Brian Meert's Blog, page 71
April 29, 2020
How to Duet on TikTok
APR. 29, 2020
TikTok has been rising to prominence, thanks to the limitless supply of entertainment in the form of short amusing videos that populate the app’s feed. What was once a toy for Gen Zs is now a platform for people of all ages. Yes, even millennials are using the app, now that stay-at-home orders caused by a worldwide pandemic has people desperately finding new ways to amuse themselves.
TikTok, for those of you who don’t know, is a video app that allows you to create 20- or 15-second videos. Although many of the trending clips you see are set to the tune of a popular song or some other type of audio track (dialogues are popular, too), you can also record a video without using TikTok’s sounds. But that’s not the only feature that has people gaga for TikTok. You can also record a duet with other TikTok users.
What Is a TikTok Duet
Although you can create your own videos, you can also respond to other users’ TikToks in the form of a duet. When you duet with other users, your video will appear with a split screen: On one side is the video that you’re responding to and the other side is your recording. To give you an idea, here’s a compilation of duets, courtesy of Top Tik Tok.
How to Create a Duet Video on TikTok
Creating a TikTok duet is easy. Follow these steps.
Step 1: Choose a TikTok video then click the share button on the right column.
Step 2: Click “Duet.”
Not all videos allow duets. This is based on the creator’s privacy settings. Some creators choose to enable duets while some don’t.
Step 3: Tap the red button to record your duet.
Once you’re done, click the red check mark to post. If you want to redo your duet, click the “x” from the upper-left corner of your screen.
How to Enable Duets on TikTok (In Settings)
Duets are disabled by default. However, you can turn on duets in settings. Follow these steps.
Step 1: Go to settings by clicking the three-dotted icon from the upper-right corner of your profile.
Step 2: Click “Privacy and safety.”
Step 3: Scroll down and click “Who Can Stitch or Duet with your videos.”
Step 4: Click “Everyone” or “Friends.”
By choosing “everyone,” all users, even people who don’t follow you, can duet to your TikTok. By choosing “friends,” only people in your following list can duet to your videos.
How to Enable TikTok Duets (On Video)
You can also enable duets before posting your TikTok video.
Step 1: Click “Allow Stitch, Duet, and React” from the “Post” page.
Step 2: Publish your video.
How to Disable Duets on TikTok (In Settings)
As aforementioned, not all creators enable duets on their videos. If you no longer want people to respond or duet to your TikToks, follow these steps.
Step 1: Go to settings by clicking the three-dotted icon from the upper-right corner of your profile.
Step 2: Click “Privacy and safety.”
Step 3: Scroll down and click “Who Can Stitch or Duet with your videos.”
Step 4: Click “No one.”
You can also make sure that only your friends can duet with your TikToks by clicking “Friends.”
How to Disable Duets on TikTok (On Video)
You can also disable duets straight from the TikTok you’re about to post. Here’s how you do it.
Step 1: Click “Allow Stitch, Duet, and React” from the “Post” page.
Once you’ve finished your video, click the red check mark then “next” to get to the “Post” page. Under your video and caption, you will see the option to allow duets. If the toggle button is green, your video is enabled for duets. Click the toggle button so that it’s gray — this means your duet is disabled.
Step 2: Post your video.
Now you know how to create a TikTok duet. What’s the next step? Maybe you can try earning money on TikTok.
By Anne Felicitas
The post How to Duet on TikTok appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
April 28, 2020
Is Your YouTube Video Performing Well? 7 Essential YouTube Metrics and How to Analyze Them
APR. 28, 2020
Szabo Viktor / YouTubeMost business owners would be happy to learn that their videos are amassing thousands of views. That should mean that their videos are achieving their goals, right? That’s the ultimate proof of a successful video marketing strategy.
You’d think so. Although views are important, they aren’t the only metric you should take into account when analyzing how well your videos are doing, especially on YouTube. To understand whether your video is performing well, you must analyze a combination of quantitative and qualitative YouTube metrics. Here are the seven important metrics you should keep an eye on when analyzing the performance of your YouTube videos.
1. Audience Demographics and Playback Location
You create your videos with a target audience in mind. Perhaps your videos are explainers meant for adult chefs in New York or teenage athletes in Europe. If you want to know who’s watching your videos, pay close attention to the demographics and playback location metrics of the videos you’re uploading to YouTube.
The demographics page of YouTube analytics gives you much needed insights, including the age, gender, and geography of your audience. There, you’ll also find the playback location metric, which will show you where your views are coming from, whether they’re from YouTube.com, the YouTube app, or another site. All that data is extremely useful to determine whether you’re reaching your target audience.
These two YouTube metrics, audience demographics and playback location, will let you see if you’re reaching those old cooking fans in the Big Apple or if you’re missing the mark and need to revise what you’re doing. Even if your target audience is broad enough to make you think you can neglect the audience demographic metric, you can learn a thing or two and further customize your upcoming videos to speak directly to your audience.
Views by Geography2. Views and Watching Times
We all love to have thousands of views on our YouTube videos, even when we don’t precisely know what a view means. That’s right: Google never disclosed how much time someone has to watch a video for it to count as a view. So, we need to use estimates and approximates — but we can surely do better than that.
That’s when watch time comes in. With the combination of 2 metrics — views and watch time — you can understand your audience’s activity in a better way and adjust your videos accordingly. There are two types of view metrics:
Average view duration: the average time people spend watching a single video (or your whole channel)
Average view duration by videoAverage percentage viewed: the parts of a video that keeps audiences engaged (the first few seconds, a part in the middle, etc.)
Average percentage viewed by videoTaking a closer look at those numbers, which speak volumes about your YouTube video. Is your average view duration dropping on your latest videos? Then you have to check what you’ve changed for that to happen. Are people dropping out of your videos after the first few seconds? Maybe it’s time to get rid of that bland presentation of yours.
The best thing about these YouTube metrics: You can compare your videos to one another and see which one performed better. After that, you can write down the differences between the successful videos (those that people keep watching) and the videos that flopped.
3. Audience Retention Rates
Knowing how much time your audience spends watching your video is good and all, but it’s not enough. You have to analyze the quality of those views because even if you have an average percentage viewed of 80%, you have to put that number into context. People might be watching your short videos in their entirety but only a part of your longer videos. Maybe those longer videos are the ones you want to push the hardest.
That’s when the audience retention metric enters. With it, you’ll learn the exact time in which your audience stopped paying attention. It’s not just a matter of a problematic introduction or dumb ending but a very precise moment in your video that comes extremely handy when determining what works and what doesn’t.
There are 2 possible ways to read audience retention rates:
Absolute audience retention: You can take a look at this graph to learn what specific parts in your videos are the most watched, calculated by the numbers of views for those moments as a percentage of the total number of those videos’ views. This is incredibly useful to learn which parts are always skipped or always watched.
Absolute audience retentionRelative audience retention: This metric compares your videos’ performance with other YouTube videos of a similar length. This kind of broader context is perfect to redefine a metric’s value. Perhaps you feel like people aren’t finishing your longer videos but with this report, you might learn that other videos of that length and of the same topic show similar performance. It’s the good ol’ case of it’s not you, it’s your audience.
Relative audience retentionThough YouTube only gives you the possibility to analyze audience retention metrics for just one video at the time, you should definitely take a look at your most viewed videos from this page to understand them better.
4. Traffic
People will surely find your YouTube videos through several ways. Some people might find them by using YouTube’s search; others will come from your ads on the platform; some will watch them as an embedded video on a website. Learning where viewers are coming from is the key to further optimize your videos and maximize their reach.
Thanks to YouTube’s traffic sources page, you can do just that. In it, you’ll see a graph that displays your traffic sources, along with the amount of views that came from them. A quick look will show you how people are discovering your content. Maybe people are coming from external sites, so you push your videos on those sites or similar sites. Perhaps people are coming from YouTube search, you can improve reach by using more precise keywords.
Understanding the traffic source metric will let you refine your video distribution strategy by identifying the sources that can be improved upon and the ones that aren’t worth taking the trouble.
Traffic sources5. Devices
Of course, sites people use to discover your content are important, but the devices they use to access your videos are just as essential. Finding a video through Playstation isn’t the same as watching it through a tablet. The way a video looks is different for each device, so it’s crucial to check your audience’s preferred one.
You may assume that most people watch videos on their smartphones. Although that’s common, your audience may be different. You’ll only know that if you check the devices metric on YouTube insights. Of course, creating a strategy based on what you find there is essential. You might find, for example, that viewers watching from larger screens might be looking for more detailed and spectacular content than those watching from smaller devices.
Views by device type 6. Audience Engagement
For quite some time, engagement has been the golden metric for most marketers, and it still provides valuable insight into whether a YouTube video is performing well. Sure enough, you can’t rely only on engagement. There are other metrics that can be identified separately to see whether your audience is truly engaged.
Views: Successful videos have tons of views (albeit high quality ones). If people are engaged with your videos, they’ll watch them more than once, and they’ll invite people to watch them as well. Likes and dislikes: These are pretty straightforward ways to see how well-received your videos have been among your audience. You can even use YouTube to compare likes and dislikes with other metrics (like watch time) to understand why people loved or hated a particular video.Shares: Whenever someone decides to share your video with his or her friends, your reach increases. YouTube lets you check not just how many times your videos have been shared but also which sites are used the most to share them (a fantastic way to identify the main channel you should have in mind when creating videos).Comments: Open and honest feedback is one of the most valuable tools you can put your hands on to improve your videos. That’s precisely what you’re getting with YouTube comments (well, that and a lot of nonsensical fights and theories). Use the comments section to your advantage and encourage viewers to comment on your videos by asking questions or “chatting” with the people watching. All the information your audience willingly puts in the comment section will help you make better videos.Subscribers: Subscribers are the people who are looking forward to hearing from you. Subscribers are more likely to comment and share your videos, so be sure to invite them to do so. It’s safe to assume that the more subscribers you have, the better.
Data of channel “Yum Yum Videos – Animated Explainer Videos”7. Referrals
You’re likely shooting videos and uploading them to YouTube to get more people to buy your product or service. You’re also likely using a website (or a landing page, at least) to do this. So, checking how many people are going from your YouTube videos to your website has to be an essential metric to track, right?
Right. Fortunately, Google offers you the possibility to track website traffic through the referrals page of Google Analytics. There, you’ll see the number of visitors that are coming to your site from YouTube, the average time they are spending on destination pages, and the bounce rate of the visitors that are landing on the pages you link in your YouTube videos.
There’s also the conversion rate from YouTube visits, an extremely valuable metric that shows how well your audience is understanding your message. With this metric, you can see how many people ended up doing what you wanted them to do (buying, subscribing, etc.) of the total number of visits you get from your YouTube videos.
All of these factors can be combined to understand your target audience even more. If you’re getting any traffic on your site that’s coming from YouTube, then you’d better start using links (or placing them differently). Additionally, your bounce rate shows you whether people are finding on your site what you promised in your videos.
Photo courtesy of
MarketingProfs
Some Final Words
Views are just a hint of your YouTube videos’ success. Sure, you want millions of people to watch them, but you should feel great if you manage to pull a couple of thousand views of extremely qualified leads.
YouTube videos should work beyond the platform. They should be bringing traffic to your site, helping you close sales, getting your name out there, and getting you some valuable feedback. All that information is already available to you in the videos you’ve uploaded — you only have to take a look at your YouTube metrics to take your marketing strategy to the next level.
By Victor Blasco
The post Is Your YouTube Video Performing Well? 7 Essential YouTube Metrics and How to Analyze Them appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
April 27, 2020
How to Buy a Digital Gift Card on Facebook
APR. 27, 2020
Christian Wiediger / UnsplashAt a time when non-essential businesses are shutting their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important, now more than ever, to increase sales despite the drop in foot traffic to physical stores. Customers can support their favorite brands during this time by purchasing from online stores or gift cards to redeem for later.
Gift cards are often found in retail stores (which are now closed) or in warehouse clubs where they’re sold in bulk. However, those unwilling to brave Costco lines and risk infection while out in public can purchase gift cards on Facebook. Here’s how.
How to Buy a Gift Card
Step 1: Go to the PayPal USA Facebook page.
Step 2: Click “Shop.”
Step 3: Browse brands.
You can either type the brand’s name in the page’s search tab, browse featured gift cards, or view the complete list of gift cards you can purchase. (There are more than 80 selections.)
Step 4: Choose a gift card and click “Add to Cart.”
If you’re not ready, you can save the gift card, which you can access from the “Saved” tab on the left column of your Timeline.
Step 5: Add to cart, choose recipient, and place order.
You can pay for the gift card using PayPal or a debit or credit card. You must also enter your full name and the email address where Facebook will send the digital gift card within 24 hours. If you want to send the gift card as a present, enter the full name and email address of the recipient.
Make sure to read the terms and conditions. Each brand has its own terms — one brand’s stipulations may not be the same as another’s. Adidas, for example, does not allow gift cards to be returned or to be exchanged for cash.
How to Get the Gift Card After Purchase
Facebook will send you a link to claim the gift card within 24 hours via the email you entered during checkout. Check your email to make sure you received the link. If not in your inbox, check your spam folder. If you can’t remember the email you entered, check your confirmation message found in your order history. Here’s how to do that:
Step 1: Go to Settings.
Step 2: Click “Facebook Pay.”
Step 3: Click “Payment History.”
If you can’t find your confirmation email, ask PayPal to resend it.
How to Cancel Your Order
You have 30 minutes to cancel your order after purchase. To cancel your order, follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to Settings.
Step 2: Click “Facebook Pay.”
Step 3: Click “Payment History”
Step 4: Click the order you want to cancel.
Step 5: Scroll down and click “Cancel Order” and select the reason for canceling.
Step 6: Click “Cancel Order” to finalize cancelation.
Even if you canceled 30 minutes after purchase, you may still be able to cancel within 30 days of purchase. Refer to the terms and conditions provided by the brand. Some brands don’t allow returns or exchanges.
How to Contact Facebook Support for a Purchase
If you need help with your order, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Go to Settings.
Step 2: Click “Facebook Pay”
Step 3: Click “Payment History”
Step 4: Click the gift card order.
Step 5: Scroll down and click “Get Help With Your Order.”
Step 6: Fill out the form and send.
Facebook will reply within 48 hours to the email address you provided during checkout.
By Anne Felicitas
The post How to Buy a Digital Gift Card on Facebook appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
April 22, 2020
The Macro Impact of COVID-19 on Industries and Advertising
APR. 22, 2020
Edwin Hooper / Unsplash Every corner of the economy has been impacted by COVID-19 in one way or another. While some industries are taking a major hit, others are thriving and having their best months. Then there are some industries that are, surprisingly, not seeing much change at all, at least in terms of overall sales and revenue. As federal, state, and local governments respond to the virus, economy-affecting rules and regulations will likely change. While these trends are bound to shift, this is what we’re seeing right now in the e-commerce, financial, retail, restaurant, and travel sectors.
E-commerce Sales of Essential Items Are Skyrocketing
According to the Cleveland Research Company, e-commerce is doing well right now, especially when it comes to stores that sell essentials, including food, cleaning supplies, and medical supplies. However, the influx of orders for these types of products has backed up delivery dates. This gives some shops the opportunity to compete if they can deliver quicker than their competitors. Amazon is leading the e-commerce charge with its regular online shopping platforms: Amazon Fresh, its grocery delivery service, and Prime Now, the lightning-fast delivery service that gets packages to customers in two hours or less.
Unfortunately, for e-commerce sites that don’t sell essentials, sales have dropped as consumers limit or halt discretionary spending. On the other hand, with a captive audience that’s home, online, and bored a lot of the time, some non-essential e-commerce shops may continue to get orders simply because some people are shopping to pass the time. Moreover, if some retailers see that more people are window shopping, liking products and adding items to their carts without moving forward with purchases, they can plan powerful re-targeting strategies to encourage those people to buy at some point.
Financial Markets Decline and Banks Move Online
According to Statista, global financial markets have been greatly impacted by COVID-19 and have faced significant losses. Traders are selling and investors have stopped buying stocks. Overall, the market is in a serious downward trend. The outlook looks grim, as the economy is essentially shut down, and there’s no reliable timeline for returning to normal. While government relief funds have helped somewhat in terms of lifting or maintaining financial markets, investors are waiting until the outbreak is under better control to trust stocks again.
When it comes to the banking industry, banks are being forced to digitize and go completely remote so they can continue serving customers. While some big, well-known banks already offer the ability to bank online for 100% of transactions, smaller banks and credit unions haven’t needed to digitize to this degree – until now, at least.
Restaurants Have Changed How They Serve Customers
According to Eater, a decrease in visits to restaurants began even before they had to officially close, back when coronavirus-related deaths were just starting to climb. However, while reservations and dining have dropped, visits to fast-food restaurants and pizzerias have increased, as people remain comfortable with drive-thru, pickup, and delivery services. Overall, though, small independent restaurants are struggling even more than well-known chain restaurants, which is why there’s been such a societal push to continue supporting local businesses.
Restaurant closures and reductions in business are also impacting food distributors, as they’re receiving far fewer orders from restaurants (as well as events, offices, and schools). On the other hand, as more people are preparing meals at home, even though many restaurants are continuing to offer delivery and takeout services, grocery stores are seeing an increase in food and beverage sales. Grocery delivery services are becoming more popular, too.
Retailers Experience New Trends
There’s one obvious reason why retail is taking such a hard hit during the pandemic: non-essential stores have had to close, and foot traffic has completely disappeared. Wholesale business is also being negatively affected, particularly when it comes to order cancellations or reductions for apparel and beauty products.
However, retailers that sell essential items, like Target, for example, are doing well, especially if they have an online ordering and delivery component. Club stores, like Costco, are leading the charge, outpacing large companies when it comes to cleaning and food products. While general merchandise is not selling in these stores as much as before, the uptick in sales of essentials is so great that it’s more than made up for it.
Consumer electronics retailers, such as Best Buy, are being impacted in an interesting way. On the one hand, there’s been an increase in sales of work from home essentials, like keyboards and monitors. On the other hand, though, discretionary spending has gone down.
Specialty retailers are also seeing interesting trends. Stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods have seen an increase in sales in certain product categories, like camping gear, survival gear, and fitness equipment. If youth and professional sports seasons continue to be closed for the next several months, though, sales of related items are expected to plummet.
The Travel Industry Is at a Standstill
Demand for travel-related products and services has decreased around the globe. Travel agencies are one of many sectors impacted by COVID-19, and while they’re currently continuing to work to process trip cancellations, that’s bound to slow down at some point. Hotels are seeing far fewer reservations, too. At first, there were fewer corporate and group reservations, but that’s expanded into cancellations of leisure trips, particularly around Spring Break.
While airlines are continuing to operate, though with far fewer flights and tickets sold than before, cruise lines have had to completely stop running. Bookings were canceled and are still on pause, and nobody is sure when booking will re-open, and when it does, how quickly the cruise sector will be able to rebound. Cruise lines have even halted advertising and marketing efforts for now.
Is your business struggling right now? We have an article about creative ways to keep your restaurant running during quarantine, plus this overview of how merchants can sell on the Google shopping page for free.
By Lindsay Pietroluongo
The post The Macro Impact of COVID-19 on Industries and Advertising appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
Merchants Can Now Sell on Google Shopping Page for Free
APR. 22, 2020
Nathana Reboucas / UnsplashWith physical stores shutting their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers are relying more than ever on e-commerce to keep their businesses afloat. But not all businesses can afford the fees that come with digital advertising, especially at a time when sales are low.
Google is now allowing merchants to list their products on its Shopping page for free. Changes will apply next week to retailers in the US and globally before the end of next year. All retailers are eligible for the program, including users of Merchant and Shopping Ads, merchants who don’t advertise with Google, and merchants who are not users of Merchant and Shopping Ads.
Existing users of Merchant and Shopping ads are automatically enrolled in the program if they already opted to advertise across Google’s surfaces. New users must go through the onboarding process.
Currently running paid listings will continue to appear in ad slots.
Sell on Google for Free: How to Opt In
If you’re a user of Merchant Center and Shopping Ads and you opted to advertise across Google’s surfaces, then you are eligible to show your products for free without any further action. If you’re a part of Merchant Center and Shopping Ads but you haven’t opted in, follow the steps below.
Step 1: In Google Merchant Center, click “Growth” then “Manage programs” from the left navigation menu.
Step 2: Click the “surfaces across Google” program card.
If you are not a user of Merchant Center and Shopping Ads, you must complete the onboarding process by going to Google Merchant Help Center. You will need a Gmail account to begin.
Google’s Support Programs for Businesses
In addition to free product listings on Google’s Shopping page, the company is also investing more than $800 million in support for businesses, health organizations, non-governmental organizations, and financial institutions facing COVID-19 struggles. Here’s how Google allocates those funds:
$250 million will be given to the World Health Organization (WHO) and to more than 100 government agencies that provide information on how to stop the spread of COVID-19.$20 million in ad grants will be given to community financial institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that run public service announcements on relief funds for small- and medium-sized businesses. $200 million will be given to NGOs and financial institutions to help small businesses access capital.$340 million in ad credits are available to small- and medium-sized businesses that have advertised with Google within the past year. $20 million in Google Cloud credits will be given to academic institutions and researchers.
Support from Other Companies
Google is one among a list of companies that are providing support to businesses and organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other companies are lending a hand, too.
Facebook, for example, created $100 million in grants for small businesses affected by COVID-19. The grant will benefit 30,000 businesses from the 30 countries where Facebook operates. Each eligible small business will receive $4,000 in cash and ad credit, although ad credit is optional. Applications are now open to U.S. residents and close on May 6. Businesses from eligible countries can apply, although Facebook has not stated when applications will open internationally.
Facebook is also giving $100 million to local and international newsrooms in an effort to support organizations that provide critical information about the developments surrounding COVID-19.
Yelp is another company aiding businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is providing $25 million in relief to local restaurants and nightlife businesses in the form of waived advertising fees and free advertising, products, and services.
By Anne Felicitas
The post Merchants Can Now Sell on Google Shopping Page for Free appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
April 20, 2020
Facebook Now Accepting Applications for Small Business Grants Program
APR. 20, 2020
Joshua Rodriguez / UnsplashFacebook is now accepting applications for the Small Business Grants Program.
Although Facebook is still working on opening applications for cities outside the U.S., the social media company is now accepting applications from businesses in New York City, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Applications for businesses in other eligible U.S. cities will open on April 22. Application closes on May 6, 2020 at 11:59 p.m., EDT.
Facebook is giving away $100 million in cash grants and ad credits to small businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program applies to more than 30 countries and 30,000 businesses across the globe. Each U.S. applicant, if approved, will be awarded a total of $4,000 in cash and ad credits ($2,500 cash, $1,500 ad credits). Ad credits are optional.
Eligibility Requirements
Eligible businesses must meet the following criteria:
The business must be a for-profit companyThe business must have between 2 and 50 employeesThe business must have been in operation for more than one yearThe business must have been negatively affected by COVID-19The business must be located in a city where Facebook operates
During the application process, applicants will also be required to provide the following documents:
Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)Partnership documentsBusiness licenseProof of incorporationOfficial registration
Applicants will also be required to state how the grant will help their businesses and how they will use the grant to impact their local communities.
Eligible Locations
The grant is only open to businesses in locations where Facebook operates. Here is a list of eligible countries:
ArgentinaAustralia BelgiumBrazilCanadaChina Czech RepublicDenmarkFrance GermanyHong KongIndiaIndonesiaIrelandIsraelItalyJapanMalaysiaMexicoNetherlandsNew ZealandNorwayPhilippinesPolandSingaporeSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandThailandTaiwan
How to Apply
Currently, only businesses in New York City, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay Area can apply. However, Facebook will open applications to other U.S. cities on April 22. To apply, applicants must follow these steps.
Step 1: Visit the Small Business Grants website and click “See Available Locations.”
Step 2: Enter business location and click “Continue to partner site.”
Step 3: Read the terms and grant policy.
Step 4: Click “Apply.”
If applying before April 22, note that applications for certain cities will not yet be available. You will be redirected to a Ureeka page, where you will complete your application.
Step 5: Log in using your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account. You can also register with Survey Monkey.
Step 6: Fill out your eligibility profile and save.
Facebook will ask you questions about your business to determine your eligibility. You will not be able to change the information on your profile after submission. Make sure the information you provided is accurate.
Step 7: Choose “Facebook Small Business Grants.”
After clicking this, you may be redirected to the Grants page where you began your application. Click “See Application” to start.
Step 8: Provide required information.
Facebook will ask you to fill out questions about your contact information, company profile, company background, use of grant, and business proof. You will also be required to agree to the grant terms and conditions.
Step 9: Review and submit.
By Anne Felicitas
The post Facebook Now Accepting Applications for Small Business Grants Program appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
April 16, 2020
18 Creative Ways to Keep Your Restaurant Running During COVID-19 Quarantine
APR. 16, 2020
Orolva Maria / UnsplashOn March 15, restaurant revenue dropped by 25 percent, according to software company Womply. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many industries hard. Restaurants, in particular, have suffered a blow from the inability to open for dine-in experiences, relying solely on delivery and pickup to maintain operations.
A difficult time like this demands creative solutions. Restaurant owners may be financially suffering from the lack of foot traffic to their establishments, but they can still find ways to keep their businesses going, even at a time of quarantine and social distancing.
Sell Gift Cards That Don’t Expire
With the panic-buying brought on by President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in mid-March, people right now may have too stocked of pantries and refrigerators to purchase meals from restaurants. To combat this, sell gift cards: Customers can purchase from you now and cash in on orders later. Make sure the cards don’t expire to entice customers to buy.
Sell DIY Kits to Customers
Restaurants can’t function the way they used to during pre-COVID-19 days. Customers’ needs have changed, and your services should evolve accordingly.
With the government mandate to stay at home, people have more time in their hands to pick up a new hobby they can easily learn in the comfort of their abodes. Encourage their quest for new skills by offering do-it-yourself cooking kits. You provide the fresh ingredients, recipe, and cooking instructions.
Before you dismiss this idea, know that there are already several successful companies offering this service, including Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Green Chef. This is proof that demand for this service exists.
Sell Ready-to-Heat Frozen Meals
With the requirement to stay home and minimize human contact, households are stocking up on food that lasts, including dry goods, canned food, and frozen meals. The demand for frozen food increased so much that people were wiping out grocery shelves and even buying out freezers for storage.
Not everyone wants to cook and not everyone feels comfortable ordering hot meals from restaurants, fearing COVID-19 contamination. For this reason, sell ready-to-heat frozen meals that customers can easily heat on the stove or in the microwave.
Host Cooking Classes
People bored at home can only binge-watch so many Netflix movies. At a certain point they will look for other ways to entertain themselves. Satisfy the need to beat boredom by offering virtual cooking classes. You can host through video call services such as Zoom. Email your recipes to students and deliver the ingredients straight to their doors.
Many video call services are free, including Zoom, which you can easily learn in 40 minutes.
Add Groceries to Takeout Option
Today, a lot of people are limiting how often they go to the grocery store, but what happens when they run out of a kitchen staple in between trips? Your restaurant can offer groceries on top of prepared meals. Panera is doing this right now — in addition to ordering breakfast or lunch to-go, you can add-on essentials like milk, bread or fruit.
Panera Bread / Instagram
Add Family-Sized Meals to the Menu
Families are sharing meals together at home, now that restaurant dine-in services have been temporarily paused. For this reason, single-person meals will not satisfy their needs. Be the solution to their problem by offering family-sized items on the menu. Turn that single portion of lasagna to a portion for four. Offer family packs for a cheaper price.
Feature Pizza on the Menu
When on-site dining restaurants were ordered to close mid-March due to COVID-19, daily restaurant connections fell by 54 percent. Pizzerias, meanwhile, experienced a 44 percent increase. This increase can be attributed to the ease and affordability of the popular Italian dish. If in line with your brand, try adding pizza to the menu.
Add “Order Now” Capability to Social Media Posts
Instagram and ChowNow teamed up to add shoppable “Order Now” buttons and stickers to posts. These elements have links that go straight to the order processing company, making it easy for customers to see a delicious meal and then order it right away. Additionally, followers can share those stickers on their own content, which can increase awareness and sales.
Offer Pickup and Delivery
Offering pickup and delivery services will keep your business running even though you’ve closed down your restaurant from dine-in customers. Apps such as Postmates and Doordash will help you connect with people who will deliver your orders. Now is the best time to use them.
For pickups, make sure to set up a hand-sanitizing station for customers to use before leaving your store and remember to wear a mask that covers your mouth and nose, as recommended by the CDC.
Make Delivery Free
What’s better than having a great meal delivered? Not having to pay for the service. DoorDash has teamed up with numerous restaurants during the pandemic, and not only are they delivering from restaurants that don’t typically deliver, but they’re not charging for delivery, either. Since so many restaurants are already offering free delivery, you should, too — that’s the only way to compete right now.
Use Social Media for Brand Awareness
Your customers may not be dining in at the moment, but they’re still out there, and many of them are online. Use social media to keep brand awareness levels high. Food pictures and videos are still as popular as they were before. When you’re officially back open, they’ll remember that your restaurant (or brewery, like in the example below) exists.
Brooklyn Brewery / FacebookGive Away a Secret Recipe
A lot of people are preparing food at home and spending their free time baking. Add to their list of favorite recipes by giving away one of your own. Instead of step-by-step directions for a main dish, though, tell fans how to prepare a side dish, sauce or dessert. They’ll be able to use the recipe in addition to what they order from your restaurant instead of replacing an entire potential order.
Use Social Media to Connect with Customers
Because of the pandemic, your hours of operation have likely changed. You may, for example, have shorter hours, opening later and closing earlier than usual.
Make sure to promote any changes to your restaurant on your social media accounts, website, and Facebook page to give your customers the most accurate information. You can also use your accounts to spread word of your new services, whether that’s your DIY kits, frozen ready-to-heat meals, or cooking classes. Because most of your customers will be ordering online or through the phone, make sure your menu is also featured on social media.
Sell Branded Merchandise Online
Selling branded merchandise is another way to make money for your restaurant business, a common practice among some establishments. You’ve seen it before: bars selling shirts, cafés selling tote bags, coffee shops selling mugs. You, too, can sell merchandise from your brand, listing them on the “shop” section of your restaurant’s website.
Clarify How You’re Practicing Safe Methods
Right now, people are afraid of everything: being in public, getting any type of product from a store, and even standing too close to another person. Assume that your customers are just as nervous about getting takeout from your restaurant. Use your website, newsletters, and social channels to talk about how your staff is being as safe as possible. Customers need to trust that they won’t get sick when getting takeout or delivery from your business. Schatzi’s did this by showing its manager wearing a mask:
Schatzi’s / FacebookKeep the Drive-Thru Open
If your café or restaurant has a drive-thru, keep it open even if the rest of the restaurant is closed. Customers feel safest when they don’t have to leave their car to pick up food. Make sure window attendees wear masks and gloves so customers see that they’re being safe. To prevent the spread of germs, allow customers to use the credit card processor on their own, then wipe it down in between.
Make Online Ordering and Payment an Option
Sites like Grubhub make it possible for any restaurant to set up online ordering. Letting customers order online is a convenient way for them to browse your menu and decide what to have for dinner. More important, online ordering means customers can pay online, a safer way that prevents contact with others.
Offer Takeout
You may have never offered takeout in the past, preferring that customers always dine in rather than pick up food to go. Now is the perfect time to change that, though. In addition to your regular menu, you can continue offering specials. You may also want to let customers know you’re happy to make special orders to their preferences. If someone is in the mood for something that’s not on your menu, you can still take the order.
The situation has changed. Traditional methods of maintaining your restaurant business must now be abandoned. Be creative, and you will find ways to help keep your business afloat. If that isn’t enough, consider applying for financial help.
By Anne Felicitas and Lindsay Pietroluongo
The post 18 Creative Ways to Keep Your Restaurant Running During COVID-19 Quarantine appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
9 Creative Ways to Keep Your Restaurant Running During COVID-19 Quarantine
APR. 16, 2020
Orolva Maria / UnsplashOn March 15, restaurant revenue dropped by 25 percent, according to software company Womply. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many industries hard. Restaurants, in particular, have suffered a blow from the inability to open for dine-in experiences, relying solely on delivery and pickup to maintain operations.
A difficult time like this demands creative solutions. Restaurant owners may be financially suffering from the lack of foot traffic to their establishments, but they can still find ways to keep their businesses going, even at a time of quarantine and social distancing.
Sell Gift Cards That Don’t Expire
With the panic-buying brought on by President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in mid-March, people right now may have too stocked of pantries and refrigerators to purchase meals from restaurants. To combat this, sell gift cards: Customers can purchase from you now and cash in on orders later. Make sure the cards don’t expire to entice customers to buy.
Sell DIY Kits to Customers
Restaurants can’t function the way they used to during pre-COVID-19 days. Customers’ needs have changed, and your services should evolve accordingly.
With the government mandate to stay at home, people have more time in their hands to pick up a new hobby they can easily learn in the comfort of their abodes. Encourage their quest for new skills by offering do-it-yourself cooking kits. You provide the fresh ingredients, recipe, and cooking instructions.
Before you dismiss this idea, know that there are already several successful companies offering this service, including Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Green Chef. This is proof that demand for this service exists.
Sell Ready-to-Heat Frozen Meals
With the requirement to stay home and minimize human contact, households are stocking up on food that lasts, including dry goods, canned food, and frozen meals. The demand for frozen food increased so much that people were wiping out grocery shelves and even buying out freezers for storage.
Not everyone wants to cook and not everyone feels comfortable ordering hot meals from restaurants, fearing COVID-19 contamination. For this reason, sell ready-to-heat frozen meals that customers can easily heat on the stove or in the microwave.
Host Cooking Classes
People bored at home can only binge-watch so many Netflix movies. At a certain point they will look for other ways to entertain themselves. Satisfy the need to beat boredom by offering virtual cooking classes. You can host through video call services such as Zoom. Email your recipes to students and deliver the ingredients straight to their doors.
Many video call services are free, including Zoom, which you can easily learn in 40 minutes.
Add Family-Sized Meals to the Menu
Families are sharing meals together at home, now that restaurant dine-in services have been temporarily paused. For this reason, single-person meals will not satisfy their needs. Be the solution to their problem by offering family-sized items on the menu. Turn that single portion of lasagna to a portion for four. Offer family packs for a cheaper price.
Feature Pizza on the Menu
When on-site dining restaurants were ordered to close mid-March due to COVID-19, daily restaurant connections fell by 54 percent. Pizzerias, meanwhile, experienced a 44 percent increase. This increase can be attributed to the ease and affordability of the popular Italian dish. If in line with your brand, try adding pizza to the menu.
Offer Pickup and Delivery
Offering pickup and delivery services will keep your business running even though you’ve closed down your restaurant from dine-in customers. Apps such as Postmates and Doordash will help you connect with people who will deliver your orders. Now is the best time to use them.
For pickups, make sure to set up a hand-sanitizing station for customers to use before leaving your store and remember to wear a mask that covers your mouth and nose, as recommended by the CDC.
Use Social Media to Connect with Customers
Because of the pandemic, your hours of operation have likely changed. You may, for example, have shorter hours, opening later and closing earlier than usual.
Make sure to promote any changes to your restaurant on your social media accounts, website, and Facebook page to give your customers the most accurate information. You can also use your accounts to spread word of your new services, whether that’s your DIY kits, frozen ready-to-heat meals, or cooking classes. Because most of your customers will be ordering online or through the phone, make sure your menu is also featured on social media.
Sell Branded Merchandise Online
Selling branded merchandise is another way to make money for your restaurant business, a common practice among some establishments. You’ve seen it before: bars selling shirts, cafes selling tote bags, coffee shops selling mugs. You, too, can sell merchandise from your brand, listing them on the “shop” section of your restaurant’s website.
The situation has changed. Traditional methods of maintaining your restaurant business must now be abandoned. Be creative, and you will find ways to help keep your business afloat. If that isn’t enough, consider applying for financial help.
By Anne Felicitas
The post 9 Creative Ways to Keep Your Restaurant Running During COVID-19 Quarantine appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
April 15, 2020
Facebook Quiz Scams and How to Avoid Them
APR. 15, 2020
Erik Mclean / UnsplashAs you scroll through your Faceboook feed, passing by one cat video after another, you find a post that catches your attention. Find Out Which Celebrity Has a Crush on You, says the headline. Sounds like another one of those fun, innocent Facebook quizzes. You click on the post to kill time.
But wait — that innocuous quiz may not be so harmless, after all. At least, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which warns social media users against quiz scams.
According to the BBB, scammers create fake online quizzes disseminated on social media to collect personal information, which they then use to hack into users’ accounts. These insidious quizzes attempt to collect answers to security questions by asking about the victim’s childhood street, mother’s maiden name, or name of first pet.
Jim Temmer, CEO of the Better Business Bureau, Wisconsin, explains in detail the type of questions victims may face in an interview with News 9 ABC:
“If you’re asking questions like ‘What street did you grow up on?’, ‘What was your first pet’s name?’, ‘Who was your first grade teacher?’ It’s the exact same questions banks ask to reset passwords.”
Of course not all of them are scams, says the BBB and advises users to be cautious of quizzes they find on their Facebook feeds or on other social media platforms.
There are measures you can take to avoid online quiz scams.
Think Before You Click
Don’t click on a quiz without leaving it much thought. First, analyze the post: Look at the brand, the URL, and the company background information. You can find the brand’s name on the top-left corner of the post, the URL above the post headline, and the background information by clicking the italicized “i” on the bottom-right corner of the feature image.
Make sure the quiz is from a brand or website you trust. In the example above, the Pixar quiz comes from BuzzFeed, a trusted website.
Be Wary of Personal Questions
If you find that the quiz questions sound too much like your bank account security questions, it may be best to close out of the quiz. Don’t give away your personal information, including your mother’s maiden name, the name of your first best friend, the street where you grew up on, and the name of your first high school.
Report the Post to Facebook
If you suspect the quiz to be a scam, report the post to Facebook by clicking the three-dotted icon on the upper-right corner of the post.
A window will appear, prompting you to cite the reason for the report. Click “Someting Else” and choose “Fraud or Scam” in the next pop up.
Hide the Ad from Your Timeline
If the quiz appeared to your Timeline as an ad, you can hide the ad from your Timeline, signaling to Facebook that you no longer want to see ads from that brand. Alternatively, you can also report the ad to Facebook. You will be prompted to choose the reason for the report.
Remove Personal Information from Profile
Scammers don’t only collect information from faux quizzes they create. They can also glean information from your social media accounts, including your Facebook profile. To protect your privacy, leave out personal information from your profiles, including your home address, hints to your security questions or password, and phone number.
Be Wary of Stranger Requests
Think twice before accepting a friend request from a stranger. Many fake Facebook profiles exist, with the sole purpose of contacting and scamming users. One such scam involves fake advertising employees offering money to victims in exchange for access to their Facebook pages or Facebook Business Manager accounts. Once access has been granted, the scammers lock the victims out of their accounts.
If you’re bored at home and looking for ways to kill time, think twice before taking that seemingly innocent Facebook quiz.
By Anne Felicitas
The post Facebook Quiz Scams and How to Avoid Them appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
April 9, 2020
How to Support Local Businesses During COVID-19
APR. 9, 2020
Nielson Caetano-Salmeron / UnsplashAlthough COVID-19 has been a difficult obstacle for everyone, local businesses in particular are taking a big hit. With government mandates to close non-essential businesses, many local stores are placed on pause at the expense of their survival.
This sad reality looms over our heads: If the pandemic persists, many of our beloved local businesses may shut their doors for good. Fortunately, there are ways you can help your local business stay afloat during these uncertain times.
Buy Gift Cards
You may not need to purchase non-essential items today, but you may once the pandemic blows over. To help your local business keep its lights on, consider buying gift cards to use for later. There’s bound to be a special occasion, birthday, holiday, or celebration that demands the purchase of gifts. Since gift cards don’t expire (don’t forget to double check, just in case), you can keep them for as long as you need until they’re ready for use.
Order Takeout
If you haven’t panic-bought all of the dry goods and kitchen essentials at the grocery store during the height of this pandemic, you should consider ordering from your favorite local restaurant, many of which are still open. Although restaurants temporarily don’t offer the dine-in experience, you can still order takeout. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving your home, have the meal delivered to your door through delivery apps such as GrubHub or Postmates. And please, tip the delivery person generously.
Spread the Word
Word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to promote your favorite local business. If you’re aware of a store that is still open to the public, let your neighbors, friends, or family know. Social media has made it even easier to disseminate information to the masses, so use your social accounts for this purpose. In fact, you can use the “check in” feature on Facebook to promote a local business on your Timeline or the location tag on Instagram to promote on Stories. You can also watch out for “recommendation” posts from friends, putting a good word in for a local business.
Purchase from Local Stores
Sure, you may choose to go to your nearby Ralphs or Target for household and kitchen items, but if a local store offers the same products, purchase from the latter, not the former. Everyone has been negatively affected by COVID-19, but a large chain is better equipped to survive the pandemic than a mom-and-pop shop in your neighborhood. Shop locally and help a small business in need.
Buy Branded Merchandise
Some businesses sell branded merchandise on top of the services they offer. You’ve seen it before: a local Tiki bar selling t-shirts and hats bearing the business logo. A local cafe selling mugs, notebooks, and tote bags. Purchasing your local businesses’ merchandise can add a little extra cash at a time when they need it the most. Sure, you may not be a coffee drinker, but you can never have too many mugs in your cupboard.
Buy Local Produce
You may be surprised to see that farmers markets are still in operation. Considered essential businesses (many rely on farmers markets to purchase their food), they remain open for customers seeking to fill their kitchens. Rather than going to a chain grocery store, shop at your local farmers market for fresh produce. Since these markets are out in the open, there’s no population control to maintain the six-feet rule the CDC recommends. (The CDC recommends staying six feet away from strangers.) For this reason, wear a mask, as the CDC requires, on your trip there and keep your distance from other shoppers.
Stock Up on Entertainment
With people ordered to stay at home to stop the spread of COVID-19, it becomes important to stock up on entertainment. Sure, you may have subscriptions to Hulu, Netflix, and HBO, but you can only binge-watch so many movies before they become tiresome. Consider purchasing entertainment from your local business, whether that’s from a used bookstore or a video game shop. If that store is not open, visit its website in case you can order online.
Shop Online
You may not be allowed to leave your home, but no one is stopping you from buying online. If your favorite local store has an e-commerce website, do your shopping online. Not only are you protecting yourself and others from contracting COVID-19, but you are also helping a local business stay afloat.
Tip Generously
You’ve ignored that tip jar long enough. At a time like this, not only are small businesses in danger but so are their employees, especially when they rely on tips. The next time you pick up takeout at your local restaurant, don’t neglect the tip jar. The same goes for delivery workers. Tipping more than you usually would is a great way to say thanks to the people risking their health to bring your favorite dishes to your doorstep.
Keep Memberships
You may no longer be going to the gym during this time of social distancing, but your membership can help keep local businesses afloat at a time when they’re no longer receiving foot traffic. If you’re financially able, don’t cancel your membership.
By Anne Felicitas
The post How to Support Local Businesses During COVID-19 appeared first on AdvertiseMint.
