Facebook Automated Ads.

This week, Facebook announced its new plan to help small businesses meet their Facebook and Instagram advertising goals.

They recognize that small businesses can lack time and resources to advertise on social media, so they have created a new tool to make this process easier on them: Facebook Automated Ads.

"We know small business owners are strapped for time, which is why we're committed to building tools that save you time and enable you to focus on the parts of your business you love. Today, we're making it easier for you to manage and promote your business across our platforms through tools such as Automated Ads, appointments and new video editing tools." 
-Facebook Business

To create Automated Ads:

Go to your Facebook Page.

Select Promote. You can find it in the bottom-left corner of your Page.
Select Get Custom Automated Ads.
Select Get Started.

Give us details about your business and customers by answering the questions that appear in the quiz.

Select Next after each question until you reach the Choose Your Plan section. We'll provide a recommended plan, but you may also see an alternative option. Select the plan you'd prefer.


Fill in the details of your Automated Ads, including:
Ad Creative: Provide an image, headline and text for your ad. We may suggest some of these details with information from your Page. You can create up to 6 versions of your ad. Note: Depending on your plan, you may also be able to select a call-to-action button, provide a URL or create a form to request leads.
Audience: Choose a recommended audience or create a new audience based on specific traits.

We may also provide an automatic audience option that is customized to your business. Facebook creates and improves your automatic audience from a combination of details, like people near your business location or people who have interests related to your Page.

Daily Budget: We'll recommend a budget most likely to get you results based on your plan, but you can also provide a custom budget.

Payment Method: Review your payment method. If you need to, you can change or update your payment method.

Note: Automated Ads run continuously to learn what performs better for your plan. You won't be able to set an end date, but you can pause or delete your Automated Ads at any time.

When you're done, select Promote.

All social networks are not equal.

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are social media standards – but what about other platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, or YouTube – is it necessary to have an account on all of these too? 

Not to mention using the new features released on existing platforms like Facebook Live and Twitter Moments. Social Media statistics are constantly changing, it can be overwhelming, especially if you’re a one-man (or woman) show. 

It’s important, that you figure out who you’re trying to reach on social media and where your customers can be found. Once you determine the best one or two platforms, stay consistent and master your marketing strategy there first. Then you can widen your efforts to other social networks.  

Facebook & Facebook Live

79% of internet users (68% of all U.S. adults ranging from 18-65+) use Facebook
Facebook is still the most popular social media platform – so having a page here is highly recommended

Facebook, like most other platforms, has become more visual-driven, so incorporate imagery and video when possible. Try using the Facebook Live feature for events to reach potential students who may be unable to attend or are out of the area. You can also use Facebook Live for a Q&A session with your admissions team or show off your campus on a video tour.

Facebook Video has become a vital aspect of Facebooks offerings. Videos will autoplay, though most times users will not hear the audio along with your video. Clever marketers will use this to their advantage, and we have seen a resurgence of “silent movies”, videos that communicate visually.

Twitter

36% of internet users use Twitter, with the largest percentage being between 18-29

11% of American adults get their news on Twitter

With a 280-character limit, Twitter is great sharing short snippets of information about your school, upcoming events, photos from previous events or even linking to articles/blogs on your website.

Again, incorporate imagery when possible and keep an eye on trending hashtags to gain more visibility (but only use them if they actually relate to your school or an event you’re holding – there have been many Twitter disasters with misused hashtags).

Twitter can be great for interaction with your followers, allowing for quick messages or callouts, and has a shorter-lived message lifecycle.

LinkedIn

Most of us consider LinkedIn to be focused on only companies or businesses – but that’s not true. Schools, colleges and universities can also create a page for their alumni to link their education history to and as another resource for potential students looking to learn about your school.
Consider creating an alumni group to encourage community and involvement of past students, as well as an additional way to keep them informed of events and fundraising opportunities.

YouTube

YouTube has been around for quite a while, but a lot of schools and businesses still aren’t utilizing this powerful network, even though YouTube “reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year olds than any cable network in the U.S.” 
Try using YouTube for video tours of your campus, event highlights, recruitment videos, student and alumni videos, you can even upload your Snapchat stories as a video reel. With the rise of video, there are endless possibilities and you can link posts on other platforms to your videos on YouTube.
YouTube videos are great for cross-promotion. Embed a link to them on your Facebook feed or at the top of your Linkedin profile.
Snapchat

The newest player in the game, and possibly the hardest to envision a use for – but 78% of Snapchat users are under 24, which is a large part of one of your target audiences.

Snapchat is based on images or videos that only last for 10 seconds, and can be added as a “story” for your school. These stories can be downloaded as one video that you can then use for other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.
Snapchat does offer advertisement opportunities – but let’s start small for now. One use of this channel would be to have students “take-over” for a day and show a day in the life at your school.

Try highlighting all aspects of your school; academics, arts, music, athletics, campus life, even different clubs and organizations.
Instagram & Instagram Stories

32% of internet users use Instagram but the majority of these users are between the ages of 18-29. If you’re trying to reach this age group, utilizing this platform could help.

Instagram is almost entirely visual-based but this doesn’t mean you need to hire a professional photographer just to use this platform. You can easily edit any photo taken on your smartphone (just try not to use the Lo-Fi filter for every picture!).
One way to encourage user engagement is to ask followers to submit or tag your school’s account in their photos and videos of your campus or events and repost these images.


Planning is important. Posting randomly or sporadically are not characteristics of a successful social media strategy. Of course, it’s okay to post occasionally when the mood hits you and you have something interesting to share. Yet, such spontaneous posts should be additions to a regular posting schedule. 

Consistency will heighten anticipation for your content, interest in your brand, and overall engagement. To make sure you see those benefits, you may even use a scheduling tool. That way, regularity is easier to achieve and time is also saved.

You can also learn much from companies like yours that are struggling in this area. Using your expanding knowledge of social media best practices and what you learn from your strongest rivals, you can pinpoint what not to do. You don’t have to go the trial and error route. Let competitors try and err for you!

How to Make a Facebook Cover Video

How to Make a Facebook Cover Video For Your Business Page

What are the benefits of a video cover on Facebook?

When a user visits your Facebook Page direct, the cover is the first thing they'll see. They'll probably start scrolling for content, but that first image or video is a unique opportunity to share a positive first impression. 

Your Facebook cover tells people who you are, what you do, what you're like, and what your company is all about.

As such, a video cover can offer an even more immersive and engaging way to hook in viewers - for example, you could:

Introduce people to your brand and its people

Share your latest product offering

Promote an upcoming sale or event, etc.

Uploading a new Facebook video cover takes just a few steps, along with some tweaking to make sure it looks as good as it can be. You can choose to feature a previously-uploaded video or upload a new one. My preference would be to build and upload a video that is custom-made for your cover; one that will inspire fans and also meet Facebook's best practices (more on this below).

Here's a quick step-by-step for both options:

Choose from Videos

Hover over your cover photo and choose 

'Change Cover'-> 'Choose from Videos'

Select a video that you've previously uploaded to your 

Page and click 'Confirm'.

Drag your video around in the cover area until it's 

positioned as you like, then 

click 'Next'.

Use the arrows to go through the video thumbnails until you find one you want to use as the first frame. 

Also, choose here whether you want the video to loop or not.

Once everything is as you like, click 'Publish'.

Upload Photo/Video

Hover over your cover photo and choose 'Change Cover' -> 'Upload Photo/Video'

Select a video stored on your computer.

Once it's uploaded, drag it to re-position the video 

up or down as desired, then click 'Next'.

Scroll through the video thumbnails until you find a thumbnail that you want to use as the first frame. 

Also choose here whether you want the video to loop or not.

Click 'Publish'.

Facebook recommends uploading a video with a resolution of at least 820 x 312 pixels, but 820 x 456 pixels is ideal

Videos can range in length from 20-90 seconds, and as noted in the previous step, you have the option to make them loop

When people visit your Page, the cover video will 

start playing automatically

The video will play with the sound muted, so consider how your video will be received with and without audio. 

There's a mute/unmute option in the lower right-hand corner of the cover video.