If you’re thinking about investing in some pay per click advertising, but you’re not sure if you should start with Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, then this is for you!

We can help you get it all sorted out so you’re on your way to a solid plan by the end of this blog post!

As it turns out, Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are both good, but for different things. It all depends on what you intend to do with your ad. So, the first thing you need to do is establish your goals. They’ll help you determine what the best fit will be since even though there are many similarities between the two, the web audience for Google AdWords and Facebook Ads behave differently.

But before we get into how they’re different, let’s talk about how they’re alike.

Google AdWords and Facebook: more alike than unalike

Both advertising platforms share some basic things in common. Both have massive audiences and both offer self-service pay-per-click advertising. They’ve also got free marketing tools like Google Places and Facebook Pages.  But perhaps the best thing about both of them is that they each allow you to run highly targeted ads to very specific folks based on geographic location and other demographic data that they’ve collected about their users. However, as similar as they are, they work differently.

What’s your goal?

Having a well thought out goal for your ad is super important. If you’re heading into it with a shot in the dark approach saying, “I’ll just pick one and give it a try” it’s probably not going to work the way you want it to. So, ask yourself if you’re wanting to build brand awareness or if you’re hoping to get more visits to your website.

The answer to that question will determine if you should go with Google AdWords or Facebook Ads.

When to use Facebook Ads

Let’s say your goal is to build brand awareness or to get a specific message out to a certain group. Facebook Ads are your best choice here because these ads are highly targeted to folks who may be interested in what you’re offering at some point. Facebook users are generally there to catch up with friends and look at cute kitty pictures. Nobody is really looking to buy something right then and there when they’re on Facebook. This means that fewer people are going to click on your ad since they’re on Facebook for another purpose. With Facebook Ads, the demand is created by the ad. Think of it as planting a seed. Just as it takes time for a seed to grow, it may take time to see results this way. But as people develop a need for what you have, they’ll think of you because they saw your ad.

When to use Google AdWords

With Google AdWords on the other hand, the demand is already there—the seed has already been planted and the consumer is searching for what you’re offering. This means that more people are going to click through to your site and possibly purchase something because you came up in a search at the exact time they were looking for you. Google AdWords can capture their intent right away and send them over to your site. So, if you’re trying to get some traffic, this is a good choice.

What’s easier to use?

We tend to think that Facebook has the advantage on this one since more people are accustomed to Facebook’s user interface. Google AdWords can be overwhelming because of all the fancy features and functions, so if you find yourself crying in the corner after trying to do this yourself, you can always call us. Nobody’s going to think you’re silly for needing the help because it can be tough to navigate this stuff!

The short version

If your goal is to get some business quickly, then Google AdWords is the way to go. If establishing brand awareness and visibility is what you want, then go with Facebook. Of course, nobody says you can’t choose both!  That would be ideal, but if you’d prefer to be conservative for now and just dip your toe into the waters a little bit, use your goals as your guide and see what happens. You can always try your other option later.

Have you noticed that your engagement on Facebook seems to have dropped recently? You may be thinking that your followers have deserted you, but that’s not the case, GLAD WORKS friends. They can’t see you as much anymore because Facebook recently rolled out two new features that some say will have a devastating effect on brands, while others say it’s a chance to re-connect with truly passionate fans and followers.

The changes come in two flavors: Opt-in Notifications and a separate Pages Feed. Opt-in Notifications for page updates allow users to opt to receive posts from brands they like, allowing them to filter out posts by other brands. (To add a brand to your interest list, go to the brand’s page, click on the arrow next to “message” and in the drop down menu, click “add to interests list.”) There’s also a separate Pages Feed (click on "Pages Feed" in the left sidebar to view) where users can see all posts from pages they’ve liked instead of seeing them come up in their feeds along with family and friends.

Some say these new features offer brands a chance to re-connect with their fans, others fear this is a devastating blow to brands who have already worked hard to acquire and engage their fans, forcing them to pay to reach their followers since with the new features, Facebookers who ‘like’ a brand page will now only see about 10% of what that brand posts—unless the brand opts to pay to promote their posts.

To help us sort all this Facebook Tomfoolery out, we interviewed Adam Harvey, the social stallion (he totally made us call him that) in charge here at GLAD WORKS. Here’s what he had to say…

What impact have these features had on brands so far?

So far it looks like these two new features are negatively impacting brands. We see it happening on our own Facebook page. Our interaction with our followers has gone way down since the changes were rolled out—despite taking active steps so that fans know they need to add us to their “interests lists” to keep seeing our posts. I know this is true for other brands as well.

This is a big problem for many brands whose followers don’t know about the changes or who aren’t motivated to add them to their “interests list.”  Many brands are finding that they have to take active steps to get their fans to do that.

To continue to get posts in front of some eyeballs, brands have to pay to promote posts even though they’ve already spent a lot of time, money and effort trying to build a community of followers. They’re essentially shut out--Facebook has basically broken their own system so that brands now have to pay for the solution.

What can brands do to get around these changes and keep their communities alive?

We’re all going to have to find ways to be even more creative and engaging than we were before. Now more than ever “speak to, not at” is the golden rule of social media. We’ve got to be as interesting as possible—as interesting as family and friends if we want to get our posts seen.

This means no more random postings about “stuff.” Every post must be carefully thought out and planned, then supplemented with a paid promotion strategy. If you don’t know how on earth to do this, now might be the time to hire a specialist (ahem).

But how do we know what truly engages our followers if our interaction has gone down so sharply?

Take what you have and work with it. Learn from what is engaging that fraction of fans who do see your posts. Pay close attention and track what kinds of things are really getting them talking to you. When you’re sure you’ve got a good post, pay to promote that one. This doesn’t mean that you have to pay to promote every single post, but maybe shift your focus to quality rather than quantity.

I think you should still keep a regular posting schedule, and don’t lose hope. You can still engage followers; it’s just a bigger challenge. Facebook’s algorithm still tends to push posts that are more engaging (getting more likes and comments) onto users’ news feeds. The better the post, the more chance for engagement, the better the odds that people will see it. That’s one way to sidestep the paid posts issue, but you’re still going to have to pay to promote a post or two here and there.

Sorry Facebookers. It was going to happen to us sooner or later!

Since we started our Pinterest account a few months back, we’ve been learning some things about Pinterest that we thought you’d like to know about. Whether you already have an account, are considering one, or you’re sitting there scratching your head going “what the heck is Pinterest?” this article is for you! 

Back when we first wrote about Pinterest for business, we talked about the basics like setting up an account, strategizing, planning, choosing your pins, and following key people. This time, we’re going to delve a little deeper into the finer points of maintaining your boards and participating in the Pinterest community. Just like with any other social media platform, Pinterest has some rules and best practices that we all need to follow if we’re going to keep it civilized amongst the 17 million users.

By knowing and taking the right steps, you can leverage Pinterest’s massive potential for referring folks to your business.

Use tools

Get the Pinterest app for mobile so you can participate wherever you are. There are lots of new management tools emerging too, so give those a whirl as they come up!  And don’t forget to put that “Pin It” button on your browser so you can share awesome things when you see them. You can use image creation tools such as Instagram to create your own “fresh” pins as well.

Be fresh!

Pinterest is a space buzzing with creative energy. Most pins are re-pins from someone else, so if you want to be noticed, create some new content by pinning your own original, “fresh” pins. You can do this by choosing great images for your blog and pinning them. You can also pin a variety of different things like photos, infographics, video, and text. That said, be careful about being self-promotional. You don’t always have to be trying to sell something on Pinterest.

However, when you ARE doing something promotional, don’t forget to include a call to action in your pin to invite people to act on what they see!  You might also want to put a little price banner at the corner of your pin if you’re pinning one of your products.

Be social!           

Simply pinning things isn’t going to get you very far. You’ve got to get in there and engage people by commenting on the pins of others and tagging other pinners by name. Don’t forget to acknowledge people for repining your stuff!  Just like you say “thank you” when someone re-tweets your tweet or shares your Facebook status, you have to acknowledge kind pinners too.

Follow, follow, follow!           

Remember to follow lots of people. These folks can be customers, but also what we call “taste makers.”  Tastemakers are the heavy hitters on Pinterest who pin all the livelong day and have scads of followers. Follow everyone, comment, like, re-pin, and when you’re done, do it some more!

Oh, and the SEO!           

Everyone is always talking about SEO because it’s really important that people notice your profile and pins! Otherwise, why are you pinning?  Be sure to add categories, keywords, interesting captions, #hashtags, and URLs to your pins. By all means, pin original pictures and content from your website, but carefully consider what content might entice Pinteresters the most. What do you want to bring them in with?

Don’t forget to track your ROI!

Google Analytics can help you track your traffic from Pinterest via referral sources and keyword searches. You can use that to see how people are reacting to your pins. You can also track your activity to count followers, likes, repins and comments. As always, use what you find to help guide your efforts.

Just like with any other social media platform, rocking it out on Pinterest involves some degree of trial and error. This whole thing is a learning process and it takes experimentation to learn what your particular audience is going to be into. Stick with it, follow these best practices, and you’ll be leveraging the potential of Pinterest in no time! Happy Pinning!

Starting in late May, Facebook rolled out a new feature called Promoted Posts. It’s a way for you to pay for an individual post to be seen in more of your fans’ news feeds, and it may be a nice little option for you to consider taking advantage of as part of your social media marketing mix.

Here’s the 411!

What is a Promoted Post, exactly?

Your Facebook posts are seen by some portion of your fans. But many people might not be frequent Facebook users, or they may have tons of friends or other brands crowding their feed. Promoted Posts are a paid way to push your posts more prominently into their feeds. It’s like putting on a giant orange wig and a pair of stilts and walking through a crowd. People are bound to notice you.

Have you noticed at the bottom of your posts that there’s a new metric there showing you how many people have seen your post? It’s the number of people you have reached and the percentage of your fans that have seen your post. This is most helpful information because it gives you direct feedback on your social media ROI. If the number of fans you have reached with your posts is 10% or below, you might want to consider doing some promoted posts to make your Facebook page more effective. Even if it’s higher than 10%, you’ll still want to consider promoted posts because they can be really helpful to you in ways we’ll mention in just a sec.

But first, let’s talk a little more about what Promoted Posts do.

Why you care about Promoted Posts

Promoted Posts are an easy and affordable ($5-$300) way to increase engagement. Think of them like paid SEO. We think they’re a great option because it can give your engagement a boost and provide a way to re-engage fans who have perhaps wandered off a bit, or who haven’t seen your posts for a while.

This is really important because clicks, comments, and shares will help you get back into more news feeds. The more people who see your posts, the more good stuff will happen.

Fun facts about Promoted Posts

• Promoted Posts are only available to brand pages with more than four hundred fans—yet another motivator to get those likes up!
• You can only run a promoted post on a new post that’s less than three days old.
• Your posts will be pushed for three days.
• Once a post is running, you can stop it if you change your mind.
• You can set and change your budget as you see fit.
• Under your posts will be a tag that lets people know it was sponsored.
• Promoted Posts are trackable: both during and after running your campaign. You can get a detailed report that shows you how much interaction your post received.

Which posts to promote

Well, this takes a little experimentation.

Typically, at least in our experience, our more directly engaging posts get the most attention and interaction from our fans as opposed to some of our more “businessy” ones. This is not to say that you’ve always got to be the life of the party, but sometimes it’s nice to put on your dancing shoes and have a little fun with your fans. It makes you approachable and human. So, promote some stuff that directly and actively engages your fans along with your industry-related stuff. It’s more likely to be shared.

Maybe throw a picture of your mascot up there or talk about something interesting that happened at the office. Did somebody send you a cake as thanks for a job well done?  Before you let your office food vultures dig in, take a picture for Facebook! The only rule you need to follow is to keep it clean, professional and grandma friendly.

If you’re planning on running a promotion, having a sale, or offering a new service, Promoted Posts are absolutely perfect. If you’re trying to do a little marketing research, you can also use Promoted Posts to get as much feedback from your fans as you can.

If you’re still stuck for ideas, you can analyze your content a bit. Look back a few months and find your most popular posts. The ones that got the most engagement will be the ones that will do the best when promoted. So, make more like that and promote them.

What about those posts that bombed?  You can still use that content, but think of ways you can rework it to give it a new life.

At the end of the day, Facebook’s Promoted Posts are another great way to help you increase your social media engagement. With a little forethought and some data gathering, you can set yourself up for success and make the most out of your investment.