2018 - Neha Likes - Everything Digital

Have you ever encountered this situation - you visit a website or an e-commerce shop, browse through some products and then the ads of those products are all over your Facebook feed.
I am sure, all of us experience this all the time. We can give the credit of 'stalking' to the brand and its effective re-targeting strategy by using Facebook Pixel. Without going in to technical details, I will share a common example that will help you understand the buzzwords like re-marketing, audience insight, social selling and sales funnel.

What-When-Why-Where-How of Facebook Pixel

Facebook Pixel is a small piece of code that is a generated by Facebook
A brand places this code on their website
Then they advertise on Facebook
The Pixel code tracks the traffic coming from the ads
It also stores the data of people clicking the ad (All the data that the users have shared with Facebook - name, age, gender, work history, designation, interests and location)
Marketers access this data to understand and analyze their audience
Using this information, marketers devise more effective advertising strategy as they know their customer better

Let me take an example - You click on an ad on Facebook that says buy 5 Starbucks coffee vouchers and get 100 reward points in your app right-away. These are the steps that you take:

Click on the ad
Go onto the landing page
Fill in your information OR go back on Facebook
Go onto the payment page
Pay the amount and get a thank you screen OR just return without paying

Now, because Starbucks has installed this piece of code (Pixel) on each page, here is the data they have:

Number of people clicked and went onto the landing page
Number of people filled the information
Number of people went on the landing page
Number of people paid and claimed the reward points
Number of people returned without paying
And, the biggest of all, at all these stages they have all the data (name, age, gender, work history, designation, interests and location)

The above is the sales funnel for Starbucks (i.e. they already have the data of people who are interested in their product). This reminds me so much of the song 'Every breath you take - every move you make, every step you take, every single day, I'll be watching you' :).

Let us see the various content strategies and ads that they can make using the 'BIG DATA (Audience Insight)' at each stage.

You were the one who went back from the landing page - You get an email next day saying we saw that you were interested in our coffee offer but we also saw you leaving. No problem, stay tuned for other offers. What did Starbucks do - 'created a brand recall'
You were the one who added the offer in the cart but did not purchase - You get an email or shown a customized ad 'Extra 20 reward points on top of 100 points if you buy within an hour'. Proven data shows that 75% of times it acts like a candy given to a child. What did Starbucks do - 'customer acquisition'
You were the one who claimed the offer - You see a customized ad or an email or an offer in the app 'Hey, you are our loyal customer. Extra 15% off on your next coffee if you pay via app'. What did Starbucks do - 'customer retention with a focus on app'.

Now, think the same way for your brand. Don't waste your money by simply advertising without any objectives. Plan to close the leads at each step avoiding the traditional 'cold calling' route. Even if you're not a product company, but a service organization, send people to your website, track people who follow your competition on Facebook, let them browse your website, analyse the content that they are consuming on your site, then target them with their topic of interest.

Not only you are reaching your target audience at each step but reducing the time and effort that goes in creation of the sales funnel. I hope you understand the buzzwords by now!

If you want to get into technical details, there are many tutorials including Facebook Blueprint which provides free training on advertising. Or, if you need help in advertising your brand on Facebook, get in touch with me!

Facebook Pixel is powerful, make the most out of it

16:42 2 comments

Have you noticed a sudden increase in the number of micro-communities on Facebook? What is your brand's strategy on engagement and selling on these groups? Many brands are not even thinking at marketing their services or products in this segment, however I have seen some wonderful examples of social selling with word of mouth, partnerships and zero money involved on Facebook groups. The segment is not naive but is unexplored in the entire social media strategy.

What are micro-communities?
A group of any size on a social platform with it's members having something in common - it could be a hobby, location, nature of work or simply networking group.

Many examples include parenting groups, working women groups, mommy groups, book reading groups, fitness groups, selling groups, health groups, cause based groups, city based groups, marketing groups and many more are on the rise.

How are they different from Facebook brand pages?

A page is managed by a brand where people engage with brand's content. A group/micro-community is created, people join it and become an active part in sharing their views, selling their products or services and discussing what's new.
To make the content reach all its fans, brands have to invest in an ad. Micro-communities run completely on word of mouth and there is no requirement of Facebook advertising.
The members are highly engaged in a group/micro-community whereas brands have to spend high amount of money to get the attention of their target customer group on their page.
Audience is highly focused on an agenda of the group whereas brand's fan following is extremely diverse.

Many multilevel marketing brands like Avon, Oriflame, Tupperware, Herbalife, Shaklee, Mary Kay and Pampered Chef are already harnessing the power of micro communities because of their business model that involves chain of consultants. However, majority of the multinational brands are not focusing their attention towards these ready-made set of audience.

How can brands be active and yet subtle in selling on these groups?

Engage with influencers: Stop making your hashtag trend on Twitter unnecessarily or even worse, stop paying a blogger or influencer for one post on social media. It is not going to yield result and last-long. Find an influencer who is active on these groups, who can participate in the discussions and market your brand.
Motivate your employees to become brand ambassador: Employees should become a voice for their brands on these groups. Find out conversations where you as an employee can subtly talk about your product or service offering. What's the harm in talking about a brand which focuses on nutrition if the conversation is all about dieting fads. Best example of this is Richard Branson or Elon Musk - they market their brands on all social platforms like a king.
Targeted marketing: I see perfect fit for brands to partner with these groups. The key is that the employees have to take the initiative in joining these groups and then marketing it like a pro. Let us look at the hypothetical examples here:

A fitness brand (say Nike, Fabletics or Fitbit) becomes a sponsor of 5K Women Run. The brand partners with a women group and encourages the participation.
A company like Khan Academy or Udemy arranges a talk especially for the members of a marketing group and then running a promotion on their courses for the attendees.
A furniture re-selling group can have a partner brand which is into home furnishings and can run regular promotions on that group
Nestle' conducts some great initiatives with mommy groups

If you ask me about the potential of investing in micro-communities, here are some of the biggest benefits that I can see -

Organic reach
Brand awareness
Conversations & engagement
Reaching the laser targeted audience
Possible increase in sales

Well, much to a large extent, aren't these the objectives of advertising on Facebook?

I am not concluding that all of the above would come for free but many marketing objectives will be guaranteed and achieved, it will create high brand recall and of course an opportunity to re-target and convert more customers, all of this at much lower cost!

21:16 1 comments

Two weeks ago I was passing by the non-fiction section of the New York Public Library, when I noticed a book titled 'Work It - Secrets for Success from the Boldest Women in Business by Carrie Kerpen'. I asked myself 'should I go in for a motivational read or an autobiography'. My preference is usually an autobiography or a personal account but since the book I requested (Into Thin Air) was not available, I went back and read the short description of Work It. I immediately got it issued and read it within three days.

Before I get to the reasons of why I recommend this book, I would like you to answer to the following questions:

Are you an introvert?
Do you have hiccups in approaching people?
Do you end up saying a yes when you feel like saying a no?
Do you channelize and follow your instincts very closely?
Are you too hard on yourself?

If the answer to three out of five questions is 'Yes', then I strongly suggest this book to you. You can also read if you are in need of some inspiration or encouragement from the women, who are highly successful and if you want to know the way they #WorkIt around their personal and professional lives. There are no secrets but simple anecdotes to give spark to your career.

Without going into much details of the book, I will share those practical advise that resonated with me. Each of them had a captivating story from women like Sheryl Sandberg, Barbara Corcoran, Randi Zuckerberg and many more.

Build a network: Networking is extremely important and it has become very simple with social media. Take time-out and connect with people - online or in real life. It goes long way in your career, personal branding and recognition.
Have a go-to list: Always have a list of people you can bank upon, be it in your personal or professional life. There is a beautiful storytelling in the book where the author shares the concept and importance of 'personal advisory board'.
Trust your instincts: Your instinct never lets you down. When you abandon a path over a strong gut feeling, a whole new door of opportunity opens up. So, focus on your thoughts to trust your instincts.
Assess the risks: Always calculate the risks in your each big step. This will help you to get in the habit of saying 'No' and prepare you with the worst case scenario, especially if you are a person who says a 'yes' lot more often.
Embrace opportunities: Keep pushing yourself to new opportunities, be adaptive and be open to explore at your work place. You would enjoy, learn and grow faster in your career.
Attain work-life harmony: Prioritize your work and your personal life. In all great circumstances mixing the two would yield healthy relationships. Your close colleagues should know about big developments in your personal life. Similarly, your partner or few family members should know about your work pressure.
Start outsourcing or delegating: Generally, people who don't practice delegation are often too hard upon themselves. Always remember one can't have it all.
Never discount the culture: I loved the line quoted in the book 'Culture eats strategy for lunch'. If you don't see yourself fitting in the culture of the organisation, it is best to quit, it should not be overlooked or underestimated. The example used to explain this quote in the book is a must read. It shares a story of a top level executive, who was a misfit in the organisation and how she dealt with the crisis that came in her life.
Embrace your accomplishments: Reason yourself on your low confidence when you are in the company of people who intimidate you and meet them next time with your niche and confidence. We often compare our's low with everyone's high.
Identify your style: Figure out what looks good on you because 'power dressing' is important. But more importantly, it should match with your personality.

Each story in the book was relatable but the above mentioned takeaways were stuck with me. The essence of the book remains the same as its title - Everyone has to #WorkIt in their life with hard work, dedication, persuasion and passion. It offers simple and practical tips to make life more productive and exciting.

Hope you enjoy reading the book!

21:07 No comments

Facebook Pixel is powerful, make the most out of it

About me

Follow Us

Labels

Blog Archive