By Alan Glazier, OD, FAAO
ROCKVILLE, Md.—While getting “likes” is one goal of internet marketing, I’ve been asking people lately “How’re getting likes goin’ for ya,” intimating that most people don’t know what to do with “likes” or even why they’re important for that matter. They just do it because people are telling them they need to be doing it.
Effective
Facebook campaigns are supposed to be geared toward attracting “friends of friends.” Those are people who connect to you because of a friend's “like” or recommendation. These “likes” are seen as more valuable as they come through a perceived trusted acquaintance and as a result are more likely to take some kind of action through your page, anything from “liking” it to generating a new customer from it.
Until recently, Facebook “likes” came to your page in a trickle. Even the best marketing campaigns rarely brought gobs of new likes to your page. Now, Facebook has introduced “
Sponsored Stories,” a feature we have implemented recently that has been very effective in spreading our business brand and gaining “likes” from friends-of-friends.
Post compelling content on your page, go to the “promote” button in the lower right corner of your post and you are provided options for sponsoring your post, or “story” as Facebook calls it. You can share the post with people who already “like” your page, but I recommend you always share using the second option, “people who like your page and their friends.” There are costs for the second choice: a $10 option and a $15 option – the more you pay, the more people are exposed to your post. I always choose the $15 option as it is most effective at gaining me exposure. The $5 difference is minimal compared to what a great promotion brings to your page.
Options for sharing include:
We used the sponsored stories feature to boost our Facebook page “likes.” Over a two-week period we added 150 new “likes” to our page. Maximizing the effect of the feature takes creation of compelling content, as does all successful social media campaigns, but this particular method is more easily “spreadable” and when used properly, such as to promote blog posts, can really provide a boost to your social media marketing effort.
Facebook’s own help pages for users include many FAQs and suggestions about how to use Sponsored Stories, including a downloadable
PDF guide.
Alan N. Glazier, OD, FAAO is the founder/CEO of Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care in Rockville, Md. A search and social optimization consultant, he is a regular contributor to CLICK and also writes a regular blog for
SightNation.com. A founder of ODs on Facebook, Glazier is also a VM/ROB Optometric Business Innovator. Glazier is at
aglazier@youreyesite.com and his regular posts can be found via his Twitter handle: @EyeInfo, his blog:
youreyesite.net and his website:
YourEyeSite.com. He's the founder and moderator of ODs on Facebook and author of
Searchial Marketing: How Social Media Drives Search Optimization in Web 3.0
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