Do you use Facebook to promote your business?
Are you struggling to find ways to get noticed on the platform?
With each update to Facebook, it becomes increasingly harder for small businesses to make a splash in front of their intended audience.
Here are four marketing tactics you can use to get more out of your Facebook advertising.
Find out how you can get more out Facebook advertising.
#1: Add an Ask
Do you have a certain benchmark you want to hit? Whether you want page or post likes, there’s a simple solution. It may go against your instincts, but straight-up ask for the number of likes you want. And add an incentive to move things along.
For example, Subway asked for 40,000 likes on this post. The incentive: once they reached the milestone, they’d release a code that leads to a promotion. Only then could people enter to win “Free Subs for a Year.”
Subway gave away something of relatively small value, and got back something priceless. If you do the math, that’s a pretty good deal for Subway. They got more than 60,000 likes, more than 800 comments and more than 1,500 shares. That’s pretty much viral status for a single post, and all they had to do is provide one person with free subs.
Subway asked for 40,000 likes on this post. They got even more.
After you come up with your promo idea, remember these key elements when youcreate your image.
Make the image aesthetically pleasing.
For example, check out the pair of delectable, photogenic beauties Subway displayed. Look at the perfectly layered tomatoes, stacked to the brim with loads of meat (no extra charge for double) and melted cheese encased in a perfectly rounded bun. Subway displayed one beef and one chicken, showcasing two of their customers’ main preferences. All promo pics should be that enticing.
Include the offer in print within the image.
People scrolling through their Facebook news feeds aren’t always going to read the accompanying text that goes with a post. However, if you place the offer at the top of the image itself in large print, you’ll get a few eyeballs that would ordinarily miss it.
It never hurts to ask, so start asking. Create something eye-catching with a definite call to action.
#2: Go Retro
People love to show off things related to their youth: they share pics, take quizzes and participate in pretty much anything that takes them back to an earlier time. Music videos on YouTube from the 80′s and 90′s get tons of traffic and engagement. And then there’s vintage logos and products that adorn t-shirts that get everyone talking. So, if it’s feasible, give your audience something to reminisce about.
Gatorade did a timeline of how their bottle evolved over the years. The graphic, caption and hashtag speak to their target audience. The viewer is privy to seeing the different points in history where Gatorade changed their packaging. And you never know when the trivia will come in handy. (Next time someone’s belting out trivia with their friends at the bar, they can always drop the factoid that Gatorade has been in existence since 1965.)
Gatorade showed how their packaging evolved and was rewarded with nice engagement.
When visually sharing history of your product or brand, here are a few things to include.
Differentiate.
If you’re showing how your product evolved, choose key points that are noticeably different. Gatorade shares the full spectrum of designs coming at you in one instant. This also has the effect of showing diversity to the consumer. Diversity is good—it gives the illusion of choice, and people like choice.
Make it consistent.
An overriding consistency factor makes the differentiation even better. Gatorade showed how their product evolved and did it all in the same flavor: lemon-lime. In this visually appealing photo, they allude to the company’s rich history with the lemon-lime coloring. Plus, the bottles are lined up and taken on an angle shot to give the impression that all of the bottles average out to nearly the same height.
Build upon an existing theme (or meme).
By ending the post with the #TransformationThursday tag, Gatorade is building upon the #ThrowbackThursday tag, and created their own hashtag in the process. They’re latching onto Thursday as a day to take Facebook users back to the past, while displaying the product at different points in time, thus showing off more of a ‘transformation’ than a ‘throwback.’
This #ThrowbackThursdap post from L.L. Bean generated much more visibility than their average posts.
#3: Encourage Escape
When friends show their vacation pictures in the Facebook feed, there’s just one problem that hinders the viewer’s vision of escape: these glorious pictures have other people in them. If you really want to engage your fans in some fun escapism, share a relaxing picture (with no other people) they can step into. While you’re at it,throw in a catchy message. In some instances, you don’t even need to include the product.
Hollister is a beach-centric clothing line. This Facebook photo doesn’t promote the brand as much as it promotes the experience. This simple pic received tremendous engagement: more than 32,000 likes, more than 300 comments and nearly 500 shares. Did you notice? There’s no Hollister clothing in this image.
Source: http://bit.ly/1tvTnUp
