimited ad copy texts and will read "sponsored" at the top when they appear in users feeds. This is a newer go-to-method because target markets and bidding amounts can be customized.

Carousel Ads: This type of ad displays rotating images (up to 10) and an ad copy text of 90 characters. This ad is super helpful when trying to promote multiple products at one time. For instance, a new line of summer clothing can be advertised perfectly with this method.
Dynamic Product Ads: These ads essentially focus on remarketing. They heavily target users based on previous websites visited and actions. These ads require a product catalog and Facebook does the remarketing automatically.
Lead Ads:  Allow users to download an ebook or sign up for an email without leaving Facebook. This is perfect for gaining and attracting new users.
Collection Ads: These ads allow for quick, immersive mobile shopping experience because they directly display products/ apparel from a website. These ads are very limited in characters and only visible on mobile devices.

For more ads types and information on Facebook marketing, I highly recommend checking out this guide: https://adespresso.com/guides/facebook-ads-beginner/

Facebook Pages

According to Facebook's 2017-Quarter 4 report, there are currently 2.13 billion active Facebook users worldwide. Naturally, this means that Facebook is the perfect place for business to gain traction. Today, Facebook pages are typical for companies, non-profits, and events. These pages are essentially like free, internal websites for any topic. Now, Facebook "Boosts" allow for paid exposure, which is essentially another way  to market content. As stated in Introduction to Social Media Marketing, "focus on content and not the channel". This recommendation is important because no matter the medium that is used, success ultimately boils down to adequately understanding the audience and providing them with relevant, engaging content.

Here are some tried tips for a successful Facebook page:

• When making a page, be sure to edit the URL so that it is simple and memorable. To do this go to settings --> page info --> change the Facebook Web Address. This lets people easily find and remember the page. 
• Create milestones. These appear in the status update box and allow companies to show off accomplishments, product launches, or growth goals. This provides a sense of legitimacy and positive reactions with onlookers. 
• Link Instagram and Facebook in order to provide higher quality visual content to a larger audience. Photos speak louder than words. Therefore, adding quality photos to posts will enhance engagement.  Adding an infographic or flyer is far more effective than a lump of words. 
• Interact with followers. This can be done through polls. Adding polls and receiving feedback can aid in decision making by letting you know your target market's preferences. For instance, before launching a soap collection, a poll can be made for people to pick their favorite scents. A poll like this can determine which scents will sell successfully while increasing customer engagement and loyalty. 
• Test posts during different times in the day to see when the most traction occurs. Companies with older target markets may see more tracking during the afternoon, and target markets with younger audiences may see traction at night. This tactic requires trial and error and can effectively lead to a wider reach.

Here's a brief, helpful Facebook infographic from 99designs:

Introduction to Social Media Marketing

According to the Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research, 77% of Millenials purchase something online or in-store after seeing it on Facebook. This statistic exemplifies the power of social media marketing. Product and brand exposure is built through promotion to social media users. This is essentially the role of digital marketing: to create awareness of products or services through consumer engagement. Companies use advertisements, contests, social/news reactions, videos and spotlights to grab attention. The goal is to create or post content that will be the most interesting and relevant to your target audience. Different tools can be used to access differing markets, for instance, Instagram is great for targeting travelers or foodies, while LinkedIn is vital for connecting with other businesses.

One sound piece of information from the book Introduction to Social Media Marketing is that the digital age is ever-shifting. What is relevant today, may not be relevant tomorrow. However, understanding the basics of certain solid platforms like Youtube or Twitter is an important baseline. Newer technology and spaces will inevitably emerge. It is always beneficial to approach social media with a learning attitude in order to constantly improve and stay up-to-date. For example, according to the Data and Marketing Association, Snapchat is now the fourth most used social media platform for brands, overtaking even Twitter. Facebook, however, is currently still number one!

Social media interaction has inevitably led to qualitative improvement for companies. However, the DMA has noted that "measuring ROI from social media marketing was ranked as the top challenge that marketers faced in 2016".  While this may be a current challenge, there are a growing number of internal and third-party tools that can help gauge quantitative success. For instance, HootSuite, Google Analytics, and Buffer are a few that are becoming more widely utilized.

https://thedma.org/marketing-insights/marketing-statistics/social-media-marketing-statistics/

Social Media

Today, social media has been revolutionary in shifting the way people view the world. The world has become a smaller place with trends, ideas, products, movements, and news being constantly exchanged effortlessly through the world. For the business world, this platform is an incredible way to connect to and access all stakeholders. Social media is powerful to companies because at its core is relationship building. People can now have genuine interactions with brands that they are personally interested in. When companies respond to user outreach, it shows that a consumer's voice is not only being heard but also being listened to. 

Of course, social media has plenty of other perks. At a baseline, it is a free tool that can be utilized to whatever strength required. Social media drives traffic to sites, creates brand recognition, builds brand loyalty, and ultimately increases sales. Sites like Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram are leading the industry. It is vital that any company that would like to stay relevant and connect with their target audience understand social media and how to market through it. Here is a new infographic from Hootsuite with some 2017 statistics.

AdWords Mistakes

 Now that we know basics about how to use AdWords, it is equally important to know how to not use it. Misusing AdWords can be the reason why some campaigns are not successful. Here are some common mistakes that can hinder an AdWords campaign:

• Not using the same keywords in your actual ad. This may seem redundant, but it is sure to get clicks. As simple as it seems, people do like to see what they search in an ad.
• Not utilizing the experiments feature. This feature allows you to run possible scenarios to test out an ad before going live. Running experiments can test aspects like bids and landing pages. You can isolate variables and track changes to determine choices. Ultimately, it saves a ton of money by helping you make a better decision.
• Not using ad extensions (or having extensions that do not work). Ad extensions attract clicks from users and encourages action. Failure to use them could be a serious reason as to why clicks are low.
• Having no negative keywords. Negative keywords are super important because they help you attract the right target market. This way, you avoid paying for clicks from people who were never interested in the first place. Negative keywords help the quality and accuracy of the ad. 
• Lack of a good bidding strategy. It is especially important to understand bids and how they work in the industry your ads are in. Also, important to take into consideration the ROI when setting up high bids - as required in come competitive industries. 

Below are some other examples of mistakes to avoid:

Remarketing

Hello there! Have you ever visited a shopping site, and saw that site's ad on the banner of a Youtube video later that day? It can be a bit freaky as to how the internet knows and tracks what sites you visit. This technique is called remarketing and it is quite effective. Instead of advertising to people that may or not be interested in the content a company provides, it makes more sense to advertise to people that have shown previous interest. This way a company can more precisely capture their target market and spend advertising money on quality clicks. Here are some tips to improve remarketing campaigns:

• Always utilize dynamic remarketing, instead of static remarketing. Dynamic remarketing is known to provide more conversions over time. Dynamic remarketing is more personal because it provided personalized product information to the viewer and thus is more effective, even if these ads take longer to set up.
• Youtube. Youtube is a great platform for remarketing ads. Youtube has a wide audience so it is easy to find the appropriate target market. Also, Youtube ads are easy to set up and if clicked to skip, the impression is not to be paid for!
• Be sure to use Google Analytics to view remarketing lists. You can create remarketing lists with most metrics. For example, shoe shoppers that visited your site in the past 30 days. AdWords will automatically create identical lists like these that allow you to target different audiences. 
• Lastly, it is a good idea to use email lists to create remarketing lists. People that signed up for promotional emails are a great place to advertise to. This is because not only did they just visit the site, but they are also very interested in the products offered. You use Google URL Builder to set up this list.

Maximizing Conversions

Hello! Today, I wanted to share some tips on how to maximize conversions. Getting plenty of clicks is definitely step one but that does not necessarily translate to tangible business progress that conversions provide. Ultimately, it usually is more important to maximize on conversions even if that means less clicks. A successful conversions campaigns means your ad is hitting your target audience really well. At the end of the day, it comes down to quality over quantity. 

Firstly, using geotargeting is extremely beneficial. Using negative bids on areas that your target market is not located in will allow you to spend less on the wrong target and more on the right market. For example, if your ad is promoting a personal heating device, it may not make sense to promote the ad universally across the nation. Instead, it is wiser to avoid places in the south, where the temperatures are already warm and people are unlikely to buy the product. This way you can spend more on marketing the ad to people in the east coast or in the Midwest  where temperatures are colder an thus home to the ideal target market.

Next, it is also very crucial to make all ads optimized for mobile devices. Many people use their cellphones to surf the web. Mobile use is the most probable way people will see ads. Therefore, it is imperative to have a landing page and ad that is firstly mobile friendly. Look at historic data and see what platform your audience is using. It will likely be mobile and if it is create a new ad that is solely for mobile optimization. 

Another tip is to not use the home page as your landing page. The home page typically contains general information that is not specifically catered towards a certain target market, thus resulting in less conversions. Instead, try to match your landing page's material with the content on your add. This will boost your quality score by making the ad more relevant. For example, if you have a makeup brand and place an ad about lipsticks, it is wiser to make the landing page one on lip product sales verses the generic home page  that does not have immediate appeal (to the clicker of the ad on lips). 

Other ways to maximize conversions is to specify keywords and use negative keywords to avoid the wrong target market from viewing the ad. Also, putting the keyword in the landing page URL will help make the ad more relevant to your site. Lastly, focus on improving ad rank. This means work to increase bids and quality score so that your ad appears closer to the top of the page and before competitors.