Giving FaceBook a Boost

Social media has long crossed into common use across Canada as people's primary source of information. The slow demise of traditional media, especially local newspapers and magazines, has left local companies across a wide range of sectors with a diminished capacity to talk to their communities.

Recent statistics for the news media are grim, with negligible penetration in demographics below forty years of age, and probably only able to remain relevant to those daily newspaper readers over 65 years of age. This creates a significant problem for advertisers who traditionally spend in print, with less and less return on their advertising investment.

Some forward thinking companies have realized the usefulness of social media, particularly Facebook, in reaching an audience younger than 65. They have been investing time in growing their online social presence with regular posts of original content and cultivating “likes” for their pages among customers. Bravo!

But, one tool still remains under-utilized among most commercial enterprises, particularly retail merchandise vendors; the Facebook boost. Posting and sharing content is necessary, for sure. But, and this is a big but, the reach of this original content is limited with “organic” distribution.

Organic Facebook distribution refers to the regular sharing of content by you and your followers. Organic leads are exceptionally valuable, but they only speak to your current followers (audience). These are an extremely valuable resource, and should not be diminished, but I would argue it is not a replacement for traditional advertising. Facebook does offer a convenient replacement for the traditional advertising that is becoming less and less valuable. Sponsored posts.

Sponsored posts are paid distribution of your message, outside your internal group of followers and friends. They reach an audience that doesn’t normally receive your posts and represent what I would argue is an analog to newspaper advertising. That's the good news, the better news is that it’s cheap. Sponsored posts can be targeted at very specific demographics (gender and age) and very specific location (regions and even postal codes).

The cost is low and the effectiveness is high. I like to use the shoe store example in explaining the difference in traditional and social media marketing. Shoe stores sell shoes to women. Men are a secondary market for most shoe stores (just compare the inventory of any shoe store). Newspapers reach a broad audience that I’ll argue is split 50/50 between male and female readers. Effectively shoe advertisers spend half their advertising budget on the wrong demographic. Wasted money, and most industries have this simple demographic problem.

Facebook allows you to target specifically women, between the ages of 19 and 55 within 10 km of your city. Beautiful, non-wasteful demographic targeting. They also offer other features like targeting by key words and interests, but simple demographic targeting is usually a great leap forward for most businesses.

The icing on the cake; this specific, effective marketing can be had for a few dollars a day. Facebook allows budgets to be set on a daily basis for budget conscious advertisers. It’s also great for local charities and community organizations.

If you have posted a story on your page, you have probably seen the “boost” button appear below your article. Press it. It’s easy after that. Enter your credit card, authorize a couple of dollars to spend, and you're on the path to more effective social media marketing.

On piece of advice, Facebook allows for pictures, slideshows and videos to be boosted. Videos are the most effective, but most people feel they don’t have the capacity to produce their own video content. Try filming a simple stand-up video. It can be honest, and compelling. People respond to local faces in their feed. If you post images, you’ll find that Facebook doesn’t like pictures that have a lot of text. If you include text, it will be “reviewed” first. If its only a logo or a word, it will probably be approved. If its more, it will likely be rejected.