Facebook Page Tips to Organically Improve Reach and Engagement

With 1.59 billion users on Facebook, marketers want to make the most of their Pages and promote their businesses effectively. We're all competing for users' attention and although your Page's overall organic reach has probably declined, there are ways to make the most of your unpaid posts with some simple tips:

• Like, Comment and Share often
• Include @tag of other relevant Pages in your posts to extend your reach (business partners, customers, etc.)
• @Tag individuals in the Comments
• Post more video
• Mix up post types: images, memes, text only, questions, article links
• Post pics of staff so followers can get to know you better
• Post outside of business hours (evenings, Saturday and Sunday)
• Post when the majority of your fans are online (refer to FB Insights)
• Use a Call to Action in posts ("Tell us in the Comments", "Click Like if you...", "Please share")
• Plan and arrange all of your upcoming posts using Facebook Scheduler.
• Update the FB Cover Photo to reflect current campaign and upcoming 
• Create events on FB and invite all followers
• One to two months ahead of engagement, post who, what, when, and why info and links to web pages with details and registrations info
• Build community: Ask Fans to share their photos on your Page

For help with your Facebook Page or other social media, contact Jocelyn Murray at 203.377.9980.

Mari Smith's 2016 Facebook Tips and Trends

Facebook marketing expert, Mari Smith, recently offered some great Facebook tips and trends to look for in 2016 during her presentation at the Inbound conference in Boston. Here are a few useful pieces of information that I took away:

1.  Mari discussed three critical Facebook trends:

•  Facebook is disrupting TV and video. Will Facebook overtake YouTube? As of September 2014, Facebook's share of video posts was approaching YouTube's.  The new Facebook Live is a live-streaming feature that's only available to celebrity Pages right now. Strategize how to use live video for your business.
• There will be a stronger emphasis on Messenger for Business. Facebook predicts that businesses will be using Messenger for all kinds of customer communication and transactions. Messenger will essentially serve as an inbox to connect with customers.
•  Brand storytelling: Use Facebook to put the spotlight on your customers, to feature case studies, to use video, and to be more "people centric".

2. Mari also focused on Facebook marketing mistakes that businesses are making:

•  Making posts overly promotional
•  Targeting the wrong audience
• Using only the Boost button
• Promoting posts without a measurable ROI
• Not having an effective landing page to tie in with your ads
• Advertising without using a tracking pixel

3. Regarding content and engagement, Mari recommends that your posts either entertain, inform or prompt a call to action. Here are a few of her common sense content tips:

•  Personalize your posts (write in first person when possible)
•  Address people who comment by name
• Use humor
• Always be prompt in responding to comments/questions

4. While organic reach is on the decline, here are some ways to maximize it:

•  Post more native video
•  Try posting outside business hours
• Mix up post types and post lengths
• Repost popular posts
• Include "@" tags of other Pages
• Drive traffic from other sources
• Embed posts and videos in your blog

Are you using any of these techniques effectively? What other trends do you see on Facebook?

Marketing Pros to Follow on Social Media

Creating an online presence for your brand or company is vital in today’s marketing world, and the top marketing professionals are doing just that. To stay in the know about what’s happening in the marketing industry, it’s important to make sure you’re following the most influential gurus. Here are a few key influencers to check out:

Mari Smith: Mari Smith, author of Top Ten Tips To Boost Your Facebook Ad Conversion &
ROI, has often been referred to as the “ the Queen of Facebook”. She has been named one of the
Top Ten Social Media Power Influencers by Forbes several years in a row, and is the premier
Facebook marketing expert. She offers online marketing training courses, and has published
several webinar guidebooks. Mari is also the author of The New Relationship Marketing and
coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. She has had over 12 years of experience in
the fields of relationships, marketing and Internet technology. Follow her on Twitter at
@MariSmith to stay up to date on all her blog postings and to be the first to know when she has
new content available! You can also check out her Facebook page.

Neil Patel: Co-founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics, Neil Patel helps companies
like Amazon, Viacom, and NBC boost their revenue. Forbes considers him one of the top 10
online marketers, and he has been referred to as a “top influencer on the web” by Wall Street
Journal. Neil has also been awarded Congressional Recognition from the United States House of
Representatives - and he’s only 30 years old. Growing up, he was surrounded by successful
entrepreneurs and was interested in starting his own business at a young age. He’s created a large online presence, where he offers insight about his past experiences as an entrepreneur and a current successful business owner. Following him on Twitter (@NeilPatel) or  Facebook will
allow you to stay up to date with his current blog postings, like his latest one titled ““Don’t Waste Your Time: 6 Ways To Become More Efficient On Social Media””.

Kim Garst: Founder and CEO of Boom! Social, a personal branding social media business
consulting firm, Kim is a current leading business coach. She provides social media keynotes and
offers training to businesses such as IBM and Florida Keys Digital Marketing Conference. She’s
also the author of The Quick and Easy Guide to Branding Your Business and Creating Massive
Sales with Pinterest. Kim is a social media expert and has made a name for herself in the digital
media world, which is why you should check out her Twitter profile, where you can stay in the
know on what’s trending in the social media industry. Follow her at @KimGarst or check out her
Facebook page!

Gary Vaynerchuk: From growing his family’s wine business from $3 million to $60 million, to
running one of the world’s “hottest digital agencies”, Gary is a marketing pro that you should
definitely consider following. He currently owns VaynerMedia, and is the co-founder of
VaynerRSE, a $25 million angel fund. He even hosts his own show, The #AskGaryVee Show,
where he answers questions about social media, entrepreneurship, startups and family businesses.He offers insight about a lifetime of building successful businesses on his online platform, and has spoken at events like SXSW. Stay up to date with Gary at @GaryVee on Twitter,Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest.

HubSpot: HubSpot has been helping businesses grow and creating bigger online presences
since 2006. The company offers new and innovative ways for companies to market
themselves online successfully. Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah started HubSpot with
one goal: to create one integrated system, designed from the ground up to transform how
organizations market and sell. The company is at the top of its game, staying up to date with how
people are “transforming how they consume information, research products and services, and make purchasing decisions”. They’ve recently come out with a new book as well, titled The Beginners Guide to Retargeting. They are constantly posting about the latest social media marketing strategies online, so following HubSpot will keep you in the know on what’s working and what’s not in the digital marketing world. Check them out on Twitter at @HubSpot and at their website, where they have a variety of different blogs, including a marketing blog, a sales blog, a web design blog and more!

Inbound Marketing: Pull Prospects Into Your Sales Funnel

Attracting prospects by providing interesting and valuable content is an effective form of marketing that "pulls" prospects in. Blogs, eBooks and white papers let you impart your knowledge and establish your expertise in the industry. Offering this helpful content in exchange for prospect data such as name, business or email address is the basis for inbound marketing campaigns.

This approach is vastly different from traditional outbound marketing which involves a "push" approach where companies use paid advertising to get products and messages in customers' minds and hope they take action.

Creating inbound marketing campaigns for a defined target audience to generate qualified leads is one of the best ways to market online.

Here's an overview of how to execute your inbound marketing campaign:

1. Identify the audience
Define your target audience, their specific needs and pain points. Consider surveying or interviewing existing clients or prospects from target audience to determine:

• Demographics
• Biggest challenges
• Perceptions

2. Set goals
Determine what type and how many leads the campaign should generate by a targeted date.

3. Create relevant offers and landing pages
Create a content offer (eBook, checklist, white paper, etc.) that's valuable to the target audience. In exchange for prospect contact information, give them access to this valuable content (downloadable PDF).

Having an effective landing page (with a call to action and lead capture form) on your website is crucial to converting prospects.

4. Choose promotional channels to get the word out
Decide which organic and paid channels to use to reach your audience and promote your offer. Email, blog posts, social media and paid advertising (such as Facebook) are good places to start. Develop campaigns and schedule posts or ads to drive traffic to your offer/landing page.

5. Ensure lead follow up
Once you capture prospect information, what will you do with it? Create a series of relevant follow up emails as well as sales team actions to turn your prospects into warm leads or even new clients.

6. Monitor progress
Assess whether your set goals were met and where campaign improvements can be made. Test different offers to see what gets the best response and closely track your promotional channels to understand where the leads are coming from.

Inbound marketing should continually evolve as you try different tactics, evaluate and adjust accordingly.

Tips for Creating An Effective Nonprofit Newsletter

For nonprofit organizations, ongoing communications with donors is an important part of building and maintaining a healthy relationship with them. E-newsletters are a smart, inexpensive way to inform and inspire your supporters. But how do you ensure that your newsletter gets read and what type of content best engages donors?

Here are a few tips to help you optimize your next newsletter:

1. Make Donors Feel Good

Donors are essential to your mission, so be sure to make them feel important. Let them know how their support has helped you. Nurture your relationship by reporting accomplishments or results, thanking them for their contribution and showing how the need still exists and continue to warrant their attention.

2. Let Pictures Tell the Story

Readers will naturally gravitate toward the headlines, bullet points, sidebar info and pictures in your newsletter. Insert photos of the people you've helped or the people who are doing the helping! Don't forget to include captions that explain the story and the results. Videos are another great way to engage readers and tell a story.

3. Encourage Social Sharing 

Encourage readers to spread the word about your nonprofit. Include social sharing icons (for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.) at the top of your newsletter to make it easy for readers to share it on their social networks. Results: more new followers and supporters for you.

4.Offer Advice and Tips

Teach your readers something new. Depending on the mission or work of your nonprofit, what tips can you offer to help readers?

5. List Items That are Needed

Nonprofit organizations always have a wish list of items that they'd like to have or need. Give your supporters and readers the opportunity to help by including that list in your next newsletter.

6. Drive Traffic to Your Website 

Whether your readers are accessing your newsletter from their desktops or their mobile phones, your email communication needs to be brief. Avoid lengthy newsletter articles: insert only first few paragraphs and link to the rest of the article to your website. This is a great way to direct more visitors to your website.

For help with your next nonprofit newsletter or email, contact Jocelyn Murray at 203.377.9980.