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Using Facebook Interest Targeting

In part 3 of our 5 part mini-series on Core Audience Targeting, we have a piece dedicated entirely to Facebook’s Interest Targeting Capabilities.

If you’re yet to, please read watch the previous two post in this series: 

If you have already, then let’s get stuck in.

What Is Interest Targeting?

So Interest Targeting is where Facebook’s powerful Ad platform comes into its own.

Interest Targeting is how you’re able to find your ideal target audience based on their passions and the type of content that they engage with on and off Facebook. 

Facebook stores this continuously updated data at an individual user level based on the Pages we follow on, the articles, videos and content we engage with, and the links/ads we click.

All this is explicit and implicit information we provide Facebook with each time we log on.

Now, when it comes to specifying the interests you want to target within your Core Audience, you have two options:

Option 1: Browse Through Interests

You can browse the range of Interest categories that Facebook has already collated and select those best suited to your target audience. These include;

  • Business & Industry Interests
  • Entertainment Interests
  • Family & Relationship Interests
  • Fitness & Wellness Interests
  • Food & Drink Interests
  • Hobbies
  • Activities and Events
  • Shopping
  • Fashion
  • Sports
  • Technology

Within each of these categories lie more detailed child categories.

For example, if I was looking to target those interested in becoming a member of a gym, I could target the ‘gym’ interest grouping. This ‘Child 

Category’ is found under the Fitness and Wellness ‘Parent Category’.

Option 2: Specify Interests

Rather than browsing the existing interest categories, Facebook has curated, you can specify your own by typing interests you’d like Facebook to target.

These can be anything from activities, celebrities, magazines, Facebook pages, whatever articulation of an audience’s passion point you can imagine.

If you’re opting for this option, make sure you’re making the most of Facebook’s suggested Interests. These will appear once you’ve selected one or two interest options as Facebook offers other interest targeting options closely aligned to those already set.

The Key To Success: Be Specific

Whichever option you choose, the key is to ensure that you’re focusing in on the specific interest areas that are unique to your target audience; the areas that they are MOST passionately involved.

For example, say I was selling a new set of golf balls specifically designed to help weekend golfers improve their handicap. I could target “Golf” as an interest category; however, this would be too broad, ranging from pros to armchair enthusiasts.

Similarly, I could target “Tiger Woods” however this would also be too broad, encompassing those who are more mainstream fans of the sport or his celebrity. Instead, far more focused options would be to target information sources that this audience would go to for tips to improve their game, such as YouTube Tutorials or Magazines.

Remember when it comes to Interest Targeting, it’s not so much about where your Target Audience COULD be but finding the interests and identifiers that ONLY they would be part of or would be most passionately involved.

Stay Tuned!

In the next post, we’ll build on both Demographic and Interest targeting to show how you can add Behavioural Targeting to refine your audience.

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Social Media Does Not Make You Sales

In this article, we point out something that may seem obvious, but many people don’t realise, and that is social media does not make your company sales!

Ok, so let me clear up what I mean by ‘social media does not make you sales’.

What I do not mean is that social media activity, be it paid or organic, will not result in sales. 

I mean that social media activity cannot do all the heavy lifting.

Social Media Cannot Do Everything!

There is no perfect Facebook or Instagram post/ad that will result in money ending up in your businesses bank account. 

Now, as I said before, this might seem like common sense, but we frequently have prospects and clients think that we can magically run a Facebook advertising campaign and fill up their wallets.

Now before you start thinking that social media is worthless, which is something that I do not want you to think, I will remind you that I did say the social media can result in sales. 

However, to do so, you need a reliable, repeatable sales process that turns leads into customers. 

You Need A Reliable, Repeatable Sales Process

To use an oversimplified analogy – think of social media advertising as a traffic store. You go there to buy traffic or visitors. 

We use social media to drive qualified traffic, that contains people that look like your ideal customers, to your website or landing pages. 

It’s the job of this conversion asset – the landing page or your website – to turn this traffic into a sales lead. 

Finally, it’s the job of your sales process to turn this lead into a sale. In the absence of a reliable, repeatable sales process, you won’t have a deal. 

It’s up to your sales team to make the sale. Social media activity can result in sales – but it does not make them for you.

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6 Essential Elements Of A High Converting Landing Page

In this article, we discuss the six essential elements of a high converting landing page. 

If you’re running paid advertising but just not getting the results that you want then this article is for you!

#1. An Engaging Hero Section

So firstly let’s clarify what a ‘hero section’ is.

The hero section is the area of a landing page that appears on your screen when it first loads before you scroll. 

The hero section is vital because on the web, seconds count, and your first impressions are essential.

Otherwise, people will hit the back button on their browser, and they’re gone forever! 

To avoiding bouncing traffic, the hero section needs to be highly engaging, including:

  1. A fantastic headline
  2. A supporting subheading or tagline and
  3. A great image or background video.

One Additional Pro-tip: Is that you should have complete alignment between your ad creative and your hero section on your landing page. As an example, if your ad creative says “Your Hot Water System Fixed Within 4 Hours Guaranteed”, then make sure your landing page headline says the same thing.

#2. A Unique Value Proposition

In other words – why the heck should someone choose you and your business?

What are you offering them that no one else is? 

My previous example of a guaranteed fix to your hot water system within 4 hours is a clear value proposition. Suppose it’s between this and a competitor promising a solution within 24 hours, who do you think will capture the lead?

Thus, make sure you possess and communicate a unique value proposition.

#3. Clear and Concise Copy

You have to balance the line between effectively communicating the benefits of your product or service and ending up with an overwhelming amount of text.

Massive blocks of unbroken text are an absolute conversion killer. 

Thus, keep your copy easily understood and to the point.

When writing your landing page copy, rather than merely talking about your product or service, make sure that you include number 4 below.

#4. Social Proof

Social proof is a fancy way of saying things like client testimonials or customer reviews. 

It is proof that your business genuinely delivers the benefits that the landing page states it does. 

Honest and believable testimonials and reviews will give your landing page much-needed legitimacy in the eyes of the visitor.

#5. Clean and Modern Design

In my opinion, nothing is a worse credibility killer than a poorly designed landing page.

Now, that is not to say that you need an award-winning design for a high converting landing page. However, the inverse of that statement is definitely true.

If you have poor design, poor legibility, poor user experience, then your conversions will suffer. 

By making sure that your landing page uses a clean layout, professional imagery and a modern design aesthetic, your conversion rates will improve.

#6. One Clear Call To Action

Your landing page must have a clear call to action with a single conversion objective.

One objective only;

  • Submit an enquiry
  • Complete a download
  • Make a purchase
  • But not all three!

After all, that is the whole point of using a landing page, to ensure that the visitor only has two options:

1. Take the action that you want them to, or;

2. Leave.

Despite that being the reason that landing pages exist – we still consistently see landing pages that have too many calls to action! 

These include ‘give us a call’, ‘submit your information’, ‘get a quote’, ‘join our newsletter’, ‘follow us on social’, ‘leave a comment’, and too many more – this gives the visitor too many options!

Rather than giving you multiple bites at the cherry, which is what people mistakenly think it does, it just dilutes your message and lowers your conversion rates.

In Summary

  • #1 Engaging Hero Section: Quickly capture someone’s attention
  • #2 A Unique Value Proposition: Why should someone pick you or your business?
  • #3 Clear and Concise Copy: Communicate a benefit, but do not overwhelm them with words
  • #4 Social Proof:  Back up your claims with real people who like what you do
  • #5 Clean, Modern Design: Look good, convert good.
  • #6 One Clear Call To Action: Be single-minded and don’t go for multiple bites at the cherry,

Do all of that – and you’re on your way to a high converting landing page!