social media marketing strategy

Facebook and Twitter Are Not Your Best Social Media Marketing Channels Anymore

Published December 30, 2014 | By Elaine Fogel

I’ll bet your small business or nonprofit organization spends considerable time on its Facebook page and Twitter account trying to engage new people. After all, aren’t these two social media sites the most effective in reaching prospects, customers, and donors?

Not anymore says a recent Forrester study. “It’s clear that Facebook and Twitter don’t offer the relationships that marketing leaders crave. Yet most brands still use these sites as the centerpiece of their social efforts — thereby wasting significant financial, technological, and human resources on social networks that don’t deliver value,” says Nate Elliott of Forrester.

Now get this… “In the next 18 months… Facebook will become nothing but a repository for display ads,” Elliott predicts. Holy!!

So now what? Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Email Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Study Results, Small Business, SMBs | Tagged brands, content, Contests, customer loyalty, customer service, customers, display ads, donors, existing customers, Facebook, Facebook ads, Facebook marketing, Facebook page, financial metrics, Forrester, give-aways, good prospects, integrated marketing approach, Marketing plan, newsletter, nonprofit marketing, nonprofit organization, organic reach, prospects, quizzes, Small Business, small business marketing, social media ads, social media marketing strategy, social media plan, social networks, Twitter, Twitter ads

Who Said Social Media Marketing Was Free?

Published May 22, 2014 | By Elaine Fogel

Whoever said that social media (SM) marketing was free is living in La-La Land. Even if your business has “free” SM accounts, content doesn’t appear by osmosis. It takes real, live people to create it, post it, and engage with it.

So, what does social media marketing cost?

As with most marketing tactics, the price tag relies on time and money. And, that figure is growing. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Content Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Study Results, Social Media | Tagged C-Level executives, content, content development, marketing tactics, small-business owners, Social Media, Social media marketing, social media marketing strategy, Social Media Marketing University, social media measuring and monitoring, social media strategy development, social strategists

Facebook Ad Revenue Lower For Younger Audiences

Published April 22, 2014 | By Elaine Fogel

Targeting younger audiences with your Facebook ads? Maybe it’s time to rethink your social media marketing strategy. They’re spending way less than older audiences.

First, here’s some background why paid Facebook ads have increased…

Based on a recent study by Nanigans, we’re learning that organic reach on Facebook is shrinking, so marketers are investing in paid advertising to maintain performance. This corroborates Social@Ogilvy research released in February of this year which demonstrated the average reach of organic posts had declined from 12.05% in October 2013 to 6.15% in February 2014.

In fact, Facebook stated that increased competition for limited space in news feeds was the reason for brands getting less exposure.

So, if your business or nonprofit is now paying for Facebook ads in order to stand out and generate revenue, you’d think your efforts would be fairly effective, right? Well, not if it’s targeting younger audiences. Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Charitable Organization, Customer Engagement, Donor Engagement, Marketing, Nonprofit Marketing, Small Business, SMBs, Social Media | Tagged advertisers, Baby Boomers, brand awareness, engaging customers, engaging donors, engaging prospects, Facebook, Facebook ad spending, Facebook ads, generate revenue, MarketingCharts, Nanigans, nonprofit organizations, organic posts, organic reach, paid advertising, Small Business, smaller B2C businesses, Social media marketing, social media marketing strategy, Social@Ogilvy, targeting younger audiences