Friday, September 30, 2016

10 Time Hacks to Design Your Dream Life and Business





 


Time Hacks to Design the Life and Business of Your Dreams


We all have 24 hours in the day. It's how we spend each of those hours that determines the pulse, depth, happiness and quality of our life.


Have you ever wondered why it seems that some people just simply have more free time? Yes, they may be busy. However, they seem to float through life a bit (or a lot) happier, while you feel as though you are stuck in a hamster wheel. You may feel that you are going round and round in the hamster wheel of life but getting nowhere.


Does this sound familiar? 



  • You have a vision and mission for your life yet feel as though you are having a difficult time getting there?

  • You wish you had more time to spend with the people that matter most to you in your life?

  • It seems that there is not enough time in a day to do all that needs to get done?

  • You wish you had more time to focus on the top priorities that you know will get you to the life you dream of?

  • No matter what you do, you just can't get your business where you can it should and can be?


Take a listen to the 221st episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 10 Time Hacks to help you build the life and business of your dreams.


In this 20 minute podcast you will learn: 



  • How to have a mindset of essentialism and focus on what will get you to the life you dream of

  • Why you must focus on mind, body and spirit

  • The importance of taking care of you so that you can take better care of everyone else

  • How to start from the dream life you envision 10 or more years from now and work backwards to where you are today so you can make the right decisions to help you get there

  • Why you must first value your time so that others will value it too

  • The importance of being bold enough to break the rules in regard to what the rest of the world tells you that your working day should look like

  • Importance of working with clients that bring you joy

  • Avoiding time stealers in both life and business

  • The power of the pivot and not being afraid to change the plan

  • The importance of confidence

  • Power of smart multi-tasking for increased productivity


Be sure to subscribe to our entire digital and social media marketing series on iTunesStitcher or SoundCloud!


Supporting Resources:



Additional Training and Free webinars: We are also launching a comprehensive training program that will dig even deeper. Sign up here-> Social Profit Factor 


social_zoom_factorHow to Subscribe to Social Zoom Factor Podcast 











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#SocialSkim: Facebook's Enterprise Tool, Snapchat's Sunglasses: 11 Stories This Week

Among this week's headlines: 'Facebook at Work' to launch next month; Snapchat introduces Snap-taking connected glasses, rebrands; LinkedIn launches 'Learning,' gets cozy with new bot; four fatal LinkedIn prospecting errors; Millennials aren't shopping on social media… Read the full article at MarketingProfs

#SocialSkim: Facebook's Enterprise Tool, Snapchat's Sunglasses: 11 Stories This Week

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Thursday, September 29, 2016

Target Those Who Share Links to Facebook From Your Website

Facebook appears to be on the verge of adding a new valuable targeting method for publishers: Target users who have shared articles from your website.


I say “appears to be” because I had it for a very short period of time today. I was so excited that I forgot to take more than a single screengrab. Then the feature was taken away from me.


But the feature's temporary existence in my life makes it a good bet that it will be available soon. It was likely released before it was fully ready (or before Facebook was fully ready to talk about it).


I had it long enough to create a couple of audiences. Those audiences continue to work, so I'm using them for targeting as well as using them as a source for Lookalike Audiences.


Let's take a closer look at what I saw and what I know…


Engagement on Facebook Custom Audiences


When I was first given a taste of Engagement on Facebook Custom Audiences in March, I could already envision the possibilities. Before today, advertisers could create the following Engagement on Facebook Custom Audiences:



All great additions. But when I opened Engagement on Facebook Custom Audiences earlier today, there was a fourth option…


Link Sharing Custom Audience


That's right, “Link Sharing.” And as described:


Create an audience based on people who have shared your content on Facebook.



That's freaking awesome.


How it Works


Again, I only have the single screengrab right now (my bad), but here are the details…


1. Duration up to 30 days.


Jeez, Facebook. Why all the different durations? We get 180 for Website Custom Audiences, 90 for Lead Ad Custom Audiences, 365 for Canvas and Video Custom Audiences and now 30 for Link Sharing Custom Audiences.


Well, I'm not going to complain (loudly). But this will limit volume since those who share links will be the most engaged visitors - a small percentage of all visitors.


2. Select an app.


This part is going to confuse a lot of advertisers. If you're using Facebook social plugins on your site, you need to be using the Facebook SDK for Javascript. And if you're using the Facebook SDK for Javascript, you need to create a Facebook app.


This isn't as difficult as it sounds. It's just a matter of connecting Facebook to your website or something (I really don't understand this side of it).


Basically, you'll probably want to select the app you are using for the SDK. That said, I'd guess there may be value to creating audiences from other apps you've created for other purposes (Instant Articles maybe?).


3. Base on any URL or specific URLs.


You can create an audience of people who shared any URLs from your site or you can enter one or multiple URLs as the source.


The vast majority of publishers should use all URLs. As noted earlier, we're going to be talking about very small audiences already for all but the most trafficked websites (partially due to the 30-day duration limit).


How I'm Using This


I've created a couple of these - one for 7 days and one for 30 days. But even the audience for 30 days is only 1,500 people. For comparison's sake, my WCA for all website visitors during the past 30 days is more than 150,000 people.


I didn't know what to do with it yet, but I decided to share my discovery with a select group. Why not share it with those who shared links from my website?


So, I created this ad…


Link Sharing Custom Audience Facebook Ad


It's a Post Engagement objective promoting an image only (which I never do), but this was an experiment with minimal budget to a small group. I used Daily Unique Reach bidding to reach as many of those 1,500 as possible.


I also plan to create an ad set that promotes this very blog post to that same group of people. Again, minimal budget, but it will be interesting to see what costs are for link clicks.


I also started creating Lookalike Audiences based on this group. I'm using those Lookalikes to promote my dimensions infographic. I didn't have much success promoting that post to other Lookalikes, so I was curious how well it would do.


[As I type this, that ad set has just barely started to deliver. Too early to tell.]


I Reached Out to Facebook


I did reach out to Facebook, and I've gotta be honest. I feel like that action may have screwed all of us (“That's live?! What? It's not supposed to be available yet!”). Or it could very well just be a coincidence.


I haven't received an official statement yet, but when I do, I'll share that here.


It's not uncommon for this kind of thing to happen. I spotted the Canvas Engagement Custom Audiences a few months before they were ready (they were definitely not ready at that point). After reaching out to Facebook, they disappeared (again, possibly a coincidence).


So Many Possibilities


Engagement on Facebook Custom Audiences have the potential to be amazing because we're just scratching the surface regarding the types of audiences that could be created. Facebook has so much engagement data that would allow us to create refined audiences that could lead to amazing, well-targeted ads and great results.


Some engagement audiences I hope are coming:



  • Instant Articles Engagement

  • Post Comments (or Facebook Comments)

  • Post Likes

  • Pages Likes During the Past X Days

  • Offer Claims

  • Event Engagement

  • More….?


Link Sharing Custom Audiences may not ultimately offer much more value than creating an audience of people who spent the most time on your website or who visited or performed other actions multiple times - or even more valuable than audiences for buying a product or registering for something.


But it's another option. And these people are some of your most valuable. And it's quite possible that sharing to them will increase your sharing at a greater rate - thereby leading to more virality.


Your Turn


Did you see this feature? Do you still have it? What do you think about it?


Let me know in the comments below!


The post Target Those Who Share Links to Facebook From Your Website appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.


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Facebook Advertising: The Difference Between Website Clicks and Website Conversion Ads

Facebook Advertising The Difference Between Website Clicks and Website Conversions


One of the questions that I get asked often when people are starting a Facebook ad is which Objective they should choose, Website Clicks or Website Conversions.  The language on the Facebook objectives area has changed a little – you have to choose either “Send people to your website”, aka Website Clicks, or “Increase conversions on your website”, aka Website Conversions.


In this article I'll show you the differences between the two, and which one works best for your situation.


Choose your Facebook Marketing Objective


The first step when you launch a Facebook Ad from either the Ads Manager or the Power Editor, will be to choose your objective.


Facebook Ad Objectives


At first glance, the “Increase conversions” sounds like the better option.  Who doesn't want actual conversions rather than just website traffic.


What You Need BEFORE You Choose Website Conversions


Well there are a few things you need to have in place before you can select the website conversions option:



  1. You must have the Facebook Pixel from your Ads Manager installed on your website.

  2. You have to have a “thank you page” that indicates that the “conversion” is complete.

  3. You have to have either a Standard Event or Custom Conversion set up on that “thank you page” so that Facebook knows that the conversion is complete.


So let's unpack this a little.


The Facebook Pixel is a bit of code that is tied to your Facebook ad account that you install in the area of your website.  If you aren't sure how to do this, talk to your webmaster and they should be able to help you.  Also look at my post on the Facebook Pixel.


If you are sending someone to a page on your website where they can optin to your newsletter, get something for free, sign up for a webinar, or purchase something, then you should have a “thank you page” that is on your website.  That means that after they sign up, they get redirected to a page that says something like “thank you for your order” or “thanks for signing up”.


It has to be a page on YOUR site, not something auto generated by your e-mail system or shopping cart system.  Because that thank you page also has to have your Facebook Pixel on it.


So if you are able to create your own thank you page, then the next step is to make sure you tell Facebook what conversion you are optimizing for.


The way you do that is to either place some additional code on the thank you page with one of the Standard Events on it or to use a Custom Conversion for the thank you page.


The Standard event code is just one additional line that gets added into the Base Pixel code and you can choose whichever code makes the most sense for the type of conversion.


Standard Events


Or the alternative is to create a Custom Conversion with an exact match to the thank you page.


Facebook Ads Custom Conversions


Now you are ready to create a Website Conversion ad.


The Differences Between Optimizing for Clicks or Conversions


Depending on your situation, you may not be able to choose to optimize for conversions because you can't place the pixel on the website or in the thank you page.  These situations include:



  • Sending people to purchase your product on Amazon

  • Sending people to signup for a webinar if you cannot place the pixel on the signup or thank you page

  • Sending people to sign up for an event through a 3rd party event signup page

  • Sending people to any site other than your own


So in that case, you will just have to optimize your ad to get the most Link Clicks.  And that can be ok if that's your best option.  What that means is that Facebook will show your ad to people within your original targeting demographics you specify, who are ALSO more likely to click on links


Facebook ads optimize for link clicks


 


If you are able to set up a Website Conversion ad, then you will first have to choose the Conversion you are optimizing around from the drop-down menu.  What this will do is to tell Facebook what the “conversion” is for this particular ad.  The ad will also track other conversions that may occur if you have a multi-step process and you have other pixel events that happen as a direct result from this ad traffic.


 


Facebook Ads website conversions


 


Then the default setting for the ad delivery will be set to Conversions.  Which means that your ad will be shown to people who are more likely to convert and are also within the demographics you have specified in the targeting.  I find this to usually be the best way to optimize your ads (but there can be exceptions).


 


Facebook Optimize for Website Conversions


 


If you have created an ad with the objective of Website Clicks, you can still track conversions by selecting your pixel in the Ad section of the setup.  But I have definitely found that it's best to set up a Website Conversion ad if you can.  You will get cheaper website clicks, but I usually find I get cheaper conversions when I start with a Website Conversion ad.


Track Conversions on Facebook Click ad


 


Lead Generation Ads


Just a quick word about getting and tracking conversions from a Facebook ad.  If you aren't able to set up the pixel, and you are giving away something for free, you can use the Lead Generation ad as an alternative to be able to track conversions from the ad.  This is a more manual process since the leads will come in to the back end of your Facebook Page.  But it may be something worth exploring so you know exactly the cost of your optins from your Facebook ad campaign.


Facebook Lead Generation Ad


 


Lead Generation Ads are slightly more complicated to set up since you need to create the Lead Form but it can be worth it to track your effectiveness.


Facebook ads are an extremely powerful and highly trackable marketing tool!  I recommend using the Website Conversion objective whenever possible because I've seen much better results from that ad type.  But it does take a little more setup in the beginning.  Share your questions and thoughts in the comments below!


 


Need to know more about Facebook Ads?  Join my course, Facebook Advertising Secrets!


facebook advertising course


 


 


The post Facebook Advertising: The Difference Between Website Clicks and Website Conversion Ads appeared first on Andrea Vahl.


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How Much Time Do Employees Spend on Social Media at Work?

Two-thirds of workers in the United States say they check social media while on the job, according to recent research from Bambu by Sprout Social. Read the full article at MarketingProfs

How Much Time Do Employees Spend on Social Media at Work?

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

2017 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends

B2B marketers are finding success with content marketing: 62% of B2B marketers in North America say their organization's overall approach to content marketing has been much more or somewhat more successful than a year ago, according to just-released research. Read the full article at MarketingProfs

2017 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends

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Inside Social Media at one of the Biggest Universities in America (and What You Can Learn) [SSM007]

What is it like to be the Director or Social Media for one America's largest and most engaged universities?


With more than 1,000 social media accounts to oversee and an audience base of over 6 million, Nikki Sunstrum, Director of Social Media at the University of Michigan, knows what it takes to reach and engage with a large demographic of people from prospective students to parents to proud alumni.


We had the pleasure of speaking to Nikki about what it's like to be the Director of Social Media for the University of Michigan and how her team goes about creating great social media content with the goal of making a difference and shaping change.


A huge thank you to Nikki for packing this episode with incredible wisdom and takeaways for social media managers and marketers looking for ways to branch out and create unique social media content that challenges the status quo.





How to listen: iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher | RSS



This episode is available on:



In this episode, here's what you'll learn:


Nikki Sunstrum takes us inside social media at the University of Michigan and how they are able to create consistently great social media content for an audience of more than 6 million.



  • What the University of Michigan's social media team looks like and how they collaborate

  • How emerging channels like Snapchat and Instagram Stories fit into the larger U of M strategy

  • Why recruiting “brand ambassadors” can be a great way to connect with your audience on a personal level

  • What social media success looks like at the University of Michigan and how they measure that data

  • The type of social media content that U of M is focusing on in 2016 and why it's important

  • Why injecting personality into your storytelling is important for authentic social media content


3 Social Media Content Creation Takeaways from Nikki





In Nikki's words…


1. Be willing to take a risk with social media content


Continuously trying to push the envelope and make a difference on social media is super important in your overall strategy. Making a difference will bring people back to your communities and want to engage with you time and time again.


2. Always keep a goal and strategy in mind


We don't create accounts, we don't create campaigns, we don't publish content unless it has some sort of strategy or goal behind it. Who's your target demographic? That can help you determine your platform. And then what does your design look like? Should it be a video, a GIF, a cool meme? Determine how you can make that custom to you.


3. Leverage your opportunity to create change and make a difference


“We don't, for the most part, 'can' anything. You have to leverage your opportunity to create change and to leave a legacy and that is what we try to do here every single day.”


Mentionable Quotes and Shareable Snippets


Nikki Sunstrum on Storytelling on Social Media





“Anytime we get to inject personality into our storytelling is a huge selling point for us. I call them my, “Dove Moments. Dove has been such a ground-breaking company in telling that really dynamic, emotionally-based story and moving beyond just product sales into this concept of health, wellness and beauty. And so we try to apply a similar strategy to our own content to broaden the types of dialogues that we have.”


Show Notes and Other Memorable Moments


Thanks a million for checking out this episode! Below are the websites and other tidbits that were mentioned in today's podcast about personal branding on social media. If you have any questions for us, feel free to drop us a line in the comments and we'll respond right away!


Tools and Resources Used by Nikki and UofM



  • Social Media at UofM – Read more about all of the awesome social media projects Nikki is working on

  • Slack – The communication tool UofM uses for team collaboration

  • YikYak – “Find your herd. Yik Yak helps you feel at home within your local community.”

  • DigitalStake0ut – A tool for “Digital Risk Intelligence”

  • Meltwater – Social Media and Media Monitoring


Great Quotes



  • “Every platform that we leverage has a specific target demographic for us. And so based on the type of event that's happening or the type of people we'd like to reach, we'll use that respective platform.”

  • “We download all of our Snapchat stories before they expire and upload them into a YouTube playlist. That allows us to tell those stories on different platforms and for people to engage with them for years to come.”

  • “The @UMichStudents account we manage and turn over to a different student every Sunday evening. That account just surpassed 18,000 followers and it's a coveted position among peers here at the University of Michigan.”

  • “We're continuously looking to establish the University of Michigan as an industry leader in social media. U of M is the only university to rank in the top 10 for size on every social media platform.  Having those numbers is a success.”


How to Say Hello to Nikki (and us)


Nikki is active on Twitter at @nikkisunstrum and you can read more about Nikki's work at the University of Michigan's staff page.


Thanks for listening! We'd love to connect with you at @buffer on Twitter or with the hashtag #bufferpodcast.


Enjoy the show? It'd mean the world to us if you'd be up for giving us a rating and review on iTunes!


-


About the Show


The Science of Social Media is a podcast for marketers and social media managers looking for inspiration, ideas, and results for their social media strategies. Each week, we interview one of the very best in social media marketing from brands in every industry. You will learn the latest tactics on social media, the best tools to use, the smartest workflows, and the best goal-setting advice. It is our hope that each episode you'll find one or two gems to use with your social media marketing!


The Science of Social Media is proudly made by the Buffer team. Feel free to get in touch with us for any thoughts, ideas, or feedback.



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Inside Social Media at one of the Biggest Universities in America (and What You Can Learn) [SSM007]

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

5 Facebook Ad Myths That Are Killing Your Profits

5-facebook-ad-myths-that-are-killing-your-profits


“Boost this post to get better results!“


Facebook hounds you with this supposedly important message.


You scoff. Why would anyone pay to boost their posts?


You might even consent to Facebook's badgering and fork out the $5 needed, and what happens? Facebook becomes even more irritating, now blasting you with confusing messages about retargeting options.


Facebook ads? Pah, it's just a fad and the internet will soon get over it.


This is how myths begin.


Facebook Ads are a powerful platform with incredible potential. It's also complex and surrounded by myths and misconceptions.


Let me show you how to see past those myths and unlock the real power of Facebook advertising.


The power of reaching a tiny amount of people


Facebook doesn't cost any money, but it's far from free.


This massive people-search engine sits there quietly, collecting every detail of your life and your friends' lives, storing everything as searchable data for advertisers.


While that might sound like something even George Orwell would lose sleep over, it's a dream scenario for every marketer. Imagine targeting anyone you want to target: No more wasted money on showing irrelevant ads to the wrong people.


The Facebook ad-platform, with its ample targeting power and complex features, is quite a handful even for the most seasoned marketing professional. Many are content in simply scratching the surface and taking what results they get.


Such variance in user experiences has lead to different ideas about what Facebook Ads is and isn't.


Myth #1 – It's too expensive!


intro image for Facebook ad myths


We have no problem purchasing the latest MacBook for work, or the latest lead generation plugin for WordPress. We'll gladly pay for a landing page service or domain hosting, or hire someone to help us design an image.


Spending money for advertising though? Nope. Most of us would rather sweat away at guest posts (yes, guilty as charged) and other forms of free promotion before even looking at paid advertising.


Let's talk about that.


Can you afford NOT to advertise?


Perhaps you should save your money and keep doing the free promotion.


This was my thinking. Then I opened up my calculator.


An average guest post takes 20 hours to write. On average, that brings in 100 subscribers. Let's say my time is worth $10/h. Whoops, I'm paying $2 per subscriber. Even then, I'm risking that no one takes an interest and I've wasted my time.


Mary Fernandez, the self proclaimed blogaholic, used Facebook advertising to grow her subscriber list. She gained 532 subscribers in 43 days, after spending a total of $227.05.


That's $0.43 per subscriber. AND you can still write guest posts at the same time.


What about sales? At Thrive Themes we had a massive 900% ROI on Facebook ads during a period of 11 months. That's $9 for every $1 spent.


These ROI-figures are tough to achieve and require a lot of experimenting, but it just goes to show that Facebook ads can be extremely lucrative. Question is, can you afford NOT to spend money on advertising?


Absolute minimum budget for a Facebook Ads-campaign:


The absolute minimum daily budget based on Facebook's pricing is $2/day, or $5/day for manual bidding. That's $60-150/month on advertising. Hardly more than your internet bill.


Granted, it's the absolute minimum budget, and probably won't bring in massive results. But for someone with a minimal advertising budget, any positive result is welcome.


The minimum budget for your campaign depends on your campaign goal, but it's safe to say that Facebook advertising doesn't require a massive budget to get started.


Myth #2 – Useful, but will not work for my business


ansolute minimum budget for a facebook ads-campaign for Facebook ad myths


Facebook Ads won't work for YOUR business because of one of the following reasons:



  • Only B2C companies advertise on Facebook.

  • Only fun media companies advertise on Facebook.

  • It's only for boosting posts, to collect likes and increase brand awareness.

  • Your product isn't digital.

  • You don't want to annoy people while they're browsing Facebook.

  • etc…


If reasons like these are preventing you from dipping your toe into the Facebook advertising pool, you might be looking at it completely backwards.


The marvelous thing about Facebook is that, much like Soylent Green, it consists of real people. Every account, if not for a tiny percentage of fake accounts, is a real person. Real people are generally interested in a variety of different things, including your business.


1.65 billion people have a Facebook account. This means a member of your potential audience is browsing Facebook at this very moment and you're missing out on an opportunity to get in front of them.


In short: If your business provides a benefit to your audience, Facebook Ads will provide a benefit to your business. Whether it be in leads, subscribers or sales.


Myth #3 – I need a huge audience


ansolute minimum budget for a facebook ads-campaign for Facebook ad myths


If you've heard the myth that Facebook ads are only good for collecting “likes”, you've heard the misconception that follows: You need a huge audience to get any true results from Facebook advertising.


The great thing about Facebook is that you already have a huge potential reach. Facebook will gladly serve your ad to any of its 1.65 billion users.


All you need to do is tell Facebook what sort of person you want to target.


Build a target audience from scratch


You can build an accurate target group for your ads quickly, starting from absolutely nothing. All you need to do is specify the type of person you want to target, and Facebook will do the rest.


Here's how:



  1. Find Pages focused on your selected interest using Facebook's search function.

  2. Use this cool hack to find more relevant groups to further narrow down your search.

  3. Make a profile of the type of person involved in these groups.

  4. Using this profile, create your first target audience.


Boom – audience from nothing.


Expand an existing audience


If you already have a group of engaged followers in the form of a mailing list, you can turn that into a custom target audience for Facebook. Facebook can then expand on that with the Lookalike Audience-function.


Here's what you do:



  1. Import your mailing list into Facebook to create a custom audience.

  2. Create a Lookalike Audience based on your custom audience.


If you don't have a mailing list, but still have a fair amount of traffic to your website, you can:



  1. Install a facebook tracking pixel onto your page to identify and record visitors.

  2. Use the data recorded by the pixel to create a Lookalike Audience.


It's helpful if you already have a large list of subscribers, but you can use Facebook's provided tools to build an audience from nothing and still be successful.


Myth #4 – I need professional quality images


build an audience form nothing for Facebook ad myths


Your Facebook ad needs an image, that's true. To be successful, it needs to be:



  1. Visually appealing

  2. Attention grabbing


That's it.


Sure it helps to be relevant to your offer, but that's in no way a requirement.


At Thrive Themes, we're always trying to optimize and increase our Facebook ad-ROI. This means going to some extremes in image choices.


going extreme in image choices for Facebook ad myths


A standard stock photo. Note the cute baby pondering and looking. Your eyes are automatically drawn to the corner with a feeling of getting ready to learn.


a bog standard stock photo for Facebook ad myths


Using humor and a striking graphics style, this image brings home the message and stands out from the crowd.


using humor and striking graphics style for Facebook ad myths


A professional brand colored design, built by our team of designers. Your attention is drawn to the product logo in the center of the image.


Using similar copy and target audiences, which one do you think brought a positive ROI? (Answer below.)


As Sketchdesk concluded in their mythbuster-case study about Facebook images, people respond to images in surprising, often counter-intuitive ways. American Marketing Association was quick to criticize Sketchdesk's case study as inconclusive and lacking targeting data.


Sketchdesk and AMA agree on one thing: you must test different images. It's the only way to really know what your audience responds to.


So don't worry if you're not a professional designer or a studio photographer. If you want to create something from scratch, Adespresso has a great guide on using Canva to create amazing Facebook ad images.


Here are a couple of image ideas you can easily make:



  • Plain colored background with an icon on it

  • Stock photo

  • Screenshot

  • Scenery photo


Then test. Test two or three images on the same advert. You might be surprised by the result.


If you're stuck looking for images, here's a few good sites with free or cheap images:


http://ift.tt/1oxjxGK


http://kaboompics.com/


https://fotolia.com/


If you want to quickly edit an image, try these sites:


https://www.canva.com/


https://pixlr.com/


http://ift.tt/1Qtc7xO


In short: As long as you have an image that's visually appealing and attention grabbing, you're good to go. Don't get stuck on the idea that the image has to be perfect.


Answer: ALL of those three images brought a positive ROI after testing.


Myth #5 – Facebook Ads are ignored because they're annoying


positive ROI after testing for Facebook ad myths


Remember when banner ads were all the rage? Yes, the flashy and annoying ones, informing you of the iPhone or million dollar prize you've won. You don't see them anymore. I mean, you literally don't see them anymore.


This dreadful ad format was so annoying that people became blind to it.


Irrelevance makes an advert annoying. They're trying to sell you something you don't need and end up robbing you of your time. On the other hand, if an ad offers you something you find truly beneficial and helpful, you'd love to find out more.


Now, Facebook is an evil corporation only interested in money.


(Just to point that out.)


But they know where that money comes from: the users. Facebook's primary goal has always been to attract and keep users on the platform. Keeping users requires constantly engaging them with relevant information and keeping irrelevant information out of sight.


In other words, Facebook has no incentive to let marketers ruin the platform with spammy ads.


Sure, once in a while a spammy ad or annoying post slips through, but it soon disappears if not enough users engage with it. Properly targeted quality ads take precedence because they're the ones people tend to click.


Facebook's humongous user base keeps on growing because of the perceived value users get from continually being presented with relevant content.


Bottom line – Facebook ads is designed to favor showing relevant ads, and keep irrelevant ads out of your Newsfeed. That's why it's so damn effective.


Ditch the myths – Start your ad campaign with a fresh mind


There are other myths, and Facebook's lackluster communication about new updates and features doesn't exactly prevent new myths from forming.


Truth is, you're losing a ton of profit if you let misconceptions keep you out of this advertising platform. Now you know the myths. You can start your journey into Facebook ads with a fresh mind.


When you create your first Facebook campaign, remember to pair every ad set with a conversion optimized landing page. If you need a quick and simple way to create converting landing pages, check out the Rapid Landing Pages course!


Guest Author: Jay is passionate about copywriting, inbound marketing and turning marketing jargon into something humans can understand. When he isn't waxing lyrical about conversion optimization on the Thrive Themes blog, you can find him roaming the streets of major European cities looking for business opportunities.


The post 5 Facebook Ad Myths That Are Killing Your Profits appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.






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5 Facebook Ad Myths That Are Killing Your Profits