How to Use Facebook to Market Your Products

Do you have products to sell?

Have you tried using Facebook ads to promote your products?

To find out how to market products via Facebook, I interview Steve Chou.

The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode, I interview Steve Chou. Steve and his wife run an ecommerce site that sells handkerchiefs and linens at BumblebeeLinens.com. He's also host of the My Wife Quit Her Job podcast and the website MyWifeQuitHerJob.com, where he teaches people how to sell physical products online.

Steve explains which Facebook ad types he uses to sell his physical products.

You'll discover how Steve uses email and Facebook ads in tandem.

How to Use Facebook to Market Your Products featuring insights from Steve Chou on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.

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Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show:

Steve's Story

As Steve and his wife were preparing for their wedding, his wife wanted a nice handkerchief because she expected to cry during the service. After shopping around, they imported a bunch of handkerchiefs from Asia. After using only a few, Steve and his wife listed the rest on eBay, where they sold like hotcakes.

Later, when Steve's wife became pregnant with their first child, she wanted to quit her six-figure income job. They reconnected with the handkerchief vendor and opened their online store, Bumblebee Linens. At first, Steve worked as a microprocessor designer by day, and after the baby went to bed, Steve and his wife ran the business. It became such a success that they maintained their income even after his wife quit her job.

Steve explains that soon afterward, their friends began wanting to have kids and quit their jobs, and they kept asking Steve how to launch an ecommerce store. Instead of answering the same questions over and over again, Steve began blogging about his experiences running the store. That's how MyWifeQuitHerJob.com got started in 2009.

Steve created MyWifeQuitHerJob.com to document their experiences.

To generate sales in the early days, Steve used Google AdWords. His brother-in-law worked at Google in the AdWords division and showed Steve how to use it. Back in 2007, Steve generated a lot of sales via clicks that cost him about 10 to 15 cents.

Steve says online content also helped generate sales. They wrote articles to help brides and provide craft ideas for their products. After three to six months, the articles started ranking in search engines and sent traffic to their store, too.

Today, Bumblebee Linens sells handkerchiefs, linen napkins, linen towels, lace parasols, aprons, and more. Steve says the store has several target audiences. The handkerchief audience includes people planning weddings and an over-55 crowd. Event and wedding planners are the target audience for napkins and moms are the audience for Mommy & Me aprons. The company has in-house embroidery machines for personalizing their products.

Bumblebee Linens has many products and therefore several audiences.

Listen to the show to learn more about the audience and the content on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.

Win-back Campaigns

Steve explains that a win-back campaign targets people who have already purchased from your shop because those people are more likely to buy again. To run this type of campaign, you need to figure out who those people are, and if they haven't purchased within a certain timeframe, give them an incentive to come back.

You can automate a win-back campaign with an online merchant system. For example, if someone hasn't purchased from Bumblebee Linens in 60 days, they automatically receive an email and a Facebook ad with a 10%-off coupon.

To automate the Facebook component of the campaign, Steve says the ecommerce system Klaviyo allows Bumblebee Linens to export a specific segment (in this case people who haven't purchased in 60 days) and create a Facebook custom audience that's updated dynamically. So each day, customers who haven't purchased in 60 days are added to that audience automatically and customers who make a purchase are removed.

As the campaign continues, Steve uses a discount ladder. If a customer continues not to buy, he or she receives a 15%-off coupon after 75 days and then a 20%-off coupon after 90 days. With a discount ladder, your goal is to offer the smallest coupon needed to complete the sale. If you can get someone with the 10%-off coupon, that's the best-case scenario.

Steve creates win-back campaigns through email and Facebook ads.

Steve adds that you can do this campaign with another provider; however, one of the key things about making this hands-off is the Dynamic Custom Audience in Facebook. Other software would require doing these updates manually.

Steve shares that win-back campaigns work well for Bumblebee Linens because the company has established trust with returning customers. The conversion rates are in the double digits. In terms of the return on ad spend, for every $1 spent, the company makes $5 to $6.

I ask Steve whether win-back campaigns work better on certain platforms. Steve says the campaign works best if you share the coupon on different platforms simultaneously because each person spends time online in different places (email, Facebook, or surfing the web). However, Steve shares that if he had to rank the importance of each platform for his store, email is best, then Facebook, followed by Google retargeting.

Listen to the show to hear how you can apply this strategy to digital products.

Facebook Dynamic Ads

Steve uses Facebook's Dynamic Ads for customers who have visited the Bumblebee Linens website but haven't made a purchase. Steve says dynamic ads are also helpful when you have a lot of products. Bumblebee Linens has 480 SKUs, which makes it cumbersome to run specifically retargeted ads to a customer. However, with dynamic ads, you can upload an entire product list to Facebook and show customers ads that reflect the products they view on your site.

To set up Facebook dynamic ads, ecommerce platforms like Shopify have plugins that cost about $50 per month or you can set up dynamic ads yourself through Facebook. As an engineer, Steve is comfortable implementing dynamic ads himself and thinks anyone who's comfortable with technology can do it, too. If you do set up dynamic ads yourself, Steve says you need to be careful about running out of stock. You have to keep your product list up to date on Facebook because you don't want to show an ad for something you can't sell.

Dynamic ads can be created via Facebook or a specialized plugin.

When I ask Steve how you choose what to display in a dynamic ad, Steve says you choose variables that work like placeholders for an image, product title, description, price, and whatever else you want to display in the ad. The dynamic ad then fills in the placeholders with specific images and text from your product list, based on the product that the customer viewed on your site.

Listen to the show to hear Steve discuss the returns his dynamic ads generate.

Cart Abandonment

Steve also uses email and Facebook to target customers who add items to their cart but abandon it before completing the purchase. When I ask what the cart abandonment rate for Bumblebee Linens is, Steve explains that the abandonment rate is definitely double digits, but not as high as you might think. His customers have already entered their email address to start checkout, which means they have a strong intent to make a purchase.

To track cart abandonment, Steve says that most ecommerce stores set up a funnel analysis on their website. You designate a start page, which for Bumblebee Linens begins at checkout, and an end page like the thank-you page at the end of their checkout process. (I add that you can set up a free funnel analysis in Google Analytics.)

If someone doesn't make it to the thank-you page, you can run cart abandonment ads based on what customers had in their cart. Steve says that whenever users start checkout and give their email but they don't finish the transaction, Bumblebee Linens follows up with an email and Facebook campaign.

The campaign's email component follows a three-email sequence. Four hours after a customer abandons his or her cart, Bumblebee Linens sends the first email saying, "We noticed you started the checkout process at Bumblebee Linens but didn't quite finish. Come on back." In the email, Steve says it's important to show the exact items that the customer put in the cart. Steve's email also includes a button that customers can click to open a shopping cart that contains their items and complete the checkout process quickly.

Steve says for his store, the first email converts 14% of the people to come back, the second email is about 4%, and the third is half of that. However, Steve explains that you can recover 25% to 30% of your people if the last email includes a coupon code or incentive. You can also use a discount ladder similar to the process he follows for a win-back campaign.

When the first email is sent, Steve says he also begins the Facebook component of the campaign. People who abandon their carts see a Facebook ad based on a Facebook custom audience (also similar to the win-back campaign). Steve says you can create this custom audience by designating a specific segment of people who abandoned their cart within a certain amount of time.

I ask how tag-based email marketing and merchant systems handle emails, dynamic Facebook ads, and checkout. Steve says that Klaviyo can handle all of the email marketing but not checkout. A separate system handles customer transactions.

Listen to the show to discover Steve's thoughts about the different tag-based email marketing systems.

Browse Abandonment

Browse abandonment occurs when people visit your site, maybe look at a few products, and then leave without ever starting the checkout process.

To follow up with these potential customers, Steve says that having their email addresses is crucial because an email allows you to track the customer's activity on your website. For example, Steve explains that Klaviyo can track a website visitor by associating his or her cookie with the email address.

Steve collects email addresses through a variety of pop-ups.

To get email addresses, Bumblebee Linens offers ebooks as lead magnets. For instance, the website offers someone looking at handkerchiefs an ebook about arts and crafts with handkerchiefs. Visitors looking at napkins are offered an ebook about napkin folding. To offer the ebooks, Steve says Bumblebee Linens displays a pop-up that can be triggered by a timer, exit intent, slide-ins, or other standard tools. Steve thinks the pop-up converts at about 1.5% to 2%.

After someone provides an email address, Steve has a 100-day email sequence that tries to warm up the potential customer to the Bumblebee Linens brand and provides lots of content. Steve says the sequence is so long because in ecommerce these days, customers need to interact with a store 4-8 times before they make a purchase. Often, people browse but aren't ready to buy, so you have to keep your company in their minds until they are ready.

After someone browses the site but doesn't start checkout, Steve says one email converts especially well. This email shows the person the exact product they viewed along with a list of recommendations. Steve says Klaviyo also helps him manage browse abandonment emails.

Given all of the different types of campaigns Steve runs with Klaviyo, I ask how much it costs. Steve says it's probably more expensive than software like AWeber and ActiveCampaign, but Klaviyo is well-suited for ecommerce stores and totally worth it. The cost for up to 500 contacts is $50/month and up to 3,000 contacts is $175/month.

Steve says that for him, the integration between Klaviyo and Facebook is key (and included with the software). You can automatically and dynamically export custom segments of your customers to create Facebook custom audiences.

Klaviyo's Facebook Audiences integration is easy to use.

For instance, if a customer returns and has looked at a couple of products (and not started checkout), and hasn't gotten an email from them in the last three days, Steve will send an email showing the product the customer was viewing along with recommendations. To encourage the customer to take action, he might also say something like, "We're running low on stock on this item."

Listen to the show to hear how Steve customizes his campaigns to follow up with customers who purchased dinner napkins.

Steve's Free Plus Shipping Offer

In the free plus shipping offer, Bumblebee Linens gives away an item for free and charges only for shipping and handling (about $5). Steve says that the free plus shipping offer helps his Facebook ads stand out. That's important because Facebook ads are interrupting someone who's browsing their news feed and catching up with friends. A free, high-quality lace handkerchief can be worth the interruption.

Steve explains that with this offer, his goal is to break even or make a tiny bit of money and acquire a new customer because customers are more likely to buy again. After users click the Facebook ad and land on the site, they must give an email address before they can click the Add to Cart button. Then Bumblebee Linens begins contacting the customer via the 100-day email sequence.

To get customers into the database, Steve uses a free plus shipping offer.

An upsell makes the free plus shipping offer more valuable. After someone adds the free handkerchief to their shopping cart, they see a one-day offer to get 35% off a specific $50 handkerchief bundle. To receive the offer, the customer has to buy that day. Although Bumblebee Linens probably takes a little loss with the free item alone, Steve explains that the upsell makes the free plus shipping offer profitable.

Steve says the free plus shipping offers are video ads because they convert so well. Steve creates a lookalike audience of people who watch 75% of their video and run the offer to those people, too. Gradually, the audience is refined down to the most likely buyers.

Listen to the show to hear about post-purchase upsells and the integration available with 1ShoppingCart, which is what we use.

How many times have you opened Facebook to do marketing work and started scrolling through your news feed instead?

For help with this social media quicksand, check out Newsfeed Burner, a Chrome browser extension that hides your Facebook news feed.

After you click the browser extension's button, your news feed disappears, although you can get into groups and pages.

Hide your Facebook news feed with Newsfeed Burner.

Newsfeed Burner also eliminates the feed for YouTube and LinkedIn.

Go to chrome.google.com/webstore and look for Newsfeed Burner.

Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how Newsfeed Burner works for you.

Listen to the show!

Ways to subscribe to the Social Media Marketing podcast:

What do you think? What are your thoughts on marketing physical products with Facebook ads? Please leave your comments below.

How to Use Facebook to Market Your Products featuring insights from Steve Chou on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.

View the original article here

Original source: How to Use Facebook to Market Your Products.
http://www.jretechnology.com

5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel

Want to add more video to your YouTube channel?

Wondering how to develop a content plan for YouTube?

Adding the right variety of video to your YouTube channel is ideal for driving conversions and engagement.

In this article, you'll discover five types of YouTube video to add to your business channel.

5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel by Ana Gotter on Social Media Examiner.

Have you ever visited a business's website to find there wasn't an About Us page and you had trouble figuring out what they're all about? Many people click away when they can't figure out where to find that information. You don't want that to happen on your site, nor on your YouTube channel.

Channel introduction videos are the best way to tell new visitors about your business and the content you're sharing on YouTube. In your video, welcome users to your channel and let them know what you do. Unfortunately, plenty of businesses with otherwise amazing channels forget to use intro videos.

When you introduce your YouTube channel, keep the video short, between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Include content that's as evergreen as possible so you don't have to worry about updating the video constantly, although you should check every six months to make sure it's still relevant.

For example, the Cartooning 4 Kids How to Draw channel introduces itself in just 35 seconds. The video highlights what the channel has to offer (tutorials, daily lessons, and contests). It also explains that you don't need any drawing skills and you can find challenges to develop your skills if you like. The video then ends with a call to action.

You should include branding on your introduction video. For example, feature your logo in the corner or as the opening thumbnail. Keep the format and visual template of this video consistent with everything else on your channel.

At the end of the video, use strong calls to action that lead users to certain playlists or to subscribe to your channel. Pair YouTube cards and audible narration to emphasize the call to action.

For businesses, tutorials are one of the most valuable types of YouTube video. How-to content continues to perform well because it offers viewers obvious and tangible benefits. Tutorials allow you to establish your expertise and simultaneously promote your products and services.

Tutorials should focus on a problem and a step-by-step solution. For example, if learning different ways to tie a scarf would help customers use your product, provide a step-by-step tutorial on tying scarves.

Keep your video as concise as possible. If it covers multiple subtopics, it's best to break your content into multiple videos. The POPSUGAR Beauty channel uses a video or playlist YouTube card in the upper right to link to more beauty tip videos.

Within the video, keep the steps concise and use textual cues and subtitles to introduce new steps in the tutorial. This text makes the tutorial easy to digest and can aid people who are hearing-impaired.

If the tutorial covers multiple subtopics and there's no way to break the video into multiple videos, organize your video into sections. For example, Newegg has a video that explains how to build a computer. The sections break up that long process so viewers can easily navigate the video.

If your tutorial is long and complex, break it down into multiple detailed videos when possible. This gives you more content and keeps the tutorial easy to follow.

To create a table of contents similar to Newegg's, use the YouTube Annotations feature. You can add a note annotation for each section and then link each note to a specific time within your video.

Because tutorials are so valuable, you can integrate them into your content marketing. Link to relevant blog posts in the Comments section. At the end of the video, include a call to action and prompt viewers to follow a link to your site. This call to action can usher new users into the sales funnel, especially if you encourage viewers to leave a comment or contact you with questions.

Educational videos, like tutorials, offer viewers immediate value. Tutorials can technically fit into this category, but educational content isn't limited to how-to videos. For example, instead of making a video tutorial on "How to teach your dog to sit," you could make a video that explains, "Why you should adopt a pet."

Because educational videos are so information-dense, they must address one very specific topic and stay focused. Brevity is definitely an advantage with this type of video. Make the video long enough that it's thorough, but not so long that it feels like a lecture. For more information, refer viewers to a blog post or lead magnet that's designed to capture lead information.

Answering questions your customers have asked is a great way to generate an educational video your followers will want to see, as illustrated in the example below.

Take a look at industry forums and your competitors' social media or blog posts to see what questions your target audience has and how you can answer them.

Behind-the-scenes content is extremely popular on social media sites including YouTube. This type of video thrives on the transparency and authenticity that today's customers crave.

When creating behind-the-scenes YouTube videos, make sure you have a purpose for the video. You can show off the new office space or demonstrate how a product is made. With a specific, brief topic, you can tell an engaging story and share insight or "insider knowledge." In this way, behind-the-scenes content can help you shape how customers see you and your products.

In a behind-the-scenes video, featuring charismatic employees can help build the face of your company. To build rapport with your audience, choose someone who's comfortable on camera and is naturally likable.

For the above video about how Snow Angel Luxury Bath Melt is made, Lush features employees with an upbeat and authentic presence who seem to welcome viewers to their workshop.

Most businesses start or are involved with a campaign at some point, whether it's a promotional campaign like a social contest or partnering with a nonprofit for a fundraiser. Campaign kickoff YouTube videos are an effective way to announce your campaign and introduce it to your audience.

Keep your kickoff video under 2 minutes. In that time, tell people why they need to care immediately and pique their interest. Videos are a great choice for evoking an emotional response. Whether you want to generate excitement or pull at the heartstrings, make sure everything in the video targets that feeling.

At the end of your video, tell viewers how they can take part in the campaign. Offer links where they can learn more about the campaign, contribute, follow the campaign on your other social profiles, or otherwise engage. Share the video on your site and your different social media profiles for increased visibility and engagement.

Final Thoughts

Your YouTube channel can offer a wealth of exposure, leads, and even conversions, but businesses need to use the platform differently than users. This means the types of videos you create and share must be different than the always-sought-after "viral video." All businesses on YouTube should use a combination of these five types of videos for best results.

What do you think? Which types of YouTube videos do you use to drive engagement and nurture leads? What videos help you achieve the best results? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel by Ana Gotter on Social Media Examiner.

View the original article here

Original source: 5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel.
http://www.jretechnology.com

5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel

Want to add more video to your YouTube channel?

Wondering how to develop a content plan for YouTube?

Adding the right variety of video to your YouTube channel is ideal for driving conversions and engagement.

In this article, you'll discover five types of YouTube video to add to your business channel.

5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel by Ana Gotter on Social Media Examiner.

Have you ever visited a business's website to find there wasn't an About Us page and you had trouble figuring out what they're all about? Many people click away when they can't figure out where to find that information. You don't want that to happen on your site, nor on your YouTube channel.

Channel introduction videos are the best way to tell new visitors about your business and the content you're sharing on YouTube. In your video, welcome users to your channel and let them know what you do. Unfortunately, plenty of businesses with otherwise amazing channels forget to use intro videos.

W hen you introduce your YouTube channel, keep the video short, between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Include content that's as evergreen as possible so you don't have to worry about updating the video constantly, although you should check every six months to make sure it's still relevant.

For example, the Cartooning 4 Kids How to Draw channel introduces itself in just 35 seconds. The video highlights what the channel has to offer (tutorials, daily lessons, and contests). It also explains that you don't need any drawing skills and you can find challenges to develop your skills if you like. The video then ends with a call to action.

You should include branding on your introduction video. For example, feature your logo in the corner or as the opening thumbnail. Keep the format and visual template of this video consistent with everything else on your chann el.

At the end of the video, use strong calls to action that lead users to certain playlists or to subscribe to your channel. Pair YouTube cards and audible narration to emphasize the call to action.

For businesses, tutorials are one of the most valuable types of YouTube video. How-to content continues to perform well because it offers viewers obvious and tangible benefits. Tutorials allow you to establish your expertise and simultaneously promote your products and services.

Tutorials should focus on a problem and a step-by-step solution. For example, if learning different ways to tie a scarf would help customers use your product, provide a step-by-step tutorial on tying scarves.

Keep your video as concise as possible. If it covers multiple subtopics, it's best to break your content into multiple videos. The POPSUGAR Beauty channel uses a v ideo or playlist YouTube card in the upper right to link to more beauty tip videos.

Within the video, keep the steps concise and use textual cues and subtitles to introduce new steps in the tutorial. This text makes the tutorial easy to digest and can aid people who are hearing-impaired.

If the tutorial covers multiple subtopics and there's no way to break the video into multiple videos, organize your video into sections. For example, Newegg has a video that explains how to build a computer. The sections break up that long process so viewers can easily navigate the video.

If your tutorial is long and complex, break it down into multiple detailed vid eos when possible. This gives you more content and keeps the tutorial easy to follow.

To create a table of contents similar to Newegg's, use the YouTube Annotations feature. You can add a note annotation for each section and then link each note to a specific time within your video.

Because tutorials are so valuable, you can integrate them into your content marketing. Link to relevant blog posts in the Comments section. At the end of the video, include a call to action and prompt viewers to follow a link to your site. This call to action can usher new users into the sales funnel, especially if you encourage viewers to leave a comment or contact you with questions.

Educational videos, like tutorials, offer viewers im mediate value. Tutorials can technically fit into this category, but educational content isn't limited to how-to videos. For example, instead of making a video tutorial on "How to teach your dog to sit," you could make a video that explains, "Why you should adopt a pet."

Because educational videos are so information-dense, they must address one very specific topic and stay focused. Brevity is definitely an advantage with this type of video. Make the video long enough that it's thorough, but not so long that it feels like a lecture. For more information, refer viewers to a blog post or lead magnet that's designed to capture lead information.

Answering questions your customers have asked is a great way to generate an educational video your followers will want to see, as illustrated in the example below.

Take a look at industry forums and your competitors' social medi a or blog posts to see what questions your target audience has and how you can answer them.

Behind-the-scenes content is extremely popular on social media sites including YouTube. This type of video thrives on the transparency and authenticity that today's customers crave.

When creating behind-the-scenes YouTube videos, make sure you have a purpose for the video. You can show off the new office space or demonstrate how a product is made. With a specific, brief topic, you can tell an engaging story and share insight or "insider knowledge." In this way, behind-the-scenes content can help you shape how customers see you and your products.

In a behind-the-scenes video, featuring charismatic employees can help build the face of your company. To build rapport with your audience, choose someone who's comfortable on camera and is naturally likable.

For the above video about how Snow Angel Luxury Bath Melt is made, Lush features employees with an upbeat and authentic presence who seem to welcome viewers to their workshop.

Most businesses start or are involved with a campaign at some point, whether it's a promotional campaign like a social contest or partnering with a nonprofit for a fundraiser. Campaign kickoff YouTube videos are an effective way to announce your campaign and introduce it to your audience.

Keep your kickoff video under 2 minutes. In that time, tell people why they need to care immediately and pique their interest. Videos are a great choice for evoking an emotional response. Whether you want to generate excitement or pull at the heartstrings, make sure everything in the video targets that feeling.

At the end of your video, tell viewers how they can take part in the camp aign. Offer links where they can learn more about the campaign, contribute, follow the campaign on your other social profiles, or otherwise engage. Share the video on your site and your different social media profiles for increased visibility and engagement.

Final Thoughts

Your YouTube channel can offer a wealth of exposure, leads, and even conversions, but businesses need to use the platform differently than users. This means the types of videos you create and share must be different than the always-sought-after "viral video." All businesses on YouTube should use a combination of these five types of videos for best results.

What do you think? Which types of YouTube videos do you use to drive engagement and nurture leads? What videos help you achieve the best results? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel by Ana Gotter on Social Media Examiner.

View the original article here

Original source: 5 Ways to Add Variety to Your YouTube Channel.
http://www.jretechnology.com

7 Great SEO Tips To Make Your Writing Snap And Crackle

While search engine optimization is a highly technical and intricate science, there are a lot of great, simple SEO tips out there which can help boost your digital marketing efforts at little to no cost. 

Regardless of what your business is or does, SEO remains critically important, and for SEO to work, you need your business to appear on the first page of relevant search results. When people search for keywords relevant to your business, your website should, ideally, be one of the first ones that shows up – but even if you can't be at the very top of the list, you need to be featured on the first page of rankings. According to research, up to 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.

To help maximize your SEO value, here are simple tips you can incorporate into your content creation process.

One great SEO tip is to keep your paragraphs short – around two to five sentences at the most. This makes them visually more accessible to the reader who might skip over pages and pages of writing with long paragraphs.

Another great way to keep your reader's attention on your content is by creating subheadings. This isn't something people often do in other types of writing, so it takes some getting used to. However, it's also a great visual aid for people who are looking through websites in a hurry; it enables them to skip over things they already know and focus on what they need to find out.

Lists have become so popular on the internet that there's now a word for articles that use them: "lis ticles".

Lists and bullet points effectively subdivide an article into sections which, again, enable a reader to focus on what they need to find. Plus, there's a certain degree of mental satisfaction people derive from finding out five, seven or ten things relevant to them.

Although it's not a good idea to overuse keywords in your content, you can still use them to some extent. Just make sure that they're naturally woven into your writing so you're not irritating customers by inundating them with the same word over and over.

Andy Beal, an SEO expert, advises that brands should "invest a lot of time in researching the keywords that potential customers will use."

You have a better chance of being found by search engines if you use good links in your writing. This means links to reputable websites, as well as links featuring recent material. There's no point adding a link if it's broken.

Keeping a reader's attention is hard, e specially on the internet, but images can help a great deal.

For example, this article from Entrepreneur very cleverly uses an image from a popular movie, which is likely to stoke the reader's interest in the topic.

Overall, the rules of SEO are very similar to the rules of good writing. In order to keep your reader's attention, you need to avoid spelling and grammatical mistakes.

It's a good idea to use complex sentence structures and sentence variety, but remember not to overdo it, because good writing needs to have a natural flow – it should never seem forced.

This post originally appeared on The Fried Side blog.

View the original article here

Original source: 7 Great SEO Tips To Make Your Writing Snap And Crackle.
http://www.jretechnology.com

3 Ways to Create a Video Studio on Any Budget

Interested in delivering quality video content to your audience?

Wondering what equipment you need?

You don't need to spend a lot on high-end camera gear and equipment for your studio to create top-notch social media videos.

In this article, you'll discover how to set up a video studio without breaking the bank.

3 Ways to Create a Video Studio on Any Budget by Peter Gartland on Social Media Examiner.

Camera equipment can be expensive, so it's often the biggest barrier to entry for creating video. That's why we're discussing it first. Here are some good options for capturing quality video.

Free

The latest smartphones have amazing cameras. Anything from the iPhone 6 (and similar Samsung models) and later will be good enough quality to use for video.

A smartphone is also perfect for on-the-go shooting. Just find an elevated place to position the camera or a tripod (more on this coming up) and start filming.

If you don't have the budget to invest in a camera to shoot video, just use your smartphone.

Here are a few quick tips for recording with a smartphone camera:

Look at the camera lens while you're recording. If you look at yourself on-screen, your eyes won't be directed at viewers.Hold your camera in landscape orientation, not portrait.Place the camera slightly above eye level. Don't hold it too low or viewers will be looking up at your chin. Similarly, don't hold it too high or they'll be looking down from great heights.

Recording video takes up a lot of space on your phone, so you'll need to transfer your files periodically to your computer to ensure you have enough space to record. Dropbox is a good option for this purpose. If you're a Mac user, AirDrop is a quick and easy way to transfer files between an iPhone and Mac.

As an alternative to your smartphone, you can use your iPad (if you have one) or the built-in camera on your computer. For the best quality, your device needs to be able to record in the dimensions of 1920 x 1080.

AirDrop makes it easy to transfer videos from your iPhone to your Mac.

Small Budget

For a small budget, the Logitech C920 Webcam ($99) is a good option. It produces HD video, attaches to your computer via a USB cable, and has a fitting to screw it into a tripod stand, which is handy. One downside is you can't use this camera on the go because it needs to be attached via USB to your computer to work. (You could take your laptop with you, but that seems clunky.)

Download the Logitech Camera Settings app to your computer to alter the white balance, autofocus brightness settings, and so forth. If you live outside of the U.S., you'll need to change the camera settings from 60hz to 50hz; otherwise, the video will start to flicker due to different countries' lighting frequencies. You can easily change this setting in the Logitech Camera Settings app.

Bigger Budget

If you want to step up your game, look at digital SLR cameras like the Nikon D3300 ($449) or the Canon Rebel T5 ($399). A number of vloggers use these cameras and they produce great-quality video.

After you choose your camera, you'll want to get a tripod to stabilize it while shooting. The right tripod for you depends on the camera you're going to use.

A tripod will stabilize your camera to ensure it doesn't shake while filming.

Free

If you don't have the budget for a tripod, find a shelf to place your camera on to stabilize it. A stack of books might also do the trick. If you're using the Logitech C920 Webcam, you'll find it sits nicely on top of your computer screen, and that might be just the right height.

Small Budget

The Joby GorillaPods are fantastic flexible tripods if you have a small budget. You'll find a number of options ranging from $10 and up. The more expensive models support more weight, such as a DSLR or an iPad; the cheaper ones are designed for smartphones.

Another affordable option for an iPhone or camera is the KCOOL Octopus Style Portable and Adjustable Tripod Stand Holder ($12). It also has a universal clip and remote.

Bigger Budget

If you want a tripod that stands as tall as you, the InnerTeck 70-inch camera tripod/monopod with carry bag ($45) is worth considering. Or just search for "tripod" on Amazon and you'll be able to pick one up for less than $50.

The Joby GorillaPod line includes flexible tripods for both smartphones and cameras.

Good lighting is crucial for video. We can't stress this enough. A surefire way to make yourself look unprofessional (and sometimes even a little creepy) is to have poor lighting for your video. Here's a rundown of lighting options to consider.

Free

The sun! Yep, natural light is always the best form of light. If possible, try to record in a location with as much natural light as possible. Feel free to use a desk light or any other lamp to add supplemental light. However, keep in mind if the light isn't fluorescent, it will cast an unnatural yellow glow that you want to avoid if possible.

Tip: When you're recording, always face the light source as much as possible, so it casts your whole face in light. If the light is behind you, it will cast you in silhouette.

Small Budget

If you have a small budget, the LimoStudio Photography White Photo Umbrella Light Lighting Kit ($29) can be a godsend. It can literally take away all of your blemishes!

Bigger Budget

Ring lights quite simply make anyone look good. Here's a good one if you have a larger budget: Diva Ring Light Nova 18? Original Photo/Video Fluorescent ($199) and 6′ Light Stand ($39).

A photo umbrella helps create soft, flattering light for your videos.

Generally the more expensive the mic, the better the quality. While there are some free options, if you're going to be investing your time in video, we suggest putting some money into a good microphone. Poor sound quality is unforgiving.

Free

If you're using your smartphone to record video, the microphone should provide good audio as long as you stand close to the phone and film in a quiet room with no background noise or wind. Typically the built-in microphones in most desktop computers and laptops don't produce great-quality audio but feel free to test this.

Small Budget

For a modest budget, consider the Rode smartLav+ Lavalier Microphone for iPhone and Smartphones ($79). It works great with a smartphone for recording fantastic audio. It's especially helpful if you're filming outside or standing a short distance from your phone. Also, if you get a splitter, you can have two microphones for doing interviews.

Tip: Don't attach a lavalier microphone too close to your head. You'll be surprised by how much it picks up.

Bigger Budget

The Blue Yeti USB microphone ($129) is used by many vloggers and podcasters, and it's a great choice if you have a larger budget. It's the one we use when recording videos and doing podcast interviews. Plus, it's called Blue Yeti; how cool is that?

Clip a lavalier mic to your clothing for hands-free operation.

Keep in mind the Yeti is extremely sensitive and will pick up the tiniest noise, vibration, knock on the table, footsteps, and so forth. To minimize those, you might want to look at a bundle that includes the mic, desktop arm stand, and pop filter ($159).

If you don't want to fork out for the arm stand and pop filter, place the Blue Yeti on a really thick book and be careful not to tap on the table or move around much while recording; you'll be surprised by how much you do!

A nice background can set the scene and tone for your videos. Is it fun and friendly? Corporate and professional? Or does it just make you look amateur? Getting the right setup is important.

Free

The cheapest background is to simply use what you have. Often a nice bookcase will do the trick. In the background of our videos, we show a bookcase, awards, and some emoji balloons to add a little fun. That's it; nothing special. It looks great and didn't cost a thing (okay, we forked out a few bucks on the balloons).

Small Budget

Finding a nice background for video shoots can be tricky, especially if you work from home. In this case, consider investing in a backdrop like the 6-1/2′ x 10′ Slow Dolphin Fabric Video Studio Backdrop Kit ($58).

A backdrop helps you eliminate clutter for more professional-looking videos.

Bigger Budget

For a larger budget, a double-sized pop-up banner, maybe with some branding on it, would be suitable for a background. The price of these banners varies greatly, depending on the quality/size/finish and printing fees. You should be able to get a decent banner for $100-$300.

There are many good video editing options available at various price points, but HitFilm is one of the best values for the money. Here's a rundown of some popular editing software options in order of free to most expensive.

iMovie

Available only for the Mac, iMovie (free) is easy to use and comes with a lot of useful features. It's ideal for beginners.

iMovie is an excellent video editing option for beginners.

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker (free) is very basic and easy to use, and previously came standard with Windows PCs. However, Windows has now discontinued it so it isn't a great future-proof choice.

HitFilm

HitFilm is our top recommendation, and it's available at several price levels for both PC and Mac. At the highest end, the versatility and features are geared toward filmmakers.

However, the free version is ideal for beginners and more savvy video pros. It has more features than iMovie and is just as easy to use. To get the free version, you have to tweet/post about HitFilm, which is quite clever.

HitFilm's free version has all of the editing features you need to get started with video.

TechSmith Camtasia

Camtasia ($199) is a simple tool that's easy to pick up. It's fairly versatile and can do screen recordings. You can get it for Windows and Mac.

Apple Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro ($299) is Apple's upgrade from iMovie for Mac users. It's powerful, versatile, and quick to use.

Adobe Premier Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro ($19.99/month) is available for Mac, Windows, and mobile at a reasonable price tag per month if you're doing lots of videos. It's the most versatile option in this list, but it may be more robust than you need if you're just starting out.

Tip: Check out this site if you want to compare some of these software options.

You'll also need software to create thumbnail graphics for your videos and YouTube channel art. Canva has the updated sizes, guidelines, and templates you'll need to create these graphics. It's free to use (except for premium photos/graphics).

Canva offers a variety of social media templates, including one for YouTube channel art.

Click here for a tutorial on how to create the perfect on-brand image in four easy steps.

If you're looking for free photos you don't have to attribute, check out Unsplash, LibreStock, Gratisography, Pixabay, or Pexels.

Additional Video Tools

Here are two more helpful video tools for marketers:

TubeBuddy (free/$4-$39 month) is an all-in-one YouTube management system. The real power is being able to find (and receive suggested) tags that your video could rank for. There is a free version and a discount for the paid levels if you have fewer than 50,000 viewers, which you will if you're just starting out.

Snagit ($49) is a fantastic tool for quickly and precisely recording your screen and editing it, adding arrows and text, etc.

Tip: TechSmith offers a Camtasia and Snagit Bundle for $224.

Conclusion

So let's do a final price tally using the free, small budget, and bigger budget items.

Free Total Budget: $0

Camera: Smartphone
Tripod: A shelf
Lighting: Natural light from a bright window
Microphone: Smartphone
Background: Blank wall in house/office
Editing software: HitFilm
Design software: Canva and free photo sites
Additional tools: TubeBuddy free account

Small Total Budget Option 1: $178 Setup + $4.50/month

Camera: Smartphone
Tripod: KCOOL Octopus Style Portable and Adjustable Tripod Stand – $12
Lighting: LimoStudio Photography White Photo Umbrella Light Lighting Kit – $29
Microphone: Rode smartLav+ Lavalier – $79
Background: Slow Dolphin Fabric Video Studio Backdrop Kit – $58
Editing software: HitFilm
Design software: Canva and free photo sites
Additional Tools: TubeBuddy Pro Account – $4.50/month

Small Total Budget Option 2: $315 Setup + $4.50/month

Camera: Logitech C920 Webcam – $99
Tripod: N/A (not needed as the camera fits atop the computer screen)
Lighting: LimoStudio Photography White Photo Umbrella Light Lighting Kit – $29
Microphone: Blue Yeti USB Microphone – $129
Background: Slow Dolphin Fabric Video Studio Backdrop Kit – $58
Editing software: HitFilm
Design software: Canva and free photo sites
Additional tools: TubeBuddy Pro Account – $4.50/month

Bigger Total Budget: $949 Setup + $38.99/month

Camera: Nikon D3300 – $449
Tripod: InnerTeck 70-Inch Professional Camera Tripod – $45
Lighting: Diva Ring Light and Stand – $238
Microphone: Blue Yeti USB Microphone with Arm Stand and Pop Filter – $159
Background: Slow Dolphin Fabric Video Studio Backdrop Kit – $58
Editing software: Adobe Premier Pro – $19.99/month
Design software: Canva and free photo sites
Additional tools: TubeBuddy Star Account – $19/month

Remember that these totals aren't finite; you can mix and match with what you have and build up to the more expensive equipment as you go. It's also not a bad idea to look into secondhand items to save a little money, as not everything has to be new.

What do you think? Will you set up a video studio for your business? Do you have any tools to add to this list? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

3 Ways to Create a Video Studio on Any Budget by Peter Gartland on Social Media Examiner.

View the original article here

Original source: 3 Ways to Create a Video Studio on Any Budget.
http://www.jretechnology.com

The Best Times to Post to the Top 8 Social Platforms [Infographic]

Gary Vaynerchuk uses a term for describing social media posts that I really like. He calls these posts "micro-content", bits and pieces that make up a larger story. Micro-content doesn't define a brand in and of itself; it doesn't tell the whole story. Instead, it puts out these crumbs that create a trail back to the big idea behind a company or campaign.

However, just because the content is "micro," doesn't mean it lacks a "macro" impact. Micro-content, when custom-tailored to the right audience – and delivered at the right time – can produce major impact. So, let's talk about timing.

"The right audience" is a phrase we discuss a lot at my company, BuzzPlant. W e're big believers in asking the right questions and composing an accurate audience profile. Once this is accomplished, we know the message (what to say) and the medium (where to say it).

That leaves just one final piece: the timing. If you don't have your timing right, that awesome piece of micro-content that you so thoughtfully and strategically created will disappear. Gone forever, lost in the feed.

As everyone likes to say in marketing, "It's all about the eyeballs", and one of the easiest (not to mention free) ways to get eyeballs to your content is to nail your timing. This new infographic from Brafton can help you do exactly that.

And while this is an excellent guide, be sure you're also taking full advantage of the social media analytics that are available to you, including Facebook and Instagram's native analytics, which show when your users, specifically, are active on line.

 The post Science Says There's a Right Time to Post to Social Media appeared first on BuzzPlant.

View the original article here

Original source: The Best Times to Post to the Top 8 Social Platforms [Infographic].
http://www.jretechnology.com

7 Hidden Facebook Power Editor Features to Save You Time

Do you advertise on Facebook?

Are you taking advantage of all of the features in Power Editor?

Power Editor has a number of often-unnoticed options that can help marketers create more effective ad campaigns while saving time.

In this article, you'll discover seven overlooked Power Editor features to manage your campaigns more efficiently.

7 Hidden Facebook Power Editor Features to Save You Time by JD Prater on Social Media Examiner.

Setting up a true A/B test in Facebook is challenging. For example, if you're targeting five interests in a Facebook ad set, it's difficult to determine which ones are driving the best and worst performance.

With Facebook's new Split Testing feature, however, you can experiment with two or more versions of a single variable (such as two different audiences) that would see the same ad. This randomization helps ensure the test is conducted fairly because other factors won't skew the results of the group comparison. Each ad set is given an equal chance in the auction.

Within a single campaign, you can test only one variable at a time. Here are some examples of variables you can split test:

Delivery optimization: Optimize for conversions in one test and link clicks in another, for example.Saved audiences: Test audience A vs. audience B.Placements: Try selecting automatic placements or customized placements to define where you want your ads to appear.

To set up a split test in Power Editor, create a new campaign and choose one of three campaign objectives: Conversions (increase conversions on your website), App Installs (get installs of your app), or Lead Generation (collect leads for your business).

In Power Editor, select one of the highlighted objectives for your Facebook ad campaign.

Next select the Create Split Test check box.

Select the Create Split Test check box and then click Continue.

Then choose which variable you want to test.

Select the variable you want to test with your Facebook ad.

Keep in mind that the Split Testing feature is gradually rolling out and may not be available to you right now.

One tricky issue for account managers (especially agencies) is campaign naming conventions. You'll find it helpful to create a naming convention for all of your Facebook campaigns, ad sets, and ads.

If you're not sure what snippets of information to include in your campaign names, choose information that will clearly convey what's happening in the campaign to other team members. Anyone should be able to look at the campaign name and understand what's going on.

With a clear naming scheme, you'll spend less time thinking about your campaign names and be able to easily replicate and accommodate growth. In addition, a standardized method will make reporting on results faster and easier.

If you're unsure of where to start with naming your Facebook campaigns, you're in luck because Facebook makes it super-simple. First, select the campaign, ad set, or ad you want to rename. Then under the Quick Edits tab, select Edit Name.

In Facebook Power Editor, select Edit Name from the Quick Edits drop-down menu.

From there, start adding available fields to set up your naming convention. Experiment with adding different fields and if you don't see what you're looking for, add a custom text field to the mix.

In the example below, we included Campaign Name and Age and added custom text for "Interests" at the end of the ad set name. Now anyone on the team can quickly see the targeting and know what's working and what's not. It makes the ad set level reporting easier to understand and analyze.

Add fields to set up your Facebook ads naming convention.

Tip: Once you decide on a naming convention, stick with it across all platforms.

With your ad sets, are you targeting the default age setting 18-65? If so, it's time to get more granular with your audience targeting. I can almost guarantee your performance is different by age and gender. It's just the nature of people-based marketing and Facebook's news feed algorithm.

Facebook's Split Audiences feature lets you break down larger audiences into smaller ones with only a few clicks. To locate this feature in Power Editor, navigate to your ad sets and select one. Then click on the drop-down arrow to the right of Duplicate and select Split Audiences.

In Facebook Power Editor, click the arrow to the right of Duplicate and select Split Audiences.

From there, split your ad set audience by age range and/or gender.

Select an age range and gender for your split audience.

To add an ad set, click on the Add an Ad Set button in the bottom-right corner. With just a few clicks, you can divide bigger audiences into more granular ad sets.

Split the audience and create new ad sets quickly in Power Editor.

When you're finished, click Create Ad Sets. The Split Audiences feature helps you create new ad sets at scale and saves you a ton of time in the process.

There's finally a Find and Replace option in Power Editor! Before this feature, you had to manually enter everything, so updating multiple ad sets and ads took a lot of time. Now you can make broad changes at scale.

To access this feature, click the Quick Edits button and select Find and Replace from the drop-down list.

In Power Editor, click Quick Edits and select Find and Replace from the drop-down menu.

From there, you can easily duplicate and rename campaigns, ad sets, and ads.

For example, suppose you have an iOS app install campaign with 36 ad sets containing 2 ads each. Thanks to this Power Editor feature, you can duplicate the campaign and rename all 36 ad sets and 72 ads to create an Android campaign in less than 2 minutes. Imagine how long that would have taken before this feature.

But that's not all. If you select this feature at the ad level, you get even more options. You can update the ad name, "see more" URL, headline, and message (ad copy).

Type in the text you want to replace with Power Editor's Find and Replace feature.

Have you ever misspelled a word in your ad copy? Quickly find all of the ads with the misspelling and replace it with the corrected text.

This analytics feature is overlooked by even advanced Facebook marketers. It's hidden on the far-right side and shows up only after you select a campaign or ad set or ad.

First, select a campaign, ad set, or ad and then on the far right, click the bar chart icon to access performance metrics.

Click the bar chart icon in Power Editor.

From here, select which metric you want to plot. In the example below, we analyzed the click-through rate (CTR) of a mobile-only ad set versus a desktop ad set.

Analyze the CTR of multiple Facebook ad sets.

There are a few other performance insights you can get with this feature, such as comparing multiple campaigns by a certain metric.

In the example below, we're analyzing five different campaigns by cost per action (CPA). It's easy to find the lowest-performing campaigns and the above-average campaigns. From here, you'll know which campaigns to analyze and which ones should get more budget.

Analyze multiple Facebook ad campaigns by CPA.

With this feature, you no longer have to download the performance data, pivot it in Excel, and make a line graph. Depending on how fast you are in Excel, it will probably save you around 10-15 minutes.

Campaign tags are another handy feature for marketers. They're essentially the same thing as labels in AdWords. You can use tags to organize your Facebook ad campaigns into groups and make them easier to find. This is great for agencies that share their ad accounts with clients and for marketers who love to catalog their campaigns.

To start, select the campaigns you want to create a tag for and then click the Campaign Tag button, which is to the right of the Create Report button.

In Power Editor, click the Campaign Tags button.

Now you're ready to create tags that make sense for your campaigns. When you're finished, you'll be able to search for specific campaigns by tag, which is especially helpful for larger accounts with thousands of campaigns.

Search for Facebook ad campaigns by tag.

Using Power Editor, you may have noticed many unnecessary metrics in the main interface, causing you to scroll to the right to find the ones you're looking for. By default, Facebook reports on every metric available so you have to scroll forever to find the most relevant metrics, which is a waste of time.

If you want to look at only the metrics that matter to your account, click the List Settings button.

Click the List Settings button in Power Editor.

Next you'll see a screen like the one below, showing every metric check-marked. From here, select only the metrics that are important to you by campaign, ad set, and ad.

Customize Power Editor to show only the metrics that matter to your business.

After you select your metrics, click Save. Now only the most relevant metrics will be displayed, saving you time trying to locate them.

Bonus: Use Facebook Automated Rules to Run Performance Checks

Rather than manually checking the performance of your campaigns, ad sets, or ads, use Facebook's automated rules. This recently updated feature can save you tons of time by automating frequent changes and/or sending you notifications about performance.

For example, set up email alerts to get updates if performance decreases or increases based on the metrics that matter most to you. To get started, click Create Rule in Power Editor.

Click the Create Rule button in Power Editor.

Now you can set up an automated rule based on the information you want to see. In the example below, the automated rule will pause the selected ad set if the frequency goes above 3 and send you a notification that the conditions of this rule have been met.

Set up a Facebook automated rule in Power Editor.

Automated rules are a perfect way to keep track of ad and ad set metrics without having to log in every day. You can also set up rules as a safety net to ensure spend or performance doesn't get derailed.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these seven features will help you become a Facebook Power Editor master and move through the platform quicker. Learning and using these features will help free up more of your time to think strategically about moving your business forward.

What do you think? What Power Editor features help you save time and work quicker? Leave a comment and let me know!

7 Hidden Facebook Power Editor Features to Save You Time by JD Prater on Social Media Examiner.

View the original article here

Original source: 7 Hidden Facebook Power Editor Features to Save You Time.
http://www.jretechnology.com