The holidays are a fruitful time for businesses.

There are so many eager buyers for a multitude of different products and services – which means you’ve probably been pretty busy lately.

These social media hacks for the holidays will save you some time.

This article will help businesses of all sorts reach new fans and followers, engage current fanbases and help convert them to customers more efficiently.

1. Use less popular hashtags on Twitter

I know this sounds weird, but it works.

Now I’m not saying you should ditch the trending hashtags, but sometimes you want to hit a niche market with some less commonly used hashtags.

Most of the time I’ll get a lot more click-throughs on tweets with less commonly used hashtags than I do with the overused ones.

For example, the Christmas hashtag can get over 70,000 tweets in a week. That’s a lot!

And sure, a lot of people are probably searching for that hashtag, but it makes your chance of being seen also a lot lower because there are so many other tweets.

So I like to use a mixture of most popular hashtags and less popular hashtags.

Whereas if you search something more specific, like #xmasgifts, the tweets per week are much lower – at around 300 per week.

“#xmasgifts” would be a good hashtag for retailers or eCommerce shops to use over the holidays.

You don’t want the hashtags you use to be completely deserted, you just want them to have a niche following.

To search for the popularity of a hashtag you can use a tool like Talkerwalker.com.

Try to find some hashtags related to your business and the holidays that have a maximum of somewhere between 100-1000 tweets per week.

2. Re-schedule your top tweets with Buffer

This is one of my favorite features on Buffer – and it’s super easy to do. I scroll through my top tweets and find the most clicked. You can also search for the most retweeted, most liked, etc.

Here at Wishpond we recently ran a holiday promotion to get $50 off of our Basic Plan (it’s $69 per month on a month-to-month plan).

59 clicks on a tweet is actually really high for us – so this tweet would be a perfect candidate to re-buffer.

I actually find that sometimes my re-buffered tweets will get more than the original tweet – especially if I re-buffer them for a different time of day (7am Pacific Time is ideal for our tweets).

It’s super easy to figure out which of your tweets have been the most popular on Buffer – the thing is, the analytics are only shown for the tweets that you specifically used buffer to schedule.

All you have to do is click the Analytics tab at the top of the dashboard where you’ll automatically be directed to your posts. Then below your Twitter profile image, you’ll see “Most Popular” to the right of “Recent. Just hover over it and choose whichever option you find fitting.

3. Get a little silly with your Facebook posts

So, I’ve been crafting social media posts for a variety of businesses over the past few years.

When the holidays come around that’s when I get excited – I know that this is the time to let loose and have some Facebook Page fun.

So what can you do to spruce up your holiday marketing on Facebook?

There is a lot of different content you can use to jazz up your Facebook page. Here’s a brief list of some types of content you can post:

• Images
• Videos
• Jokes
• Vines
• Quotes
• Questions
• Polls

For example, take a look at one of Charmin’s Facebook posts:

They usually find endearing or hilarious ways to post about their product.

This Facebook post is great because it shows the necessity of their product, but also incorporates the holidays in an adorable way.

Next, take a look at this post by Skittles. They can have pretty obscure posts, but they always relate to their product.

Although this Facebook post may not be as effective for drawing customers into the store, these playful types of posts will help boost the reach of your content.

So, how can you add some hilarity to your own Facebook page? The easiest way is with images.

Thankfully your posts will already be based around a holiday so your posts will already have an extra advantage by being relevant to your fans.

I would start by taking a look at popular sites such as Pinterest or Buzzfeed to get your ideas for funny holiday photos rolling…

Facebook post tip: A lot of successful Christmas posts I’ve used in the past included animals or children… and possibly dad jokes.

4. Change the appearance of a Facebook post and post it again

Re-featuring a post on Facebook is perfect for when you are spreading the word about a certain product, service or promotion around the holidays.

Facebook allows you to customize a lot of how your Facebook posts appear – such as the share image, the headline and subheader and also the description.

This means that you can link to the same offer over and over (but I wouldn’t overdo it).

In this post below, you can see the four different parts of the post you can change:

• The post description
• The link image
• The link headline
• The link subheadline

Make sure you’re not posting the same offer multiple times a day, and make sure that you are providing some different information than the previous post. You don’t want to make your Facebook timeline appear spammy.

Here’s an example of how Sears used this tactic below:

5. Run a holiday promotion to get more Instagram followers

According to Forrester, the top brands on Instagram generate engagement rates 58 times higher than their Facebook posts and 120 times higher than their Twitter posts.

Instagram is the place for brands to be. If your Instagram is in need of more followers, now’s the time to act.

And contests are a great way to generate more followers.

One great thing about Instagram is that it allows you to “follow-gate” your contests, which means you can ask people to follow your brand on Instagram as a condition of entering your contest.

For example, tea supplier Mighty Leaf…

Below you can see that they’ve included it in their conditions:

Note: In Instagram contests like Wishpond’s, there’s an option you can select in the campaign editor so that your Instagram contest only includes entries that follow you.

6. Use Shops to convert Instagram followers to customers

If you already have an engaged following on Instagram, Instagram’s Shops feature is definitely worth a look – especially around the holidays.

Before Shops, Instagram users had no way to shop for the products found on Instagram without specialized tools such as Like2buy.

So how does it work?

Your followers can visit your shop from your Instagram profile or through the feed and Stories. Once they’re at the shop, they can browse products, explore collections, and purchase products.

This happens seamlessly through Instagram’s in-app browser and without leaving the app from shops with checkout.

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7. Schedule all of your holiday posts early so you can relax

Sure, the holidays are a great time for making the most out of your social efforts, but that doesn’t mean you have to be on social 24/7.

That’s why social media management tools are so important to your social routine. This may seem like an obvious hack, but it’s one of the most important for the holiday season.

We all need a bit of down time now and then, regardless of if you’re taking a tropical getaway or just spending time with family and friends.

So make sure to schedule your posts (whether that’s with buffer, hootsuite, latergramme, etc.) to take the fuss out of posting during the holidays.

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Source, https://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675436255/social-media-holiday-hacks?wpnd_cid=344afc6bb55f377b

If you want to make sales, you need to drive traffic to your website. And, as you might already know, Facebook advertising campaigns are one of the best ways to get potential customers to visit your online store. But Facebook ads are complex – there’s a lot to learn, and there’s always ways to optimize your campaigns. So, we’ve put together a checklist that you can use to troubleshoot common issues that entrepreneurs encounter when they’re running Facebook ads. Note: Before you try to optimize your Facebook ads you should always try to get at least 10,000 impressions from your ads. You want a decent amount data to work with before you start optimizing your ads.

What to do if your ‘Cost per click’ (CPC) is too high.

First off, check your click-through-rate (CTR). If you notice that your CTR is under 1% then it’s a good idea to review your ad creatives and the audiences that you’re targeting. Check if you’ve received any negative feedback for your ads, as that could be damaging their performance. Take a look at your Facebook ads ‘relevance score’. If you notice that it’s below 7, then you might need to rethink your ads. You can check this under the ‘Performance and Clicks’ standard report. Try to duplicate the ads that you’re running and test them with higher budgets. Don’t be afraid to test out new audiences if all else fails.

What to do if you have a low click-through rate (CTR).

Review your Facebook ad creatives. You might need to try completely new creatives if they’re hampering your CTR. Check the placements of your Facebook ads. If you’re using mobile ads, you could try running some desktop ones, or vice versa. Remember to test out your ads using different audiences. Try adding different steps into your ad funnels to try and warm up your audience to your brand.

Getting lots of clicks but few conversions?

Check your bounce rate – essentially, the number of clicks you receive vs the number of views your ads get. Check your traffic placements. Audience Network and Instant Article ads, for example, are notoriously bad for ‘top of the funnel’ campaigns. Check your website UX. It might actually be a problem with navigating your website that is causing the drop off. Go through the experience yourself and see if anything could be improved.

Still not converting? Try these tips.

Using custom audiences for your Facebook ads? Make sure that they’re populated correctly. Sometimes there are issues with this. Double check that you don’t have another Facebook ad account driving traffic to the same page. Take a look and see if you have any negative feedback on your ads. Pivot and focus any Facebook ads that are aimed at getting conversions to get more impressions instead. Then, you can try using retargeting ads. Try using higher budgets for your campaigns. You might have everything lined up to succeed, but you just haven’t hit the right people yet. If all else fails, switch your campaigns to use the ‘Post Engagement’ objective. LET US KNOW HOW YOUR FACEBOOK DOING

This six-step process will help you engage your organic search traffic on social media and expand your reach by using Facebook lookalike audiences.

When trying to grow a business online, organic search traffic can seem like one of the slowest games of all time – it can feel like it takes forever for search engines to bring another person to your website.

And most businesses are waiting on Google to hopefully bring another five people today or another 10 people tomorrow.

The problem arises when you have to wait for people to ask a question in the search engine and hope your content is good enough to rank in the top 10 search results on Google for that particular question.

It’s also pretty common that most businesses do not have the time to wait or the budget to grow their website to millions of visitors quickly.

But what if there were a way to fix that problem?

What if there were a better and faster way to engage your organic search traffic and your social media content all at the same time?

Luckily, there is a simple six-step process to engage your organic search traffic on social media and drastically expand your organic search reach by using Facebook lookalike audiences.

• Step 1: Perform keyword research.
• Step 2: Create a piece of content (for this example it will be a blog).
• Step 3: Get some organic traffic to that piece of content.
• Step 4: Set-up your social media pixel and pixel the people who read the article of content.
• Step 5: Create a Facebook lookalike audience.
• Step 6: Serve social media ads to that audience.

Now, to break this down even more.

Step 1: Perform Keyword Research

When starting with keyword research, you probably have a few keywords that you would like to rank for – apparent things like your products, services, or other topics your website addresses.

These seed topics are a great place to start for your keyword research, but that doesn’t mean you should stop there.

Why?

What you want to rank for, and what your audience is typing into the search engines, are often two completely different things.

That is one of the most pivotal reasons to perform keyword research in the first place.

If people aren’t searching for it, then why waste time creating it in the first place?

The smartest way to avoid this is to find the exact words and phrases that your ideal customers are currently searching for on Google and other major search engines.

It may sound not easy, but there are a handful of excellent keyword research tools that can help.

For example, we used Ahrefs to research the phrase, ‘“how to get 10k followers on instagram.”

You can see how many people are searching for this key phrase and any other relatable parent topics that people are also searching for.

When creating content for the search engines, it’s essential to create content that answers one question at a time.

For example, you could take these short-term and long-term keywords and create a blog post on each one of them only when it makes sense for your business.

People are searching for your question, but they are also searching for “how to get swipe up on instagram without 10k followers” and “how to get 10k followers on instagram in one day.”

If it doesn’t make sense to write a topic on each of those questions and the keywords are too relatable, then maybe it makes more sense to use this set of keywords as an H1 or H2 heading instead, which also plays a significant factor in search engine rankings.

Step 2: Create a Piece of Content

Now that you understand the importance of finding the right keywords to use in your content marketing strategy, it is time to create a blog post.

When writing a blog, it is essential to remember that the goal is to get new readers to your blog consistently, eventually leading to a sale.

It’s also to get readers and engagement on the blog, so signals are sent to social media and the search engines to help you get that first-page ranking on Google.

This is where keyword research comes into play.

When performing keyword research correctly, it takes no time to get top rankings in Google because you know what people are searching for and how frequently they are searching for it.

Once your blog post is published to your website, it is time to wait for some people to read and engage with it.

Step 3: Get Organic Traffic

The only thing you have to do in this step is to wait for some organic traffic, the goal is around 1,000 people.

Over time when the piece of content you created starts to get search results, you can then set up a pixel (this is the next step) and begin running social media ads to hack the process.

However, let me start by saying this may not be as simple as it sounds – this is the step where most businesses get stuck and don’t know how to grow reasonably.

Most companies understand how a simple marketing funnel works, but what they don’t understand is how to continuously get newly qualified people throughout every piece of the marketing funnel.

Even so, most businesses don’t understand how to successfully intertwine multiple platforms and use their social media to grow their organic search traffic or vice versa.

People have created all of these great pieces of content, but they don’t understand how to use that to take them to the next level.

And when you are using multiple platforms, that’s where this marketing strategy comes into play.

You have to understand how to track every person who touches your content, from the first touch to the last.

Studies have shown that it usually takes a person seven interactions with a business before making a purchase.

To know how many times a person interacts with your content, it is critical to have a pixel placed on your website for accurate data tracking, leading to the next step.

Step 4: Set Up Social Media Pixel

Once you have published your blog post and have a small amount of traffic engaging with your content, it is time to set up your social media pixel on your website.

If you are unfamiliar with a pixel, here is the definition.

A pixel is a few lines of code that you copy into the header section of your website.

It works by placing and triggering cookies to track users as they interact with your website and your Facebook ads.

The pixel serves two primary purposes:

• To remarket to someone who has visited one of your pages.
• To know which pages they have visited and to track and see if someone has completed the desired action, whatever that may be.

What the pixel does, in essence, is allow Facebook to track their audience on our platform, we are essentially giving Facebook access to our tracking.

If you are unsure how to create a Facebook pixel and add the Facebook Pixel to your website, follow this two-part process:

Part 1: Create a Facebook Pixel

• Go to Events Manager.
• Click Connect Data Sources and select Web.
• Select Facebook Pixel and click Connect.
• Add your Pixel Name.
• Enter your website URL to check for easy setup options.
• Click Continue.

Part 2: Add the Facebook Pixel to Your Website

Once you’ve created your pixel, you’re ready to put the Facebook pixel code on your website.

There are a few different options on how you can set this part up:

• You can manually add pixel code to a website.
• Use a partner integration.
• Use email instructions.

Once the tracking is in place and you fully understand your target audience’s patterns, you can begin to implement the R3MAT strategy, showing the right message to the right person at the right time with the right expectations.

Once you have your social media pixel set up, it’s time to move into the next step.

Step 5: Create a Lookalike Audience

Did you know that Facebook can predict if you are pregnant before you even know you’re pregnant?

And did you know that studies are proving Facebook can predict if people are cheating on their partner before they ever realize it?

That seems pretty scary, right?

But, here is where that becomes super powerful.

Facebook has an option where you can create a lookalike audience based on its tracking abilities to reach new people who are most likely to be interested in your business because they’re similar to your best existing customers.

You can create a group of people who have similar likes, interests, and demographics to people who are already interacting with your website.

Here is how to create a Facebook Lookalike Audience:

• Go to your Audiences.
• Click the Create Audience dropdown and choose Lookalike Audience.
• Choose your source notes:
  • A source can be a customer audience not created with your pixel data, mobile app data or fans of your page.
  • Consider using 1,000 to 50,000 of your best customers based on lifetime value, transaction value, total order size, or engagement.
• Choose the country/countries where you’d like to find a similar set of people.
• Choose your desired audience size with the slider.
• Click Create Audience.

Creating this audience gives any business the ability to create a small subset of people you can talk to any way you choose.

You can now show this audience relevant ads, move them through the sales funnel, build your relationship with them, build your reach and frequency.

All of this is possible because Facebook is watching so many little data points all of the time.

Facebook is continuously collecting information about the things you buy and the websites you visit.

Plus thousands of other bits of personal information gathered from public records and your social media activity.

Step 6: Serve Audience the Social Media Ads

The final step is to show relevant ads to your new lookalike audience that you just created.

To keep this process going, make sure you are consistently showing your lookalike audience(s) new relevant content that meets them at each point in the buyers’ journey.

When you complete this six-step process, you are officially taking your organic search and lighting it on fire.

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Source: text and images, Gari Handerson, https://www.searchenginejournal.com/engage-organic-search-traffic-on-social-media/376524/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=daily-newsletter&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter&mc_cid=cb31d7e2e1&mc_eid=919e43ffe5#close

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, and it’s a goldmine for marketers,
businesses, and entrepreneurs alike.

In fact, around 1 billion people use Instagram every single month, and 80 percent of Instagram users follow one or more businesses.

Plenty of people want to follow brands on Instagram, but getting attention on Instagram isn’t always easy.

Likes, comments, followers… they’re the things that everybody is craving.

So, how do you get more eyeballs onto your Instagram content and improve your engagement rates?
Well, your focus when you’re posting on Instagram should always be to produce the highest quality content for your brand.

But there are proven tactics that you can use to broaden the reach of your brand and increase your engagement rates.

Timing is everything.

To have the best chance at getting high engagement from your Instagram posts, you need to get your posts in front of the
largest number of people possible.

And the timing of your posts is key. You need to know two things; when to post, and how often to post.

Our research shows that the best time to post on Instagram if you want to receive high engagement is midday from Monday to Friday.

This is because most users browse Instagram on their phones, and they’ll likely be unable to check the app while they’re working.
So hit them with some content during their lunch hours and you’ll increase your chances of them seeing and engaging with it.

If you’re only going to post once a week, Wednesday is the best day to post, and Sunday is the day with the lowest engagement rates.

But, we don’t recommend posting just once per week. If you can, try to post at least once per day – a steady stream of content will really
help you to build your engagement rates.

Don’t forget your hashtags.

Instagram hashtags can help you to get more likes, more followers, and reach a broader audience.

That is, if you find the right hashtags to add to your Instagram posts. And finding the right hashtags requires research.

Find what your audience, competitors, and influencers in your space are posting, and check which hashtags they’re using.

If, for example, you were selling sunglasses – your first task would be to use Instagram’s explore function and check out #sunglasses.

You can then take a look through the recent top posts, and check which hashtags are being used to generate posts with high engagement.

And remember, while you can use up to 30 hashtags per Instagram post, you don’t always need to fill your Instagram captions to the brim with hashtags. Stick to highly relevant ones, because sometimes less is more.

Take advantage of Instagram Stories.

Every day more than 500 million people use Instagram Stories.

That’s a huge number, and it’s evidence that Instagram Stories are a must-have when it comes to running your brand’s account.

Instagram Stories are great because they can help you to retain the attention of your existing followers, even if they’re not
always engaging with the more permanent content that you’re posting, and if a user is engaging with your stories, they’ll be more likely to see the content that you post, which can help you to increase
your engagement rates.

Also, it’s important to remember that Instagram Stories can help new followers to signal to the Instagram algorithm that they’re
interested in your content, which will create a snowball effect and help them to see more of the content you post.

Hold contests and giveaways.

If there’s one thing in life I can say with total confidence, it’s this: people love free stuff.

Running contests or giveaways from your Instagram account will allow you to generate a ton of engagement and allow your
audience to tap into that joyous feeling of winning something.

Think about it – if you’ve already garnered an audience which is engaged with your content then all you need to do next is find a
prize that they’re interested in, and promote it to them in exchange for Instagram engagement.

Common tactics that brands use include asking people to like their post, tag their friends, or follow their account to enter.
And all of these are going to work wonders for your Instagram engagement rates.

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Make no mistake, humans are pack animals. We have a desire to fit in with the rest of the crowd, and that affects our lives in a variety of ways, including our purchasing behavior.

Ask yourself, have you ever purchased a product after a recommendation from somebody else?

If, like us, you have, you’ve been influenced by social proof, and you’ve seen first-hand why it’s an excellent marketing tool.

Real people recommending products with real feedback is so persuasive because it’s genuine – and that’s not always the case nowadays.

So, let’s dive in and explain why you need social proof for your business, and how you can start generating social proof for your store today.

Principles of social proof

Essentially, social proof is looking to others to figure out the right way to act.

Here’s a real life example: if you’re in a new city and looking for somewhere to eat, you are more likely to walk into a busy restaurant with happy people, rather than a quiet place with no signals that the place serves good food.

More specifically though, there are 4 principles behind social proof that can affect the way we act. .

• Uncertainty: We defer to how other people are reacting to a situation when we are uncertain about it.

• Similarity: When you experience something unfamiliar with a large group of people, you are more inclined to follow the reaction of those who you consider similar to you.

• Expertise: Those with more knowledge about a situation can lead the reaction of the rest. Students are more likely to look to their teachers for signals of how to react in uncertain circumstances.

• Number: Where a group of people experience something uncertain together, the actions of the majority will be seen as correct and valid.

With all of these principles in mind, how exactly do you put them into place to help you grow your store?

Leverage positive reviews

According to Business.com, 77% of all online customers read reviews before they make a purchase. It’s clear then, that if you want to leverage social proof you need reviews.

Reviews let customers know that you’ve made sales in the past and that you’re a legitimate business. Two things that go a long way with convincing customers to make a purchase from your store.

They’ll help potential customers to understand the quality of your products, your shipping times, the likeness to your product photos, and much more.

But it’s not just reviews that you need – it’s positive ones that’ll really make a difference.

Thankfully, there are various tools which you can use to leverage customer reviews, and build the social proof for your ecommerce store.

If you’re running your ecommerce store on Shopify, try out the Yotpo Reviews app. It’s a free product review tool which you can integrate directly into your store that enables your customers to easily leave reviews.

To increase the product review count for your store, you can send emails to your customers once they’ve received their order and ask them to leave a review.

If they’re totally satisfied with their product it’s likely that they’ll leave a review. You can also incentivize reviews from your customers by creating an exclusive discount code.

Use testimonials on your website 

Similar to product reviews, testimonials go a long way in generating social proof for your brand.

In fact, research from Shopify found that 90% of users who read online testimonials said that positive reviews influence their buying decisions.

So, once you’ve secured some positive reviews on your website, promote them to your homepage.

Let everybody know how happy your customers are after shopping at your store, and they’ll be much more likely to shop at your store themselves.

Create a blog to build social proof

Content marketing, and blogging in particular, is a great tool that businesses use to provide potential customers with insightful content that’s related to their products.

For example, if you’re running a cooking utensils store, you can create blog content for your audience that includes recipes, cooking tips, or product reviews, which will help to build the authority of your brand.

The end goal of creating a blog for your ecommerce business is to draw high volumes of qualified traffic (i.e. people who are likely to purchase your products) to your store.

When you’re providing value to people with your content, they’ll be much more likely to believe that your products will provide them with a similar level of value.

Having a positive brand image like this will help you to secure repeat customers, increase traffic to your store, and ultimately increase your brand’s social proof.

Optimizing your blog for social proof

Creating a blog for your brand is great, but there are various ways you can optimize it to ensure that you gain the maximum social proof from your content marketing efforts.

One example of this is adding social share buttons and counters to your blog. This will help you to encourage your blog audience to share your content, but it’ll also inform readers that numerous other people have enjoyed the content, and shared it. Social proof inception.

There are plenty of apps on Shopify’s App Store that’ll allow you to add social media sharing buttons to your website. It’s a little change that can really go a long way in building social proof for your brand.

Also, try adding a mailing list button to your blog. You can create weekly newsletters which will help you to retain your users, and provide them with even more content related to your niche. Don’t be afraid to send discount codes to your mailing list too – it’s just another way to generate sales for your brand.

Use brand ambassadors

A brand ambassador is somebody with a large following (think Instagram influencers) who can humanize both your products and brand for prospective customers.

They can spread the word about your products on social media and their own websites to build trust between your brand and their following.

Brand awareness, and the social proof that accompanies it, has helped many businesses move the needle, so try partnering with relevant influencers and see how they can help your brand grow.

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Source: Oberlo

Instagram has announced a ton of new features for 2020 (9 Exciting Instagram Features in 2020)! Some of Instagram’s new features are already here,
like Facebook Shops, and some are coming soon to a feed near you, like IGTV Ads, Instagram Live shopping, and so much more!

Plus, Instagram is finally giving creators the ability to earn money from the content they share on IGTV — a highly requested feature from Instagram’s creator community.

Honestly, it’s been hard to keep track of allll the new Instagram features, so we’ve created a roundup to help you get all the information
you need in one place:

Instagram Feature #1: Facebook Shops

Facebook just launched its biggest move into e-commerce yet: Facebook Shops! 

But don’t be put off by the name — the new feature allows small businesses to build online stores on Facebook and Instagram,
and you’ll even be able to tag products during live broadcasts!

In Zuckerberg’s own words: “This is the biggest step we’ve taken yet to enable commerce across our family of apps.”

On Facebook Business Pages or Instagram profiles, brands can build out a catalog of products and services that visitors can browse,
save, share, and even purchase.

Note: Instagram Shop is a slightly different feature than Facebook Shops — it allows users to browse products directly from
Instagram’s Explore page. We’ll be covering that in a little bit.

For now, when we discuss Facebook or Instagram Shops, we’re referring to the actual online storefront that brands can now set up!

These virtual stores on Facebook and Instagram are also highly customizable — you’ll be able to choose the products you want
to feature from your catalog and then customize the look and feel of your shop with a cover image and accent colors that showcase your brand.

Facebook is partnering with Shopify, BigCommerce, Woo, Channel Advisor, CedCommerce, Cafe24, Tienda Nube, and
Feedonomics to help brands bring their products into Facebook Shops.

Businesses will be able to use these third-party platforms to manage their Facebook Shops, as well as any social ads related to those shops.

And if that isn’t enough, Facebook is also testing ways to make it easier to earn rewards with businesses you love by enabling
you to connect your loyalty programs, like the points program at your local cafe, to your Facebook account.

“You’ll be able to easily see and keep track of your points and rewards,” according to Facebook’s announcement. “And we’re exploring
ways to help small businesses create, manage, and surface a loyalty program on Facebook Shops.”

Facebook Shops is gearing up to be one of the most important launches since Instagram Stories in 2016! Facebook Shops are available now.

Instagram Feature #2: Instagram Shop

Not to be confused with Facebook Shops, Instagram Shop opens up a whole new shopping experience on Instagram.

This year, starting in the US, you might notice a new shop tab in the Instagram navigation bar dedicated to helping you
discover and buy products.

According to Facebook’s press release, once the feature rolls out, you’ll be able to “browse selections from your favorite brands and creators, filter by categories like beauty and home, and purchase the looks you love all in one place,” making finding inspiration and shopping directly in the Instagram app much more streamlined.

But Instagram is taking it one step further to serve products that will spark a purchase — from a curated edit inspired by
Instagram’s @shop account, a carousel of shoppable brands to browse, and “Suggested For You” product recommendations with
different filter options, Instagram Shop will quickly become the destination to browse and shop!

Not forgetting that Instagram recently made upgrades to the Shop channel on Instagram’s Search & Explore page — along with an
IGTV channel.

While Facebook’s press release doesn’t go into the details, we’d predict shop-friendly changes coming to the Explore page too!

It’s unknown exactly how Facebook will determine which products and brands get featured on the new Instagram Shop tab, but it’s likely that brands that are actively using Instagram Shopping and Checkout features will be prioritized.

Instagram Feature #3: IGTV Ads

This is great news for Instagram creators as they can now (finally!) start making money with new IGTV Ads!

Starting next week, Instagram will be introducing ads in IGTV as a way to start supporting creators and help them monetize their video content.

The launch of video ads is big news for the platform. This is the first time creators will be able to make money directly from IGTV
since its launch in 2018.

According to Instagram, the 15-second long IGTV ads will begin showing up in IGTV from a select group of partners and
advertisers in the US with plans to continue expanding globally.

Look out for ads from brands like IKEA, Puma, Sephora this week as they, along with other test partners, will be the first to launch IGTV ads.

Popular creators such as Avani Gregg and Salice Rose will be among the first to test out the new monetization feature,
with a wider, international release in the coming months.

In an interview with The Verge, Instagram’s COO, Justin Osofsky shares that those in the IGTV ad rollout will receive
an “industry standard” 55% share of all advertising in IGTV, the same rate as YouTube.

“Creators already put an incredible amount of effort into their content, and it’s crucial that they can make money from that
content in order to fuel their work in the future,” Osofsky said.

Instagram also shared they will continue testing various IGTV ad options, such as the ability to skip ads, to make sure the
final result works well for users, creators, and advertisers alike.

Watch this space — with Instagram continuing to roll out new IGTV features (and money-making opportunities!),
there’s no better time to shift focus back to your IGTV strategy.

Instagram Feature #4: Badges in Instagram Live

In a completely new venture for Instagram, the launch of badges on Instagram Lives creates a new revenue stream for creators,
while also developing a sense of exclusivity on the platform.

The concept of “badges” plays off a popular feature within Twitch and TikTok, which allows followers to “tip” creators during live streams.
With the new feature, viewers can purchase a badge during a Live video that will stand out in the comments and unlock additional features,
including placement on a creator’s list of badge holders.

Badges will be available in 3 different levels, based on the number of hearts they have. Viewers can buy one heart for $0.99,
two for $1.99, or 3 for $4.99. Viewers will only be able to buy one badge during a live video.

Creators can see how many hearts a viewer has purchased thanks to a visual icon in the chat stream, making it easy to see who
is supporting them for a shout-out.

According to fitness influencer @charleeatkins: “Badges in Instagram couldn’t have come at a better time for fitness creators like me.
It’s an easy way to channel the love we already see in our Live feeds so we can continue building and creating for our fans.”

Badges will begin testing next month with a small group of creators and businesses.

However, over the coming months, Instagram promises the feature will expand across the US, Brazil, UK, Germany, France,
Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Mexico.

Want to get early access to badges? Fill out this form! 

Instagram Feature #5: Live Shopping

There’s no denying that Instagram Live has seen a bit of a rebirth amid COVID-19.

In fact, Facebook has reported a 70% increase in Live views from February to March as creators and brands found new ways to embrace
the platform during social distancing.

So it seemed like a natural progression for Instagram to release Instagram Live features that would help support small businesses
and communities during this time.

Enter: Live Shopping!

Soon, sellers, brands, and creators will be able to tag products from their Facebook Shop or catalog before going live and those products
will be shown at the bottom of the video so people can easily tap to learn more and purchase.

This one small change makes for a serious switch to a QVC-like, live shopping channel! Now you can get purchasing advice
live from the host — which means you can have a live Q&As with your audience, share product details, or give product demos, all with a live link to purchase at the bottom of the screen.

Tina Craig (@bagsnob) was one of the first to use the new Live feature promoting her latest product launches from her brand @ubeauty.

Facebook will be testing this new feature with selected businesses on Facebook and Instagram this month, with further rollouts to come.

In the meantime, get up to speed with Instagram Live best practices so your broadcasts go off without a hitch! 

Instagram Feature #6: Green Screen in Instagram Stories Filters

Everyone might be talking about TikTok’s green-screen effect, but Instagram has been quietly working on a feature that could rival it!

Spark AR Studio, the platform to create Instagram AR effect and filters for Instagram, recently updated to include a host of new
tools and features for creators.

One of which is Gallery Picker — it lets creators publish AR effects to Instagram that people can then personalize with their own images,
enabling green screen-style effects. With this new capability, people can transport themselves into any environment and place they want.

And the easiest way to try it out for yourself is with Instagram’s Green Screen effect on Instagram Stories. It allows you to superimpose
yourself on a background — no fancy equipment or studio setting required.

As part of Instagram’s new AR Filter feature improvements (more on this to come!), the new green screen filter could bring a whole
new dimension to your Instagram Stories.

From hosting a tutorial, giving a demonstration, or simply just transposing yourself somewhere new, the green screen filter is one
to try out on your next post!

Instagram Feature #7: Apply AR Filters to Photos and Videos From Your Camera Roll 

This was one Instagram Stories flaw we’re so happy to see fixed — soon you’ll be able to add AR filters and effect to photos and videos
from your camera roll!

That means that you don’t need to “shoot in the moment” to use AR filters. Instead, you can take a photo with your phone,
upload it to Instagram Stories as you usually would, and then add the filter as you edit!

This means it will be a lot easier to manage your Instagram aesthetic if you rely on AR filters to post to Instagram Stories!

While not all AR Filters and effects will have this function, Facebook says they are introducing new capabilities that enable creators
to build AR effects that augment photos and videos that were previously taken outside of the Instagram app.

“We think this latest capability opens up fun, new ways for people to use AR effects to express themselves and reclaim meaningful or
otherwise missed moments,” shares Facebook.

Instagram Feature #8: Instagram Guides

Instagram has launched a new format for sharing curated, scrollable content: Instagram Guides.

The new feature gives users an easier way to consume helpful recommendations and tips from trusted creators, public figures,
organizations, and publishers.

Originally intended for the travel industry, Instagram announced that they pivoted plans for guides to focus on wellness content in an
effort to provide resources for people who are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ll enable creators to connect with expert organizations to share resources during this time, including tips on how to look after your well-being, maintaining connection with others or managing anxiety or grief.”

This first wave of creators includes an international roster of mental health advocates and organizations, including: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (US), Heads Together (UK), Vita Alere (Brazil), Klicksafe (Germany), Headspace Australia (Australia), Deepika Padukone (India), Sudah Dong (Indonesia), and e-Enfance (France).

Watch this space — it’s likely that we’ll see more creators, public figures, organizations, and publishers getting involved very soon.

Instagram Feature #9: Messenger Rooms

There’s a new way to bring communities together on Instagram — Messenger Rooms!

As part of Facebook’s Messenger Rooms rollout this month, Instagram users can now create and join group calls of up to 50 people
on the Instagram app!

Following the increased demand for video calls during the COVID-19 lockdown, Messenger Rooms can be created whenever a user wants,
are totally free, and have no upper time limits.

In a recent Facebook announcement, Mark Zuckerberg shared how Messenger Rooms are more “serendipitous and fun” than
other conferencing tools.

“You can create a private room and invite a few friends with a link, or you can create a room for one of your groups, or for an event
you’re planning. You can also start a room for all your friends […] and just see who stops by to say hi.”

And the best news is that anyone can join a Messenger Room — you don’t need a Facebook or Instagram profile to use the tool.
You can bring your community together from pretty much anywhere!

Bonus Instagram Features: Instagram Checkout + Shopping from Creators are Expanding! 

This year has already seen a ton of great new features that bring communities together, share better content, and build revenue
streams for brands and creators.

But two features we’re keeping a close eye on are Instagram Checkout and Shopping from Creators.

Why? Because their beta-testing is set to expand this year and we’re excited to see what this means for brands, businesses,
and influencers on the platform!

Instagram Checkout: 

Instagram Checkout was first released in 2019 to just a handful of mega-brands in the US and after a year of beta testing,
we could soon start to see it in our feeds worldwide!

The Checkout feature allows users to make a purchase without ever leaving the Instagram app — creating a streamlined,
2-tap process of converting Instagram followers into loyal customers.

One brand taking advantage of Instagram’s new feature is Target — as the first mass retailer to make its products available through
Instagram Checkout, the brand is no doubt driving sales via their posts!

And while Instagram Checkout is slowing being rolled out, now’s the time to get ahead of the curve and level-up your Instagram
strategy so your business is ready to make quick changes and more sales!

Instagram Shopping from Creators: 

Instagram’s Shopping from Creators may still be in beta testing, but it’s already causing a stir when it comes to driving sales on social!

The feature allows creators and influencers to tag brand products in their posts — creating an exciting new way for users to shop straight from Instagram.

For the time being, Shopping from Creators is only available for businesses taking part in the Instagram Checkout beta test —
but that could be changing.

Instagram has been gradually rolling out the feature to more businesses in the US, which could mean that they’re planning a wider release soon.

When that happens, we expect Instagram to also open Shopping from Creator to more influencers. At the moment, only a limited number of creators including Aimee Song, Kylie Jenner, Jen Atkin, and Kim Kardashian West, can tag brand products in their posts.

So while we wait for the feature to be fully rolled out, now’s the time to get to know the benefits of Shopping from Creators
and how it could help your brand.

And that’s it for Instagram features in 2020!

As always, we’ll keep you in the loop as we learn more about these new Instagram features and when they’re set to release.

STAY TUNE

Source: Nikki Canning, https://later.com/blog/instagram-features-2020/

Hey there,

You probably already know that Facebook ads are excellent for promoting your products.

But do you know who your ideal customers are?

You should, because those are the people who you want to target your Facebook ads to.

And without a detailed understanding of who your target audience is, marketing is going to be tough.

Wait, what is a target audience?

Simply put, your ideal target audience is the group of people who are going to be most interested in your brand, and most likely to purchase your products.
Essentially, the people you really want to target.

That’s pretty easy to understand. Finding your ideal target audience? Less straightforward.

There are plenty of attributes that come into play, like age, gender, income, location, etc., and this will usually depend on what it is you’re selling. For example, if you’re selling designer handbags, there’s a good chance you’ll be targeting women who are interested in luxury products (and live in a region that you ship to).

Essentially, a target audience helps you in painting a picture of your ideal customer and infuses more personalization into your marketing,
so you can get the most out of your campaign.

Why are target audiences important?

Even the best products in the world aren’t loved by everybody. But, that’s actually a good thing when it comes to marketing.

That’s because it’d be very difficult to target your brand and your products to everybody.

Instead, having a smaller target audience, but having a good idea of who your target audience is allows you to fine-tune your design, copy, and inventory to match what your audience likes. That’s far more interesting to them than big marketing campaigns targeting anyone and everyone.

Besides that though, having a well-defined audience can give you data that’ll help you to compete with large businesses.

Tips to succeed with your target audiences:

• Create an imaginary customer profile (if you don’t have customers already). Think about the age, interests, and lifestyle of the people you’re planning to target. This can help you identify filters that will help you reach these people like them on Facebook.
• Use the ‘Activity’ tab in the Audience Insights tool to find out more information about your audiences, including which devices they typically use. If most of them are browsing on their mobile devices, you can target ads according to their device type by modifying “Placements” in your Facebook Ads Manager.
• Test and adjust. There’s no one-size-fits all solution when it comes to successful audiences. Create one specific audience and another that has slightly different interests and see how both of them affect your ad results. Adjust and test again as needed.

How to create a target audience on Facebook

You can use the Facebook Audience Insights tool to build the perfect target audience for your campaigns.

Here’s how to do it in five easy steps:

1. Go to your Facebook Ads Manager, click on the menu in the top-left corner and choose “Audience Insights.”
2. In the screen that appears next, select “Everyone on Facebook.”
3. Now use the left-hand menu in the Audience Insights dashboard to filter the audience by age, gender, location, and interests.
4. Use advanced filters like relationship status, life events, language, and education to build your target audience. You want to keep things pretty broad here, especially if you’re just getting started with your Facebook ads.
5. Click “Save As,” give a name to your audience, and then click “Save.”

If you followed the steps correctly, your new target audience will be available in the Audiences section of your Facebook Ads Manager.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

Source, Oberlo

If you’re a business owner, a marketer, or even just a Facebook user, you’ve seen how prevalent Facebook ads are.

It’s the largest social media platform in the world (by a long way) and it’s a fantastic place that businesses can use to capture potential
customers with ads.

But, with some products, you’ll never find success with Facebook ads. And that’s because Facebook doesn’t allow you to even
launch ads containing these products.

So, if you’re already running a business, or you’re thinking of launching one in the future, this list is essential reading.
Check out these 10 types of products that you can’t advertise on Facebook.

Adult Products

Facebook ads cannot promote the use of adult products, include any form or nudity, or contain depictions of people in explicit situations.
Those ads simply will not even be launched by Facebook.

Not all are banned, you can promote certain adult products – specifically if they’re focussed on family planning or contraception.
Of course, you’ll need to make sure that you target those ads to Facebook users who are aged 18 or older, for legal reasons.

Unregulated Supplements

The supplements industry is booming right now, and it’s market size is expected to continue growing to $278 billion USD by 2024,
so it’s understandable if you want to get in on the action.

It’s generally best to avoid selling these products unless you’ve manufactured them yourself, as you won’t be able
to advertise them on Facebook.

That is, unless you have all the necessary paperwork which shows they’ve been certified as safe for consumption
(in the country that you’re selling to.)

Third-Party Infringements

Any Facebook ads which appear to be infringing on or violates the rights of any third party will be automatically disapproved or taken down.

Third-party infringements can get you into a lot of legal trouble, so it isn’t worth selling anything that you assume is copyrighted or
trademarked unless you have the proper trade agreement from the corresponding party.

If you are selling another brand’s products through your own Facebook ads make sure that you tag said brand in your post –
this is a common practice and is endorsed in Facebook’s policies.

Surveillance Equipment

Surveillance equipment is strictly prohibited from being promoted on Facebook’s advertising platform. This includes spy cams,
mobile phone trackers, or other hidden surveillance equipment.

We know that many entrepreneurs are interested in selling these types of products, and that’s totally fine, just be aware that you won’t
be able to promote them with Facebook adverts if you do.

Counterfeit Products

Similar to the third-party infringements that we mentioned earlier, counterfeit products are a strict no-go when it comes to Facebook advertising.

Counterfeit products are highly illegal, so our best advice is to avoid anything to do with them.

Health Products: Before and After

The online health industry is thriving and, for the most part, brands find great success with Facebook advertising campaigns.

But, Facebook points out that adverts must not contain “before-and-after images, or images that contain unexpected or unlikely results”.

Essentially, your ads must not assert or imply anything that could lead to a Facebook user having negative feelings about their body image.

Controversial Products

No surprise, but controversial products are strictly prohibited from Facebook’s advertising platform.

This means that any products or ads that are related to sensitive subjects, imagery, or controversial symbolism will be automatically
rejected from Facebook’s ad platform.

Weapons

All Facebook ads which contain weapons, ammunition, or explosives will be disapproved during the ad review process.

This is because these products are affected by various laws and regulations across the globe, and would be difficult to manage for Facebook,
so they fall under their “prohibited content” category.

This also includes products like toy guns as well too, so it’s best not to risk it.

Tobacco Products

Tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, and other tobacco paraphernalia are banned from Facebook’s ad platform.

While you can’t promote tobacco products for monetary gain, you can use Facebook ads to promote resources that help people get
over a smoking addiction.

Drugs and Drug-Related Products

Ensure that you do not promote the sale or use of illegal, prescription or recreational drugs in your ads, otherwise you’ll be breaching Facebook’s community guidelines.

Similar to the tobacco products which we mentioned above, Facebook perceives that these products can be harmful to a users health,
that is the reason why they’ve been added to their list of prohibited content.

This means that you won’t be able to use images of smoking-related accessories, recreational or medical marijuana, or other images
which could imply the use of a recreational drug in your ads.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

Source: Caitlyn from Oberlo

IGTV has finally made a strong move into wooing content creators by announcing monetization partnerships.
These are the details they’ve released.

As the influencer and creator world continues to heat up with platforms wooing content creators, IGTV has jumped into the fray.

IGTV’s Initial Monetization Offerings

There will be two initial offerings: ads and badges. They have also noted they will continue to expand their Live Shopping offering, as well.

IGTV Live Badges

There will also be badges sold through Instagram Live, which will be tested next month with a small group of creators.
Viewers can choose between 3 badges, ranging in price from $0.99 to $4.99.

Once a badge is bought, it’ll show in front of a user’s name and their comments will populate higher than others.

IGTV will not be taking a cut of this revenue at first, but will move to a revenue sharing model in the future.

IGTV Ads

Ads will be showing  and monetized for an initial group of 200 approved creators.
The ads will be from larger brand name advertisers such as Ikea, Puma, Sephora, and others.

A 55% cut will go to the creators, according to Justin Osofsky, Instagram’s COO.

This will only be an initial group, with plans to expand being confirmed.

How IGTV Ads Will Appear

Users will only see ads after clicking away from the feed preview to view the full-screen version.

The ads will be in typical Instagram vertical proportions, and last up to 15 seconds.

Unlike what users are used to will full-screen ads in Stories, IGTV ads will NOT be a swipe up functionality. Users will tap through instead.

There may be additional experiences later in the year, such as the familiar feature of skipping ads.

The Rules of Monetization

To protect brand reputation, there is an Instagram monetization policy in place. It is stricter than the usual content policy on the platform,
with the example given that you can’t curse or swear on videos you intend to monetize.

There are rules pertaining to formats, behaviors and categories/content types.

Specifically Banned Content

Formats cannot be any of the following:

• static videos
• static image polls
• slideshows of images
• continuously looping videos
• text montages
• embedded ads

Creators may not incentivize users to click or engage, or barters items for extreme behavior in return (for example, “if you give me x,
I’ll eat this live rattlesnake.”)

Categories that touch on any of the following categories in an inflammatory or discriminatory matter will also be prohibited, including:

• race
• gender
• nationality
• age
• politics
• ethnicity
• disabilites
• sexual orientation
• economic class
• religion
• immigration

Anything depicts or favorably discusses abuse or illegal activities is prohibited, along with graphic content including content that’s sexual.

There will also be third-part fact checking for content to prevent misinformation, and a ban on any medical information that’s verified as
misleading (including anti-vaccine sentiment).

Can IGTV be Government or Political Entities Participate?

With the election approaching, a lot of advertising is about whether it can be used by political entities, and if so, how.

The answer for this is it cannot be used at all for monetization, along with any other communication that would normally be regulated
by campaign finance rules.

What This Means for the Monetization Landscape

While IGTV has flailed a bit in the mind of users, and failed to really capture the long-form video audience, this is a major move for IGTV.

YouTube has been the go-to platform for creator monetization, which can create a mutually beneficial ecosystem for platforms wanting
eyeballs and time spent and video makers.

IGTV didn’t have much incentive before for creators. Viewership was low, and the format is vertical, which means having to think
through shoots differently than they may have for YouTube dimensions.

What Works, What IGTV Has to Look Out For

It’s no secret YouTube has had its share of issues with questionable content. IGTV has watched and learned.

In addition, the surge in app usage and content creation from the pandemic has meant more captive eyeballs who have more time to discover new content.

While in the beginning they will be human-reviewing every video, that obviously won’t scale over time. It will move to an AI-human hybrid
review process, and they will need to be careful to not fall into the issues YouTube has faced.

The coming months will tell the tale: Can this move finally get creators to take IGTV seriously as a long-form platform worth their time?

Will it fare well for creators already making content adapted for Instagram specs?

Will it take money from YouTube, or be an add-on?

Your move, creators.

Let’s discuss about your project

You can find the original story as reported by The Verge.

Source: Susan Wenograd, https://www.searchenginejournal.com/breaking-igtv-announces-monetization-for-creators/370588/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=daily-newsletter&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter#close