Facebook Is Reintroducing Facebook Search Ads.

Facebook has always been one of the most popular social media channels, however, in recent years its popularity has been on the wane especially with the younger audience. As a result, Facebook has been losing out on revenue. Although it has more than a billion dollar valuation Facebook still needs to try different methods to monetize the nearly 400 million daily visitors.

So what’s New for Facebook?
To be honest, Facebook is trying a new strategy that’s actually been tried by them once before. Facebook is reintroducing search ads to its platform. They first tried the concept of sponsored advertising in 2012. However, back then the experiment did not go down well with the users and was quickly called off.

Facebook Search Ad 2.0
In order to bump up its revenue, Facebook is reintroducing sponsored ads in its search. What this means is that every time you perform a search in Facebook you’ll see a list of paid ads before the organic search results. Similar to what you would see on Google.
For the time being the search ads concept is being run only in the US and Canada and is only visible for a certain set of advertisers and industries. Google wants to make sure that they implement the search ads correctly this time to avoid the mistakes they made during the last experiment.

IN the current state advertisers don’t have the ability to run ‘only’ search ads. The search ads have to run in conjunction with the regular news feed ads that are now the staple on Facebook. Although slightly limiting the aim is to be able to derive as much information for the benefit of advertisers and users as possible.
Also in its current form, these new search ads will only be visible on mobile and for select customers before hopefully being rolled out successfully.

Why Is Facebook Using Search Ads?
The main motive behind the search ads is undoubtedly to make another revenue stream for the company. While Instagram and other Facebook acquisitions have been showing tremendous growth in terms of revenue Facebook’s revenue itself is actually declining.
Another possible reason for re-introducing search ads is to provide advertisers with more options to reach out to the customers. Especially those further along in their customer journey. As per recent social media trends, consumers are no longer shying away from looking for products on social media as opposed to only using Google search.

Will Facebook Search Ads Compete With Google?
Everyone knows how Google is absolutely crushing the competition when it comes to Search Ads. In fact, Amazon is also making quite a few strides when it comes to search ad revenue. Facebook is not shying away from the competition and is actively looking towards gaining a foothold in the lucrative search ad industry.

Advertising revenue for the year 2018 was in excess of $33 billion. This is a large pie with several spaces for several companies to grab a share. Facebook believes that it is in a perfect position to take advantage of that fact. However, Facebook would want to do what’s best for both its advertisers as well as its consumers.

The Problems Facing Facebook Search Ads
Ever since the Cambridge Analytica scandal users have been very hesitant to share their information with Facebook. Facebook already uses a lot of the information we provide it to provide us with a better experience while using their app.
Some consumer’s worry that Facebook will use their information more prevalently to help make their search ads more targeted. While Google already does this to some extent they’ve managed to limit their intrusion, or make it seem that way. Facebook does have an image problem that they need to deal with so ensuring they launch their search ads globally properly is a priority.

Conclusion
It’s pretty much a given that Facebook Search Ads will soon be a reality for all advertisers globally. Keeping that in mind advertisers all over the world should be prepared to use them effectively. What are your opinions and thoughts on Facebook Search Ads? Would you be willing to use them as an advertiser and would you like to see them as a consumer?

Top 7 Social Media Trends For 2019

From being a means of staying in touch for friends Social Media has turned into a communication powerhouse for brands. However, with a low attention span, a multitude of options to choose from and other online distractions there is plenty to keep your target audience hooked. So how do you make sure that your communication signals are getting through to them? We’ve scoured the internet for data, spoken to plenty of digital marketing industry experts and witnessed the blooming of some of these strategies by digital behemoths to bring to you a collection of the top social media trends of 2019. Here’s everything you need to know about the best social media trends of 2019.

Key Social Media Trends Of 2019

1. Trust Building
With the backlash that followed the scam after scam that affected Facebook, the U.S. elections, and Cambridge Analytica it seemed like Facebook was almost over. As it is Facebook has lost some of its early prominences with users now spending more time on Instagram. Even though Facebook has more than 2 billion- active users on a monthly basis the whole picture isn’t as perfect.

Due to the users feeling their privacy being violated by social media and the slew of inaccurate information available online consumers are in a pickle as to what they should and should not believe. Especially when companies try and use marketing strategies that seem disingenuous. This puts their reputation on even shakier ground as customers are no longer willing to put up with fakery from brands.

There have been several instances of brands and big companies being called out on social media due to their false promises and lies. One of the biggest social media trends to look out for in 2019 and put into practice immediately is to try and build trust with your customers. To make them believe not just in your products and services but in your organization as a whole.

2. Using User Stories
Word of mouth was a very important part of the marketing gamut of a company. The practice is still in place but the methodology is vastly different than it was decades ago. While it is still important for people to talk about your product in a positive light, where they do the talking is as relevant as what they say.

Unlike previous generations, it does not take several days or weeks for user stories to reach thousands of ears. With the evolution of social media, live videos, Instagram stories, hashtags, and the like consumers now have access to word of mouth publicity in a matter of seconds.

Therefore, it has become extremely important for businesses to put out their own stories with the help of some loyal fans of the products. There are several ways in which companies are trying to get users to share their product stories. Some examples of these are running contests, using special hashtags, “share your memories with us” kind of experiences. These are all methods by which companies are trying to get good word of mouth publicity going out to willing buyers.

3. Augmented Reality Will Play A Bigger Role
Many companies including Facebook and Google are trying ways to incorporate augmented reality into their applications. Facebook has already bought a company focused on augmented reality and Google is working on its own projects to include augmented reality in its apps. Take Google Maps, for instance, one of their senior product managers admitted that it was hard to really know the direction we were supposed to turn while walking. To fix this problem they have decided to use a guide who will help us make all the right turns.

Pokemon Go is another example of seeing augmented reality really take off in the gaming world. Not only is it vastly popular, it is also highly addictive and people tend to spend hours playing the game. Brands, businesses need to figure out ways to make an entry into the augmented reality space.

You can already see the subtle entry of augmented reality in the form of those cute filters used on Instagram. What can brands do to make raise their awareness levels on these popular social media apps? Gamifying seems like the obvious choice but it isn’t always the right solution for every brand? Have you considered how you could use augmented reality to your brand’s benefit?

4. Quality vs Quantity
The age-old debate over quality vs quantity will never end. Depending on the niche you are in you will have to figure out what it is your consumers crave for. For most businesses quality of the content rather than pushing out mindless media is paying a lot of dividends. Even though you may not always the largest share of voice with your consumers with quality content you can be assured that you will always be at the top of their minds when it comes to your products or services.

Showing a creative spark while giving your consumers a good cause to back is one of the best things you can do moving into 2019 on social media. It is sure to be one of the hottest social media trends of 2019.

5. Growing Power Of Influencers
Social Media Influencers have taken their game up a notch in 2018 and we can only see this trend growing in popularity in 2019. Influencers are becoming very aware of their popularity and will do almost anything to stay relevant on social media. But they have also understood the price they need to pay. No longer can social media influencers be frivolous with their endorsements. They cannot afford to alienate their fan base.

Brands using social media influencers have gone one step ahead of the rest by adding a human persona to their brand. Even if there are multiple personalities endorsing a brand the image maintained by all of them will be surprisingly similar and one that works in conjunction with the brands own image. This is closely related to the next point of making the brand more human.

6. Humanizing The Brand
Podcasts, Webinars, Reddit AMA’s are a very popular way of making sure your brand has a human touch associated with it. Think about Tesla and how much Elon Musk is always at the forefront of their branding effort. So much so, in fact, that you can’t think about one without mentioning the other.

Look how personally involved Elon Musk is in the building of his own brand. It makes the consumers believe that the owner or a high-level executive is highly invested in the product or service which is why they are more likely to buy them. Of course, you have to make sure your product is worth it to begin with but that’s a completely different story.

7. Video Streaming
Another excellent social media trend to keep an eye on in 2019 is the growth of live videos. Its another aspect of humanizing the brand. Live videos give instant access to millions of people to your content. Since it’s live there is no scope for hiding the truth and even lesser scope to mess up.

Also unlike photos videos make you feel more like you were part of the process or event. Since most of the human experience comes through sight, live video streaming is a great way to get your prospective customers to love your products. Get them to engage more with your brand and also helps build more trust both ways.

Conclusion
Riding the social media wave is going to be really important in 2019 if you and your brands want to stay relevant. Before you can do all that you’ll need to study your audience and get familiar with the nitty gritties of the various social media channels. Or you could get a professional digital marketing company in Pune, like CodePlateau Technology Solutions to assist you with your digital marketing needs. If you need someone to get bigger than ever on social media, get in touch with us today.

Top 5 Tips To Generate More Business via LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be hit or miss for most businesses because most businesses don’t utilize the full spectrum of tools available to them. If used smartly LinkedIn can actually be the jewel in the crown of your social media strategy. In this blog, we’ll detail the top 5 strategies you can use to generate more business via LinkedIn.

Top 5 Tips on ‘How to Generate More Business via LinkedIn’

As you go through the list you’ll begin to wonder if you haven’t already set all of them up. If you have and you’re still not getting the kind of numbers you expect, think about what you’re doing wrong or get in touch with us. With that in mind let’s look at the best LinkedIn strategies to get more sales from LinkedIn

1.Optimize Your Profile for Search and Visibility

If you’re under the impression that keyword research is only relevant while writing content for your blogs and website copy, then you’re surely mistaken. If you’re a relatively unknown brand in the marketing providing a special set of products or services, the only way customer can find you on LinkedIn is via the search tool.

You need to figure out the keywords your customers are likely to use and optimize the content on your LinkedIn profile using those keywords and variations of the keywords.

Let’s say for instance you are a digital marketing expert that own a company of your own, would you rather pitch yourself as Founder of Company or Digital Marketing Expert? What do you think customers are going to be searching for? These are the factors you must take into consideration while creating a LinkedIn Page for your company.

2. Make Your Company Page as Compelling as Possible

Most company pages on LinkedIn have only the most basic information. You learn almost nothing exciting about the company or the brand. Why would you want to partner with them for your business?

When prospective customers are looking at service providers, they want to be able to read blogs about company successes, words from the senior management of the company talking about the vision of the organization. Anything that would make your potential clients get in touch with your company rather than the competition.

3.Set Your Targets and Goals

Another stellar tip to be successful on LinkedIn is to make sure you set your targets. Most businesses on LinkedIn will either try to generate leads for their businesses or create additional brand awareness for your company. Or maybe both.

Depending on the goals that have been set for the organization the measuring standards will also differ. When it comes to brand awareness the number of likes and shares your posts get. Lead generation is more straightforward as long as you’re measuring the data correctly.

4.Create a Customer Persona and make sure you target correctly

One of the biggest problems most businesses face on LinkedIn is they cast their net too wide. Only by creating a customer persona and sticking to your targeting goals will you be able to attain your business goals.

For this, you might have to join special groups, limit your network to only a certain kind of individuals. The more you work on your customer persona the clearer your idea will be about how to go about meeting your business goals. You’ll be in a better position to answer the question about what kind of content to share, what kind of posts to publish and more.

5.Make proper use of analytics

The most essential tool you have at your disposal when using LinkedIn to grow your business is their analytics tools. Businesses that are new to LinkedIn marketing regularly skip this step because they believe they know their customers.

More experienced hands, however, will know that there will always be more to learn when dealing with your customers.

We’ve had the first-hand experience where clients were pushing one strategy because they saw what they believe was growth. Turns out their page was growing because of a post shared months ago following a completely different strategy.

Always, and I cannot stress this enough, make sure to run through your analytics numbers before you make any major decision in your LinkedIn marketing strategy.

Conclusion

We hope these hot tips to help improve your business with LinkedIn work for you. If there are certain parts of the strategy that seems alien to you and you need additional help, we recommend you get in touch with us. We’d be glad to help you figure out your LinkedIn marketing strategy.