Content Marketing
Get out of the cycle of producing shallow content that your target audience doesn’t want to read. Here’s what you can do to start developing insightful content that will engage and convert.
Your B2B Content Marketing Requires More Depth: 3 Steps to Get There via @robertwmcguire
Keep your brand fresh in the minds of your current and former clients using these tools. They can be the key to getting more referral business.
8 Business Tools for Keeping a Close Relationship with Customers via @janehurst26 • @getresponse
Good editing can go a long way to creating cogent content. Here are some insider editing tips that can help you effectively refine and improve any piece of content.
10 Modern Editing Tips for Meticulous Bloggers via @StefanieFlaxman • @copyblogger
Who’s the target audience for your blog? If you don’t know, now’s the time to create a persona for your target audience and here’s how. This persona can help you craft blogs that really resonate with your target audience.
How to Research and Create a Content Persona For Your Blog: The Complete Guide via @olgarabo • @semrush
Think case studies are boring? Think again! Here’s how to create fascinating brand-related case studies that your audience will want to read.
How to Write a Case Study That’ll Make People Love Your Business via @danielthrelfall • @CrazyEgg
Social Media Marketing
Facebook ads can be an incredible way to connect with your target audience. Here’s what you need to know to position your business’ Facebook ads for success.
Facebook Ad Specs and Image Sizes [Fully Updated for 2017] via @slanoue • @buffer
Build your personal brand by getting more followers on Instagram. Here’s how (and it’s easier than you think!).
7 Simple Hacks to Earn the Most Followers on Instagram via @larrykim • @WordStream
In the world of social media, when you publish your posts matters – and it can make the difference between whether anyone sees, shares or engages with your posts. Here’s what you need to know about the best posting times for different social media platforms.
Is There a Generic Best Time to Post On Social Media Platforms? via @neilpatel
Check out this revealing look inside the mind and habits of an Instagram influencer. It can reveal creative ways to enhance your brand’s Instagram posts and presence.
Confessions of an Instagram Influencer via @chafkin • @BW
Since Instagram Stories launched last August, use of Snapchat Stories has declined. Here’s a captivating take on why this has happened – and what the greater impact of Instagram Stories may be.
Instagram Stories is Stealing Snapchat’s Users via @joshconstine • @techcrunch
How to Maximize the ROI of Your Facebook Ads: 5 Proven Tips
Facebook ads can promote brand awareness while generating more leads for your business (as explained in the last Weekly). Knowing how to squeeze the most out of every Facebook ad you run, however, can be tricky.
But it doesn’t have to be with the right insight and planning.
So, this week, I’m sharing a handful of tips for maximizing the ROI for Facebook ads. These tips can help you position your brand’s Facebook ads and marketing campaigns for success.
5 Tips for Making Facebook Ads Work Better for Your Business
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1. Target the right segment of your audience – One of the biggest mistakes brands make when running Facebook ads is running vague ads for a general audience, rather than running targeted ads to a specific segment of their audience.
To sidestep this mistake, analyze how your ads are framed and who (i.e., what segment of your audience) each ad really appeals to. Also, focus on creating unique, specifically targeted ads for each segment of your audience. This can ensure that your campaigns are customized to resonate with each segment. And that can position your ads for more attention and click-throughs.
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2. Make a great offer – Although this may seem obvious, far too often brands spend money on ads that don’t feature or highlight the value proposition. This can mean that the offer is simply unclear – or that it just doesn’t seem appealing to an audience.
To avoid this misstep, focus on providing clear-cut offers, and consider “tiered” offerings that are specifically geared to a specific stage of your sales/conversion funnel. In other words, put the right offer in front of the right segment of your audience. Also, keep the language straightforward, easy to read and crystal clear so your value offer is not only obvious but it’s also irresistible.
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3. Include eye-catching visuals – Text can be easy to dismiss or overlook. In contrast, interesting, compelling pictures, infographics and other visuals can pop, stand out from the other items on a page and draw an audience in to read the text (and click through because they want to learn more about the offer).
So, make sure your ads feature some striking, noticeable and relevant image. Also, make sure you choose a high-resolution image that’s the right size.
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4. Have an appropriate landing page – When your Facebook ad compels your audience to click through and find out more about your offer, the landing page your audience arrives at should creatively match the ad they just saw. All too often, however, a creative mismatch between the ad and the landing page can jar the user experience, making an audience think they’ve arrived at the wrong spot or just be off-putting enough for a user to bail (and leave the sales funnel altogether).
So, use similar language and visuals in your Facebook ad and the corresponding landing page. Keep the landing page concise and to the point. You may even want to test the experience out before putting the ad and landing page up (by, for example, having a staff member who hasn’t worked on the campaign check it out and provide feedback).
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5. Keep an eye on the metrics – You’ll never know what is working versus what’s falling short if you don’t check out the data or reports for your Facebook ads and campaigns.
So, be sure to include metrics analysis and report reviews in your ad development process(es). Be sure to keep a close eye on the data related to click-throughs, the performance of desktop versus mobile ads and the demographics related to conversions (or the lack of conversions). This can help you identify what ads are generating more (or less) responses for different segments (as well as different ad experiences).
How is your Facebook marketing going? Have you discovered any useful (or not so useful) tactics for running Facebook ads? Have any of your Facebook ad campaigns been especially successful (or not)?
Tell me about your experiences, challenges and successes on Facebook and LinkedIn. And don’t hesitate to get a hold of me on social media to ask any digital marketing question or just to say ‘hi.’ I look forward to hearing from you!