Since Facebook advertising has become so prevalent, adding pixels takes your campaigns to the next level. If you have a website for your business and your audience is on Facebook, pixels are a must.

What is a Pixel

Pixels help you measure how your ads are performing. The official definition is that a Facebook pixel is an analytics tool that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your advertising by understanding the actions people take on your website.

Adding pixels to your site can help you determine how well an ad performs, optimize the ad, re-engage users and make sure you’re making the most of your ads.

How to Set Up the Pixel

You can either the set the pixel up yourself or have your web developer do it. In Ads Manager found on the Facebook Business portal, go to Create Pixel and give your pixel a name. You only need to create one pixel per ad account. After you’ve created the pixel you can add the pixel to your website. This is where you can take the task on yourself or have a web developer do it for you. Facebook allows you to email the instructions to a developer or Facebook walks you through performing the task yourself.

To install yourself, find the header code of your website. Copy the code Facebook generated and paste it in the bottom of the header of your website. Once this has been completed, make sure the pixel is working by clicking “Send Test Traffic.”

How to Use the Pixel

After the pixel has successfully been installed, you can start creating campaigns and events to track. Events are actions that happen on your site such as someone completing a purchase. Navigate back to Pixels in your ads manager and click create event. You can choose from things such as purchase, add to cart, view content and more. If none of the events fit your needs, you can create custom events and track specific actions that are best for your business.

Use the standard or custom events to track what potential customers are doing on your site. You can use this information to determine how to best target customers later, change ads and more. For example, you can create ads to bring them back to the site if you know they left their cart empty. Create messaging that speaks to them if they leave their cart or other action on the site.

You can set events to take place if they land on a specific page of take a certain action such as clicking a button. Besides tracking the events, you can dive deeper into these actions. To set event parameters, copy and paste a new code into the header of your website.

If you want your code to fire on certain actions, you need to specify this and add that specific tag to your code.

To ensure that your pixel is working correctly after you’ve created events, you can add a tool to check your work. The tool only works in Chrome so you need to have this browser before moving forward. Once you’re in Chrome, navigate to the Chrome store and add the Facebook Pixel Tool Helper. After it’s successfully installed, you can find the tool in the address bar. It will let you know if a pixel is found on your site and if it’s working correctly. If there are no issues, you can begin to create Facebook ads and targeting customers more effectively.

After the Pixel is Installed

Once you create ads and can start tracking traffic and actions on your site, you can create custom audiences or custom conversions. A custom audience is taking all the data from website visitors that have landed there from a Facebook ad and using that information in your strategy. You can use these audiences to have Facebook find similar users that you can target as well.

A custom conversion is taking the data from users that took an action on your website after they clicked on a Facebook ad. These actions could be events that you set up, web pages they visited or some other action. From here, you can view your report and optimize your ads to enhance your marketing.

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For example, someone might type in how to change a car tire and automotive blogs can pop up explaining how to change tires. These blogs are using keywords to bring readers to them. The same can be said for other industries and businesses.

Below, we dive deeper into these keywords and how you can utilize them for your business.

Keyword Significance

The reason keywords are so important is because they are a way to drive targeted traffic to your website for free. You can pay to be more competitive with keywords, but you can also be successful without spending money. When used correctly, keywords can significantly enhance your online presence.

Keywords are different from search queries. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. A search query is what a user types in a search engine while the keyword is the word or phrase taken from the query. From the previous example of the automotive blog, the search query is “how to change a car tire” and the keyword could be car tire.

Keyword Types

There are two main types of keywords, broad and long tail. Broad keywords are terms that can be used across the industry such as shoe, car, hair, etc. Long tail keywords are three to four word phrases that get more specific about a topic such as black leather jacket, 2017 red Nissan, and more. Long tail is easier to rank for because you’re not competing with as many businesses over these terms and the conversion rate is higher.

Keyword Tools

Due to the importance of keywords, it requires research to ensure you’re using the correct phrases. To find these keywords, there are some free tools and methods to make it easier.

Adwords Keyword Planner. The keyword planner is a free resource from Google that helps you build a strong keyword list. To use the tool, you must have an Adwords account, which is free to create. Most businesses use the planner because they will bid on keywords and use them in their PPC campaigns, but you can use the tool to enhance your marketing strategy outside of these campaigns.

The planner lets you know how certain keywords will perform, creating new lists, and gives you ideas for additional keywords. You can type in a website URL and the planner will generate some ideas of keywords to use.

You can also see monthly search volume, data based on location, specific language, competitive rank and more. Depending on your needs, you can gather in depth, valuable information for free with the planner. There are plenty of SEO tools, but I suggest starting with the one that Google created. They are the ones who will be ranking your terms, so it makes sense to use their tools.

Google Trends: This tool might be one of the most versatile, free tools for SEO. It does just as the name states and gives you information on the trends through Google. Google Trends provides you with how often a term is searched in comparison to all of the searches on Google. The home page provides featured interests and trending stories for the day. When exploring different topics these can be segmented This can be segmented into, topic, region and time. You will also be given related topics and queries.

These segments can be used for SEO strategy.

• Geo Targeting: The location segment allows you to see where searches are taking place such as country, state, etc. This can be valuable if you’re focusing on local seo strategy and looking into certain markets.
• Ride the Wave: After searching popular terms, you can ride the wave of these searches and create content that can generate media coverage for your business as well. If the term can be related to your business, it’s worth trying to ride the wave.

Research terms, write about it and share the story through the appropriate channels. This could be social media or other platforms. Use trending hashtags and get your content out there for others to see. This is an easy way to jump on another topic and garner free traffic.

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What is Google Adwords?

Google Adwords is Google’s marketing service that allows clickable ads to appear for users online. The search engine has different ways to show ads to users, which are through the search network and display network. The search network is where text ads are shown to users who type in search queries. Businesses pay for the keywords that users might use and ads that relate to that query will be shown in Google search results. For example, keywords can be women’s boots, women’s heels, etc. and department stores such as Nordstrom could bid on these keywords so that their ads show up when you search for things related to women’s shoes.

The first ads that pop up with the green box around the word ad are the sponsored results. The results below that are the organic search results and the images to the right are sponsored results as well. The images are product listing results that Adwords account users can create if they have a Google Merchant Center account. Google pulls elements from there to build ads.

Another way to advertise through Google is the display network, which includes millions of third party websites that have agreed to show Google ads on their sites. These ads could be text, video, image or other media formats.

How to Setup an Account

To start creating and placing these different ads through Google, you need to create an account. If you don’t have a business website, you can create an Adwords Express account that will still let you have ads online. A general Adwords account can be created with your gmail address or work email. With either account, Google will ask you for information about your business and the web address of the business you’re promoting. Google might take you to Adwords express based on the information you entered, but you can click “Switch to Adwords” to use the general account.

Starting a Campaign

Once you’re in your Adwords account, you can start working on your campaigns and ads. The dashboard will look like the image below. This is the beta version with a sleeker, simpler look.

The older version, which can still be used, looks like the image below. With the previous version, you will first create a campaign by clicking the red button.

As you can see, there are different options to choose from. It depends on what your business objectives are, but we are focusing on the search and display networks. With either type of campaign, you can choose your marketing objective. The display network lets you choose from build awareness, influence consideration and drive action.

From the campaign settings, you will be taken to creating ad groups, which contain one or more ads. Here, you will create ads that have to do with one product or service. If you have multiple services, segment them into their own ad groups.

In this  “test” campaign, I chose the objective ‘drive action’  to send more traffic to a specified site to sell tickets for an event. I can choose where I want to send people, how I want to target them and optimize. I can create a list of keywords and bid on these words or I can target websites that I know my audience will visit.

Next, I need to add my creative. I can upload my own pre-designed images based on the correct sizing or I can work with an easier method. Responsive ads are easier to work with because they adjust their size and appearance to fit different ad spaces. You enter the text and images that you want to use and Google uses this information to create ads as space is available.

The last step after the creative is to confirm your campaign and billing. This method that we just walked through is for display ads. For the search network, the main difference is that there are no images and you’re just making sure your text ads have the right copy to appeal to customers. Keywords can still be used to make sure your ads pop up when user type in search queries. No matter which method you use, you’re well on your way to attracting more customers through Google advertising.

For more information on Google ads, please visit https://adwords.google.com/home/how-it-works/

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1.Track Links with Bit.ly

In the bio section, there is an option to include a link. Be strategic with this link and send users to your landing page, latest news article or other relevant information you want users to find. Google Analytics doesn’t track traffic from Instagram so an easy workaround is to use a bit.ly link to track the traffic. You can customize the link and analyze the data from this URL shortener.

2.Optimize Hashtags

We’ve all see hashtags on multiple platforms, but do you know how to best use them for Instagram? Using hashtags properly can expand your reach, amplify your brand and more. When you first start using Instagram, it can seem to take a while to grow a following. A quick hack is to utilize hashtags to make sure your page is more discoverable. Your page must be set to public first for the hashtags to be found.

When implementing hashtags, look for trending topics, hashtags on similar accounts, and create branded hashtags. Make sure the customized hashtags aren’t too long and are easy to remember.

3.Mix Videos and Photos

Make sure to mix up the type of content you are sharing. Share photos, videos, stories and galleries. Instagram is always introducing a new feature so make sure you are utilizing these to stay engaged with your audience. The galleries allow you to share multiple photos in one post and acts a mini album. Varying the type of content you post provides more value and helps drive traffic. Video content has been proven to perform better than still images so don’t be afraid to include these clips in your visual storytelling.

4.Sponsored Ads

There are already accounts with large followings that you can capitalize on. You can leverage their following and pay them to sponsor a post  about your brand. The prices can vary, but it’s usually a cost effective way to promote your brand to an active audience.

Another option is to create and pay for ads on Instagram’s ad platform. The same way you create ads for Facebook is how you’ll create them for Instagram since they’re owned by Facebook. The ads will show up in Instagram feeds the same way as other posts, but there will be a sponsored tag letting users know it is a paid ad. To create ads, just make sure you have a Facebook so you have access to the creation tools..

5.Post at the Best Times

There is no universal time that works for everyone to post content on Instagram. It depends on your followers. Posting at the best times allows for more followers, likes, and comments. There are great tools such as Iconosquare that help you find out the best time to post. The tool does have free options, but to get the analytics, you have to pay. If you truly want to optimize your page, it’s worth it to invest in your brand.

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Targeted Audience

Don’t try to target everyone you think would be interested in your business at once. It’s best to have a targeted audience and refine the audience so that you have a core audience. Create buyer personas and truly understand who you want your client to be. Sometimes it’s not the person you think it is. Take time to put research behind your personas and focus on these people first.

Brand the C-Suite Executives

The executives are a major factor in attracting companies to your brand. The Founder, CEO, CMO and more need to have a face and make sure they are representing the brand. Consumers want to put faces or personalities behind the products or services they use. Having the C-suite promote the brand and talk about their expertise gives the consumer more trust and makes it more likely for them to consider your brand.

As opposed to B2C, where consumers know exactly what they’re getting and can put items in their online shopping cart, B2B usually doesn’t have that luxury. This industry generally requires more thought and touch-points before purchase. Therefore, offering as much authenticity and a voice for consumers to rely on is key.

Visual Content

Visual content is more successful than any other form of communication. We’ve seen the benefits in B2C marketing where visual assets can entice a consumer to make a purchase. A woman is looking at a pair of shoes on Nordstrom’s website and they remarket her by the showing the shoes to her again on another site. The same can be said for B2B where visual content can entice a consumer and keep your brand top of mind. Other ideas for visual content include videos, infographics and images.

Experiential Marketing

People learn and retain information in different ways, but a truly successful tactic is to show someone rather than tell them. Provide your potential customers with demos and give them an experience where they can see or test the product. For example, a luxury furniture manufacturer wants to have their beds in all of the 5 star Miami hotels, so they put a few beds in some of the rooms to test. The General Manager of the hotel can lay on the bed or have guests test out the comfort, softness, etc. This gives the consumer a better understanding of your offering and a more vivid experience. This can be translated across multiple industries. Take something

UX Design and Marketing Collaboration

You can have the best offering such as a free toolkit or trial period for consumers, but if they get lost or confused on your site, you’ve lost a potential customer. Make the experience as streamlined and easy as possible for consumers to find your offering or additional information. If someone has to dig for info by clicking on multiple tabs, the experience has been tainted and many do not have the patience to look further.

This is why UX Designers and the marketing team need to work together. The marketing team knows where to find the potential users, attract them and lead them to a landing page. The designers will make sure the user stays on the page to perform the desired action.

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SEO is a term used quite often within the marketing/advertising industry, but some don’t know what SEO really is or how it works. It’s the process to make sure you’re showing up when people are looking for your product or service online. To help make it easier to digest, I’ll use the analogy of a librarian organizing all of the world’s books. There are millions of books with different titles and topics. These books represent the vast amount of websites. To keep track of all the books and make sure a reader is given the right book, one must have a system to organize it all. These systems use algorithms and ranking measurements to give you a list of options of books to choose from. The suggested books are relevant to the title or topic you are searching.

The big three: Google, Bing, and Yahoo are the librarians that organize the world’s books or websites in this case. To make sure that these search engines choose your website as an option to display for readers requires having good ranking factors. This means that the site must have certain elements and be organized to secure a higher ranking. The higher the ranking, the more likely your site will show up on the first page of options for the user.

Most of us find what we’re looking for on the first page of search results. How many times do you remember clicking to the second, third and additional pages on Google? Research proves that traffic drops off by 95% for the second page of Google results.  You have to truly have the time and energy to continue clicking through all those results. As a business, this means that you want to show up on the first few pages of results and make sure you are front and center for a user to click on your link.

There are ads that show up as the first three options, but these are paid results. The rest of the results underneath are called organic results, which are unpaid results that lead to traffic on your site. To make sure your business is an option on the organic search results, you must employ good SEO practices. Without SEO, it’s like working out, but still eating fast food and expecting to see results The two just don’t go together. You can have a beautiful site, but if it’s not optimized, how are people going to find you? Well, after this post, I hope you know that the answer is SEO.

To jumpstart your SEO practices, I’ve included three easy steps to get started. This is just the beginning though. There are many more tricks to make sure your website ends up on the first page. If you need help or don’t want to do it yourself, slide in my inbox and let me know more about your business. I’m happy to work with businesses, entrepreneurs and more to improve their rankings.

3 Key Tips to Keep in Mind

1.Keywords

When people first start their search journey, they type in keywords to find what they’re looking for. For example, a hungry couple looking for new sushi restaurants would search “Sushi restaurant in Miami” to find places near them. One of the keywords is sushi so as the restaurant owner, you need to know what your potential customers are searching so you can include those terms on your site and be found easier.

2.Titles of Pages

The title of your page tells a user what they are about to see and read. On search results, the title of the page is a snippet that tells the user what they can expect on your page. Without a title, a user is confused and may not end up clicking on your site. The title should also include your keywords as mentioned above.

3.Titles of Images

Images are often forgotten, but they can also help drive traffic to your site. Naming an image “005.jpg” does nothing for your site. Having a title such as “Tigers-in-the-jungle” is easier for the search engine to categorize and show interested users that search for those terms.

Contact me if you want to improve your SEO and start driving more traffic to your site.

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Whether you fell off your goals last year or you’re looking to take that leap of faith this coming year, claim it and make it yours. If you want a thing bad enough and you’re willing to fight for it, plan for it, and make time for it then you’ll get it. There is no time like the present, so let’s make it happen. Use the three tips below to make 2017 your most successful year yet.

Write Your Goals Down

Create a vision board, make a list of your goals, or tape them to your mirror. Whatever you do, write down what you want to accomplish. According to a Harvard study, people who don’t write down their goals tend to fail easier than the ones who have plans. Therefore, start jotting those ideas and plans down! Make sure that the goals are specific, realistic and have deadlines. Don’t worry yourself if you miss a deadline, but use it as a guide to map your life out. Having these plans sets you up for success and makes your dreams your reality.

Do What Makes You Happy

It may sound cliche, but doing what makes you happy is very important. As I’ve gone through my career, happiness has always been a determining factor. As an entrepreneur or employee, you start to realize what you love and definitely things that you don’t love. The feeling of being stuck is debilitating at times, but don’t just talk about making change. It’s great to speak your dreams into reality, but you need to take action and alter your path to live a life of more freedom. Yes, we all have to work hard to get the things we want in life, but we don’t have to be distraught while doing it.

Life is a learning experience and you take lessons from everything that you do. Learn how to navigate your path and if you need help, ask for it! Most importantly, just do what makes you happy.

Don’t Burn Yourself Out

When you work on things that you’re passionate about, you don’t feel like it’s work. However, there is a need for balance and to take time away from the grind to center yourself again. Take this time, whether it be 5 minutes or a weekend getaway, and do something that makes you happy outside of work. This could be exercising or going outside to be in nature. Whatever your down time looks like, make sure to incorporate it into your schedule. Organization is paramount in my life, so I literally add my balanced activities to my calendar with alerts. This helps me actively remember to step away and not burn out. Sometimes the best ideas come when you aren’t looking for them.

 
Let us all incorporate these tips and make 2017 one of success and happiness.

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