Promoting Your Business with Facebook Ads

There are over one billion people on Facebook.

Crowd of PeopleJust about everyone on the planet knows that Facebook has become the go-to media strategy for business promotion.  Using Facebook provides businesses one of the best opportunities on the Internet for targeted advertising. This is key because Facebook users provide pertinent information such as their age, gender, location and interests, which allows you direct access to target your audience. These Facebook ads can be used for lead generation, traditional brand advertising, and more all to promote your  business – FOR FREE!  Here are just a few ways to leverage Facebook advertisements for your business.

1st –  Know How It Works – When you run your ad or sponsored posts/stories you are charged for the number of impressions (CPM) or clicks it receives. The amount that you pay can be restricted by your daily or lifetime budget and there are no additional fees associated with running ads or sponsored stories on Facebook.  Facebook suggests you name your campaign, select your budget and set the time schedule for running your ad. When multiple ads are running in a campaign, Facebook automatically allocates more of your daily budget to higher performing ads. You can use the Ads Manager feature to monitor your campaigns performance, to measure its success and ultimately determine if you are spending your Facebook advertising $’s in the best way possible.

2nd –  Consider Psychographics vs. Demographics in the Setup – Psychographics study and measure attitudes, values, lifestyles, and opinions versus demographics, which provide quantitative data based on geography, age, gender and the like.  Psychographics give a true, life-like portrait of the targeted audience and consumer base for your individualized marketing purposes.  Facebook gathering this key information allows advertisers to target & pinpoint their audience in a very precise and henceforth successful way.
Leader & her team3rd – Always Use Effective, Eye-Catching Tools & Creative Options – We know that we “eat” with our eyes first.  What catches our attention through imagery certainly opens the door leading us to the relevant information. So smart use of imagery in your Facebook ad will make a significant impact on the success of the advertising and marketing campaign. And there are various forms of these eye-catching options to consider.

  • Infographics are a great way to grab the reader’s attention especially when you add imbedded links to your page to promote key information about a product or service being provided.
  • Video AdsFor those who prefer to watch than read, video ads are a great way to convey pertinent healthcare information or solicitations to the masses.  For example, there are sports companies like Nike that use ads like Nike’s Football: The Vapor Trail to create amazing & captivating video ads to entice their target audience and promote their products.
  • Job Opportunities – In need of more sales associates or another CPA for your growing accounting firm?  With over 1 billions people on Facebook, it is no brainer to use ad space to market career opportunities within your business.
  • Free Services & AppsNothing attracts new customers like the words FREE and even more so when they can actually obtain something.  What better way to entice a consumer than offering a limited service for free?  What about creating engagement via a free app offer as you lead consumers to your own website.  Use Facebook the way Facebook uses you – to get new subscribers i.e. new consumers.
  • Emotional Response Ads Emotions are one of the most powerful influences we have. Emotional Response Marketing & Advertising works wonders in the various forums such as healthcare because there are emotional attachments to health concerns, issues and supportive causes such as Shriner’s Hospital Love to the Rescue.
  • Hosted Event AdsEvents promoted on Facebook have a greater chance of success than any traditional marketing method. Business exhibitions and conferences, trainings, and career events can have a much higher participatory turnout when advertised through Facebook.

So are Facebook advertisements worthwhile for your business and particular industry?  Only you know who your general audience is comprised of.  But if there are more than 50% that you believe are online and use Social Media – than the answer is YES.  Especially if you look at the IMMENSE EXPOSURE opportunity versus the amount of money spent on the campaign.  Using Facebook creates unlimited opportunities to attain new customers, host successful  events and bring global awareness to your company’s product or service. Facebook Thumb Up

 

The Marriage of Content &; Technology in 2013 &; Beyond

Smartphone DeviceLet’s lead in with a fact shall we?  The Online Publishers Association (OPA) research has found that 57 % of technology users time is spent accessing content via the mobile Web, while the remaining 43 % is spent accessing content via apps.  Wow, one wonders what the future of PC’s will be at those increasing rates of usage of mobile devices in a manner that was once relegated to PC’s. Don’t bother pondering too long because according to Peter Thompson’s recent article it has been predicted that during 2013, mobile devices will overtake PCs as the most common technology to access the Internet.  That means smartphones & handheld device content will remain hand-in-hand and maintain quite the profitable marriage this coming year.

What it Looks Like
Based on the statistics above, the mobile device viewing of web content is growing at astronomical rates. Because of this, mobile operating systems and device specific websites require optimized content and high-quality imagery resolution for smartphone & tablet users.  So most web designers and content writers are trading in their traditional methods of web marketing (including HTML sites) and traveling down the aisle with other tools on their arms such as WordPress and SEO-rich platforms.

Entertainment Content
Now a days, “infotainment” (which is information-based media content or programming that also includes entertainment content in an effort to enhance popularity with audiences and consumers) is a premier reason enhanced mobile devices screen resolutions need to be what iPad with Retina display has achieved for games, music and video.  And just when you thought that was a match made in heaven, Chris Yewdall informed us that coming in 2015, software & mobile device giants like Samsung & HTC are releasing 3D phones that will not only enable consumers to shoot 3D content but to consume 2D content in 3D.  AND to watch the converted 3D content on their TV’s.  All of this innovations help us escape from the daily grind and enhance users experience.

  Entertainment on Mobile Devices

Free Apps
Although most weddings cost a fortune, when it comes to espousal of apps & mobility, cost-free remains the key to our hearts.  Many note that with the current economy, customers are increasingly on the hunt for free apps. Recent statistics show that Android free apps will continue to outnumber free iPhone apps into 2013. According to DISTIMO, a leader in app analytics, there are now more free apps available for Google’s mobile OS than the iPhone.

Distimo Free Apps Chart

Online ShoppingPurchase Power On The Go
After honeymoon bliss, couples go about the business of daily living and with most of our time spent on the go, our lives require mobile purchasing power.  The ability to make purchases when the customer is “on the go” requires mobilized versions of websites that are fully functional but with quick and easy purchasing directives. Vivid imagery & engaging content are required to move the consumer from enticed to committed buying making on-device purchasing easy & effective.

Jumping the Broom with Cars?
Getting hitched on the physical & technological mobility bandwagon, Hyundai is taking us to another level!  Ready for release in 2015, this car manufacturer will be coupling smartphone technology with their vehicles via the  Hyundai Connectivity Concept.  This new innovation is designed to wirelessly mirror the contents of your smartphone directly within your vehicle.  By 2015, Hyundai says it can replace a conventional key fob with the consumers’ smartphone to lock/unlock doors by placing it over the NFC (Near Field Communications) sticker on the window or door.  Inside, the smartphone is placed in a docking station within the center console where it activates the user’s profile & streams content to a touchscreen that displays all of the user’s music, radio stations and phone contacts.  It can even control the navigation and various other on-board infotainment and telematics systems.  Yes all that while recharging the phone’s battery wirelessly. And here’s the real gift of this technology and user interface nuptial, multiple users and their individual smartphones can access the same car in the same way.

So there you are folks…technology wed to content equals blissful & entertaining engagement for us.