How the Marketing Funnel Works from Top to Bottom

When budgets are tight, every dollar counts. Here's how to get more bang for your buck. It’s no secret that organic reach on Facebook is declining. The average reach for any organic post hovers around 5.2% , meaning roughly one in every 19 followers see the content you are putting time and effort into creating. This presents a challenge. You don’t have the same budgets as bigger advertisers to pour into paid posts. However, that doesn’t mean you should write off Facebook entirely. Both Facebook boosted posts and paid ads can help you reach new and bigger audiences — for an affordable fee. However, the way they work is very different. Is one better than the other? It depends on your goal. Keep reading to discover when to boost your Facebook posts, and when to invest in Facebook ads. The differences between a boosted post and a paid ad A boosted post (or sponsored post) is the most basic type of advertising you can achieve with Facebook. In a nutshell, you pay to have one of your published Facebook posts appear in more of your Facebook followers’ news feeds. There’s limited audience targeting and far less creative control, because these posts are not created in Ads Manager. A paid ad, on the other hand, is designed not just to be seen — but to drive an action. For example, that action could be: visiting you in store enquiring about your services clicking through to your website and making dinner reservations Paid ads achieve this by providing a call to action and linking out to your website, an external site (such as a listing on a portal), or a contact form — whatever works for you. Of course, there’s a little more to it than that. Let’s dig deeper to understand how your business could benefit The basics of boosting a Facebook post “Boosting” simply means to take a post that’s already on your page, and make it visible to a wider audience. You’ve likely noticed them in your news feed before. A boosted post looks like this. You’ve probably noticed that Facebook will occasionally encourage you to boost one of your posts. This happens when: your post is performing well, or Facebook’s algorithms have found the content of your post similar to other Boosted Posts. Boosting a post is as easy as clicking a button and putting a few dollars behind it. Not only can it help you make up for the organic reach you’ve lost from Facebook’s ongoing algorithmic changes, but it can increase brand visibility that ultimately generates traffic to your website or bricks and mortar business. Sometimes, all you need is a few clicks to get things going. The basics of paid Facebook ads Facebook ads are created through Ads Manager. They are a more advanced version of digital marketing than boosted posts — but they don’t need to be confusing or expensive. Instead of solely working to increase brand awareness and engagement, like boosted posts, Facebook asks you to pick a marketing objective: awareness, reach, traffic, conversions… the list goes on. Basically, this is the action you want a person to take after seeing your ad. Facebook will show your ads to a slightly different audience, depending on which objective you select. Paid ads include a: headline call to action description image and look a little something like this. You can even decide where they are displayed, whether it be suggested videos on Facebook or Instagram stories — it’s completely customisable. Paid ads never appear on your business page. You can also choose whether they’re displayed on your audience’s Facebook new feed, Instagram, Messenger or Audience Network. This means that you’re able to grow your reach with precision. It also means that you can create a multi-touch point plan. Unlike Boosted Posts, you can decide what time your paid ads are shown — meaning you’re not wasting ad spend while your target audience is counting sheep. For example, a restaurant might advertise a dinner special from 5pm onwards  — as this is when the typical worker will mostly likely be scrolling through Facebook on their commute home, thinking about what to eat. Targeting your Facebook ads The main reason why Facebook ads are so effective is the array of targeting options you have at your fingertips. You can target your ads: based on location This way, you can advertise properties strictly to the people around your chosen area. Let the locals know you’re open for business, and what you’ve got to offer. based on demographics You can select an audience based on gender, age, education, relationship status, job and plenty more. This way you can market your products or services to the demographic most likely to be interested. based on behaviour Target people based on their purchase behaviour and activities. The list of behaviours you can target is almost endless. If you’re sharing a blog targeted to a particular audience, now’s your chance to get it to them. based on interests Facebook collects data on users’ interests and pops them into neat little categories, so you can target people interested in pets, or parenting, or any number of things that are relevant to your business. based on connections You can target people who have already liked your page, or expressed interest. Or, you can exclude them to find new audiences. If someone’s already expressed interest in you (through liking your page), you’re a step ahead. Which one should you choose? It all depends on what you’re trying to achieve. If you're in a hurry to get more exposure for your business and reach new online audiences, a boosted post can help at a moment's notice. Boosted posts are also useful for generating social proof. When users come to your Facebook page, they’ll be more likely to engage through likes, comments and shares if they see that other people are too. However, boosted posts are typically less useful for turning your Facebook audience into paying customers than a paid ad campaign. For a start, there are very few ways to target a boosted post. You have the option to boost your post to people who have liked your page, friends of people who have liked your page, and people who you choose through a few basic targeting options. These limitations also curtail the effectiveness of your post; you’re not reaching the most interested audience. Secondly, boosted posts aren’t as effective as paid ads at turning followers into customers because that’s not what the functionality was designed to do. Boosted posts are designed to generate likes and comments — not drive action (eg. a click through to your website). So, while boosting can sometimes be useful for blog posts (where you’re aiming to get more eyes on your brand), it’s not as useful for advertising your business. It’s also worth noting that a post can only be boosted for one to seven days, which means the people who you want to see your boosted post might miss it, if they’re not active during that time. Your audience is also less likely to see your brand multiple times. This can be a problem, as you need multiple touch points to make an impact. A budget-friendly option for your business There are pros and cons to both boosted posts and Facebook ads. To get the most value for your marketing spend, try using them in conjunction. First, boost a relevant blog post for one week. Preparing your home for summer storms is a perfect example. Then, run a paid ad campaign advertising your gutter cleaning special. You’ll plant the seed with your blog post, then convert the reader into a customer with your paid ad. Not everyone will immediately become a customer of course, but Facebook has remarkable retargeting abilities. Once someone has shown interest in your paid ad, you can keep showing them more, different ads to remind them about your business until you win them as a customer. To get useful insights about growing your customer base delivered straight to your inbox, sign up to the Business Blog .

Here’s how to make sure your business shows up in the right search results. The digital revolution of the last decade has made finding a solution to a problem simple. Whether you’re looking for a local mechanic, the best coffee nearby, or a last-minute gift, a quick Google search will reveal your options — and it’s the same for your customers. In fact,  97% of people now go online to look for local businesses. Understanding how to market a small business locally is crucial to attracting new customers. As restrictions ease across several states, people are primed to spend their money supporting local businesses. With so many consumers turning to the web for recommendations, it’s critical your business ranks highly in the search results that best match your business. This is where local SEO is key. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a strategy that helps you land a higher spot on Google’s search results pages, and it’s something that any local business can benefit from. Your goal? Get in the Google 3-Pack for the search terms that best fit your business. What is the Google 3-Pack? When you type a search into Google, the results page delivers the most relevant results. Google has always worked this way. However, over time, it has discovered a way to provide even more relevant search results for queries. After analysing trillions of searches, the brains behind Google realised the importance of proximity; people tend to search for things “close to me”. This is called a query with local intent, and it’s the reason why Google’s algorithm now factors in your location when you make a search — so it can provide the most geographically relevant results. Thanks to location sharing, Google now does this for you — whether you include a location in your search or not. Here’s where the Google 3-Pack comes into play: it’s a method Google uses to display the top three geographically relevant results at the top of each page. For example, if you’re looking for fresh laksa for dinner, searching “laksa delivery” in Google will turn up a list of locations near your house. If you searched the same term from your city office, Google would return different results relevant to that new location. While registering your location may seem like a relatively new development, local search has been a fixture for years — yet customers were tethered to their desktop computer to do it. These days, thanks to the rise of mobile usage, mobile search has become an extremely powerful tool for local businesses. Here’s how to get your business on the maps of local searchers. 1. Have an active Google My Business listing First thing’s first, you need to activate your Google My Business listing. Follow the steps in our blog post to get started. This alone will do wonders for your SEO ranking, which has a waterfall effect on the health of your business overall — as it’s how the majority of customers will find you. In fact, people are 70% more likely to visit businesses that have a Google My Business listing. Aside from SEO benefits of activating your Google My Business listing, in doing so you are making your business more accessible to customers. Once you complete your listing, people will be able to view important details about your business — including opening hours, contact numbers, website links and images, helping them to make a decision about whether your business has what they want or need. 2. Get reviews Reviews are highly persuasive marketing materials. If Google users have endorsed or rated your business, an average star rating will appear on your profile. If it’s a high rating, chances are it’ll make you stand out from other businesses on the 3-Pack. It’s a powerful metric that could be the difference between a glance online and a sale. Consumers tend to trust the word of another, impartial consumer over businesses themselves — so it’s important you maintain a strong online reputation. In fact, almost 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, so you can essentially consider every positive review a personal endorsement. That’s why reviews have the power to drive foot traffic, perhaps more than any other detail on your Google My Business listing. 3. Localise your content Localised content can sway your Google search ranking. Put simply, this means you need to include your suburb and any other common area name in your website copy. Or, you could take this a few steps further and create blog content that naturally weaves local terms into the copy. If your business has multiple shopfronts, it’s important to build dedicated local landing pages for each of your different locations. These pages should feature important details such as your address, phone number, optimised title tags, and meta descriptions. For example, if you own a café brand that operates in different locations, not only should they each have dedicated Google My Business Profiles, but they should each have a dedicated page on your website. 4. Localise your links and backlinks Links and backlinks are inbound and outbound redirects to and from other websites and they can build trust and authority around your business, increasing your business’s chance of appearing in the 3-Pack. Ways you can cultivate links include sponsoring events, supporting local charities, or partnering with other businesses. The more locally relevant those links are, the better. When a backlink to your page appears on other websites, it creates another channel of web traffic — which in turn boosts your SEO performance, so even if you don’t appear in the 3-Pack, your organic ranking will still be high on the search results page. 5. Keep your online profile up-to-date Once you have your online profile up to scratch, it’s important to keep it up to date. When your profile is accurate, it can amplify your business’s visibility in Google search results — driving more foot and web traffic. However, if your profile directs customers to your businesses when the doors or closed, or to your old location, you risk losing valuable business. Therefore, it’s important to keep your details consistent across all online profiles, especially while lockdowns and easing restrictions can affect opening hours. It’s also important to ensure you’re regularly updating your profile. The fact that there are photos on your profile could see you receive as much as 35% more clicks and 42% more requests for directions than businesses that don’t. So, when a new product line or menu item is released, take a quick snap and share it to your profile to attract more customers. Sign up to our Business Blog to cash in on valuable insights sent straight to your inbox.

Point customers in the right direction with a strong Google My Business listing. Whether you run a brick and mortar business or an ecommerce brand, your potential customers are searching for you online. The easiest way to make sure they choose your business over a local competitor? By becoming the easiest to find. By claiming and optimising your business’s listing, you’re increasing your chances of being found by new customers. Plus, Google My Business is free — which makes it a useful marketing tool for small and big businesses alike. Keep reading to learn more about how Google My Business works, and what it can do for your business. What is Google My Business? In the last 20 years, search traffic has grown by 2,000%, to the point where there are now more than 2 trillion Google searches each year. This rise in online activity has meant that conversations around where to find products and services have largely moved online. In 2014, Google recognised that more and more people were turning to its platform for business recommendations by launching Google My Business — an online directory that allows you to create a dedicated profile for your brand. Google My Business is essentially a free online tool that businesses can utilise to share important information and attract customers. Here's how it's going to help you grow your business. It helps customers find your business By simply verifying your Google My Business listing, your business’s location will show up in relevant Google Maps searches. This is important because the second most important factor for consumers when searching for and selecting a local business is proximity. (The first is online reviews.) People are 70% more likely to visit businesses with a Google My Business listing. Whether searching for a local key cutter or place to grab a sandwich, Google Maps will quickly populate an area with dozens of red markers — each of which represent a local business that meets the search criteria. By simply creating a Google My Business listing, people can instantly see how close they are to your location. For brick and mortar businesses, that means having a strong Google My Business listing typically leads to a substantial increase in foot traffic. It improves your overall SEO performance Your listing will also serve to benefit your business online by playing a big part in your overall SEO performance. As a local business, your goal is to get in Google’s Local 3-Pack. This puts your online presence at the top of relevant search results, where the person searching Google is within close proximity, driving more foot traffic to your business.  Claiming your Google My Business listing is the first step to being in this coveted position. It puts you in control Don’t leave your customers guessing whether you’re open for business on a public holiday, or whether your location has moved. Misinformation can create negative customer experiences and cause missed opportunities. Luckily, a Google My Business listing allows you to keep the public informed about your business. Your Google My Business listing includes business hours, contact details, and other important information such as a menu or services list. You can update your listing as and when you need — for example, to advise you’re offering click and collect through lockdown. Suffice to say, regardless of your industry, your brand stands to gain a lot from a strong Google My Business profile. Is Google My Business compulsory for business owners? In short, no — Google My Business isn’t something you have to do. However, your business can still appear as an ‘unclaimed business’ on Google. The risk of not claiming your business is that this orphaned listing could have incorrect or outdated information that, as a result, sees you miss out on potential sales, enquiries and visits to your business. Therefore, the best thing you can do is learn how to use Google My Business to your advantage. How to set up a Google My Business page The good news is setting up your listing is simple. Step 1 Visit the Google My Business homepage . Click ‘Manage Now’ and you’ll be prompted to log in or sign up. Step 2 Enter your business name. This is where you’ll have the chance to ‘claim a business’ or create a new one. Step 3 Set up your business profile. This includes selecting a business category, location, service area, phone number, and website. Step 4 Verify your business address. This will involve Google sending a postcard with a unique verification code to the business address provided. Until this verification code has been received and entered, a number of Google My Business functions (such as replying to reviews) will be restricted. Step 5 Outline your business details. This includes your services, hours of operation, business summary, and images. These can be product, team or premises photos — whatever serves to convey your business most effectively. Step 6 Make any final tweaks in your dedicated Google My Business hub. This is where you can review your business information, track insights and reviews. You can also upload a logo, cover image, and additional business photos, as well as add team members, publish posts and respond to direct messages. Once you’ve received your Google postcard and verified your profile, your listing will be there for all the world to see — but the work doesn’t stop there. Mastering your profile moving forward While it’s important to set up your Google My Business page, it’s equally important to ensure you invest time in maintaining it. According to Google, something as simple as uploading photos will see you receive 35% more clicks to your website and 42% higher requests for driving directions in Google Maps than businesses that don’t. To ensure you’re making the most of your listing, set aside regular time to do the following: check your business’s contact details and location are up to date ensure your opening hours are accurate (this is particularly important when changing restrictions can affect business operating hours) monitor and respond to business reviews — even the negative ones — as this shows that you value your customers and their feedback add any relevant third party links, such as delivery or booking service pages advertise any current offers that might drive website or foot traffic upload product photos or menu items to ensure potential customers are aware of exciting new offerings create and monitor your Google ads to help drive business Think of the last time you used Google to search for a local business, and how easy Google made the process. Now you’ve mastered the art of establishing a strong Google My Business listing, set aside an hour or two a month to keep it updated. Sign up to our Business Blog to cash in on valuable insights sent straight to your inbox.