3 Strategies for Using Facebook's Promoted Posts

BY AMY PORTERFIELD 

Are you willing to pay so your Facebook posts reach more eyes? Maybe you should be.

One of the newest Facebook features, called Promoted Posts, allows business pages with 400 or more "likes" to pay from $5 to $100 so that more fans -- and friends of fans -- see their posts in their News Feeds on computers and mobile devices.

Using page posts in a regular Facebook ad can be effective for ramping up engagement -- and engagement is critical for brands whose ideal customers already "like" their page. With Promoted Posts, Facebook is taking the idea one step further.

The problem is that many regular page posts go unseen. Facebook itself estimates that only 16 percent of a page's fans see a given post, on average, though it varies depending on how engaged your fans are. You can look at the bottom of any recent update on your page to see the number of people reached. If your numbers are consistently low, Promoted Posts can help. You can set one up, select a budget and see estimated reach right from the post itself. Other than a gray "Sponsored" tag, it looks much like other news feed content.

For example, Meredith Manor, an equestrian college in West Virginia, used Promoted Posts to spotlight its student successes and attract new people. The school found that it reached four times more users through Promoted Posts and 3.5 times more engaged users.

Here are a few strategies to test-drive the new feature -- and make sure your investment is well spent:

1. Don't confuse "Promoted Post" with sales pitches. 
Just because you paid for it, don't expect fans to be any more receptive to hard sales tactics. Your fans are on Facebook for fun. They "liked" your page because they connect with your brand, but but they don't want product pitches, especially in their News Feeds.

Think about ways to genuinely engage them, just as you do every time you write a regular post. What do they care about? Here are a few ideas:

• Promote discounts or special offers. These drive traffic back to your store or site, leading to sales
   
• Collect leads with value-added giveaways or contests. Send fans to download something free or enter a contest in exchange for their contact information.

2. Craft your Promoted Post with care. 
As you probably already know, plenty of Facebook page posts hover well under that 16 percent viewership mark. Usually, the problem isn't that no one paid to promote the post. It's that no one wants to engage with the content. 

No matter how good the offer or content is, it's up to you to make sure fans are inspired to take action on it with clicks, "likes" and comments. Here are some suggestions:

• Use a clear, strong call to action. "Click like if you agree!" "Share this photo with a friend!" These simple phrases make all the difference in influencing your fans to act, as well as increasing the chances their friends will see your post, too.
   
• Include a photo or video. Use Facebook's bigger, bolder Timeline look to your advantage and post a funny, entertaining or helpful photo or video. But first, ask yourself, "Would I share this photo or video with my friends?"
   
• Don't forget to link. If you need to move your fans beyond Facebook to a webinar, online class, blog post or survey, include the hyperlink and clear instructions in your post.

3. Measure your progress. 
If you're paying to promote a post, treat it just as you would an ad. Track your results so you can see what works. 

Luckily, Facebook has made tracking Promoted Posts easy. At the bottom of each Promoted Post you'll see the number of people you reached with the post. Hover over that number and you can see more details, including how many friends of fans you reached.

If you use both Sponsored Page Post ads for fans and Promoted Posts, you can split-test to see which works better. Measure clicks, "likes," comments and actual sign-ups. Did you see better results with a Promoted Post? If not, it's time to rethink the next promotion.

Compare Promoted Posts to each other. Which posts work best? Those with a question? Funny posts, or serious posts? And is your percentage reached number increasing over time? Be prepared to revise your strategy.

And, of course, make sure to track your costs. How do your results and exposure compare to other paid strategies you've used online? Even if you don't have a direct corollary to split-test, check that each dollar spent is yielding results in "likes," leads, traffic or actual sales that are worth the price.

How to Promote Your Business with Customized Facebook Timeline Apps

BY MIKAL E. BELICOVE |

Q: How can a customized Facebook Timeline app help my business?

App-adept: Involver's Roland Smart.

Photo© Eva Kolenko

A: This question usually pops up after a business realizes that its catchall Facebook page is great for building excitement about the brand but has limits when it comes to specific promotions or tracking interest in ancillary products such as a new line. A Facebook Timeline app allows a business to create strategic one-off pages, then track market intelligence, referral traffic, customer engagement and conversion for that page. The app also enables companies to run promotions on a campaign basis (short-term) or an evergreen basis (ongoing).

Roland Smart--vice president of marketing for Involver, a Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) technology provider that has consulted with Facebook's own marketing team--gave us his Timeline tips.

Go long. Think long-term when it comes to back-end technology, Smart says: "We advise our customers to consider how to make their campaign-based applications more evergreen."

For example, Facebook and USA Today built a custom application that allowed users to watch and rate Super Bowl commercials. After the big game, USA Today could re-skin the app for similar watch-and-rate experiences for the following football season; this way the media company is able to expand its reach and generate value between Super Bowls.

Focus, focus, focus. "Use your existing social channels to learn what unique brand opportunities exist before developing a custom app," Smart says. "For example, you might discover that your Facebook community wants to learn about new products, so you can use your app to solicit user-generated content that will influence product development. Always look for successful real-world behaviors that become amplified through social channels." In other words, if it already works outside Facebook, it should provide fantastic results within Facebook.

Buy value. Timeline apps aren't cheap. "Expect to pay between $50,000 and $150,000 for a PMD to build a one-off Timeline application," Smart says. But there are ways to significantly reduce the costs. "If you can't develop your Timeline app in-house, you can turn to visual authoring solutions that require only designers," he says. "If you don't have designers, try an interactive agency that can build it for you on top of a third-party technology platform."

Keep in mind that using a third party's existing platform and re-skinning the app with several cutting-edge campaigns over the course of years is where the value lies.

What Facebook's Page Post Targeting Means to Your Business

Facebook

Facebook added new meaning to the term “target audience” last week with the unveiling of a powerful new tool that enables small business owners with Facebook Pages to fine-tune their marketing message in order to fit the interests of each of their followers.

It’s called Page Post Targeting and this new feature appears to be custom made for Facebook Page administrators who want to steer away from the shotgun approach to marketing their brand by targeting their status updates to the users who are most likely to benefit from them.

Before this week, Page administrators were limited to culling audiences by location and language, which is a far cry from interest-based targeting. Under the new options, Page managers will potentially be able to narrow the field of interested readers by their age, gender, “interested in” (men, women), relationship status, education level, place of employment, in addition to current language and geographical location. Another tweak now allows the location to be narrowed down to the users' city, state or country.

To access Page Post Targeting, click the “crosshair” icon at the bottom of the status update box. Don't worry if you don't see it right away, Page Post Targeting will be available to all Facebook Page administrators within the next few months. In the meantime, here's a break down of what to expect, and what it will mean to your business.
 

• More relevant posts. The ability to post content that is more relevant and interesting to segments of your company's fan base, is the biggest draw. For example, a company that specializes in motorcycle equipment can publish a status update related to the efficacy of leather jackets for women, targeting only women in their 20s to 30s among their many Facebook fans. Under the new scheme, the status update would never make it into a male's (who is less likely to be interested in the news) News Feed.

• Fewer “unsubscribes” and more “likes.” Content culling frees marketers to create and post several highly targeted messages per day, for free, without fear of saturating fans with content. This should lead to fewer “unsubscribes” and an increase in “People Talking About,” which could lead to more “Likes.”

• Timeline might get awkward. Since this new feature only applies to posts to the News Feed, all fans of your business or brand will be able to read all posts on your Page’s Timeline, which could prove awkward. For example, if you decide to rewrite and post several updates in order to draw readers of different ages to a product, the words you use to describe it under multiple posts could get confusing.

• One size fits all posts still available. Where targeted posting goes wrong is when fans that don’t fit the specified criteria (or friends of fans) notice several different posts next to each other on the company’s Timeline. Fortunately, Facebook admins can select a generic version of any altered post and hide the rest. 

Photos From The Burning Coscharis Warehouse In Kirikiri

Popular auto dealer Coscharis’s warehouse in Kirikiri is reportedly on fire.

The warehouse, which houses goods like tyres, lubricants, spare parts, gas cylinders, Agro-products, batteries and inverters, is said to be worth billions of naira.

The fire started about 4am, and was being fought by firefighters from the Lagos state fire service and Nigerian Navy.

    

10 Questions to Ask Before Determining Your Target Market

Image credit: Shutterstock

The better you understand your customer, the faster your business will grow. But new ventures often struggle to define their target market and set their sights too broadly.

"We often overestimate the market size, and in many cases there may not be one at all," says Robert Hisrich, director of the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Ariz.

Here are 10 questions that can help you determine whether you have a target market and what it is:

Who would pay for my product or service?
First, try to understand the problem that your product or service can solve, says Greg Habstritt, founder of SimpleWealth.com, an Alberta, Canada-based advice website for small-business owners. Then, use that information to help determine who would be willing to pay for a solution. "Not only do [your potential customers] need to have the problem, but they need to be aware they have the problem," Habstritt says. He recommends using Google's keyword tool to see how many people are searching for words related to your business idea.

Who has already bought from me? 
To refine both your target marketing and your pricing strategy, see who has already bought your product or service, says Amos Adler, president of Memotext, a medication compliance app maker in Bethesda, Md. You can gain valuable insights by releasing the product in a test phase and letting potential consumers speak with their wallets.

Am I overestimating my reach?
It's easy to assume that most people will need your service or product. But rather than make assumptions, reach out to groups of potential customers to get a more realistic picture of your audience and narrow your marketing efforts. You can conduct surveys, do man-on-the-street type interviews in stores, or organize small focus groups. "We get so passionate about the idea and how good it is that we overestimate the market size," Hisrich says.

What does my network think?
As you try to understand your target market, it may be challenging -- and expensive -- to seek feedback from potential consumers through surveys, focus groups and other means. But you can tap into your social networks to get free feedback. Many people in your extended network will likely be willing to take the time to give you opinions and advice, says Bryan Darr, founder of Mosaik Solutions, a data analytics company in Memphis, Tenn.

Am I making assumptions based on my personal knowledge and experience?
Your own personal experience and knowledge can make you believe that you understand your target market even before you conduct any research, Habstritt says. For example, if you're a fitness buff and want to start a business related to personal health, you may assume you know your customer. "Don't assume that you can think like your target market," Habstritt says. "You have to ask them and talk to them to really understand them."

What's my revenue model?
Figuring out how you'll reap revenue can help you find your target market, Hisrich says. Social ventures can be particularly tricky, he says, because without a specific plan for getting revenue it's easy to overestimate the size of the customer base. But if you're revenue model is simply selling a product online, it can be easier to figure out a target customer.

How will I sell my product or service?
Your retailing strategy can help determine your target market, Hisrich says. Will you have a store, a website or both? Will you be marketing only in your home country or globally? For example, an online-only business may have a younger customer than one with stores. A brick-and-mortar business may narrow your target market to people in the neighborhood.

How did my competitors get started?
Evaluating the competition's marketing strategy can help you define your own target customer, says Darr. But of course, don't simply copy the marketing approach of your biggest competitors once you define your target consumers. "You must have a way of differentiating what you are doing from what the other guys offer," he says.

How will I find my customers? 
As you start defining your target customers, try to determine whether you can efficiently market to them. You'll need to do some market research and study your target audience's demographic, geographic and purchasing patterns. If you're selling from a storefront, you need to know how many people in your target market live nearby. If you're selling from a website, you need to learn about your prospective customers' online behavior. Understanding how to locate your customers early on can help you establish a game plan once you start building a marketing strategy, Hisrich says.

Is there room to expand my target market?
Be prepared to redefine your target market or to expand it over time, Darr says. For example, figuring out whether you're targeting a domestic consumer or customers throughout the world can be a good start. As the power of mobile mapping has grown in the last decade, he's seen the number of target markets grow at his own firm. In the beginning, Mosaik dealt mostly with wireless operators, but now he also counts cable providers and broadcasters as clients, Darr says. 

3 Surprising Ways to Find New Clients

Image credit: Bonobos

People tell me the weirdest stories. Some are tales of drunken escapades, brushes with law enforcement or photos inadvertently distributed on the internet. Others are more surprising: They star astonishingly sober folks hellbent on playing by their own business rules. One of my favorite themes of the second group: People who employ unconventional methods for connecting with new customers. Get ready to put their oddball antics to work for your business.

Traveling pants: Andy Dunn's Bonobos jeans.

Photo courtesy of Bonobos

Make house calls.
Andy Dunn, founder and CEO of New York City-based Bonobos, wanted to sell a better brand of britches directly to men online, without stocking the product in stores. To build a customer base, he loaded up his car with samples and hosted private events in homes around New York. Gents could try the pants on and experience Bonobos' better fit and better service model, then have the product shipped directly to their homes. His customers became his evangelists, and Dunn's schedule filled up with in-home events. Bonobos reached its first $1 million in revenue without spending a dollar on customer acquisition (aside from the cost of gas). Today Bonobos boasts sales in the multimillions -- and it all started by going directly to the customer.

Offer unlimited service.
Domain registrar Name.com is known for its exceptional customer service -- and that's not business as usual in the domain-name game. But how many businesses do you know that actively provide service to noncustomers? In early 2011 that's exactly what Name.com did. Via Twitter, the team caught wind of a software developer whose domain name had been hijacked. (This can occur when your domain registrar mistakenly allows your name to be transferred without the proper authorization.) Name.com reached out to the noncustomer and subsequently tracked down the hijacker -- all the way to Ukraine. The company's outstanding efforts (and the good PR they generated) earned it a slew of domain transfers from other consumers.

Differentiate your direct mail.
Business consultant Ashley Ambirge is nothing if not unconventional. The mind behind The Middle Finger Project, which pushes people to "get your ass off the warm-up bench," Ambirge encourages clients to take unconventional and sometimes rocky paths to achieve hell, yeahstatus in their businesses. A copywriter by trade, Ambirge decided to create a very targeted direct-mail campaign aimed at companies she wanted as clients -- but she skipped out on traditional collateral materials. Instead, she went to a roofing supply company. Yes, a roofing supply company. She sent 30 companies (new home builders) a single roofing shingle inscribed with the words "My Company + Your Company = sales through the roof." The result? A 100 percent response rate, with nearly every one of the responders becoming a client over the following year.

The key to unconventional customer acquisition is to remember to keep it about the customers. Think about their needs. Go where they are. Make them laugh. Help them. And, once you have them, provide exceptional service so they stick around and help you bag new customers.

Don't worry if your competitors think you're all about using shenanigans to bring folks to your door. We know that it's all about your dedication to your current and future customers' needs.

Rivers State Government Says It Is No Longer Able To Guarantee Safety of Governor Amaechi

Posted: July 17, 2013 - 21:24

The Government of Rivers State has cried out about the “apparent attack” on the person of Governor Chibuke Rotimi Amaechi, and reiterated its call on all relevant authorities to ensure the safety of the governor and the peace and security of everyone in Rivers State.

In a press statement signed by George Feyii, Secretary to State Government, it pointed out that on Tuesday, two policemen, including an Inspector Bawa, reported to the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja claiming to have been posted by Police Force Headquarters on a monitoring assignment.  Similarly, four intelligence officers had earlier been posted to Government House, Port Harcourt by the Rivers State Police Command.
Neither posting was done with any notification or reference to Governor Amaechi.
“We are aware that on issues of personal safety, an official reserves the right to pick the security personnel to whom he or she may entrust their safety,” the statement pointed out.  “This is more so in the case of a State Governor.”

It also noted that the policemen this morning declared they had directives to remain at the gate of the Rivers State Governor’s lodge.
The government pointed out that not only is the Rivers State Government uncertain of the true identity of the policemen, officials are worried as to the true intent behind the latest postings.
“In recent times, events in Rivers State and especially around Governor Amaechi have been suggestive of deliberate nonchalance at best, and complicity at worst in the security breaches that have occurred,” it observed.  “This trend has continued despite a passionate appeal to the highest levels of authority.”
TEXT OF THE PRESS RELEASE BY RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT

The Rivers State Government notes with distress what is now an apparent attack on the person of Governor Chibuke Rotimi Amaechi. Yesterday two policemen, one of who is an Inspector Bawa, reported to the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge at Justice Mohammed Bello Street, Asokoro, FCT Abuja. They claimed to have been posted by Nigeria Police Force Headquarters to monitor the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge.

Earlier four intelligence officers had been posted to Government House, Port Harcourt by the Rivers State Police Command. These postings were done without any notification or reference to Governor Amaechi.

We are aware that on issues of personal safety, an official reserves the right to pick the security personnel to whom he or she may entrust their safety. This is more so in the case of a State Governor.

The policemen this morning said that they had directives to remain at the gate of the Rivers State Governor’s lodge.  Not only is the Rivers State Government uncertain of the true identity of these gentlemen, we are worried as to the true intent behind this latest posting. In recent times, events in Rivers State and especially around Governor Amaechi have been suggestive of deliberate nonchalance at best, and complicity at worst in the security breeches that have occurred.  This trend has continued despite a passionate appeal to the highest levels of authority.

We are worried that we can no longer guarantee the safety of Governor Chibuike Amaechi and wish to reiterate our call on all relevant authorities to ensure the safety of Governor Amaechi and the peace and security of everyone in Rivers State.

Signed

George Feyii
Secretary to State Government,
Rivers State,
Nigeria