Boating Industry

July 2014

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MARKET FOCUS SECTION { SOCIAL MEDIA } July 2014 | Boating Industry | 43 www.BoatingIndustry.com sibility comes in," Blessington said. "Unless at the register, through the salespeople … they're saying how did you hear about us or how did you fi nd this website or this boat and where did you fi nd it" results can be diffi cult to measure. If the goal is using a Facebook post to drive people to your website, that's very easy to track by simply using Google Analytics (see sidebar). Other useful tools include HootSuite, which de Vlaming recommends for its ease of use for not only posting across multiple plat- forms but also tracking the results. While there is a paid version available, the free version itself is pretty robust. "It's the best free platform that's out there right now," she said. "You can see who clicks on your links, measure things like how much traffi c you're driving. It's a pretty incredible analytics suite for a free product." Besides Google Analytics, Blessington also recommends HubSpot, which has many of the same benefi ts of HootSuite. SOCIAL ADVERTISING As the 800-pound gorilla of social media, Facebook has been the biggest area of focus for most companies. However, as the company continues to try to fi nd ways to monetize its 1 billion-plus users it has become more diffi cult to get your message to customers. Facebook advertising, though, can be inexpensive and effective when done properly. "Dealers who have success with Facebook advertising are very streamlined in what their goals are," de Vlaming said. "They're not just throwing money out into the abyss and hop- ing it somehow benefi ts them." Facebook has recently revamped its adver- tising suite to make it even easier to use and track success, guiding advertisers through the process, de Vlaming said. "It's set up so you don't have to be a rocket scientist to fi gure out," she said. "Facebook breaks it down and makes it really accessible for you, even for a dealer who doesn't have a large marketing team to take care of it." While pure advertising may turn some users off, the use of promoted posts to put your message in front of more people can be successful, Blessington said. "They are so affordable, so you can … put down a $35 spend to promote a particular post," she said. "What we like about this, and what Facebook is fi nding people like about it, is that it is relevant content." With promoted posts being so inexpensive, Blessington recommends trying it out as part of a campaign, such as promoting an event. By targeting certain ZIP codes, or users that have "liked" certain brands or other dealers, you can easily hone in the right audience. "Especially in an event scenario, that can be pretty effective," she said. "People tend to be more open to something that's local, some- thing that's in their interest category, versus just a fl at out ad." BOOSTING A FACEBOOK POST By Heather Blessington, ARI Network Services The fastest way to boost re- cent posts, is directly on your Facebook page: 1. Go to any post you've recently created. 2. Click Boost Post at the bottom right of your post. 3. Choose your audi- ence and budget based on how many people you want to reach. You can also click More Options to se- lect the duration of your boost or change your payment method. 4. Click Boost Post. While this method allows you to see how many people your post has the potential to reach, it doesn't allow you to select the specifi c demo- graphics of your key prospects. To take a more targeted approach, boost your Facebook post from your Facebook Advertising admin. 1. Go to the ads create tool and select Page Post Engagement. 2. Select the post you'd like to boost from the dropdown menu. 3. Scroll down the page to the Audience section to narrow in on the exact audience you'd like to target. Not only can you select your target's region, gender and age, but you can actually target your prospects Interests. In this example we've used Boating and Fishing. On the right you'll see a section called Audience Defi nition that will show you the exact size of your selected audience. 4. Once you've selected the audience demo- graphics, scroll down to the Campaign and Ad Set section. Select a daily budget and designate a Schedule for your promotion. 5. In the Bidding and Pricing box, select Bid For Page Post Engagement. 6. Click the green Place Order button. Shortly after boosting a Page post, you'll be able to see its performance in ads manager and in the Posts tab of your Page Insights. "Most people have a problem with measuring the success of social media because they haven't identified their objectives." — Lauren de Vlaming, social media manager, Dominion Marine Media P42x43-BI14JUL-MF-new.indd 43 5/28/14 12:24 PM

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