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Facebook's facial recognition feature could help find missing persons

4/30/2018

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Facebook's facial recognition feature could help find missing persons

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Facebook's new facial recognition features makes some people uneasy, but the tool could help find missing people.

Australian organisation Missing Persons Action Network (MPAN) has launched a campaign called Invisible Friends, asking people to add the profiles of missing people as friends on the social media platform.

Facebook's new facial recognition tools will automatically tag people in photos, even if they're in the background. Users will be notified, and asked if they want to be tagged in the photos.

These profiles of missing people, like Zac Barnes who disappeared in 2016, are actually run by MPAN. That means the organisation will receive a notification if the person is tagged by Facebook's facial recognition feature.

"This is the 2018 high-tech missing persons poster — we’re simply taking advantage of technology that is now freely available — and it’s never been easier for people to get involved," Loren O’Keeffe, MPAN founder and CEO, explained via email.

"This is the 2018 high-tech missing persons poster."

The concept was developed by MPAN's pro bono creative agency, whiteGREY, and 10 profiles are being featured in the campaign.

"As soon as Facebook announced that facial recognition technology, we thought it'd be perfect for a charity," Anthony Moss, whiteGREY's executive creative director, said.

"It's instantaneous, it costs nothing to set up a profile, it has a global reach — because we don't know where missing people are, or have ended up."

Facebook hasn't revealed how accurate its facial recognition feature is, but its DeepFace algorithm identified people in a 4,000-person database with 97.35 percent accuracy.

O'Keeffe, who founded MPAN in 2013 after her brother Dan went missing, said she learned firsthand how keen the public is when it comes to helping find missing people.

She hopes to grow the campaign in the coming months, and even if no one has been found through Facebook, it puts the issue of missing persons front and centre.

"Our measure of success is based on our objective as an organisation; to create awareness for both the issue of missing persons as well as the individual loved ones, and to provide practical support to their families in order to alleviate the overwhelming stress of ambiguous loss," O'Keeffe added.

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April 30, 2018 at 10:23PM

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Twitter announces new video partnerships with NBCUniversal and ESPN

4/30/2018

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Twitter announces new video partnerships with NBCUniversal and ESPN

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Twitter is hosting its Digital Content NewFronts tonight, where it’s unveiling 30 renewals and new content deals — the company says that’s nearly twice as many as it announced last year.

Those include partnerships with the big players in media — starting with NBCUniversal, which will be sharing live video and clips from properties including NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo.

Twitter also announced some of the shows it will be airing as part of the ESPN deal announced earlier today: SportsCenter Live (a Twitter version of the network’s flagship) and Fantasy Focus Live (a livestream of the fantasy sports podcast).

Plus, the company said it’s expanding its existing partnership with Viacom with shows like Comedy Central’s Creator’s Room, BET Breaks and MTV News.

During the NewFronts event, Twitter’s head of video Kayvon Beykpour said daily video views on the platform have nearly doubled in the past year. And Kay Madati (pictured above), the company’s head of content partnerships, described the company as “the ultimate mobile platform where video and conversation share the same screen.”

As Twitter continues to invest in video content, it’s been emphasizing its advantage in live video, a theme that continued in this year’s announcement.

“Twitter is the only place where conversation is tied to video and the biggest live moments, giving brands the unique ability to connect with leaned in consumers who are shaping culture,” said Twitter Global VP of Revenue and Content Partnerships Matthew Derella in a statement. “That’s our superpower.”

During the event, Derella also (implicitly) contrasted Twitter with other digital platforms that have struggled with questions about transparency and whether ads are running in an appropriate environment. Tonight, he said marketers could say goodbye to unsafe brand environments and a lack of transparency: “And we say hello to you being in control of where your video aligns … we say hello to a higher measure of transparency, we say hello to new premium inventory and a break from the same old choices.”

On top of all the new content, Twitter is also announcing new ad programs. There are Creator Originals, a set of scripted series from influencers who will be paired up with sponsored brands. (The program is powered by Niche, the influencer marketing startup that Twitter acquired a few years ago.) And there’s a new Live Brand Studio — as the name suggests, it’s a team that works with marketers to create live video.

Here are some other highlights from the content announcements:

CELEBrate, a series where people get heartwarming messages from their idols from Ellen Digital Studios.
Delish Food Day and IRL from Heart Magazines Digital Media
Power Star Live, which is “inspired by the cultural phenomenon of Black Twitter” and livestreamed from he Atlanta University Center, from Will Packer Media.
BuzzFeed News is renewing AM to DM until the end of 2018.
Pattern, a new brand focused on weather- and science-related news.
Programming the Huffington Post (which, like TechCrunch, is owned by Verizon/Oath), History, Vox and BuzzFeed News that highlights women around the world.

Developing

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April 30, 2018 at 05:47PM

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The Top 10 Platforms for Effectively Managing Social Influencers

4/30/2018

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The Top 10 Platforms for Effectively Managing Social Influencers

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Social media is evolving. Brands need to do more today than just have active profiles on different marketing channels.

Successful businesses are increasing their presence by leveraging relationships with social influencers to create brand awareness.

We’re seeing an increase in the use of micro influencers, which made my list of the top marketing trends to look for in 2018. So for those of you who haven’t implemented this strategy yet, it’s time to get your feet wet.

You may be surprised to hear how big of an impact influencer marketing campaigns can have on your company. In fact, 30% of people say they are more likely to buy a product if a non-celebrity influencer recommends it to them.

The results will vary by generation.

For example, if you are marketing to Generation Z, you’ll need to know that 70% of this group say they can relate to YouTube creators more than to traditional celebrities.

This means you don’t have to find pop culture icons like Kanye West or Shaquille O’Neal to promote your brand. It’s great news because this will obviously be more cost-effective for your marketing budget.

But since influencer marketing at this scale is relatively new for most businesses, it can feel as if you’re entering uncharted waters.

Where do you find social influencers? How much should they be paid? Do they have enough followers to have an impact on your business?

Fortunately, there are online platforms to help you get connected with social influencers. I’ve narrowed down the top 10 platforms for managing these relationships.

Review my list to see which ones fit the needs of your brand before you decide.

1. Klear

When it comes to getting connected with social influencers, Klear is a top choice for you to consider.

That’s because their software allows you to fully customize the profile of an influencer you’re looking for based on a variety of factors.

You’ll get to decide which social channels you want to promote on, such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or even blogs.

Then you can select which type of influence you want people to have. This ranges from novices all the way up to celebrities.

Once you click on a prospective influencer’s profile, you’ll get to see insights based on their audience. This will help ensure their reach matches your goals.

Just because an influencer fits your target market doesn’t mean their followers do too. Klear helps you distinguish between these factors.

The dashboard of this software makes it easy for you to manage your campaigns and relationships with multiple influencers at the same time.

You’ll also get detailed reports for each campaign you run to see if you’re getting the results you need to get a high ROI.

Now, you can easily track your success and continue relationships with your best influencers. On the flip side, these analytics can give you a data-driven reason to cut ties with influencers who aren’t helping your cause.

2. TweetReach

Depending on your business and marketing campaigns, you may be looking for tools to help you with specific marketing channels.

The TweetReach software can help you get connected with the top social influencers on Twitter:

Here’s how it works. To find influencers, you’ll need to manually search for a topic related to your brand.

Simply input a keyword or hashtag into the query to see which tweets have the highest engagement.

If you find some people who have a big following and powerful voice within your industry, you can reach out to them directly and work out a deal for them to promote your brand via Twitter.

Furthermore, you can use TweetReach to search for specific accounts. You may have some influencers in mind, but you want to see some analytics before contacting them.

TweetReach provides you with exposure information based on your search terms in specific locations as well. This is useful if you want to get connected with influencers in a certain geographic market area.

3. Buzzsumo

I like Buzzsumo because they have a wide range of marketing solutions for businesses.

They have tools for things such as competitor analysis, brand monitoring, and content discovery. But they also have specific tools for your influencer marketing goals.

Their platform helps connect you with the right influencers. You can find an influencer based on topics or locations.

Once you have an initial list of influencers, you can filter those results based on things such as engagement, reach, influence, and authority. This gives you the ability to pick the most qualified people for your marketing goals.

You will also have reports based on the type of content and domains these influencers share the most.

Most influencers won’t work for one brand exclusively. This information is vital to making sure your influencers aren’t doing anything that may negatively affect the reputation of your company.

All the analytics, data, and reports from Buzzsumo can easily be exported as CSV or Excel files.

This makes it easy for you to manage your results on platforms you feel comfortable with. You can also combine this exported data with information from other software for comparison purposes.

4. Brandwatch Audiences

The Audiences research feature from Brandwatch gives you access to a huge database of social influencers.

The reason why this tool is so helpful is because it ranks influencers based on factors that matter the most, such as the ability to drive conversions.

This is much more important than their number of followers and reach. The software connects you with influencers based on niche markets as well.

If someone has an authoritative voice on a particular topic or within a certain industry, Brandwatch can help you find them.

It’s a great tool to use if you prefer working with up and coming influencers, such as micro influencers, as opposed to people who are nearing celebrity status on social media.

5. BuzzStream

BuzzStream is another great option to consider because their platform can help you get connected with bloggers in addition to social media users.

Don’t underestimate the power of a blogger’s voice and the positive impact it can have on your branding strategy.

All you need to do is search for a specific topic through this platform. You’ll see a list of prospective bloggers that fit your brand or industry.

You’ll have access to reports about their websites and social media pages. This snapshot will tell you exactly how many followers they have on each platform as well as their posting frequency and activity level.

BuzzStream also provides you with engagement statistics for each prospective influencer.

In addition to managing your relationships with influencers, the BuzzStream software specializes in digital PR, link building, and content promotion. All of these features can be used to complement your social influencer campaigns.

6. Kred

This platform is a bit different from all the other options on our list so far.

That’s because Kred is designed for influencers as opposed to brands looking to get connected with influencers.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t still use this platform to your advantage. There are plenty of ways you can go about this.

First of all, if your business is tied to your personal brand, you definitely need to use Kred. Working with other brands can be an easy way for you to build credibility for your company.

For example, let’s say you’re in the modeling business. Rather than looking for social influencers to promote your brand, you should be getting connected with brands to promote their products.

That way, you can earn some extra cash while increasing the exposure for your personal brand and business at the same time.

Kred is also great because it helps connect influencers with other influencers.

Businesses can use these tools to their advantage to discover their Kred score, which is basically a report of how strong their online influence and outreach is on various channels.

7. GroupHigh

GroupHigh is another top choice for brands looking to connect with social influencers and bloggers.

They have a database with over 15 million influencer profiles.

You can search for influencers based on different reach metrics, location, and social presence. GroupHigh also has an option for finding influencers based on their expertise in niche topics or industries.

If you are managing social influencers on multiple platforms, GroupHigh can help you stay organized.

That’s because the software allows you to import all the information regarding other influencer relationships into their system. Now you can manage everything from one location. It’s easy to contact your influencers with just a click once you import their info.

There are lots of different communication options with influencers based on the preferred method of both parties.

You can also see reports on all your social mentions to give you a better understanding of your ROI from different influencer marketing campaigns.

8. Followerwonk

Followerwonk is software offered by Moz. It’s an influencer marketing tool specific to Twitter.

Unlike the majority of options on our list, Followerwonk has a free version you can take advantage of.

This tool helps you search for keywords found in users’ Twitter bios. You’ll get to see information pulled from their profiles, such as the number of followers, account age, tweets, and social authority scores.

In addition to using this tool to help you find new influencers, you can use it to track your existing relationships.

You want to make sure the influencers representing your brand on Twitter still have a strong authority. Otherwise, you may be wasting money on a marketing campaign that won’t work.

9. Onalytica

If you’re looking for a platform that helps you connect with new influencers and manage them at the same time, Onalytica is a viable option to consider.

You have several options to search for new influencers. Onalytica lets you search based on categories, so you can get connected with people who specialize in specific fields.

You can also find influencers based on their demographics.

If you’re looking to market your brand to a specific audience, it makes sense to work with influencers who fit that demographic as well.

But what really makes Onalytica one of the top influencer marketing platforms is the option to search for influencers based on topic and content. You can find people who use similar language to that of your recently published content.

All you have to do is upload something you created, such as a newsletter or blog post, and the Onalytica content matching tool will provide you with a list of prospective influencers.

10. Traackr

Last on my list, but certainly not least, is Traackr.

This platform has a wide range of solutions to help businesses manage their influencer marketing campaigns.

They make it easy for you to communicate with influencers on a daily basis so that you can effectively get your message out to the consumer.

You can also upload influencer lists from other platforms to this software to help you manage everything in one centralized location. That way, it’ll be easier for you to track and compare your conversions, helping validate the success of specific campaigns.

Traackr also has tools to help compare your brand’s total social influence compared to that of your competitors. It also tracks your improvement over time.

All this information is helpful when it comes to measuring your reach and ROI.

Conclusion

For your business to survive and prosper in today’s digital age, you need to increase your social media presence.

To do this effectively, you’ve got to develop relationships with social influencers on multiple distribution channels.

Rather than just blindly scrolling through your follower lists to try to come up with a qualified candidate, you can use online tools to discover, manage, and analyze your influencers.

Refer to my list above to help you find what you’re looking for. Some of the options are more platform-specific, helping you connect with either bloggers, for example, or influencers on Twitter.

It all depends on your marketing goals.

But one thing is for certain, you need to get on the social influencer train now before your competition beats you to the punch.

What types of platforms does your company use to manage relationships with social influencers?

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April 30, 2018 at 10:07AM

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Twitter also sold data access to Cambridge Analytica researcher

4/30/2018

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Twitter also sold data access to Cambridge Analytica researcher

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Since it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed the personal data of millions of Facebook users, one question has lingered in the minds of the public: What other data did Dr. Aleksandr Kogan gain access to?

Twitter confirmed to The Telegraph on Saturday that GSR, Kogan’s own commercial enterprise, had purchased one-time API access to a random sample of public tweets from a five-month period between December 2014 and April 2015. Twitter told Bloomberg that, following an internal review, the company did not find any access to private data about people who use Twitter.

Twitter sells API access to large organizations or enterprises for the purposes of surveying sentiment or opinion during various events, or around certain topics or ideas.

Here’s what a Twitter spokesperson said to The Telegraph:

Twitter has also made the policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned and operated by Cambridge Analytica. This decision is based on our determination that Cambridge Analytica operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices. Cambridge Analytica may remain an organic user on our platform, in accordance with the Twitter Rules.

Obviously, this doesn’t have the same scope as the data harvested about users on Facebook. Twitter’s data on users is far less personal. Location on the platform is opt-in and generic at that, and users are not forced to use their real name on the platform.

Still, it shows just how broad the Cambridge Analytica data collection was ahead of the 2016 election.

We reached out to Twitter and will update when we hear back.

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April 30, 2018 at 09:14AM

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How GDPR Impacts Marketers: What You Need to Know

4/30/2018

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How GDPR Impacts Marketers: What You Need to Know

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Are you confused by the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

Wondering how GDPR affects your marketing?

In this article, you’ll find a plain-language overview of GDPR, how it could impact your data collection, and what you need to do to make sure you’re compliant before May 25, 2018.

How GDPR Impacts Marketers: What You Need to Know by Danielle Liss on Social Media Examiner.

What Is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) law taking effect on May 25, 2018. GDPR is designed to give greater protection to an individual’s personal information and how it’s collected, stored, and used. There are strict requirements placed on companies that possess the personal data of people located in the EU.

Potential Fines

After May 25, 2018, organizations that aren’t in compliance with GDPR’s requirements could face large fines (up to 4% of a company’s annual global turnover or €20 million), which vary based on the severity of the infraction.

When Does GDPR Apply?

A financial transaction isn’t necessary for the GDPR to apply. A non-EU-based business must comply with the GDPR if it collects or processes personal data of any EU resident (EU citizenship is not required).

Personal Data

Under GDPR, personal data is defined as information that can be used to identify someone, directly or indirectly. This includes IP address, cookies, location data, name, and email address.

Principles of the GDPR

GDPR may require significant changes in how a company discloses and obtains consent to collect personal data.

#1: What Is Required Under GDPR?

Explicit Consent

If you’re collecting personal data from an EU resident, you must obtain explicit consent, which generally means that consent should be:

Voluntary. Have the user take affirmative action.
Specific and informed. Make sure people are aware of what you’re collecting, how it’s being used, and whom it may be shared with.
Unambiguous. Don’t disguise with redirects to terms of service overflowing with legal jargon.

More specifically, for consent to meet GDPR standards, it must:

Contain a clear statement of consent, using plain language that’s easy to understand (no legalese).
Require a positive opt-in (i.e., no pre-ticked boxes, silence, or inaction).
Be separate from any other terms and conditions.
Explain why the entity wants the data and what it will do with the data.
Name any third-party controllers that will rely on the consent.
Explain how the data subject may withdraw consent.
Avoid making consent a precondition of service.

GDPR elements.
When the processing of personal data has multiple purposes, individuals must be informed of each purpose and allowed to consent or decline each purpose separately. Additional requirements apply when obtaining consent from children. Entities must also keep records of consent obtained from data subjects.

Strict Privacy by Default

Strict privacy settings should be the default setting. A user shouldn’t have to go into their settings to make manual changes to opt into stricter settings.

Rights to Data

Under GDPR, individuals have greater control over how their personal information is collected, stored, and used. Individuals have a right to access their data, which means the right to know where, why, and how their data is processed. This includes the right to request a report to access their data. Additionally, individuals have a right to be forgotten, which means their data can be deleted.

Breach Notification

Organizations have a duty to report certain types of data breaches to the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours, unless the breach is harmless and poses no risk to the individual. If a breach is concluded to be high risk, the company must also inform the individuals impacted.

Appointment of Data Protection Officer

GDPR data protection office. In some cases, companies must appoint a data protection officer. This is required when: 1) an entity regularly monitors sensitive personal information (e.g., race, genetic data, etc.), 2) an entity regularly monitors personal data on a large scale, or 3) is a public authority.

Information of Children

Under GDPR, a company may not collect personal data of anyone under 16 without parental consent. Implement a process to verify age and to obtain parental consent when necessary.

Takeaway: Under GDPR, companies must ensure that they have clear policies in place to maintain compliance.

#2: How Does GDPR Impact Non-EU Companies?

For many social media marketers, there are many questions about whether compliance is necessary for companies outside of the EU. However, non-EU companies must comply with GDPR if: 1) they collect or process personal data of any EU resident, or 2) the company’s activities relate to offering goods or services to EU citizens, regardless of whether payment is required.

This compliance is mandated for any EU resident, regardless of EU citizenship. Even an American citizen who’s only temporarily located in the EU is protected by GDPR.

Remember that a financial transaction isn’t necessary for the GDPR to apply. Any non-EU-based business must comply with the GDPR if it collects or processes personal data.

Takeaway: All companies must obtain explicit consent from the data subject, including non-EU companies. Simply being located outside of the EU doesn’t relieve a company of compliance.

#3: GDPR Compliance Action Plan for Social Media Marketers

Audit and Implement GDPR Compliance Strategy

First, conduct an audit of your website.
GDPR compliance.

Determine what data you hold, where it came from, and whom you share it with.
Determine what information you have pertaining to existing EU residents.
Review which third-party service providers you use and ensure they’re GDPR-compliant.

After you’ve completed the initial audit, review all information to determine what you need to do to comply with GDPR. Next, prepare an action plan to update your privacy policy and methods for obtaining consent.

Update Your Privacy Policy

Ensure your privacy policy is updated to address GDPR. Discuss what information you collect, how it’s used, and any third-party service providers you share the information with. Include the process to follow to invoke the right to access personal data or the right to be forgotten.

Remember, while your privacy policy will reference the requirements of GDPR, having it installed doesn’t mitigate your need to obtain informed consent.

Obtain Explicit Consent

After you’ve determined what personal information you collect or process, obtain explicit consent, described above, for each reason you collect such data. For instance, if you use cookies for affiliate links and a Facebook pixel, you’ll need explicit consent for each use.

Takeaway: The goal of your GDPR strategy will first help you determine what personal information you collect and then put new procedures into place to ensure compliance.

#4: Potential Areas of Concern for Social Media Marketers

If you still aren’t sure exactly what personal data you may be collecting, here are a few examples that are common for social media marketers, along with some tips on how to stay compliant for each.

Google Analytics

If you use Google Analytics, you may be collecting user ID/hashed personal data, IP addresses, cookies, or behavior profiling. To be GDPR-compliant while using Google Analytics, either 1) anonymize the data before storage and processing begin, or 2) add an overlay to the site that gives notice of the use of cookies and asks for the user’s permission prior to entering the site.

Retargeting Ads and Tracking Pixels

If your website uses remarketing ads, including the Facebook pixel, inform website visitors of this immediately when they enter your site and obtain informed consent.

If you publish sponsored content, ask your client if they use tracking pixels or cookies and why. If the company uses pixels or cookies to capture personal information or to remarket to your audience, you must get consent from visitors immediately when they enter your site.

Email Opt-In

On the subscription form, have a checkbox for the visitor to consent to everything they’re about to subscribe to. If your newsletter uses tracking pixels to see when they open it, put a visible disclaimer before they subscribe. Verify if your email service provider offers GDPR tools.
GDPR site opt-in example.

Affiliate Links

If you use affiliate links, you need to get consent for cookie usage. You can gain consent on an individual post or as an overlay. Consent must come before the visitor clicks the affiliate link because a cookie will be placed on their browser to track sales activity.

Display Ads

If you have ads on your website from a third-party ad server, upon entering your site, users should immediately consent to your use of a third-party server that collects user data for advertising and marketing purposes. If your ad server uses cookies to gather data on the visitor for targeting purposes, inform visitors upon entering your site and get consent for using cookies for this purpose.

Contact Forms

Before users submit their information in a contact form, get their explicit consent with a checkbox.

Comments

Before users can leave a comment, get consent by using a checkbox and disclose that your site will store their comments and, as needed, information relating to the comment such as the date and computer’s IP address. Let them know how the information is used. Also, include a reminder that some information may be displayed publicly, such as name or URL, if they’re submitted with the comment.

Product Sales

GDPR social media concerns. If you’re selling services or products to EU residents, only collect necessary information from your customers upon checkout and obtain explicit consent prior to submitting the purchase to let them know how you’ll use that information.

Takeaway: Ensure that you obtain consent for each purpose of the data collection (e.g., one checkbox may say that they authorize being added to your mailing list and another consent to having personal data stored for communication about purchases).

Remember, if you aren’t sure about what type of data a plugin or marketing tool collects, investigate it with the developer to ensure that you’re not using non-compliant tools.

#5: Plugins to Help You Manage GDPR

If you’re looking for tools to help you manage GDPR compliance, here are a few WordPress plugin options:

GDPR: a nearly all-in-one solution with options for consent management, privacy policy configurations, fulfilling data export requests, and more.
Shariff Wrapper: prevents the automatic transmission of data via sharing plugins.
GDPR Personal Data Reports: generates a personal data report for users invoking their Right of Access.
Wider Gravity Forms Stop Entries: allows Gravity Forms users to stop sensitive information from being stored on their servers.
Delete Me: allows users to delete their own accounts and profiles.

Conclusion

Ready or not, GDPR is coming and you need to be compliant by May 25, 2018. Even if you’re a non-EU company, GDPR is likely going to impact your social media marketing business; however, by following a few simple steps, you can ensure your compliance.

What do you think? What steps have you taken to make your business GDPR-compliant? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Find a plain-language overview of GDPR, how it could impact your data collection, and what you need to do to be compliant before May 25, 2018.

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April 30, 2018 at 05:03AM

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GDPR and Social Media Privacy Reform

4/28/2018

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GDPR and Social Media Privacy Reform

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Welcome to this week’s edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media.

On this week’s Social Media Marketing Talk Show, we explore how marketers are preparing for GDPR with Danielle Liss; Facebook ad updates with Amanda Bond; Snapchat, Pinterest, and more with Jeff Sieh; and other breaking social media marketing news of the week!

Watch the Social Media Marketing Talk Show

If you’re new to the show, click on the green “Watch replay” button below and sign in or register to watch our latest episode from Friday, April 27, 2018. You can also listen to the show as an audio podcast, found on iTunes/Apple Podcast, Android, Google Play, Stitcher, and RSS.

For this week’s top stories, you’ll find timestamps below that allow you to fast-forward in the replay above.

Marketers Prepare for the European Union’s Comprehensive GDPR Laws: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of European Union (EU) laws that provide greater protection for consumers’ privacy and set strict guidelines on how personal information is collected, stored, and used. This new policy is taking effect on May 25, 2018, and is specifically focused on citizens of the EU and any companies doing business in the region. Our guest, Danielle Liss from Hashtag Legal, explains how GDPR affects social media marketing and how businesses can prepare to comply before May 25. (3:58)

Facebook Refines Ad Targeting Policies: Late last year, Facebook halted ad targeting that discriminates against ethnic groups and other sensitive segments of the population. Facebook worked with privacy, data ethics, and civil rights experts, and charitable and advocacy organizations to develop an ad targeting policy that’s both safe and civil. The company rolled out new prompts that remind advertisers about Facebook’s anti-discrimination policies before they create an ad campaign. Facebook has also refined its exclusion tools by removing thousands of categories from exclusion targeting. (25:40)

Facebook Clarifies Advertising Process and Data Practices: Facebook outlined the basics of how advertising works on Facebook and answered the most frequently asked questions about its advertising practices. In a blog post on Facebook’s Newsroom blog, Vice President of Ads Rob Goldman explains how information from using Facebook, advertisers, and third-party websites is used to target ads to individuals. He also illustrates how users can control, manage, and even delete their data from Facebook to opt out of ads in an infographic. (30:20)

Facebook Expands Pre-Roll Video Ads and Tests New Video Ad Tools: In a post on the Facebook Media blog, Facebook shared early best practices on how creators and publishers can create videos that “people seek out and return to regularly” and announced new video monetization opportunities. Facebook began testing pre-roll video ads on Facebook Watch videos earlier this year. With such positive results, Facebook is expanding this test to “places where people seek out videos” such as search results or on pages. (37:33)

Facebook Is Expanding Its Testing of Pre-Roll Video Ads: https://t.co/f3BHv4P065 #facebook pic.twitter.com/eDlbhH9zoG

— Social Pro Daily (@SocialProDaily) April 23, 2018

In this same announcement, Facebook also announced that it’s testing a new show “preview” trailer format that allows viewers to discover new Watch episodes in the news feed, a feature that automatically detects the ideal spots for ad breaks within eligible videos, and the option to submit videos for monetization eligibility review prior to posting.

Snapchat Introduces Shoppable AR Lenses: Snapchat introduced a new Shoppable AR feature to its augmented reality Lenses. Shoppable AR makes it possible for brands and marketers to add a button directly to a Lens that users can tap to visit a website, install an app, or watch a longer video like a movie trailer or how-to tutorial. Snapchat is testing Shoppable AR Lenses with four select media partners before possibly expanding them to more brands. (43:36)

Snapchat now lets advertisers sell products directly through Lenses https://t.co/qg9wXHAA70 by @bheater pic.twitter.com/Z86gnQDSci

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) April 18, 2018

Snapchat Supports User-Generated Face Lenses: In addition to introducing Shoppable AR Lenses, Snapchat also enabled the ability to create customized Face Lenses in Lens Studio. Prior to this update, developers could only create a World Lens within in Lens Studio. Now developers can access seven new templates for creating AR masks, distorting facial features, adding stylized overlays and 2D and 3D objects, and more for Snapchat. In addition, Snapchat announced a new integration with Giphy that will give Lens Studio developers access to a massive library of animated GIF stickers that can also be added to Lenses. (46:49)

Snap launches new features for Lens Studio https://t.co/N6uaYmcGAL by @jordanrcrook

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) April 17, 2018

Snapchat Releases Augmented Reality Games: Snapchat introduced Snappables, new Lenses that use touch, motion, and facial expressions to play augmented reality games within the app. Users can choose a game and either compete with or play along with friends. Snappables live alongside Snapchat’s other Lenses and new ones will be released every week on both the iOS and Android versions of Snapchat. (47:54)

VIDEO

Snapchat Debuts Spectacles V2: Snap Inc. released Spectacles V2, which features a slimmer profile, charging case, and the ability to capture photos, as well as videos. The new Spectacles are also water-resistant, come in three trendy colors, and have prescription options. Spectacles V2 are available for purchase online or within the app in the U.S., Canada, UK, and France, then in 13 more European countries on May 3. (48:59)

VIDEO

Snapchat Tests 6-Second Unskippable Ads: Digiday reports that Snapchat will start testing 6-second, unskippable ads in its TV-like shows as part of a trial period starting May 15. The new ad format, called Commercials, will run in select Snapchat Shows, but not in Snapchat’s Discover section or users’ personal stories. (51:40)

Nonskippable ads are coming to Snapchat. Once reluctant to force ads on its users, Snapchat is going to start testing these ads in its TV-like shows https://t.co/Hhj8vaUHrk

— Digiday (@Digiday) April 25, 2018

Pinterest Rolls Out New Business Profile and Insights: Pinterest rolled out a new business profile that features a dynamic cover image. This new feature allows brands to highlight the content that they want customers to see first such as their latest pins, specific boards, or most recent Pinterest activity on their site. Pinterest for Business also added a new stat that reports “the total number of people who saw your Pins in the last 30 days.” Both of these updates, along with the recently announced Following tab, will be rolling out “over the next couple months.” (52:30)

Pinterest Releases New Features to Assist Visually Impaired Users: Pinterest rolled out several new features that will make the app and website more assessable for pinners who are blind or visually impaired. These updates include better screen reader support, color contrast sensitivity improvements, and focus indicators. (54:44)

Instagram Enables Multiple Image Uploads on Android: Android users now have the ability to upload multiple photos and videos to their Instagram stories all at once. Instagram will also automatically suggest location stickers based on places around where an image or video was captured. These updates are currently available on Android and will be coming to iOS “in the coming weeks.” (55:44)

Android users now have the ability to upload multiple photos and videos to their Instagram Stories all at once.

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April 28, 2018 at 05:04AM

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These Insta-famous singers talked to us about how their hard work paid off

4/27/2018

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These Insta-famous singers talked to us about how their hard work paid off

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Ar'mon and Trey are an R&B group from post-Motown Detroit. They got their start doing Vine videos singing mashups where they received millions of views. They really made it big on social media when they started doing covers on YouTube, and they now have 2.3 million subscribers. Now, Ar'mon and Trey are signed to Warner Bros. records, but they still actively engage with their fans on social media. Read more...

More about Watercooler, Youtube, Iphone, Instagram, and Mashable Video

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April 27, 2018 at 11:28AM

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How to Create Highly Relevant Content That Directly Drives Sales

4/27/2018

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How to Create Highly Relevant Content That Directly Drives Sales

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Content marketing is an absolute necessity for brand survival in 2018.

So you’re on the right track if you are currently creating and distributing content. But for those of you who aren’t seeing results from these marketing campaigns, it can be frustrating.

You’re putting so much time and effort into this, so why aren’t you seeing results? What’s the issue?

I see this problem a lot when I’m consulting with businesses. They don’t have a clearly defined content strategy. If this sounds like you, it’s important that you read carefully.

It’s great that you are continuing to publish new content. But this isn’t effective if your sales aren’t increasing.

Sure, content marketing can be used for lots of different things. Primarily, businesses use content marketing to:

generate leads
acquire new customers
increase brand awareness
establish credibility
engage with an audience

All of these are great and critical for success. However, you need to learn how to create content that directly drives sales.

That’s why you got into business in the first place, right? You wanted to make money. I can sum up one of the best ways to create content that drives sales in just one word.

Relevancy.

If your content isn’t relevant, you won’t see high conversions. It’s that simple. So follow this guide on how to drive sales with highly relevant content. Here’s what you need to know.

Understand how the conversion funnel works

Before you can create highly relevant content, it’s important for you to make sure that you’ve got a firm grasp on the conversion funnel.

You’ll see different variations of this funnel depending on which marketing website or expert you are referring to. It can also look slightly different depending on the industry and business model.

But for the most part, the conversion funnel can be broken down into three stages.

The top of the funnel occurs when a prospective customer becomes aware of your company. They’re conducting research or looking for an opinion. Basically, they need an answer to something and they are seeking insight.

Once a consumer knows that your brand exists, they enter the middle stage of the conversion funnel. This is the evaluation phase.

They are still conducting research, but now they are taking it one step further. Consumers are trying to decide if your product or service fits well for them and their specific needs.

Finally, the consumer reaches the bottom of the funnel when they enter the purchasing or conversion stage.

This is the area of the conversion funnel that you need to focus on the most when it comes to creating highly relevant content.

The bottom of the funnel is your chance to explain to your customers why your product and service is the best for them. Show your differentiation from the competition.

Educate the consumer. Explain what it will be like for them if they become a customer.

Marketing campaigns that entice them can include demonstrations, free consultations, free trials, estimates, quotes, coupons, and pricing. Basically, it’s anything to give them an incentive to buy.

Once you understand the conversion funnel, and more specifically, the bottom of the funnel, it will be much easier for you to adjust your content strategy accordingly to drive sales.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a B2C or B2B company, you’ll still need to evaluate your funnel.

Yes, you’ll notice some slight differences between the business models.

But ultimately, the funnel can still be broken down into three stages.

Create a customer journey map

Journey maps are a great resource because it takes you through the buying process even further than the conversion funnel.

Your journey map will focus on elements that take place after the purchase, instead of just before. So while awareness and consideration will still be part of your journey map, you’ll also focus on your customer retention strategy.

Analyze how the customer behaves after their initial purchase. This is very important when it comes to driving sales.

That’s because you’re not always going to focus all of your efforts on how to acquire new customers.

In fact, you shouldn’t be. Yes, of course, new customers are great. But it’s actually less expensive and more effective to target your current customers. So a journey map can help you accomplish this.

You’ll put yourself in the minds of your customers. Once you’re able to do this effectively, you can adjust your content strategy accordingly based on their point of view.

Track leads and conversions

Where are your leads coming from?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, it’s a big problem. This is one of the reasons why your content isn’t relevant and driving sales.

Knowing how customers discovered you can help you understand why they made a purchase. Based on this information, you can create content that’s more specific to their needs.

Since the majority of the customer journey is done on the Internet, it’s easy for you to track their behavior.

The best way to track your leads is with UTM parameters.

Not sure what a UTM parameter is? Don’t worry, it’s actually pretty simple. In fact, I’m sure you’ve seen this before.

If you’ve ever clicked on a link from an advertisement, the URL will be long and somewhat complex looking. Even if you’re just on a company homepage.

That’s a UTM parameter. It’s a way for websites to determine exactly where a lead came from. For example, did it come from Facebook, Twitter, Google Ads, a social influencer, or email marketing campaign?

You’ll have different tags for each distribution platform to know precisely where the lead came from.

Furthermore, you’ll have tags for each post within a specific platform. So for example, knowing it came from Facebook is great. But where on Facebook? Which specific post?

You’ll be able to figure this out with your UTM parameters. It’s easy to set these up with Google Analytics.

Just navigate to the “Demos & Tools” menu and select “Campaign URL Builder” from the list of options.

Another reason why UTM parameters are so important is because it can help you accurately measure your ROI.

You know how much you’re spending on each campaign, so you’ll be able to see direct sales results to measure how successful everything was.

Just make sure that you accurately fill out the entire form so you don’t get confused.

After you fill out the required fields, this tool will automatically generate a custom URL for you to use.

I could go on and on about this topic. But I want to stay focused on creating content that drives sales. So for those of you that want a more thorough explanation, check out my ultimate guide to using UTM parameters.

Promote diverse ads on social media

Now it’s time to take this process one step further. I’ve explained what you need to know about UTM parameters, but now you’ve got to put them to the test.

Social media is a great place to do this because you’ve got lots of options.

You can use paid promotions to target specific audiences. So you’ve just got to come up with ads that use different types of content.

Start with a hypothesis. What types of content do you think will have the highest conversions?

This will vary based on your industry, business model, target market, and other factors. But you need to make sure that each campaign is different.

Don’t get me wrong. You definitely don’t want to waste money on irrelevant ads. But it’s important that you rule out content that doesn’t work early on. Remember, we’re focusing on relevancy here.

Then you’ll use the UTM parameters that you’ve previously set up to track how effective different ads were.

Now you can appropriately adjust your content strategy based on which ads had the highest success rates and directly drove sales.

Develop a customer persona

Now that you know which content speaks to your audience the most, you can develop a customer persona to improve your conversion rates.

This will help you learn more about exactly who you’re selling to. It’s similar to what we did earlier with the journey map, but a customer persona has much greater detail involved.

Again, based on your findings, you’ll continue to adjust your content strategy.

Look at the factors associated with who you’re selling to.

It’s much more specific to your broader target market.

That’s why you won’t just develop one customer persona, you’ll be building several of these.

Each one depends on lots of different factors. But ultimately, customer personas will give you more inspiration so that you can stay relevant with your content strategy.

Take advantage of different formats of content

Don’t just stick with one type of content. Mix it up.

Some different strategies to consider include:

blogging
infographics
case studies
video content

This will vary depending on the platform you’re using and the audience that you’re trying to target.

But based on the research that you’ve conducted between your conversion funnel, customer journey map, UTM parameter tracking, and customer personas, you’ll have plenty of information to use for each type of content.

The best type of content is personalized. You can even use tricks like storytelling to enhance your content. These tips will ultimately lead to more sales.

Research shows that generating traffic and leads are the top marketing obstacles that businesses are struggling to overcome.

But by diversifying your content strategy, you’ll increase the chances of your content appealing to a wider audience.

That’s because it will be relevant based on their wants and needs.

Keep up with the latest news and trends

To stay relevant, you need to always keep your finger on the pulse.

Understand what’s happening locally, regionally, nationally, and across the globe. Keep your eye on important news.

You’ve also got to keep track of news and trends within your specific industry. Analyze your competition. Did someone else beat you to the punch?

If a competitor is having success with a strategy, you need to know about it. So find some accurate news sources. Subscribe to industry newsletters and attend events.

Whenever something major is happening that’s trending, you can use it to promote your content.

For example, do you remember the ALS ice bucket challenge craze of 2014?

If you were manufacturing buckets or selling ice, you could use that as a marketing ploy for your content strategy. Even if you were selling bathing suits, goggles, or anything similar, you could get creative here.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you should try to take advantage charities. I’m just trying to show how you can capitalize on trends and other newsworthy headlines.

Just be creative and apply it to your content strategy.

Conclusion

You need to make sure that your content is relevant if you want to generate sales.

Figure out how to leverage different elements at the bottom of the conversion funnel. Then, create a customer journey map to help give you a better understanding of what the consumer wants.

Use UTM parameters to track their behavior and measure the success of different campaigns. Promote those ads on social media.

Once you realize which promotions had the most success, you can build customer personas to dig even deeper into the minds of your customers.

Use all of these resources, tools, and analytics to identify the type of content that speaks to your customers the most. Adjust your content strategy accordingly.

Stay up to date on the most recent news and trends to stay relevant.

If you follow the tips that I’ve outlined in this guide, you’ll see a significant impact on your sales numbers based on your relevant content.

What type of highly relevant content is your company using to drive more sales?

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April 27, 2018 at 10:02AM

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Facebook Groups: How to Develop Engaging Communities

4/27/2018

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Facebook Groups: How to Develop Engaging Communities

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Want to create an engaged Facebook group? Are you looking for creative ways to develop a loyal community inside a Facebook group? To explore how to develop an engaged and responsive community with Facebook groups, I interview Caitlin Bacher. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Caitlin Bacher, a Facebook Groups expert who has helped many people start and grow successful Facebook groups. She hosts the Social Boss Facebook group, and her course is called The Fab Facebook Group System. Caitlin explains how to choose a niche for your Facebook group that complements your business goals. You'll also discover tips for promoting engagement and moving group members into your marketing funnel. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen Now Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show: Facebook Groups Caitlin's Story Shortly after her daughter was born, Caitlin was looking to earn extra income for her family. She started freelancing as a social media manager because she loved social media and always had an affinity for building communities, whether they were on- or offline. By 2014, she had attracted a few steady clients and joined a couple of Facebook groups for social media managers. These groups were a godsend to Caitlin, not only because they offered valuable information, but more importantly, they allowed her to connect with other social media managers in a meaningful way. By the end of 2014, Caitlin had decided to switch to social media coaching and knew starting her own Facebook group would be an important component of this business. Caitlin started without an email list, social media following, or team. But she did have a really clear vision for the community that she wanted to create and a 100% commitment to making it happen. Caitlin typically chooses the content she teaches based on her experience and uses the lessons she learned to make things easier for others. When she started coaching, she focused on Instagram so she had a big Facebook group geared toward talking about Instagram. However, as her group evolved, Caitlin saw her Facebook group had more traction than her Instagram, where she sold her Instagram coaching and courses. People were obviously in the Facebook group to learn from Caitlin, but they were also there to connect and support each other. Caitlin sensed a difference between her group and other groups. In groups that focused on facts or tips and tricks, people came in and out for content or help troubleshooting something specific. However, people visited Caitlin's group to see what Caitlin and their friends were doing while having their morning coffee or after they dropped off the kids at school. It was an amazing shared experience. Since then, Caitlin started coaching people on running Facebook groups. Three years later, Caitlin's attention and focus on her vision have paid off. She's running a million-dollar business that fully supports her family and helps thousands of others grow communities to support their businesses. Listen to the show to learn how Caitlin used Periscope in her group before Facebook Live existed. How to Start a Facebook Group When Facebook announced changes on January 11, 2018, Mark Zuckerberg himself said the news feed will prioritize posts from friends, families, and groups over pages. For those of us who value community, the news feed changes are a real opportunity to go all-in with Facebook groups. If you're thinking about starting a group, it's important to understand that the group isn't all about you. You're building something bigger than yourself. Create a group only if you have a real desire to connect with peopl...

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April 27, 2018 at 05:05AM

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Facebook Groups: How to Develop Engaging Communities

4/27/2018

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Facebook Groups: How to Develop Engaging Communities

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Want to create an engaged Facebook group?

Are you looking for creative ways to develop a loyal community inside a Facebook group?

To explore how to develop an engaged and responsive community with Facebook groups, I interview Caitlin Bacher.

More About This Show

The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode, I interview Caitlin Bacher, a Facebook Groups expert who has helped many people start and grow successful Facebook groups. She hosts the Social Boss Facebook group, and her course is called The Fab Facebook Group System.

Caitlin explains how to choose a niche for your Facebook group that complements your business goals.

You’ll also discover tips for promoting engagement and moving group members into your marketing funnel.

Facebook Groups: How to Develop Engaging Communities featuring insights from Caitlin Bacher on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.

Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below.

Listen Now

Listen now: Play in new window | Download

Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show:

Facebook Groups

Caitlin’s Story

Shortly after her daughter was born, Caitlin was looking to earn extra income for her family. She started freelancing as a social media manager because she loved social media and always had an affinity for building communities, whether they were on- or offline. By 2014, she had attracted a few steady clients and joined a couple of Facebook groups for social media managers.

These groups were a godsend to Caitlin, not only because they offered valuable information, but more importantly, they allowed her to connect with other social media managers in a meaningful way.

By the end of 2014, Caitlin had decided to switch to social media coaching and knew starting her own Facebook group would be an important component of this business. Caitlin started without an email list, social media following, or team. But she did have a really clear vision for the community that she wanted to create and a 100% commitment to making it happen.

Caitlin typically chooses the content she teaches based on her experience and uses the lessons she learned to make things easier for others. When she started coaching, she focused on Instagram so she had a big Facebook group geared toward talking about Instagram.

However, as her group evolved, Caitlin saw her Facebook group had more traction than her Instagram, where she sold her Instagram coaching and courses. People were obviously in the Facebook group to learn from Caitlin, but they were also there to connect and support each other.

Caitlin sensed a difference between her group and other groups. In groups that focused on facts or tips and tricks, people came in and out for content or help troubleshooting something specific. However, people visited Caitlin’s group to see what Caitlin and their friends were doing while having their morning coffee or after they dropped off the kids at school. It was an amazing shared experience.

Since then, Caitlin started coaching people on running Facebook groups.

Three years later, Caitlin’s attention and focus on her vision have paid off. She’s running a million-dollar business that fully supports her family and helps thousands of others grow communities to support their businesses.

Listen to the show to learn how Caitlin used Periscope in her group before Facebook Live existed.

How to Start a Facebook Group

When Facebook announced changes on January 11, 2018, Mark Zuckerberg himself said the news feed will prioritize posts from friends, families, and groups over pages. For those of us who value community, the news feed changes are a real opportunity to go all-in with Facebook groups.

If you’re thinking about starting a group, it’s important to understand that the group isn’t all about you. You’re building something bigger than yourself. Create a group only if you have a real desire to connect with people and make a difference in their lives. A group isn’t a quick hack to make a little money. You have to be invested in the group for the long haul.

Before you start a group, you also need a fairly clear idea of whom you want to attract. Maybe you to want to create a group for food bloggers, musicians, or parents of toddlers. You can’t create a successful group if you’re trying to appeal to everyone.

When you’re getting started, your group will require a higher time commitment until it gains momentum. Caitlin recommends spending around 30-45 minutes per day in a new group. After the group grows its membership, you can spend less time in it. You might set aside 15-20 minutes per day, commenting on a few threads, making a new post, and thanking someone.

Caitlin emphasizes that this 15-20 minutes is about connecting with people, not checking metrics. Having a clear purpose for why you started the group can help you focus. This time isn’t for checking how many people have joined the group or liked your posts. But if you truly devote 15 minutes to connecting with people, then that’s all the time you really need.

I ask whether a company whose Facebook page has a large community should create a group or more than one group. For example, I wonder whether it makes sense for a company like Social Media Examiner to create one big group around social media marketing or smaller groups focused on niche topics such as professional social media people who work for corporations.

Caitlin says your approach depends on you and your bandwidth. Social Media Examiner might have a team that can start different groups in various verticals that would all feed into the Social Media Examiner podcast, Social Media Marketing World, and so on.

However, the average person should stick with one group. Choose a topic that connects directly to whatever you’re selling. You might like blogging, but if you sell products about how to make baskets, the topic of blogging isn’t a good match for your business.

Alternatively, you might start a group with a focus that’s related to a product you’re developing. The group might be a way to create a warm audience for your product, but Caitlin emphasizes that with this strategy, you don’t need to have the product entirely planned out. In reality, interacting with people in your group will provide insights that will inform the content of your final product.

Caitlin also recommends a group for anyone who already has a product. In this case, consider the pricing of your product and the size of your customer base. A large customer base might require a team member to interact with the group. However, a small business that makes less than $1 million per year will be fine; a small-scale group will be great for your product.

Groups are great for businesses that sell physical products, too, not just services like coaching and consulting. To illustrate, Caitlin’s friend sells handmade lingerie and created an amazing Facebook group focused on body positivity. Before the group, her community and sales were mostly based on Instagram, so she was nervous but excited about growing a community on Facebook.

The body positivity group had great results for the lingerie business. Within the first month of running the Facebook group, Caitlin’s friend made more sales than she had from Instagram during the holiday season, which was her busiest time of the year.

People crave community, and a specific niche helps build that community organically. People are often afraid that getting people to engage will be difficult. In reality, if you get 100 people interested in the exact same thing, they’re eager to talk to each other because they may be the only one in their town who has that specific interest.

Listen to the show to learn about Social Media Examiner’s success with private groups for social media marketers and conference speakers.

Group Engagement

After you start a group, you need to get members to interact and engage. Often, you want people to open up inside your Facebook group and share more of their stories. But unless you make that first move by sharing a little story about your life, nobody else is going to do it. You don’t need to share your life story, but you can share stories that build relationships.

For instance, after noticing people in her Facebook group were struggling because they were too focused on competitors, Caitlin shared a story about macaroni and cheese. For the Thanksgiving potluck at her daughter’s preschool, Caitlin’s husband signed up to bring macaroni and cheese.

Caitlin was too busy to help with the dish, and she stressed about what other moms would think of her, especially after her husband said he’d make a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. When Caitlin shared her concerns with her husband, he pointed out that their daughter loves Kraft macaroni and cheese. And he was 100% right. Who cares what the other moms thought?

After the potluck, a lot of moms thanked Caitlin for making that dish because it was the only food their kids would eat.

In Caitlin’s Facebook group, this story received tons of engagement because she used it to make a point about business. Through the story, she helped people remember to focus on their customers, give them what they want, and not worry about what others do.

Caitlin thinks stories are important because people are hardwired to learn and communicate via storytelling. Even long ago, people who lived in caves illustrated stories on the cave walls. This human affinity makes stories the best way to share your message and make people feel comfortable in your group. Stories also help people get to know you as the host of the group.

In addition to stories, you also want to share helpful content. Finding this content can be really simple and easy. Your blog, Facebook pages, and old emails probably have lots of good-quality content. You can repurpose that content into short text pieces or quick videos so you have a library of helpful content you can share with your group, one post or video at a time.

When sharing this content, Caitlin recommends including key points from your post or video, and adding links to your original blog post, for instance. People on Facebook don’t necessarily want to leave Facebook. If they haven’t read your blog and don’t know much about you, some useful bite-sized content can encourage them to click a link to your blog.

When Caitlin is teaching, she shares two types of posts: text and video. The text posts walk members through specific steps of how to do something. The videos show Caitlin’s face. If you’re sharing a tech tutorial, video would be useful, too. Whatever your video is about, keep it short. Caitlin suggests limiting a video to no more than 5 minutes.

Caitlin also suggests giving other members an opportunity to answer questions. Often, if the host answers a group member’s question right away, other members might not feel comfortable answering, maybe because they don’t want to say something different from the host. The exception might be an established group in which everyone feels comfortable.

Caitlin also loves asking questions that, like ice breakers, get people to loosen up. For example, “If you could use only one social media platform, what would it be?” or “If you had to post every single day on one social media channel for the rest of your life, would you rather it be Instagram or Twitter?” These “would you rather” questions are entertaining and people can share a quick response.

Listen to the show to hear how a Social Media Marketing World volunteer inspired other volunteers to share video within a group.

Do’s and Don’ts of Selling

Caitlin says the first rule is that you should never sell inside your free Facebook group. Although this approach seems counterintuitive (and there are a few exceptions Caitlin discusses a little later), it’s necessary. Constantly sharing links to your sales page or products will kill the environment in your group.

As the group host and business owner, your goal is to move people from your Facebook group to your email list, webinar, or what-have-you so that you can sell behind the scenes.

If you use video to create targeted audiences for ads, note that at the time of this podcast recording, people in the U.S. can’t target an audience of Facebook group members. (However, Facebook has tested this feature.) As a workaround, Caitlin goes live via her Facebook page and then as soon as she goes live, she shares the live video from her page to her group.

When you share a video (recorded or live) from your page to your group, you can grow an audience for that video with Ads Manager. Later, if you want to target a webinar ad to everyone who watched the video, that audience will include people who are in your Facebook group.

Although you have this workaround for creating an audience, Group Insights, at least for Caitlin, doesn’t tell you who did or didn’t watch a video. All she can see is how many people watched a video or looked at a post. (Caitlin adds that it’s hard to talk about Group Insights because Facebook is rolling out many new group features and the rollout can be different for each person.)

One exception to the no selling rule is a pop-up Facebook group that’s open for only a limited time for the purpose of promoting a certain product. If the group is for your book launch, sharing your book link in that group is completely fine because people joined the group knowing they want to learn more about and buy the product.

Otherwise, people in your free community want to get to know you and the community. The group is like a public service that your company sponsors because it’s the quickest way to turn a cold lead into a hot lead. For instance, instead of a product or sales page, you might share a free webinar or ebook that will then move people into your sales pipeline.

A Facebook post from Caitlin Bacher that shows an offer for her free Facebook Group Roadmap. The offer image has mostly black text on a pink background. The text Free Roadmap appears in a light blue circle and points to a cover of the roadmap.

I then ask Caitlin about using bots in groups. Although Caitlin uses bots for her Facebook page, she hasn’t experimented much with bots in groups.

Caitlin is curious about how using bots might affect posts because Facebook said it will downgrade or somehow reduce engagement on posts where everyone comments the same word (this happens when you use a bot to deliver an item and people opt in by commenting “yes”).

Listen to the show to hear Caitlin and me discuss the future possibilities for advertising in Facebook groups.

Discovery of the Week

Dribbble is an online community for designers that’s also like a living, breathing online swipe file.

A swipe file is a collection of designs you use as inspiration for your own work. So, you might see a design element that you’d like to use for a future project. On Dribbble, web designers, graphic designers, illustrators, animators, and other design professionals share their portfolios. In addition to using the site to generate ideas, you can also look for designers whose work you like.

The Dribbble Following tab displays images from designers including a side view of a person wearing a black coat fluttering forward in the wind, an abstract illustration of a person in turquoise pants and pink boots on a purple gradient background, and a crest for Peru on a beige background.

The site can be especially helpful if you’re redesigning your website, creating a logo, or finding a new approach to some aspect of design.

Dribbble also has iOS and Android apps, which enable you to scroll through designs on your mobile device. After you sign up for the service, which is free, you can browse designs and choose to follow designers whose work you like.

Listen to the show and let us know how Dribbble works for you.

Key takeaways mentioned in this episode:

What do you think? What are your thoughts on hosting a community with a Facebook group? Please share your comments below.

Social Media Marketing Podcast 299. In this episode, explore strategic ways to use Facebook Groups with Caitlin Bacher.

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April 27, 2018 at 05:03AM

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