Tag Archives: post

Social Media

How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Facebook Posts

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By Charlie Scala

If you’re a small business owner and you’re a) taking the time to update your company’s Facebook Page, or b) paying an employee or marketing company to update your company’s Facebook Page, it is equally important to compare your posts to see what type of content your fans value.

In order to see how many impressions and how much feedback each post receives, use Facebook Analytics. All you have to do is go to the “insights” section of your Facebook Fan Page and click “See All”. This brings you to the Facebook Analytics dashboard, where you can view user statistics and interaction statistics.

In order to measure the quality of your posts over time, start by clicking on the interactions tab. This section recaps your most recent posts, the dates and times they were posted, how many impressions each received, and the amount of feedback per impression. (I recommend exporting these statistics to excel once a month, which you do right from Facebook Analytics dashboard. This will allow you to archive results to see more than just recent posts.)

On the Facebook Analytics dashboard, posts are sorted chronologically, which allows administrators to compare impressions and feedback among posts. This shows us how many times each post was viewed and the percentage of reactions per impression. You can also click on “impressions” to sort the posts from highest to lowest number of impressions, or you can click on “feedback” to sort posts from the highest to lowest percentage of feedback.

(Keep in mind that feedback is a percentage based on the number of impressions. Let’s say you have 1000 impressions on a post, and 5 people click the like button, and 5 people comment. That gives you a feedback rating of 10/1000, or 1%. If another post receives 100 impressions and two people click the like button, that post will receive a feedback percentage of 2%. Even though this is a higher percentage, the overall amount of feedback was much lower, two reactions compared to ten reactions.)

Unfortunately at this time, Facebook only measures the overall number of times that posts have been seen on Facebook (on your wall or other walls), not the number of unique users that saw the post. Still, measuring impressions and feedback over time can give you a better indication of what engages your audience. These post statistics are also available to fan page administrators when viewing your Facebook Fan Page wall.

Measuring impressions over time is a good way to judge your page’s activity. If impressions are rising, that means you’re probably adding new fans on a regular basis and offering compelling posts to keep fans interested. If the number of impressions drops over time, that probably means that your fans are not coming back to your page on a regular basis.

Monitoring feedback between posts is a good way to track what type of content engages your audience. When comparing feedback between posts, think about what content you’re offering. Is it a price discount, news, tips, photos, announcement, or something else? Once you’ve categorized your posts by what you’re offering, compare the feedback on each to see what engages your audience.

For example, if you own a running shoe company and you post sneaker discounts, marathon stories, running tips, and pictures of new shoes, compare the feedback you’re getting between each type of post. If 15 people click the like button when you post a picture of a new sneaker and only two or three people click the like button when you post a price discount, it could mean your fans value new running technology and innovation, not cheap prices.

Tracking the effectiveness of the type of content you offer in each post will give you a better indication of what the people that “like” your page value from your product or service. The key is to categorize and monitor your posts over time. Then, use that information to post content that your fans will view, “like,” comment on.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charlie_Scala

Everything Else

Are You Leaving Money On The Table?

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Here is a quick excerpt from Tim Castleman’s recent blog post:

1. When a customer buys give them a chance to spend more money right away. They will never be hotter than they are at the time of purchase so give them every chance to spend as much as they want with you.

2. Make it easy for others to tell their friends about you. Give discounts, coupons, free trials, and more. One hairstylist I know offers a $25 discount per hair cut when you refer someone to his business. Get 4 friends to visit and the next cut and color is on him. He tracks the referrals on fancy 3×5 cards

Too simple you say?

Well he went from nothing to several dozen clients a week doing little more than this.

My point is make it easy for your champion customers to do battle for you and give them all the tools they need to do so.

3. Focus on the total customer experience. Remember that you will be judged on everything you do and send to your customers.

You can view the entire post here:
http://timothycastleman.com/grooveshark-com-marketing-lesson.html

Blogging

6 Business Uses for a Blog

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by mallton

When I mention to a business client that their new website can have a blog (like in Blogging for your Business), I’m often asked, “what would I use a blog for?” Most of us have seen how individuals might use a blog as an online journal of their lives – a place to vent and talk about what’s important to them – but how does a business use a blog to actually benefit the business?

Here, in no particular order, are a variety of ways that a business can make great use of a blog format.

1. Answer Questions

If you ever receive questions about your business or industry, either direct or implied, you can answer those questions in your blog. You simply start by posting the question, leaving out who asked it of course, and then answer it.

This is particularly effective since most people end up asking themselves the same questions, so it’s likely that you will be providing valuable information to many people. In fact, you should fully expect that eventually people will be using a search engine like Google and will type in your exact question and your blog post, with the answer, will come up as a result.

If you have an FAQ system or page, you can discuss the same questions and topics – the format of the blog post is simply more casual and conversational, while an FAQ entry should generally be more formal and to the point.

2. Client Spotlight

If you just completed a large or interesting project, or simply have something nice or compelling to say regarding a specific client, use your blog to share. It’s a great way to illustrate how you might handle a specific project or even a challenge. Be sure to get the client’s permission before you post your entry.

3. Reviews

If you read an article in the newspaper or some other online source that you think your customers should read, post a link to it in a blog entry and explain why you think it’s relevant to your clients. Conversely, you could also use this method to respond to negative press your business or industry may receive online.

You can also review a new product or service.

4. Teach

Regularly take a topic or issue from your industry and teach your clients all about it. This method involves a little more work on your part, but is eventually even more rewarding and compelling than others.

First, do your homework. Make sure that everything you state is correct and verifiable. Use statistics if you can and cite your source

Second, create your blog entry in a Word file and see how long it is. Break it up into smaller sections if its lengthy and label them Part I, Part II, and so on. You now have not only several blog posts, but a series that will entice readers to come back for the next part.

5. Lists

A particularly common technique is to make lists. You can list anything you want, anything that might be interesting to your clients, and talk about each list item for a moment before moving on to the next. An easy topic might be Do’s and Dont’s for your clients as I’m sure nearly every business has common pitfalls that their clients struggle with, as well as things every new client should be doing.

Do not feel forced to come up with a specific number, like “Top Ten”, as that will simply frustrate you when you can only think of 8 items. It’s your blog, so list 5 or 50 if you want to.

6. Events & Conferences

Use your blog to talk about and announce upcoming events and conferences, if it’s something you think some of your clients may want to attend or be interested in. If it’s a conference for vendors like yourself, then talk about it afterward and share some of the things you learned that might prove valuable to your customers.

Regardless of which method you use, always make sure that you re-read your entry for correct grammar, spelling, and factual information. Also, whenever possible, make sure that you’re using your targeted keywords. If you can, refer to older blog entries or articles you may have written and link back to them (that’s referred to as deep linking).

Of course, the beauty of a blog is that there are no rules or regulations. Your posts can be as long or as short as you want, and on any schedule you like (though the more regular you post, the better). Furthermore, there’s no reason why you can’t utilize each and every one of the techniques above, and anything else you might find or invent. Your blog doesn’t have to be the same each and every week, as long as the overall topic remains the same – your business and your industry. Continue to write interesting and helpful information and your blog will become a great sales tool for you and your website.

About the Author

Michael Allton is the lead web designer and owner at Stadia Studio, a web design firm in St. Louis, and has been helping businesses get online since the 1990’s.