Friday 22 July 2016
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Wednesday 27 January 2016
Here's a Quick Way to Get More Likes on Your Facebook Page
Scott Ayres 4 min read
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The #1 question I bet you want answered:
How do you get more likes on your Facebook Page?
My answer: use the Viral Photos feature in Post Planner to post scientifically-proven viral images (that get tons of shares)!
But I'm sure you've asked yourself the same question. And it's a good one to be asking.
The problem is there are too many people recommending too many different ways to get more Likes and Fans -- many of them not legit.
Do a search on Google and you'll find over 2 billion results offering you an answer!
Yes, that's billion with a B!
So what should you do to get more Fans?
Should you buy Likes from some site -- or someone on Fiver?
Not just no, but HELL NO!!
I'll be honest -- I did that about 3 years ago for a page and it ruined the page. Buying Likes got me nowhere. It actually ruined the page because I didn't have engaged Fans -- all of the Likes were basically from fake Facebook accounts.
Should you run ads to get more Likesand Fans?
That's the best way to get targeted Fans, but you'll need a hefty ad budget. If you can't commit the money to Facebook ads and run them consistently you won't see results.
So what do I recommend to get more Likes and Fans on your Facebook page?
Create posts that inspire people to SHARE your content
People love to share great content. And when your Fans' friends see that great content, they too may share it -- or even better, they may "Like" your page.
It's a win-win situation.
And it's an easy way to get more likes on your Facebook page.
Your current Fans share your content -- and new Fans Like your page because of it!
So how do you create content that excites people enough to share it? Again, another great question.
The obvious answer is to use Post Planner's Viral Photos and Trending Content to post content that's already proven itself to be shareable.
But while I was writing this post, my good friends Mari Smith andShortStack posted an infographic detailing 14 different ways to get more shares on Facebook.
I agree 100% with this graphic on how to "boost visibility and inspire viral sharing on Facebook".
Here are the 14 different ways to get more shares as listed on the infographic. My commentary on each item will be in (parenthesis) I will also add the infographic at the bottom of the post if you prefer reading it.
1. Be Consistent
Post 5 times a week so you're "top of mind" for your Fans.
(My personal recommendation, as mentioned in my "Give me 5 Minutes a day and I'll make you a better Facebook Page Owner" post, is to post at least once a day. Post more if you're getting great engagement.)
2. Time it right
The best time to post will depend on the type of business you're in.
(By using Post Planner you can easily plan out the best times to post! There is no "magic time" to post, so mix it up and see what works best for your page. )
3. Use eye-catching images
Alternate photos and video with text-only updates.
(Images are the most shared piece of content on Facebook -- and all social media for that matter. This is why Instagram and Pinterest have done so well.)
How do you find awesome, eye-catching images?
Easy. Use Post Planner's Viral Photos feature.
4. Keep it short
Posts between 100 and 150 characters (fewer than 3 lines of text) see 60% more Likes, comments and shares than longer posts.
(I would go a step further and say limit it to 80 characters. The quicker it is to read, the more likely people will actually read & share it.)
5. Be relevant
Your content should let your audience know that you know who they are.
(A great way to remain relevant is to use the Status Ideas Engine andContent Library in Post Planner to post engaging statuses and trending content from various sources.)
6. Use your authentic voice
People are your Fans and friends because they like what you do. Your voice on Facebook should be true to your brand.
(There is nothing worse than being completely stale and boring on Facebook. If your audience is skaters you should post like a skater, not like a Wall Street CEO.)
7. Include a call to action
If you ask your Fans to Share, Like or Comment, they are more likely to do it.
(With that in mind would you please Like and Share this post!)
8. Be creative with apps
Contest and promotion apps, along with forms, surveys, etc. can deepen users' involvement with a business or brand.
(Don't overdo it with apps on your page though. Contests are a great way to get more Fans and are highly shared on Facebook. Andrea Vahl posted a great tutorial on how to run a contest on Jon Loomer's blogrecently -- you should check out.)
9. Have a sense of urgency
Include up-to-minute tips and tricks, and whenever possible, dispel myths.
(It's always a good idea to stay on top of what's going on in your niche -- and to share that with your followers. What you don't want to do is share a post that's a year old and no longer relevant.)
10. Offer value
Before you share something on Facebook ask yourself if you think your Fans will find value in the content.
(If they don't find any value in it, they won't share it!)
11. Be entertaining
If your followers like funny memes or respond well to video, take note. Use the type of media that works best for your audience.
(I tend to disagree with this statement. As I mentioned in my post about being a Crappy Fan Page Admin if all you're posting is stupid cat memes, you're offering no value -- which goes against the #10 tip. My advice: just don't overdo it.)
12. Be educational
People love to share how-to guides and tips.
(Totally agree with this tip -- but make sure the material you share is easy to follow and from a valid source.)
13. Make a list
Lists, in the form of an infographic or a pdf (or a blog post) are great for sharing.
(This tip is perhaps the best tip on the list. People love posts that are "Top 10 Ways to..." or "12 Can't Miss Tips on..." A fine example of this is my post "100 Awesome Facebook Interest Lists to follow (and bypass Edgerank)". This post has garnered over 1200 Likes and Shares, as well as 250+ Tweets! Another example is "9 things You Should Never Share on Facebook" which has been Liked and Shared about 200 times in less than a week. There is power in list related posts.)
14. Be seasonable
Tailor your content to the season or an upcoming holiday.
(A great way to get more shares is to do a promotion based on a holiday. Or you can emulate Mari Smith and change out your profile image orcover photo to something seasonal. People love to see personality on a page.)
Anyway, here's the infographic, as promised:
Do you agree with this list of items?
I hope the advice here will help you get more likes on your Facebook page.
What's next? Are you ready to up your Facebook game? We can help with that too!
Grab your copy of our free infographic below.
You'll be glad you did. :)
Facebook tips
2 FREE Tools to Run a Facebook Contest & Pick a Winner
Facebook ToolsFacebook Marketing Tips
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Facebook shocked the social media marketing world recently be removing the restrictions on Fan Page contests.
In a nutshell...
You can now run a Facebook contest right on your page & do NOT have to use a 3rd party app.
We surveyed some app companies &Facebook marketing experts & there were mixed reviews on whether this was a good or bad thing.
Good for SMBs
Personally, I think it's a great change -- for small businesses especially.
It's now much easier to start & run a contest on your page -- no need to buy an app or learn how to install one.
However, if you run a Page timeline contest that is 100% based on Likes & Comments as entries, then you're going to run into a few problems:
Collecting entries could be overwhelming -- what if your contest gets 1000 likes & comments??How do you select a winner in an unbiased way?How do you notify the winner easily?
If your contest only gets 10 entries, then you could very easily just run it on the page & not have any difficulties.
But when your page is larger, this seems difficult to near impossible.
Let's say this image below from Pepsi was a contest & to enter you only had to Like the photo.
With nearly 14,000 Likes, there's no way in the world Pepsi could pick a winner -- other than simply scrolling through who Liked the post & just deciding on someone.
Doesn't sound like a fun way or a smart way to run a contest.
Running an Efficient Facebook Contest on Your Page -- For FREE!
Immediately following Facebook's announcement of the rule change to contests, app companies everywhere began shuffling to find a solution for page owners to run contests effectively.
Many app companies are offering solutions for page owners -- but I want to focus on 2 free versions that have caught my attention:
Woobox & Edgerank Checker
Contest Capture by Edgerank Checker
Edgerank Checker was the first out of the gates to offer up a tool that exports Likes & Comments from contest posts on Facebook.
Oddly enough, they aren't even a contest app provider!
Which means they don't have a dog in this fight -- they simply wanted to offer up as quick solution so they created the site & product called "Contest Capture".
It's pretty simple to use.
Step 1: Go towww.ContestCapture.com& click Connect Now
Step 2: Allow all the permissions
A few different permissions will load up -- simply allow all of them.
If you don't allow all permissions, the app can't pull data from your pages.
Don't worry -- they're not going to post anything to your timeline or your page's timeline.
Step 3: Select a Page
After selecting a page the app will take a few seconds as it pulls the posts from your page.
Step 4: Select a Post
Now choose the post related to the contest.
We haven't run a contest on our page at Post Planner yet, so I'm going to select the post from 9/3 " Liking your own status on Facebook..." as I know that post had decent engagement.
Step 5: Download CSV
You will need the ability to open a .csv file (Excel file) to proceed from here.
Step 6: Open CSV file
Once you open the csv file you'll see something similar to the image below that lists all of the people who Liked or Commented on the post:
Step 7: Choose a Winner
This is where things get tough.
While having all of this data in a spreadsheet is much easier to digest & pick a winner -- rather than simply looking at the post on your page, it still falls short.
You could select all of the Likes & simply do a random sorting & have #1 be your winner.
Or you could print out all of the names that liked or commented, cut them out & then select the winner from a hat live on a video or something.
But some work will need to be done on your part to select the winner -- while ensuring trust in your fans that you aren't simply selecting your best friend as the winner!
>>> Is there an even easier -- and free -- solution to run a contest on your page & choose a winner?
Yep. Let's talk about Woobox.
Woobox
Woobox has long been the app provider of choice for many page owners -- although I'll admit I've never been a big user of it.
That could change now!
Their app works similar to the Contest Capture app by Edgerank Checker, but goes a step further in helping you select a winner.
Let me show you how it works:
Step 1: Login to the Woobox Dashboard
You'll need to use the "Sign In Using Facebook" option.
If you don't have a free account with them already, this will set one up. You could use the email sign up option, but it's much easier to sign in with Facebook.
Be sure to click "Okay" on all of the permission boxes that pop up.
If you don't, Woobox won't be able to pull the information from your pages it needs to administer your contest.
Step 2: Select a Page
Choose the page that you ran the contest on from the dropdown arrow:
Step 3: Select "Posts"
Now that you've selected the correct page you'll want to see all of the posts from that page.
Simply click "Posts" & you'll be shown posts from the past 10 days.
Step 4: Select a Post
Just as we did with Contest Capture, we need to choose the appropriate post related to our contest.
For our purposes here I'll choose the "Liking your own status..." update again.
Then all you have to do is click on "Pick" next to the post related to the contest when you want to choose a winner.
Once you do that, you'll see something similar to this:
Step 5: Pick a Winner
As shown above, you have 3 options when it comes to picking a winner:
From users that liked the postFrom users that commented on the postOr from users that liked or commented on the post.
With all options a winner will be selected at random.
If we choose the 1st option & then click "Pick a Winner", we get these results:
If we choose "Users can enter by commenting on this post" we are also given a 2nd option that only allows users to enter the contest once -- this is pure genius on the part of Woobox!
Lastly you can tick the box for "Users can enter by liking this post" & "Users can enter by commenting on this post" & both entries will count.
This could mean people would get multiple entries -- 1 for a like & 1 for a comment -- but this does allow you to let people enter by simply "Liking or Commenting on Our Post".
You can see in my example below I chose both options & when I clicked "Pick a Winner" a few times I got winners from both Types.
Obviously most contests don't have multiple winners, I simply continued to pick a winner to show you that winners are randomly selected from both types.
Step 6: Contact the Winner
Regardless of how you choose the winner -- likes or comments -- it is up to you to contact the winners.
The great thing with the Woobox tool is you can click on the person's profile & either send them a message from your personal account, or perhaps tag them in the contest post itself.
That's the 1 major downfall of running a page timeline contest -- you don't have an email address to notify the winner.
** You can also export the list of Likes & Comments to a CSV file that you can store for later. I'm not real sure where the value would be in having this csv file after picking a winner.
Woobox also allows you to "Unpick" a winner - this comes in handy if you were just playing around & wanted to see how it works -- but also if you have rules on your page that a person can only win once every 30 days or similar.
If a recent winner comes up & is ineligible, you could simply unpick & pick another winner.
Contest Capture & Woobox's new features are both great -- however I gotta say that Woobox wins hands down, if this were a competition!
The ability to allow them to choose the winner takes that off your shoulders & will give your fans proof that you did not select the winner of your choice.
If I were running a contest using this method I would simply do a screencast type video & record myself going through this process & picking a winner -- so there would be no questions about me being unfair.
Other Tools to Execute Page Timeline Contests
There are a few other tools out there already that will also help you in this process -- but most seem to be only available to paid members of those apps.
>> Shortstack has a great looking tool called the "Contest Like/Comment Importer" -- you might want to check it out if you're already a Shortstack member
>> Heyo has announced they have a contest related tool in development called "Timeline Contest Creator" -- but as of writing this, it's still not available to the public. I don't know if this will be a paid or premium feature, we'll wait & see.
>> Tabsite announced they too will have a "Timeline Contest App" -- but it's still in development as well & no word on cost.
I'm sure more app companies will add this to their arsenal.
Regardless of what tool you use to run the page timeline contest -- if you use one at all -- it's important to make sure you contest still abides by this advice we posted on a previous blog post:
Make the prize relevant to your company! – an iPad is not relevant if you own a craft store.Ensure the prize value equates to your product – $30 Gift Card for $600 watches is not a motivating deal!Keep the contest moving! – don’t run a month-long contest. The attention span of a Facebook fans is short.
Monday 18 January 2016
Lumia 950xl
Today Microsoft held a press conference in New York and it introduced three new Lumia smartphones as part of its newly charted strategy. The Lumia 950 XL is the long awaited flagship entry, the Lumia 950 targets the business class and the Lumia 550 seems line an excellent value for money.
Last July Microsoft announced a major restructuring, which started by writing off the Nokia acquisition and laying off 7,800 employees. Then the Windows, Phone, Tablet, Xbox, HoloLens and Band divisions were all united under a single Microsoft Devices with Terry Myerson serving as the unit's chief.
Finally, Microsoft decided to focus on three different niches on the phone market - flagship, business and value, and those would get just one or two phones each year. By lowering the phone sales and putting the focus to specific niches, Microsoft is hoping of cutting the losses and eventually start making money from those. This is a complete shift from the previous plans that were basically 'sell as many as you can'.
So, today we got one phone for each category and they sure look promising. Those three Lumia smartphones - 950 XL, 950 and 550 are also the first to run natively on Windows 10 for Phones.
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL at a glance:
Windows 10, Windows 10 Continuum supported via a dedicated dock5.7" Quad HD AMOLED display, 518ppi, Gorilla Glass 3, ClearBlack technology, Glance screenQualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset with 2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A57 plus 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, Adreno 430 GPU, 3GB RAM20MP 26mm-equiv. f/1.9 lens PureView camera, ZEISS optics, optical stabilization, triple-LED RGB flash, hardware shutter key2160p video recording5MP front selfie cameraIris canner for Windows Hello unlock32GB of built-in storage, expandable via the microSD card slot by up to 200GBOptional Dual SIM with LTE Cat.4 (up to 150Mbps), Cat. 6 LTE (up to 300Mbps), USB Type C port3,300 mAh battery, QuickCharge and Qi wireless charging
