Tips For Maximizing Your Presence On Facebook

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It’s not surprising that the number of people who use Facebook on a daily basis has continued to climb over the last three years. As a business owner, it is foolish to overlook the importance of having a robust presence on this growing Social Media Platform.

Not sure where to get started? That’s OK! This article will cover some helpful tips and tricks for optimizing your Facebook Page for the best results.

Before worrying about your first advertising campaign, the first thing you will want to do is build your initial audience. The most reliable way to seed your Facebook Page likes is by sending a request asking your family and friends to ‘like’ your page. If they agree to ‘like’ your page, this helps assure that they see updates on your page.

It is always a smart idea to assure you’ve taken the time to fill in all required information about your business accurately, so when people come to your page, they can easily find out more about your business, your products, and/or your services.

Be Certain To Use All Of The Features That Facebook Offers

Lately, Facebook has invested quite a bit in developing out their platform, adding multiple features that can help users and business owners to build brand awareness, increase sales, and add more value to the customer service experience.

Here are a few Facebook features that you don’t want to miss.

Add a Store – If you operate an eCommerce store, one of the most exciting features to make sure that you have integrated is a Facebook Shop. Your Facebook Shop can link directly to your sales page regardless of whether you have a native eCommerce site or are using a third-party site to fulfills orders.

For best results, always use high-quality images when setting up your store. If possible, use shots from multiple angles to showcase the details of your products. Additionally, take the extra time to fill out your product descriptions, so it is easier for people to find your products.

If you use WooCommerce or Shopify as your Shopping Cart Software, these platforms can be conveniently integrated to reduce the time needed to upload new products and to manage your existing online catalog. Instead of having to make changes by hand on the Facebook Platform, changes made on your shopping cart software update automatically. How easy is that?

Set your Call-To-Action Button – Another powerful asset to make use of on the Facebook social media platform is your “Call To Action” Button. This feature allows business page owners to create a button with specific calls to action such as Book Now, Call Us, Contact us, Watch A Video, Sign Up, Shop Now, Play Game, or Download App.

Depending on your business model, these calls to actions can significantly boost your business operations. For instance, if you manage or operate a service-based company, such as a beauty salon or a nail salon, an online booking button helps to streamline your operations, increase your conversion rate, and improve customer satisfaction.

If you are interested in automating the appointment process, investing in an online booking system could prove helpful in coordinating your staff as well as expediting payments. Some cloud-based appointment setting platforms can process payment transactions for service and the ability to sell gift certificates right from your dashboard. Imagine how fantastic you’d feel to see your open appointments filled – and paid for – online from your Facebook Page!

Call Us or Contact Us – Both of these call to action buttons are more general, encouraging people to get in touch with you by phone or using another preferred method such as an online contact form. This type of “catch-all” call to action is practical for nearly any kind of business.

Sign Up – A Sign-Up call to action is helpful for any business owner who wants to build an email list or a custom Facebook audience as their goal. By collecting people’s information via a Sign-up form, you get to retain this information for future email marketing campaigns.

Download App or Play Game – Apps and games are all the rage on Facebook! If your company offers an app or gives users access to a game, choosing either “Download App” or “Play Game” as your call to action is a direct conversion which adds to your user base.

Direct Messaging via Messenger – The direct message system on Facebook offers you a way to quickly and conveniently communicate with potential customers and existing clients using one of the most popular messenger apps in use today. To help provide a better customer service experience, business page managers can set up autoresponders to send an instant message to the sender letting them know that someone will respond as quickly as possible. Additionally, you can set your status to “away” for times when you are unavailable to respond to client messages. By doing so, you are taking steps to maintain a prompt response time to inquiries. Since response times are tracked by Facebook and displayed to your page visitors, this metric can be very influential as it relates to building trust with your Facebook fans.

Events – Facebook helps keep people connected, so it should come as no surprise that the platform is also helpful for announcing and promoting events regardless if they get held online (webinars, etc.) or offline (holiday gatherings, social hours, etc.) If you’re hosting an event or a series of them, all you need to do is add these happenings on Facebook to connect with people who are likely to come.

It isn’t difficult to take steps to maximize your Facebook Page and see better results. Hopefully these tips will help to get you on your way!

How to Boost Engagement and Sales on Facebook

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The best thing about Facebook is getting the opportunity to use their thriving platform to keep in touch with your fans, friends, and customers. With over 1 billion daily users, Facebook offers business owners of all sizes the chance to connect with individuals from around the world and engage with them.

Here are some tips to boost engagement and sales on your Facebook Business Page:

Boost Engagement with Interesting Updates

Always remember, the more interesting and relevant your post updates are, the more likely your audience is to engage with these posts. If your company has news to share, Facebook is an excellent place to make an announcement. Alternatively, you might consider sharing related content in your niche or industry which your audience would find useful.

For best results, keep your post copy short, sweet, and fun! The use of videos and striking images also help capture the attention of your fanbase.

Manage Your Time Better By Scheduling Posts

If you are managing your own business, the chances are good that you run a tight schedule. Facebook offers users the ability to schedule posts that will publish automatically at the time and date you set. Undoubtedly, this is advantageous for increasing productivity. Scheduling allows you to release updates at times when you might not typically be online, such as late at night or after business hours. You can streamline the time you spend sharing by setting aside a window of time to schedule all of your posts for the week.

Use The Facebook Pages Manager App

Do you take your business on the road? If so, the Facebook Pages Manager app provides the tools to publish updates, even if you are “on the go!” This app works on both iOS and Android devices and empowers you to share images, videos, and updates at the same time! Are you participating in or hosting a live event? You can take pictures and share them instantly with your audience, which could influence them to join you at the venue.

Boost Engagement with Facebook Live

Want to share the energy of your small business with your fans on Facebook? Facebook Live allows you to broadcast directly from your store or location, as things happen! Share special moments and special events with your audience who are unable to attend. If by chance, you have an online store, you might also use Facebook Live to showcase or demonstrate products to anyone watching the live stream. By doing so, you are helping to create awareness of how the products or services you sell make people’s lives better. With a convenient checkout button, anyone who decides that they want to purchase your goods can do so quickly and easily.

Extend Special Offers To Your Audience

Want to let your audience know that you have a sale, promotion, or a special offer? Be sure to make a post about it! Alternatively, you might announce and invite customers to events, publicize the addition of new products and services, and to share these with friends, increasing the reach of your posts. Coupons and free offers are a great incentive to help you start building a new customer list!

Make Use Of The Pinned Post Feature

The Pinned Post feature is perfect for setting a keystone post to get prominently displayed at the top of your page. Additionally, you can embed this post on your third-party website, so when someone visits your site, your Pinned Post is conveniently displayed there, as well.

Boost Your Posts To Reach A Broader Audience

When you want more people to see your update, the way to do it is by boosting your post. Luckily, promoting a post is pretty easy to do. Just add the post to your timeline. Once published, click on the button that says “Boost Post” and follow the instructions provided to complete the promotion. Boosted posts are a form of paid advertising, so publishers get more tools to control who sees the update. You can fine-tune your demographics for people who already like your page or friends of those who like your page. Alternatively, you can establish a brand new demographic by selecting your ideal customer by location, age, interest, and other metrics.

When working with your Facebook Page, just remember that everything is a progression. It can take time to see results from your efforts. Make a few changes using these tips and give them time to take root. If you aren’t seeing any changes in your metrics after a few months, make a few more changes and wait a few more months to see if you see a difference.

The biggest key is consistency. Whatever efforts you do, be consistent with doing them and you will surely see results. If you try any of these tips, we would love to hear from you and the type of results you had. Leave a comment below and let us know your results!

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Colleen EakinsColleen Eakins is a dynamic and creative individual that possess a knack for great design. With over 15 years of experience in the field of graphic design, Colleen is able to effectively brand her clients with great design pieces. Her motto is: “Anyone can make a pretty picture, but is it effective? Will it […]

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Digital Marketing Trends

Projected Digital Marketing Trends For 2017

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A new year is here, and that means it’s time to speculate about what digital marketing trends will emerge! There’s no question there will be some new trends to follow, but much of what will happen in 2017 has already been happening!

Classic strategies don’t change much from one year to the next, but strategies and tactics indeed evolve. By the year 2017, everyone is aware of the fundamental nature of mobile marketing. Web developers have been noticing a shift to mobile device access for years. Now, it appears as if Desktop users are nearing extinction! That means Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and other technologies will proliferate rapidly.

AMP Is Worth Implementing

Google and Bing are always looking for ways to increase speed for their users. One way they can do that is by showing AMP pages in their search. These web pages display fast in mobile devices by stripping many additional HTML elements. Users want answers fast and search companies are delivering quick results. Anytime you can stay abreast of technological advances; it pays to do so! AMP and HTTP2 are two enhancements for your website technology and a digital marketing trend to consider.

Virtual Reality Is Going to Grow

One digital marketing trend we saw emerge toward the latter part of 2016, was virtual reality. Depending on your vertical, virtual reality may play a large role in your digital marketing efforts. It’s not hard to imagine the numerous potential applications for just about every sector. Millions of people are purchasing VR technology, and they’ll want to use the pricey equipment to its fullest advantage. If your organization can come up with a slick way to deliver content or a user experience to this emerging technology, you’ll see a sudden boost in sales.

Big Data Keeps on Growing

There’s an interesting thing about data. The more of it anyone amasses, the more useful it becomes. Companies are relying heavily on mining Big Data as much as possible to guide their marketing. Being able to predict results accurately means you can spend marketing dollars much more wisely. Big Data has been contributing a lot to the top end for large organizations. Next up we’ll see small and mid-sized enterprises catch up. Amazon Web Services have some Big Data options that marketers will build applications for to help the ecosystem grow.

Multi-Channel Marketing Continues to Dominate

Companies have to craft specific messages for the various crucial social networks. If they don’t, they’ll find the effectiveness of their overall campaign diminishes. Having to do this requires more work and money, but the results make it a mainstay. It’s not enough to manage a Facebook Page. You should also represent your company on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have a business where creating visuals is easy, consider the benefits of Pinterest and Instagram. There’s no one size fits all strategy that will work for any small business’ marketing plan, but it is a digital marketing trend that is still a staple.

Social Analytics Become Essential

Analytics help marketers correctly interpret social media information. Analytics may not mean much when you first start, but when you’re running multiple campaigns with high budgets, they are unavoidable. It helps to see what content matters most and who your most influential followers are at all times. Social analytics dashboards range in features, but all of them give you profound insights into how you interact with customers and prospects. For those who are waging campaigns across multiple channels, this type of knowledge is hugely important.

Video Never Slows Down

By now you’re probably investing heavily in video content. That digital marketing trend will continue in 2017 and beyond. People love the format of video. If you introduce a video marketing campaign to your inbound marketing efforts this year, expect a boost in your activity. Attracting viewers on Facebook and YouTube is easy. Facebook has been granting precedence to video content for months, and that will go on for quite some time. Now’s an excellent time to dive in with both of your feet and start pushing engaging video content. There are still many of your competitors who haven’t been producing videos. Beat them to market and win new fans and customers.

Distributing Your App Helps Growth

2017 may be the year to advertise your app to a broad market. The app ecosystem is so large that it’s still possible to find low-cost advertising that works. It’s worth experimenting by targeting those who are already using related applications. You may be able to poach the exact type of customer you want at an affordable cost. Have your digital marketing agency come up with a strategy that takes the vibrant world of App Discovery into consideration. Investing in an app once is never enough. It matters that you continue to improve your offering and that you advertise it far and wide. Rewards for companies that stay consistent with their marketing are high.

The classics won’t change this year. In marketing, that means to have a strong brand and a coherent message. If people can quickly identify what your company sells, you’re on the right path. It might be worth discarding older marketing material and coming up with fresh new ideas. If you aren’t into doing it yourself, many professionals can assist. People who work with digital marketing every day develop a strong sense of what works. Once you plug your existing efforts into a digital framework, you have a chance to really take off!

No matter what digital marketing trend you decide on, make sure you follow up with your clients! Whether you use email alone or call or text them doesn’t matter. You’ll find those who have dealt with you in the past can be excellent sources of revenue. Sometimes all it takes is a simple reminder that you’re out there and can help them. That triggers a process that ends with them seeking you out for more services! Adding more people to the top of your sales funnel and selling more to those who are already customers will help you get excellent returns.

Social Media Live Broadcasting:: My Conundrum

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First it was Meerkat, then it was Periscope that I couldn’t quite get a handle on. I wanted to stay current and jump on the latest wave of social media platforms to utilize for my business. However, I just couldn’t seem to find a way to use them in a workable way. To be completely honest, I didn’t really try that hard. Next up, was Snapchat. Like the others, I created an account and never used it. Now we have Facebook Live and Instagram stories. With these latest two developments, I’m just now figuring out what my problem is/was–social media live broadcasting.

All of these platforms and added features to existing platforms require me to update live and in real time. I’m not much of an in real time poster. I’m a scheduler.

I write blog posts, and schedule them to go out at future dates and times. Content on my active social media profiles are curated and scheduled. My photographic content that I post on social media profiles are shot in real time and then edited later during my leisure time. My video content…is almost non-existent. I shoot in real time and then never make it around to editing the footage later.

Creating and posting content for a Periscope or Facebook Live format is an awesome way to engage with fans on social media. I love viewing Snapchat stories and so far, I have enjoyed the stories on Instagram as well. I want to participate and I have a ton of content ideas, but I just don’t seem to have the capacity to do so live and in the moment. Primarily, because it takes me out of the moment in real life…and I have ADD (attention deficit disorder).

At the beginning of this year, I set three goals for 2016. The first was to get my eyesight corrected–done, I am now seeing 20/15. The second was to create an additional revenue stream–still a work in progress and the third was to create more balance between work and life. I’ve been doing pretty well with the balancing act. A part of my success has been to try to focus on living more in the moment. Instead of trying to split my already fractured attention span into more than one direction, I try to focus on one thing and enjoy that one thing.

So, no watching television and checking social media. Or, going for a walk in the park and trying to play Pokémon Go at the same time. I have to focus on one or the other. Trying to capture daily activities while working, or business related events and then edit, add text, and cool effects, seems to take me away from that moment I want to share. Staging it solely for the purpose of posting doesn’t feel authentic and I’ve deleted all of those attempts. My stories, I actually want to be stories, but to capture and share them hasn’t worked out for me. Every time I think, “I should capture this,” or “this would be great on Snapchat,” I also think that I will miss out on what is happening because my attention is diverted to the act of capturing and not the act of living and enjoying that moment.

Being and living in the moment, seems to cut down on some of my stress and anxiety and helps me maintain some of my balance. Social media live broadcasting, or the act of trying to do so, seems to increase it.

Am I the only solo-preneur that is having this struggle? Post your experience in the comments and let’s talk about it!