Are Facebook Admins not paying enough attention to the data behind their Reach figures?
I've been digging down a little deeper into Facebook Insights of late trying to get a handle on the organic reach issue with the current incarnation of the algorithm. I had this theory that whilst a lot of Page Admins were breezily talking about how their reach had not been throttled in recent months and were still regularly reaching over 50% of fans, that in fact they were reading their data wrongly.
I've watched really popular posts of mine in recent months and a cursory look at the Insights data does indeed suggest that some posts are reaching an awful lot of people. Here's our top performing Facebook post of recent months (it used to drag an image through but I imagine the original link author has since removed it).
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A handy guide to the size specs and range of ads available on Facebook
If like the rest of us you are continually flummoxed by the myriad of ad types on Facebook, let alone the idea size dimensions for mobile, desktop newsfeed and right-hand side, help is at hand.
The nice people over at Facebook For Business have given us permission to publish their Facebook Ads Product Guide. You can download it here totally free-of-charge.
>> Download the Facebook_Ads_Product_Guide <<
You'll find other guides online but most are pre-April 2014 when lots of changes were made.
The aim of this guide is to introduce you to the various ad types available but also give advice on how best to drive awareness and engagement whether by video, image, offer or plain old message.
It will show you the ad types for driving clicks to your website, driving people…
A review of 7 areas to help focus your LinkedIn strategy for B2B Marketing
If your business has been using LinkedIn for a while now, it useful to review how it's supporting your marketing strategy. Perhaps it has not really done anything for you and you're thinking 'this ship has sailed, it's time for me to consider other options?' Well think again, you might be like many of other LinkedIn users, who have held accounts for several years, who, only now, are discovering how to achieve real and measurable business benefits from this platform
When I first discuss LinkedIn with new clients, it quickly becomes apparent that many of them are missing the boat when it comes to really engaging with this site. I hear comments such as 'It's just a job seeking tool for recruiters isn't it?' or 'it's for networking with people I know,…
What are the "must-have" features of your LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn has a wealth of features to help businesses as our evolving A-Z of 30 LinkedIn features shows. Using new features on LinkedIn often feels to me like like a finding a new recipe, where you are not sure which one to choose until you have tried it out, and seen the end-result. Though, like all recipes, we should not forget the core ingredients. LinkedIn has so much that it's important to determine your goals first and then choose the right mix of features to reach them, and perhaps test and try again.
This infographic showcasing 'the LinkedIn Profile Tips' is timely since the research shows that almost half of profiles are incomplete and only 58% update their details.
You can learn more about using LinkedIn for business with our recently…
Google MyBusiness replaces Google Places for local businesses and provides a new Google+ admin page service for all businesses
Value/Importance: [rating=2]
Recommended link:
Announced on 12th June 2014, this has been touted as a major change, with an in-depth review by Search Engine Land for example. But we have rated it as relatively low in value and importance for marketers since it should’t be overhyped - it doesn’t involve new options for marketing, rather it is a new labelling to be aware of. It’s an attempt by Google at providing a more unified business offering from Google. It’s a good move since it aims to reduce the confusion between Google+ for Business and Google Places which it replaces.
What you need to know / do
1. If you or your clients are looking to register a local business within Google, e.g. to be visible in Google Maps, you now need to go to…
16 of your questions on using the new LinkedIn features answered
It was good to get LOTS of questions on our latest BrightTALK webcast (view catchup recording) summarising the 7 latest LinkedIn updates with Danny Bermant of Brainstorm Digital.
There were over 40 questions covering the details during the session. We answered most of them, but promised to answer them in full and provide links to the slides for downloads, so here they are! I hope these are helpful. Let us know if you have any follow-up questions in the comments.
For a more in-depth look at the new features and much more depth on managing LinkedIn, download our Expert members guide to LinkedIn, also by Danny. Now over to Danny for his answers.
1. Profile Organizer scrapped as premium feature, so now available to all!
Q1. Will the contact see any notes you make about them?
No, you’re safe to say what you like, so long as…
Using Talkwalker Social Search for social media listening
Value: [rating=5]
Recommended link: Talkwalker Social Search
Who are the most important influencers in my sector? What types of content are most popular for sharing? What social media strategies are my competitors pursuing?
Answering these question is a concern for any social media marketer trying to review and identify tactics to improve their social media and content marketing.
To help answer these questions there are literally hundreds of social media listening / monitoring tools options available. Of course, many of these services are paid for which rules them out for many smaller and mid-size businesses.
If you were looking for free social media insight, then the two most popular tools we have previously recommended are Social mention and Topsy. For free tools, these can be a great help in finding the most influential sharers or content and the most…
Are you missing out through not advertising in social media to ensure content success with Paid Social Amplification?
In our industry, good content is invaluable. But good content is also hard work.
From planning to Quality Contro, content must be researched, nurtured, analyzed, and improved on an ongoing basis to make it as suitable as possible for your target audience. But if no one is finding your content, then regardless of the quality, it won't have an impact on your business's bottom line. This is where paid amplification comes into play.
[Editor's note: The Smart Insights research report on Managing Digital Marketing in 2014 showed that many businesses are looking to increase their paid advertising on social media this year, so we hope these tips on how to do this are helpful]
Pushing targeted eyeballs to quality content is something our team has had success…
An approach and tools for deeper social media analysis
When it comes to social media, many marketers are still struggling to measure the success of their efforts. In fact, Pivotcon’s State of Marketing Report suggests that 53% of marketers do not even make an attempt to measure success. So, what should social media analysis look like? In this post I explore two approaches to social media analysis and provide examples of how to look beyond the numbers and find value in social noise.
Why Measure Social Media?
It is a no brainer really. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Dedicating time and business resource to social media means that you need to be clear on what impact it is having on your business.
You need to provide success metrics and understand what value social media is providing to your brand.
If you have a Facebook brand page you…
5 Findings from the Social Media Examiner 2014 report
Are you interested to find out where other marketers are focusing their efforts on social media to grow their business? Which techniques are proving effective and why? This regular, annual report from the Social Media Examiner is a useful summary of what is effective from over 2,500 marketers, so in this summary I cover 5 main findings from the report, which can be downloaded from the Social Media Examiner's website.
1. Benefits of Social Media?
In terms of business benefits, the top two benefits are increasing exposure (brand awareness) and driving additional traffic.
'92% of marketers have increased their exposure through social media and 80% had positive results in terms traffic'.
The graph below shows the range of benefits:
Respondents share their benefits…
