Martin Beck says, “Facebook is dropping the velvet rope on live streaming video. Today, the social network announcedthat it is giving a select group of US iPhone users the ability to broadcast live from within the Facebook platform. At launch in August, Facebook’s live streaming feature was available only to celebrities and other public figures with access to Mentions, an iOS app designed to help high-profile people to manage their Facebook presence. In September, Facebook opened Mentions to all verified users, and now it’s starting the process of giving everyone access, beginning with... [...]

Greg Finn says, “Earlier this year, Facebook launched “Page Plugin,” an embedded widget that promoted Facebook pages and content. This month, they announced that they’ve bulked up the functionality to do much more than simply promote content. Page Plugin can now handle messages from customers (using Messenger functionality), as well as integrating with Facebook Events. Messaging If you are a brand that leverages Facebook and Messenger for customer service, this integration is right up your alley. Visitors can now pen a message and instantly send to your staff and follow up using Messenger.... [...]

No doubt, some Facebook marketers are doing well, while others are going broke. The secret to success is: 1. Attract targeted traffic to your fan page and 2. Properly monetize your fan page so people who arrive take action. It has been said that apps are the future of monetizing fan pages. When you consider that over 60% of Facebook traffic is now mobile, the use of apps makes sense. Now, there is a 5 step Facebook strategy that can help you pocket a tidy sum daily. You can discover the exact strategy and see a walk-through here: 5 step Facebook marketing strategy The key to this strategy is being... [...]

Susan Solovic says, “Facebook recently announced financial results that blew expectations out of the water, and its stock shot up on the news. But if you’ll dip into your medium-term memory for a moment, you’ll recall that a few years ago Facebook stock was hitting new lows not long after its IPO. This turnaround is, of course, based on exploding ad revenue and tied up with that fact is good news and (maybe) bad news for small business owners along with some very important lessons. Let’s start with the lessons that Facebook’s success is teaching us, especially in light of the question... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Last minute shopping for holiday customers? There’s still time on Facebook and Instagram. The social network is rolling out a new ad-targeting segment to enable brands to zero in on people who are highly engaged with content related to holiday shopping, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The segment, which will run from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, can be used on any ad format on either network. Facebook will pull together the audience by sniffing out holiday-related keywords in posts that people publish and posts they like, comment on and share. Like... [...]

Kyle Taylor says, “The advertising side of Facebook tends to get a bad rap. Small business owners often complain that the user interface constantly changes, or that it’s increasingly difficult and expensive to reach fans. But when you get down to it, Facebook ads do work — only if you follow certain best practices for reaching your target audience. In my experience, they’re cheaper and more effective than most other forms of advertising, including the popular Adwords. Over the last year, I’ve spent $3 million on Facebook ads to grow my company’s blog, the Penny Hoarder. Sounds... [...]

Ginny Soskey says, “You’ve heard all about the importance of using Facebook to grow your business. You know that it has a large user base. You realize that it can help you find new customers. But actuallydoing marketing on Facebook is a whole other story. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little pocket guide to navigating Facebook? To help you break through all the clutter on Facebook and actually start seeing results, we put together the infographic and tips below. Check ’em out“. The Do’s and Don’ts of How to Use Facebook for Business HubSpot  [...]

SBT Editor says, “Marketing any business requires several different tactics, from SEO to social media to advertising. This week, some big names, including GoDaddy and Facebook, added features that may help small businesses with some of these marketing tactics. Read on for these and more small business updates in this week’s Small Business Trends News and Information Roundup. Marketing GoDaddy Develops Search Engine Visibility at the Touch of a Button When a small business owner obtains a website, the most important aspect is the Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That’s the code embedded... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Faced with publisher concerns that they aren’t earning enough revenue from Instant Articles, Facebook is experimenting with changes to advertising within the program,according to the Wall Street Journal. At issue are the restrictions the social network places on ads within the Instant Article format. Facebook only allows one banner-style ad sized 320 x 250 pixels for every 500 words of content within Instant Articles, while publishers would place three to four ads within similar stories on their mobile site. Facebook also currently doesn’t allow rich media ads within... [...]

Zac Johnson says, “When it comes to marketing your brand or business online, you have a lot of options. Two of the most popular and effective ways to drive massive traffic and leads back to your business is through the use of Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Both completely unique, different, similar and extremely effective at the same time. Whether you are focusing your efforts on Google or Facebook, both platforms give you immediate access to hundreds of millions of users, while also having the tools in place to make your marketing and demographic targeting easier than ever. Google has established... [...]