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Facebook Promoted Posts – What They Mean for Your Business
There has been a lot of buzz lately about Facebook Promoted Posts. Some of the top movers and shakers in Facebook advertising are still trying to figure out exactly what benefits Facebook promoted posts bring to your business. This post provides a general overview of how these promoted posts work, with links to some valuable resources I think will help you get the most out of using them.
First… let’s talk about audience reach as it pertains to Facebook.
Unless your getting a lot of “reach” with your Facebook Updates, meaning that a lot of folks are actually seeing your Facebook posts, you’re not going to get the interactivity you are seeking on Facebook.
Limited interaction means limited conversion. Keep that up and your Facebook efforts will be wasted. See, this is the whole reason behind using Facebook Ads. Your social reach within Facebook increases as ads you place within Facebook’s ad campaign system drive people back to your Facebook page or app (the new word for tabs).
Facebook Promoted Posts Give You a New Way to Increase Reach
Facebook Promoted Posts are pretty new, and unless you have more than 400 friends, you may not even see the button to promote your updates. Note the “Promote” button in the bottom right hand corner of the image below.
Click that button, and you see a drop down for different pricing based on the number of people Facebook says your posts will then reach. This, of course, is all based on whether you’re happy with the percentage you see to the left of the Promote button. In this case, Kevin’s post only reached 28 people. I know he would like that percentage to be higher.
Facebook Promoted Posts – So What’s Their Real Benefit?
One of the immediate benefits of Facebook promoted posts seems to be that when someone who follows your Page likes, comments, or shares your promoted post, all of that person’s friends will see that promoted post as well.
While this is great, it’s important to note that promoted posts are only good for 3 days, then they fall back into the “Facebook reach” category, and their visibility may decrease. The 3 day timeline runs from the moment posts are first created, so this is an important fact to remember if you plan to play with Facebook promoted posts.
The real catch I’m not real jazzed about as I write this posts is that though your promoted posts may show up in your followers’ stream, it will do so as a regular post and will not be promoted to the top of what they are seeing. This means that though you paid money for your Facebook promoted post, it might still get drowned out by the flood of other updates a given follower sees.
Seems like sort of a bum deal, right? For now, I’m not too convinced of the effectiveness Facebook promoted posts bring to the table.
Facebook puts it like this: “Promoted posts help increase the people you reach for any eligible post. It’s an easy and fast way to reach more of the people that “like” your page and your friends,” according to a Facebook created Help Center’s explanatory video.
The benefits of the Facebook promoted post feature, according to Facebook’s spokespeople goes like this…
All types of posts form pages can be promoted, including status updates, photos, offers, videos, and questions. And the same steps can be followed for any posts created by the page over the past three days. The guide added:
When you promote a post, it will be shown in the news feeds of more of the people who like your page than you would reach normally. Friends of the people who have interacted with your post will also be more likely to see the story in their news feeds for up to three days from when the post was first created.
News feed is a place for people to see the most recent and popular content from the people and pages they’re connected to. To make sure news feed is filled with the most relevant stories, you can only promote posts within three days from when they’re created.
Promoted posts can also be targeted by language or location by clicking on the public button when creating the post and adjusting the options as the page admin sees fit.
How do Facebook promoted posts stack up vs. posts you push folks to with standard Facebook advertising? I have no clue. The data just isn’t there yet. But, I will be watching and experimenting with this feature, and I’ll absolutely put it to use in our customer campaigns if it pans out.
Looking for FREE Expert Facebook Marketing Advice?
You’re in luck! My good friend Michelle Pescosolido has developed two of the most information packed Facebook marketing webinars I’ve ever seen.
Facebook Social Media Mastery | Facebook Marketing Gone Wild!
Michelle wrote a great post on Facebook promoted posts. Definitely give that a read. Bottom line is that with her training, your Facebook marketing skills will improve.
Too many people struggle with Facebook marketing either spending way too much money on advertising, or just getting mired down in the many changes “Zuck” and company keep throwing into the mix.
Stop struggling with Facebook Marketing. Take some time to learn the basic foundations of marketing on Facebook the right way, so you can achieve the success you desire now. Whether Facebook promoted posts are your answer to maximized reach and results remains to be seen. However, with the proper training – you’ll know how to test it out effectively without spinning your wheels and spending unnecessary dollars.
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