The Marketing Edge - Facebook, national issues of public importance, and you
Pop quiz!What do the words "energy" "environment" "guns" "poverty" "civil rights" "taxes" "values" "education" and "terrorism" all have in common?
If your answer was: "Some topics Facebook considers 'national issues of public importance' that will require advertiser authorization and labeling for ads targeting the US." — congrats! You passed! (Visit Facebook for the complete list)
In an effort to increase transparency, those paying to advertise content on "issues of public importance" on Facebook and Instagram will have to prove that the ad purchaser is an actual person with a U.S. mailing address. The ad will also have to include disclosures about who's paying for it and viewers will be able to access a large quantity of data about it and other posts which are being run.
Bonus question:Does this affect nonprofits, grassroots advocacy groups, news agencies, and other organizations, in addition to clearly political entities and individuals running for office?
Yes. No matter who you are — if part of your social media strategy involves boosting or advertising content (we'll call them ads) that may fall within the range of topics of importance — your ad could be rejected until someone in your organization goes through Facebook's authorization process. The authorization process is not immediate, so if this is a way you communicate with targeted audiences, it's important to be prepared.
Published in The Marketing Edge
The Marketing Edge - Facebook News Feed changes and your business: Part 2
Did you catch the first part of this story last week? If not, here's a summary: the Facebook News Feed is changing, and the change means that businesses that use the platform for promoting their brand or advertising will have to rethink their strategy.
According to an article posted in the Facebook Newsroom by Adam Mosseri, Head of News Feed, Facebook will now "prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people" and "will also prioritize posts from friends and family over public content." He also wrote in the official Facebook statement that as the updates are made, "Pages may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease."
Here's a list of steps you can take to adjust to this change and make the most of Facebook for your business.
The Marketing Edge - Facebook News Feed changes and your business – Part 1
On Jan. 11, Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Facebook, announced a Facebook News Feed change that will affect anyone who uses the platform. The News Feed, a collection of posts, photos, and videos from a Facebook user's friends, family, and the pages they follow, will go through a significant change over the next few months. Zuckerberg wrote to the Facebook community that this change is meant to help Facebook users have more meaningful social interactions.
The Marketing Edge - How to improve your organic reach on Facebook
Organic reach on Facebook posts has dipped to an all-time low of 2 percent to 6 percent this year, according to Social Media Examiner. The bad news is that this figure will continue to decline. The good news is that Facebook advertising is fairly inexpensive, simple to set up and manage, and works well (when it's properly maintained). You're not alone if you're wondering how to create content that will entice people to engage and share it, thus improving your organic reach on Facebook.
The Marketing Edge - How to create a Facebook lookalike audience
Do you use Facebook ads as a tool to reach your audience? If so, you may have created audiences that include people of certain demographics – people who meet your business' target audience. Facebook lookalike audiences are an advanced targeting option that goes beyond the basic interest and demographic targeting functionality. If you choose to create a Facebook lookalike audience, you'll have the most effective Facebook targeting tool to find your ideal customer.
The Marketing Edge – 5 new Facebook and Instagram features you shouldn't miss
If you use social media channels for marketing your business, staying on top of new features that are consistently rolled out for platforms such as Facebook and Instagram is important. Facebook bought out Instagram in 2012, and since then the popular photo sharing application has gone through a rebrand and introduced new and helpful features to users. Facebook is always introducing new things as well, whether they be for personal accounts or business accounts.
Here are a few new Facebook and Instagram features that you should take advantage of:
The Marketing Edge – 5 ways to use Facebook Live for business
We can't resist looking at short videos. Our eyes are naturally attracted to the movement and colors. In fact, Animoto reports that "4 times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it."
The Marketing Edge – Targeting audiences with Facebook advertising tools
Reaching people interested in your product or service must be done in steps – the first of which is determining your target audience.
Once you've discovered who is most interested in what you offer, connecting with them comes next. To reach potential customers, you don't have to search high and low. Instead, you can turn to a tool billions of people use every day: Facebook. This popular social media platform has plenty of tools for businesses hoping to reach their target audience. With Facebook advertising tools you can be as broad or as specific as you'd like so you can engage potential customers.
Seven ways to reach your audience on Facebook (03-23-2016)
By Lindsay Ouellette
edge contributor
With over 1.5 billion active users, Facebook remains the king of social media. According to Pew Internet Research, almost three-quarters of all internet users are on Facebook. This means that your business needs to be active on this channel in order to reach potential clients. Even though Facebook has moved towards being a social media channel where businesses have to pay to reach their fans, there are still ways businesses can thrive on Facebook without paying for ad space. You must ask yourself if you are doing all you should to reach your customers on Facebook.
How to optimize your Facebook business page for Graph Search
Earlier this year, Facebook launched the beta version of a revolutionary search function called Graph Search. Driven by user activity and engagement, Graph Search allows more specialized searches of Facebook information, with results that are personalized for each user based on their friends, behavior and location.