Q&A with Jeff Ferguson, CEO of Fang Digital Marketing

Jeff Ferguson — CEO of Fang Digital Marketing — has led online marketing efforts for some major companies, such as Hilton Hotels, Kimberly-Clark and Experian. He's also lent his expertise to companies such as American Airlines, Farmers Insurance and Toyota. Furguson will speak at the Inside Social Marketing conference in New York City, Dec. 3-4. He will lead a solo session, "Boosting Your Social Marketing: The True Impact of Paying for Extra Social Exposure," and participate in a panel, "Turning Twitter Followers Into Your Best Customers: How To Attract, Engage And Convert On Twitter." Register today by clicking here! Ferguson spoke with Inside Facebook about how Facebook marketers should approach paid media. Inside Facebook: What should a first-time advertiser think about before deciding to promote a post on Facebook? Jeff Ferguson: Like with any form of advertising, they really need to think about what the goal of the campaign is really going to be and how it ties back directly to their corporate business goals. All too often, I hear brands say they want to use promoted posts to increase reach, get more likes, get more shares, or some other form of diagnostic metric that isn't really useful on its own. This isn't a new problem for social media, but social media has its own set of diagnostic metrics that get confused for goals on a regular basis. We regularly correct our clients that claim a diagnostic metric like "clicks" or "likes" as a goal and instead ask, "Are you sure you goal isn't more sales? If so, let's figure out how to tie this campaign to that goal." IF: What are some signals to look out for that would hint that a post would be good to boost? JF: There's definitely no hints; we craft posts specifically for the purpose of being boosted. If we see an existing post that's getting a lot of engagement or is driving an existing KPI for a company, we look at what's making that happen and then try and replicate it for another post. IF: How can a Facebook page admin balance paid and organic media? JF: We always advise our clients that, if you're paying for the post, then it better be driving revenue somewhere down the line. Your organic posts are great for functions like audience engagement and don't always have to be about the money. IF: What can Facebook do more of, in order to make it a better advertising option? JF: We're actually very happy with the way Facebook works as an advertising option. Usually when I hear agencies complaining about Facebook, they're just using it for the wrong reasons. IF: In which situations should you NOT advertise a post on Facebook? JF: When you're just trying to get attention, likes, or some other BS social media metric. The goal of advertising is always about driving your corporate KPIs and nothing else.

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Q&A with Jeff Ferguson, CEO of Fang Digital Marketing

Justin Lafferty

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Justin Lafferty