Blog Archives
Better Targeting for Brand Page Updates on the Horizon?
Yesterday, I was surprised to see a number of targeting options – gender, age, language, interests etc – on one of the brand Pages I manage. I tweeted with enthusiasm and couldn’t wait to leverage this new functionality. Yet, Facebook must be slowing rolling this out or testing it. When I visited both the brand Pages I manage, the option to target on a deeper level had vanished. Why does Facebook play with my emotions?!
In all honesty, the ability to target Page updates on a deeper level is nearly identical to Facebook ads. Would this mean a drop in community managers creating for Facebook ads? It’s likely but no way to tell at the moment.
I am hopeful Facebook will offer this functionality. Of course, with all new things, there are benefits and drawbacks but I am still keeping my eyes open!
Potential Benefits
- Increased relevance to your fans based on how you target.
- Lifts in engagement as a result of increased relevance.
- The chances of updates appearing higher in News Feed increases as a result of a lift in engagement.
- Opportunity to be more strategic with messaging. For example, using specific copy for men vs women, or fans aged 21+ vs 13 – 20.
- Increased traffic to website and/or blog.
Potential Drawbacks
- Overly targeting decreases the size of your message’s audience.
- Virality may drop. For example, by not targeting OR minimally targeting you reach members of your audience that may not find the message relevant, but would “share” it with friends they believe would.
3 Things I Liked in Social Media, Week ending April 29. #SpotTheShuttle
1. Do you admin a Facebook Page? Your profile picture just got a bit larger – On Thursday, April 26, Facebook made a slight change to the size and placement of Page profile pictures. Just to be clear, the profile picture is not the cover image, the profile picture is the square-shaped image to the bottom left of your cover image. The new dimensions are 160 x 160 and should be saved as 180 x180!
2. Connect with your favorite Olympic Athletes – Thanks to social media and an innovative team with the Olympic Committee, you don’t need to be in London to connect with your favorite athletes. You can find Olympic athletes by name, country, sport/discipline and game. Additionally, you can be a bit a competitive as well. Participate in the Olympic Athletes’ Hub and unlock badges and win prizes!
3. #SpotTheShuttle – I’ll openly admit, I am a bit of a space geek and astronaut wannabe. When I was growing up, I had a telescope, all of the Apollo Mission patches and even a space shuttle necklace. Oh memories. This week, I loved being able to track the Shuttle Enterprise’s flight path from Virginia to New York, at which point the shuttle will be placed on a barge and taken up the Hudson River to final home. I was in awe of how many great photos there were. This photo was posted by NASA. I am thankful for social media that I was able to enjoy these historical moments virtually.
3 Types of Pinterest Contests and Their Benefits
I am seeing more and more brands launching contests on Pinterest. The most recent one I discovered is Shopbop’s Wedding Boutique Anniversary Contest.
Have you participated in a Pinterest contest and/or sweepstakes? Tell us in the comments section below.
From a low cost implementation, community engagement and brand outreach standpoint, it’s a great idea. Brands are empowering customers to get creative, share content, day dream and engage with the brand and others. Moreover, the factor that really drives up the cost is the choice of marketing support and value of the prize(s).
Before you launch a Pinterest contest consider these types of contests and their benefits. Use this as a guide to help you determine which is the most effective and aligns with your overall objective.
1. Content Creation Contest – You invite your fans (i.e. customers) to create a board based on certain guidelines. Some examples of guidelines are:
1. Naming of the board and the category it sits in
2. Pinning at least X number of styles or entries from your website
3. Repinning your original Pinterest content onto a specific board etc…
Benefits:
- You empower your fans to express their creativity. Happy fans = Positive sentiment on social media.
- You gather creative and style ideas
- Your online content gains reach on Pinterest and other social avenues like Facebook and Twitter
- Increased traffic to your website or blog
2. Follow and Repin Contest – You encourage your fans to follow all your boards and invite them to repin your content based on certain guidelines. Some examples of guidelines are:
1. Checking back daily for content to repin. Ask fans to draft a creative blurb. Select one winner per day for being most creative
2. Keeping an eye-out for a daily pin (posted by you) containing a specific attribute in a photo or hashtag in the description. Ask fans repin it and winners are drawn at random daily.
Benefits:
- You pick-up “copy points” from your fans, giving you an idea of how they feel about your brand and product
- Your online content gains reach on Pinterest and other social avenues like Facebook and Twitter
- You increase your Pinterest followers
- Increased traffic to your website or blog
3. Original Content “Likes” and Tweets Contest – Create a board and allow other contributors. You invite your fans to upload original content based on certain guidelines. A fan’s upload must gain the largest combination of of pin “Likes” and tweets to win. Some examples of guidelines are:
Asking fans to…
1. Upload a photo of an original recipe containing a specific ingredient and link to their blog or hosted pdf of recipe
2. Upload a unique and creative photo of themselves wearing a piece of merchandise from the brand’s collection
3. Upload a photo expressing what their perfect day/wedding/vacation/playdate is etc.
Benefits:
- For clothing and accessory brands, you see first hand how fans feel about and interact with your product
- For food brands and retailers, you collect a variety of recipe and food styling ideas
- Fans must secure their pin “Likes” and tweets to win, so your brand’s reach on social media increases
- You increase your Pinterest followers
- Increased traffic to your website or blog
