Section 2.09 Facebook and Instagram

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media ….. the question is how well we do it” – Eric Qualman

Irrespective of which social media site it might be, it is an exchange of Data for their platform. You should aim at using the platform to your advantage until you conclude it no longer serves your purpose as they are constantly evolving. Some day you could decide they are;

no longer serve your purpose.
are very different from what they were.
evolving beyond your use.
changed to be disliked.
have too much power.
advertising beyond your liking.

Whatever the reason would be, you could permanently delete your profile from their platform and use another of your liking. Don’t treat signing up on a social media platform as a prison sentence, locked in a cell. Use them to their maximum capacity and gain the most from them for your purposes and business.

Facebook

Facebook is a website that allows you to sign-up for free profiles to connect with friends, work colleagues or people you don’t know online. It allows you to share pictures, music, videos, and articles, as well as your own thoughts and opinions with however many people you like.

It would be worth mentioning the unparalleled access to a large consumer base afforded by Facebook makes it the ideal medium of choice for marketers. This is because Facebook has a combined user base of more than a billion people and reaches nearly one in four adults in the United States alone.

Apart from this, the use of Facebook in emerging markets is even more widespread with estimates suggesting that out of the 80 per cent of the total Facebook users who are from outside of the United States, nearly half of them are active users making the medium a platform for brands to be noticed in the “noisy social media world”.

Facebook marketing is promoting a brand and maintaining its presence on Facebook. Facebook marketing refers to organic (free) postings/ interactions and paid or “boosted” posts.

Drawing more than 1.4 billion users every month, Facebook is definitely one of the most essential mediums for generating brand awareness and interacting with customers.

It is indeed the case that Facebook offers market penetration and allows marketers to reach out to a large audience without having to spend large amounts of money on expensive marketing campaigns. Moreover, unlike traditional media where the effectiveness and efficacy of a marketing campaign cannot be measured directly, instead, reading metrics are used.

Facebook marketing can be measured for its efficacy with the like of ‘click’ on the advert or purchases readily available. Further, Facebook offers an extraordinary chance for you to target a global audience at the same time. In other words, what this means is that you can create campaigns which have a global theme and at the same time can reach out to your local audience as well.

Attention !!!!!

Facebook is constantly updating their websites, Apps and the position of the tabs. However, the following principle would still apply.

Signing Up for a Facebook Account

To sign up for a Facebook account, follow these easy steps.

1. Visit Facebook.com.

2. On the homepage, click “create new account” and a pop-up section will appear.

3. Fill out the “sign up” form with the information needed and click sign up.

After you’ve signed up for a Facebook account, this is what you’ll see. This is called your “Timeline”

On the left-hand side are some features of Facebook

Friends tab – On the top left corner is the friend’s tab. This allows you to see those you can add as friends and those who have added you as their friends on Facebook.

Groups and community tab – A Facebook Group is a place for groups and communities to communicate on a specific subject or theme, letting people share their common interests and express their opinions. This tab allows you to see all the groups you’ve created and joined.

In a Facebook group, you can

invite others into the group.
create and upload your own banner.
have discussions on specific topics.

Watch tab – this allows you to engage in video content on Facebook

Memories tab – a feature that will place a user’s top posts, life events and interactions with friends.

You’ll see your Facebook posts, those you were tagged in and anniversaries in Memories. You can’t turn off Memories, but you can control what you see in Memories.

Personalising Your Profile

Odds are, there’s probably someone on Facebook who has the same name as you. To differentiate yourself from these people and help your friends and family find you on Facebook, personalise your profile by adding a profile picture, cover photo, and personal information.

Picking a Profile Picture

1. Go to your profile and click on your profile picture.

2. To pick your profile picture, choose a photo that you’re already tagged in on Facebook, one that you’ve uploaded to Facebook, or a photo from your computer. You can also add a frame to your profile picture

Updating Your Profile

1. Click the “About” section on your profile page.

2. In this section, you can fill in information about your work and education, the places you’ve lived, contact and basic info, family and relationships, details about you, and life events.

Adding Friends on Facebook

There are three ways you can add friends on Facebook. You can either search for them, find them in the “Find Friends” tab, or import a list of contacts from your email, iCloud, or phone.

To find friends on Facebook, go to your profile, press the “Friends” tab, and click the “Find Friends” button. You’ll see a list of friend requests from other people and a list of people you may know that you can add as a friend on Facebook.

Uploading photos or videos

To upload photos or videos to your profile, follow these four simple steps: 1. Go to your profile.

2. Press the “Photos” tab.

3. Press “Add Photos/Video”.

4. Upload pictures or videos from your computer.

Instagram

Instagram is a social media platform (owned by Facebook) that emphasises photo and video sharing via its mobile app. You can take, edit and publish visual content for your followers to interact through likes, comments and shares.

Basics of Instagram Marketing

Marketing on Instagram requires a basic understanding of how the platform operates. Users take and share photographs or videos along with a caption, in turn, their community of followers can interact with the post by liking it, leaving a comment, or re-posting.

Understand the platform: Essentially, Instagram has made it harder for your posts to reach your entire following. What this has done is make it even more important to encourage your followers to like and comment on posts—so that your brand remains on the top of your audience feed.

Focus on analytics: To truly understand marketing on Instagram, it’s critical that you create innovative feedback loops. Don’t just post content and hope it performs well – use an Instagram analytics tool to help you objectively measure how your content is performing.

Attention !!!!!

Instagram is constantly updating its websites, Apps and the position of the taps. However, the following principle would still apply.

Signing Up on Instagram

Step 1: To sign up on Instagram, go to their website “instagram.com”. click the “sign up” tab.

Step 2: Clicking the “sign up” will open a pop-up. Fill the pop-up with the details required and click Sign up

Step 3: After signing up what you see is your Instagram page.

Some functions are at the top of the page on the right.

Home tab – allows you to refresh and see new posts from others on your page

Messages Tab – allows you to interact/engage with your friends/ customers on Instagram

Add tab – this is the tab with the “plus sign” in it. It allows you to post pictures or videos on your page to attract engagement (likes, comments, mentions and tags) for friends and customers.

Notifications tab – This is the “love” symbol on the app. This is where you see all the engagements from friends and customers.

We get to live in a time when we get to use social media as a tool – Gigi Hadid

Summary

Facebook and Instagram are tools, they may or not be suitable for you. Learn enough about them before deciding if it’s for you or not.
Do not make quick decisions based on hearsay of others’ opinions, do your own research and make up your own mind if it’s for you.
Social media is part of our personal and business lives, we cannot escape it, so learn which will serve your purpose and goal.
In the future should you decide it is no longer for you, simply delete the App, no big deal. But use them to your advantage because they are using you for their advantage as well!

2.09 Free Marketing Tools (1)

2.09 Instagram for Beginners

2.09 Instagram Checklist