How to Build a Brand From Scratch With the Help of Facebook

One of the primary challenges marketers face is building quick traction for a new brand.

An established brand has it easy. They can target current Facebook fans, website visitors, customers and email subscribers. These people all know the brand, so they’re likely to engage positively.

But if you don’t have any of these things, how do you build a brand? In this post I’ll break down the challenge as well as the simple steps I recommend brands taking to build a highly relevant audience quickly using Facebook.

Here is a simple system for building a brand from scratch with the help of Facebook…

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The Challenge

If you hop onto Facebook looking to promote a new brand, you’ve got nothing to work with. While I will want you to immediately start building the top of your funnel, that is going to be slow moving.

Why? Because even if you offer helpful, educational or entertaining content, people are less likely to interact with it if it’s coming from a brand — particularly one they don’t know. So costs will be high early.

Ideally, you’d have some sort of built in audience around passionate people for a related subject matter. And in that ideal world, you could start sharing your content to this warmed up audience, driving them to your website.

1. Build a Passion Page

People may not be eager to interact with a brand’s Facebook page — particularly a brand they don’t know — but you may be surprised by how enthusiastic users are about engaging around a passion.

Create a Facebook page around a passion relevant to your brand or product. If your brand is a new micro brewery, create a “People Who Love Micro Brews” page — or something less corny. The main point is that it’s very general and is not connected to a single brand.

If you break down the “microbrewery” interest within Audience Insights, you’ll get the following list of relevant page likes:

After experimenting to find out which show up with interests, I then end up with the following pages that all have one or several related interests I can target in an ad:

• Goose Island Beer Co
• New Belgium Brewing
• Anchor Brewing Company
• Samuel Adams
• Widmer Brothers Brewing
• Stella Artois
• Dogfish Head Beer
• Shock Top
• Stone Brewing Co.
• Blue Moon Brewing Company
• Dos Equis
• Oskar Blues Brewery
• BeerFests.com
• Founders Brewing Co.
• Newcastle Brown Ale

You could use this information to immediately try to build your brand page or drive traffic to your website. Just remember that this may be more expensive than you’d like.

Instead, run ads to promote that passion page for micro brew lovers. Focus on the love of micro brews instead of your brand (ignore your brand). This audience can be built very inexpensively because users will be far more willing to like a page associated with a relevant passion than with a brand they don’t know.

2. Share to the Passion Page

Hopefully you’ve been sharing interesting content for this audience while it’s been growing. They are engaged. They are eating from your hand.

Now it’s time to share a blog post from your brand website. Let’s start with a blog post that remains focused on the passion and less on the brand. It could be a list of the best micro brews, how to brew your own beer or something else related.

If you built your audience appropriately, you should see some pretty amazing results. Not only will reach be sky high (you are reaching people who want to see your content!), but the engagement and traffic you drive should come easily.

Repeat this several times. Your goal is to drive traffic to your brand site with relevant information that this audience will enjoy. While they’re there, they will now become more and more aware of your brand.

While organic results will be excellent, you should also promote these posts. Start first by promoting to the same interests you used for building your fan base as well as targeting fans. You should see Cost Per Website Click at extremely low rates.

3. Remarket to New Website Visitors

Okay, so now it’s time to find out just how valuable this new audience is!

You have been sharing blog posts from your brand’s website to the passion page and promoting those posts as well. In the meantime, you should have installed a Website Custom Audience pixel on your site and you should be building WCAs for all website visitors during the past 180 days.

Now that you have this audience building, it’s time for the good stuff. Run ads for your brand that target your website visitors for the following objectives:

• Page likes for your brand page
• Opt-ins for your brand
• Drive traffic for your brand
• Sales for your brand

You should also continue to promote blog posts for the passion page, but now also target your website visitors.

Real Life Example

I executed this same process for a project of mine. As you may know, I have a passion for baseball. I also have three boys who play baseball, and I coach their teams.

Back in the fall of 2014, I created a passion page for parents of youth baseball players. I ran ads targeting relevant interests, and quickly built up an audience of more than 30,000 people. I also created content to keep them engaged and encouraged them to participate.

When I created that page, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. I just knew that based on my personal interests, I would eventually have a need for such an audience.

Well, that need arose recently. I’ve decided to start a youth tournament baseball team for my middle son. I created a website for that team, and I immediately started publishing blog posts about coaching and parenting baseball players.

I shared my first post to that passion page at 2:30am on June 10 and the results were immediate.

Six days later, I’m seeing the following results from that share to the passion page:

• 201,856 Organic Reach
• 1,704 Shares
• 1,109 Likes
• 50 Comments
• 9,490 Link Clicks

Here is a screen grab…

I repeated this process for two other blog posts, and I also promoted each post as well. Here’s a look at the costs I’m seeing to drive traffic:

I’m getting 6 cent website clicks overall, which is insane, but even more incredible is the 2 cent cost I’m paying to reach my website visitors to drive that traffic. That’s nuts!

While my end goal may be to build a baseball team, I now have other goals along the way. I want to build as much traffic as I can so that I can also monetize the site.

In less than one week, this website has attracted more than 30,000 page views.

That’s just one week. For a brand that did not exist a week ago. There is no way I could have done this so quickly without first building the passion page. I would have otherwise been running ads from a brand that people didn’t know to a website they didn’t know.

Your Turn

My project remains a work in progress, but it’s an example of how an audience can be built from scratch with the help of Facebook. Have you done or considered doing something similar?

Let me know in the comments below!

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5 Lessons in Content Strategy (From Those Who Are Nailing It)

Social Media Strategies Summit in New York City brought together digital unicorns from around the country. While each speaker shared valuable tidbits to takeaway, below are five lessons we are eager to implement and remember.

1. “Content is the new sales call.”

– Soniya Monga, LinkedIn @soniyamonga

Soniya reminded us of the importance of a data-driven content strategy to address the reality that the average buyer must be exposed to over five pieces of content before they purchase.

2. “Social media allows us the opportunity to create new content—and to have a sense of humor.”

– Kevin Dando, PBS @kdando (@PBS)

If anyone can speak to the transformation of a traditional (and stagnant) medium, it’s Kevin. After integrating a revived social media campaign, Downton Abbey has become the top PBS drama of all time and, during Season 5, generated over 24 million Twitter impressions.

3. “What stands in our hero’s path to achievement? How does that journey unfold?”

– Michael Leis, Digitas @mleis

Focusing on behavioral content strategy, Michael articulated the importance of utilizing a traditional narrative structure in social media storytelling. His advice? Include an introduction, conflict (with clues) and a resolution (with climax) to map your hero’s journey. (The audience, here, is the hero.) We’ve dubbed Michael the “Don Quixote” of the summit.

4. “Progress makers have six shared DNA markers: optimistic, driven, resilient, future focused, worldly outlook, and generosity of spirit.”  

– Angela Moncada, Citi @angiemoncada

For Angela, while progress makers can excel in unique sub-segments of work and society, they all share a similar story narrative arc that begins with a hook and results in impact.

5. “The content process must involve: data insight, smarter targeting, aggressive optimization.”

– Ben Harper, Datify @benharper87

Ben, who turned things around for @TimeOutLondon in the UK, made clear that content production and smart storytelling aren’t enough. A successful content strategy has to include smarter targeting through data insight—and must be (aggro) optimized.

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Be Funny: The Amazing Power of Humor in Social Media Marketing

Have you heard this one?

"I have to breakup with you. We've connected on so many platforms—Facebook and Twitter—but I just don't feel Linkedin." - Derek Kessinger 

The funny bone can be a fickle thing. Writing jokes is hard work. But if you have a gift for humor, you’re marketing campaigns will be better. Why? “Laughter is a universal language and one of our first communication methods,” writes Angie Pascale of ClickZ. “Before we had spoken or written language, humans used laughter to express our enjoyment or accession with a certain situation.”

I’m sure you’ve noticed that funny memes and witty hashtags are popular. Most viral content is funny. There is even study to prove it. Its results state that “humor was employed at near unanimous levels for all viral advertisements. Consequently, this study identified humor as the universal appeal for making content viral.”

So, brand benefit one: Funny content gets shared more on social media. But what else does humor get you as social media marketer?

Joke from Hootsuite post:

An elderly grandma is on her death bed. She leans over to her granddaughter, knowing that death must be close, and says, “I want to leave you my farm. That includes the villa, the tractor and other equipment, the farmhouse and $22,398,750.78 in cash.”

The granddaughter, about to become rich, says, “Oh Grandma you are so generous. I didn’t even know you had a farm. Where is it?” With her last breath, she whispered, “Facebook.” 

Jokes trigger positive emotional and psychological responses

One of the most effective ways to market is to evoke emotion.

People feel good when they are laughing. It releases endorphins, relaxes the body, boosts the immune system and helps to relieve stress. If you want your customers to associate good feelings with your brand, make ‘em laugh.

“Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a press conference to announce that if you post one more picture of your cat sleeping, they’re going to delete your account.” -Jimmy Kimmel

Make your brand memorable with humor

According to Pascale, research shows that just 42% of positive experiences are forgotten, while 60% of negative experiences fade from memory.

Think about what TV ads you remember. You don’t remember stuff that is dull, certainly. The funny ones, right? Little kid Darth Vader? The one where the wind is personified and everyone hates him?  

“Facebook has been redesigned and it now contains a real-time news ticker. Every update says, ‘Breaking news: You’re screwing around at work.'” -Conan O’Brien

Laugher brings people together

“Laughter is social,” writes Pascale. People laugh 30 times more when they are with other people than when alone, according to Professor Robert R. Provine of the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

“Laughter eases tension and forms a sense of unity through groups,” writes Pascale. “Get your Facebook fans or Twitter followers laughing, and you'll be helping to establish a sense of community and building connections with your brand and amongst your fans and followers.”

“Facebook: What’s on your mind? ... Twitter: What’s happening? … Myspace: Where did everybody go?” – Will Ferrell

What people find funny provides audience insights

What is humor exactly? Why are some things funny? Peter McGraw, director of the Humor Research Lab and author of the Humor Code, says that "funny" is the intersection of benign and violation.

If something is benign, it's not going to be funny. Washing the dishes. Setting your alarm clock. Rabbits. Boring and benign.

If something is a violation, it's also not going to be funny. An insult. A scary point of view on the world.

“But that sweet spot between everyday and offensive, that's where funny happens,” writes Pascale. Setting your alarm clock for insults. Rabbits with a scary point of view on the world. Funny?

Figuring out that sweet spot will tell you a lot about the values and desires of your audience.

“Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a press conference to announce that if you post one more picture of your cat sleeping, they’re going to delete your account.” -Jimmy Kimmel

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Why People Like, Share, and Comment on Facebook [Infographic]

Of Facebook's 1.25 billion monthly active users, 44% Like their friends' posts at least once a day -- and 29% do it multiple times a day. That's hundreds of millions of people interacting with content on the social network on a daily basis.

So what motivates people to Like Facebook posts -- and share them, and comment on them? And why should businesses care?

Research has found several psychological reasons behind why users enjoy using Facebook so much. For example, studies observing people browsing on Facebook found psychological indications of happiness, like pupil dilation. By uncovering this type of audience insight, marketers can apply this information to create more effective Facebook marketing campaigns. 

Intrigued?

Check out the infographic below from QuickSprout to learn more about why people use Facebook and what businesses can learn from it.

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5 Key Elements of a High-Converting Facebook Ads’ Landing Page

Have you ever a created a landing page for your Facebook ads or promoted social media posts to capture leads, drive resource downloads, or get sign-ups for your service?

If so, would you like to improve the conversion rates of those landing pages?

Of course you would! The primary goal of any landing page is to collect valuable information that allows you to market to, and communicate with, potential leads. That said, after someone clicks on your Facebook ad (or promoted tweet or pin, for that matter), the copy and design of the landing page you direct them to are instrumental in the process of collecting leads.

In this article, you’ll learn five key copy and design elements of a high-converting landing page — for Facebook ads and promoted social media posts.

1) Goal-Driven Copy Length

From your Facebook ad to your landing page, you have less than 10 seconds to grab their attention.

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The first element of your landing page you need to decide on is the length of your copy.

When a person is directed to your landing page from your Facebook ad, tweet or pin,you have less than 10 seconds to grab your visitor’s attention and get them to convert. “Convert” could mean to purchase your product/service, download your resource, register for your webinar, make an appointment, etc.

Depending on what your goals are for your ad or post, you will either design a landing page that has a little bit or a lot of copy.

Shorter copy is typically best used to meet an immediate goal. For example, you want to capture email addresses so you can email subscribers access to an exclusive, limited- time-only sale, or you want to get sign ups for a free webinar you’re having soon or downloads of an eBook you created. The idea is that when people arrive at your landing page the messaging is short and sweet and they know exactly the action you want them to take, now.

Landing pages with more detailed, scrollable copy are best reserved for times you have long-terms goals.  Let’s say you want to create awareness for a new product or to educate your audience about a problem and a solution your brand provides. In these cases, long-copy landing pages can help your brand establish trust and credibility with those who click on your ad.

Short-copy landing pages are best used when the purpose of your Facebook ads is to promote resources, newsletters and online events.

Long-copy landing pages are best used when the purpose of your Facebook ads is to educate your audience and/or create awareness for a solution your brand provides.

One warning: When it comes to longer landing pages, don’t expect to see too many hard conversions immediately. When you’re focusing on a long-term goal, your conversions often come in later. Instead, look at time on page as a success metric. If people are arriving at your Facebook ads’ landing page and not immediately leaving, this is a good sign your landing page is performing well.

2) Limited Form Fields

Keep your landing page’s form fields to a minimum for a higher conversion rate

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The amount of data you want to collect from your ads’ landing page visitors can affect your conversion rate. Ask for too much information and you could turn people away. Especially if your incentive, i.e., what you’re giving away in return, does not feel worthy of the information you’re asking your visitors to share.

Here’s a tip to keep in mind: Keep your landing page’s form fields to a minimum. Why? Your conversion rate goes down as your number of entry fields required increases, according to an infographic published by QuickSprout. When a form has only three fields, its conversion rate is 25 percent. Double the number of form fields and the conversion rate drops to 15 percent.

The number of form fields you have can affect the conversion rates of your Facebook ads.

3) Key Visuals

Visuals deliver emotional cues to your landing page visitors, without the additional copy.

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The use of visuals on your ads and promoted posts’ landing pages can help quickly communicate messages more effectively than text-only landing pages. Here are three reasons this may be:

1. Our brains process images and their meanings more quickly than they do plain text. This makes sense, as 50 percent of the brain is involved in visual processing and 65 percent of people are visual learners.
2. Visual elements allow you to design a landing page that flows nicely. People have a limited time to spend on your landing page, and they — we! — are all easily distracted. Just look at how many tabs are open on your smartphone or desktop right now….all those pages competing for attention. To help get the point of your landing page across quickly, use graphics and images to break up the page to make its content easily digestible. The last thing you want is for your landing page’s visitors to be faced with unappealing, like dense blocks of texts — this will surely lead to high bounce rates and low conversions. Let me repeat: Don’t neglect flow!
3. Visuals have the power to deliver emotional cues and messages to your landing page visitors, without the use of additional copy. For example, if you a have bold red call to action button, this sends a strong signal to visitors that they should take action quickly. Whereas, if your key visuals are primarily blue, the subconscious message is friendlier, more soothing.

People respond positively to well-designed landing pages. Use images and graphics wisely to make your landing page visually appealing and you’ll reduce your bounce rate, improve visitor retention and help increase conversions.

Are you curious about what a visually appealing landing page looks like? Here’s an example from the payment company Square. The background visual they chose is bold, clean, and most important, shows off their product’s functionality.

For your Facebook ads’ landing page, choose visuals that reflect your brand’s asthenic and help draw people in, rather than overwhelm the eye.

4) Responsive, i.e., “Mobile-ready,” Design

Consider Facebook’s mobile users (40%) when you design your Facebook ads’ landing page.

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Every quarter, Facebook’s mobile usage has increased. So where are we now? As of March of 2015, there were 798 million (!) mobile daily active users, according toFacebook’s 2015 Q1 report.

Consider Facebook’s mobile users when you design your Facebook ads’ landing page.

What’s more, of Facebook’s 1.44 billion monthly active users, a whopping 40 percentof them use the social network on mobile devices only. (As for Twitter, 80 percent of its users are on mobile!)

Simple mobile usage all around is higher, it’s important that you design your landing pages with mobile in mind.

There’s nothing worse than when a mobile user clicks on a promoted post or a Facebook ad in their news feed only to discover a landing page that’s either blank, doesn’t function well, or not easy to navigate on a small screen. Including a form that’s difficult to fill out via a mobile device is even worse.

To create mobile-ready landing pages for your ads and promoted posts, you can learn HTML and CSS to create your own responsive web pages. Or, you can use a landing page builder tool like ShortStack.com. This will allow you to design landing pages — from templates or scratch —  that are automatically optimized for all mobile devices. No fancy coding skills are required.

How your Facebook ads’ landing page looks and functions on desktop is equally as important as how it looks and functions on a mobile device. Be sure to test your landing page on multiple platforms.

Before you publish your Facebook ads’ landing page, don’t forget to check how it looks and functions on a mobile device.

5) A Single Call to Action

It’s easier to get a person to do one thing, versus asking them to do two or three things.

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If you include more than one call to action on your promoted posts’ or Facebook ads’ landing page, you risk confusing your visitors. To stay clear of this potential danger zone, eliminate all clickable items on your landing page that might distract visitors from accomplishing the primary task you set forth for them.

How?

Don’t include multiple social icons, unnecessary links and tabs, drop-down menus, etc., because having too many “features” on a landing page will only confuse your visitors. The last thing you want to do is distract your visitors and give them reasons to bounce back to Facebook — without having done what you want them to do.

Keep in mind: You will have better luck getting a person to do one thing, versus asking them to do two or three things. Stick to one goal, or action item, per landing page you build.

Any information or clickable link or button that does not support the goal of your landing page should be removed.

This list is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other things to consider when creating high-converting Facebook ads’ landing pages. These five tips should, however, get you started off on the right foot.

Readers, what do you do to help maximize the conversions of your promoted posts’ and Facebook ads’ landing pages? Do you focus more on perfecting your landing page’s copy or design? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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