Why Nonprofits Should Connect With Vloggers

The perception of what a celebrity is and who celebrities are continues to change as the internet develops new ways for people to put themselves out there and be seen by the world. Years ago, a celebrity was most likely an actor or musician, and their prestige and recognition grew as they were featured in more movies or as they created more albums and toured the world. In many cases, these celebrities were not just people that were recognized by their fan bases, but also recognized by popular culture at large. Even if someone wasn't listening to Madonna or Michael Jackson, they still knew who these personalities were and listened when they spoke up on social issues (remember "We Are The World"?).

As the social media landscape has developed over the past decade, so has our perception of social media celebrity. These are not people that are household names, but rather people that capitalize on specific interests in order to generate "niche" influence (niche is used lightly here because they can still reach tens of millions of people). These celebrities are not necessarily famous for their powerful singing voice or exemplary acting skills, but instead they have harnessed their unique voice in a way that attracts others like them online. Their voices and viewpoints are regularly featured across a wide spectrum of topics, including politics, pop culture, nonprofit causes, consumer products, media fandoms, and any other subject you can think of. These are the new celebrity influencers to focus on when promoting a nonprofit's campaign and message.

Video is the unparalleled leader in harnessing the voice of social media celebrities, and it appears its importance can only grow from here. According to a recent Cisco report, there is an expectation that internet video traffic will rise from 64 percent in 2014 to over 80 percent in 2019. Platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Instagram and Periscope generate tens of millions of views daily and have paved the way for the next generation of influencers and tastemakers. Often video creators have their own blogs or are highly active on Twitter as well, making them that much more of a prime target for a nonprofit's outreach efforts.

Vloggers have already proven themselves as valuable assets for companies such as Snickers, Volkswagen, Pizza Hut, and Nissan. Through the engagement of popular channels like Epic Meal Time and Miss Jessica Harlow, paid advertisement videos can bridge the gap between products and audiences looking for the vlogger's content. Below is a discussion of some nonprofits that have also successfully engaged popular YouTube channels and other video platforms, but these large-scale campaigns are less frequent than their corporate counterparts.

However, it would be no surprise to see the level of nonprofit vlogger engagement increase in the future; according to the Nonprofit Technology Network's 2015 Digital Outlook Report, 96% of nonprofit respondents said they would maintain or increase their focus on video creation with 68% reporting they would increase video throughout 2015. Being able to supplement their existing video assets with promotion from those with a much wider audience can significantly expand their reach to drive both new funding and critical actions.

The short answer is that these internet celebrities already generate generate millions of views per month, and this peer-created content is more trustworthy to their audiences than content created directly by an organization or company. With a built in audience that has confidence in the influencer, a nonprofit's campaign can instantly be broadcast to new audiences that are ready to take action and spread the word. The ability to instantly reach hundreds of thousands of subscribers almost allows for instant "virality," cutting down the guessing game about a video's popularity here.

The most influential video creators have shown a passion for creating content, and as a result, their online voice is typically deliberate and sincere in its messaging. Even comedic celebrities are known to use their voice for the greater good, with satire as their primary medium. Video creators make their content because they feel compelled to share their own experiences and opinions; if they are to share an organization's message, it is because this message aligns with their beliefs.

Finding key opportunities for a nonprofit to engage with a vlogger requires both the right creator and the right message. There are many video celebrities that incorporate specific issues such as public health, bullying, international aid, and literacy into their content, and use the internet as a medium for them to share their thoughts and feelings. Like with most influencer engagement strategies, an influencer that share a nonprofit's message is most likely going to be their most valuable partner. Other aspects to consider when looking for the best types of influencer vloggers to engage with include their tone and approach, reach, their preferred platforms, and the target audience.

One example of finding the right vlogger for the right message comes from YouTube celebrity Tyler Oakley, a well-known LGBT rights and LGBT youth advocate. In early 2015 he was able to speak to his subscriber audience in an effort to raise $500,000 for The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth. As a result of his efforts, Tyler even won a DoGooder Video Award for YouTube creators.

Many web video celebrities have taken up many other causes that are important to them and their audiences. Video gaming guru PewDiePie was able to raise more than $630,000 for Save the Children, while Internet sensation Kid President was able to promote #BookItForward, an initiative to share your favorite books with others. The comedy team Smosh was able to use their channel as a way to humorously act out being parents, while simultaneously driving over 52,000 people to their DoSomething.org campaign to deter teen pregnancy.

For nonprofits online, another essential aspect of the video and social community around it is just that: community. Everyone is offered an opportunity to tell their story, and everyone has the ability to listen and engage with others. Many organizations offer a "Share your story" feature that engages a supporter and allows them to share their perspective while simultaneously uplifting the campaign. One recent example comes from Define American, who urged supporters to share what it means for them to be American in the wake of racism.

(RED) made history for the most Vine recordings in a single day by asking their supporters to share short videos with the hashtag #REDWorldRecord. This campaign was intended to raise awareness about the 32nd anniversary of the day AIDS was discovered, and urge participants to help deliver an AIDS-free generation. Both celebrity Vine users and others contributed videos.

Newer platforms such as Periscope are building dedicated fanbases and nonprofit importance as well. The app itself is free, and allows for users to sign up with their Twitter accounts and share content with pre-existing Twitter networks. Many celebrities are already using the platform as a way to communicate with their supporters in real time, and list of influential users will most likely continue to grow as the service becomes more widely adopted.

For nonprofits, there are numerous opportunities to use the platform for good. Staff and/or volunteers can share updates from the field, live events can be easily shared with others, and crowdsourced content can allow supporters to voice their thoughts directly to the organization.

As a nonprofit, the first step to building a successful vlogger engagement to campaign is to research those discussing issues related to your key issues with others. Their audience doesn't need to be massive – often times the most dedicated audiences are between 5,000 and 100,000 subscribers. Watch their videos, follow them on Twitter, check out their Vines, and watch a live Periscope feed if they have one.

If their voice is right for promoting your message, then reach out with the request to share an important action. This could include spreading the campaign word with a specific hashtag, raising funding for those in need, or driving others to share their own videos. If the influencer also happens to be on your email list, thank them for their past support and highlight their potential value to a future campaign. The ultimate goal is to be genuine, transparent, and allow them to share their own message about how great your work is, so just be ready to relinquish some control and let them do what made them so popular in the first place.

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Original source: Why Nonprofits Should Connect With Vloggers.
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Is Bernie Sanders a Social Media Nerd?

The Obama campaign's use of social media in 2008 has been lauded as a factor in his successful election.

Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook, ran Obama's website and turned it into a social network of its own. Obama's Twitter following and Facebook friends outnumbered John McCain's.

Indeed, Obama's digital strategy was so successful that it has been the object of scholarly study. Now presidential hopefuls are trying to figure out how to improve upon the high bar that Obama set.

"I'm not some kind of tech nerd, I really am not," Bernie Sanders told the New York Times. "But I have always believed in communication, and not just photo ops and stuff, but educating people, and communicating with people about the real work that we're doing."

Sanders, a senator from Vermont and 2016 presidential candidate, often appears up on the home page of Reddit and his Facebook posts receive tens of thousands of shares and likes.

And Sanders doesn't follow the rules. On Facebook, he shares quotations as images. He posts long status updates. His team doesn't use keywords to be more searchable. 

And yet, despite these hiccups, Sanders' social media presence attracts a significant following.  Why? Because it is authentic.  Sanders writes the majority of his own social content.

"Usually, it's in the shower where something pops into my head," Sanders told the New York Times. "I play a very, very active role in writing, literally writing, what goes up there on Facebook."

Laura Olin, who created the social media strategy for President Obama's 2012 campaign, told the New York Times, "If it sounds like him," she said, "his people will find it and spread it."

Sanders is a former journalist, so writing comes fairly naturally to him. Not only are his social media messages authentic, they are topical. Sanders writes about the issues. He writes about the increasing disparity between rich and poor. He writes about keeping jobs in the U.S.

Sander did not start off his presidential campaign with a big announcement event like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul. His popularity on Facebook reflects this: it starts off slow. But while Cruz and Paul saw a lot of initial social interactions right after their announcements, they have cooled off, while Sander has been warming up.

A conservative group called America Rising PAC has been using social media to try to weaken support for Hillary Clinton's presidential run. But their messages don't target conservatives; instead they target environmentalist and Democrats in an attempt to splinter the political will of liberals. 

America Rising PAC social media posts criticize Clinton's connection to Wall Street. They compare her to Kevin Spacey's character on "House of Cards." They suggest that she has not be an champion of the environment in relation to the Keystone Pipeline debate.

Another group, American Crossroads, founded by Karl Rove, is also creating digital content that uses liberal messages to critique Clinton. In one piece of content, a speech by Elizabeth Warren warning against "powerful interest" trying to "rig the system" in Washington is played as images of Clinton are shown.

An article in the New York Times suggests that this kind of political messaging is indicative of the way that social media works. Information travels fast and often the source of the information is not clear. Also, on the Internet and social media, people exist inside a "filter bubble" where they only receive information that they want to see, that confirms their initial biases and reflects the beliefs of their online community.

America Rising PAC and American Crossroads are using those filter bubbles strategically.

According to the New York Times, Matt Rhoades, who was Mr. Romney's campaign manager, founded America Rising "in response to a recommendation contained in an autopsy of Romney's failed presidential run that was ordered by the Republican National Committee. The group's original goal was to compete with American Bridge, the Democratic opposition research group, but its focus under Mr. Rhoades has been to subject Mrs. Clinton to an ordeal similar to Mr. Romney's."

Laura Hart Cole, who was surprised to learn that she'd shared content created by American Rising, told the New York Times that Republican groups, "have a history of sleazy tactics." But she added: "I guess it's fair. If what they're saying is factual, then I guess it's fair play. It's a dirty game."

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Original source: Is Bernie Sanders a Social Media Nerd?.
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Spotify and Snapchat Evolve and it's all About That Bass

Two social platforms just announced new uses and both have to do with the digital music world, signaling continued innovation aimed at millennials. Spotify and Snapchat have both made carrying your music with you easier than ever and these recent announcements take mobile music consumption to the next level. Consider the gauntlet thrown, Jay-Z and Tidal: these platforms aren't giving up the fight for mobile music-listeners any time soon.

Snapchat has long been known for being king of ephemeral media, but with more than 700 million snaps sent daily (a low estimate) it's ephemera with serious market power.

Snapchat's innovation arc has been both classic and fascinating. What began as purely ephemeral has slowly evolved into offering traditional media content with a twist.

First, there were personal snaps sent to friends that lasted mere seconds before disappearing. The introduction of curated "stories," which last longer and can be broadcast to a wider audience, was exciting, but those still disappear into the Snapchat ether after 24 hours. With January's introduction of the Discover feature, Snapchat opened the doors to select media outlets, and media outlets walked jauntily through. In the Discover section of Snapchat, users can peruse snack-sized content from places like CNN, Comedy Central, and National Geographic.  

And now that original content includes music videos. Remember them? Those long-abandoned music movies that are now stumbled upon at YouTube or teased on Taylor Swift's Instagram? Well, heads up, everyone. Snapchat just entered the music video house.

The indie artist, Goldroom, has been releasing four music videos this week on Snapchat's Snap channel, which is accessible on the Discover tab of the app. Also available around the music video releases are behinds-the-scenes exclusive content, including making-of videos and interviews, all with special Snapchat share buttons, of course.

With over half of Snapchat users under the age of 25, debuting original and highly-produced content on this platform could be a game-changer for musicians.

 And while Madonna released her new music video on Snapchat in February, what's remarkable about this Goldroom campaign is that all videos are shot in vertical format to accommodate the way people hold their phones.  Here we're seeing traditional media bend to mobile media in a serious way.

Once mocked by Generation X and brands for its assumed lack of staying power, Snapchat has proven again and again to make smart, tactical, and ahead-of-the-curve innovations. I can't wait to see what they do next.

Today's major announcements from Spotify are certainly not music to Jay-Z's ears

Spotify's ascent hasn't been as rocket ship-fast, but it's hold in the market has been steady and consistent, as well as appealing across a wide range of demographics. Today's announcements make the platform even more necessary, whether you only listen to music at the gym or you're playlist-famous.

In addition to announcing that the platform will now host non-music content like podcasts and video, it will now predict what kinds of playlists you'll be into and also curate a running playlist that changes with the changing tempo of your workout.

In the first innovation, Spotify is using data to become more intelligent. It will use its massive amounts of data to predict and create playlists around what you've already listened to at specific times of the day. And if that doesn't make you want to give Spotify a big hug (or seriously creep you out), hop on over to the Running feature.

Can't keep up with Rita Ora's beats as your feet hit the pavement? No worries, Spotify's got you covered so you'll stay motivated in its second innovation. This running feature figures your running pace based on your phone's sensors and changes the music in real time to align with that pace.

These announcements come on the heels of last week's private Jay-Z concert for Tidal users, in which he bashed Spotify and Apple in a rap, and Beyonce and Nicky Minaj's video debut exclusively on the platform.

But can Tidal win the war against Spotify's Goliath announcements? Is an exclusive Beyonce track enough to sway users from a smart app that learns not only your daytime and nighttime music routines but your workout needs?

In any case, it's clear there's a real war to be fought over music-listeners and control of the digital music world, especially as more and more users look to their smartphone for the latest and greatest.

Who will jump into this battle next? Where will the next mobile war be fought? Let me know in your comments below.

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Original source: Spotify and Snapchat Evolve and it's all About That Bass.
http://www.jretechnology.com

7 Common Blogging Mistakes To Avoid [Infographic]

Blogs are an important part of today's web, with over 409 million people reading more than 17.6 billion blog pages every month. But people who're just starting out may have received some bad advice on how to become as popular as the big sites. Here's a closer look at some common blogging mistakes to avoid (and what to do instead).

Infographic courtesy of: whoishostingthis. This post originally appeared on Irfan Ahmad's blog.

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Original source: 7 Common Blogging Mistakes To Avoid [Infographic].
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9 Facebook Mistakes You Can’t Keep Making (and How To Fix Them)

Your Facebook page has the power to make or break your business. With the amount of time and content people take in while staring at their feeds, taking advantage of people's tastes and attention span is your top priority. As hard as you are trying to do that, you might not even know that you are making common Facebook mistakes that'll lead to a Facebook page that doesn't help you sell or engage.

The current organic reach on Facebook is hovering at just above 2%! That is not great news, but it's not the end of the world either. How do you get to more people?

One way is boosting posts (which costs money). The other way is creating a thriving Facebook page. To create a thriving Facebook page you first must stop making the following common Facebook mistakes and realign your page with the best practices known to mankind. Open up your Facebook page, and get ready to complete a quick facelift to it.

We all know that our attention spans are short. In fact it has been proven that our attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish!

Sometimes a business may find a need to explain or detail something on their Facebook page by using text. Updates are great. Tutorials are fantastic. Giving news updates to followers is a great move. However, you have to keep in mind short attention spans when doing so.

Take this post for example. It's a great brand, but take a look at how much text they used!

This post could have created more engagement with the audience, had it been created with a little less text. The post received 37 likes and only five shares. 

You know the saying, "less is more", well when it comes to using text in Facebook posts that tends to be true more often than not. What can you do? Use different types of images and video that can get across the message with fewer words. In fact, it's been shown that posts with 80 characters or less in length have 27% higher engagement rates.

The first rule of posting images on Facebook: make sure they are the right size! Images that are not optimized for Facebook can reflect a few negative vibes to your followers: a lack of professionalism and detail. Those types of vibes do not cause your followers to stop and interact with you. 

Would you like, comment, or share this? Probably not.

In addition, images that are not optimized are less likely to get through Facebook's filter. Facebook filters the feed that each and every one of us see, in hopes of keeping us on Facebook as long as possible. Images that are not optimized don't fit that mold.

"Every time someone visits News Feed there are on average 1,500 potential stories from friends, people they follow and Pages for them to see, and most people don't have enough time to see them all." – Lars Backstrom of Facebook 

It's simple, use the right sizes. If you need help sizing the images try using Pablo by Buffer, Canva, PicMonkey, or Picresize.

Cover pictures: 851 x 315 pixels (minimum size: 399 x 150 pixels)Profile pictures: 180 x 180 pixels (shown as 160 x160)Post pictures: 1,200 x 630 pixels (maximum width in Facebook feed:470 pixels, maximum width in pages: 504 pixels)You have worked hard to create an image or set of images to use in a new marketing campaign. You have optimized all the images to be the right size for each social network, but alas there is still one problem: the second someone shares it and then it gets shared again and goes viral no one will know who created it.

Take a look at that image. You know it relates to poverty and malnutrition, but you have no idea who stands behind it. That's a shame and a growth stunt – you don't want that!

Jack Dorsey, CEO of both Twitter and Square said,"Make every detail perfect, and limit the number of details to perfect", and he is 100% correct. The connection to watermarks is simple: you've spent time planning and then creating the images, but without adding a watermark you're missing a small, yet crucial detail. See the watermark?

This my friends may be the biggest mistake of them all, because of the damage that it can cause to your brand. I found this a while back on the Help Scout Blog and knew I had to share this with you. Astonishing, no?

Customer support, experience, or success (however you call it) is the base to your business. If your customer support is just average, you're in for an uphill battle. This is just one of dozens of other unanswered comments on the same page.

You don't need to move mountains – just guide your customers on the right path. You can choose to give the customer a solution on the spot, or share with them your email address. Personally, transparency is number one in my book, so I like to see a solution given on the spot. After all, what's better: exceeding, meeting, or not meeting customer expectations? You know the answer.

Check out our post: 5 Tips to Improve Your Customer Service on Facebook

Do you eat the same thing everyday? Imagine having the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a month. Not something fun to think about. Now imagine, your favorite brand started sharing the exact same thing every day. The same image (or a similar version), with the same general text. You'd get bored of that pretty quickly, no?

One of the mistakes that many Facebook Page managers make is thinking that they can just share blog posts or images. In reality, a successful page has variety of different content.

Mix and match. Like posting too much and using too much text, the solution that will lead to more interactions will be created after you've tested what followers love, like, and hate. Try using GIFs, images with and without text, relevant articles, videos, infographics, tutorials, behind the scenes stories, discuss future collections, and ask followers for their opinions!

Notice that the images vary from post to post, and they also make sure to use video to interact with their followers (one video got 50+ likes and the other recent video got 80+ likes)!

We all want to get in front of as many of our fans as possible. That being said, there is a right and wrong way of getting in front of a larger audience. Posting too much can derail your path to getting in front of more fans and actually turn away followers that have had enough.

Instead of trying to boost the reach of a certain post by making it more engaging, many online professionals try to post more often in hopes of reaching more people altogether. That though, is not the solution. Facebook knows how to treat someone that behaves well and how to discipline someone that isn't behaving.

Quality beats quantity when it comes to engaging your community on social media. The general rule of thumb is to post at most twice a day to Facebook. These are the results from a HubSpot study.

If you've got more than 10,000 followers then posting twice a day is the right move as it can lead to an increase in the number of clicks per post. On the other end of the spectrum, pages with fewer than 10,000 followers received fewer clicks per post when they increased the quantity of posts: companies with less than 10,000 followers that post more than 60 times a month receive 60% fewer clicks per post than those companies that post five or fewer times a month.

Your cover image is meant to make you stand out. By looking at the image visitors should know what brand it is and what it does – regardless of where they stumble across the image (on the page or in a Google image search).

Do you know who this represents?

What about this one?

Both are huge brands, making a small mistake that has a big cost. They're both generic images that could be used by another thousand or so Facebook pages.

Before a visitor sees any of your posts, they first see your profile and cover images. With the size that Facebook offers for your cover image being more than enough, it would be a shame not to capitalize on the opportunity to make a lasting first impression.

What does your brand represent? Answer that question and then put the words into an image. Unlike the above cover images, with both of these you know exactly what you are looking at.

The internet is a very dense marketplace. Everyone is selling something. Basically, the internet is one giant shopping mall. When you are trying to trying to convert interactions into sales one of the ingredients that'll increase the likelihood of an engaged follower turning into a purchaser is by creating trust.

You don't create trust when you don't fill out all the information that Facebook requests. Are you hurting the level of trust? Not for sure, but if you are given a way to increase the level of trust you should take it. Don't forget the small details.

Filling out the information about your business can only help you and put you on the right trajectory to creating a trusted brand. Don't give people an excuse not to buy from you. See in this example, how they filled in all the information, including a long description that differs from the shorter one and they added the contact email twice.

There is no doubt about it: we all want our Facebook marketing efforts to lead to an increase in sales. There are certain strategies that can lead to an increase in sales. There are also strategies that can decrease sales and also make your Facebook page less attractive. 

People enjoy making purchases online, and Facebook is no different. However, just sharing a picture of a product and stating that it is available for $15.99 is not the way to increase your sales. If you make your Facebook page followers feel as if they've just walked into a retail store with pushy sales people, sales won't improve.

The best converting Facebook advertisements have one thing in common: they don't sell the product, rather they share a story or the benefits that come with using the product. One of the best practices for increasing sales via your Facebook page includes using a Facebook shop with marketing campaigns, such as StoreYa's Group Deal or Scratch & Win which give followers the social shopping experience they are looking for.

Here's a great example. They don't use a lot of text, but the text used matches perfectly with the image. They also added a reminder about a free product, and shared the link to the pictured product. This post gets two things right, it helps them sell and engages their followers. 

Now that you know what to avoid, and how to correct the problems, take a look at your Facebook page. Are you practicing any of these deadly Facebook mistakes? If so, see how the suggested solutions can be implemented to make sure your Facebook page becomes the coolest place on the block!

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Original source: 9 Facebook Mistakes You Can't Keep Making (and How To Fix Them).
http://www.jretechnology.com

DOES TECHNOLOGY MAKE CLASSIC CARS BETTER?

I realize how the headline reads, but after all, we're an online-only publication that relies on technology to tell great stories. It's natural for us to check build threads for inspiration, or scroll through hundreds of Instagram pictures for the perfect shot. But is technology helping car enthusiasts in a more fundamental way?

An article about technology was recently shared in our team Slack channel that brought into focus some ways that technology has benefitted classic car owners. The Jalopnik story, "People Are Paying For Car Tech They Aren't Even Using", was about owners of modern cars who end up paying much more for features that end up unused. It makes sense: who fires up a car's self-parking or network router functions every time they go for a jaunt?

As the discussion continued, Jonathan WC Mills said it best, with an equation that looked something like this: "Classic car + cell phone = perfect".

He's right: we went through a list of things we've done here in the office, and it's staggering. With a phone in your pocket, you're not only able to watch our videos (thanks!), but film your own, connect with your insurance provider, send photos of restoration troubles to an expert, call for roadside assistance, scan and store your receipts(getpatina.com), navigate to a well-hidden road, gauge the accuracy of your speedometer using GPS, rent a classic car, purchase one at auction, buy parts, look up the finer points of importation procedures (Try explaining a VIN-less 1985 Citroën 2CV to Canadian customs.–Ed.), track lap times, catch up on Monterey Car Week…

Texting and driving and other improper use of cell phones is abhorrent, of course, but do you think that technology has improved classic car ownership?

 

Original article : http://www.petrolicious.com/does-technology-make-classic-cars-better

Original source: DOES TECHNOLOGY MAKE CLASSIC CARS BETTER?.
http://www.jretechnology.com

How to Get Results From Facebook Ads on a Budget

By Jenny Brennan
Published June 18, 2015

Are you using Facebook ads effectively for your business?

Do you want to get results without spending a lot of money?

By selecting a well-targeted audience with your Facebook ads, you can reach your goals without breaking the bank.

In this article I'll show you how to set up your Facebook ads to generate big results on a small budget.

Discover how to get results from Facebook Ads on a budget.

Before you spend any money on Facebook ads, think about the objectives for your ad campaign. Once you've set your goals, you can better determine your budget.

Choose the proper objective for your campaign.

The four most popular Facebook campaign goals for businesses are building a targeted fan base, promoting owned content, generating conversions and promoting a local business. Here's a look at what you can do with a budget of 5 to 10 Euros or Dollars per day.

When you get started with Facebook advertising, growing the audience for your Facebook page is the logical first step. Fans are more likely to opt into your list, read your content and buy from you than non-fans. In other words, when highly targeted people like your page, it's an indication that they want to see your content.

There are many ways to target Facebook ads to grow your audience. To get the most from a small budget, focus first on attracting the people who know you best. This audience has already invested in you and is likely to convert at a higher rate and lower cost than any other group.

Target Your Email List

If you want to create a custom audience based on your customer email list, go to Audiences in your Facebook Ads Manager. In the upper-right corner of the page, click Create Audience and select Custom Audience from the drop-down menu.

Create a custom audience by uploading your email list.

Then click Customer List in the Create a Custom Audience dialog box.

To create your custom audience, upload a .CSV file with your customers' email addresses. Facebook then populates the audience and gets it ready for you to target with your ads.

Target Website Visitors

One of the most powerful Facebook ad types is the website custom audience. The people who visit your website already know you and are more likely to respond positively to your ads.

After you've targeted a custom audience for your email list (as described above), move on to promoting your page to website visitors.

Target your ads to people who've visited your website.

To create a website custom audience, you need to install a custom audience pixel in the header of your website.

Facebook lets you create an audience based on traffic in the last 30, 60, 90 and 180 days. Set up an audience for each option. You might target this audience for people who have visited your site, but aren't yet fans of your page.

Target a Lookalike Audience

Depending on your website traffic, it's likely that you'll always have an audience to target. But if you want to expand your options, consider lookalike audiences.

You can create lookalike audiences based on your custom audience of email subscribers or website visitors. Facebook will match your database within a 1% similarity, giving you a narrower audience to target.

Access Audiences from the Ads Manager and then create a lookalike audience for the location you want to target.

Create a lookalike audience based on an email list or website custom audience.

Target Interests

If you're a new business with a small customer list and limited website traffic, you may be wondering how to target your Facebook ads. Interest targeting can be effective if you do it right, but overall it's generally less effective than the options above.

The reason for this is that when you target a page or interest, Facebook gives you an audience that includes people who've expressed an interest or liked pages associated with your audience.

Target your ads to people with specific interests.

If you ask Facebook to optimize your ads, they will show your ads to the people most likely to take action.

Show your ads to Facebook users who are most likely to act on them.

Split-Test Your Audiences

After you've set up your audiences, it's a good idea to test each one over a 72-hour time period. A good rule of thumb is to spend 5 to 10 Euros or Dollars a day on each test ad, but this number may vary depending on your audience size and the results from each audience.

Here's an example of an ad cost breakdown for each audience:

Interests: €1.05 ($1.18) per likeLookalike: €0.62 ($0.70) per likeCustom audience: €0.54 ($0.61) per like Test ads for 72 hours to get a good picture of performance.

Of course, there are many ways to split-test your ads, and audience targeting is one.

Have you ever heard the expression "promote your best content"? There's a good reason for doing that. Sending people to your website and sharing your best content helps them get to know you, like you and trust you. It's at that point people will be more likely to buy from you.

You have better potential to dive deeper into certain topics and help the audience on your company blog.

Promote content on your own website by promoting specific URLs.

To promote your content, you can target a few combinations of audiences: fans of a page, fans and friends, lookalike and interest audiences and a customer list. Test to see which do best.

When you invest in fans, ensure they get access to your best content on a weekly basis. You might also create some fan-only content and specific content that further deepens your connections with fans.

Promoting your content to lookalike and interest audiences is an effective way to build awareness of your brand and how you add value for your customers. Try combining a lookalike audience with an interest and see what results you get.

Three types of website content that you can promote to fans only are testimonial pages, blog content (share the good stuff) and sales messages or special offers.

You can also use Facebook ads to promote a weekly video and help your audience get to know you. For example, Jill Celeste offers weekly video tips on her Facebook page.

Use Facebook ads to promote weekly video tips.

It takes time to connect with people, so don't give up after your first video. If you publish consistently, Facebook users will start paying attention to your content.

Here's an example that shows the benefits of a video ad.

Use ads to promote your videos.

Test the promotion of different types of content on your Facebook page. You may be surprised by the reaction you receive.

Video Ad Tips

Keep it short and sweet.Within three seconds, convince viewers why they should keep watching.Use a strong call to action.Be genuine, fun, educational or informative.

Many businesses and brands want to skip straight to conversions as a goal for their Facebook ads. This is understandable, especially when you have a small budget. Just like the examples above, focus on the audiences most likely to convert.

Generating leads is a strong aspect of Facebook advertising, but it's important that you're targeting the right audience.

Before you start testing these types of ads, check your own news feed and see which lead generation campaigns show up. Take note of the ad copy, call-to-action buttons and visuals in other ads to improve your own conversions.

For example, this ad might grab your interest if you're a fan of this page or you've visited the company's website.

Take a look at ads in your news feed to discover effective tactics for driving conversions.

If you're a fan of this company's page, you may be interested in downloading the report mentioned in this ad.

Look at how calls to action are used in ads.

You might see the following ad if you've liked the company's page. Clicking the ad takes you to a sales landing page, and as a fan there is a higher chance that you'll buy.

Users who have liked your company's page can see an event ad like this one.

If you have a limited ad budget, optimize for conversions at the best price. Facebook knows their users well, so you'll likely get better results.

The following test ad cost €10 ($11.26) a day and generated 42 leads. The target was a website custom audience.

Test different ads to see how many leads they generate.

Promoting a local business with Facebook ads and a small budget presents certain challenges.

Here is a simple system that typically works well: Build a local fan base for €5 ($5.63) per day, promote your sales messages to fans for €5 ($5.63) per day and choose products that have a good margin to get best ROI.

If you're a local business, you may want to limit your promotions to one per week. It's a good idea to promote regular contests to build awareness of new products and services. This is a great way to add value to your fans without directly selling to them.

Conclusion

You can get results from your Facebook ads with a small budget. But it's important to manage your expectations for the campaign.

What do you think? Do you run Facebook ads for your business? How have they performed? What are your experiences working with a small budget? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Tips for getting results from Facebook Ads on a budget.

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Jenny Brennan is passionate about social media and Facebook marketing in particular! She makes it her mission to show her clients how to connect with customers in a meaningful way. Other posts by Jenny Brennan »

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Original source: How to Get Results From Facebook Ads on a Budget.
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