Author: Michael Rose

Why Engagement on Social Media Posts Matters

Posted by Michael Rose

Engagement reigns supreme on social media.

Ever wonder WHY all your social media reports include engagement metrics? What does someone clicking that ‘like’ button mean to your post? To your page? Businesses that focus on building their social media engagement can benefit from better marketing reach and ROI, as well as greater brand awareness.

When people engage with your posts it does three things:

  1. Tells the social media platform that what you’ve posted is very good stuff! When the platform recognizes this your content will be served to more and more people.
  2. You get the opportunity to have back-and-forth interaction with your audience, building a stronger relationship with them as you go. And that’s really the goal – to be a resource, partner, friend to your audience. To be a brand they love and trust. And the stronger the relationship you have with your audience the more brand loyal they will become.
  3. Others get to see that people enjoy your brand and your page. Others are doing the work for you. They are showing potential new customers that they like your brand and what you share. This is called “social proof.” This helps grow your audience and your platform.
  4. Increases referral traffic to your website.

What type of content drives engagement?

Engagement is a good thing – we all agree now, right? But do we all agree on what type of content drives engagement? Don’t get stuck thinking that all of your content needs to be about your business. Expand your content options by thinking of content that your audience would find valuable, entertaining, educational, etc.

Here are some suggestions for types of content to drive engagement on your page:

  • Fill in the blank statements. (I love Fridays because ___________)
  • This or that questions (Braces or Clear Aligners? Tell us below!)
  • Request customer input on products/services (We’d love to hear what you think about our new teriyaki bowl. Let us know below.)
  • Trivia questions – these can be for fun, or to win something.
  • Infographics
  • Customer feedback (What new brands would you like to see us carry in-store?)

Challenge yourself and your team to develop content that drives higher engagement. As you share new content be sure to monitor the impact to your social channels, as well as your website. And don’t forget to respond and engage back with your audience. Be sure to show them you are actively listening to what they have to say.

Engagement will increase your brand loyalty and generate word of mouth. This is the beginning of the sales cycle and in the long-run will drive more value for your brand, so don’t underestimate the power of social media engagement.

Afflecto Media Marketing named agency of record for Alizadeh & Schreiner Orthodontics

Posted by Michael Rose

Alizadeh and Schreiner Orthodontics of Chesterfield, MO., has selected Afflecto Media Marketing to lead strategic marketing.

We are pleased to announce we’ve been named the agency of record by Alizadeh and Schreiner Orthodontics. Afflecto Media Marketing will lead marketing strategy, website design and development, digital and social media, and creative design for them.

“Alizadeh & Schreiner Orthodontics is thrilled to be working with Afflecto Media Marketing. The Afflecto team is a top-notch, professional, full-service agency. Their personal and approachable style has made working with them a very easy transition. We are excited to have them as a partner in business and in our community and look forward to where this relationship will take our practice,” said Wendy Drochelman, Marketing Manager.

“Alizadeh & Schreiner’s reputation in St. Louis precedes them. They are nationally recognized as one of the top orthodontic practices in North America. This is based in part on their experience and cutting edge technology,” said Michael Rose, President Afflecto Media Marketing. “What we think really sets them apart is the patient experience. Their reviews are some of the most sincere and highest rated we’ve ever seen. We look forward to helping them communicate to new patients what their current patients already know.”

Afflecto was founded on the premise to do business in a better way – for our employees and clients. By treating employees well, putting client’s needs ahead of our own, and being a company people want to work with we have experienced unprecedented 150% increase in new clients in the 12 months and have a 94% client retention rate. We are quickly becoming a force in the St. Louis advertising community. “We attribute this growth to a combination of effort, experience and knowledge,” said Rose.

About Alizadeh & Schreiner Orthodontics

Alizadeh & Schreiner Orthodontics utilizes the most advanced technology and orthodontic systems to produce great smiles – while having big fun! They are one of the few orthodontic offices in the St. Louis area that have their own lab on site. This reduces the amount of time patients spend in braces compared to other practices. They have over 45 years of combined experience and enjoy serving Chesterfield, MO., and the surrounding area.

6 Reasons Why You Should Bid on Your Branded Search Term

Posted by Michael Rose

Why Bidding on Branded Search Terms is a Best Practice

There are many reasons to bid on your branded search terms and we consistently get the question “Are you sure we need to?” Yes! Why should you spend money to bid on your branded terms? Consumers know your brand, right? And if someone is looking for your brand your information will show up regardless of if you pay for ads or not, right? Wrong! Read on to find out six reasons why Afflecto Media Marketing believes bidding on branded search is the right move for your PPC spend.

1. PROTECT YOUR BRAND:

It is important to always protect your branded terms if you are running any other type of advertising to ensure that your site is coming up first when consumers search for your brand after hearing/seeing another ad. When you pay for radio or TV advertising consumer’s path to conversion often includes a follow-up search online. You need to be the first in both paid and organic results, not your competitors. Otherwise, you are paying to drive exposure for your competitors. Even if you are a generous person, you probably don’t want competitors capitalizing on your investment.

2. OWN THE FIRST PAGE:

Well, we can’t guarantee this, but bidding on branded terms, combined with excellent SEO can make it possible. At the very least, dominate the SERP (search engine results page) with your paid and organic listings. Giving consumers more ways to click to your brand increases the likelihood that they will click. This works the same way that having more links in an email increases the chances of a higher click rate. Giving users multiple ways to click on your brand increases the likelihood they’ll click to your site. People like options, which leads us to our next point…

3. CREATE CONFIDENCE AND CREDIBILITY:

When your site appears in both paid and organic results it adds credibility to your site. It means you are for real. The more users see your brand on that SERP – paid and organically – increases their confidence in your brand. And bonus, this usually results in higher visits to the site organically as well.

4. PROTECT YOUR BRAND FROM COMPETITORS:

If any of your competitors are savvy marketers they are likely bidding on your branded terms. That means users searching for your company will likely be presented with an ad or two from your competitor(s). Translation: your competitors might be detouring your consumers to their website…and possibly winning them over. When bidding on branded terms search engines give you more authority and that factors into your result rank…often putting you ahead of your competitors even if they are bidding on your search terms.

Paid Search Opportunity Example
Example of search results when brand isn’t bidding on their branded terms

5. EASY ON YOUR WALLET:

Looking for magical search terms that have high volume and don’t cost a ton? They’re right under your nose! Branded search terms tend to be the least expensive because of the authority they carry. Don’t just stick with your name – be sure to use products, services and even your own URL. These terms tend to have the highest click-thru rates and carry a very strong quality score.

6. CONTROL YOUR MESSAGE:

You can’t control what shows up in organic results, but you can control what you use in paid ads. Get clever and test a variety of options to see what works best.

At the end of the day, each search account is different and we encourage all of our clients to test, test, test. We think that supporting brand terms is a good practice, but not a rule. Find what works for your brand and go with that. Or, call us and we’ll figure it out for you!

Facebook Launches New Ad Safety Controls

Posted by Michael Rose

Since the issue with YouTube placing ads near questionable content nearly all digital advertising platforms have been working hard to ensure their safety controls are up to snuff. Facebook is the latest to announce an update to their ad tools to further strengthen ad safety.

Building on their updates on Block Lists and Transparency Controls, Facebook has added an Inventory Filter that will allow advertisers to select from three levels of protection.

  • Full inventory selects minimal protection and ads may be delivered to all eligible content. This allows for the widest reach.
  • Standard inventory provides moderate protection and is the default choice when placing ads (this is the same as no category exclusions today). Overall this excludes sensitive content and gives a balanced reach.
  • Limited inventory offers maximum protection (similar to the opt-in category exclusions available today). Excludes all sensitive and moderate content, thus significantly lowering reach. This limited reach could also impact costs.

This new option gives advertisers another way to ensure brand safety for ad placements, but it is a more generalized option as opposed to advertisers being able to specify publishers or content types alongside which they do not want their ads to appear. Until now, advertisers could choose specific publishers or categories (debatable issues, mature content, tragedy and conflict, dating and gambling) in which they didn’t want their ads to appear. For some, this will cause some complaining, but they won’t whine about it too long. They’ll soon realize you can still block specific sites by creating a Block List to, eh hem, block specific URLs.

Afflecto believes that by aligning with industry standards to help simplify the brand safety experience Facebook is making it easier for advertisers to select their environment in which their ads show.

Afflecto Media Marketing named agency of record for Amazing Smiles Orthodontics

Posted by Michael Rose

Amazing Smiles, LLC., has selected Afflecto Media Marketing to lead strategic marketing for their network of orthodontic offices in Missouri and Illinois.

Afflecto Media Marketing LLC, a St. Louis-based, full-service marketing agency, has announced that it has been named the agency of record across multiple marketing service disciplines by Amazing Smiles, LLC., an orthodontic network in the bi-state area. Afflecto Media Marketing will lead marketing strategy, website design and development, digital and social media, and creative design for the entire Amazing Smiles orthodontic network.

“From the moment we were introduced to the Afflecto team, it was clear that they had made a huge effort to get to know our brand before ever meeting with us,” said Ashlie Pinson, Director of Operations at Amazing Smiles. “They tailored a value proposition that was directly fitting of our business needs, and were able to create a customized relationship that speaks directly to the goals we hope to accomplish.”

“Amazing Smiles Orthodontics is the kind of business every advertising agency wants to work with. They are passionate about providing quality care for their patients, employ the best and most recent technology and have a desire to continue to grow their network. Working with them makes us smile every day,” said Michael Rose, President of Afflecto Media Marketing. “We look forward to partnering with their team to tell the story of how they help their patients and support the communities they serve.”

Afflecto was founded on the premise to do business in a better way – for their employees and clients. By treating employees well, putting client’s needs ahead of their own and being a company people want to work with they have experienced unprecedented 150% increase in new clients in the 12 months and have a 94% client retention rate. They are quickly becoming a force in the St. Louis advertising community. “We attribute this growth to a combination of effort, experience and knowledge,” said Rose.

Amazing Smiles Orthodontics provides child and adult orthodontic care in the St. Louis and Metro East area. Their mission is to provide a top-notch experience and excellent care to anyone who desires a beautiful smile. They accept insurance, Medicaid and offer a variety of payment plans. They are also a leader in clear aligners and have been recognized by Invisalign as only one of three Platinum Providers in the area.

ABOUT AFFLECTO MEDIA MARKETING

Afflecto Media Marketing LLC., is a full-service advertising agency based in St. Louis, Missouri that was formed in 2006. Annual agency billings were over a million dollars in 2018. Growth is also attributed to a focus on driving sales and brand value through expertise in traditional and digital media, online marketing, website creation, social media, affiliate marketing, PR, creative and branding.

Facebook Premiere: Go ‘Live’ Without Being Live

Posted by Michael Rose

WHAT IS FACEBOOK PREMIERE?

Facebook Premiere is a feature that allows you to upload and schedule pre-recorded videos to broadcast live on your Facebook page. All the advantages of a Facebook Live video, but with a pre-recorded video instead. Take advantage of Facebook Live without the fear of actually being live in front of the camera. This is ideal for new product launches, announcement, or episodic content. Facebook Premiere is great for driving buzz and interest before your video is shown.

YOUR AUDIENCE WANTS LIVE VIDEO.

By now you know that video reigns supreme, but did you know that 82% of online audiences prefer live video from brands vs. just social posts? Live videos also average 6x more engagement than regular video. Facebook is such a large platform embrace it as such. Don’t always try to send users to your YouTube page. Facebook videos get 10x higher reach than YouTube links. So users like live videos, and Facebook rewards you for posting natively on their platform

HOW FACEBOOK PREMIERE WORKS

Using Facebook Premiere makes your scheduled videos feel like events. After you schedule a premiere, a post is published immediately to your page. The post will include a ‘Get Reminder’ button that users can click to receive a notification prior to the broadcast. Who doesn’t love a good reminder?!

All subscribers will receive a notification about 20 minutes prior to the start of your Facebook Premiere video. Then another one 3 minutes prior to the broadcast. And then right before your video starts subscribers will get another notification so they can join the “broadcast lobby” that allows them to like, share and comment in real-time as they watch the video. And BONUS! A countdown clock will appear in this final post.

A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER…

  • Premiere videos must be at least 30 seconds long
  • Videos must be 30 frames per second or less
  • Videos cannot be larger than 1920x1080p
  • The maximum file size for a Premiere is 10GB
  • A Premiere has to be scheduled at least 10 minutes in advance
  • Premieres can be scheduled up to 7 days in the future

IN SUMMARY

  • “Premiere” drives more excitement vs. just posting a video. Get Fans excited that they are in the know of something happening.
  • Fans getting notified that you scheduled a Premiere
  • Viewers clicking a button to subscribe to notifications on your Premiere
  • A 3-minute countdown clock for when your video will go live
  • Video will be broadcast live with a Premiere badge
  • Viewers are able to like, share and comment in real time

…All WITHOUT having to be present. Your videos. Polished. Without mistakes.