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A Quick Guide to Facebook Dark Posts in 2023

As a marketer or business owner, you want to ensure that you integrate the most effective marketing strategies to yield better results. It is no secret that there are many strategies you can try out.

But in this digital era, social media has proven to be one of the most effective marketing strategies. When it comes to social media, Facebook takes the lead because it has the most users, making it easy to reach a wider audience.

Facebook marketing is an effective social media marketing strategy. But how can you go about it?

This is where Facebook dark posts come in. The posts are a very successful marketing strategy because you can use them for retargeting efforts and prospecting.

But what are Facebook dark posts, and how can they benefit your business?

Let’s find out.

What are Facebook Dark Posts?

Although the name sounds scary, the reality of Facebook’s dark posts is far from anything evil! They are called dark posts because of the way they work.

Facebook dark posts or unpublished page posts are targeted ads that do not appear on the advertiser’s timeline nor on the timeframe of the advertiser’s followers.

Dark posts are for targeted audiences and appear on their feed. These posts are different from organic posts and appear labeled as sponsored content.

A dark post can be anything from text, videos, photos, promotional offers, or links to the company website.

drift

How to Create a Facebook Dark Post

Creating a Facebook dark post is similar to creating a regular ad. Below is a step-by-step process to create a dark post on Facebook.

Step 1: Head to the Ads Manager

The first step to creating a dark post is accessing the Facebook ads manager.

The ads manager is a tool that is the home for all the ads that you run on Facebook and other platforms owned by Facebook.

Here, open the drop-down menu at the top left and select the “Page Posts” option under “Create & Manage.”

Page Posts

Step 2: Configure the Dark Post

You will see a “Create Unpublished Page Post” at the top. Click on that to create a new dark post.

Fill in your ad details and while selecting how to use the post, select “Only use this post for an ad.” Selecting this option ensures that the post does not go public on your page.

Create Unpublished Page Post

Step 3: Create or Select Audiences

You can use your already-segmented ad sets if you have previously created ads. However, you must generate audience segments when creating a new ad if you are new.

You can specify your audience’s age, gender, location, languages, behavior, and interests.

Create or Select Audiences

You can select audiences > create audiences > custom audiences > Facebook page. After that, you will be prompted to create and segment your audience.

Step 4: Post Optimization

Next, you can optimize your post. There are a few ways to do this.

  • Run a split test on your dark post, and based on those results, optimize your post accordingly.
  • Use SocialPilot to review your post performance and choose features that can help maximize your ROI.
    Facebook Page Engagement
  • You can reconfigure and resize your audiences.

Why Should You Use Facebook Dark Posts?

Advertisers who want to send ads to a specific target audience without bothering their other followers are the reason for them using Facebook dark posts.

Facebook dark posts let you create ads that you don’t have to post on your timeline, but your targeted audience will still be able to see them.

Let us look at the reasons why to use dark posts.

1. Target Audience Segmentation

One of the significant benefits of a Facebook dark post is its targeting capabilities.

With a Facebook dark post, you can specify your target audiences. Instead of showing an ad to all your followers in their news feed, you can segment the audiences and appear only in their feed.

The last thing you want is to bombard your target audience with posts that aren’t appealing to them.

When posting a traditional post for targeted audiences, you need to specify your audience’s age, interest, and gender. Never underestimate the importance of market segmentation if you want to grow your business.

Conversely, a dark or unpublished page post allows you to add more specifications. For example, you can narrow the lists by specifying categories like town, university, job title, etc.

Target Audience Segmentation

2. A/B Testing

While marketing using Facebook, determining why an advertisement did not get enough response from your audiences can be challenging. But by using Facebook dark posts, you can find the reason by performing A/B testing.

In A/B testing or split testing, there are two groups – a test group and a control group, or groups A and B.

You can create two versions of the same post while creating a Facebook dark post. Then you will divide your target audiences into test and control groups and deliver the ads.

For example, you can experiment with the headline by creating a dark post for sale promotion. Send a position with a “Year End Sale” headline to group A and a “Christmas Sale” headline to group B audiences.

By using A/B tasting, you can specify your audiences and thus collect a vast amount of data. You can use the data to optimize your social media and digital marketing strategy. With A/B testing, you can even change the call-to-action button.

Brand Example

On landing pages, large banners are usually shown at the top. An improperly positioned banner runs the danger of doing more harm than good because it takes up a lot of space.

Because of this, Humana, a healthcare insurance company, decided to experiment with its landing page banners.

Humana had been using a banner with a lot of copy, a weak CTA, and no distinct and clear message.

control

However, the business chose to make the message simpler for version B.

In the end, this variant had 433% more click-throughs than version A.

explore humanas

The business chose variation B once it was successful and wanted to test the CTA.

Humana changed variation C’s CTA text to incorporate more aggressive language, including “Shop.”

The business determined that this strategy would work well because Medicare applicants only have a little time to decide.

humana medicare plans

There was a 192% increase in clickthrough due to the language change.

3. Improved ROI

Facebook dark posts do not directly increase your return on investment compared to boosted posts.

In comparison, grown posts can see organic impressions up to seven times more impressions reach up to nine times more than dark posts.

That, however, ignores the enormous amount of data that dark posts offer to help influence future content, including boosted posts. They are, therefore, an investment that will yield better ROI in the future.

However, dark posts offer a high amount of data for future reference, which improves your ROI. These posts are more like an investment that yields better ROI at a later stage.

4. Social Media Profile Optimization

A Facebook dark post helps you collect valuable data about your targeted audiences that you can utilize on all your social media campaigns running on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

However, before using the results of A/B testing on all social media platforms, you need to consider that the audiences on every platform are different.

For example, an ad that performs well on Facebook may not yield the same result on Instagram. The reason is that Instagram focuses on pictures and videos more than texts, while Facebook combines all three.

Therefore, maximize the data from A/B testing by conducting more thorough research on your audiences.

5. Keeps Your Page Clean and Organized

A Facebook page will showcase all your organic and boosted posts. An organic post that is advertised to increase reach is a promoted post.

One of the problems with boosted posts is they are visible on your page’s timeline. Having too many boosted posts can make you appear untrustworthy to your followers.

This is where a dark post becomes beneficial.

How?

Creating a Facebook dark post separates it from your organic and boosted content, and also, by specifying the target audiences, you are hiding the post from some of your followers.

Also, specifying the target audience means that to those audiences, the post won’t appear like an ad because it is relevant to their needs and interests.

Ready to Create a Facebook Dark Post?

Facebook dark posts are an excellent way to reach your targeted audiences and gather viable information to apply to your promoted and organic content.

You can promote your brand using dark posts without spamming your audiences or your timeline.

This is where a one-stop social media management tool such as SocialPilot becomes handy; you can create, post, and analyze your ad and its convenience.

We hope our simple guide on Facebook dark posts has given you the insight you were looking for.

So, are you ready to take advantage of Facebook’s dark posts?


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Easily track your packages with new Gmail features

Does this scenario sound familiar? You spend hours shopping for the perfect gift, find a great deal and place the order. And as you wait for your package to arrive, you end up repeating the same steps: searching your inbox for the confirmation email, finding the tracking number and following a string of links to see your delivery status.

With the holiday season coming up fast, it won’t be long before your inbox is filled with more order and shipping confirmations, tracking numbers and even the occasional delay notification. So this year, Gmail is introducing new features to help you save time and stay on top of all your shipments.

In the coming weeks, Gmail will show a simple, helpful view of your package tracking and delivery information right in your inbox. For orders with tracking numbers, Gmail will prominently display your current delivery status in your inbox list view and in a summary card at the top of individual emails. Package tracking will be available across most major U.S. shipping carriers and will provide important details at a glance, such as estimated arrival date and status — like “Label created,” “Arriving tomorrow” or “Delivered today.”


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How to Harness the Instagram Reels Algorithm to Go Viral

Instagram Reels is a fantastic opportunity for creators. It’s one of the hottest features on the platform and a way to supercharge your Instagram growth.

Reels is a direct competitor to TikTok and targets the same type of content – short-form video. Recent statistics show that while emerging TikTok influencers earned around 18% more engagement than influencers on other platforms, Reels outpace other Instagram content by 22% in terms of engagement rates.

Some creators grew their audience by 60K in six months by switching to a Reels-only strategy.

Why does this work so well?

It’s because Reels get 22% more engagement than regular posts.

But to succeed with Reels, you need to win over the Instagram Reels algorithm. It’s this algorithm that decides which content goes viral on the platform.

Here’s everything you need to know about Instagram Reels algorithm.

What Is the Instagram Reels Algorithm?

Instagram launched Reels in August 2020, allowing users to post short-form video content.

The main goal of Reels was to go neck and neck against TikTok, and its dominance, especially among Gen Z.

Once you publish your Reel, it will be pushed straight to your existing followers’ feeds. But beyond that, it’s the Instagram Reels Algorithm that decides where it goes.

There are two main places where Instagram users can discover Reels by new creators. They’re both curated by the Instagram Reels Algorithm.

The first is the Reels tab, Instagram’s take on TikTok’s “For You” page.

Reels tab

The second is the Explore tab, which serves users a generous helping of Reels alongside Stories and regular posts.

Instagram Reels Algorithm

The Instagram Reels Algorithm determines whether your content gets featured in these spaces. If yes, then whole new audiences get to explore your stuff.

When you upload a new Reel, this algorithm analyzes it, considering many factors.

It categorizes your content and evaluates whether it will appeal to viewers who don’t follow you yet. Because ultimately, Instagram’s goal is to drive overall engagement. The algorithm’s job is to vet your Reel to make sure it can help achieve this.

Why Should Reels Be a Part of Your Instagram Marketing Strategy?

Two years after its launch, Reels remains one of the most popular features on Instagram.

The platform still actively pushes Reels to compete with TikTok and other rivals, such as YouTube Shorts. That means it’s a huge opportunity for creators to grow their reach.

In fact, a recent analysis found that reach rates for Reels were far higher than for other types of Instagram content. Interestingly, this effect is even stronger for smaller, still-growing accounts.

For example, Reels posted by accounts with less than 5,000 followers have average reach rates of 39.5%. That’s over 10x as much as the 3.5% for carousels and 2.4% for regular image posts. If your account has between 5,000 and 10,000 followers, those numbers are 30.0%, 3.8%, and 2.5%, respectively.

Overall, Reels account for over 20% of the time users spend on Instagram, according to data released by Meta in April 2022.

The average Instagram user watches a handful of reels daily – and the Instagram Reels Algorithm decides which ones.

How Does the Instagram Reels Algorithm Work?

There are several layers to the Instagram Reels Algorithm. Its main job is determining how relevant your content is to various target audiences.

To do that, it needs to know what your clip is all about and who could be interested in it. So, it:

  • Analyzes the tags you used.
  • Analyzes your clips’ frames and audio track.
  • Takes into account when your Reel is posted.
  • Takes into account past interactions between an audience and a creator.

First, this helps the algorithm categorize your content to see what niche it belongs to.

There’s another reason for this analysis.

The algorithm is also checking if your content really is original and adapted for Reels. If it’s re-posted from TikTok or YouTube Shorts, has the wrong dimensions or low-res images, or even violates Instagram’s Community Guidelines, you’re out.

The reason why the Reels algorithm takes into account when a Reel is posted is that Instagram favors recent content. A Reel already a few weeks or months old probably won’t go viral.

This is why creators must pinpoint the best time to publish their Reels – to ensure their audience is online and ready to like it.

Engagement is the next big factor in the Instagram Reels algorithm.

The recommendation runs on positive feedback: Reels that already got a fair share of likes and comments have a higher chance of being boosted by the algorithm. So if you already have an engaged audience, your chances of winning at Reels are higher.

Plus, the algorithm is much more likely to recommend your Reels to users who have interacted with your content in the past.

That said, the combination of factors that the algorithm uses to decide which Reels to push is complex enough so that even new creators have a decent chance of success.

As long as you follow a few basic ground rules.

Let’s have a look.

How to Benefit from the Instagram Reels Algorithm

Want to win over the Instagram Reels Algorithm? All you need to do is…

1. Ensure Your Content Is Fun and Engaging

Make your viewers laugh. Teach them some useful hacks. Inspire them! The first prerequisite for success on Reels is to be original, to be yourself, all while keeping your audience’s needs in mind.

louisvuitton

For instance, Louis Vuitton leverages the magical power of childhood imagination in their latest Christmas-themed reel, which generated over 2.8 million views and over 62K likes.

2. Play by Instagram’s Rules

Ensure you stick to the rules for whatever content you create.

As the platform states in its Recommendation Guidelines: “We work to avoid making recommendations that could be low-quality, objectionable, or sensitive, and we also avoid making recommendations that may be inappropriate for younger viewers.”

Apart from hurting your Reel’s chances of going viral, posting content violating these guidelines can negatively impact public perception of your brand.

3. Keep Your Content Civil

Ensure your reels are civil, free of misinformation, violence, and other potentially offensive material.

false infomation

The above screenshot shows how Instagram warns users of false information by putting a giant warning across the post.

giant warning across

As these screenshots by The Verge shows, content that violates community guidelines will not only be ignored by the Reels algorithm but also may be deleted. Furthermore, you also risk your account getting deleted.

4. Give Your Reels Visual Panache

You can do this by harnessing Instagram’s full range of features.

Browse trending audio bits. Add filters. Experiment with camera features. You can start slow and progressively test your way through the entire range of Reels features.

Tom Webste

This Reel by Tom Webster harnesses a quick succession of shots from different angles – ground-based and aerial, establishing shots and action shots, all with appropriate filters, timed to follow the beat of a trending audio clip.

5. Deep-Dive Into Tags

Once you’re happy with your clip, highlight your Reel’s relevance and help the algorithm categorize it.

You can add up to 30 tags, but three to five carefully selected ones usually do the trick.

kangaroo harnesses

This Reel of a buff kangaroo harnesses numerous tags that will signal to animal lovers, Reels addicts, and connoisseurs of funny videos that this is the content for them.

6. Follow Up On Your Reels

See what works and what doesn’t.

Go to Instagram Insights and spend some time on your clips’ analytics. This will help you pinpoint what type of content resonates with your audience, which tags give you the greatest reach, and when the best time to publish your Reels is.

Harness Advanced Tools to Win Over the Reels Algorithm

You should also consider more advanced social media tools to take your Instagram content to the next level and hit the Reels Algorithm’s sweet spot.

Instagram Insights is a good basis for a better understanding of your content performance. But to truly succeed, you need to level up.

More sophisticated tools allow you to automate your social media marketing, similar to email automation, and personalize your content for your audience.

For instance, you can get more in-depth analyses of your Reels’ reach and your audience’s preferences. Analyze tag performance, gain audience insights, and identify your biggest fans.

With SocialPilot, for instance, you can easily find out when the maximum number of your viewers is online and schedule your Reels to publish at that exact time.

Conclusion

Instagram Reels is the single fastest-growing feature on the platform. It’s a fantastic way for creators to expand their reach and grow their audience.

Understanding and catering to the Instagram Reels algorithm is a crucial part of that. It’s essential to know what drives the algorithm to recommend original, high-res content tailored to Reels, to pinpoint the right tags, and to find the best time to post.

Armed with this knowledge and the right tools, you can be unstoppable on Reels. Harness the power of the Reels Algorithm, go viral, and expand your reach. It’s time to get growing!




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13 YouTube Community Building Hacks You Must Know

Even if they are interesting, simply uploading videos on YouTube isn’t enough nowadays to catch and keep active, loyal subscribers. Social media advances have resulted in people spending considerable time on their phones. SNS (social networking services, a.k.a. social media) take up to 145 minutes of each Internet user’s time.

Your goal as a creator is to grow an audience and ensure users spend as much time on your channel as possible. For that, you need to build a YouTube Community.

How to do it? What to start with? How to engage people and keep them interested?

I’ll try to answer all these questions while enriching your strategy with 13 easy yet effective recommendations.

Building Your YouTube Community Vs. Growing Your Channel

First of all, let’s clarify the terms.

Growing your channel is:

Building a YouTube Community is:

  • Building relationships with viewers
  • Making people actively engage with your content
  • Making them genuinely interested in your content
  • Encouraging them to take focus actions like visiting your site, purchasing products, etc.

What Is the YouTube Community Tab?

YouTube Community

The YouTube Community Tab is a channel component designed to help creators engage with their audience beyond the videos.

You can share polls, posts about channel updates, announcements, and images so users can interact through likes and comments.

Any creator with 500+ subscribers can post using the Community Tab.

The tab allows people to see content from various channels, even ones they aren’t subscribed to. The tab is available on the homepage or via a certain channel.

The algorithm is pretty simple, and it will make you want to post more:

If a viewer in the community likes or comments on your post, they will see more of your content in their feed.

Now that you have a better understanding of a YouTube Community, here are the best 13 tips and hacks to help you create and grow an active, exciting YouTube Community within your channel.

1. A Healthy Balance Between Promotional and Informational Content

Many creators on YouTube use advertisements to make money. It can be useful if an ad is native and perfectly inserted into a video.

However, stuffing your content (both Community posts and videos) and over-promoting will make your channel look like an ad board. And that’s not interesting or heartfelt.

For example, a 20-minute video with 16 ad integrations is too much for the regular viewer.

Informational Content

So, find the balance between promotional and informational content and keep it.

You can even ask your community about their opinions on ads and create a content strategy with the right promotion for you to monetize and for viewers to still enjoy your videos.

2. Content Optimization for Search

SEO is essential not only for search engines but for social media as well.

Within each SNS, there’s a separate smaller search engine that you can optimize for. As a result, you’ll pop up in search results more often, getting more views, subscribers, and community participants.

Here are some effective YouTube SEO practices:

  • Work on your meta titles, descriptions, and tags. Make them specific and engaging.
  • Use keywords in the metadata, video title, and description.
  • Use a keyword rank analysis tool to access the best-performing keywords, spot keyword gaps for your videos, and monitor your YouTube rankings.
  • Do competitor research to see where you may have gaps (pro tip: a proper digital SEO tool will help you do this in a couple of clicks).

3. Generate Excitement With Polls and Quizzes

The YouTube Community offers various features, including polls. Use them wisely to engage with the audience.
Clicking on an answer is much easier and takes less time than commenting on a post, so you’ll increase engagement rates

Polls and Quizzes

For example, before revealing the topic of your next video, create a poll where people can guess what it is. This way, you’ll spike curiosity among viewers and get an idea of what people are looking forward to.

You can use the same strategy if you can’t decide what topic to cover in the next piece. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking your audience what they want to watch.

4. Comment Management

According to the Engaging News Project, over 50% of Americans leave online comments, and more than 77% comment and read comments on social media platforms.

These statistics show that comment management is essential for social media brand profiles.

YouTube is a powerful social platform with over 2 billion monthly visitors worldwide, which makes it a perfect place to dialogue with your audience.

Youtube Powerful Platform

Therefore, admiring positive comments, answering customer inquiries and concerns, elucidating misunderstandings, combating misinformation, and dealing with comments’ deleting and blocking is a daily routine when building a YouTube community.

As communication goes a long way in every relationship, do your best to like and respond to comments and engage with your audience in every possible way in the comments section. Doing this shows that you care about your viewers and value their opinions.

5. Pinned Comments as Discussion Drives

Pin important comments with additional information, external links, or questions to spark a discussion.

You want people to be as actively engaging with your content as possible. Let them guess, research, answer, and interact.

Pinned comments are perfect for that.

Pinned comments

If you want to be even more creative, create a competition for the best comment to be pinned as you choose the winner. You’ll engage your community and get many creative ideas and jokes there.

6. Making the Community Feel Included

Make your YouTube Community co-creators of your content. Ask for their opinions and feedback in the comments and use them when creating new videos.

This approach will give you ideas and improvements and engage people more with the finished content and upcoming pieces.

You can use a Q&A live stream feature to interact more with the audience. Get to know them and tell them about yourself, your mission, goals, experience, etc. Let the viewers ask questions and answer them creatively and honestly.

7. YouTube Stories to Keep in Touch

Reach out to your YouTube Community in-between video uploads, show BTS (behind the scenes) footage, and tease the audience with trailers for new videos.

YouTube Stories to Keep in Touch

If you only upload videos and don’t use the Community tab and Stories, you’ll still have viewers, but on a smaller scale.

Internet users want to be entertained, and the creators that spend as much time with them as possible typically win the game.

8. Community Customization

Customize your community by using GIFs, stickers, and other visual elements.

By using the same reaction GIFs, you build a personal brand, so some viewers will remember you when they see those images on other channels or platforms.

An excellent example of viral reaction GIFs is the content from the Annoying Orange YouTube channel.

Plus, such elements show your wit and can make a regular post hilarious.

9. Channel Organization

Make your channel easy and convenient to use.

Compile playlists from existing videos to make a positive first impression on new viewers from the Community or another kind of promotion.

For example, take a look at Nike channel on YouTube. The channel is super organized and has an exciting structure of playlists depending on the trending topic.

Channel Organization

This will also improve the user experience for existing viewers.

10. Offer a Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes

Behind-the-scenes pieces are always interesting to watch because they reveal secrets behind the creation of something.

That’s why fans of a certain movie will wait impatiently to get to the bloopers and BTS clips

Offer a Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes

Try regularly creating engaging, funny stories about shooting a new video. It can be anything from a more technical view of your equipment to simple bloopers featuring you misspelling words.

11. Build a Network of Affiliates

Affiliate programs use financial motivation for people to click on links, engage with content, buy and recommend stuff, etc. They are usually used to increase website traffic and sales but also work for your YouTube community.

As you grow your audience, create such a program or allow your most loyal viewers to participate in an existing one with you.

Thus, you’ll get loyal partners and affiliates that will vouch for you and your videos whenever possible.

12. Collaboration and Cross-Promotion

Creator collaboration can deliver excellent content. Find another YouTuber in your niche, and both of you will get a popularity boost. The collab itself sparks curiosity.

If it’s a high-quality, relevant piece hitting the pains of your target audience, you’ll see the results of your efforts very soon.

Collaboration and Cross-Promotion

13. Social Media Promotion

It is hard to overvalue the power of social media promotion.

Social media has got our lives by delivering engaging content corresponding to almost every part of our daily routine.

Each social platform has fans choosing it as the top source of day-to-day information and communication.

Recent research by the Audience Project shows that over one-third of users in the US use Instagram to follow different brands. Meanwhile, 19% utilize YouTube and Facebook for the same purpose.

So opting for a single social platform dramatically decreases your chances of spreading the word about your brand.

To build a high-end YouTube community, take advantage of cross-promotion that allows you to draw more admirers and prospects by posting your content across multiple social networks.

By cross-posting on social media, you can reach people outside of YouTube to get acquainted with your channel and content.

Promote your YouTube channel and community on other social media or a blog if you have one.

For example:

  • If you have an Instagram with an active audience, notify them whenever you post a new video
  • If it’s Twitter, tweet the link with an attention-hooking thumbnail.
  • Use hashtags.
  • Use keywords in your tweets and Facebook posts about the video, etc.

How to Empower Your YouTube Community?

To run your YouTube community successfully, you should stay consistent and active and emphasize your content via other social media channels to grab more attention and feedback.

It makes you operate loads of content that need ongoing monitoring, taking plenty of time and effort.

So, to get your act together, you can employ sufficient tools to stay up-to-date, even being overloaded with business processes, growing sales, and brand promotion.

SocialPilot is a solution to achieving your social media marketing goals without a nerve-racking busy atmosphere. This tool has powerful posting and scheduling features that dramatically save time and resources.

You can access an assortment of customization options to alter your posts and track the effectiveness of your social media strategy via a convenient Social Calendar.

To Summarize

To build and grow your YouTube Community, you need to build relationships with your viewers, not just increase the numbers.

Make people wait for your next post, poll, contest, or video. Engage with them, talk to them, answer their questions, express gratitude, and offer bonuses.

Here are some essential elements to keep in mind for your YouTube strategy:

  • Building a personal brand with unique language, GIFs, stickers, answers, stories, etc.
  • Engaging with the audience in-between posting videos through posts and stories.
  • Replying to viewers’ comments and pinning the most interesting ones (yours or a fan’s).
  • Promoting your channel and community on social media platforms where you have a considerable following.
  • Showing behind the scenes and sharing exclusive content.

Build a real community on your channel, and your videos will always be viewed, liked, and promoted, even without you asking.


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3 ways to keep audiences engaged in a content-driven world

2. Take an asset-first approach for bigger creative impact

Keeping today’s consumer engaged across platforms requires creative finesse at scale—and a multi-asset approach for campaigns like social and video to enable more visual and authentic storytelling. Nearly half of consumers say they are more likely to purchase a new product or brand they see in a video ad.

You can now scale your assets to Shorts, YouTube’s new short-form video experience, to drive visual momentum with consumers watching everything from workout clips to recipe walkthroughs. You can make the most of this mobile canvas by bringing your best vertical video and image assets to the Shorts experience with Video action and now Discovery campaigns for images.

We’ve seen this asset-first creative approach across campaigns drive better results: more than 60% of advertisers who combine Video action campaigns with Discovery ads see incremental conversions at or below their original cost-per-action.


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How to Use Google’s Business Messages to Improve Customer Service

Customer service is essential to companies, especially when taking custom orders. If a customer emails you and asks you a question, you can’t just ignore it. You have to respond, even if it takes a while.

In the past, this meant you could spend hours typing out long emails at your computer, but now this is simple with Google’s Business Messages.

Google’s Business Messages is a useful tool that ensures potential customers can receive help and support through real-time chat, no matter the hour.

Let us explain how you can use Google’s Business Messages to engage with your customers.

What Are Google’s Business Messages?

Google’s Business Messages is a free chat service that offers instant customer support via real-time live chat. The service helps customers get in touch with your business directly from Google’s results pages.

Being available out-of-hours to reply to customer queries will help nurture trust with potential customers and increase the chances of making sales.

And if your competitors aren’t using Google Business Messages, you’ll be offering a better value proposition to customers in the first stages of the buying journey.

How Do Google Business Messages Work?

When a user finds your business online, they’ll see your Google Business Card if you have one set up (you can do this through Google Drive).

walmart

Your Google Business Card contains actionable buttons that users can click to contact the business, visit the website, or get directions. If you have Google’s Business Messaging enabled, users will also see a button that says ‘Message.’

By having a direct way for potential customers to contact you through the search engine results page, you’ll be able to build better relationships from the get-go and increase your conversion rate.

How to Set Up Google’s Business Messages

1. Setting Up Google’s Business Messages on Desktop

  1. Search for ‘Google Business Profile’
    Google Business Profile
  2. Log in or create an account
    create an account
  3. On the left-hand side, select ‘Messages’ from the menu options.
    Messages
  4. A blue button will state, ‘Turn on messaging.’ Click that button, and your Google Business Messaging is set up. Potential customers can contact you directly from the search engine results page.
    Turn on messaging

2. Setting Up Google’s Business Messages on Mobile

  1. Download the Google Maps app.
    Google Maps app
  2. Tap “Updates”
    map Updates
  3. Tap “Messages” and then “Business”
    update Messages
  4. Tap “…” and then “Settings”
    Settings
  5. You can then turn messages on or off

5 Tips for Using Google’s Business Messages

Let’s look at how you can use Google’s Business Messages to engage with your customers.

1. Respond to Messages Quickly

There’s no time like the present. This has never been more true for modern-day consumers who expect instant solutions without waiting around. In fact, a recent survey found that 88% of consumers expect their messages to be responded to within an hour.

Google Business Messages facilitates these expectations by enabling instant messaging between businesses and new leads getting in touch for the first time.

For example, if a potential customer for a VoIP business asks ‘what is VoIP’ on the chat function, you’ll be able to reply immediately and let them know.

By preventing users from clicking around frustratedly looking for ways to get in touch, they’ll be able to get in touch instantly with the ‘Message’ button and begin their potential purchasing journey.

2. Constantly Check Spam and Report Them

Spam has become common online. Unfortunately, it can also make its way into your Google Business Messaging.

Spam messages usually serve to frustrate and discredit your business. The problem is that if you frequently reply to spam messages with frustration and confusion, it will not show your business positively to genuine users.

To get around spam messages, Google lets you block and report fake users as spam. Simply click the exclamation mark in the top right corner next to the trash can to Block/report spam.

Check Spam

3. Turn On Notifications

With notifications telling you each time someone gets in touch, you’ll never miss a customer query again.

You can customize your notifications to appear for the following:

  • When someone new makes a comment on your Business Profile
  • When you gain a new follower or a booking
  • Updates about your account
  • Updates regarding new features or updates

By enabling notifications, you’ll always be able to respond to customer queries and complaints right away, without hesitation.

To enable notifications, sign in to your Google Business Profile and select View Profile. Tap Menu and then email notifications. Search for the notification you want to enable and toggle the switch on or off.

Turn On Notifications

4. Create a Welcome Message

First impressions last, which is why creating the perfect welcome message is important. Interactive content will help you stand out.

You want to sound approachable and friendly as this will be the first impression customers form of your business. This could hugely impact your bottom line, as a successful welcome message can boost customer engagement by 33%.

Create a Welcome Message

Welcome messages on Google appear when a user clicks the button to speak to your business. Create a message that thanks users for getting in touch and lists how you can help.

Remember, your welcome message is often the first interaction between your business and new customers, so you’ll want to provide maximum value in this short snippet of information.

Here’s an example:

Welcome! Thank you for getting in touch. We will be happy to assist you with your query. Please leave a message for an instant response. If we can’t answer your query immediately, we will email you within 24 hours.’

5. Keep Answers Direct and to the Point

Customers shouldn’t leave an interaction feeling more confused after being bombarded with information. Instead, answers should be direct and to the point.

Not only will this make it easier for customers to read and understand your messages, but it will also save you time by ensuring you don’t go overboard with your responses.

For example, if a customer asks when your call center software will receive an update, your answer should be ‘Hi Mark. We will be releasing the latest updated version next week on Friday. You can find out more here.’

Instead of ‘Hi Mark, thank you for getting in touch with your message today. Regarding the software, this is a very popular question, and we are happy you have asked. Many customers have experienced issues with the last software version, which is why we have made an update to iron out the bugs. The software update should be available next Friday, we are hoping to release it between 6:00-08:00 am GMT, but cannot guarantee it at this point.’

Nine times out of 10, customers don’t care for the extra information; they just want their query answered.

Benefits of Google’s Business Messages

1. Provides Personalized Support

Google’s Business Messaging lets users deliver engaging and personalized messages right on the Google results page. For a new customer, this can feel like speaking to a friend or family member rather than a stranger at a business.

Furthermore, businesses can add images, videos, and emojis to make messages more engaging and personal.

Today’s consumers expect a personalized experience throughout their buying journey, so link your Google Business Messaging efforts with your CRM and other customer databases for the ultimate personalized experience.

2. Helps Automate Customer Touchpoints

It’s possible to integrate Google’s Business Messages into any existing e-commerce software, social media management software, or messaging service you already use.

You can create up to five welcome messages in Google’s Business Messages to begin chatting with customers and supporting them through their journey.

For example, take a look at the example below from Levi’s. They have integrated their Google Business Messages with a chatbot to respond to customer queries faster and more efficiently.

Helps Automate Customer Touchpoints

3. Improves Your Availability to Customer Inquiries

Being present on Google’s Business Messages boosts your availability to customers. This means you’ll be able to handle more customer inquiries, no matter where they’re coming from.

Being immediately available is beneficial for both your business and your customers.

For businesses, being able to handle more customer inquiries means you can take on and satisfy a larger number of customers. For customers, receiving efficient service and support via Google’s search engine will save valuable time and effort.

How Can SocialPilot Help?

Once you’ve set up your Google Business Messages, SocialPilot could be the next step in getting the most out of your Google Business Profile. With advanced scheduling, you can stay active on Google Business by consistently posting engaging content.

Google Business Profile

You can integrate GIFs, images, and emojis to curate content that is unique to your business. You can even integrate it with Canva and add custom CTAs to give your posts the edge over your competition.

It can also make your processes more efficient as you can create workflows, and with smart and bulk scheduling, you will never miss an opportunity to boost your Google Business Profile.

In Summary

Google’s Business Messages is useful for providing top customer service and keeping potential customers engaged.

With the ability to set up welcome messages, automated responses, and personalization, your brand will stand out above the rest when it comes to reputation. It’ll also help you deliver what your customers want by being easily accessible and available when required.

Setting up Google’s Business Messages will show customers and prospects you go the extra mile. And, with the integration of automation, you’ll improve your efficiency and increase your bottom line.


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3 Best Ways To Troubleshoot Photoshop Scratch Disk Full Errors

So what’re your design tools for creating innovative apps, creative website or other design portfolios? Guess it’s Figma or Sketch, or, are you still using PhotoShop? We have to say, thanks to its Camera RAW plug-in, Photoshop from CC suite is capable of performing professional color grading than Figma or Sketch. And it also offers a full set of useful Plug-ins, Filters, Textures, Overlays, Actions, as well as Advanced Layers.

Also we have something to hate in Photoshop. For instance, these basic Adobe limitations, the need of capable hardware, and the bloated storage occupies. They are just too obvious. In this post, we will help you address another commonly met Photoshop issue – “Scratch Disk Full” error in Photoshop.

Why My Photoshop Shows Scratch Disk Full Error?

As mentioned, the Photoshop app probably is one of the most hard disk space swallower that may take considerable temporary swap space. When your computer storage is running out to perform an operation, it prevents Photoshop from working properly. In common situations, the improper shutdown of Photoshop app may leave large temporary files on your scratch disk, then consequently, throw you about a Scratch Disk Full error.

How to Fix the Photoshop Scratch Disk Full Error (on Macs)?

  1. Free up disk space . The most effective to solve PhotoShop Scratch Disk Full error is to reclaim more free space on your Mac. For best results, use a free disk space analyzer tool like BuhoCleaner.
  1. Delete Photoshop Temporary Files. The Photoshop associated temp files are savely to get rid of as they’re generated only for temporarily data computing or caching. You can do this trick by searching Photoshop temp files that are typically named as Temp#### on Mac (where #### is a series of numbers).
  1. Clear Photoshop Cache. Photoshop has built-in cache-cleaning feature that allows you to remove the history and caches from the Setting panel in Photoshop. Also keep it noted that the Photoshop cache cleanup is one-way trip, meaning all deleted history and caches cannot be restored.

The Bottom Line

One last suggestion regarding this Photoshop Scratch Disk Full error is always try to use the SSD as the scratch disk. If you have a Windows PC, we suggest you not to use the same hard disk drive (HDD) where the operating system is installed or where the files you edit are stored. A network or removable drive is also not recommended.

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A new way to control and optimize frequency on YouTube

Achieving the right video ad frequency for both viewers and advertisers has always been a juggling act.

That challenge has only increased as linear TV viewership in the US has dropped from 100 million households in 2014 to a forecast of just 44 million by 2025. As reach declines, the number of times the audience sees an ad on TV is increasing. Seeing the same ad repeatedly can be a frustrating experience for viewers and proves wasteful for advertisers. On average, TV advertisers’ return on investment (ROI) decreased by 41% when frequency exceeded 6+ weekly impressions — which represents 46% of TV impressions served, according to a MMM meta analysis commissioned with Nielsen.

Almost half of the linear TV impressions in our study were considered waste but the same study from Nielsen shows that brands can increase their average weekly frequency from one to three on YouTube with a consistent ROI. This is a huge opportunity for marketers to maximize their impact across the same set of people they are already reaching today.

At YouTube, we are helping advertisers deliver a better advertising experience for viewers without any compromise in ROI. Based on this commitment, earlier this year we announced our frequency management solution on Display and Video 360 that allows marketers to manage the number of times people see their ads across YouTube and third-party networks. We’re now taking that a step further to revolutionize reach and frequency-buying on YouTube.

To help marketers harness this impact, we’re announcing the launch of Target frequency globally for YouTube campaigns. This will help advertisers optimize towards more precise reach and frequency, while ensuring that we continue to provide a suitable advertising experience for viewers. Target frequency allows advertisers to select a frequency goal of up to four per week and our systems will optimize towards maximum unique reach at that desired frequency.

We recently partnered with Triscuit to see how the brand can drive incremental impact to its reach campaigns with a frequency target. Triscuit’s goal was to ensure that the brand stays top-of-mind with the consumer. The brand set up a Video experiment to determine the incremental ad recall that a weekly frequency of two could deliver. The Target frequency campaign achieved a 93% higher absolute ad recall lift compared to the non-frequency optimized campaign, at a 40% cheaper cost per lifted user.


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