The role of Facebook in your 2014 Marketing strategy  

Prepared  by  Trish  Barry  -­‐  February  2014  

•  This  week    facebook  turned  ten!    •  As  a  pla7orm,  it’s  provided  

marketers  with  lots  of  opportuni<es  to  connect  directly  with  consumers  to  tell  your  stories  

•  However,  no  longer  can  we  expect  the  same  results  as  we  have  when  the  pla7orm  was  launched  

•  Like  any  ten  year  old,  it’s  oBen  unpredictable  and  how  we  approach  needs  some  wisdom!  

Image  source:  SMH  online  

Look at the bigger picture •  There over over 12 million facebook users in

Australia •  9 million of these users use facebook daily •  63 per cent connect and interact with brands •  80% of Australians use a mobile device to logon

to facebook •  40% of Australian users post and share news

articles regularly •  In last year facebook links to news media sites

has increased by 170% - they are very much looking to reposition as a news portal (12% of a users news and media consumption coming from facebook)

Source:  Facebook  Australia  –  August  2013  

How about reports of Facebook fatigue?

•  Seeing decline in younger users as they moving platforms like snapchat

–  They don’t want to be friends with their parents who there to see what their kids up to…

–  Whatsapp is popular from 16-18 years •  Instagram is also rapidly growing •  However, for many of our target audiences the

younger age group is not who we are talking to so don’t write facebook off yet

•  There’s still no alternative social media platform with such engrained daily usage and in some age groups (over 45) Facebook is still growing

•  Best advice is to diversify your platforms and use facebook strategically, remembering to always think about how you can drive to website or capture details to enhance relationships offline (events, tastings, dinners etc)

Some facts about Facebook you might not know

•  Facebook now makes more money from mobile than PCs –  Now worth $US135billion and successfully shifted to focus on mobile. For

the first time in 4th qtr earnings they earn more sales from ads on phones and tablets than traditional PCs

•  It’s king of social referred traffic –  Facebook is still the king for social referred traffic, according to Adobe’s

most recent social intelligence report. –  But Facebook is slowly losing ground to other social media, in particular

Twitter and Pinterest. •  Facebook tried to buy Snapchat

–  In 2012 Facebook bought instagram for $US1 billion even though there was no revenue source. Facebook also offered snapchat $3 billion to buy Snapchat. They are always on look out of ways to keep platform

•  Facebook positioning itself as a news hub –  Facebook positioning to be news aggregator. Release of new Paper app this

week highlighting need to be source of news information. Facebook Aust reported that 12 percent of users news and media consumption comes from Facebook currently and this expected to grow.

It’s worth remembering why consumers use facebook in the first place… and brands are not the core priority

Which means for our branded pages to make an impact, we have to think about what we’re offering and why people would want to continue to engage if we’re not providing value.

So why do fans “like” a page

hGp://marke<ngland.com/why-­‐do-­‐consumers-­‐become-­‐facebook-­‐fans-­‐49745    hGp://www.purplewifi.net/wp-­‐content/uploads/2013/04/Syncapse___Value_of_a_Fan_Report_2013.pdf    

Facebook continues to drive more website traffic than other social media platforms

The measurements of social media have moved beyond direct sales as ROI

hGp://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-­‐myth-­‐of-­‐social-­‐roi-­‐2013-­‐10  

•  Success has moved beyond number of fans or $ return

•  Monitoring engagement, traffic drivers considered just as important by organisations

Keeping  your  finger  on  the  facebook  pulse.    What  does  the  future  hold  and  what  do  we  need  to  do  differently  in    2014?  

Competition for attention on facebook is intense

•  Over 12.8 million active users in Australia •  +6% growth in last six months •  Average user spends 7 hours 19 min on

facebook each month •  68% facebook users return daily •  86% return weekly •  3 billion photos uploaded every month •  50 million likes everyday

More activity means more competition for news feed distribution. Your content not guaranteed to Be seen unless it’s engaging and memorable

18 months ago, it used to be all about edgerank

•  Having an insight into how the algorithm worked for content gave you a better chance of your branded page posts being seen.

•  But as more people joined, more brands entered the space facebook has had to evolve to make sure they keep the users and are not just spamming the news feed with irrelevant content.

The algorithm is now changing constantly

•  Now there is so much science behind the algorithm that it’s impossible for us to guess their trade secrets. •  “There are as many as 100,000 individual weights in the model that produces News Feed. The three

original EdgeRank elements — Affinity, Weight and Time Decay — are still factors in News Feed ranking, but other things are equally important.” Lars Backstrom, Engineering Manager for News Feed Ranking at Facebook – August 2013

hGp://marke<ngland.com/edgerank-­‐is-­‐dead-­‐facebooks-­‐news-­‐feed-­‐algorithm-­‐now-­‐has-­‐close-­‐to-­‐100k-­‐weight-­‐factors-­‐55908  

December 2013 we saw major impact on organic reach of posts as the algorithm was tweaked

•  What does this mean? –  Need to continue to test different types of posts to work out what

most effective •  Don’t rely just on images

–  Allocate budget for occasional promoted posts –  Provide reasons for consumers to engage or interact with you –  Content creation even more critical –  Less images and more high quality content will be shown – more

importance than ever to have a blog and encourage people to share the link driving traffic back to your website

And changes continue to be rolled out…

•  Text updates used to get most reach for brand pages – now facebook is differentiating between personal and brand pages

•  In Jan 2014 announced brand page algorithm favouring other type of content

•  Link sharing and photos for brands is being encouraged as has images and news feed becomes more visual

•  http://marketingland.com/facebook-tweaks-news-feed-text-updates-arent-working-wont-be-shown-as-much-71194

Just  because  it’s  got  harder,  does  not  mean  you  walk  away  from  your  communiIes.    Fight  for  those  relaIonships  and  think    about  how  you  can  stand  out.  

What you should be doing now…

1.  Develop a plan –  Make it easy to manage and spend your time wisely by planning in advance

to have the right mix of messages and platforms. Ensure you’ve got a mix of ways to engage your community over the year

2.  Diversify your exposure –  Social media has always been a way to engage in communities. It’s time to

think about diversifying your exposure and growing other relevant communities

3.  Focus on creating excellent content –  Brands creating excellent content are still cutting through the clutter. You

need to be thinking about how you will add value and be true to your brand messages.

4.  Be prepared to invest some money from time to time –  Facebook continues to get more refined in the way that you can target your

audience and let’s face it, advertising is how they make money and continue to evolve. In 2014 you will need to assign a small budget to help ensure relevant messages are seen.

Use the page analytics to guide what is working

•  Use the page insights to test what is working over time. •  What posts working best, is your audience targeted, is your page growing, are people

checking in, what demographic groups responding best. There’s so much that you can find out with this free information.

Integrate your social activity in google analytics reporting… where is your traffic coming from?

•  Ensure google analytics correctly set up to measure social conversions

•  Know what platforms are working best and where traffic sources are coming from

•  You can actually set up specific campaign targets in google analytics to test performance

Plan your content

•  Develop a content plan and the pillars of content around your brand

•  Having a calendar means that you can upload content and then focus on interaction

•  Also means your content can be differentiated across mediums so not always doing the same thing

•  Our content expert Sophie Knox is here to help you make content planning easier… spending one day planning content can save you hours of work and ensure your content is relevant and on brand message

Where to start… content pillars defined

VISION:    

To  be  widely  as  leading  Restaurant  group  providing  excep<onal  customer  experiences  

 

Local  Produce    

 

Dining/  Entertaining  Tips  

Promo<ons    

 

                     

MaG  Moran    

 

   

 4  Core  conten

t  pillars  o

f  focus  

The  house  of  content  does  not  work  in  harmony  when  one  pillar  dominates  

A content plan has to work for you and the team..

Don’t forget your website as the home base!

Your  website  and  your  blog  will  always  be  owned  media  that    you  can  control.  Don’t  forget  to  drive  your  communi<es  ‘home’  to  assets  that  are  within  your  power.  If  you’re  planning  out  your  content  thinking  About  how  you  drive  traffic  to  website  will  be  top  priority.  

It’s a house you don’t own…

•  A good analogy to think about… you’d never build your dream house on rented land… so don’t put all of your eggs in the facebook basket because it’s not a platform you own.

•  Your website is your digital home and it’s often neglected

Timing your posts to ensure they are seen is paramount to success

hGp://www.mastermindmusings.com.au/2013/06/facebookprescheduling/  

Timing  of  posts  is  cri<cal.  Users  not  always  online  from  9-­‐5pm  so  think  about  ensuring  that  you  target  and  <me  your  posts  

If  you’ve  got  over  5,000  fans,  use  the    Targe<ng  to  post  by  loca<on  so  that  The  messages  are  relevant  

Remember 9-5 actions can be limited

Source:  Yellowpages  social  media  report  2013  

Think about the comments around the posts… how can you encourage comments and interaction?

Think about driving interaction with your posts

hGp://www.quicksprout.com/2014/01/10/how-­‐to-­‐increase-­‐your-­‐facebook-­‐engagement-­‐by-­‐275/  

Don’t dismiss facebook ads – they can be very effective and targeted…

•  Facebook constantly looking at ways for advertisers to better target their users

•  Lots of options depending on your goals

•  Assign some budget for 2014 for selective promotion of core messages

Facebook ads

A  range  of  different  ad  formats  depending  on  what  you  are  looking  to  achieve.    Some  work  beMer  than  others…  

Be targeted… don’t just hit the promote button

•  Power Editor gives you option of targeting:

•  Demographic groups •  Only fans on page •  Blind posts – where hits newsfeed and

not on the page •  Desktop vs mobile placements

Custom audience Targeting…

You  can  now  upload  your  email  lists  and  via  power  editor  create  a  custom  audience  To  target  ads  to.  This  data  is  “hashed”  (to  keep  it  private)  and  then  the  ads  served  to  People  who  are  on  your  list.  A  great  way  of  growing  your  community  on  facebook  With  customers  who  oTen  already  have  a  relaIonship  with  your  business  

Look a-like audiences

•  Similarly can use your email list to create a “lookalike” audience of people who have similar profile and characteristics to the people you already target.

NEW….website custom audiences…

•  Website Custom Audiences allow you to create Facebook ads that target users who have previously visited your website.

•  You can focus only on those who visited a specific page or section of your site, or those who visited pages that included a particular keyword in the URL.

•  https://www.facebook.com/business/news/Improved-Ways-for-Direct-Response-Marketers-to-Reach-People-on-Mobile-and-Desktop

hGp://www.jonloomer.com/2014/01/28/website-­‐custom-­‐audiences-­‐facebook/  

Ad retargeting on websites…

•  Also an opportunity to consider some facebook ad retargeting in 2014 •  This is where we place code on website to collect information and then we use this information to

target ads on facebook or other networks. •  People will have interacted with the brand, maybe come looking for you via search and this is a way of

closing the look and reminding of offer, giving information or prompting to buy. •  This is a growing way to increase conversions from people who have interacted with your brand and

not yet bought. •  Adroll is one of the largest retargeting providers – have a look at their offering •  http://www.adroll.com/au?gclid=CN3Sv4Xe_rsCFcHwpAodQ1YAyg

Off the shelf apps continually appearing with new ways to engage

•  Promotions can help in a number of ways: –  Encouraging fans to

interact –  Getting email or other

contact data –  Rewarding fans or giving

unique experiences

Finally think about providing value offline with opportunities and experiences

•  What can you do offline to enhance the brand experience and make your fans feel like a VIP? –  Exclusive events for fans –  Opportunity for trial –  Pre-releases –  Special promotions to keep them loyal

•  Does not have to be everyday but the more offline interaction you have, the stronger the trust and engagement with your brand.

Where Mastermind Consulting can help

Strategy  and  Planning  

Content  Planning  and  CreaIon  

Comms  Development  

Social  Media  strategy,  

campaigns  and  reporIng  

Product  Strategy  and  Development  

Visual  Design    web  and  online  

Direct  MarkeIng  

Workshops  and  Training