Marketing With Facebook Dark Posts

A Facebook “dark post” is essentially just an unpublished Facebook post you pay to show to a select group of users. Unlike normal posts, which are available for anyone who sees your Page to view, these posts can leave as much of your Page’s fans “in the dark” as you want.

Dark posts can be shown to highly targeted groups of just a few people, or they can be created for broader groups of fans. Like other forms of Facebook advertising, you control who sees them, and exactly how much you spend getting them displayed. But the difference is that they are posts — that is, they show up within the News Feed, not on the sidebar.

The biggest perk of dark posts is that you can reach specific groups with them. Why show ads to those who do not care about your products, or might have already purchased from you? With dark posts, you can serve content right in the News Feed that is highly relevant and as finely targeted as you like. You can also A/B test headlines or ad content this way!

If your brand or online store wants to reach a highly targeted group of people, and wants to create a piece of advertising that has a better chance at being viewed than a traditional ad, all with the appeal of Facebook’s post format, dark posts are for you. You don’t have to spend much to run them, especially since you can make the audience so small.

Additionally, if you’ve not yet built up a large amount of traffic to your store, and are exploring ways to attract highly targeted shoppers without spending money on PPC, this is a format you might want to try.

Facebook Marketing Strategy: My FREE Facebook Course

New York Times bestselling author and marketing expert, Gary Vaynerchuk, believes that Facebook “dark posts” are the No. 1 method to generate new customers from social media marketing.

This is why I am proud to announce my new marketing service, Premiere Lead Systems, as a way that you can generate more new customers rapidly with exactly what Gary V. is telling you as the best way to generate more new customers.

I want to offer to you my FREE Facebook Marketing Course to help you understand how to leverage the power of Facebook to generate more new customers.

Here’s how:

1. Like my Facebook page for Premiere Lead Systems

2. Click on the link on the left hand side of that page, which will lead you to our site where you can sign up for the FREE Facebook Marketing Course.

Best, Edwin Dearborn

P.S. If you’re ready to launch a powerful social media marketing program today, then please contact me immediately!

High-Net-Worth Individuals: Using Social Media To Reach Them

Estimates say 90% of all high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) — those earning between $100,000 and $1 million are quite active with social media, many of whom spend more than 48 hours a week on their social media accounts.

Here are three tactics that I teach my clients on how to leverage social media and digital marketing to generate new, high-net-worth individuals as clients

News Jacking

If you seek those million-dollar prospects to notice your product or services, first you need to scan news headlines in their favorite publications — Forbes, Fortune, Inc., etc. — and see what’s being talked about. Are there concerns about elections and how they effect on American markets? Craft a short Tweet or Facebook post with your take on the situation, using hashtags to insert yourself into the conversation: #economy, #politics, etc.

Create Helpful Videos

Affluent consumers, when researching their purchases, will wonder about what is going to make their lives the easiest in the long term. Which product is going to have the longest lifetime value? Which will enable them to best enjoy the leisure that their income affords them? Many lower price-point products, however, are not built to last in the same way, so non-affluent consumers are looking to get the best they can now.

With this in mind, it is powerful to create buying guides and comparison videos. According to a recent Google study, 45% of luxury buyers prefer to watch videos of products and how they are used or worn.

Acknowledge Their Status

If affluent prospects are incentivized through a suitable quid pro quo to give you their information online, you can give them the same treatment as when they roll up in a nice sports car “dressed to the nines.”

The benefit to you is that you can ask them questions like, “Do you make between 75–100k per year?” This helps you determine if a particular consumer is a digital “high roller” or not — which of course helps you qualify them as a solid lead.

But you do have to give them enough incentive in return to provide you that data.

The Most Powerful Marketing Strategy for Startups

Let’s talk about the best marketing strategy of all time.

There are so many ways to market a business. In fact, I have dozens of book on my shelf which contain hundreds of ways to market your business. So, clearly there's no lack of strategies out there.

The key is to find what are the best marketing strategies for your particular business. This takes a bit of experimenting — but when you discover the four or five that work for you, it is a life changing event.

Having said that, I think there is one marketing strategy that should be used by every business. I consider it to be the best marketing strategy of all time, and it is Partner Marketing. Sometimes it is known as “strategic alliances”, “affinity marketing”, or “co-branding.” Often, those terms are used interchangeably.

Partner Marketing is when you find other businesses out there that share or have same customers to you, but who are not directly competing with your brand. What you do is you agree to promote their product or service to your customers with an understanding that they’ll do the same for you.

For example: if you’re a hairdresser then a complimentary business might be a personal trainer. It could be a beauty clinic, maybe a massage center or perhaps even some fashion boutiques, just to name a few. If you have a mortgage business, perhaps, then partners could be real estate agents, business lawyers, or maybe even interior decorators.

Now you have a better idea of how Partner Marketing can work, let me share with you five reasons why it truly is a smarter way to grow your business.

Number 1: Faster

What do you think is easier? To go out there and find a thousand new customers on an individual basis, or to find one business that’s happy to tell their 1,000 customers about you?

If you go about it the first way, to go and find a thousand new customers, that may take you months or even years. However, if you do the latter, that may take you just a couple of days.

All you need to do is write a potential list of partners, do some research, and first of all find out how you can add value to them. Then, once you figure that out you can either jump on the phone or maybe get on email and say,

“Look, over the last few years I’ve had a lot of my customers ask me, do I know a good ________?” Do I know a good real estate agent? Do I know a good painter? Do I know a good insurance broker, perhaps? All I’ve been doing up until now is just sending them to Google, and factually, I would prefer to send them to a real person that I know and I trust. Would you be open to a conversation so we can talk about how we can talk about how we can help each other to better serve our customers?”

Of course that’s a rough example, but even if you used that approach four out of five business people would say, “Sure, let’s get together for a chat,” and you can take it from there.

Number 2: Cheaper

I know some businesses that are now spending hundreds of dollars just to generate one new lead for their business. Now of course, if your business is highly-profitable, that might be totally fine. However, using the example mentioned above, you’d need to invest $100,000 to acquire a thousand new leads for your business.

I’m sure you’d agree, that’s a sizable chunk of money to be placing in someone else’s bank account other than yours.

Let’s compare that to a partnership agreement, because there are no major costs. All you really have to invest is just a few hours, maybe setting up a tracking system, maybe write a few promotional emails, and away you go. Or maybe you might spend a few hundred dollars, create some brochures, and come up with a joint marketing campaign.

Number 3: Much More Effective

When you spend money on traditional marketing, most of the leads that are going to be coming your way are really cold. Even though they might want your product or service, they’re naturally going to be fairly skeptical. They’re going to be saying to themselves, “Who is this person? Can I really trust them? Why should I go with them as opposed to somebody else?”

However, when you enter a relationship with someone that does the promotion for you that already has established trust and credibility, what happens is that awesome “Brand Magic” automatically gets passed to you. From my experience it’s at least 10X more effective than if you go out there and try to dig up customers that are completely cold.

Not only are you going to be getting more leads, but these new leads that you’re going to obtain are going to be much easier to close. This means you’re going to shorten the sale cycle which means you’re going to be more revenue into your business faster. Moreover, it means you’ve got now these funds to reinvest in your business sooner creating an upward spiral of success.

Number 4: It Helps Your Customers

The reality is that your customers are going to go out there and seek other complimentary products and services — with or without your referral. Right now you’re not going to be getting anything for it. If you don’t refer them on to other people that you have a relationship with, then they’re going to waste time attempting to find the right fit for their needs. If they’re not careful, they may very well be taken for a ride by an unethical business.

You want to do the right thing by your customers. If you find a trustworthy business and you inform your customers about their product or their services, you’re going to be adding a huge amount of value to your customers — and they’ll love you for it. Remember, when your customers love you because of your help, they’ll come back more often and they’ll also tell more friends as a result.

Number 5: Good Karma for Your Brand

If you’re an up and coming business and you’re still largely unknown, partnership marketing is a great way to make yourself look bigger than you are. By displaying your logo along with your partner’s logos on your website and content, it’s going to boost your brand’s clout.

Additionally, it’s going to help to minimize the risk when other people are making decisions. They’ll probably be thinking, “Well, I haven’t really heard of these guys before, however I do recognize all these other companies. So if they’re supporting this business, then they must be okay.”

Not only will you benefit from having all these new leads coming into your business, but you’ll be better positioned to convert all of these new leads into paying customers. What you’re going to be doing is, again, creating another upward spiral for your business to grow.

In Summary

These are the five powerful reasons why partnership marketing makes sense for any business. This, for me, is such a powerful and proven strategy.

I encourage any entrepreneur to learn more about it and then begin to put these ideas into practice. If you master this marketing strategy, you’ll effectively be writing your own ticket to massive and lasting business success.

How To Make Yourself Happy

How to Make Yourself Happy

Regardless of how dark your days may be, you can always do the following to lift your mind and spirits:

1. Imagine a solution

2. Read an inspiring book

3. Take a walk
4. Talk to a trusted adviser
5. Help another person
6. Eat something healthy
7. Take a course and learn something new
8. Create some art
9. Go on a road trip to somewhere new
10. Meet up with a group who share similar interests

Something can be done about it.

Best Business Development Strategies: Where Your Customers Are

Their mobile device.

Yep. Go to any Starbucks, airport, or restaurant and they are staring at their mobile device. People rarely talk anymore, they just keep starring at their mobile device.

This blog post was not intended to be a commentary on our society, but an opportunity for observant marketeers and brands. And what are they looking at, exactly, when these potential new customers are on their mobile devices?

Top 15 Mobile Apps In Use [Feb 2016]

1. Facebook
2. Facebook Messenger
3. YouTube
4. Google Play
5. Google Maps
6. Google Search
7. Gmail
8. Pandora Radio
9. Instagram
10. Amazon Mobile
11. Apple Music
12. Yahoo Stocks
13. Apple Maps
14. Google Drive
15. Twitter

[Source]

Your Mobile Responsive Website Is Kinda Obsolete For Inbound Leads

Last year there was all this talk about making your website mobile responsive, but when you look to the above top 15 apps, Google Search would be the only one that would potentially lead audiences directly to your website.

Developing rich content on Facebook, YouTube, your Google My Business page, and through email would generate much more new leads and customers to your business than spending all your dollars and efforts on SEO for your website.

Don’t get me wrong: ensure your website is there, mobile responsive and has some good SEO happening. But if you want more customers, you need to fish where the fish are. And they are not going to your website as much as they are at these top 15 apps.

Fortunately, all of the apps are already mobile responsive. You simply need to be deft and and consistent in placing highly-engaging content within these digital ecosystems. All of which can lead to your website, landing pages, or whatever you deem as desirable.

Check out my "Premier Expert" marketing program in this video.

How To Use Long Tail Keywords - Local Video SEO and Blogging SEO

Video Marketing Tips and Tricks for the Reluctant & Shy

Video Marketing Services Success Story | With Jim Flahive of Orange, CA

Best Email Marketing Practices: How To Grow Your Email List

A list of engaged subscribers is one of the most effective and reliable marketing resources. Your best email marketing list is so valuable that it can’t be bought. Why? Because when subscribers sign up for your list, they’re signing up to hear from you and your company. Subscribers have to be earned.

What are the best ways to build a list? We’ve collected the top 15 to share with you today. The permission model allows you to fill your audience with people who are genuinely interested in your brand and what you have to say. With information collected during sign-up (or later), you can precisely segment your list and design your email communication to suit your reader’s preferences. As you attract qualified leads, you’ll be able to guide them through the decision-making process by aligning content to specific buying cycle stages. 

15 Best Email Marketing Tips

1. Offer quality content. Nobody gives up their email address for free. If you want to build a valuable relationship and engage your audience, you need to provide content that is worthwhile and interesting.

2. Put sign-up forms on every web page. Your sign-up form should be everywhere your potential subscribers are. Make sure it’s visible and easy to fill out.

3. Use social media to collect email addresses. Integrate your sign-up forms with social media platforms. Driving traffic from multiple sources allows you to build a strong email marketing list much faster.

4. Design your sign-up form carefully. Ask only for information you plan to use. A good rule of thumb is that less is more — the shorter the sign-up form, the higher the conversion rate.

5. Show your privacy policy. Inform your readers that you will not share their personal information with third parties. A clear privacy policy helps you build trust and convince visitors that it’s safe to subscribe.

6. Show samples of your content. Let your subscribers know what they are signing up for. Use your older content samples to “sell” the email sign-up.

7. Include a call to action. Put a call to action in your submit button, e.g. Sign me up! This makes the sign-up process more engaging and improves the conversion ratio.

8. Give away freebies. Think of a relevant incentive for your audience (e-book, infographic, whitepaper) and provide it for free.

9. Ask subscribers to share. Take the time to prepare valuable, shareable content. Remember that putting the social share buttons is not enough; you still need to ask your subscribers to use them.

10. Build a content distribution strategy. Producing great content is only half the battle. Make sure it’s visible to the right audience. Define who your ideal audience is and find out where they like to congregate online. Then choose communication channels accordingly.

11. Publish landing pages. Create a squeeze page where visitors can download premium content in exchange for their email address. A dedicated web page helps users focus on the call to action and increases conversions.

12. Include testimonials on your landing page. Social proof helps build trust toward a brand and its products. Use testimonials from satisfied customers to help visitors make a decision.

13. Blog regularly. Great content brings more traffic. Develop a realistic content publishing schedule and stick to it.

14. Guest post on popular blogs. Publishing your content on other blogs is a great way to build relationships with other bloggers in your industry and introduce yourself to new people. Include a backlink to your blog, and your blog’s search rankings will go up.

15. Collect email addresses at offline events. Be ready to collect email addresses at trade shows and conferences. Ask for business cards or use the Forms on the Go app to instantly add people to your list.

Now you know a handful of great ways to build one of the most effective marketing assets — your email marketing list. Want more?

Email Automation

Two great companies to check out to get started are GetResponse and AWebber.

Check out the new GetResponse List Building Program, available free to anyone with a GetResponse account — even a 30-Day Free Trial account. 

AWebber also has a great course to get started which is a free, 7-day email course where you’ll learn how to write welcome emails, autoresponder series and more. Plus, you’ll get our fill-in-the-blank email templates to make sending emails even easier.