If Facebook is a dead end and you are going to be forced to pay for engagement on Facebook, then at least do it the correct way.
I’ve played with several different options for paying for Facebook promotions and these are the things I have learned.
What to include in your paid promotion
The details of your status update should be made very deliberately since you are choosing to pay for the promotion.
Promote intentionally
Is there potential for you to gain email subscribers from your paid promotion? Is your update related to an affiliate offer where you will make money? If not, then skip paying for the promotion. Do not sink money into advertising where you will not see a return on your investment.
Choose your status update carefully
As you choose the wording for your Facebook status, remember that you are marketing your blog. Pick your words to be inviting the reader to act on your offer. Buy, click, visit… use action words.
And, consider that the people who are reading your paid status update may not be the tribe that is most familiar with you. Give the details they need to understand what your status is about.
Tag your page
Within your status update, tag your own page. By doing so, you are creating an easy way for new fans to follow you. All they need to do is hover over the link and then click to like your page.
I always work it into my update with something like “Now, subscribers at Meet Penny can receive this amazing freebie…”
Place a link in your update
Your purpose in paying for engagement on Facebook is hopefully to drive traffic to your blog, to capture their email address, and to make them a part of your tribe. So, include a link to an amazing post or landing page, complete with the option to subscribe to your blog, to follow you on Pinterest, and to interact with similar content.
Use a picture
Upload a picture to represent your status update but limit the amount of text on the picture to less than 20% in order to have the ad approved.
Photos are given more space in the news feed and therefore, capture more attention.
An an extra tip
Upload three photos to your status update and add a caption and link to each photo. This gives you even more opportunities to entice fans to visit your blog.
When to pay for Facebook promotion
A lot of experts recommend paying to promote your status update from the very instance you click to post. However, I have found the estimated reach that Facebook promises to be inflated. Instead, I share my status update in all of my usual groups and ask my blogging friends to share the update. My goal is to exhaust my normal reach without paying.
After 24 hours, I will then go in a boost my post to take advantage of the paid promotion, getting my update in front of those I would not normally reach.
How to pay for promotion
I will never give Facebook a credit card number. Instead, I route my promotions through Paypal. I have heard horror stories of Facebook abusing credit cards by repeatedly charging for services, and I can tell you from experience that even when Facebook makes an error, they claim to never be wrong and you will not get your money back. Ever.
Should you “boost” or set up a Facebook ad
Again, I think I am pushing against many experts when I say, I have seen better engagement by boosting a post instead of going in through my campaigns and ads to create an ad. My engagement numbers are much higher and my money seems to go further than when I try to tweak my update through the advertising center.
Overall, I find that is I am very selective about when I pay to promote a Facebook status, I see a good return. Of course, I still prefer Pinterest where I can expand my reach virally and without having to pay, but there are instances where Facebook can help me boost a post into popularity.
What about you? Have you paid to promote on Facebook? What did you notice? Was it worth it?
I have pretty much abandoned my facebook page except for a couple update a day. I am using a Facebook group and like the interaction from it though it is miniscule. I added an email subscribe popup and have seen a steady increase of email subscribers with a pretty good open and click through rate. Pinterest is my number one traffic course, but they could eventually go the way of Facebook so I am concentrating on my website.
I have not yet tried boosting a post. I paid to promote the entire page through the blog’s launch week, and one other singular day since. I found that I received the high end of new likes for the page (that was my goal) of what FB projected for my daily total. I was satisfied with the results. It’s hard to tell how much of the new page traffic resulted in blog traffic, but my biggest URL referrer to the blog is FB so it must have helped a little?? 😉 Anyway, there are some good tips here as the next thing I’d like to try is promoting an individual post! Thanks!!