All kidding aside, Weintraub, CEO of aimClear, is a talented presenter that has a passion for his subject matter, Facebook.  In “Killer Facebook Targeting Tactics” at SES Toronto, Weintraub focused primarily on behavioral targeting. You know, identifying the behavior of your ideal audience and target/market accordingly. Sounds simple until you consider the millions of ways a marketer can slice and dice audience segments in Facebook.

Facebook marketing is a big topic and this presentation was specifically focused on Facebook ad targeting.

One rally cry heard throughout the session was “PPC is to SEO, as Facbook Ads are to social SEO.” Weintraub explains that much like how PPC can spike traffic and help point out opportunities (i.e. keywords that produce at a high rate) and weaknesses (i.e. pages that convert at a relatively low rate), Facebook Ads can do the same for social SEO.

The heart of the session was highlighting unique ways to use Facebook to reach target audiences. But before we get into some of Weintraub’s more creative examples of behavioral targeting, let me point you to some interesting user stats shared during the session regarding the wide dispersion of English speaking Facebook users.  Did you know that there are 13.4 million English speaking Facebook users in the Phillipines alone! The English speaking social media audience is larger than most think.

With the scope of the English speaking Facebook audience in mind, let’s look at some unique examples of how a brand can engage in Facebook Ads.

Literal/Safe Targeting

A hockey equipment company looking to increase online sales could easily turn to Facebook and target men and women who ‘like’ hockey. Or, a music and event promotion company selling Justin Bieber tickets would be wise run ads aimed at girls aged 12-15.

This may not be an groundbreaking approach, but the truth is that this is the safest and most reliable way of targeting an audience.

Lateral/Creative Targeting

Thinking beyond the obvious association, lateral targeting uses some logical assumptions.  For example, from our previous example, Facebook users who ‘like’ hockey are likely to be receptive to ads winter jackets. Hockey is primarily played areas of the world with colder climates. People in colder climates need to stay warm. Winter jackets to the rescue!

Using this approach requires creativity and a willingness to take a chance.

Negative Sentiment/General Disdain Targeting

Fans of the Facebook page I Hate My Neighbor – click the link if you don’t think it’s a real page – are certainly good prospects for a privacy fence company, if not a moat installation company. We know this because of the things that they indicated they don’t like. But let’s take it a step further. Facebook users who ‘like’ the I Hate My Neighbor page are also likely the audience that would be happy to pick up the latest Lewis Black comedy album.

Undoubtedly the least conventional and most dangerous approach to reaching audiences through Facebook Ads.  Proceed with extreme caution if you choose this road and be very transparent with the brand you represent regarding your approach.

These are just a few of the examples shared in the “Killer Facebook Targeting Tactics” session. The underlying message through it all was that Facebook is big and there are opportunities throughout this massive network.  Facebook has 700+ million users. I’m convinced that Weintraub will have figured out some way to market each and every user by the time my plane lands in Minneapolis.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. |
SES Toronto: Killer Facebook Targeting Tactics | http://www.toprankblog.com

SES Toronto: Killer Facebook Targeting Tactics is a post from: How To Get Backlinks To Your Site

Recently I participated in a webinar on social media ROI that took a holistic view of the value created by social engagement, beyond direct customer acquisition. Many of the questions from that webinar reflect the growing curiosity about specific social media applications and websites. We couldn’t get to all the questions so I’ve compiled them into similar topics starting with Facebook.

Some of the questions are fairly common and others are unique. Hopefully you’ll get value from these answers and feel free to ask your own in the comments.

How do we know if a Facebook presence makes sense for our company?

As with any online marketing investment, including social media and networks, determining which social communities a brand should engage with in order to reach a particular business outcome starts with knowing a few key things:

1. What characterizes the customer or conversation that you’re after?
2. What’s your hypothesis about how Facebook will help you reach a business goal?
3. What approach to the social web makes the most sense for engaging identified customer personas and communities for the desired business outcome?

To the extent that Facebook appears as an answer to these questions, it will become clear whether Facebook makes sense as part of an online marketing and social media strategy. These questions are essential for just about any kind of online marketing, not just social media and not just for Facebook.

What is the demographic for Facebook?

Recently Ken Burbary shared a compendium of Facebook demographic information on Facebook: Facebook Demographics Revisited – 2011 Statistics that pretty much answers this question.

You can also get some of the information you need in the process of setting up a Facebook advertisement. The query you perform to identify audience can return useful demographic information.

Does Facebook really get you new customers or just keep you in touch with people who already know who you are?

At TopRank Online Marketing, our key focus on internet marketing and social media strategy is on customer interaction with content. With that bias, I would say the answer to this question about acquiring and engaging customers through Facebook is revealed by understanding your customer preferences for content discovery, consumption and sharing.

These behaviors are certainly present on Facebook pages through the Wall, News Feed, internal and external linking to content and Liking of content. There are myriad ways for new and existing customers to engage on Facebook including interactions initiated due to advertising.

Being able to attract new customers directly through Facebook vs. indirectly or through other social media participation has to do with how your brand conducts itself on Facebook. In many cases, Facebook is part of a multi step sales cycle that attracts interest and then presents offers and information on the company blog, website or other digital experiences that educate.

Recently a client of ours asked whether an ecommerce effort on Facebook made sense for their online store. They have a fairly active Fan page.

My advice was that while we could research the propensity for customers to buy via Facebook, we could also see the low price point of a Facebook store as an opportunity to lead their category with a new feature. Facebook shopping in the short term might not get them a significant increase in direct sales, but it will help show existing customers they’re finding new ways to be innovativel. It’s also newsworthy and could attract new customers via publicity.

One must be careful investing in technology for publicity vs. functionality. Look no further than the obscene amounts of money spent on Second Life for examples of that tactic going awry. But if social features are practical AND newsworthy with a reasonable price point, it’s the kind of investment that can win new customers and reinforce your brand with current customers.

Is it important to add to your Facebook page a certain number of times a week?

Participation on Facebook can start with some guidelines inspired by success with similar efforts, but should be fine tuned to the needs of your own community. We’ve seen some clients daily posting work well while others might post a few times per week.

Facebook Insights provide specific information on how your Fans engage with the page, so start out by posting a few times per week. Keep it focused on being useful and shareable. Increase or decrease post frequency and topics accordingly. Don’t over promote your own information, but follow the themes established in your social content strategy. Ask questions, promote your wall posts and be patient. Give positive feedback to the behaviors you’re looking for and make moderation efforts swift.

How important is it to provide customer service on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Do customers expect it?

If customer service on Facebook is part of your Social Media Strategy and hypothesis, then it makes a lot of sense, My personal observations of consumer expectations is that social features are becoming a more familiar part of the online and brand experience. Customers expect to find and interact with search results. They expect blogs with commenting functionality. They look for Twitter and Facebook sharing options when they read brand content. When favorite brands market themselves on social channels it’s not a surprise anymore, its expected. Customer service is no different.

Deciding to embark on offering customer service via social networks like Facebook should be a thoughtful consideration. It’s not something to be started and then killed. Social media monitoring and first hand participation should reveal demand and companies can plan and forecast resources accordingly.

What are some of the best ways to measure conversions on Facebook?

First, we should define what a “conversion” is, in the context of your goals for Facebook participation. Is it attracting “Fans”, signing customers up for a free sample, getting visitors to redeem a Facebook coupon, or making direct product or service inquiries?

According to your goals, the right measurement scheme will provide the best ways to measure conversions on Facebook. There are a number of Facebook analytics approaches and tools worth checking out. Stores within Facebook can measure sales, sites that focus on recruiting staff might count how many applications they get. Other Facebook pages might simply count and qualify the comments, wall posts and community generated content as measures of engagement. It really depends on what you’re trying to achieve.

What goals do you have for your own Facebook Fan pages? How are you measuring success with Facebook Marketing?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. |
Essential Q & A on Facebook Marketing for Small Business | http://www.toprankblog.com

Essential Q & A on Facebook Marketing for Small Business is a post from: How To Get Backlinks To Your Site

• More than 350 million users are active on Facebook
• 50% of active users log in on any given day
• The average user spends 55 minutes a day on Facebook
• More than 1.6 million active Facebook fan pages have been created

With numbers like these — plus the fact that Google is now using social content to help determine the ranking of web pages — it’s difficult to justify not creating a Facebook presence for your brand.

Take the guesswork of Facebook marketing, and follow these 5 tips for making the most of your fan page.

1. Keep Content Fresh.
Give fans a reason to come back to your page frequently by adding fresh content on a regular basis. Keep in mind that consistently updating the page doesn’t require a significant amount of additional effort.

As part of your online marketing strategy, integrate your Facebook fan page with other social media channels to maximize results little extra effort:

• Automatically feed new blog posts to your Facebook wall
• Use a service like Ping.fm to update all of your social networks at once, including Facebook and Twitter
• Set up widgets for your YouTube channel and Flickr feed to automatically add videos and images to your Facebook fan page

2. Engage New Visitors.
Facebook fan page walls can be an extremely valuable tool for communicating with customers and prospects. But for first-time visitors to fan pages, the wall can seem intimidating and exclusive. Imagine walking into a room where everyone knows one another by name and are talking about a subject you know next to nothing about.

Instead of sending new visitors directly to your fan page wall, send them to a more controlled, welcoming landing page where you can provide them with useful information about your brand, as well as a clear call to action to become a fan.

For example, TOMS Shoes – a shoe retailer than donates a pair of shoes to children in need for every pair purchased – sends first-time visitors to an inviting landing page that gives a clear idea of the company’s mission. The page features a quick video that shares the TOMS Shoes story, as well as links to product and other important pages (see the image below). The approach appears to be working: TOMS Shoes has more than 185,000 fans to date.

TOMS Shoes Facebook Fan Page

3. Promote a Contest Via Facebook.
A great way to add value to a Facebook fan page is to offer users an incentive to become fans. Contests can serve as an enticing incentive.

For example, last fall TopRank® Online Marketing leveraged the Facebook fan page of one of its B to C clients to supplement promotions for a Halloween contest to find the best homemade costume. The client was looking for a final surge in number of participants during the final two days of the contest. TopRank incorporated a fan page tab specifically for the contest, as well as posted information about the contest on the fan page wall. In just two days, the initiative helped the client added more than enough additional new fans.

Be aware, however, that new Facebook marketing guidelines announced in November require brands, marketers and advertisers to go through an approval process for all contests. The guidelines require contests to be handled through an embedded application rather than on the page’s wall, among other things.

4. Give Fans Something They Can’t Get Anywhere Else.
Contests aren’t the only incentives companies can offer to grow their fan base. Any item of value can entice Facebook users to become fans, including:

• Free shipping for Facebook fans
• An exclusive product coupon for fans
• A weekly special promoted on the fan page

Sears – with 160,000+ fans – has been very successful at this approach. First-time visitors are immediately directed to an exclusive offer landing page (illustrated in the image below). By becoming a fan, users are offered $10 in coupons.

Sears' exclusive promotion for Facebook fans

Another approach to incentivize becoming a fan is to provide inside company information and breaking news on the fan page. Fans are more likely to remain faithful to your brand – and tell their friends – when they feel like an insider who has a stake in the company.

5. Encourage Interaction.
The entire notion of social media is built upon interaction and two-way communication. Facebook fan pages have little to no chance of success if they aren’t interactive and engaging.

But it’s not enough to sit back and wait to the interaction to begin. Get the ball rolling by:

• Posting a question to solicit fans’ opinions
• Offering a poll that’s extremely simple to respond to
• Integrating existing Facebook applications such as games and quizzes
• Reposting relevant, interesting information from other Facebook users

Simply creating a fan page for the sake of “Well, everyone else is doing it,” isn’t going to land you results. Like with any other online marketing strategy, Facebook marketing efforts must be well planned and constantly reinforced. By doing so, you can start to tap into the vast network of active Facebook users.

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Facebook Marketing Tips: Make the Most of Your Fan Page |
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Facebook Marketing Tips: Make the Most of Your Fan Page is a post from: How To Get Backlinks To Your Site