Today, we are living in a world of relevance, and everything is tailored to our needs and interests. Our timelines are carefully curated, our news sources are personalized, and social media platforms play into this game of relevance, delivering the content their users want to see.
The social nature of organic posts is one of overcrowded competitiveness, and frankly, Facebook will not let your free drafted content reach your entire audience. Facebook wants to deliver relevant content to its users, and Facebook wants to make money.
Source: OccupyGoogle.org[/caption]
According to an article posted by AdAge in 2013, Facebook stated that they “expect organic distribution of an individual page’s posts to gradually decline over time.” This statement suggests that one day organic reach will be zero.
Facebook offers a variety of advertising formats, and the Facebook Ads Manager will help you choose a format based on your business’ marketing objectives. Whether you want to raise awareness, prompt consideration of your business or increase conversions, Facebook offers Mobile News Feed, Desktop News Feed, Right Column, and Instagram ad placements.
Successful News Feed ads typically include the business name, social information, text with a picture or video, and a call-to-action button. Right column ads include text with images or videos. Instagram ads include your Instagram handle, an image or video, text, and the option of a call-to-action button.
“A business creates an ad. They choose the type of audience they’d like to reach. If you’re in that audience Facebook shows you the ad.”
Paid Facebook advertisements are important for businesses because they allow you to target a specific audience. Facebook claims that they are 89% accurate when it comes to targeted campaigns. Whether a business wants to target a completely new audience or an audience similar to its current audience, Facebook is flexible. Businesses are able to target based on location, demographics, interests, and behaviors. Facebook also has advanced targeting options. These options include targeting custom audiences, lookalike audiences, and business website visitors.
Facebook recently announced that they are adding new measurement tools that connect in-store visits with certain campaigns. These measurements, integrated with sales from commerce platform Square, will allow marketers to have real-time information when it comes to offline ROI. However, the measurements will only include people who have smartphone location services turned on.
This new technology is also making it easier for users to find businesses nearby. Advertisements will actually show users the stores nearest to them, and the ads will offer relevant call-to-actions such as “Get Directions.”
“It’s critical for small businesses with lean budgets to understand the return on each dollar spent on digital marketing. By syncing their Square sales data with Facebook campaigns, sellers can finally see which sales came from customers who viewed their Facebook ads.”
– Saumil Mehta, Customer Engagement Lead, Square
With paid advertising, both businesses and consumers win. Businesses can reach their audiences in ways they couldn’t with organic, and they can easily track their online and offline ad performance. The offline tracking data will show businesses the true value of their paid Facebook advertisements. In addition, paid media will influence earned media. The more visible your post is to your audience, the higher the probability of your post being shared. The ‘Share’ is what keeps social media marketing running. As for consumers, they will see the advertisements that are relevant to them, and they will have easy access to businesses’ information.
What we must keep in mind, however, is that having a stream full of organic posts on an ongoing basis is critical. Even though the reach of these posts will be far less than it would be if they were promoted, the posts will be visible to those who are looking, including visitors to your social profiles and pages. Having a “beefy” timeline is important for your business because it shows that you care about your business and your audience. An ideal situation would be a paid Facebook advertisement leading a user to click on your business’ Facebook page and ultimately visit your website or store for product purchase. The synchronization of both paid and organic posts will allow for seamless engagement and a boosted ROI.
Overdrive Interactive is an award-winning digital marketing agency that helps leading companies compete and win in the online space. Founded in 2001, the agency has developed into an integrated digital shop that delivers brand building, customer acquisition and lead generation programs utilizing search marketing, social media marketing, online media buying, analytics and world class creative services.
