Budgeting for Social Ads

With the ever changing newsfeed one thing has become apparent, to stay in front of your audience you need to set aside ad dollars. Let's get down to it - so how much is it going to cost?

1. Industry matters.

If you're B2B plan on spending between $1 - $3 per engagement. If you're B2C cost per engagement will most likely run you $.30 - $60. I often say the more "fun" your business is (think food, spirits, fashion), the less money you'll need to spend.

2. Networks matter.

Whether you are B2B or B2C, Facebook tends to be the most cost efficient when it comes to social ads, followed by Twitter and then LinkedIn. This has held consistently true no matter what the industry. Facebook also allows integration of Instagram with its ad platform, so you can target two networks at once.

That said, if you can't find your audience easily through Facebook targeting, it may be worth spending the extra money on Twitter and LinkedIn. At the end of the day you want your message to reach the right people, even if that means fewer people overall.

3. Goals matter.

What's your ask? If you want people to click to an external website you'll probably pay more. If you want people to commit to liking your page versus liking a boosted post you'll also pay a slightly higher premium. The larger the "ask," the more you'll need to budget.

4. Reach matters.

Like any traditional ad buy, the more people you want to reach, the more it will cost you. I recommend a minimum $50 a month ad buy to clients. This allows you to boost two posts a week at $5 reaching around 1,000 - 3,000 people based on your targeting goals.

Social ads are accessible, easy to create and a must in today's world of social media marketing. Make sure you carve out budget to support your content, otherwise you may be talking to yourself.

Facebook's Call-To-Action Button, Worthwhile?

Any good community manager knows the action is in the newsfeed on Facebook. People like your page once and then interact with your content via the newsfeed page. Facebook's redesign of the page itself over the years has placed less and less importance on page design, outside of the cover photo, which when changed, feeds into the newsfeed. That's why I found it odd that Facebook rolled out the "Call to Action" button, a button which prompts fans to "Shop," "Contact," "Book," etc, and can only be accessed by visiting a business' page.Now you can make the argument that if someone needs to reach out to you they'll visit your page and behave in a more proactive manner, but those fans are few and far between. At least that's what my gut told me. I decided to test this theory by activating several "Call to Action" buttons on client pages and here are the results.

Out of the 10 pages I activated, only 1 click on a "Contact Us" button has occurred in the last two weeks and I'm not convinced that wasn't from me testing. These are active pages which are supported weekly with advertising and are gaining new fans daily. On the other hand by including a website link in a promoted post I received several clicks to "Shop" on my client's website. Not surprising as the content appeared in the newsfeed, not just the page.

The "Call to Action" button is free to install, so there's no reason not to do it, but don't rely on it to do the heavy lifting. If you really want to drive action you need to be where the action is and that's in the newsfeed. Include links to your site and promote your posts to a targeted audience to see results.

Person versus Page - Facebook's Decreasing Organic Reach

I was researching new business opportunities and targeting local wineries who may need help in the social department. Some who posted infrequently, some who posted only text and others who only posted recycled content from someecards versus telling their own story.You could tell those who really didn't understand Facebook as they had set themselves up as a "person" years ago, and never made the switch to a page. In the past I would say this is a horrible idea. The first reason being you have to approve friends versus allowing people to click one button and become a fan. The second, and probably most important, is it goes against Facebook's terms, businesses are supposed to be pages. The third being you have limited access to resources - analytics, advertising buys, check-ins.

However, I'm going to have to eat my words because I noticed something unusual. The "pages" set up as a person were getting 100 + likes a post with a fanbase that was only a few hundred strong. A 50% engagement rate without advertising on a FB page is unheard of today.

So, what was happening? These "pages" weren't being penalized by the decrease in organic reach because Facebook was viewing them as people. Their content was actually reaching their fans. Remember those days?

I don't condone you setting up a business as a person for the reasons mentioned above, but it does speak to the fact as a page you are going to have to work harder than ever before. Set up advertising, mine your analytics and create content worth sharing.

Social Media Advertising: What You Need to Know

 Social Media is constantly evolving, sometimes this works in businesses' favor and sometimes against. Facebook’s latest move to decrease organic reach is a blow to many marketers but it should also be a wake up call – get ready for pay to play. I liken it to when one airline charges for baggage, opening the flood gates for others to do the same. Pretty soon all networks will require some sort of ad spend, and for those who want to stay in the game they’ll need to learn the basics of social media ad buying. After all...what’s the point in creating content that nobody sees?

-          Facebook: The Promoted Post versus the Like Ad. Facebook offers several different type of ad campaigns but at the heart of it all the ads either work to drive people to your page to become a fan or to increase the reach of your content.

• The Promoted Post: Use this ad when you want to get relevant content in front of fans and non-fans – a special deal on your burger, a new product you are rolling out or a service you want to highlight. This type of ad helps drive action. Think of it as a more short-term play and remember you can leverage the data Facebook has on its users to reach people who haven’t even liked your page. Be sure to set the right interests to get the most out of your promoted post ad budget. If you are going to interrupt someone's newsfeed you better make it relevant.
• The Like Ad: This ad is becoming less useful as the game has changed with the decrease in organic reach. However the Like Ad may still be good for general mass awareness - (ie) here’s what my company does versus here is a specific deal. If Facebook changes the game again and increases organic reach, the number of acquired fans may become more important once again. You just never know.

-          Twitter – Twitter follows Facebook’s lead when it comes to advertising offering similar products to the Promoted Post and Like Ad.

• Promoted Tweet: Much like a promoted post on Facebook a promoted tweet is best used for a specific call to action, a more short term play. Use a promoted tweet to drive traffic to a website or to promote a contest, for example. This ad function basically tells a user – we want you to pay attention to (insert marketing program) now, and we’re willing to pay to get it in front of you. You can promote a tweet to followers and non-followers. Remember to select the right interests and demos to keep it relevant though.
• Promoted Account: This is comparable to a Like Ad and is a long-term play. Get people to follow you and they will see your content on an ongoing basis. Unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn't have immediate plans to limit reach to a brand’s followers. That could always change as Twitter and Facebook morph more and more into the same type of network, but for now your tweets go uncensored.

Both of these ad platforms are self-service. The two musts for setting up an ad buy:  1. Access - you must be an admin of the Facebook page or have the username/password to the Twitter account in order to run a campaign. 2. Payment – You need to have a credit card tied to that specific account (for Facebook this is set up through your personal account, for Twitter it is through the brand’s page). More tips to come…what questions do you have about social media advertising?