Brian Meert's Blog, page 101

This New Feature Will Tell You If You’re Addicted to Instagram

November 15, 2018
Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ad agency

People who visit Instagram every other minute, scrolling through the feed for hours a day, may have an Instagram addiction. But that’s not you, right?

You may be wrong. If someone asked you the number hours you spend on Instagram a week, would you know the answer? Now you will, thanks to the Your Activity feature rolling out to Instagram.

Your Activity allows you to monitor your usage each day, giving you a daily average number. If you don’t like what you see, say, you discover that you spend 8 hours on Instagram a day, you can use the feature to limit your usage and turn off notifications for a certain period of time.

Because the feature is still rolling out, you may not have it in your app just yet. If you want to check, click the three-lined hamburger icon on the upper-right corner of your profile page.

According to The Verge, parent app Facebook will also roll out a similar feature called “Your time on Facebook.” The release date has not yet been disclosed.

Written by Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ad agency

The post This New Feature Will Tell You If You’re Addicted to Instagram appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Messenger Update Allows You to Unsend Embarrassing Messages

November 15, 2018
Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

The days of sending an embarrassing message to the wrong recipient (like an explicit photo to a boss or a piece of dirty gossip to the subject of that gossip) will soon be long gone. That’s right. Today, Messenger is rolling out the unsend feature.

As reported by Tech Crunch, the unsend feature allows you to retract a message within a 10-second window. Miss those precious 10 seconds, and the message will permanently remain in the thread. The messages you can retract aren’t limited to texts. You can also take back an explicit photo, an embarrassing video, or a link.

To unsend a message, press and hold the message you want to remove. Click the “Remove for Everyone” option then confirm the removal. There’s also a “Remove for you” option, which will remove the message from your end, not the recipient’s end. Once you remove a message from the thread, a removal notice will remain in its stead—you can’t remove messages in secret.

Photo courtesy of Tech Crunch

Although retracted messages will disappear from the thread, Facebook will still keep those messages for a short period of time to prevent abuse by policy violators, such as cyberbullies and harassers. If a harasser unsends an abusive message, you can report the policy violation by tapping the person’s name, scrolling to “Something’s Wrong,” then choosing the category that describes your issue.

Photo courtesy of Tech Crunch

The unsend feature rolls out today to Poland, Bolivia, Colombia, and Lithuania for iOS and Android devices. Soon, it will roll out globally.

In the meantime, Facebook’s engineers are keeping busy, developing other unsend features, including—potentially—a feature that allows you to set expiration dates on specific messages and entire threads.

Life doesn’t always give second chances, but you can at least take back what you said on Messenger.

Written by Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

The post Messenger Update Allows You to Unsend Embarrassing Messages appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

According to the Experts, This Is Why You’re Failing at Social Media Marketing

November 14, 2018
Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook advertising company
Daniel Páscoa

Marketing advice: it’s everywhere. When we struggle, we look for answers. Whether it be from our peers, friends, or the Internet, we can get all kinds of suggestions about why our social media marketing campaign might be failing. Unfortunately, when we receive too much advice, sometimes with explanations that contradict the ones given by others, we throw our hands in the air and just wing it, never truly pinpointing the cause of our failure.

This article serves as a one-stop shop for all possible reasons your social media marketing campaign is failing. Gathering advice from an extensive range of experts, this article gives you feedback from the pros who have been there and done it all in the world of social media. Hopefully, you will come across a piece of advice that resonates with you so you can pick up the pieces from your shortcomings and begin your journey to success.

You Often Talk About Yourself

Laurie Monteforte, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, has managed businesses and non-profit media accounts for years. She was referenced as an expert by The Associated Press, and she recently created Strong Mountain Media, her own consulting company. Her experience as a reporter has given her the ability to transfer her storytelling skills to social media.

Laurie explains why you may be failing at social media marketing:

“You only talk about yourself. Think about that guy at the party who rambles on and on about himself and never asks about you. Don’t be that guy. You can use the 80/20 rule to make sure you’re achieving a good balance. Only post promotional items 20 percent of the time. The rest of your content should be purely beneficial to the user.”

You Have Weak Targeting

Ellie Shedden is the owner of THE-OOP.com, an online digital marketing agency used by customers across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The agency helps small to medium business owners increase their reach and revenue through digital marketing and social media.

Ellie offers the following insight:

“They have not targeted their social media appropriately. Some clients have simply not defined a target market, believing they cater to everybody. Others know their customers, but they have not adjusted social media campaigns to reach them. Facebook and Instagram have advanced targeting options. This feature should be used in all marketing campaigns to ensure the budget is not wasted, showing ads to those who have no interest in buying the product.”

You Don’t Understand Your Audience

Chris Allen is a content marketing and social media manager for PhoenixNAP Global IT Solutions. Chris says, in addition to a lack of clear strategy throughout the sales funnel, people fail because they don’t understand their audience.

“Not understanding your audience is the primary reason certain businesses can’t seem to effectively manage social media. Your strategy needs to include who you are marketing to, why, what is the benefit (to the customer and to your business), as well as relationship building and engagement.”

You Don’t Use Short Messages

Michelle Chuang is the principal at MMS Brand Consulting, LLC and the founder of lifestyle blog Mimistrawberry.com. She has more than 20 years of marketing experience, specializing in the development of effective strategies for businesses in connecting with their customers through digital marketing.

Michelle says a business could be failing in social media if the content isn’t short and clear:

“This is very important, especially for businesses that are looking to use social media to build a brand. The content needs to deliver a clear message or a story to users in the most concise way possible. Particularly, in today’s social media world, there are millions of brands competing for the attention and eyeballs of customers. It is important to be creative and publish informative content to enhance the brand promise.”

You Have the Wrong KPIs

Natalie Athanasiadis is the owner and head of growth at Ormi Media. She is a digital marketing specialist with almost a decade of social media marketing and digital field experience.

Natalie says not having KPIs is reason to fail at social media:

“You don’t have KPIs in place or you have the wrong KPIs in place, and you are working towards vanity metrics such as likes and follows. You get what you aim for. You should aim for business growth and the rest will follow.”

You Post at the Same Times

Nancy Ortega is the director of digital marketing at W. Bradford. She manages social media accounts for small to large businesses, and she is also in charge of channel marketing for brands. She has more than 12 years of digital marketing experience. Nancy offers the following potential reason a business is failing at social media:

“You’re probably posting the same content across all channels at the same time of day. It’s important to log into each social media platform’s analytics to understand when the best time to engage with your brand’s audience. It’s not the same time for each account. Users consume content differently on each channel.”

You’re Not Listening

Jess Riches is the senior digital marketer at Enriches Business, a digital marketing agency she founded with her husband. The agency works with a variety of businesses and industries on managing online brand presence and provides workshops, training, and programs for business owners. Jess has significant experience in running ad campaigns on social media.

Jess says businesses often fail at social media because they aren’t listening.

“They do not listen to the audience. Let’s say they post something, and it gets a lackluster response. Instead of looking at what went wrong, they will blame the algorithm, or worse, not pay attention to the fact that the content had a poor response and then do it all over again. Too many businesses do not learn. This is a major missed opportunity and comes back to refusal to grow.”

You Don’t Have Experience

Rex Kimball is the owner of Mirex Marketing, which provides social media marketing services. He offers businesses advice on how to integrate social media with other channels.

Rex says sometimes businesses fail due to lack of social media experience.

“Businesses try to do it all on their own when that’s not their forte. They should focus on doing what they do best and outsourcing the rest.”

You Don’t Give the Right-Sized Content

Working closely with the company’s founders, Shakun is a marketing professional at Mettl, an HR technology company and talent measurement firm that enables businesses to make precise decisions in talent recruitment, management, and training across industry verticals.

Shakun says a business may fail at social media marketing for a few different reasons, including the failure to see when short-form content is better than long form.

“If your audience prefers short-form content, and you are constantly bombarding long-form content, the chances of driving engagement is quite lean. Offering bite-sized content, on the other hand, that users can readily consume, will do the trick.

You Have No Distinct Brand Voice

Steve DiMatteo, who has been working in a digital agency environment for more than eight years, is the director at Sixth City Marketing. He has 12 years of SEO experience.

According to Steve, a business may fail at social media marketing because it doesn’t have a distinct voice.

“You aren’t separating yourself from the pack. Social media is all about creativity. There is so much noise out there that it’s impossible to separate your brand without carving out a creative niche. Does your Twitter account have a fun, snarky voice? Do you create eye-popping graphics? Are you producing live Facebook podcasts? There are so many unique options at your disposal you can use to grow your audience.”

You’re Not Buying Ads

Louis Gudema, president of Revenue & Associates, has worked on marketing strategies for a variety of businesses, from MIT startups to the Fortune 10. He previously owned a marketing agency for about 12 years. Now serves as a consultant for companies. He is also the author of Bullseye Marketing.

Louis says when your organic social media strategy is failing, you should turn to paid social advertising.

“Companies have a better opportunity reaching customers with paid social media. Uploading email lists to Facebook and other platforms allows companies to reach people. These platforms also have tremendous amounts of data about their members, and you can use that to target ads by demographics, psychographics (interests), and even intent.”

You Don’t Use Keywords

Christina Boothe is the head of account management for marketing agency Story Amp, based out of Austin, Texas. The agency provides its clients with comprehensive social media management. Her marketing experience ranges across a variety of industries, including petroleum, financial, e-commerce, and technology.

Christina believes lack of keywords is a contributing factor to a business’s failure in social media marketing.

“With any content strategy, no matter the platform, keywords are necessary. Understanding valuable keywords and integrating them into social media posts helps ensure that specific content is found when users specifically search for it. A business that is not implementing keywords into its social strategy will fail to properly segment itself and get lost in the noise of other content.”

Use These Insights

Now that you’ve learned why your social media strategy may have been faltering from some of the big-time experts in the biz, you can commence building yourself back up.

Still searching for answers? Check out what experts have to say about marketing trends in 2018.

Written by Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook advertising company

The post According to the Experts, This Is Why You’re Failing at Social Media Marketing appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Facebook Updates: Custom Audience, Aspect Ratios, and ThruPlay

November 13, 2018
Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

It’s that time of the month: Facebook updates.

Facebook recently announced three changes that are taking effect now. The updates are for Custom Audience, image link ads, and ThruPlay.

New Custom Audience Usage Requirements

There are several updates related to Custom Audience. First, Facebook is restoring audience size estimates for most Custom Audiences you upload to Business Manager. Second, when using a Custom Audience, all terms must be accepted per user across ad accounts in Business Manager. Third, all advertisers creating or using Custom Audiences must have a Business Manager account.

New Height Allowance for Image Link Ads

Now all image link ads will accommodate up to 1:1 ratioed creatives, such as images and videos. According to Facebook, this update will keep the consistency across all ad format and platforms, help advertisers have more creative flexibility, and drive better performance. All advertisers creating ads in Ads Manager will see a recommended image specs of 1080 x 1080 pixels, 1:1 image ratio.

ThruPlay Is Available Globally

ThruPlay, which rolled out in September, allows advertisers to pay only when users view their ads in their entirety or when they are viewed for at least 15 seconds. The release was limited to certain countries until now. ThruPlay is currently available globally.

Facebook often announces updates to its advertising platform—keep your eyes peeled for more.

Written by Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

The post Facebook Updates: Custom Audience, Aspect Ratios, and ThruPlay appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How Businesses Use Instagram Stories (Infographic)

November 13, 2018
Josh Wardini, guest writer
Photo courtesy of 99firms.com

Ever since it was released back in 2016, Instagram Stories became one of the best tools companies can use to promote their brands to customers using behind-the-scenes footage. Whether redirecting them to a product page, another social platform, a blog post, or a campaign page, brands take their customers closer to their products.

Because there are more than 400 million active daily users of Stories, this feature has become so attractive to companies. Family owned winery based in Marlborough, New Zealand, is an example of a company that uses Instagram Stories and gets the best out of it. It used ads to capture the attention of a new part of the United States market. This resulted in decreased cost-per-post engagement by 63 percent and increased conversions by 32 percent.

Let’s take a look at statistics regarding usage trends.

Twenty-four percent of businesses rank Story engagement as a measure of success.
Eighty-eight percent of businesses state that they want to increase posting to Instagram Stories in 2018.
Thirty percent of businesses plan to create Instagram Stories ads in 2018.

Thousands of companies are already using Instagram Stories. The infographic below depicts how 39 big brands are using it, and the results that it brings them.

This infographic originally appeared in 99firms.com.

The post How Businesses Use Instagram Stories (Infographic) appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Lasso Is Facebook’s Latest Attempt to Attract Teen Users

November 12, 2018
Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

Back in August, Emarketer reported that Facebook will lose 2.2 million teen users by 2022—this isn’t surprising.

Many market research companies like Emarketer, and even Facebook itself, have long foreseen teen users’ disinterest in the social network, teens who are drawn to video-centric apps like Snapchat and Instagram. To win back those users, Facebook released features that may lure them to the platform, features that many argue to be direct copies of Snapchat’s Snaps in the form of Instagram and Facebook Stories and Snapchat’s Discover in the form of Facebook’s Watch.

Now, Facebook makes another defensive move to compete against apps that teenagers love. This time, Facebook sets its eyes on Tik Tok.

According to The Verge, Facebook released an app called Lasso, which functions similarly to competitor app Tik Tok. Like the rival social media app, Lasso, available to iOS and Android devices, allows users to post lip-synching videos to the public. (Private accounts are not allowed on the app.) Users can add hashtags for easy discovery and post their videos to Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories, although the latter is a capability not yet available.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg knows the company is losing the attention of teen users. In its Q3 2018 earnings report, Zuckerberg announced that he is pushing Facebook from feed-focused to Stories-focused. The more Facebook looks and functions like the apps teens love, the more likely the company will win those users back. Changing Facebook is not enough, it seems. Squashing out the competition, like Tik Tok and Snapchat, is on the agenda.

Written by Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

The post Lasso Is Facebook’s Latest Attempt to Attract Teen Users appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

8 Effective Ways to Grow Your Facebook Groups

November 7, 2018
Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company
Brooke Cagle / Unsplash

Online communities are powerful engagement tools. That’s why so many Facebook pages use groups to engage with other users. However, getting the word out about your Facebook group can be challenging if you’re trying to grow and reach new members, especially if you want to broaden your horizons beyond your friends list. If you’re trying to grow your Facebook group, here are some effective strategies you need to try.

Invite Leads through Email or Newsletter

If you’ve already generated a list of leads through ads or customer sign-ups, you can invite them to join your group via email or a weekly newsletter. Since it’s free to join your Facebook group, your leads may be more willing to listen to your message because you’re not selling anything. Additionally, inviting people who have already expressed an interest in your business ensures better chances of adding members who will be valuable to your group.

Your email or newsletter should include a link to your group so users can easily visit it.

Add Your Group URL to Social Media Accounts

You can also promote your group by adding the group URL to your social media accounts. Just because it’s a Facebook group doesn’t mean you can’t use other social platforms to get the word out. You can include the URL in the bio section of your Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram profiles. If you want to get creative, you can share an attention-grabbing graphic that includes a link to your group on these other platforms. See this Twitter graphic example by Blogging Wizard.

 Image Courtesy of Blogging Wizard
Add Group URL to Your Website

If you have a website for your brand, business, or blog, why not use it to help promote your Facebook group? You can include a link to your group on the contact page of your site, in a blog post, or even in the main navigation menu. See the following example by Blogging Wizard.

 Image Courtesy of Blogging Wizard
Run Targeted Facebook Ads

If your budget allows it, run targeted Facebook ads to promote your group. This allows you to specify and reach the types of users who would both benefit from and contribute to your group page. Targeted ads will only appear to audiences with the attributes or interests that match what you indicate in the targeting fields of the ad setup.

To ensure your ad only targets users who would be interested in your group, you can create a Lookalike Audience based on people who already like your Facebook page. With a Lookalike Audience, Facebook will deliver your ad to users with locations, demographics, and interests similar to people who like your page. Targeting a Lookalike Audience ensures your ad will only appear to users most likely to be interested in your group.

Post About Your Group on Your Page

An easy (and free) way to promote your group is by posting about it on your Facebook page now and then. Neil Patel suggests waiting until you have about 100 page likes or followers before mentioning your group in a post. When crafting a page post promoting your group, keep these tips in mind:

Don’t be overly pushy. You can do this by avoiding the use of words in all caps and exclamation points.
Give users a brief overview of the benefits of joining your group.
Include a link to join.
Limit the number of times you post about your group on your page to no more than once a month.
Don’t overwhelm users with a ton of information. Keep it concise and easy to digest.

The following post is a good example by Neil Patel.

Image Courtesy of Neil Patel
Promote Your Group through Other Groups

Consider turning to other groups for assitance. Some groups prohibit self-promotion or limit it to certain days, so know the rules of the group before you post about yours. You also don’t want to get banned for posting too much spammy, self-promotional content, so only use this option sparingly.

Neil Patel recommends contributing at least three to five posts to a group before sharing a self-promotional post. This could be in the form of comments on another member’s post, likes, or shares. Your group should see you as a valuable member, not an intrusive marketer.

Once you establish yourself as an active group member, promote your group by including a genuine question with a brief mention of your group. Neil Patel offers the following example to show how to take this approach.

Image Courtesy of Neil Patel
Ask Other Group Members to Promote Your Group

Once you’ve built up a good rapport with members in other groups, you can ask them to spread the word about yours. The best approach is to ask one of the group’s founding members or admins if they would be willing to share a post mentioning your group. Don’t get too picky telling them exactly what to say. Simply share your group’s link and let them know you’d appreciate any assistance they are able to provide in letting others know about it.

You can also ask members within your group to spread the word on their Facebook pages. This can help bolster your group’s reputation with a trustworthy approach. Users are more likely to believe other users who praise your group.

Invite Influencers to Join Your Group

Users trust influencers because although they work with brands and businesses, they are best known for their social status. If a major influencer decides to join your Facebook group, other users will want to go where the cool kids are. Keep in mind that the influencers you invite should have a reputation that is relevant to your group. For example, if your group is focused on country music buffs, invite an influencer widely known in country music circles.

To get influencers’ attention, share their content and tag them in the post. Neil Patel uses the following example:

Image Courtesy of Neil Patel

Once you’ve given these growth strategies a try, you may find your group begins to expand at a rapid pace. When this happens, it’s easy to fall into a disorganized fluster. To get control over your Facebook group, give these seven secrets a try.

Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

The post 8 Effective Ways to Grow Your Facebook Groups appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Deleting Facebook: Why People Left and the Aftermath

November 6, 2018
Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company
Maria Zaric / Unsplash

Why are people leaving Facebook?

That question occurred to me when headlines about deleting Facebook kept appearing in the news. As previously stated, a quick Google search of the keywords “Facebook account” will reap articles teaching readers how to delete their profiles.

At first, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the recent hack, and the fake Russian ads seemed like the obvious answers to this trend, but after speaking to three sources, recent scandals were not the reason they left. In fact, these sources left before the scandals occurred. Lauren, Allison, and Zach shared the stories of why they left Facebook and how leaving has affected (and not affected) their lives.

A Big Waste of Time

Lauren Crain migrated from MySpace to Facebook, a year after the latter social media website officially opened to the public in 2006. A high school student at the time, Lauren opened her account, eager to use the new, exciting, and cool social networking site—she loved it. Social media was a burgeoning presence in people’s lives, and Facebook in particular allowed Lauren to communicate with her friends and high school classmates. But her enthusiasm for the website faded a few years later.

“It added literally nothing to my life,” she said when explaining why she left Facebook. “I deleted it, and life hasn’t changed much.”

The website, which at first was rich with meaningful interaction, lost the communication that lured her. As her friends moved away from Facebook, using the service less and less, the communication left with them. Her desire to share her thoughts and to receive likes and comments on her posts followed after. But the loss of communication wasn’t the only reason she deleted her account.

“I hated the fact that it [Facebook] was just another app listening to me and selling me targeted ads.”

As a digital marketer, Lauren understood Facebook’s tracking tools, which advertisers use to target ads to users. She also understood that the company must include more ads and branded content into News Feed to attract more advertisers.

“Facebook just seems like a big time suck…oversaturated with brands, former acquaintances, and older relatives.”

Indifferent to the content that appeared on her feed and deeming Facebook inconsequential to her life, Lauren deleted her account. She has been Facebook-free for one year, with no urges to return.

A Malicious Security Attack

Much like Lauren, Allison Beltramini was one of Facebook’s early adaptors, signing up for an account in 2006. She initially enjoyed the website because it allowed her to connect with long-distance friends, share information on her feed, and use Messenger to communicate with friends and family. However, after owning a Facebook profile for ten years, Allison deleted her account. Someone she knew installed a malicious software into her computer, a software that tracked her every movement online. Every email sent, every website visited, every activity monitored and harvested by the hacker.

“I was tracked every five minutes for three years by one individual. I was trying to eliminate as much access as I could.”

And that included access to Facebook.

Even if the hack on her computer didn’t occur, Allison would have likely deleted her account nonetheless as her dissatisfaction with Facebook grew during her time as a regular user. Allison saw the social networking site as a platform that cultivated unhealthy competition: who had the largest number of Facebook friends, who had the most likes and comments on posts, who lived the most interesting life.

As an associate professor teaching digital communications at Waubonsee Community College, Allison was also keenly aware of social media’s effects on human interaction.

“Facebook brings people together, but it can be very isolating as well. Almost everyone is connected to a device. Look around when you go out to a store or a restaurant or a doctor’s waiting room. There’s hardly anybody interacting with anyone else. Most everyone is looking down on their phones. ”

Allison has been living without Facebook for two years.

“I don’t miss it at all! There’s no FOMO [fear of missing out], and I have more free time. It was definitely the right decision for me.”

A Big Mistake

For Zack Hendrix, however, leaving Facebook was not the right decision.

“I deactivated my Facebook, and I made it two months,” he confessed.

As a co-founder of the company, GreenPal, Zach used Facebook as a tool to keep an eye on competitors, stay informed of industry-related news, and keep up with his favorite brands. Zach didn’t realize the role Facebook played in keeping him informed until he deactivated his account.

“I didn’t realize all the nuanced ways I relied on Facebook to grow my business. I wasn’t able to keep tabs on the kind of content competitors were putting out, things that were happening in our industry, and all sorts of technology news that I was interested in.”

If Zach relied on Facebook so much, why did he deactivated his account in the first place?

“I had enough of it. I figured, what the heck, it wasn’t adding any value in my life, and it was just wasting my time.”

Echoing Lauren and Allison’s complaints, Zach cited the content on his News Feed as the source of his dissatisfaction with Facebook. For Zack, many of his friends’ posts were uninteresting and irrelevant. But after reactivating his account and discovering Facebook’s Mute and Unfollow tools, Zack learned to prune irrelevant content from his feed. His advice to people unhappy with Facebook? Using those tools.

“I think most people would benefit from just curating their social feed rather than abandoning it altogether.”

Facebook’s Algorithm Is Failing Users

Although Lauren, Allison, and Zach left Facebook for varying reasons, one source of dissatisfaction tied these three strangers together: their frustration with their News Feeds. For all three, their experiences were sullied with the irrelevant and uninteresting content that appeared on their feeds. Facebook has already changed the agorithm from chronological to relevance, claiming the latter will create meaningful interactions and encourage users to spend more time on the platform. But based on Lauren, Allison, and Zach’s experiences, the algorithm may need a bit of improvement.

Written by Anne Felicitas, editor at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ads company

The post Deleting Facebook: Why People Left and the Aftermath appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Trademark Infringement on Social Media: What to Do

November 4, 2018
Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ad agency
Raw Pixel / Unsplash

You just got home from a long day at the office. You’ve had a very productive day working on your brand’s digital marketing strategy for multiple online platforms. You sit down at your home desk and pop open your laptop to see if you’ve gotten any notifications on your personal Facebook profile. You’re scrolling through News Feed and find an ad with your company a logo…only, it’s not your company’s ad.

It’s not uncommon for a company to scam users by copying another brand’s name or logo. Luckily, there are policies in place to help brands who are victims of such thefts. But where and how do you start the process? In this article, I’ll walk you through the necessary guidelines for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Amazon. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use them, but at least you’ll be prepared in case you do.

Facebook

The easiest and fastest way to file a report of a trademark infringement is through its online form. You will need to supply the following information, as listed by Facebook’s Help Center:

Complete contact information (full name, mailing address and phone number)
The specific word, symbol, etc. in which you claim trademark rights
The basis for your claim of trademark rights (such as a national or community registration), including registration number, if applicable
The country or jurisdiction in which you claim trademark rights
The category of goods and/or services for which you assert rights
Information reasonably sufficient to permit Facebook to locate the material on Facebook that you believe violates your trademark rights. (Provide the web URL that leads directly to the infringing content.)
A description of how you believe the content infringes your trademark
If you are not the rights owner, an explanation of your relationship to the rights owner
A declaration that you have a good faith belief that use of the trademark described above, in the manner you have complained of, is not authorized by the trademark owner, its agent, or the law; that the information in your notice is accurate; and under penalty of perjury, you are the owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of a trademark that is allegedly infringed
Your electronic signature or physical signature

Facebook advises you to first contact the party you suspect of trademark infringement directly about your concerns. If you want to pursue an in-depth investigation, Facebook says to consider court or judicial means. It’s also important to note that the contact information you provide in your report to Facebook will be shared with the party about whom you are filing the report, so they may use it to contact you.

After you submit your report online, Facebook says you will receive an automated email containing your report number, which you should save for your records. If Facebook determines that more information is needed in order to complete the report, you will be contacted via email by someone from Facebook, so you should diligently keep an eye on your inbox.

Brand Violation Policies

Facebook’s Advertising Policies states that third-party infringement is prohibited. Specifically, the policies state:

“Ads must not contain content that infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights.”

Additionally, Facebook’s Statement of Rights also prohibits using the platform to share content that “infringes or violates someone else’s rights.”

Instagram

Instagram’s process for filing a report of a trademark infringement is the same as Facebook’s. The main difference is the link to the online form.

Just as you would with Facebook, first contact the party you suspect of trademark infringement directly about your concerns. If you want to pursue the incident further, you will need to turn to court or judicial means outside of Instagram’s process. Just as Facebook would, Instagram will share your contact information provided in the report with the party suspected of infringement.

Once you submit the online report, Instagram will send you an automated email response to confirm that it was received. That email will contain a report number that you should save for your records. You should keep an eye on your email afterwords in case Instagram asks for more information regarding your report.

Brand Violation Policies

Instagram’s Platform Policy clearly states under its General Terms:

“Don’t provide or promote content that violates any rights of any person, including but not limited to intellectual property rights, rights of privacy, or rights of personality.”

Additionally, in its Terms of Use, Instagram says it may terminate an account if it infringes upon another user’s rights, which includes intellectual property.

Snapchat

To report trademark infringement to Snapchat, specify the trademark concern. There are three types to choose from:

Someone is using my trademark in their content, including in an Ad, Filter, or Story

Someone is using my trademark to sell or promote counterfeit goods

Once you select your specific concern, you will be directed to a contact form where you will need to fill in the required information fields. Information you will need to supply includes your full name, email address, full name of the rights holder, the type of content you are reporting, details about the trademark, the trademark registration number, the trademark jurisdiction, trademark verification, an example of genuine goods, a link to the trademark infringement, the location of the infringement content (e.g. Story title, username, or Snap ID), and a description of the infringing content.

You may also upload any documentation that you believe might help in the investigation, such as the image of the original content that was violated.

Brand Violation Policies

Snapchat states in its Community Guidelines under Impersonation & Spam:

“Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not — this includes your friends, celebrities, brands, or other organizations — or attempt to deceive people about who you are.”

YouTube

YouTube advises you to first contact the owner of the content that’s infringing on your trademark rights to attempt a resolution. If you are unable to resolve things smoothly, then YouTube says you should submit an online trademark complaint.

There are four sections YouTube requires you to provide information for as part of your complaint: your information, details about your trademark, details about the content in question and how you think it is infringing on your trademark rights, and legal affirmations.

The information you will need to provide includes:

Your full legal name
Company name
Trademark owner
Your relationship to the trademark owner (what is your authority to make this complaint?)
Your Contact Information

Trademark details include:

Jurisdiction of trademark registration
Registration number

Content details you will need to supply:

Each URL in question (video, channel, or both)
A description of how you believe the trademark is being infringed

YouTube requires that you also agree to and provide these statements in your complaint:

“I have a good faith belief that the use of the trademarks described above with the content described above are not authorized by the trademark owner or its agent, nor is such use otherwise permissible under law.”
“I represent that the information in this notification is true and correct and that I am authorized to act on behalf of the trademark owner.”
“I consent to my complaint being forwarded to the user that posted the allegedly infringing content.”

If you do not wish to submit your complaint via YouTube’s online form, YouTube says you can contact its legal support team in one of the following alternative ways:

Email: legal@support.youtube.com
Fax: +1 650 872 8513
Postal mail: Legal Support, YouTube (Google, Inc.), 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066 USA

Brand Violation Policies

In YouTube’s Terms of Service, the platform says the following in regards to content infringement:

“You further agree that Content you submit to the Service will not contain third party copyrighted material, or material that is subject to other third party proprietary rights, unless you have permission from the rightful owner of the material or you are otherwise legally entitled to post the material and to grant YouTube all of the license rights granted herein.”

A couple points down, the Terms also state:

“YouTube does not endorse any Content submitted to the Service by any user or other licensor, or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and YouTube expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with Content. YouTube does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights on the Service, and YouTube will remove all Content if properly notified that such Content infringes on another’s intellectual property rights. YouTube reserves the right to remove Content without prior notice.”

YouTube also says it reserves the right to terminate an account if it is deemed a repeat infringer.

Amazon

Amazon too has an online form to complete in order to report a trademark violation. The form requires the following information:

Whether you are the rights owner or an agent for the rights owner
The primary complaint
The specific concern
The brand name
A written description of the infringed content, a link to the infringed content, OR the copyright registration number
The ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) or the URL of each product you are reporting
Your contact information
Brand Violation Policies
Amazon has an Intellectual Property Policy, which details what is considered a trademark. It also states the following about trademark use:

“Typically, a seller can use someone else’s trademark in the following circumstances:

When selling authentic goods, a seller may use a trademarked name to list those goods. For example, a seller who lists an authentic ‘Pinzon’ product is not necessarily infringing on the owner of the Pinzon trademark because the seller is using the trademark to identify an authentic product.
When using a trademarked word in its ordinary dictionary meaning.
When making truthful statements that a product is compatible with a trademarked product. For example, if a seller offers a specialty cable that is compatible with the Kindle E-reader, and states that the cable is ‘compatible with Kindle,’ this generally is not trademark infringement as long as the statement is true and not confusing. Note, however, that “similar to” claims (such as stating that goods are ‘similar to Kindle’ or ‘better than Kindle’) are against Amazon listing policy.”

Additionally, the policy explains counterfeiting incidents:

“Counterfeiting is a specific type of trademark infringement. A counterfeit is an unlawful total or partial reproduction of a registered trademark—or a mark that is very similar to a registered trademark—in connection with the sale of a product that does not come from the trademark holder.

“Counterfeiting requires the use of a registered trademark on the product or packaging. A look-alike item sold on a separate product detail page without the improper use of a registered trademark is not a counterfeit, even though the item might look similar or identical to the trademarked product.”

Legal Action

Each platform specifically notes that it does not enact legal action and that if you should want to enforce any such measures, you should consider getting a lawyer involved. None of the platforms are responsible for instigating any sort of legal action or enforcement, so you’ll need to explore your options outside of the specific platform’s infringement process if that’s the route you want to take.

How Long the Infringement Report Process Takes

It varies, depending on the information you provide and any additional information that may be needed after you submit the initial report. Depending on the individual case, the platform may contact you with follow-up questions regarding your report. The platforms don’t specify exactly how long the process takes.

While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery in some cases, trademark infringement going through the process of reporting an infringement, but platforms have the policies in place in order to help you preserve the integrity of your trademark and to overall promote only positive online experiences for brands.

Should you fall victim to trademark infringement on any one of the platforms covered in this article, you now have the resources to at least help alleviate some of the burden of scrounging for it on your own. And if you’re fortunate enough to dodge that bullet, at least you’re prepared!

Written by Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook ad agency

The post Trademark Infringement on Social Media: What to Do appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

6 Reasons to Bid on Your Own Brand Terms in AdWords

November 3, 2018
Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook advertising company
Raw Pixel / Unsplash

The word “bid” often makes you think expensive or costly. You might think it’s unnecessary or pointless to bid on your own brand terms in Google AdWords to boost your brand’s appearance in search results. If you already rank number one in organic search results, why bother, right?

Actually, there’s very good reason to bother. In fact, there are six reasons in particular why you should bid on your own brand terms in AdWords. This article will detail those reasons so you can run a successful AdWords campaign and appear on top of search results.

1. Keep Competitors from Stealing Valuable Clicks

If you aren’t bidding on your own brand terms, you can bet your competitors will. Your rivals would like nothing better than to use your own brand against you to steal away valuable clicks that would otherwise result in a guaranteed sell for you.

When customers search for your brand term, they are specifically looking for you, which means they are a very good buying prospect. But if their search takes them to your competitor because you failed to bid on your own brand terms, you would not only lose a valuable click, but you would also lose it to someone stealing away your business.

iSpionage offers a good example. If Wordstream, which ranks number one in both organic and paid search results, didn’t bid on its own brand terms, the search result for its competitor, FishGoogle, would appear at the top. FishGoogle uses the brand term “Wordstream” in the ad’s headline “Better Than Wordstream.”

Image Courtesy of iSpionage
2. Save on Cheap Cost Per Clicks

Did you know that the cost per click (CPC) for branded terms is cheaper than your average CPC? Well, it is. According to iSpionage, if your average CPC is $1.50, you can buy branded clicks for 30 cents.

If you rank number one in search results, you may have earned a percentage of those clicks at no cost, but buying branded clicks helps prevent competitors from stealing your clicks. Since it’s so cheap, it’s definitely worth it.

3. Drive More Traffic

More clicks mean more traffic to your brand’s website, which means more sales. According to a Bing study of click yield for brand’s that rank number one organically, as well as with their own brand ads, the yield for brands with both number one ranks was higher than those with just the organic rank. Specifically, brands with both ranks generated an 88 percent yield, in contrast to the 56 percent yield for just the organic rank.

Image Courtesy of iSpionage

It is true that paid results eat up about 18 percent of clicks otherwise gained from just an organic number one rank. However, it’s a small sacrifice to make for a 32 percent increase in traffic.

Image Courtesy of iSpionage
4. Occupy More Search Results Space

Bidding on your own brand terms ultimately helps you occupy more search engine results page (SERP) space. While taking up the number one rank in organic search is very important in brand exposure, you double that exposure when you also rank number one in paid search. It’s yet another way to keep your competitors further down the SERP list.

In the image below, see how HubSpot both ranks high in paid search and in organic search, making it a more prominent presence than its competitors.

Image Courtesy of iSpionage
5. Write Customized Ad Copy

With organic search results, Google is the ultimate decision maker for which page title and meta description is shown. In contrast, paid search allows you to experiment with different ad copy, customizing the primary message you want your audience to see. You even have the capability of testing out which ad copy performs best. Being able to write customized ad copy helps you acquire all the clicks you can possibly get for your brand.

6. Get Better Return on Investment

You can run all kinds of marketing campaigns, whether they be on social media or even offline, but everything almost always leads back to a Google search of your brand. By bidding on your own brand terms, you can ensure that you’re on that search results page waiting for your audience with open arms. When you are, you open the door to more clicks, which means more traffic, which ultimately means more revenue.

Return on investment is the primary goal of most campaigns. You improve your ROI by taking away your competitors’ opportunities to out-market you and getting your brand to the top of search results, both organic and paid.

It’s time for you to take the AdWords scape by storm.

Written by Anna Hubbel, writer at AdvertiseMint, Facebook advertising company

The post 6 Reasons to Bid on Your Own Brand Terms in AdWords appeared first on AdvertiseMint.