On my list of top social media outlets for businesses, Facebook is sitting on the top. Over the past few years, Mark Zuckerberg’s team of geniuses have learned how to maximize their advertising outlet for both small and large brands. This is the only channel where you can have your business target over a billion users, based on targeted demographics for communication. For example: when utilizing boosted posts in the printer manufacturer industry, we can select targeted advertising based on age, location, interests, job title, etc.
To dig deeper, if we wanted to target an IT professional, who lives in Florida, has kids, and loves cheesesteaks; we could easily advertise to all that apply. When it comes to paid advertising, most companies typically have the same goal –increase sales. But what many do not understand is that a successfully boosted post actually requires other elements and preparation to help the success rate.
1. Page Like Campaigns / Before or During a Boosted Campaign
Prior to boosting (or during) you should seek page like campaigns. Credibility is always a factor in social media, the more users/followers you have the more likely someone would be willing to follow. Think about it, would you be apt to follow a company with 100 followers or 1K followers?
2. Profile Photo and Header
When a boosted post or page like campaign shows up in a headline, users may be more likely to “like/share” based on the visuals presented. Having a color background on your profile logo or an interesting header should surely help engage a user.
3. 5:1 Industry Related Content
When sharing standard or boosted posts, using industry-related articles at a 5:1 ratio could help maximize success. This could vary especially if the businesses are in the retail space. Your goal should be to draw users in with your industry related topics by having a self-hosted blog on your website. If they are interested in your article, they may be just as interested in learning about your products.
4. Photos and Rich Media!
This is simple; everyone loves photos and watching videos. Again, I recommend a 5:1 posting; as a user scrolls through your feed, they will eventually seek to engage.
5. Testing!
The most important part of any advertising campaign is to test your audience. Some companies make the mistake of throwing large budgets into targeted campaigns because they feel their audience selection is perfect. What should be done, is testing a wide range of audiences and spends (within targets), to essentially determine the exact reach for the perfect price.
Above are just a few of the common mistakes I have noticed in the social media advertising space over the last few years. With Facebook Advertising rapidly growing, it is important to make sure your campaign is ready for prime time.