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Category: Promotions

A lot of writers really despise promotions.

Promotions and Marketing, Alive, Alive, Oh!

About 35 years ago, my brother published a nonfiction book. And the publisher got him gigs where he went on television to talk about it, that sort of thing.

The publisher’s own promotional machine kicked into gear, and he got some actual, honest to goodness press.

But alas, those days of a publisher’s in-house promotional marketing are long gone unless you are very, very famous and bestselling.

Yet even Stephen King does promos.

But It’s So… Fake…

It can be, yes. But it does not have to be!

We have all seen clickbait and we have probably all been taken in by it. And that’s perfectly okay. This is reality and you are responding to something which is crafted to do just that — get you to click and read, and spend time on page.

And there are lessons which we can all learn from clickbait. So for one thing, why is it so irresistible so much of the time? And can we separate the wheat from the chaff and extract something that can help?

Overpromising? Don’t do that. But tantalizing your readers and potential readers? Yes. You should be doing that.

Because it is highly likely that there are other readers out there. Readers who don’t know about you yet.

Marketing is the means of reaching them. It is also a means of nurturing your current readers. Because keeping them happy is a great idea!

And because the easiest customer to get is a preexisting customer. So, don’t ignore promotions! They are important and they will help you to be able to afford to write some more.

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Advertising on Facebook

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 15, 2019

Let’s Look at Advertising on Facebook

Have you tried advertising on Facebook? It’s easier and more affordable than you might think.

Keep in mind that Facebook is constantly A/B testing (e. g. checking to see if any new layouts or color schemes, etc. will make you click more), so these instructions might be a little out of date after a while. This has worked in the past. It might not any more. Caveat emptor.

Getting Started

About half the time, Facebook will just come to you and suggest you start advertising. I can’t say what their algorithm is for selecting a post to promote, although they usually suggest a popular one.

If they are not suggesting a post you want to promote (e. g. you would prefer to promote another one), or you are new to promotions and there are no suggestions, or you just want to see how to start one from scratch, go to your Author Page and go to Publishing Tools.

Then, on the right, pull down on Help and click Advertiser Support. This will get you to the Facebook for Business page. In the upper right corner, click Create Ad.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we’ll choose Boost Your Posts as our campaign.

Selecting an audience for a post

Audience is important; you do not want to just send to everyone, as even failed clicks are going to cost you money. You will do a lot better with targeting as that will help assure a greater percentage of your clicks are meaningful and helpful. Click Set Audience and Budget.

You can choose an audience from demographics, or from preferences or from lookalikes, who are people similar to those who like your page.

If you are just getting started, and a greater percentage than normal of your likes come from friends and family trying to help you out, do not use this option!

Select a location by navigating around the map and dropping a pin in your preferred location. The age ranges are also pretty self-explanatory. You can even exclude some people.

Setting an Advertising Budget

Start small. You can always add. The minimum is generally $1/day. I prefer what Facebook calls a Lifetime budget, which sets a total. It’s a lot easier to rein in than a Daily budget, I believe.

Scheduling

Go to your analytics and take a look at when more people are on than usual. Select those days and times for your ads! Next click Select Ad Creative. I recommend allowing everything unless you absolutely know your targeted audience is not in a particular area.

Choosing Which Post to Promote for Advertising on Facebook

Choosing a post to promote (if Facebook has not done so for you) is easy. So, select a popular one, representative of your brand. If you have a limited time offer, that could be perfect. Just make sure your ads don’t run after the offer has expired.

And finally, check out advertising on other platforms. FB isn’t the only fish in the sea. And in particular, with Facebook’s continuing problem of organic reach decline, you may do better elsewhere.

Good luck!

hr />Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

… And Facebook for All

• Creating a Facebook page
† Working with a Facebook Page
• … Your Profile Page
† Home Page
• Offsite Sharing
† All Your Account Settings
• All the Rest of It
† Facebook versus Forums

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