Category Archives: Facebook

Executive Briefing Course: Facebook & Instagram

This video-based course is intended to provide a high-level overview of social media (and of Facebook and Instagram in particular), for time-poor executives who need to understand the possibilities (and the pitfalls) of the medium, without getting lost in the detail.

Social media has become more and more important for New Zealand businesses, for a number of reasons:

  • Social Media is the place where most Kiwis spend a large amount of time online, more than an hour and a half a day
  • Two out of three Kiwi Internet users visit social network sites every day
  • Kiwis use Social Media for purchase recommendations. 85% of buying decisions are made by researching the web for recommendations and information. 92% of Kiwis trust recommendations from their peers. (Localist)
  • They’re very frequent visitors. 24% of Kiwis use their 4G smartphone or tablet to check social media apps at least 20 times a day (Vodafone 4G Network Report)
  • Mastering social media can lead to more effective business development too. 92% of business people say that networking is a key part of professional development and business success, but only 8% of respondents chose social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as their preferred method of networking. (The Icehouse survey)
  • If you’re not active in their favourite forum, will prospects think of you when they consider making a purchase in your category?
  • Through social sites, Kiwis talk about what they want to buy and they often ask their friends for recommendations. Are you listening? Are you contributing?

People share stuff on social media with their friends — the good, the bad and the ugly. If you’re being talked about and you don’t know what is being said about you and your products & services (and customer service successes and failures) in social media, you won’t have a chance to respond and fix any problems before they go toxic.

In other words, social media is now an essential business tool. Are you represented effectively there?

Executive Briefing Course: Facebook & Instagram

The course, provided online over five weeks, looks specifically at the two social networks of most importance to New Zealand marketers: Facebook and Instagram.

Here is what the course covers:

Lesson One: Introduction

In the first lesson, we explore the basics of social media, including:

  • Why Social Media matters in today’s commercial environment
  • The Social Media networks of most importance in New Zealand (notably, as we’ve already mentioned, Facebook and Instagram)
  • The five most common Social Media Objectives
  • A detailed look at who uses Facebook in NZ
  • Features & Benefits of Facebook
  • A detailed look at who uses Instagram in NZ
  • Features & Benefits of Instagram

Lesson Two: How to use Facebook and Instagram Effectively

In the second lesson, we examine specific usage opportunities with both Facebook and Instagram, including:

  • Do’s and don’ts for each channel.
  • Understanding your target customers
  • Defining your brand voice
  • Creative Options
  • Common mistakes
  • Best practice examples
  • How often you should post to each medium

Lesson Three: Advertising on Facebook and Instagram

In the third lesson, we discuss paid advertising on the two social networks, covering:

  • What sorts of posts should you promote?
  • How much should you spend?
  • The secrets of effective ad campaign objectives
  • The key differences between Google Adwords and Facebook & Instagram Ads and why they matter to you
  • The limitations faced by New Zealand advertisers compared with our foreign counterparts
  • How you can reach out to your own customers and prospects through Custom Audiences
  • The 10 most important factors that consumers look for when deciding whether or not to buy from you
  • How to use remarketing to truly customise your Ads
  • How to promote posts (and some of the pitfalls to avoid)

Lesson Four: Analytics and Measurement

Time to turn to the numbers. No, we won’t confuse you with too much detail, but effective promotion on Facebook and Instagram requires at least a broad understanding of the numbers behind the scenes. In the process we will look at:

  • Geo-targeting and audience building
  • Learning from competitors
  • How to measure and interpret results

Recommended tracking, including:

  • who saw your Facebook & Instagram Ads
  • who clicked on those ads
  • the percentage who then took the desired action
  • the comparative Costs Per Click and Costs Per Conversion (and how to evaluate the effectiveness of your ads as a result)
  • the Lifetime Value of your Facebook-generated customers

Lesson Five: Tips, Techniques and Tools

Finally, we cover some of the key tips and techniques that you need to know about to make the most effective use of Facebook and Instagram. Topics that we review include:

  • Developing a content calendar
  • Planning your social media program and allocating responsibilities
  • Social media management tools you should consider
  • What you need to know about relevant NZ Privacy & Regulation legislation
  • The surprising implications for NZ businesses of Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation

————————
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS COURSE?
Any business executive who is considering using Instagram or Facebook (or probably both) to promote their products/services.

————————
ABOUT NETMARKETING COURSES
This course is one of many courses offered by NZ online training provider Netmarketing Courses. The organisation’s principal, Michael Carney, is a long-time marketer who has been passionate about digital marketing for more than thirty years. Netmarketing Courses was set up in 2010 to offer online marketing courses to businesses across New Zealand. Across the years we’ve partnered with a number of organisations, including the NZ Marketing Association, the Tourism Industry Association, the NZ Retailers’ Association and Hospitality New Zealand, to offer our courses to their members.

————————
FAQ

Q. How long are the courses?
A. We typically recommend that you allow an average of an hour or two per lesson — less in the earlier stages of a course, more in the latter stages.

Q. How much time do I have to complete the courses?
A. This course is officially a five-week course. That doesn’t mean that you have only that period of time to complete your course, however — you complete the course at your own pace, and many of our students opt for a more leisurely completion time.

Q. Do I have to take the course at a particular time?
A. No, our courses are not live – they’re designed for you to take at your own pace, anytime 24/7 – so when you actually take the course is entirely up to you.

————————
TIMING

The next course begins on Monday 30 December, 2019.

INVESTMENT

This five-part online training course is available for $597+GST. However we offer an Introductory Discount of $200 — pay just $397+GST for bookings received by Monday 23 December, 2019.

Bookings are confirmed on receipt of payment, which can be by bank deposit or credit card. We can raise an invoice in advance if you need it.

To reserve your place in this Executive Briefing: Facebook and Instagram course and SAVE $200, please pay by credit card through PayPal by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=K3KXLN3MEE5TS

If you would prefer to pay by bank deposit, or require an invoice, please send an email to [email protected] with your requirements.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
You’ll receive our emailed confirmation of your booking. Then on the first day of the course we’ll follow up with details of your Login and Password, along with an Enrolment Key for the Executive Briefing: Facebook and Instagram online training course.

If you have any questions, or would like more information, please email us at [email protected]

Are You Paying For Facebook Ads That Simply Don’t Work?

Are you failing on Facebook? Do your posts attract plenty of likes, comments and shares — or do they just sit there, covered in cyberdust?

As you’re probably aware, over the years Facebook has steadily dialed back on organic (i.e. free) reach of Facebook page posts. Nowadays, if you want to get seen by more than a few percent of your followers, you have to PAY to promote your posts.

That’s not news. But there’s another BIG BAD SECRET that you might not know about: just paying to promote your Facebook posts is not enough.

Pay to promote posts that no-one wants to read — “Sale Today”, “Here’s some dull news about our company” — and, guess what, no-one will read those posts even though you’re paying to show them to your followers.

You need to promote posts that already work. Otherwise you could be just throwing your money away.

There’s a bit of a Catch-22, though. If hardly anyone sees your unpaid posts, how will you know which works and which doesn’t?

Two Solutions

As you may or may not know, we’ve been focussed on Social Media in general, and on Facebook in particular, for the last eight years. We’ve been running online training courses since 2010.

Along the way, we’ve purchased or commissioned a number of software tools to enable us to dig deep into Facebook, gather data and crunch numbers.

As a result, we have tools that have allowed us to:

  • build a 150,000-strong global database of Facebook pages (including more than 25,000 NZ Facebook pages)
  • add thousands more in any specific category at any time
  • track Facebook page performances in terms of likes and talks whenever we wish (typically weekly and monthly)
  • identify the most effective Facebook pages in terms of likes, talks and overall engagement
  • drill down into those pages and find their most effective posts

So, for example, if we wanted to identify the most effective types of posts in the Real Estate category, we would:

  • assemble from our database all the Real Estate pages we currently monitor (several hundred)
  • using our specialist Facebook search tools, gather additional NZ Facebook real estate pages (around 2300 relevant Kiwi pages at last count)
  • gather additional Facebook real estate pages for major towns and cities in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada (i.e. the primary English-speaking markets)
  • upload that specialist real estate database to our Facebook monitoring software to determine the most effective, most engaged Facebook pages amongst them
  • select the top-performing pages and then, using another software suite, identify the most effective (in terms of likes, comments and shares) posts for those pages
  • reverse-engineer the most effective posts and then recommend the strategies to follow to develop engaging content that your followers will want to share

For example (sticking with our real estate category), we’ve uncovered:

  • killer wording that almost forces prospects to like and engage with your page
  • a strategy that turns a dollar donation into a compelling engagement tool
  • a tactic that you simply must not use — because you’re attracting totally unqualified leads
  • a truly delightful content strategy that really pays off and proves the power of words
  • a low-cost but dramatically effective way to use Facebook video

You could do all that too, if you had our software tools, our database, our eight years of social media expertise and our forty-plus years of marketing experience.

Or you could opt for one of our two recommended solutions:

 

1. JOIN OUR “MASTERING FACEBOOK ADS” ONLINE TRAINING COURSE

Sign up for our “Mastering Facebook Ads” online training course, which will introduce you to the principles and practices of Facebook Advertising (crammed with tons of examples). Full details of this course are here: https://socialmedia.org.nz/ecourses/mastering-facebook-ads-course/

This course begins on Thursday 02 January, 2020.

However we offer a $100 Early Bird Discount for bookings received and payment made by midnight on Thursday 26 December, 2019.

 

2. CUSTOM ANALYSIS OF YOUR PRODUCT CATEGORY ON FACEBOOK

Alternatively, you could sign up to for our extensive analysis of your Facebook product category, out of which we will identify at least 15 content strategies for you to use to create effective and compelling posts.

During our custom analysis we will:

  • assemble from our database all the pages in your category that we currently monitor
  • gather as many additional Facebook pages in your category as possible, for major towns and cities in New Zealand
  • gather additional Facebook category pages for major towns and cities in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada
  • determine the most effective, most engaged Facebook pages in your category, based on current, real-time data
  • select the top-performing pages and identify the most effective (in terms of likes, comments and shares) posts for those pages
  • recommend at least 15 content strategies to follow to develop engaging content that your followers will want to share
  • suggest strategies that enable you to create original compelling content that will stand out from the crowd because it is unique

As you might imagine, despite the software tools we have at our disposal, this project requires significant individual analysis and insight, which is why we’re limiting the offer to just six clients.

For this service, we could easily charge $2500 or more, and that would be a fair price for all the effort involved.

Still, since this is a new project for us, we’re looking for some social proof in the form of very satisfied customers. So we’ve decided to offer our Facebook Custom Analysis programme for just $997.

Here’s the link to sign up and pay via PayPal (and yes, it will automatically switch to sign you up for a waiting list once all six spots are taken): http://bit.ly/fbcustomanalysis

You’ll be taken to our PayPal payment page, where you’ll be asked to provide your name and email details and to pay for the programme.

If you would prefer to pay by bank deposit, or require an invoice, please send an email to [email protected] with your requirements.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

You’ll receive our emailed confirmation of your booking (normally fairly quickly, but please do allow up to 12 hours for us to get back to you). Then we’ll be in touch by email to gather more information from you.

PS Sure, you can pass these offers by. We just don’t want you to have any regrets if/when your Facebook advertising fails.

Spy on Your Competitors and Their Facebook Advertising

Facebook has just introduced a new tool for marketers, and now provides Facebook Advertising campaign details attached to each Facebook page.

The social giant’s stated intention: to provide more transparency into advertising on Facebook. The welcome side effect for marketers: we can now see exactly what brands are opting to advertise on the network, which is valuable competitive intelligence which was not previously available to us.

So how do we get details of Facebook Advertising activities?

On a desktop computer, you’ll find it on the left-hand column of a brand’s Facebook page, under “Info and ads”.

On a mobile device, “Info and Ads” can be found near the top of the screen, on the right-hand side:

Even though this information is made available, however, sometimes there’s nothing to see (as in this example, where ‘DoritosANZ’, Doritos Australia/New Zealand, is not currently advertising on Facebook, either in Australia or New Zealand):

If we turn our attention to a brand that has been advertising recently, such as the example below from the Body Shop, we can see copies of any ads they are running on Facebook. It’s a useful pointer to where they’re putting their promotional efforts.

We’re not provided with any campaign information such as timing, spend levels or targeting — but at least we can see their creative executions, which provides us with insights into their thinking.

Facebook Advertising Across More Than One Market

We can learn still more about brands’ Facebook Advertising activities by viewing their efforts in multiple markets.

For example, if we turn our attention to the Australia/New Zealand Facebook page for Walt Disney Studios, we can see that the company has been advertising Incredibles 2 in New Zealand:

We can also see what the company is advertising on Facebook in Australia, simply by choosing a different location from Facebook’s dropdown list near the top of the page.

Then we learn that, apart from Incredibles 2, the company is also promoting the DVD/Digital release of A Wrinkle in Time. If you were a competing film distributor, that knowledge could assist you with your own campaigns.

 

Even More Market Intelligence about Facebook Advertising

Your Facebook Advertising access isn’t only limited to pages that jointly promote New Zealand and Australia. You can also go to international pages for insights.

For example, Ford New Zealand has an active NZ-only Facebook page, but is currently promoting only its SUV range:

If you want to see what else might be in the pipeline, you might head to Ford’s Australian page to check out their ‘Info and ads’ section.

First you’ll have to use the dropdown menu to see ads currently served in Australia:

Then you can see where they are putting their promotional efforts across the ditch:

And:

You might also decide you also want to check out what’s happening with Ford Canada:

All in all, this new Facebook Advertising capability will give you additional insights into your competitors and their plans. Add it to the list of tools you should use to improve your Social Media Marketing efforts.

—–

Need help with your Facebook marketing? Check out our Social Media Marketing online training courses:

Here are the current courses (click on the links for more details about each course):

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING COURSES

Facebook Accelerator Programme
Facebook-Accelerator-course

So you have a few hundred (or a few thousand) followers on Facebook but now you want to know how to get to the next level? Our Facebook Accelerator seven-part online course will lead you through the steps necessary to supercharge your Facebook presence and get Kiwi consumers engaging with you and your brands.

For more details of the Facebook Accelerator programme, please click here.

The Principles & Practice of Social Media Marketing
social-media-marketing-nz-online-training-course

This is a thirteen-part eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to Social Media Marketing, from the Basics to detailed instructions on how to build and run a Social Media Marketing programme.

For more details of the Social Media Marketing online course, please click here.

The Complete Facebook Marketing Course
Complete Facebook Marketing course

For those who wish to master Facebook Marketing in its entirety, we’ve created a ten-week online training programme which will take you from absolute beginner on Facebook to highly effective Facebook communicator.

For more details of the Complete Facebook Marketing programme, please click here.

Mastering Facebook Advertising

mastering-facebook-ads-online-training-course

This is a nine-part eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to Facebook Advertising.

For more details of the Mastering Facebook Ads online training course, please click here.

How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief
Preparing an Effective Social Media Marketing Brief

Even if you don’t intend to become directly involved in social media yourself, you may still need to understand the principles, practices and opportunities of social media — for example, if you need to brief someone about running a social media campaign. This programme is designed to provide you with the insights necessary to prepare an effective brief.

For more details of the How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief programme, please click here.

——-

Also, check out our Social Media NZ Marketing Trends 2018 special presentation.

Details here.

 

 

NZ Posts That Have Gone Viral on Facebook in 2018

nz-posts-that-have-gone-viral-on-facebook-in-2018

You’ve no doubt seen the gloom and doom stories about Facebook in recent times, and how New Zealand marketers can no longer expect to get noticed without paying for Facebook ads.

Whilst that’s a fair summation of the current state of Facebook in 2018, there are still exceptions — posts that do get shared, because they excite, inspire or touch the hearts of Kiwi consumers.

Here, from our database of more than 23,000 NZ Facebook pages, are some of the recent posts that we’ve come across that performed far better than the average.

Firstly, from Waikato Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED), lurking within the usual public service announcements, a picture and accompanying story that will make you go “awwww” (and like the post 5,200 times and share it 618 times):

waikato

Nicely done, Waikato.

Next, from the Porirua Chamber of Commerce, a story that’s achieved surprising traction (273 likes, 61 shares) considering that the chamber only has 1,122 followers:

porirua

We also couldn’t resist sharing the post from an unlikely source, Ese Tatupu Funeral Directors &  Mortuary Embalmers, which attracted attention well beyond its core constituency when it shared the Tagata Pasifika story of its female Funeral Director:

funeral

And then there was Southland Honda, which caught the imagination of hundreds of its followers with an almost-unbelievable picture from long ago:

southland

If you’d like to improve your own social media expertise, we offer specialist training.

Here are the current courses (click on the links for more details about each course):

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING COURSES

Facebook Accelerator Programme
Facebook-Accelerator-course

So you have a few hundred (or a few thousand) followers on Facebook but now you want to know how to get to the next level? Our Facebook Accelerator seven-part online course will lead you through the steps necessary to supercharge your Facebook presence and get Kiwi consumers engaging with you and your brands.

For more details of the Facebook Accelerator programme, please click here.

The Principles & Practice of Social Media Marketing
social-media-marketing-nz-online-training-course

This is a thirteen-part eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to Social Media Marketing, from the Basics to detailed instructions on how to build and run a Social Media Marketing programme.

For more details of the Social Media Marketing online course, please click here.

The Complete Facebook Marketing Course
Complete Facebook Marketing course

For those who wish to master Facebook Marketing in its entirety, we’ve created a ten-week online training programme which will take you from absolute beginner on Facebook to highly effective Facebook communicator.

For more details of the Complete Facebook Marketing programme, please click here.

How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief
Preparing an Effective Social Media Marketing Brief

Even if you don’t intend to become directly involved in social media yourself, you may still need to understand the principles, practices and opportunities of social media — for example, if you need to brief someone about running a social media campaign. This programme is designed to provide you with the insights necessary to prepare an effective brief.

For more details of the How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief programme, please click here.

How to Use LinkedIn Effectively – For Your Business And Your Career
How to Use LinkedIn Effectively - for your Business and your Career

This is a seven-part online training eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to LinkedIn, from the basics to detailed instructions on how to use LinkedIn to promote your organisation, build your personal reputation, find a job, recruit prospective employees and even make sales.

For more details of the How to Use LinkedIn Effectively programme, please click here.

ONLINE VIDEO MARKETING COURSE

online-video-marketing-course

Online Video is no longer an “up-and-coming” marketing tactic — it’s here, and it’s a powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects.

Remember the old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words? According to an estimate by Dr James McQuivey of Forrester Research, one minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words.

So let’s cut to the chase. It’s well past time for you to upskill yourself in online video marketing. That’s why we’re launching our newest short course on the topic.

For more details of the Online Video Marketing course, please click here.

ECOMMERCE COURSES

Mastering eCommerce course

Our online course, “Mastering eCommerce”, tells you what you need to know about selling effectively online in a seven-week programme that steps you through the principles and practices of eCommerce in New Zealand.

For more details of the Mastering eCommerce programme, please click here.

Advanced Selling on Trade Me
Advanced Selling on Trade Me

This is a seven-week eCourse providing a comprehensive masterclass on selling on Trade Me. The course presumes you are already familiar with the basics of selling on Trade Me.

For more details of the Advanced Selling on Trade Me programme, please click here.

MOBILE MARKETING

Smartphone usage has hit the tipping point, in New Zealand as elsewhere. According to Google’s Consumer Barometer (2017), most New Zealanders Under 55 now have smartphones — and these devices are dramatically changing consumer behaviour, with significant implications for Kiwi businesses.To help you master this challenging mobile environment, we’ve created a dedicated online training course about Mobile Marketing.

For more details of the Principle & Practice of Mobile Marketing course, please click here.

 

Should Marketers Panic About Facebook?

should-marketers-panic-about-facebook

We’ve all seen the news stories and the memes about Facebook and its privacy issues. And we’ve seen a very different Mark Zuckerberg fronting up to the US senate. So is it time to panic and divert our marketing energies somewhere else — anywhere else?

Facebook uber-expert Mari Smith asked a similar question in a recent blog post:

Should businesses abandon Facebook and use other social media platforms instead?

One of Mari Smith’s audience members asked this very question on a recent Facebook Live broadcast on her Page. Her answer: absolutely not! For SAVVY MARKETERS it is “Business as usual.” You are foolish if you abandon Facebook right now.

Granted, if you are a personal user only, and Facebook no longer floats your boat, then sure go for it — delete your account.

BUT, if you manage a business Page on Facebook, you still have *the* most granular ad targeting parameters available to you and the ability to reach the largest online audience ever.

As much as Facebook has had a ton of challenging media attention in the past few weeks—primarily due to the Cambridge Analytica data breach debacle—there is simply NO solid reason for businesses to abandon Facebook right now. As for the impact of Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress, well, it remains to be seen what will happen from here.

Here’s Mari’s ‘soap box’ #MariRant message about not abandoning Facebook!

The above video is a five minute excerpt of this longer Facebook Live broadcast Mari did on April 4th, reviewing many important updates that Facebook rolled out:

Six Important Facebook Updates

In the past few weeks, Facebook has been pushing out update after update in a concerted [rescue] effort leading up to Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congress. Following is a list of the most pertinent changes that impact business users in particular:

1. Removal of Partner Categories in ad targeting (over the next six months)

Facebook is shutting down Partner Categories, which allowed third-party data aggregators like Experian and Acxiom to provide Facebook advertisers with additional valuable offline demographic data such as home ownership or purchase behavior. Facebook will wind down Partner Categories over the next six months. [Note for Kiwi marketers: these Partner Categories weren’t available in New Zealand anyway, so no loss there]

2. New email address list certification tool

Facebook is working on a certification tool that will demand that marketers guarantee that email addresses used for ad targeting were rightfully attained. The tool will aim to safeguard against advertisers misusing user data in uploaded lists for ad targeting. [In our view, this is all about making Facebook GDPR-compliant in advance of Europe’s imminent new data protection regulations.]

The tool is still in development and it’s not clear exactly what the ‘certification’ process will entail. Other than checking a box? Hm. Perhaps advertisers will have to show proof of where and how they obtained the email addresses, e.g. the URL of the landing page with the opt-in form, or the Messenger Bot, along with which CRM system the business uses. 3. Major changes for apps using Facebook API’s

3. Changes to Data Access

Facebook announced nine important changes to restrict data access. Those changes include

Events API: All apps using this API will no longer be able to access the guest list or posts on Facebook Event walls.

Groups API: All apps using the Groups API will need approval from Facebook and an admin. Plus, apps will no longer be able to access the member list of a group, or personal information attached to posts or comments in groups. This is surely a good thing from a user standpoint. However, I imagine there are many Group apps out there a bit upset about this change.

Pages API: Going forward, all apps accessing data through the Pages API will need to be approved by Facebook. Facebook Login: In addition to the changes Mark Zuckerberg announced on March 21, 2018, Facebook is further imposing strict requirements on apps before they can access data. For any app you’ve not used in the last 3 months, Facebook will remove that app developer’s ability to request your data.

Instagram Platform API: Facebook accelerated the deprecation of the Instagram API, choking off developers’ access to numerous capabilities.

For the full list of the nine changes, see this post.

4. No more reach estimates for Custom Audiences

Facebook no longer shows reach estimates for Custom Audiences. After a research team from Northeastern University discovered a potential privacy vulnerability with this ad feature, Facebook stopped showing audience reach estimates in any campaign using Custom Audience targeting.

Custom Audiences are created using customer information that advertisers upload—such as a list of opt-in email subscribers, phone numbers or addresses—or website visitors based on the Facebook pixel.

Potential Reach numbers will not be provided in any campaign set up that uses Custom Audiences, including to build lookalike audiences from an uploaded list, until a fix has been developed. Let’s hope that’s fairly soon! Nonetheless, you can certainly still run your ad campaigns without the reach estimates.

5. New rules for political or issue ads

Every advertiser on Facebook that wants to run political or issue ads will need to be verified by confirming their identity and location.

Political/issue ads will be labeled and will clearly show who paid for the ad.

Plus, for political ads in the US, you’ll be able to search an archive that shows how much the advertiser spent, the types of people who saw the ads, and the number of times the ad was seen.

6. People managing large pages need to be verified

Facebook is also going to require people who manage large pages to be verified as well. Zuck states, “This will make it much harder for people to run pages using fake accounts, or to grow virally and spread misinformation or divisive content that way.”

It is not clear yet what constitutes a ‘large page,’ or exactly what the verification process entails, or even whether the verification will be the publicly displayed blue check badge.

What to do now

Many of these changes will have some impact on business Page owners and Facebook advertisers. However, each of the changes is specifically to address protecting user data. Over time, it’s likely Facebook will make some adjustments to these changes. We’ll see.

Meantime, it’s “Business as usual.”

  • Do your best to speak with good purpose and strive to become a part of the SOLUTION, not a part of the problem.
  • Don’t “pile on,” and add to the negativity that’s already swirling out there.
  • Keep posting great content on your Facebook Page that resonates with your audience and sparks meaningful engagement.
  • Amplify your reach and engagement with at least a nominal ad budget on your posts. Keep using all Facebook’s tools and ad products you were before.
  • Be sure to create and run an engaged group, linked to your Facebook Page.

This article includes quotes from the post Six Important Facebook Updates: What Marketers Need To Know Now which appeared first on MariSmith.com.

Facebook Takes Messenger Ads Global

As reported by Marketing Week UK, Facebook is now rolling out ads in its Messenger app globally as it looks to offer advertisers more ways to reach consumers beyond its core social network.

fbmessenger

The move comes after what Facebook says have been “promising tests” in Australia and Thailand. The rollout means any advertisers, large or small, will be able to buy ads that appear in the app, which has 1.2 billion users globally.

“We’ll now offer businesses around the world a way to use Facebook targeting to extend their reach to people in Messenger,” says Facebook in a blog post.

‘This means businesses of every size get a new tool for creating meaningful connections with customers and prospects. More than 1.2 billion people use Messenger every month, which gives marketers an opportunity to expand the reach of their campaigns and drive more results.”

The rollout will mean on the Facebook Messenger homepage, users will now see ads appearing amid their list of contacts. Ads will not appear within Messenger conversations.

The ads themselves will work in a similar way to those across Facebook and Instagram, with advertisers able to send consumers to a destination of their choice such as their ecommerce site. However, they will also be able to send them to a Messenger conversation.

The decision to show more traditional display ads in Messenger marks a shift in strategy from Facebook, which originally wanted to monetise the service by convincing brands to shift their customer service operations to Facebook by creating chatbots that could talk directly with customers. While this is still the case, and a number of brands such as Mastercard and UKTV have created chatbots, this use is yet to see widespread implementation.

The shift will also enable Facebook to meet ever-growing demand for advertising on its social network. It has previously warned that it is reaching the limit of how many ads it can show in the News Feed, leading to analyst concerns that revenue growth may slow.

Opening another area where it can show ads should help to slow that deceleration.

Facebook Hits 2 Billion Members

facebook-2-billion

Facebook just hit another major milestone – 2 billion members – less than five years after reaching 1 billion in October 2012.

In New Zealand, we contribute just 3.1 million of those members — not bad in the context of our population size, but a mere drop in the social network ocean.

So — have you mastered Facebook Marketing, now that the social giant’s presence is so significant and influential?

If not, check out our online training courses:

The Complete Facebook Marketing course: ratecard value $597, with Early Bird Discount $497

Facebook Accelerator course: ratecard value $497, with Early Bird Discount $397

Principles & Practice of Social Media Marketing course: ratecard value $697, with Early Bird Discount $597

Click on any of the links for more details about each course and to book.

Hottest Facebook Categories: NZ April 2017

hottest-nz-facebook-categories

As we do from time to time, we’ve taken a deep dive into our database of 24,836 New Zealand Facebook pages to see what we can learn.

This time, we’ve sliced and diced by category to determine which are the most popular Kiwi categories on Facebook.

CAVEAT

There are a couple of cautions we wish to issue before we get into the details, however, just so you know why some of your favourite categories aren’t represented in these top 20 lists.

Firstly, you should know that before we started any number-crunching we removed most of the top 50 “most liked” NZ Facebook pages. That’s because those pages, typically NZ variants of international brands such as McDonald’s, KFC, Walt Disney, Nivea, Nissan, Cadbury and even Facebook itself, are displaying cumulative global likes rather than merely local numbers. As a result, total likes are somewhat out of alignment with local performances. It’s great that Facebook has 186 million likes, but such numbers tend to skew the averages.

For example, if we leave the global data in place, the average New Zealand Facebook page is rated as having 39,037 followers — a number that’s only surpassed by the top 500 or so Kiwi Facebook pages (out of our nearly 25,000 total).

Once we’ve stripped out most of the global pages, however, we arrive at a far more realistic and attainable average of 5,075 likes.

In the last seven days, just 146 people were talking about the average NZ Facebook page, an engagement percentage of 2.88%.

CAUTION: STATISTICAL ANOMALIES MAY LIE AHEAD

Secondly, we did want to point out the statistical dangers involved once we drill down into individual categories.

For this report, we have separated our database into the 700 different categories that Facebook offers (all of which are self-selected choices when a business creates a page).

As a result, more than a third of the available categories feature only one or two businesses — which, as you would imagine, means that the success or failure of the category depends on the performance of individual Facebook pages.

So, for example, if we look at the category “automotive storage facility“, that category tops the list of best performing Facebook pages in terms of engagement.

That category, however, represents a single business: Storage King Riccarton, which had a blinder of a pre-Easter promotion (requiring likes and comments to win a box of Easter treats).

storage-king

So, with those warnings in place, let’s take a look at some numbers.

1 Facebook Likes

Firstly, let’s look at the categories that have attracted the most overall likes:

NZ FACEBOOK PAGES BY CATEGORY: AVERAGE LIKES APRIL 2017

fb-categories-april-2017-most-liked

The top category, “Society/Culture Website”, is again skewed by a single page, for Oh! Baby — but, in this case, the page’s performance is steady across multiple posts and reflects effective use of Facebook. Take a look at the Oh! Baby page and see what you can learn for yourself.

2 Facebook Talks

Our second view of our category averages is by talks — the average number of people talking about pages in the category over the last seven days.

Results are very similar to likes:

NZ FACEBOOK PAGES BY CATEGORY: AVERAGE TALKS APRIL 2017

fb-categories-april-2017-most-talks

3 Facebook Engagement

Finally, if we examine the Facebook page categories by Engagement (which we define as the number of talks compared to the total number of likes, expressed as a percentage), we see quite a different picture:

NZ FACEBOOK PAGES BY CATEGORY: MOST ENGAGEMENT APRIL 2017

fb-categories-april-2017-most-engagement

Again, as we noted above, the results will be skewed by individual page performances (and we don’t have time to dig much deeper right now). Still, the results give us an interesting perspective when we consider that:

  • dry cleaners are more interesting than government organizations
  • car dealers get a better rap than the public service
  • dog walkers are more popular than psychics (who should have seen that coming

(Of course, if you’d like to know more about social media, and how to perform as well as some of these marketers, check out our courses):

Here are the current courses (click on the links for more details about each course):

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING COURSES

Facebook Accelerator Programme
Facebook-Accelerator-course

So you have a few hundred (or a few thousand) followers on Facebook but now you want to know how to get to the next level? Our Facebook Accelerator seven-part online course will lead you through the steps necessary to supercharge your Facebook presence and get Kiwi consumers engaging with you and your brands.

For more details of the Facebook Accelerator programme, please click here.

The Principles & Practice of Social Media Marketing
social-media-marketing-nz-online-training-course

This is a thirteen-part eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to Social Media Marketing, from the Basics to detailed instructions on how to build and run a Social Media Marketing programme.

For more details of the Social Media Marketing online course, please click here.

The Complete Facebook Marketing Course
Complete Facebook Marketing course

For those who wish to master Facebook Marketing in its entirety, we’ve created a ten-week online training programme which will take you from absolute beginner on Facebook to highly effective Facebook communicator.

For more details of the Complete Facebook Marketing programme, please click here.

How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief
Preparing an Effective Social Media Marketing Brief

Even if you don’t intend to become directly involved in social media yourself, you may still need to understand the principles, practices and opportunities of social media — for example, if you need to brief someone about running a social media campaign. This programme is designed to provide you with the insights necessary to prepare an effective brief.

For more details of the How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief programme, please click here.

How to Use LinkedIn Effectively – For Your Business And Your Career
How to Use LinkedIn Effectively - for your Business and your Career

This is a seven-part online training eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to LinkedIn, from the basics to detailed instructions on how to use LinkedIn to promote your organisation, build your personal reputation, find a job, recruit prospective employees and even make sales.

For more details of the How to Use LinkedIn Effectively programme, please click here.

ONLINE VIDEO MARKETING COURSE

online-video-marketing-course

Online Video is no longer an “up-and-coming” marketing tactic — it’s here, and it’s a powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects.

Remember the old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words? According to an estimate by Dr James McQuivey of Forrester Research, one minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words.

So let’s cut to the chase. It’s well past time for you to upskill yourself in online video marketing. That’s why we’re launching our newest short course on the topic.

For more details of the Online Video Marketing course, please click here.

 

The Council and the Redback Spider

As we’ve mentioned a time or two on this blog before, we regularly monitor around 25,000 New Zealand Facebook pages, taking particular note of the pages getting most talked about.

Over the last week, the Northland Regional Council‘s Facebook page has popped up on our radar, achieving 9,312 Engagements (what Facebook calls “People Talking About“) despite having just 3,840 followers.

What, we wondered, was all the fuss about?

Turns out that it’s Redback Spiders. Here’s the post that got most of the attention, talking about an Australian illegal immigrant:

redback

Apart from the 2,855 shares and 842 likes/reactions, the post also attracted 725 comments, many asking about the Council’s observation that “there are established red back populations in New Zealand”.  (Yes, notes the Council, “Red back spiders have been recorded as established in New Zealand since the 1980’s. There are populations in Otago, New Plymouth and most recently, Taupo.“)

Congrats, Northland Regional Council, for getting so much attention to your post. An important public service message (though we wish the topic wasn’t quite so disturbing).

Other Popular NZ Facebook Pages

Other high-performing Kiwi Facebook pages at the moment include:

AGI Education, celebrating the official opening of AGI’s new Epsom campus (9,012 Engagement, 2,240 followers):

AGI Education

Hossack Station Trophy Hunting (2,641 Engagement, 1,987 followers):

hossack

Zero to Five Baby Quality Baby and Kids Gear (5266 Engaged, 4916 followers)

thieves

(Sadly, this post also fell into the Public Service category, for the worst of reasons).

If you’d like to improve the performance of your Social Media Marketing courses, here are our current courses (click on the links for more details about each course):

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING COURSES

Facebook Accelerator Programme
Facebook-Accelerator-course

So you have a few hundred (or a few thousand) followers on Facebook but now you want to know how to get to the next level? Our Facebook Accelerator seven-part online course will lead you through the steps necessary to supercharge your Facebook presence and get Kiwi consumers engaging with you and your brands.

For more details of the Facebook Accelerator programme, please click here.

The Principles & Practice of Social Media Marketing
social-media-marketing-nz-online-training-course

This is a thirteen-part eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to Social Media Marketing, from the Basics to detailed instructions on how to build and run a Social Media Marketing programme.

For more details of the Social Media Marketing online course, please click here.

The Complete Facebook Marketing Course
Complete Facebook Marketing course

For those who wish to master Facebook Marketing in its entirety, we’ve created a ten-week online training programme which will take you from absolute beginner on Facebook to highly effective Facebook communicator.

For more details of the Complete Facebook Marketing programme, please click here.

How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief
Preparing an Effective Social Media Marketing Brief

Even if you don’t intend to become directly involved in social media yourself, you may still need to understand the principles, practices and opportunities of social media — for example, if you need to brief someone about running a social media campaign. This programme is designed to provide you with the insights necessary to prepare an effective brief.

For more details of the How to Prepare an Effective Social Media Brief programme, please click here.

How to Use LinkedIn Effectively – For Your Business And Your Career
How to Use LinkedIn Effectively - for your Business and your Career

This is a seven-part online training eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to LinkedIn, from the basics to detailed instructions on how to use LinkedIn to promote your organisation, build your personal reputation, find a job, recruit prospective employees and even make sales.

For more details of the How to Use LinkedIn Effectively programme, please click here.

ONLINE VIDEO MARKETING COURSE

online-video-marketing-course

Online Video is no longer an “up-and-coming” marketing tactic — it’s here, and it’s a powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects.

Remember the old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words? According to an estimate by Dr James McQuivey of Forrester Research, one minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words.

So let’s cut to the chase. It’s well past time for you to upskill yourself in online video marketing. That’s why we’re launching our newest short course on the topic.

For more details of the Online Video Marketing course, please click here.