DaBrian Marketing Group’s President and CEO, Daniel Laws, was a featured on Web Analytics World. His featured blog, “5 Tips to Get More Value From Your Business Data” discusses the changes made to your marketing tools that will lead your company to more data and capabilities. READ MORE
After receiving a few questions from our client and prospects on Facebook Search. I wanted to provide some information about Facebook Search, impact to businesses, and opportunities.
Danny Laws, principal owner of DaBrian Marketing Group advertising agency in Reading, PA. We do some work in the digital space. Obviously we get a number of questions from our clients as it pertains to conferences that they attend, things that they read, those types of components. More recently we got a call from one of our clients as it pertains to Facebook and Facebook search. It prompted me to put together a brief response to educate those individuals that may or may not be aware of the capabilities on Facebook more specifically. For those of you that don’t know there’s a great opportunity for you to take a look at those pieces, take a look at what’s out there in this space, and connect with a number of different people via Facebook.
One of the things that it’s available on Facebook, and I speak to that and I really trying to show some of that, is people say that Facebook is a search engine. I’ve heard that from a number of clients asking that question and positioning it in that way, because that’s how others that they’ve spoken to, things that they’ve read, conferences that they’ve gone to have positioned Facebook as a search engine. My personal opinion is that Facebook does not operate as a search engine in its entirety because it does not index all of the information, web pages, what have you in the World Wide Web that’s accessible for users. I would however consider Facebook an internal site search component that allows you to search internally inside Facebook to assess information, post videos, what have you, in light of the most recent changes.
Why does it matter to your businesses is the biggest question that I pose to a lot of our clients. One of the big things that I see as an opportunity is very much a potential increase in visibility and creating that exposure around post, around Facebook likes, around Facebook pages in itself, as well as the mobile accessibility. The opportunities here for businesses are very much around relevant content, timely post, whether be seasonal or event based or what’s trending and what’s hot right now in that very moment, and at the same time going back to the mobile components. Facebook pages are making sure that that information is live, relevant, and consistent with your target audience.
If you’re a business that you’re leveraging it within the ability to talk about offerings, to talk about subject matter expertise, to reinforce yourself as a thought leader in this space, let’s be clear, that needs to be done in moderation. Not simply posting about yourself 24/7. Not sharing anyone else’s content. That’s not a successful way to leverage social media in my opinion or the opinion of most of the staff here at DaBrian Marketing Group. But we break it down to the old school rule of thought of rule of thirds and probably expand upon that a little bit more.
The other thing as far as Facebook searches, how can it impact your business? I think post, check-ins for local businesses, and extending that reach and visibility for Facebook via your friends, the public, and for public information photos, what have you, as far as making sure that you can get that message out, clearly differentiate your products and services, and better position your brand within a local market and within your Facebook audience.
The other piece that I want to speak to here is how you align that back to the strategy. If you’re doing Facebook and you’re promoting on Facebook and you’re selling on Facebook it’s got to be a part of a comprehensive strategy which generally goes back to awareness, brand awareness, leads, sales. I’m over simplifying. One of the things that you have to make sure that you do as far as aligning back to those strategic points and those strategic goals and objectives that you talk about as a business is making sure that there’s a tie back as a very specific metric or a group of metrics associated with Facebook to gauge where you’re at with that performance.
Clearly as far as awareness you might look at post, page views, incremental store visits, website activity from Facebook as a generic example. Leads, are you getting contact us, are you getting calls, are you getting event signups, are you getting email subscriptions off of Facebook from the activity and the information that you’re disseminating to your target audience.
Then the last piece here is also that sales component, so Facebook being that it allows you to pat Facebook search and search and look at information. You also have an opportunity for e-commerce and e-commerce categories on Facebook. All of these components in my opinion will have a trickle-down effect across the board within Facebook search. When we talk about Facebook search it should contribute to high level awareness, it should contribute to lead generation to some degree, and it should contribute to sales via Facebook or attributing back to Facebook search or Facebook itself as part of your post, as part of your information that you talked about.
Now in light of that there are definitely some other components that you want to make sure that you take a hard look at and make sure you look at these things quite simply as far as sharing information. Now when you get to Facebook you get to this as a whole and you start to look at what’s available there from a Facebook perspective, as you can see what I’ve done here is very much a search on advertising agencies from where I sit.
Now what I will say to you is that I’ve done a search for advertising agency from my geographic location. Obviously DaBrian Marketing Group shows up there, but there are a number of other agencies within my geographic footprint that have Facebook pages that are not showing up. You need to keep that in mind as you look at Facebook search, that it is merely … It’s also tied to the individual to some degree. As you can see from this search that I’ve done that when I put an agency obviously DaBrian Marketing Group shows there, but there are other elements that are there as well that you definitely want to take into account.
The other thing that I would recommend is taking a look at the information that’s accessible, that’s clearly accessible on Facebook in itself. Facebook has a lot of information as far as what’s there. As you can see it gives you an opportunity for Facebook search to search. Is better than ever according to them. You also have some components as far as how you can search via mobile and see that information. Then finding post that you’ve seen previously on Facebook based upon keywords, phrases, what have you, however you want to define it, and those types of components that you may have remembered when you saw a previous post, and also being able to look and see what’s beyond your news feed is important.
I think that’s where the opportunity presents itself from a business perspective, that if you’ve optimized your Facebook pages, if you’re consistently in this space, if you’re disseminating relevant content that is impactful for your target audience I think that there’s a greater probability for you to see success in that space.
With that being said what I’d like to get across today first and foremost, Facebook search is going to be an opportunity for businesses but it’s going to be dependent upon having a clear strategy, having clear metrics to measure those components, aligning what you’re doing to achieve a goal, whether it be brand awareness, lead generation, what have you, and that with the understanding that Facebook’s search is more of an internal site search functionality and or capability than it is a search engine in itself.
With that being said I wish you the best of luck on social media. Keep an eye out for an updated post on our blog page where we’ll add a few informative links to support the Facebook search component and how others are seeing Facebook search within the industry. Thank you very much. Hope you have a good day and good luck.
As an ad agency owner, I speak to a number of prospective clients throughout the year. It’s very common for people to have misconceptions about the advertising business but in some cases, these issues are common myths. With that said, below are my replies to common myths to help understand our industry, services, and agreements:
WordPress is one of the most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) and powers an estimated 24% of the internet. Contrary to popular belief, it’s important that you update most CMS’s for security purposes and that includes the themes and plugins. Only 36% of all WordPress websites are the most up-to-date version and that doesn’t include the plugins which means that the website is a security risk.
Define “work”? According to Webster, work is: activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something. What function is your website performing for your business and do you have the metrics to prove it? Is it an online brochure or does it generate visits, collect form information, or drive sales? If not, can you truly say that it’s working?
Let’s be honest, it didn’t work because you’re not a marketing professional, you don’t have the time, don’t know the AdWords or Bing Ads platform, you can’t code/program landing pages for your campaigns, and that’s just for starters. The AdWords and Bing Ads platforms are tools for your business, so learn how to use them or get a certified AdWords or Bing accredited professional to handle it for you!
According to Google, 89% of B2B researchers use the internet during the B2B research process. So, you are missing an opportunity to differentiate your products or services from the competition. Purchasing a product or service is a human behavior, and those decision-makers are doing the research and are also the ones signing-off on agreements or purchases. When was the last time you saw just the company’s name on the dotted line or the signature on the check?
Depending on the source, there are an estimated 32,000 up to 55,000 advertising agencies in the United States. There are a few thousand certified AdWords Professionals but only a few hundred Google Partners within the United States. Each of the Google Partners have unique budget limits for new clients and individual industry expertise. So, not all agencies are certified for paid search and I would estimate that only 25% are Google Partners.
80% of small businesses use social media websites for monitoring and collecting information about competitors to their businesses (Source: Socialmediatoday). In addition, existing customers are discussing your products or services which leads to research, purchases, and product/service reviews. Many businesses are using social media as part of their customer service as well. I guess there is no need to collect information on the competition, promote your products or services, or listen to customers.
What’s the plan and how do you know if your posts are useful for your fans, followers, friends or connections? You’re talking but is anyone listening? Even worse, you’re the diva on social media that only talks about themselves, doesn’t share others social posts, or interact with others! Let’s identify your target audience and share information that’s useful to them. You might even be considered an expert and start discussions about your products, services or industry.
So, you have a Constant Contact account but you’ve got no email marketing plan, no metrics to gauge success, limited integrations with your customers database, no automated follow-ups, and everyone gets the same generic email. Constant Contact encourages contact management, list segmentation, and other features. If you’re going to use email marketing, maximize your time and leverage the email platform to it’s full capacity to generate leads, sales and save you time.
You paid for a website redesign project with hosting but making changes to the website, content, or security updates are not in the agreement. Now, you’re upset because you don’t know how to make changes and the website hasn’t been updated in months. Also remember that you updated the website for a strategic reasons so what metrics did you want to improve and were these metrics improved? Review the agreement and understand what it is that you are paying for. In many cases, there is a specific reason for the estimate from ad agency to ad agency and the devil is in the details.
Macquarie Research estimates that Google has approximately 4 million advertisers. Google has more direct advertising relationships in the digital advertising space than Facebook or Twitter. Is your business being hunted by the competition using Pay per Click (PPC) advertising or is your business hunting for new business with Google AdWords (PPC) and Bing Ads?
You’ve probably heard these terms before: Online Marketing, Online Advertising, Google AdWords, Search Marketing, Bing Ads, Paid Search, Cost per Click (CPC), Pay per Click (PPC). To the general public, these terms are used interchangeably and generally refer to advertising with Google AdWords or Bing Ads. These words are often associated with cost, but they should also be associated with opportunities for your business! Pay Per Click advertising can help you to increase your brand or product awareness, expand into new markets, generate leads, grow online sales, or even increase traffic into your stores.
The opportunities to increase brand awareness through Pay per Click advertising are countless. AdWords & Bing Ads offer local, national, and global targeting with language settings. They also provide additional targeting settings to only show your brand when, where, and to whom you want to be shown. Businesses can even advertise on non-search sites like Gmail, YouTube, Forbes, MSNBC, and lots of other partners sites within minutes.
Business Owners can generate leads such as calls, online form completions, and e-commerce sales while setting a campaign daily or monthly budget. Regardless of how a customer is looking for products or services, businesses are able to stay connected with them across a variety of devices (desktop, mobile, and tablet). No matter the target audience (businesses or consumers), Pay per Click can get your business quality leads to grow sales, while sticking to the set budget.
According to Google’s March 2015 case study, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores used Google’s Local Inventory Ads (LIAs), which allows online visitors to see what their local store currently has in stock to bring nearby customers on mobile devices into stores. The results yielded a 122% higher store visit rate compared to online Product Listing Ads (PLAs) for shopping campaigns. Product Listing Ads allow you to include an image, title, price, promotional message, and your store or business name inside your ads, without the need for you to create unique ads for each product you sell. The local inventory ads generated in-store sales at more than 5X the rate of TV advertising for each dollar spent.
Pay per Click offers a diverse platform to deliver the exact type of content, specific to their device for exactly what potential customers are looking for and exactly when they’re looking for it. Most Pay per Click platforms have the capability to use text, video, mobile, banner or display ads, so your business has the ability to connect with potential customers regardless of the device.
See Advertising Formats for examples
According to 2015 CMO.com Stats about Marketing ROI, 93% of CMOs say that they are under more pressure to deliver measurable return-on-investment (ROI). Google Analytic defines “attribution modeling” as “the rule or set of rules that determines how credit for sales and conversions is assigned to touch-points or any point of contact between a buyer and a seller in conversion paths” (i.e. lead generation or sales process). Are you using attribution modeling to measure ROI or return on advertising spend (ROAS)?
In general, most web analytics tools (Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, comScore, WebTrends, etc.) associate the last point of contact, whether it be search, email marketing, social media, or ad that referred the customer with all the credit for the lead or sale. If paid advertising was the initial marketing channel in the lead generation process, but the potential customer didn’t fill out the online form until later via non-paid search (SEO), shouldn’t this count for something?
Can marketing executives really make better decisions without understanding the metrics that are associated with reporting? Attribution modeling provides marketing executives with a tool to compare different attribution models, understand their impact on lead/sales and the cost per lead/sale, and identify marketing channels that lead to higher ROI/ROAS. For example, take a look at the ROAS for last interaction vs. position based attribution modeling with Google Analytics:
As marketers, we know that a lead or sale is based upon multiple points of contact with a brand. So, why should we continue to only allocate credit to the last interaction? Let’s take the Google Analytics scenario above for example. Take a look at the image above, the ROAS for paid search was 232% for the last point of contact (last interaction). If you use the position based model, this would have been an ROAS of 314.77% which is 82.47% than the last point of contact. This could be the difference between continuously running paid search and reallocating your budget elsewhere. By doing this more than once, it can create the perception of paid search marketing as an expense versus revenue generator.
The pressure is on marketers to measure ROI and to tell the story through data so here are our recommendations to get you started. First, identify the value of a lead or a sale and get confirmation from the executive team. Without a value, it’s going to be impossible to calculate ROI or ROAS. Then, identify an attribution model that best fits your business, test it and compare the metrics to put it into context. Finally, align your chosen attribution modeling with your insights, recommendations, and actions. Remember, attribution model isn’t perfect and technology continues to evolve, so continuously evaluate your chosen attribution model with the actual leads and sales your business is getting.
Leave us a comment below to share your thoughts or your experience with attribution modeling.
A recent American Banker article discussed opening up the opportunities for employees to engage with customers. I was surprised that this was the position of the article because financial institutions, in general, tend to be very risk adverse. I understand utilizing social media to communicate with customers, but I think there need to be some controls. With that said, I give you my 7 deadly sins of social media for banks.
Before opening communication on social media for bank employees and customers, it’s important to recognize the need for a social media strategy and why social media matters. Profitability is a major concern in this competitive market, and social media can help financial service institutions differentiate themselves and communicate with customers on a level they’re accustomed to. For a bank to allow employees and customers to interact via social media, there needs to be a clear strategy and metrics to determine whether or not it’s having an impact on deposit accounts, loan applications, improving customer service, and generating revenues.
With all the potential mergers and acquisitions banks go through, the market has become increasingly competitive. Not looking into the competitive landscape of how to effectively use social media can lead to disaster. There are a few financial services institutions (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and US Bank) that banks can take a note from on how to implement social media best practices and still remain compliant. Leverage the learning from local credit unions to connect with the local markets is a good place to start.
Not all employees or customers will remain happy with the bank so failing to prepare for the wrath of an unhappy employee or an unsatisfied customer may lead to unwanted national media attention. I would highly recommend that banks develop social media policies and procedures to manage employees social media engagement on behalf of the institution. It is also wise to clearly communicate what customers should expect and not expect via social media from the bank. A good example of this is Bank of America which offers guidelines and terms of use specifically for their social media community. These social media guides should help you to limit the risk and plan accordingly for the wrath of unhappy individuals or sensitive information.
With all the social media networks out there, which one makes sense for the business? Opening up every social media platform to employees and customers is simply not a good idea. I would highly recommend that you start with one platform at a time and prioritize which social media platforms make sense based on your strategy. Each social media platform has unique aspects and as an industry that is generally slow to implement change getting a handle on each platform and understanding how customers engage will be critically important, so don’t bite off more than you can chew at one time!
Contrary to popular belief your social media accounts should promote more than your bank, credit union, wealth management, and products or services. I would recommend the social media rule of thirds. ne-third of the social media content should promote the bank, one-third should share industry information and one-third should be based upon interactions and socializing with customers or potential customers. If you’re not following the rule of thirds or something similar you’re simply being greedy and tantalizing your community which will end with customers disengaging.
The real question is how do you plan to measure the effectiveness that social media is having on growing deposit accounts, loan applications, and improving customer service? For years, I’ve witnessed banks and credit unions being really lazy on measuring the return on investment for their marketing dollars, especially dollars spent on social media marketing! There is a cost associated with having employees engage in this process and there should be a return on that investment. For full visibility into the return on investment, banks need to implement web analytics solutions and track across mobile banking apps, loan or member application process, and customer support tickets. Without doing so, there will be limited visibility into the overall impact that social media is having on the deposit accounts and lending.
So the competitor has 1 billion likes and a trillion followers but how many members of their social media community interact with the brand, share information, use the specific social network, and are advocates for the company or product/service offerings? Don’t be jealous of the number of metrics without understanding the context of how they were acquired or the level of interaction. You can purchase Twitter followers but are they real followers? For example, you can have 300 followers for with a 50% interaction rate or you can have 1000 with just a 10% interaction rate.
It’s important to the financial service industry to embrace the idea that social media to communicate with customers, members, or investors but it should be aligned with the strategy and add value to the potential customers as well as the organization. The social media strategy and value of social media must be clearly established prior to opening social media communications. The expectations should be clearly defined for customers and employees to put things into perspective and avoid the 7 deadly sins of social media for financial services organizations.
