1. Spend 12 Minutes Learning to Use the Facebook Pixel 2. Implement and Make More Money

If you're running Facebook Ads for yourself or others, have you checked out Facebook Ad Hacks? It's probably the BEST business group I'm in, in terms of providing tons of useful knowledge. If you have a question about an ad you're running, ask it here. 

The founder of the group explains how to use the Facebook pixel: 

How to Get More Out of Your Facebook Posts

"Why doesn't anyone see my Facebook posts?" 

I get this question a lot from clients, non-clients, friends, Romans, etc. And I understand why. You write a post telling people what is so great about your business, what you've been up to, something that really matters to you.

You do this because want to create a post  that inspire engagement, that connects with your audience and help them remember you, right? Posts that make them love you, trust you, remember you, CHOOSE YOU!? Any then no one even looks at it???

Frustrating.

When I managed the Facebook page of a nonprofit online resource with a following of about 250,000 fans, I thought about how to get people to look at our posts a lot.

We actually higher than average "engagement" (likes, comments, shares, and clicks on our posts). But I was always looking over my shoulder at the specter of the Facebook Algorithm. 

Via http://postplanner.com--The Facebook algorithm looks JUST like this. For sure. 

It looks like this, right? In all seriousness though, we know that Facebook curates every single user's feed. It's the reason most people's Facebook posts (whether they be personal or business page posts) don't get seen by all of their friends and fans. 

Another thing we learned while I worked on that awesome site's social media:

This chart is basically saying that if you post something your page, the likelihood that your audience will see it ... has fallen off a cliff. 

Facebook decides what each of its users sees, and it's pretty mum about the exact combination of factors it uses to make those individual decisions. 

But there are still plenty of business pages that get PLENTY of engagement. So, we must know some things. Right?

• Use beautiful photos to get noticed. 

• Or don't. 

• Write short posts! The shorter the better.

• Or ... don't. 

• Post links to your website.

• Or ... you get the idea. 

Here's my point: there isn't one specific format for getting your Facebook posts seen by an audience who might really care about what you have to say. 

What does your audience care about? What matters to them? Or, if you want to think about it like this: 

“How does the thing that matters to you HELP them?”

What does your message do for them? What does it mean to them?

And this is where studying what others have done can be really helpful and important. 

In fact, studying what other people do is the best way to make a list of what to test on your own Facebook page and other social media profiles. 

So, here I've dissected a couple of Facebook posts. One that got a lot of clicks to the owner's website (which you can view here once you sign up for my list), and one that got a lot of comments on Facebook itself (which you can view here). 

They are both great examples because they garnered lots and lots of engagement--higher than average for the profiles they came from, and higher than average across the entire social media landscape. 

They are also great examples because they served a purpose for the business owners who posted them. 

And they are great examples because they use completely different tactics. But I break down why they worked. 

Test out these tactics for yourself! Let me know how it goes. 

Answers to the Most Common Questions about Facebook Ads

We moved, which has resulted in me driving a lot more each day. This gives me extra time to listen to a lot more podcasts. So somewhere within this hectic week, I listened to a terrific episode from Amy Porterfield. Episode number 58 is nearly a year old, but the advice in it is so spot on that I almost choked on my coffee when I heard it. 

Amy takes a question from a fan who leads with, "How do I increase my FB followers?" 

If you've read my post about vanity metrics, you'll know that I hate this question. It turns out, so does the extremely successful (and very succinct!) Amy Porterfield. 

Amy doesn't use the word "hate," though. Here's how she puts it: "This is where we need a reframe."

The reframe: Facebook followers don't translate into the number of clients your business has. Ads can help you build your client base, but only if each of your ads has a clear strategy behind that you implement and monitor, tweaking along the way as you see your results within Facebook Ads Manager. 

As Amy says, " I want to help you see FB as a place where putting in a little bit of money will result in bringing back a lot of money."

Seriously! Or as I have said to new and prospective clients, to friends and family, to my dog Toby as he sits at my feet while I hammer away on my laptop keyboard:

Don't buy a Facebook ad unless you have a clear strategy for how you will receive a return on that investment. If you can't draw a line between that Facebook ad and how it will get prospective buyers/clients in the door, don't spend the dough. 

This doesn't mean you won't have to experiment with some trial and error as you figure out the target audience for your ad, the right text and images, times of day (in some cases), and the most rousing calls to action you can.

But you can only figure these things out if you have a clear goal in mind. You can only know whether the ads are "working" if they are moving you closer to that goal, or if they aren't. 

For example, if you set up an ad with the goal of getting those who see the ad to join your email list, and no one joins your e-mail list, you know the ad didn't work and you need to try something else. 

But I just love how Amy handles this question because she puts to rest the idea that your number of Facebook page likes has much to do at all with the effectiveness of your online marketing. 

Check out the full episode. 

The Difference Between “Boost Post” and “Boost Your Posts” in Facebook Ad Manager

Facebook ads: Have you thought about using them? Even if you have a $5 budget to begin with, I encourage you to test them out. Not just because you'll reach more people. A colleague at my co-working space recently reminded me what else you get for your $5: When you buy an ad, you get a TON of information on who responds to your ads. That information may surprise you. Are you reaching people you didn't expect? Not reaching the people you expected to? 

Both of those insights allow you to take action, either to experiment with your messaging to reach the people you really want to reach, or to re-assess whether your target market is different from what you thought it was. 

Those are actionable metrics, as opposed to the vanity metrics I talked about in previous posts. 

So buying ads can be useful even if you don't make a single sale. (Although odds are you will make a sale if you are sharing good content with a simple call-to-action.)

Today I'm talking about dipping your toe into ad-buying, and a simple what-not-to-do. Don't click on "Boost Post" at the bottom right corner of one of your Facebook posts. Instead, go to ads.facebook.com and click "Boost Your Posts."  Here's why. 

If you click "Boost Post," here are the options you get: 

If you go to ads.facebook.com and click "Boost Your Posts," you get about 8 bazillion more options. (Yes, 8 bazillion is the official number from Facebook's own team.) 

Those include: 

"Detailed target" which allows you to find people who engage in some pretty specific behaviors. Such as... people who are likely to watch home improvement shows and have also recently bought a home in a particular zip code.

That's pretty specific targeting for, say, an interior designer. And it's just the kind of targeting you don't get if you click on "Boost Post" at the bottom right of the post itself.

So don't do it. 

3 Ways to Build Business Using Facebook Groups

I was listening to a really funny podcast this week on Howl about "Social Media Spirals." The hosts were talking about how they can't even look through their Facebook newsfeeds anymore—it's overwhelming.

I liked this episode because it was funny and poignant. But of course, I also listened as a person whose job it is to find ways to connect on Facebook. The newsfeed is getting increasingly crowded. How can entrepreneurs and small businesses avoid piling on to people who might really love them or care about them?

That led me to think about how my personal newsfeed over the past 18 months or so has fewer and fewer profile and brand page updates, and more and more updates from Facebook Groups I belong to. In addition, Facebook has created a Groups app that you can download separately so you only see group updates. 

(If you need a tutorial on what a Facebook Group is, and how it's different from a brand page or a profile, get that info from the horse's mouth.)

I've seen Facebook Group features benefiting entrepreneurs in three key ways: 

1. Create your own. People are experimenting with all kinds of ways to use Facebook groups as part of a membership model. Some entrepreneurs have multiple groups: one that prospective clients can join after they've joined your e-mail list, another group for paying customers. This can be a great strategy if you sell a service that you can offer online. Group members can have regular access to you. (You should specify how often you'll be available to answer questions.) And they have access to each other for support and to find out 

Even if you have a brick-and-mortar business, creating a private Facebook group can be a great way to stay in touch with the clients who are the most 

2. Join 'em. Get into those groups! They are all over Facebook. Start with keyword searches in Facebook itself. See what groups your colleagues and contacts have joined. And, as always, get into your audience's shoes. Search for groups using the keywords they might use. Depending on your industry, you'll find many groups whose members post contract opportunities, as this post from The Muse points out. 

3. Post to the most relevant ones. Reach out when executing something big. If you're doing a giveaway, launching a new product or service that people have been asking for, or doing something else significant, search for groups that are relevant to the product or service you sell. 

Beth Anne of Brilliant Business Moms recently used this strategy to publicize a giveaway that resulted in 5,000 new e-mail subscribers for the BBM list. Read the full post here. Here's the part about groups: 

“We intentionally had our amazing VA, Ellen, do the sharing for us, since she could say something like “Hey everyone, the ladies at Brilliant Business Moms are hosting a great planner giveaway, here’s the link!” versus me saying, “Hey, I’m hosting a giveaway, please go enter….pretty please…. I’m just crossing my fingers that you’ll all take pity on me…..”

On Day 1, Ellen was able to find two [relevant] Facebook groups that allowed link sharing, and post our giveaway there.”

— http://www.brilliantbusinessmoms.com

This strategy allowed the Brilliant Business Moms to get the word out about themselves to a relevant audience, and added the motivation of a giveaway to get people clicking. 

Two keys here: one is to make sure that the group moderators allow promotional posts. Check the group guidelines after you join. Many groups allow a promotional post on a specific day or in the comments of a specific moderator post. The other key is to make sure your post doesn't sound like you're begging, as the Brilliant Business Moms pointed out above. You can do like the BBM did and ask someone to post on your behalf. Or... 

I think this strategy can also work if you've already been spending some time in this relevant group posting useful, helpful information and answering questions without the expectation of anything in return. Then, when you do post something promotional, the other group members will recognize you from the previous interactions they've had with you. If you've spent a lot of time in a group sharing knowledge and supporting other group members, and your promotion feels relevant to the group members, it is less likely to fall through the cracks.  

How to Use Facebook Events to Increase Engagement

Harness the power of the Event page. 

Have you thought of using Facebook Events as a content type? Here are a few ways to create and market Facebook Events that you may not have thought of. 

1. A Facebook Event doesn't have to be an in-person event. If you run an online business and never meet your clients, you may be thinking that Facebook Events are useless to you. But they can actually be used quite effectively. 

A 7-day or 30-day challenge is a great example of this. If you're planning a campaign that includes blog content, videos, and e-mails to subscribers, why not call it a "challenge," assign some dates to it, and ask people to attend virtually? 

Make sure to invite your audience so that they receive a notification about the event. 

2. Facebook does audience targeting for you. One big benefit to creating an event like this: Facebook suggests events to people it thinks might be interested.

It's a great way to reach people who may not regularly see your page posts, plus Facebook is doing the work of finding potentially interested people for you, and targeting them. 

You can see this for yourself by logging into Facebook and visiting your own Events page. On the right, you'll see events you haven't been invited to but which FB has determined you may be interested in. You don't have to pay for this promoted spot. 

3. You can even reach users who don't commit to attend. When users click on an event, they now have the option to choose "Interested." 

That means even if they don't commit to going to the event, they will receive notifications as you update the event wall with more info, and even with video and blog content. They will also receive a notification on the day of the event (from the "globe" tab in the upper right on desktop, lower right on mobile. 

Have you tried FB events for your business? How did they perform? 

Vanity Metrics, Part II: Why Followers Mean Very Little

Image via BlurBrain.com

Often when I meet a new potential client, she'll say something to me like, "I only have 200 followers on Twitter." Or another potential client may say, "I have 200 followers on Twitter, which I think is pretty good since I'm just starting out." 

So, which is it? 

Well, this scenario is your first clue that a number of fans or followers on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram may not be the best way to measure whether you're reaching a substantial audience of potential customers. 

Fans Do Not = Customers

As I explained in Vanity Metrics, Part I , you are not trying to enlarge your general audience. Rather, enlarging your audience of potential customers is the whole reason you're engaged in social media marketing. You don't need to reach people who will never buy from you. 

And social media followers are not the same as potential customers. So, even if that number is going up, it doesn't necessarily mean you are reaching a larger pool of potential customers. 

Additionally, no matter the social platform, your individual posts are not seen by all or even most of your fans and followers.

Let that sink in for a second. Just because someone follows you on a platform does not mean they often or even ever see the content you post. 

But you can reach followers and non-followers alike who are interested in what you're sharing. One great way to do that is by hashtagging your posts, using hashtags relevant to your topic. 

(You can get a quick primer on how to choose hashtags in this great video from Savvy Sexy Social.) 

You'll hear more from me on hashtags in the coming weeks. Just remember: 

• Not all followers are potential customers

• Not all followers see what you post

• Non-followers who care about your topic can find you without necessarily following your social pages

The #1 Mistake Brand Pages Commit on Facebook (And a Quick Fix, for Once!)

EdgeRank: a concept worth knowing about. 

For every rule, there’s are many exceptions. 

But. 

You can’t break rules unless you first identify them. Michael Port just reminded me of this rule (ironic) in a recent podcast episode about public speaking. If you know the rules, then you can decide whether they apply in your case. If you don’t know the rules, you are just spitballin’. 

Here's a rule I'd like you to think about: 

Don’t post links to other people’s websites on your Facebook brand page. 

I understand the impulse: Facebook is for sharing cool stuff! Right? On my personal Facebook profile, I share articles and videos from all over the web. Why wouldn’t I share links to other sites on your brand page? 

Here’s why: Facebook is the ideal platform to drive traffic from social media to a website. In fact, as of the end of 2014, Facebook drives 25 percent of all internet traffic. 

But Facebook is not the ideal platform for being seen every one of your Facebook page fans. That’s because Facebook uses its own algorithm to determine what to show in the newsfeed. It’s a curation formula called “EdgeRank,” and it means that many times, even though you post something publicly, most of your fans won’t see it. In fact, brand pages can reach as little as 2 or 3 percent of their number of fans each time they post. 

So, if your post is lucky enough to reach one of your fans or one of their connections, make the most of this moment! Direct users to your site, not to someone else’s. 

Even if your website is not (yet) tricked out with a lead magnet or another way to capture e-mail addresses, you should still drive your users to the place where people can learn more about you if they click around. 

What do you do if you still really, really, REALLY want to share that interesting link, because it’s inspiring and super-relevant to your business? 

Quick Fix

I promised a quick fix. Another rule I'm breaking! I don't often offer quick fixes. But here's my exception. Collect three or four of these URLs in a Word doc (or in Notes or Evernote or an e-mail draft). When you’ve got at least three, write a blog post.

Do you see three interesting articles having to do with your industry every single week? You’ve got a weekly industry news roundup feature. 

Each week, write a two- or three-sentence summary of the article, with a link to the full article. Include a photo from one of the articles, a headline and boom: you have a weekly piece of original, branded content to share to your Facebook page that drives fans and potential customers to your site.