Intro to digital marketing - Chapter 10:

Facebook’s features

• Diverse user base

• Content that gets outwardly displayed upon log-in

• Company profiles that can have their own unique purpose, but can’t send friend requests

How Facebook’s sort algorithm works

1. If you frequently Like or comment on posts from this person/company, or you watch the videos and click the links from that entity, Facebook determines that you enjoy seeing that person/company's content.

2. Recency - More recent posts are given priority over older posts. Facebook rarely displays posts that are older than 48 hours.

3. Content like videos and original content gets priority over images, which get priority over text.

4. Content popularity - A piece of content that has a high engagement rate will be shown to more users.

5. Type of account posting the content - company pages on Facebook receive a hefty handicap, so Facebook users are more likely to see content from friends than from companies.

Ad types

The ad varieties Facebook offers

Image ad

An ad format that has an image, caption, and call-to-action button

Instant experience

A functionality that lets advertisers take users to a landing page within the Facebook app

The types of ads that can be shown on Facebook

• Carousel ad

• Video ad

• Slideshow ads

Where news ads are placed

Ads can appear in the news feeds or sidebar

Paying for Facebook ads

Ads are paid for by CPA, CPC, or CPC 

(Is the same for Instagram too)

How CPA are paid for on Facebook

An advertiser can specify actions besides conversions as a wanted action (e.g. an app install, a video view, page like, etc)

(Is the same for Instagram too)

Ad targeting

When Facebook’s algorithms help advertisers find the right audience for their ads

(Is the same for Instagram too)

Core audiences

Selecting demographics, interests, and behaviours from Facebook’s ad platform

Custom audience

Creating a custom audience by uploading a list of email addresses of past and present customers, which Facebook will match

Lookalike audiences

Made from a company’s custom audience, Facebook can use it to find similar users via machine learning techniques

Boosting

Payment made to Facebook to show a business’ content to fans

How should business content be formatted?

A firm should use compelling images and SEO-focused words within the first 140 words of the business description

X (Twitter)’s features

• Content’s structured like a message board

• Posts (tweets) are only seen by followers/subscribers

Hashtags

A word or phrase beginning with the # sign that’s meant to make certain groups of posts easier to find; is useful for enabling group conversations

Company profiles on X

Personal and business profiles aren’t distinguished; firms must be selective in picking SEO-friendly keywords, as bios have a 160-character limit

Ad types that can be shown on X

• Image ads

• Video ads

• Carousel ads

• Text ads (come with lower engagement)

How are promoted posts displayed on X?

They show up labeled as “Ad in user’s feeds

Paying for ads on X

A business picks an objective which determines how they’ll be charged

Quick target

A function that allows the advertiser to specify the promoted post and its budget

Ad targeting

When advertisers target users by specific demographics like gender, interests, device, etc, or by custom audiences where customers can be advertised to via matching them with X handles

Best content practices on X

• Ensure the content provides value to customers

• Achieve more exposure through reshares

• “Threading” multiple posts together to enable more expansive content

• Using a video

Pinterest’s features

• Mostly female user base

• Pins (images with short captions) are recommended by the algorithm based on whether the user will be interested

Pins

• Are organized by columns for ease of viewing

• Can ‘pinned’ to a user’s digital board for later reference

• Clicking them gives additional info included with the pin

Pin boards

A place where a user can see all their saved pins

Promoted pin

A pin where the advertiser is paying for the pin’s distribution

Promoted videos

Plays silent videos in the feed until its expanded

Promoted carousel

Lets users scroll through up to five images

Promoted app pins

Lets users download an app without leaving Pinterest

Paying for ads

Ads can be paid on a CPM, CPC, or CPE (cost per engagement) basis

Ad placements

Keyword targeting must be used for search result placements, while interest/audience targeting should be used for placement on homescreens

Interest targeting

Targeting audience members based on what they’ve shown an interest in

e.g. hobbies, events, food, etc

Audience targeting

Advertising to a specific list of potential customers

Best content practices for Pinterest

• Placing a “Pin it” button on the company site next to visually appealing content

• Creating a Pinterest profile and organizing boards with notable pins; users who find the content valuable will follow the profile and pin some of the content

YouTube’s features

• Huge international user base

• Simple, straightforward content

YouTube and brand accounts

Multiple people can log into a brand account, thus making them ideal for companies

How ads can be placed on YouTube

1. Display ads

2. Overlay ads

3. Skippable ads

4. Non-skippable

5. Bumper ads

6. Sponsored ads

Paying for ads on YouTube

Ads are paid for on a cost per view (CPV) basis

Paying for ads on YouTube (con’t)

YouTube is owned by Google, so the quality score combined with an advertiser’s bid is used to determine the winner of an auction

How’s quality score determined?

By the view rate of an ad based on how long a user watches an ad

Best content practices for YouTube

Creating entertaining and engaging videos that’ll build equity and/or lead to increased purchases

What’s YouTube’s algorithm based on?

A channel’s overall volume of viewership and engagement metrics

LinkedIn’s features

• Content is oriented around work and career-related stuff

• Companies can have profiles that employees should be encouraged to follow

Dynamic ads

Retargeting ads that let advertisers change the content of ads to match different ad targets

Sponsored InMail

A unique LinkedIn ad type that’s email marketing but to paid ad targets instead of an email list; is paid for on a cost-per-send basis

Paying for LinkedIn ads

Ads are paid for via CPC, CPM, CPV (cost per video view)

Ad targeting on LinkedIn

People can easily be targeted on their employment

Best content practices for LinkedIn

• A firm should have unique knowledge about its industry that it can use for posts

• Employees and executives should chip in too

• Have employees manage LinkedIn groups through their own personal profiles

Instagram’s features

• More than 2 billion users between the ages of 18-30 years old

• Users can post both videos and photos

Reels

90-second or shorter videos that play in full screen (just like TikTok)

Instagram shops

Lets users browse and buy products, also lets firms tag their products in organic posts 

Best content practises for Instagram

Creating captivating images and videos to get picked up by the algorithm (prominence) gain likes and views

Instagram creator marketplace

Allows companies to hire influencers of any size through the Meta Business Centre

Snapchat features

• Has a large base of young users between 15-25 years old

• Messages are sent in the form of Snaps, which disappear from the recipient’s app in 10 seconds

• Snaps can be edited to feature text or drawings

Stories

A feature that groups stories and videos so they can be viewed in succession; it disappears after 24 hours

Spotlight

A copy of Insta’s reels and TikTok

Snap ad

A full-screen vertical video that appears between stories

Other ad types Snapchat offers

• Collection ads

• Story ads

• AR lenses

• Filters

• Commercials

Ad placements on Snap

Depending on the ad type, ads can appear between stories, on the homepage, or between original content

Paying for ads on Snapchat

Ads are paid for on a cost per mile (CPM) basis, and advertisers can specify CPC or CPA bids

Ad targeting on Snapchat

Users can be targeted based on their demographics, interests, behaviours, location, etc

Best content practices for Snapchat

• All videos should be filmed in portrait mode

• Content should be short and to the point

• Use subtitles for videos since videos are played silently

TikTok features

• Massive user base of over 1 billion people, most of whom are younger in age

• A continuous loop of videos plays

“For You” page

Recommended videos determined by TikTok’s predictive algorithm as well as a user’s watch history, followings, a video’s popularity, etc

Duet

A feature that allows video creators to do split-screen videos showing their own content alongside original content

Company profiles on TikTok

There are no distinctions between corporate and personal profiles, and thus there’s a level playing field between both parties

In-feed Ads

a video that has a small “sponsored” icon near the bottom of the screen, and has a call-to-action at the end instead of looping

Top-view ads

Is the first video users see upon opening the ad, and the video plays without the usual text overlays for the first 3 seconds

Best content practices for TikTok

Firms should make compelling content to get high returns on investments 

TikTok shop and influencers

An influencer can promote a firm’s TikTok shop item to drive sales