The Art of Selecting Top-Notch Curated Content for Facebook Page Marketing

If you’re looking for ways to improve your Facebook page, one option is to focus on the quality of the content you share. This means sourcing or creating content that is interesting, useful, and engaging for your audience.

One way to ensure that the content you share is top-notch is to curate it. Curating content simply means finding and sharing the best content from other sources. This can be a great way to supplement your own content and provide your audience with a steady stream of high-quality content.

Publish the curated content on your page and study your statistics very carefully.

• Which of your posts gets shared the most?
• Which ones get commented on the most?
• Which ones get liked the most?

Pick out these winning pieces of content. Then look for related or similar types of curated content and publish those on your site.

How to Pick the Best Content

It’s one thing to say that you’re going to pick the best content your competitors have, it’s another to actually do it the right way. The big danger here is you’re going to be using your opinion as to what “the best content” means.

What’s the Winning Strategy?

People don’t care about what you like or don’t like. What they care about is what they like. So, how do you use this as a winning strategy? It’s actually pretty simple.

• Look at your competitors’ Facebook pages and scan through their posts. Which of their posts is the most popular? Which of their posts gets shared a lot, gets the most likes, or gets the most comments?
• Pull the link for those posts and post them on your website. See if you get the same level of engagement. If you do this enough times with many different competitors’ contents, certain patterns emerge.

You would quickly realize that the audience you’ve built up to this point is more likely to engage with certain types of content than others. You figure out what works and you ditch everything else. Focus on the stuff that works, and then you scale them up.

You publish more of it and eventually, you come up with your own version. It’s not a question of hunches or guesses. You have to look at objective indications of popularity such as page likes, comments, shares, and other types of engagement.

If you do this right, you will be able to put up a fairly compelling Facebook page that can lead to conversions later on.

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Sadly, that’s precisely how too many Facebook marketers defined ‘curated content.’ They just find content that seems to be related to their niche and run with it. In fact, many think that as long as a piece of content has its target keywords in the titles of blog posts and articles, this is ‘good enough.’ Unfortunately, ‘good enough’ is never good enough in the dog-eat-dog world of Facebook content marketing. Nothing but the best will do.

Instead, you need to identify your competitors’ best content, as well as highly popular content produced by third parties. You use these materials to test your page in terms of response. If you notice that a lot of your page fans respond better to a specific type of content, then you need to produce more of that content.

You need to either find other third-party content you can curate, or you can come up with your own stuff. Whatever the case may be, this is a simple example of finding what works. When you start your page, you really don’t know what will work. You don’t even know if enough people would like your page. What’s important is you keep showing content out there to the extent that some people would engage with it. Some people might like it enough, that they would like your page. When enough time passes, you should be able to see certain patterns. You should be able to see which pieces of content are your most successful posts. You publish this type of content more often to see if you can maintain your engagement level. If that’s the case, then find more of the same type of content, come up with your own version, and increase your engagement levels.

This will also enable you to get more likes on your page. How? Since you know what type of content is popular and what kind of themes and topics keep coming up, you can target the interests of your average user and drive traffic using Facebook’s lookalike audience feature.

Engagement is the linchpin of successful content. Don’t just focus on getting likes though. You should scale up your engagement types and intensity. Focus first on likes. Once you achieve a high enough level, encourage your readers to post comments. Keep running experiments. Once you get them to post lots of comments, go to the next level and encourage them to share. Make no mistake, user engagement is no different than traffic – you have to optimize it. You have to scale it up. You have to fine-tune it so it eventually leads to your ultimate goal: conversions. This is the part of the process that actually produces money in your bank account. This is where things get real.

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You can have the biggest budget in the world to pay for Facebook Ads but if you don’t have the kind of design that will resonate with your target audience, you’re wasting your money.

Ad design is a very important aspect of Facebook Ads. Not only does Facebook allow you to advertise in a variety of formats, but they also give you a very thorough reporting tool so you can see which ads are working and which ads aren’t. When you have this information at hand, you can easily adjust your design so you can increase your click-through rates and your conversions.

Here are a few ad design strategies you can use to optimize your Facebook Ads:

• Use High-Quality Images
• No one likes to look at images that look like it’s been shot by a 3-year-old. Messy amateur shots are the biggest pet peeves of Facebook users. They see enough amateur photos from their friends’ updates. So you need to use high-quality images to catch their attention. The photos you take yourself are best.

• Use Location-Specific Images
• If you’re targeting a local area, you should use local images. Or you can shoot a video in a popular local hangout. When people see you know their area intimately, they’ll like you immediately. It’s refreshing to see an ad that offers up something not many other advertisers do – like capturing the local scenery. It’s much easier to relate to something local than something that’s thousands of miles away.

• Use Visual Contrast, Filters or Overlays
• Even if you aren’t artistic by nature, you can use photo editing software with nice filters on it. If you aren’t confident in your skills, you can look up some inspiration online. Check out popular graphic design sites, find the kind of designs you think your audience will like and use that as inspiration to come up with your own design.

• Use Carousel Ads to Create a Visual Story
• When done right, carousel ads can actually tell a story. You just need to have a series of interconnected images that form part of a whole picture. People love stories. Try to think of a twist to your story to get them engaged with your advertisement.

The post Facebook Ad Design in 4 Easy Steps appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

If you want more free traffic from Facebook then the best way to do this is to increase the amount of engagement that you get with your posts. Engagement is an action that a Facebook user takes with respect to your posts. The most popular forms of engagement are commenting, liking your posts and sharing them but engagement can take other forms such as clicking links and tagging you in other posts. All of this engagement helps you to improve your organic reach.

• Perfect Posting Times – It is just common sense – if you add your posts at the times when your audience is the most active then you significantly increase your chances of getting more shares, likes and comments. Fortunately, there is data-driven research to help you identify the best social media posting times so that you can align your posting schedule with these. Read more.

• Fan-Centric Content – Do you give your audience what they really want on Facebook? Most marketers don’t do this and then wonder why their engagement levels are so low. Let’s say that you are a local restaurant using Facebook for marketing. Does that mean that everything you post has to be about food or drink – no certainly not! Read more.

• Identify Your Popular Posts – If you have been making posts on Facebook for a while then you can easily identify which of your posts were the most popular with your audience. By looking inward like this you can see what type and format of content really resonate with your audience. Read more.

• Get Your Photo House in Order – Facebook users will always be more attracted to good-looking visuals. The vast majority of content on the platform is image based. The reason is obvious – it is a lot more interesting than a bunch of text or a boring link. So one of the easiest things that you can do to increase your engagement on Facebook is to get your photo house in order. Read more.

• Make Responding to Comments a Priority – Research has shown that businesses that respond to comments on their posts have a lot more success on Facebook than those that don’t. A lot of the time a comment is actually a question from someone in your target audience. Other people will have the same question in their mind so by answering this you will make a lot of your audience happy. Read more.

• Align Your Website Content With What Works Well on Facebook – You want to get as many shares, likes and comments as possible on Facebook. The more shares, likes and comments you have, the more you will know that the content that you are providing is resonating with your audience. You are giving them what they want. Read more.

• Use a Compelling Call to Action on Your Posts – If you want people to take action on Facebook (or online in general) then you need to tell them what to do. Some people are uncomfortable with this but it is true and you need to do it. You need to include a call to action (CTA) with your posts. Read more.

• Use Video – Videos are immensely popular on Facebook. Facebook users consume over 8 billion videos each day. The simple fact is that users would much sooner watch a short video than read a lot of text. You could call this laziness, but often it will be preferable or more convenient for the user to consume your content in this way. Read more.

• Make Your Posts Short – Facebook users do not want to read long posts. You will get far more engagement if you keep your posts brief. If you need to explain something in detail then create a brief post and a link to your website where more information is available. Read more.

• Know What Your Audience Wants – Facebook Insights can provide you with the information that you need to understand your audience. Do not overlook this powerful resource as it can provide you with a lot of detail that you probably won’t have been expecting which you can use to connect better with your audience in the future. Read more.

• Ask Your Audience a Question – Not enough Facebook marketers do this. Facebook users like responding to questions. It’s human nature to provide an answer when you are asked a question. When you ask the right questions you will find that your audience responds with a lot of comments. Read more.

• Facebook Stories – When you create good Facebook stories you will build a stronger desire within your audience to see more of your content. Some users will spend time on your Facebook Page checking out previous posts that they missed. Read more.

Increasing your engagement is the best way to get more free traffic from Facebook. Implement these techniques starting today and watch your engagement levels soar – and your free traffic, too.

Whether you’re too short on time or just don’t want to do it, contact us and we’ll take care of it for you.

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How to Create Great Images for Your Facebook Ads
When scrolling through your Facebook home feed, some ads will instantly catch your eye, whereas others you’ll simply pass by.

So what is the difference between these? Which ones really grab your attention and which ones fail to make any impression? Often, the difference comes down to the image that is used. While a headline can make a big difference too, an image can convey a lot more information in a much shorter time and as such is potentially more impressive when it comes to quickly getting us to sit up and take note.

This then begs the question as to what it is exactly about certain images that make us pay attention. And how can you channel this in your own advertising campaigns in order to ensure that you get the maximum bang for your buck?

Images That Grab Attention
The first thing to think about is what type of image gets us to look up in the first place. Studies show for example that images of people are more likely to get us to pay attention than any other object or subject matter. We are simply hardwired to pay attention to faces and other humans because it has clear evolutionary value.
The other type of image that grabs attention is anything that uses highly contrasting colors. If your images are bright red or yellow, then this will make them pop off the page more. Red in particular always makes us take notice and this works particularly well on a light blue/white background.

Tell a Story
Getting attention is your first objective. Getting your audience to actually engage with the advertisement and consider clicking it is the next. To do this, it can help to try and tell a story through your image. Don’t simply show what it is you want your audience to think about but instead try to evoke it and hint at it. For example, if your ad was about a party, then it might actually work better to show a lipstick-stained glass rather than showing the party itself. This forces the viewer to imagine what the image is trying to show, which instantly grabs their attention and makes them more inclined to actually think about your ad versus scrolling past.

What you want them to imagine meanwhile is always going to relate to your value proposition. In other words, ask yourself what kind of lifestyle is linked to your product and how you want your audience to feel looking at it.

You might also enjoy reading:

Creating a Great Logo for Your Social Media Brand

8 Tips to Reach More People With Social Media Marketing

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To get more free traffic and improve your organic reach from Facebook you must increase the amount of engagement that you get with your posts. This includes commenting, liking, and sharing your posts. Clicking links and tagging you in other posts also helps you to improve your organic reach.

When your posts have a lot of engagement this will help to get them increased exposure in the news feeds of your audience. Getting more shares and likes will help you reach the extended network of your audience.

• Tip #1 – Post at the right time – When you add your posts at the time your audience is the most active, you significantly increase your chances of getting more shares, likes and comments. There is data driven research to help you identify the best social media posting times so that you can align your posting schedule with these. Go to Google and search for “best times to post on Facebook”. You will see the results of data-driven research that you can use.

• Tip #2 – Post Fan-Centric Content – Find current content that will engage your audience. A good way to do this is to ask yourself some questions:
  • What real-world events can I use?
  • What facts or statistics will interest my audience?
  • How can you make your audience laugh?
• Making posts about yourself or your business is not going to drive much engagement. Use an 80/20 rule here – 80% of your content is for your audience and 20% is about promotion.

• Tips #3 – Identify Your Popular Posts – Identify which of your posts were the most popular with your audience. See what type and format of content really resonate with them.
• Learn all that you can from your successful posts so that you recreate engagement with your future posts. Did you use an appealing meme? Did you answer a specific question in detail? Did you show your audience how to do something useful?

• Tip #4 – Make Your Visuals Pop – The vast majority of content on Facebook is image based. The types of images that you use in your posts are going to make a significant difference to your engagement levels. People tend to scroll down their news feed a lot and if they see an interesting image they will stop to take a closer look.

• Tip #5 – Make Responding to Comments a Priority – Research has shown that businesses that respond to comments on their posts have a lot more success on Facebook than those that don’t. Four hours is a reasonable time for a comment response and will meet the expectations of a Facebook audience. Replying to the comments that you receive on your posts shows that you care about your audience and you are listening to what they have to say. When you respond promptly, you will encourage more of your audience to leave comments on future posts. You can set up a chatbot to respond fast for you if you want.

• Tip #6 – Align Your Website Content With What Works Well on Facebook – If you know that a certain type of content creates a great deal of engagement, add this type of content to your website or blog. To replicate this on your site does not mean that you have to compromise on quality. Use titles for your posts that pique the interest of your site visitors.

• Tips #7 – Use a Compelling CTA in Your Posts – You need to tell your audience that you really want to hear from them and that their opinion matters. One of the best forms of CTA is to ask a question in your post. Plan for a sequence of posts where you will pick the brains of your audience.

• Tip #8 – Use Video – Posting videos to Facebook provides an opportunity to drive free traffic. Facebook users consume over 8 billion videos each day. Users would rather watch a short video than read a lot of text. Don’t upload your videos to YouTube and then post the links to Facebook. You will get far more views if you upload the video to Facebook itself.
• You can also drive engagement by using Facebook Live. Users really like live content and you can get significantly higher numbers of views and traffic.

• Tip #9 – Make Your Posts Short – If you need to explain something in detail, create a brief post and a link to your website where more information is available. When Mobile Facebook “scrollers” see a really long post from you, they are likely going to avoid it. Even desktop users will not appreciate long Facebook posts.

• Here are some good examples of short posts that are likely to get a high level of engagement:
  • Asking your audience a quick question
  • Providing a quote or interesting statistics from an article that users can click through to read the full article
  • Images that contain witty and snappy statements

• Tip #10 – Know What Your Audience Wants – Facebook Insights can provide you with the information that you need to understand your audience. This powerful resource can provide you with a lot of detail which you can use to connect better with your audience in the future.

• Tip # 11 – Ask Your Audience a Question – Facebook users like responding to questions. It’s human nature to provide an answer when you are asked a question. When you ask the right questions, you will find that your audience responds with a lot of comments.

• Tip #12 – Facebook Stories – When you create good Facebook Stories, you will build a stronger desire within your audience to see more of your content. There is evidence from Facebook that shows a high percentage of users became more interested in a business or individual after seeing their stories.
• Increasing your engagement is the best way to get more free traffic from Facebook. Implement these techniques today and watch your traffic and engagement levels improve.

The post Facebook: The 12 Must-Do Traffic Tips appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

Having a successful business online can be challenging. It can be hard to attract people who want to buy your products or services. The truth is that you have to go and find them. Marketing with social media can be a great way to do this.

Here are some effective social media tips that will make you a success.

• Update Your Company’s Facebook Profile Regulary – Set a time schedule aside every day to keep your company’s information up to date. This should be the time when you share exciting news, answer questions, or post giveaways. Never leave your customer base hanging by not posting at regular intervals on your page.

• Use Lots of Great Content When Setting Up Your Facebook Page – There is nothing worse for a consumer than going to a business page and finding almost no useful information. Take the time to answer any questions they may have ahead of time with the content you put on your page.

• Link Your Social Media Site Together – Have links from each site you maintain to all your other sites. That way if a person who follows you on Twitter also has a Facebook page, they find it and see you on bother platforms. This will increase the number of followers you have.

• Using Social Media to Advertise Your Business – If you are using your social media to advertise your business, make sure you include the link to your website. Getting people to click over to your site is a great way to inroduce them to all you have to offer.

• Keep Your Eye on the Prize – Don’t make your business page about yourself. Focus on your company, your product or your services. Keep your personal updates and information on your personal page and make sure to keep the two separate.

• Learn to Make Fun Headlines for Your Social Media Blogs – Headlines are like the front of your business. Think of interesting was to lure people to your blog. Experiment with the headlines on your page.

• Make Lists for Your Social Media Blog – To attract more people to your blog, use information that can be read quickly by your readers. The best way to do this is to compile lists. Put together things like “10 Best Places for Visit” or “10 Songs That Make You Move”.

• Maintain a Positive Perspective – Being positive is essential to making your followers feel good when they visit your page. When they feel good, they are more likely to share your page and revisit it to see what else you have to offer.

Use these tips to make your business stand out on the Internet. It will be much easier to get people to visit your website once you start putting these social media marketing tips in place. Once you see results, you’ll be even more motivated to stick with this great way of marketing.

You may also be interested in:

• Using Facebook Live is a Big Deal
• Facebook Live – What You Need to Know First
• Facebook Marketing for Your Local Business

Need help with your Social Media Marketing? Let talk!

The post 8 Ways to Reach More People With Social Media Marketing appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

When properly used, hashtags help users find related content quickly. Hashtags help raise visibility as well as boost one’s social shares. However, when inappropriately used, they can impact one’s credibility on social media negatively. This directly decreases your social activity.

When the hashtag is used in front of a post, it categorizes it and essentially creates a hyperlink to the word. The good and bad thing about this is that one can place the hashtag to any single word or a group of words consequently. It becomes a handy tool for joining conversations, collecting pictures at events and marketing. It has become clear that most people are using this feature regardless of age. The unfortunate thing is there are people who don’t know how many is enough. As a result, they are committing a social media faux pas over-using hashtags!

Over-using hashtags imply you are using too many of them in a single post. Usually, people are supposed to use 2 to 3 short hashtags or one long hashtag., Any number above this means you are overdoing it. The principal purpose of a hashtag is to tag the post so that it can be put together around a certain event or subject and be searched. Therefore just because you can use them doesn’t mean that you should. Too many hashtags increase the chances of getting hashtags hijacked. Someone might use your hashtag regardless of the fact that their content may not have anything to do with your post’s subject. It is important to use them if they are relevant to your post and remember to keep them minimal.

Why Over-Using Hashtags Is Bad
• It distracts from the key message or post
• They make a post look like spam
• Makes a post look sloppy
• They use up your character considering there is a character limit
• It makes one look like an amateur at it shows that you just don’t understand the hashtag concept

Using too many hashtags on your post makes your content senseless. Breaking up words at every step makes it hard for people to follow what you are posting. A lot of hashtags overpowers a post’s content. As soon as your followers see too many hashtags, they tend to lose interest. You do not want readers to get lost in the sea of number signs and words.

Be smart when it comes to using hashtags. If you are worried that you are almost reaching a point of overkill, consider using none at all.

You might also like to read, “How to Drive Your Instagram Traffic to Your Website“.

The post Are You Annoying Your Followers with Too Many Hashtags? appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

Why You Should be Doing Facebook Live Events

It is easy to look at advice surrounding social media marketing and feel as though it’s a little stale. You get a lot of the same information regarding hashtags, frequency, and providing value. It tends to all be focused on the same three platforms it always has been: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, social media marketing is constantly moving forward and upward. If you want to make a big impact, you need to move with the times and adapt to the changes. That means, in this case, being on live platforms in order to enjoy the unique advantages that they offer.

What You Need to Know About Facebook Live

Streaming live events is very popular. In 2016 Facebook introduced its Facebook Live platform. It is easy to use it to promote your business and share details of the products and services that you offer.

Facebook Live is a very good tool for businesses to use to get the word out about what they offer. Despite this, very few businesses take advantage of it. Although there may be a lot of reasons why this is the case, they really are depriving themselves of an excellent promotional opportunity.

Facebook users really like live events. After your live event is finished, Facebook will publish a recording of it as a post on your Facebook page. This means that you can promote your events video after you have recorded it. You can also follow up with the people who weren’t able to attend and give them the link to watch it at their convenience.

Can Facebook Live Really Benefit Your Business?

Facebook Live can certainly be of benefit to your business. People prefer to watch videos than reading blocks of text, and live videos are a lot more popular than prerecorded ones. Facebook gets millions of video views every day with only YouTube getting more. This makes it a great way to promote your business.

Studies have shown that Facebook Live events have higher engagement levels than prerecorded video. A Facebook user is 3 times more likely to watch a Facebook Live event than a prerecorded video. Users are five times more likely to view a Facebook Live event than they are to respond to a standard image and text-based post.

Access Facebook Live on any Device

If you have a desktop or laptop computer, you can use the Facebook Live platform. You can also use Facebook Live on an iOS-powered mobile device or an Android-powered mobile device. This means that if you have a smartphone or tablet that uses these operating systems, Facebook Live is available to you.

There are Facebook Apps available for both iOS and Android mobile devices. From within these apps, you can use the Facebook Live platform. For the latest versions of these apps, look in the Apple Store or the Google Play Store.

All you need to use Facebook Live on your desktop or laptop is an Internet browser such as Chrome, Firefox, or Opera. It is easy to get started and you can schedule your Facebook Live event to take place up to a week in advance.

Facebook Live is a great way for you to drive more leads and sales for your business. Live video is extremely popular and will remain so for years to come.

Try to include Facebook Live as part of your marketing strategy.

The post Using Facebook Live – It’s a BIG Deal appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

How to Run a Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign

The Internet is a great resource for advertising for many businesses. It offers low-cost and free methods to promote products and services for businesses. There are many different ways to advertise, one of them is social media. Here is some vital information on social media marketing and how to use it successfully.

Social media is a great tool to build trust and relationships with your customers. When marketing your business on social media, be honest and communicate with your customers. Listen to what they are saying and learn from it. Adjust your business to be more consumer-friendly.

Map Out Objectives – When starting a new social media campaign, map out your objectives and goals for participation. Make them available to all team members so that everyone is on the same page. Results from social media marketing will be more productive and better focused when all activities are aligned and working towards the same goals.

Adjust Goals – To stay on target, adjust and refresh your objectives and goals on a regular basis. It is best to re-evaluate on a regular basis and adjust accordingly.

Keep Your Social Media Audience in Mind – When you post something on your blog or update your website, write a Facebook post right away. Plan ahead and write your post in advance so that you are not rushed to do it. Remember that people subscribed to your Facebook posts want to be updated about what you are doing.

Always remember who your audience is and what matters the most to them. Post content that is applicable to them and focus your efforts in ways that keep their attention. Keep your posts relevant and of high quality so that your followers do not just skip over them without interest.

Develop Relationships – Using social media marketing strategies can be a great way to keep in contact with your customer base and develop relationships. Customers that friend you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter do so willingly. They want to hear from you. You can therefore notify them of new upcoming products, sales, or information concerning your business and industry without the fear of being too intrusive.

Many people use the Internet for advertisement. The Internet has become a primary advertising platform due to its low-cost advertising solutions. There are many ways to advertise over the Internet, including social media. Use it for your business.

The post Social Media Marketing and How to Use It Successfully for Business appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.