Businesses See Success With Facebook Promoted Posts

Earlier this year, Facebook launched promoted posts for pages, giving page administrators the ability to greatly enhance their reach (just don't bring it up with George Takei). Already, businesses are seeing incredible results through promoted posts, such as more clients and a better return on investment, according to new figures released recently by Facebook. Promoted posts, which are available to pages with between 400 and 100,000 likes, push specific posts to fans' news feeds, ensuring that they are seen by more people. Facebook recently shared examples of small and midsized businesses that have seen their revenue and reach grow through these promoted posts. Meredith Manor, an equestrian college in West Virginia, started using promoted posts to increase awareness of the school among students who were interested in having a career in the field. To do this, Meredith Manor promoted a photo of an advanced student taking her horse over a challenging jump — a great visual way to highlight student success. The college also created marketplace ads and targeted likes and interests to those who listed terms such as "equestrian," "horse," and "horseback riding" in their profiles. The marketing efforts worked quite well. Meredith Manor reached four times more people through its promoted posts in comparison with its nonpromoted posts and engaged 3.5 times more users. The college said that 30 percent of prospective students have signed up because of its Facebook marketing. Dirk Bosgraf, Meredith Manor's director of marketing, talked about how promoted posts have helped the college: Facebook ads have been a perfect fit for Meredith Manor. The small size of our school means a limited advertising budget, and because we serve such a niche market, we have to attract students from all over the country. Most traditional advertising campaigns at the national level fall well outside our budget. With Facebook ads, we can target the precise demographic we’re trying to reach anywhere in the country, at a fraction of the cost of most traditional marketing methods. The results have been phenomenal. Steve Holmes Photography in New Hampshire ran promoted posts for three days and saw its new client total double. The studio promoted photos such as a gallery of high school senior portraits, a picture of a musical, and a link to a wedding photo album. Steve Holmes Photography also created marketplace ads encouraging high school seniors to be in a photo shoot, directing them to a "senior reps" tab on their Facebook page. Facebook says the studio had 7.5 times more reach in promoted posts, which also directed twice the traffic to the business' website, in comparison to normal posts. Capriotti's Sandwich Shop utilized promoted posts to drive awareness to local stores and increase revenue from gourmet sandwiches. It posted a photo promoting a new location in Covina, Calif., and a post celebrating the second anniversary of an Iowa location by offering discounts targeted toward people in the Hawkeye State. The shop said the promoted post regarding Iowa had more than two times the reach as a normal post. The promoted post featuring the second anniversary reached 267 fans — 100 of whom claimed a $2 sandwich offer — for just $0.65. Jason Smylie, Capriotti's chief marketing officer, felt that promoted posts were a smart move: While other parts of the screen can be overlooked, the news feed is the heart of Facebook. Promoting a post makes it visible in thousands more news feeds. This ensures that our message actually connects with our fans. Sweet Cheeks Diaper in Maine used promoted posts to drive awareness of its physical and online stores, as well as events. It promoted a variety of posts, including a photo of a custom wool soaker and an eye-catching photo of different colored diapers. Sweet Cheeks also used marketplace ads, targeting parents of newborns and young toddlers. The company reported a 49 percent increase in return on investment from just two new sales purchased online, twice as much reach, and double the engagement on promoted posts (compared to normal posts). Readers: Have you used promoted posts for your page? What kind of results did you see? Image courtesy of Capriotti's Sandwich Shop.

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Businesses See Success With Facebook Promoted Posts

Justin Lafferty

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Justin Lafferty