Brian Meert's Blog, page 73

Delays in Facebook Ad Review Due to COVID-19

MAR. 19, 2020

Macau Photo Agency / Unsplash

Delays in ad review are nothing new. However, if you’re experiencing longer delays than usual, it might be because of COVID-19.

With the virus spreading within communities, the world seems to have come to a standstill. People are staying in, practicing social distancing and self-quarantine. Businesses are closing down or reducing hours. Event companies are canceling gatherings. Employees are ordered to work from home.

Facebook, too, is ordering employees to stay at home, including all contract workers who review organic content and ads. This announcement was posted on the social media company’s blog post:

As we announced on Monday, we’re working with our partners to send home all contract workers who perform content review, until further notice. Since this includes people who review ads and monetized content, we wanted to share more about what this means for advertisers, publishers, and creators that use our tools.”

Because Facebook relies on both human reviewers and technology to screen through ads and posts, sending contract workers home impacts the efficiency of the ad approval process. According to Facebook, this will result in 

Delayed review for ads and commerce listingsAn increase in ads being incorrectly disapprovedDelayed or reduced appeals Limited availability of Facebook in-stream adsLower Facebook in-stream ad delivery

A message on Ads Manager also warns advertisers of delays.

The message reads:

Due to coronavirus (COVID-19), ad reviews are taking longer than usual. Ad delivery may also be delayed. Our Help Center has the most up-to-date information including best practices.”

In an effort to help those who have been affected by COVID-19, Facebook is donating $100 million to small businesses in cash and ad credit. The initiative, called Facebook Small Business Program, is available to more than 30 countries where the social media company operates and 30,000 small businesses. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced the program on her Facebook post. 

With COVID-19 declared as a national emergency by the World Health Organization back in January, nations across the globe have taken extra precaution, including the United States. Governors across the US have mandated establishments—restaurants, bars, event venues—to close down their doors. Some cities are even in lockdown, including San Francisco and New York. 

By Anne Felicitas

The post Delays in Facebook Ad Review Due to COVID-19 appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Facebook Creates $100 Million Grant for Businesses Affected by COVID-19

MAR. 19, 2020

Alev Takil / Unsplash

COVID-19 has upended the lives of many, both in the United States and internationally. As the virus spreads rapidly among communities, people have been advised to stay at home and avoid social interaction.

This, as a result, has affected businesses in several industries: restaurants are closing temporarily while public events have been cancelled or postponed. With much of the country self-quarantining, many small businesses suffer from the lack of foot traffic. 

Earlier this week, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced in a Facebook post that the social media company is investing $100 million in an initiative called Facebook Small Business Grants Program. 

We’ve listened to small businesses to understand how we can best help them. We’ve heard loud and clear that financial support could enable them to keep the lights on and pay people who can’t come to work. That’s why today I’m announcing that Facebook is investing $100 million to help 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries where our employees live and work.”

According to Sandberg, the program will allocate financial support and ad credits to 30,000 small businesses across the globe. The more than 30 countries where Facebook operates are eligible. 

Interested business owners can visit the program’s website for more information. Although the program is not yet accepting applications, anyone can sign up to receive updates.

According to the website, the program’s main goal is to provide aid to businesses affected by COVID-19:

We know that your business may be experiencing disruptions resulting from the global outbreak of COVID-19. We’ve heard that a little financial support can go a long way, so we are offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits to help during this challenging time.”

Facebook will share more details about the program as they become available.

By Anne Felicitas

The post Facebook Creates $100 Million Grant for Businesses Affected by COVID-19 appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

A Beginner’s Guide to Snapchat Marketing

MAR. 16, 2020

Thought Catalog / Unsplash

Brands that target young consumers, specifically teens and young adults, should consider adding Snapchat to their marketing plans. Snapchat’s core audience is made up of millennials (born between 1980 and 1994) and generation Zs (born between 1995 and 2015). Ninety percent of people between the ages of 13 and 24 use Snapchat, and 75% are between 13 and 34. 

By the end of 2019, Snapchat’s daily active users reached 218 million. According to a study from Snapchat and Nielsen, Snapchat advertising is seven times more efficient than TV at reaching a brand’s audience. 

There are many different ways companies can target audiences using Snapchat marketing and ads. For example, brands should consider engaging audiences during live events. Snapchat found that more than 60% of users created Snaps during an NCAA March Madness game and that the same percentage looked at game-related Snaps.

Here’s what you need to know to get started with Snapchat marketing.

How Do You Get Your Business on Snapchat?

Getting your business up and running on Snapchat is easy. First, you’ll create a business Snapchat account. This requires some extra information that you don’t need for a regular account, such as your business name, location, and currency. You’ll be able to create ad campaigns with a business account, too. This video by Snapchat for Business walks you through the process of creating an account.

What Are the Different Types of Ads on Snapchat?

You’re in control of Snapchat ads, which means you can run an ad with a budget of any size. You’ll set your budget, including daily spend and lifetime limits. Snapchat has several ad options to choose from, including

AR Lenses: Create a unique and interactive experience with an AR lens.Commercials: Create a six-second video, which users can’t skip.Filters: Create a branded filter that users can place on their photos.Collection Ads: Show off several of your products and let users tap to shop and buy. Collection Ads are mixed with Snaps so users come upon them as they browse.Snap Ads: Send Snapchat users to your app, website, or video. Snap Ads are mixed in with users’ Snaps.Story Ads: Sponsor a tile on the Discover page, where users go to see what’s new.

Here’s an example of how Sour Patch Kids used an AR lens to promote its product:

Sour Patch Kids / Twitter

Here’s a custom filter that Starbucks created, which users can add to their Snap:

Starbucks / Snapchat

Although you can’t sell directly through Snapchat, Collection Ads are the best option for e-commerce brands and retailers. You can add four different products to an ad, along with links to product-detail pages. 

New Ways to Enhance Your Snapchat Ads

Here are a few more ad options that have been recently added:

Custom Audiences for Mobile Apps: Create a re-engagement campaign or lookalike audience based on actions taken in your app.Swipe to Call or Text: Single image and video ads can include a call or text attachment that lets users swipe to instantly get in touch with you.Vertical Videos: Snapchat recently added the option to convert videos to a vertical format. If you have a horizontal video, you can easily change it to a vertical format to meet Snapchat’s requirements and use the video in an ad.

If you want to see some of Snapchat’s ads in action, check out Snapchat for Business’s one-minute overview:

3 Snapchat Marketing Strategies

How do you appeal to Snapchat’s demographic and give your brand a boost at the same time? Here are three Snapchat marketing strategies to consider.

Offer Coupon Codes

Savvy brands know that one of the best ways to land new leads and customers is to give something away, like a freebie or discount. On Snapchat, though, users are playful, and they want to interact with others (brands included) in a fun way. 

Instead of exchanging a coupon code for an email address, think outside the box. For example, offer coupon codes to people who send Snaps of themselves using your product. You’ll get user-generated content to use on your own account (with permission), and they’ll get a discount on their next purchase. Plus, you can track coupon-code usage to determine the effectiveness of the campaign.

Create Hype

If your brand has something exciting it’s about to reveal, use Snapchat to create hype and build anticipation. In the days and weeks leading up to the launch, release short videos that tease the reveal.

You can do the same if you’re hosting an event in the near future. Use Snapchat to show how you’re preparing for the event — what the setup looks like, how you’re choosing your outfit, what you eat the morning of, etc.

Here’s an example of creating hype: the NBA using Snapchat to build anticipation for the Clippers vs. Lakers game.

NBA / Snapchat


Connect with an Influencer

Snapchat attracts a specific audience of millennials and gen Zs, which the platform’s influencers also target. By partnering with Snapchat influencers, you can reach your core demographic in a deeper way. On Snapchat, an even exchange is best — the influencer you partner with will consider you an influencer, too, so create a campaign where you both share each other’s content.

In the Teen Vogue First series, celebrity influencers talk about their first crushes, kisses, and heartbreaks. In this one, Nina Dobrev, star of the Vampire Diaries series, discusses her first boyfriend:

Teen Vogue / Snapchat


Final Thoughts

Snapchat caters to a specific audience of teens and young adults under 40. Even if a majority of your audience doesn’t fall into those age groups, you can still add Snapchat to your marketing strategy. Off-the-cuff Snaps work well on the platform, and there’s no need to create a perfectly produced video to post. Combined with ad options, you can reach your audience on Snapchat and use other platforms to cater to the rest.

By Lindsay Pietroluongo

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Snapchat Marketing appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Make Money on TikTok

MAR. 12, 2020

via GIPHY

People are making money on TikTok, some are even landing record deals—and you want a slice of that pie. 

If regular TikTok teens can find fame on the video-sharing app, so could you. You’re likely wondering, How much do TikTok earners make, exactly? That’s a valid question, and I’m glad you asked. You want to know whether the amount you make is worth the effort, after all. Let’s take a look at how much people make on TikTok.

How Much TikTok Earners Make

TikTok influencers are perhaps the people who receive the most monetary benefit on the platform. They have a large following, which attracts partnerships with brands. Using Influence Marketing Hub’s TikTok Money Calculator, you can find how much each TikTok user makes from brand partnerships. The calculator provides an estimate based on users’ number of followers and engagement.

If you’re blessed with 30 million followers, you can earn between $18,000 to $30,000 per post. That’s a pretty sweet deal. An influencer like Baby Ariel could make that much. 

If you have one million followers, you can earn between $700 to $1,000 per post. Not as large an amount, but still very decent. 

If you have 200,000 followers, you can earn $100 to $200 per post. 

If you have 2,000 followers, you can make $5 to $9 per post. Some brands may even offer free products as compensation. 

Keep in mind, the estimate is based on follower and engagement numbers. Compensation is usually agreed upon with a brand, before moving forward with your partnership. 

Of course, you may not have the following needed for sponsorship. Alternatively, you can earn money through virtual gifts on TikTok, which you can cash in for real money. For this option, the maximum you can withdraw per day is $1,000. Still not a bad sum. 

The 2 Ways to Make Money on TikTok

Now that you know you can make money on TikTok, it’s time to learn the different ways of profiting off the platform. 

Earn TikTok Virtual Items from Live Videos

Earlier I mentioned one method of earning money on TikTok: cashing in virtual gifts. You can only earn virtual gifts by broadcasting a live video, a capability available only to those with 1,000 followers. If users are particularly pleased with your video, they may send gifts as tips. Each gift is worth a certain number of coins. 

Panda: 5 coins

Italian Hand: 5 coins

Love Bang: 25 coins

Sun Cream: 50 coins

Rainbow Puke: 100 coins

Concert: 500 coins

I’m Very Rich: 1,000 coins

Drama Queen: 5,000 coins

Users have to purchase these coins with real money. They then use these coins to purchase gifts to give to other TikTok users. 

The gifts you receive can be converted into diamonds, which you can cash in. Diamonds are worth 50% the value of coins: one-hundred coins equal 50 diamonds; 50 coins equal 25 diamonds. Each diamond is worth $0.5. If you have 100 diamonds, you can cash in for $50. However, TikTok also retains 50% of what you earn, so if you earned $50 worth of diamonds, you only keep $25. 

You can withdraw your money only once you’ve reached $100, and you can’t withdraw more than $1,000 a day. You also need a verified Paypal account, to which TikTok will process the payment within 15 days.

Calculating the value of coins to diamonds to cash can be quite confusing. YouTuber Davison of Davison Video explains it well:

Collaborate with Brands as an Influencer

You can also make money on TikTok by becoming an influencer. Don’t worry, you don’t need one million followers to score brand partnerships. There are four influencer types that you can fall into.

If you have more than one million followers, you could become a mega influencer. Mega influencers are usually celebrities who use their social media presence to seal deals with major brands. Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are examples. Baby Ariel is also considered a mega TikTok influencer for having 30.5 million followers to date.

@babyariel / TikTok

If you have 40,000 to 1 million followers, you could become a macro influencer, like @iamjustinvibes.

@iamjustinvibes / TikTok

If you have 1,000 to 40,000 followers, you could be a micro influencer, like @xthuyle. 

@xthuyle / TikTok

If you have less than 1,000 followers, you could be a nano influencer, like @itsmeveraa.

@itsmeveraa / TikTok

As previously mentioned, influencers, depending on their following and engagement numbers, can earn thousands of dollars per post. If your number of followers aren’t at the influencer levels…well, you better start growing it now.

By Anne Felicitas

The post How to Make Money on TikTok appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Get Authorized to Run Political Ads on Facebook, Plus Tips

MAR. 10, 2020

Brandon Mowinkel / Unsplash

One of the best ways to maximize your exposure is to run political ads on Facebook. With billions of users around the world, Facebook is a place where politicians speak to their constituents. If you plan to run political ads, you will need to get authorization first.

Facebook advertising is filled with rules. With many politicians entering the social platform, the social media company must ensure that everyone goes through the authorization process. Here’s how you get authorized to run political ads on Facebook. 

Getting Authorization to Run Facebook Political Ads

You have to prove that you are who you say you are. To preserve the integrity of U.S. elections and to prevent the 2016 election interference from happening again, Facebook wants to ensure that the people running political ads are the candidates themselves.

Step 1: Submit Information for Verification

Page admins, as well as ad account admins, will be required to submit a copy of at least one government-issued form of ID to Facebook for verification. They must also disclose a residential mailing address.

Step 2: Enter the Unique Access Code

Facebook will mail a unique code to the residential mailing address that you provided. Once received, you will enter the code on Facebook.

Step 3: Disclose Financial Details

You will need to provide details about the person responsible for funding the ads, whether the funds are coming from a political party or whether it is self-funded. This information helps the general public understand how the campaign is receiving money. 

If you need more help with getting authorization, check out Strategic Marketing Group’s 8-minute tutorial:

A History of Facebook Political Ad Authorization

Facebook implemented its new authorization process back in May 2018. The company provided a timeline for US advertisers only, with plans to introduce the authorization process to other countries in the future.

The new authorization process prevents the misuse of Facebook for political purposes during elections. Since the public discovered that Russian troll accounts distributed politically divisive ads during the 2016 US presidential election, Facebook has been revealing other ways its platform has been misused for political purposes, such as in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In response, Facebook has been announcing new ways it plans to crack down on misuse and improve transparency across pages and ads.

The first step of the authorization process took off on May 7, 2018, when Facebook required authorized advertisers to label their ads. This meant all ads included a “This is a political ad” label, which advertisers must use to let users know their ad contains political content. Here’s a timeline of the changes in political advertising on Facebook.

May 22: Political Ads Archive Available to the Public

Political ad archives became available to the public on May 22. Ads in this archive contain a “paid for by” disclaimer.

May 22: Political Ads Must Have Labels

Advertisers must adhere to all of Facebook’s authorization requirements and include labels on political ads that clearly and transparently indicate that they are political ads.

May 22: Political Ad Labels Become Visible to the Public

If an ad that contains political content did not have the label, Facebook disapproved it and moved it to the archive.

May 22: Political Ads Become Publicly Visible in the Archive

Ads in this archive are searchable until seven years after creation, at which point they will be removed from the archive.

June 4: Facebook Continues to Review Active Ads

Facebook conducted an ongoing review to ensure that ads meet the new standards. If advertisers’ ads did not comply, they were expected to recreate them accordingly. Until the ads are changed to meet the new standards, they simply were disapproved and moved to the political ad archive.

Tips on Running Political Ad Campaigns on Facebook and Instagram

The number of users on social media has grown exponentially. As of October 2019, there were more than 2.4 billion users on Facebook and another 1 billion on Instagram. When you are promoting your political standing to a large number of individuals, it only makes sense to do so on Facebook and its sister platform, Instagram.

Step 1: Establish a Disclaimer

If you’re going to run an ad on Facebook that focuses on politics or social issues, you must create a disclaimer. Facebook will only approve disclaimers if they

Accurately represent the person responsible for the adDon’t include any profanityDon’t include URLs or acronymsDon’t wrongfully imply that the ad was funded by FacebookDon’t wrongfully imply that a foreign leader paid for the adDon’t duplicate the language Facebook provides about who the ad was paid for 

Facebook will need to approve your disclosure before you can run your ad. If Facebook rejects your disclaimer, you can refer to the advertising policies, make edits, and submit it for review again.

Step 2: Create Your Ad Based on the Competition

Facebook provides access to the Ad Library, where previously and currently active ads appear. When running your political ad campaign, you will want to remain competitive with your opponents. The Ad Library is searchable, allowing you to see the other politicians who are advertising on Facebook. You can view all active ads to see the amount spent, the number of impressions, and the age, gender, and location of individuals seeing the ad.

Facebook Ad Library


Step 3: Choose Ad Placement

You will want to choose your ad placement carefully. There are more options than ever, including feeds, in-stream videos, and Stories. The right column won’t provide disclosures, so you will want to stay away from placing ads there. Further, you can choose to run Sponsored Messages within Facebook Messenger once you have been approved for political ads.

Tips on Using Custom Audiences for Facebook Political Ads

As a politician, you now have more than one audience that you want to attract. It’s not just about Republicans versus Democrats. Some audiences will vary based on their beliefs, their geographic location, and their stance on particular issues. Thus, you will want to use the tools Facebook provides to customize your audiences.

Step 1: Establish the Criteria

Facebook allows you to define a broad or narrow audience, according to the follow criteria:

LocationDemographicsInterestsBehaviorConnection

These options ensure that you can build your audience based on who may have already liked one of your opponents in the political arena, who may have liked specific pages, and who may fit specific demographics.

Step 2: Monitor Analytics

Facebook provides you with the opportunity to see how many people are interacting with your ad. In the event that you’re not getting the reach that you desire, you can make changes to your campaign to improve performance.

Analyzing analytics reports on Ads Manager can be confusing. For more help, check out Oberlo’s tutorial:

Using Facebook to Enhance Your Message

You may have a number of messages that you want to launch throughout your political campaign. Facebook provides you with the ability to run as many concurrent ads as you desire. Each ad can target a different audience that you can customize. Further, you can monitor the performance of your ads and make necessary adjustments.

With the tools Facebook provides, you have the ability to reach a large number of individuals. If you want to run political ads on Facebook, you must first get authorization. Facebook can be one of the easiest ways to get your name in front of potential voters so that you don’t have to rely solely on televised debates and local meet-and-greets to share your take on issues.

By Chris Winters and Anna Hubbel

The post How to Get Authorized to Run Political Ads on Facebook, Plus Tips appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

You May Be Able to Post Facebook Stories to Instagram Soon

MAR. 9, 2020

Facebook is currently testing a feature that allows you to post your Stories to Instagram.

The test was uncovered by reverse software engineer Jane Manchun Wong, who has revealed hidden social media tests numerous times in the past. In the screenshot she shared to Twitter, the option to post to Instagram appears under the “Privacy” tab, located on the lower-left corner of the screen while creating Facebook Stories.

Facebook is working on cross-posting Stories to Instagram pic.twitter.com/uH2w3VVnSe

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) March 9, 2020

This test has been confirmed by one of Facebook’s representatives, says TechCrunch, who first reported on the story.

Instagram currently has an option to post Stories to Facebook, but this is the first time a vice-versa feature has been tested. With the option to post Stories to both Facebook and Instagram, users can save time by ditching the extra steps of exiting out of the app and moving to another when cross-posting content.

It’s no secret that Facebook Stories isn’t as popular as Instagram Stories. While the latter feature seems to generate content in perpetuity, Facebook Stories is almost like a ghost town, with only a handful of users posting. This new feature is no doubt an attempt to increase use of Facebook Stories. 

Facebook is also likely hoping to draw more Instagram users to its platform. Despite its 2.4 billion monthly active users, the social media platform isn’t as popular as it used to be during the height of its existence, back in the middle 2000s. With Instagram now receiving all of the attention, Facebook is getting desperate—and it shows. 

When you visit your Facebook account, you will notice that your notifications now include alerts about people’s activities, whether that’s posting a new image or publishing a new post. This small change seems like a way to encourage users to engage with content on Facebook’s platform. 

This test could increase efficiency in cross-posting content and the use of Facebook Stories. But do users care enough about Facebook Stories to use this new feature? 

By Anne Felicitas

The post You May Be Able to Post Facebook Stories to Instagram Soon appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

A Beginner’s Guide to Pinterest Marketing

MAR. 9, 2020

Szabo Viktor / Unsplash

Are you wondering if Pinterest is a good choice for marketing your business? According to Pinterest, 35.5 million U.S. users engage with style content, 45 million with home content, and 52 million with beauty content. Moreover, 72% of food and drink audiences and 78% of travel audiences have made a purchase based on niche pins. 

To get started with Pinterest marketing, you’ll need a business account. With a business account, you have access to deep analytics that help you learn about your audience and make strategic advertising decisions. Also, if you team up with other brands or influencers, they’ll be able to see how many monthly viewers your profile receives, which can encourage them to work with you.

4 Elements of a Pinterest Marketing Strategy

Pinterest is made up of boards, often revolving around specific themes. The more organized and optimized your boards, the easier it will be for potential followers and customers to find your content. Here’s a succinct overview of what you need to include in a Pinterest marketing strategy.

Content

You’ll add your own and other users’ content to your boards. It’s helpful to create a posting schedule. For example, you may want to pin ten of your own posts to Pinterest each day and then add ten more Pins from other users. Make sure to follow Pinterest’s creative best practices when designing your content, such as giving context to an image and adding your logo.

SEO

Pinterest is a highly searchable platform, so all of your content should be SEO-optimized. Add keywords to your profile, Pin descriptions, board titles, and descriptions. If you run ads, you can use the keyword-targeting tool to reach Pinners who are searching for your type of content.

If you need more help with creating SEO-optimized Pins, watch Life Styling Space’s YouTube video, which walks you through the many ways you can optimize your Pins for SEO. 

Followers

There are several ways to increase your following on Pinterest:

Promote your account on your brand’s other social media profiles, in newsletters, and on your website.Follow accounts that you want to connect with and that target the same audience.Run Pinterest ads to reach people who haven’t come across your Pins or profile yet.

Also, like with most social media platforms, you’ll be able to grow your followers by engaging and interacting with your fans. Re-pin or comment on their content and respond to comments left on your posts.

Analytics

Pinterest’s analytics platform offers information about your audience, Pins, and the overall health of your account. You can find information such as the following:

How much of your audience is engaged and how it’s changed over the last monthWhich device your audience is using to view your contentThe Pin format that your audience prefers (standard, story, or video)Your top boards and top Pins by objectives, such as impressions or link clicks

This information helps you enhance your strategy for both organic and paid marketing.

Pinterest Business has a helpful video explaining how its analytics platform works. If you need a quick guide, check it out. 

Pinterest Ad Formats

There are an assortment of Pinterest ads you can run to reach specific goals.

Promoted App Pins

Promote your app and let users download it directly through Pinterest. Here’s an example of a promoted Pin for the Babies“R”Us registry app:

Babies“R”Us / Pinterest Business


Promoted Carousel Ad

Promote up to five images in one Pin that users can swipe through. Here are the first and last images in a carousel ad from Behr:

Behr / Pinterest



Behr / Pinterest


Promoted Pin

Promote one Pin with a single image, like Freestyle Watches does with this ad. When you click it, you go straight to its product page.

Freestyle Watches / Pinterest


Promoted Video Pin

Tell a story through a video Pin. There are various formats and lengths available to choose from. Kohl’s ran a video ad with tips for outdoor entertainment:

Kohl’s / Pinterest Business


3 Advanced Tips for Marketing with Pinterest

From marketing your own brand to getting paid to Pin on behalf of other companies, there are a lot of ways to add Pinterest to your marketing strategy.

Add Affiliate Links to Your Pins

If you make money by selling affiliate products, you can add affiliate links to your Pins, along with CTAs that encourage users to click and buy. This is great for lifestyle or fashion bloggers who show off their outfits and create Shop the Look Pins, like Gal Meets Glam:

Gal Meets Glam / Pinterest


Team Up for a Joint Promotion

Whether you’re a creator or a brand, you can work with companies to create Pins or marketing campaigns. Often, the brand strategy will include posting Pins to your own boards on behalf of the company. Alternatively, you can reach out to the Pin Collective, a group of Pinterest creatives, to help design a campaign for a specific audience. Glad partnered with the Pin Collective to attract a millennial audience. The campaign included bright, eye-catching Pins with kitchen hacks using Glad products.

Glad / Pinterest Business


Create a Shared Board

If you have the same audience as a brand that isn’t a competitor — for example, you sell cookies and another brand sells coffee, two things that go well together — you can create a shared board. The board will appear on both profiles, to which you can both contribute. Sometimes, the smaller brand will pay the larger brand a fee for the partnership, since the smaller brand is benefiting more from the collaboration. The Jungalow and REI teamed up for this type of marketing campaign:

The Jungalow / Pinterest

When collaborating with another brand on a Pinterest board, mix in Pins circulating on the platform to keep the board engaging to everyone, not just brand fans.

Final Thoughts About Pinterest Marketing

Pinterest may be a visual platform, but Pins have to go beyond being aesthetically pleasing. They also have to provide value to the user. Your Pins should tell a story, showcase a lifestyle that Pinners want to adopt, teach something new, or encourage users to learn more. Every Pin your brand posts should be valuable and meaningful.

By Lindsay Pietroluogo

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Pinterest Marketing appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Sell on Amazon: Tips for Beginners

MAR. 7, 2020

Christian Wiediger / Unsplash

Amazon’s seller platform attracts all types of businesses, from Fortune 500 companies to solo artisans. Amazon gets 195 million unique visitors every month, and that’s just in the United States. Third-party sellers were allowed to join the platform in 1999, and today they account for almost 60% of Amazon sales. There are 300 million active customers across more than 180 countries, and when you’re ready to sell beyond the U.S., you can use Amazon Global Selling to sell anywhere in Asia, Europe, and North America. 

Amazon sellers are also able to keep up with their shop when they’re on-the-go, thanks to the fully functional mobile app. You can view sales stats, fulfill orders, shop for items to resell, manage your inventory, communicate with customers, shoot and edit product photos, and create listings all through the app.

Amazon has a lot of sellers, but don’t let that intimidate you. It’s easy for beginners to launch an Amazon shop. As a beginner seller, you can easily grow on the platform without paying too much fees. Here’s everything you need to know to successfully sell on Amazon.

Sign Up to Sell on Amazon

To get started selling on Amazon, you’ll need to register for an account. You’ll have to supply your bank account and routing numbers, a credit card that can be charged for associated fees, a government-issued ID, tax information, and contact information. If you need a walkthrough of how to register, watch the 18-minute tutorial below. 

Dan Vas / YouTube

Choose Your Plan

There are two plan options: individual and professional. The individual plan costs .99 cents per sale, and it requires you to individually create product listings. The professional plan charges a flat fee of $39.99 per month, regardless of how many items you sell. You have the option to upload products in batches via a spreadsheet.

When you start selling more than 40 products per month, it’s recommended that you switch to the professional plan. However, you can switch back and forth between plans whenever you want, regardless of how much you sell. 

Decide Who Will Fulfill Orders

There are two options: Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). With FBM, you fulfill orders yourself. Customers pay Amazon-calculated shipping rates, which are based on product category and the shipping service the buyer chooses. With FBA, Amazon stores your products in one of its warehouses and takes care of packaging and shipping. While FBA is convenient for sellers, you’ll be charged fees for services, such as storage and order fulfillment. According to The State of the Amazon Seller 2020 report by JungleScout, a majority of sellers use FBA, 29% use a combination of FBA and FBM, and 6% only use FBM.

Create Your Product Listings

To add your items to Amazon, you have to create product listings. You’ll only have to do this if you have your own products to sell. If you’re selling an item that’s already listed on Amazon, like a book, you can use a pre-existing listing and fill out a bit of information to reflect your product’s condition and pricing.

The more details you can include, the better. Customers should have everything they need to make a buying decision:

Up to 7 clear, high-res images that show the product’s angles, features and optionsDescriptive titleTop features in bullet-point formatProduct guarantees, warranty, and return and exchange policiesSEO-optimized product titles, features, and descriptionsPrime eligibility for free shippingSome type of Global Trade Item Number, like a UPC code

To ensure the product information is easily digestible by customers, use short sentences and avoid jargon. Talk about your product in a way that’s easy to understand for the layman, unless you’re catering specifically to an advanced audience. If a product has several variations, like different colors and sizes, make a separate listing for each variation. Noot Products does this, creating separate listings for different colored headphones. 

Noot Products / Amazon

Run a Promotion

Every shopper loves the chance to save money. Amazon lets you run buy one, get one; free shipping; and money-off promotions. You can also send digital coupons to offer a dollar amount or percentage off a purchase. Gain’s listing for its laundry detergent contains a coupon for $2 off, appearing underneath the product price. 

Gain / Amazon


Encourage Customer Reviews

Potential customers are more likely to buy your products if they see that others have had a positive experience. Once customers have had enough time to use your product, ask them for feedback. As you receive feedback, use what you learn to flesh out product pages. For example, if customers often ask the same questions, the answer to those questions should be available on the product page. Additionally, as you receive reviews, promote the positive ones in your newsletter and on social media accounts. The retailer Pawstruck is a good example of this, featuring its best customer review on this Facebook ad. 

Pawstruck / Facebook Ad Library


Try Amazon Advertising

The Amazon platform has built-in advertising options to help you reach and engage with potential customers. When you advertise your products, your listings will appear higher in search results, with a “Sponsored” label, like in the cookbook example below. You can sponsor brands or products and create display ads, video ads, and more. 

Amazon.com


Use the Amazon Brand Registry

If your brand sells under a registered trademark, the Amazon Brand Registry is available to you. You’ll get help establishing, growing, and protecting your brand. Features include branded product pages, additional advertising options, and rich media, like videos and product pages.

Travis Marziani has a helpful seven-minute video that talks more about Amazon Brand Registry: what it is and how to register. 

Travis Marziani / YouTube

Final Thoughts About Selling on Amazon

The outlook for selling on Amazon is promising. Seventy-four percent of sellers earn more than $1,000 per month, and 39% earn more than $10,000 per month. The higher your profit margin, the more you’ll earn, so aim to keep your profit margin in the 10% to 20% range, or even higher if possible.

Amazon is one of the quickest and most convenient ways to get an online shop up and running fast. They have a built-in audience that’s already shopping on the platform, tools to optimize your brand and products, and a rich knowledge base with plenty of guidance for both beginners and advanced sellers.

By Lindsay Pietroluongo

The post How to Sell on Amazon: Tips for Beginners appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

New Year, New Strategy: 11 Social Media Best Practices for 2020

MAR. 6, 2020

NordWood Themes / Unsplash

The first quarter of the new year is an excellent time to breathe life into your social media campaign and develop strategies for the future. Here are 11 social media best practices to enhance your 2020 marketing.

1. Choose the Right Platform

Which social media platform is best for your business goals? Think about what the platform’s audience wants to see and decide if it matches with your brand. For example, if you need to send traffic to your website, Pinterest is better than Instagram. If your brand is highly visual, though, and you don’t sell products, Instagram is better than Pinterest. LinkedIn is best for B2B companies and Twitter is best for entrepreneurs and thought leaders, especially since it’s a place where people debate both lighthearted and serious issues. Also, visit your competitors’ feeds to see what they’re doing and how much engagement they receive.

2. Claim Usernames Everywhere

Even if you’re not going to use certain platforms right now, claim your username on as many as you can. If you do decide to use a different channel in the future, you’ll already . When all of your profiles have the same username, it’s easier for customers to find you, and it also creates brand unity. In the meantime, keep the account hidden or use it to direct people to your active channels. A tool like can show you whether your username is available in different social media platforms.

Namecheckr


3. Fill Out Your Social Profiles

Every social profile you use should have as much business information as it can hold. Instead of answering customers’ questions over and over, they will be able to find the information on their own, leaving you free to handle more pressing business issues. On Instagram and Twitter, that means as much as you can fit into the small profile section. On Facebook, there’s a lot of room to get more detailed. Include contact information, links to your best-selling products or services, and hours of operation. Pottery Barn does a good job of using the different fields in the Facebook “About” section to tell visitors about its business and how to get in touch.

Pottery Barn / Facebook


4. Create a Content Calendar

To publish strategically, create a content calendar. You won’t have to come up with an idea at the last minute, and you’ll know exactly who will be creating what and when it will go up. Plus, a content calendar keeps you organized, makes the process of posting more efficient, and gives you a bird’s eye view of your content so you can assess if it’s varied and creative enough.

When creating your content calendar, make sure you include only high-quality content. If you’re a team of one, you may have to post less frequently to ensure published content is up to your standard. Quality should always win over quantity.

5. Pay Attention to Timing

When developing your content calendar, consider when it’s best to publish per platform. Strike the right balance to post at optimal times without overwhelming your audience with too much content. According to Hootsuite, the best time to post on any social media account is between 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. PST, Monday to Wednesday. 

6. Design Content for the Platform

Each platform has its own post specifications, so when you auto-share content from one social media platform to another, text could get cut off or links could be reformatted awkwardly. Instead, create each post for the network you’re publishing to. The same goes for video. Instead of adding a YouTube link to your Facebook feed, upload the video directly to Facebook. There are other ways to cross-promote your platforms, such as adding your Facebook and Twitter link to your Pinterest profile or putting a link to your LinkedIn account in your Instagram bio. 

7. Take Advantage of Automation

Automate as much as possible so you can spend your energy on more important tasks, like crafting creative content and responding to customers. Schedule your social media posts in advance so you don’t have to publish live each day. You can use either a native scheduler, like the ones built into Facebook and Twitter, or a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite that lets you connect several social media profiles at once and schedule everything from one place.

Buffer


8. Mix Up Your Content

Audiences get bored if all your content is exactly the same. Stay on brand and mix it up at the same time. Content can range from behind-the-scenes and company-culture videos to brand and industry news to humorous GIFs and thoughtful blog posts. User-generated content (UGC) is great to use because it connects you to customers and provides ready-made content. Ask for permission to repost or create a hashtag that customers can use when they want you to repost their work. Always give them credit in the description.

9. Stick to the Best Image Sizes by Platform

Always adhere to the right image sizes and orientations for the platform you’re using. For example, long vertical posts go on Pinterest while horizontal posts go on Facebook. Canva has a helpful infographic that covers the best sizes for each social media site.

10. Use Hashtags Wisely

Even though some platforms, like Instagram, allow several hashtags in a post, don’t overuse them in business content. One or two is usually acceptable on Twitter. Use no more than 10 on Instagram. Otherwise, it looks like you’re desperately seeking attention. Most people don’t use hashtags on Facebook or Pinterest, so if you do, it’ll look like you’re out of touch. Always research hashtags you’re not completely sure about. Otherwise, you could accidentally use an offensive hashtag without realizing it.

Nike Women / Instagram


11. Tag Your Location

If your content is in any way related to your location, add a geotag. This is especially helpful in Instagram Stories because people can view Stories tagged with a location by searching it in Explore and clicking the Stories circle on the top-left corner of the screen. This can bring in new fans who haven’t connected with your account before.

Airbnb / Instagram

Now that you’re off to a great start for the year, make a point to go over your marketing strategy every three months. Social media marketing strategies are meant to be fluid, and you should change yours every few months to keep it fresh and continue to reach a growing audience base. 

By Lindsay Pietroluongo

The post New Year, New Strategy: 11 Social Media Best Practices for 2020 appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

5 Ways to Increase Brand Loyalty and Trust with Customer Engagement

MAR. 5, 2020

Bench Accounting / Unsplash

No matter the industry or the niche you operate in, chances are you are surrounded by competitors fighting for the same target demographic. Trying to stay afloat and even grow in a competitive field can be a challenge nowadays, especially when you consider the fact that the sheer number of options allows customers to hop from one brand to the other — unless something inspires them to become loyal brand followers. This is where customer engagement comes into play, and it’s your ticket to better brand recognition, trust, and authority in your industry.

Customer engagement is part of experiential marketing, and it serves to engage the consumer and entice them to interact with a company in a positive way and ultimately develop feelings of loyalty and trust. This also inspires them to spread the word about your brand, so let’s take a look at how you can leverage customer engagement in 2020.

Engage Your Customers with a Compelling Brand


Headway / Unsplash

First things first, you can’t hope to engage your customers with amazing content or email and social media marketing if you don’t focus on the brand-building process. It’s imperative that you develop a unique brand identity that will separate you from your competitors and improve your visibility, recognition, and brand “stickiness” with your target audience. Otherwise, people will forget about you on their way to a website with a better discount or a limited-time offer. However, if you have a distinct brand identity, then you have the opportunity to encourage them to choose you and to keep coming back.

You can start by defining the values that drive your mission, your vision, your goals, and your brand as a whole. Make sure that these values complement the values of your target demographic to instantly spark their interest. Next, weave these values into your visual identity and create a visual presence that will make your brand more memorable and relevant to your niche. Finally, come up with a unique tone of voice that you will use to communicate with your customers on all online and offline channels — this will make you more memorable and relatable, and it will allow you to personalize the brand experience.

Focus on What Matters to the Customer

We live in an age of marketing personalization, and if you want to get anywhere in the foreseeable future, you need to start personalizing everything, from your email marketing campaign, to your advertisements, content, and your entire communication strategy. That said, personalization is not just about addressing customers by their names in every email — it’s about tailoring the entire brand experience to their needs, their aspirations, and their lifestyles.

This means that you need to obtain all relevant customer data, collate all of that information, transform it into actionable reports and personalize your marketing tactics. For example, your email campaigns should address the individual, but they should also give them a personalized collection of stories and products that are relevant to them. Be sure to collect as much customer feedback as you can in order to personalize your products, deals, content, and even the way you talk to them on social media.

Build Social Proof on Your Website


Brooke Cagle / Unsplash

Building social proof has always been one of the most important marketing objectives, but nowadays it has become a business model in its own right, simply because you can’t build brand authority or engage your customers properly without it. This is why business leaders are now integrating a conversion rate optimization tool into their websites, in order to help build social proof and incentivize potential as well as existing customers to interact with the site in a positive way. 

The premise behind these tools is simple: Visitors will receive real-time notifications of other customers signing up for your services, buying your products, or interacting with your site in other ways, and will then feel encouraged to put their trust in your brand. You can speed this process along by complementing this tool with product reviews and ratings, customer testimonials, and user-generated content on your site. 

Use Social Media to Disseminate Your Brand

With so many people on social media, you can’t afford not to be active on all social platforms that are relevant to your brand and the niche you occupy. It’s important that you engage your audience and your followers by posting regularly on all social channels, running targeted ads on Facebook and beyond, and even using influencers on Instagram to reach a wider audience and build brand trust. But before you start posting and communicating with your followers, make sure that your social media managers and influencers follow your brand guidelines, in order to ensure consistency across the online realm.

Integrate an Omni-Channel Sales Structure


HJ Barraza / Unsplash

And finally, if you want to keep your customers engaged and boost your conversion rates, you have to incorporate an omni-channel sales and customer service strategy into your operation. Now customers want to communicate with their brands in real time, meaning that you need to make yourself available via live chat on your site, messaging and calls on social media, and other channels. Likewise, people want the ability to buy on different platforms, so make sure that your customers are able to buy from you directly from chat, video or phone calls, email, and even via SMS!

Wrapping Up

Customer engagement is one of the most important metrics for a growth-oriented business, which is why engaging with your customers should be your top priority in 2020. Use these tools and solutions to elevate the entire brand experience and set yourself up for another successful year.

By Sophia Smith

The post 5 Ways to Increase Brand Loyalty and Trust with Customer Engagement appeared first on AdvertiseMint.