What is the Facebook Ad Library?
You’re probably aware that Facebook and its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, have come under some intense scrutiny since the 2016 presidential election due to the use of the social media platform for “fake news” ads. One of the tools that Facebook has made available to address the criticism is the Facebook Ad Library.

On the surface, its intended use is to provide transparency in advertising. You can plug in the name of any Facebook page and see the ads they’ve placed – with a special emphasis on political and issue-based ads.

The search option defaults to issue, Electoral or Political ads, but there are two other options available:

• Housing (Facebook has also come under attack for allowing lenders to use ads in discriminatory ways)
• All Ads

That last option is the one that lets you peek at what your competitors are doing.

How to Use the Facebook Ad Library 
The key to using the Facebook Ad Library is understanding how it works and what to do with the information you find there.

The first step is to make a list of your competitors. Make sure to note the exact name they use on Facebook – you’ll need that information to view their ads.

Next, go to the Facebook Ad Library. Then follow these steps:

1. Click the “All Ads” option.
2. Type in the name of the competitor whose ads you want to see into the search box.
3. Choose their page from the list that appears.

Once you click the name, you’ll see a page that displays the Facebook ads the page is running. You’ll be able to see:

• Whether the ad is active or not
• When your competitor began running the ad
• The ad content, including copy, images, and video
• The ad’s ID number
• The URL of the ad, so you can add it to your library for future reference

What I particularly like is that you can see every iteration of the ad that’s running. For example, you might notice that a competitor is running two similar ads with different images or slightly different copy.

The one thing you can’t do is spy on their targeting, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make inferences from what you find.

Tips for Using What You Find on Facebook Ad Library
How can you use what you find with Facebook Ad Library? Here are some tips and best practices to help you make the most of your espionage.

1. Save any ads you think are useful. As I mentioned above, you can easily get the URL of any ad by clicking on the three dots on the upper right-hand corner of the ad. Click on “Copy Ad Link” to get the Ad Library URL for the link. I keep a spreadsheet to track the ads that I collect.
2. Look at the images your competitors are using for hints about what their target audience wants. If you know a competitor is doing well and you notice they’re using illustrations or infographics in their ads, it might be a good idea to emulate what they’re doing and upgrade your images accordingly.
3. Make notes about the types of content your competitors are promoting. Are they using images? Videos? Quizzes? It’s especially useful to note the content that gets used most frequently. If your competitors are paying any attention to the ROI on their Facebook ads, the repeated content is also likely their most profitable content.
4. Pay attention to how your competitors link the images in their ads to the copy. Most effective FB ads use images that are directly related to the offer in the ad, but there are exceptions. Paying attention to trends among your competitors can help you do a better job of choosing compelling images for your own ads.

Think of the ads you see as a textbook showing you how to connect with your target audience and pull customers away from your competitors.

Dynamic Creative Ads
One of the best ways to capitalize on what you learn from spying on your competitors is to let Facebook do some of the work for you. If you’re not already using Dynamic Creative Ads, which is Facebook’s automated ad creator, then you’re probably missing out on a chance to connect with your audience.

Dynamic Creative Ads will help you create ad combinations you might not have considered on your own. You’ll need to make sure you have the types of content you want to use in your library, but you can do that easily enough after you spy on your competitors.

Basically, Dynamic Creative Ads will mix and match your options to allow you to reach your marketing goals. You can choose goals that include:

• Conversion
• Traffic
• Video Views
• Reach
• Brand Awareness
• App Installation

I think of the Facebook Ad Library and Facebook Dynamic Creative Ads as a one-two punch that will help you to get the best of your competitors even if they have a bigger advertising budget than you do. By using both, you can eliminate much of the guesswork and uncertainty that comes with Facebook advertising.

My suggestion is to dedicate some time early in the new year to scoping out what your competitors are doing with their Facebook advertising. Use what you learn to create the kind of content that’s going to help you divert traffic from them, increase your conversion rate, and grow your business.

To keep things simple, I’ve put together this local SEO resource for you to use to get the new year started right. I’ll focus on the quickest and easiest things you can do to ensure that your local SEO is up to scratch – and that the people in your target audience can find you.

Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
I’m not going to go into detail here about Google My Business because I’ve written about it extensively before. That said, please don’t ignore GMB in 2020! An optimized listing is your best friend when it comes to local SEO.

Make sure your listing is complete and up-to-date. Add pictures and your company logo if you haven’t already and do everything you can to encourage people to review your business on Google. It’ll help – I promise.

Standardize Your NAP Listings
NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) listings are another topic I’ve covered extensively, but they’ve become more important than ever before thanks to Google’s Hawk update in 2017. Having even one listing that’s not standardized can and will dilute your online presence – so don’t skip this step.

Google your company and make sure that your NAP listing is identical everywhere it appears. Remember that even minor differences (Ave instead of Avenue) can cause a problem. I know this is a painstaking, nitpicky job, but it’s important.

Specify Your Service Area 
You own a local business and that means you have a service area. Even if you can technically ship anywhere, it’s still important to let potential customers know where you are.

There are two quick and simple ways to specify your service area without overhauling your entire website. You can:

1. Add a bulleted list of cities, districts, or neighborhoods you serve
2. Embed a map on your site with pins in your service areas (or indicating your locations if you have more than one)

This easy step will ensure that potential customers who land on your site will be able to see at a glance whether you serve the area where they live.

Create Geo-Targeted Landing Pages
One of the changes included in Google Hawk is that Google made the target search areas smaller than they used to be to (at least in theory) prevent businesses from being elbowed out of search results. What I suggest is creating separate landing pages for each of your service areas. Here are some tips:

• Remember that Google ranks pages and not domain names, so there’s no limit on the number of geo-targeted landing pages you can have.
• Choose highly targeted local keywords and focus on one main keyword per page.
• Do not duplicate content too closely or Google will flag your pages.
• Whenever possible, link geo-targeted social proof to each page by including relevant reviews and testimonials.

Most searches these days are happening on mobile devices. Having geo-targeted pages will help you to take advantage of voice search, including “Near Me” searches that are relevant to your business.

Optimize Your Citation Pages
Did you know that it’s common for consumers to spend only a few minutes on a business website before converting? That might sound unrealistic but it’s true – and it’s because they spend far more time on citation pages before buying anything.

Some of the best-known citation pages are review aggregation sites like Yelp and Yellow Pages, but there are dozens of others – some of which are specific to certain industries.

To get a jump on optimizing your citation pages, check out this master list from Moz, which lists common citation pages by industry. Then, Google your business and make your way through each citation. Keep in mind that, in some cases, it may be worthwhile to upgrade to a premium account, so you can add images and make the most of your business listing.

Use Schema Markup on Your Website
Another local SEO factor that you may have overlooked until know is Schema markup. Schema tells Google how to display your pages when they come up in search – and it can make a big difference in how local customers feel about your page.

You should use Schema markup to provide potential customers with vital information about your business. Many small businesses don’t bother to include a ‘rich snippet” with their Schema markup. You can find more information about how to use Schema markup to boost your SEO here.

Focus on Reviews
There’s no denying that social proof is the name of the game when it comes to local marketing. The research shows that almost all consumers pay at least some attention to online reviews, with many giving them as much credence as a personal recommendation.

You should start with Google My Business because those are the reviews that people are most likely to see when they search for your business. After that, you should look at review aggregation sites such as:

• Yelp
• Angie’s List
• BBB (Better Business Bureau)
• Facebook
• Industry-specific sites

I suggest sending an email request to your subscribers asking them to leave reviews on Google. Link directly to your review page to make it easy for them to comply with your request.

Then, make it a company policy to ask customers for reviews. You can decide what makes sense. For service providers, the best bet is probably to reach out to clients when a job has been completed. For retail, you may want to have your cashiers remind customers to leave reviews when they check out.

For extra credibility, consider linking directly to your review pages from your website. That kind of transparency is something customers value and it will help your local SEO, too!

Getting optimized for 2020 doesn’t need to be complicated and you don’t need to spend a lot of time doing it. The quick fixes I’ve provided here will help you fine-tune your local SEO and grow your business in the new year.

Google Search Console
Google Search Console is my first pick. It’s a terrific tool that allows marketers and local business owners to understand how people find their businesses on Google.

This is a free tool that you can access via your Google account. The only preliminary step you must take is to verify that you’re the owner of your website. Once you’re verified, you can:

• View the keywords that visitors use to find your site
• Check out your most popular pages
• Check your backlinks
• Submit sitemaps to Google
• Track clicks on your site and links
• Understand how Google “sees” your page
• Check your site’s mobile usability

In other words, the Google Search Console is a versatile analytics toolbox that gives you a way to understand and improve the way Google (and your target audience) see your website. If you pick only one new tool to try out in 2020, make it this one!

Revive by Animalz
One of the biggest threats to your online visibility and viability is stale content. If you’ve been blogging for a while – or if your site hasn’t been updated in a few years – you probably have some content on your site that’s languishing from a lack of attention.

Revive by Animalz is a tool that’s designed to help you address the issue of stale content. Without it, you’d need to review every post on your site to determine which posts are outdated and in need of a refresh.

With it, you can simply plug in the URL of your website and let Revive do the rest. It will crawl your site and identify posts that are in a state of decay. (That sounds awful but really it just means pages and posts that are trending in the wrong direction.)

Revive is a free tool. To get your report, you’ll need to provide access to your Google Analytics account. In return, you’ll get a report that identifies the pages, blog posts, and other content that’s in need of an update. You can then use it as a roadmap to refresh your site and attract more traffic than ever before.

Spyfu
Have you ever wondered what your competitors are doing online? If the answer’s yes – and it should be! – then SpyFu is a marketing tool you should know about.

SpyFu allows you to “spy” on your competitors’ keywords and determine which ones are the most lucrative. You can use it to:

• Search for all domains and see where they show up on Google
• See every keyword your competitors have bought on Google AdWords
• See their organic search rank for each keyword
• View ads and ad variations for the past 13 years

You can also use it to track your own keywords and keyword rankings, making SpyFu an invaluable marketing tool for 2020.

SpyFu is a paid tool with pricing starting at $33 per month. The basic plan should be plenty for most businesses.

Hustle
Hustle is a WordPress plugin that allows you to capture email address quickly and efficiently. It allows you to design pop-ups, slide-ins, email opt-ins and social following bars.

What I like about Hustle is that it’s fully integrated with just about every email marketing service. (I use a combination of Mailchimp for newsletters and InfusionSoft  for nicely passed follow-ups to opt-ins.)

As a bonus, Hustle includes exit-intent, which displays a pop-up or slide-in when a visitor is about to leave your page, and Google ReCAPTCHA to prevent spam. Best of all, it’s totally free.

Proof
Proof is a tool that makes it easy to display your – you guessed it! – social proof on your website. To install it, all you need to do is copy and paste their pixel onto your site page.
Once you have installed the pixel, it will integrate with your site or your CRM and show your targeted customers:

• Customer reviews
• Video testimonials
• Social media posts
• Hot streak notifications
• Live visitor counts

I especially like the hot streak notifications which Proof says are their top driver of conversions. You’ve probably seen these notifications when you check out an online product and see pop-ups letting you know whenever someone buys the product.
Pricing for Proof starts at $29 for the basic plan. They offer a free demo as well!
 
Flashyapp
Flashyapp is a marketing automation platform that can help you improve your conversion rate in a variety of ways. You can use it to:

• Add smart pop-ups
• Manage your email marketing
• Manage your SMS (text message) marketing
• Send push notifications

It even has tools to help you manage retargeting ads by specifying what to do based on a customer’s actions. For example, you can offer different coupons based on the value of what a customer adds to their cart.

If you want to try it out, the Starter Plan is available for just $7 a month and the professional plan is $40 per month.

Tailwind
Tailwind is a scheduling tool that’s designed specifically for Instagram and Pinterest. It will walk you through creating an optimal posting schedule based on your audience engagement, traffic, and virality. Then, it will re-post content for your according to your schedule.

If your business is active on Pinterest, I think Tailwind is a must. It’s just as useful for Instagram. They offer a free trial that allows you to schedule up to 100 posts or Pins without a time limit. After that, the pricing is separate for Instagram and Pinterest, coming in at $9.99 per month for each platform.

Honorable Mentions
Here are a few honorable mentions that I think deserve some love in 2020:

1. is a free tool with hundreds of design templates. If you don’t have the money to hire a professional designer, you can use Canva to create beautiful newsletters, presentations, and social media posts. Their basic plan is free, or you can upgrade to the Pro plan for $12.95/month.

2. is a readability tool that you can use for free online or download to your desktop for just $9.99. I like it because it helps eliminate complicated sentences that might deter readers.

3. is a site with a decent collection of free stock photos. You can use them without attribution. Their selection isn’t huge but if you don’t have the budget to pay for photos, this is a great option.

With the right tools in your marketing toolbox, there’s no reason that 2020 shouldn’t be your best year yet!

You’ll still be able to see your Likes in your analytics, but the new reality signals a sea change in the world of Instagram engagement. Here are 5 things you can do to engage your customers that go far beyond a simple Like.

#1: Organize Your Stories into Highlights
Instagram Stories can be a terrific marketing tool, but they only stick around for 24 hours – or do they?

One of my favorite tips for Instagram Stories is to feature them as highlights on your profile page. Your stories can provide new subscribers with an overview of who you are and what you do. Here are the steps to follow:

• Log in to your Instagram account
• Navigate to your profile page and tap Story Highlights (underneath your name and bio)
• Tap the plus sign to add a Story to your Highlights
• Tap to choose the Instagram Story you want to feature
• Tap Edit Cover
• Choose a cover photo for your Highlight
• Tap Done

Once you have added an Instagram Story to your highlights, it will remain there until you remove it. This simple move gives new life to your Stories and increases engagement by giving new followers something substantial to view when they visit your profile.

#2: Use Geotags for Local Engagement
For local business owners, the Holy Grail of Instagram marketing is attracting local followers. After all, these are the people who are most likely to patronize your business and turn into loyal customers. One local follower is worth hundreds of followers who only look at your photos and never buy from you.

One of the easiest ways to amp up your local engagement is to use geotags when you post on Instagram. You can create a Geotag specifically for your business, but you can also use state, city, and even neighborhood geotags to pinpoint your location.

As a bonus, geotags can have their own Stories on Instagram. If you use a geotag for your city, your posts will become part of that day’s Story, making it that much easier for local customers to find you and your business.

#3: Post Videos to Get More Comments
In their 2018 Instagram Engagement Report, Mention revealed that videos on Instagram receive 46% of all Likes. Since there are far more photos posted on Instagram than videos, these numbers show that videos are engagement superstars on Instagram.

With the importance of Likes on the decline thanks to the new algorithm changes, it’s also interesting to note that videos get more comments than photographs as a rule. If you haven’t already started posting videos on Instagram, 2020 is the year to start.
The current rules for Instagram video are as follows:

• Up to 60 seconds for videos posted on your feed
• Up to 15 seconds for videos posted as part of an Instagram Story
• Up to 60 minutes for Instagram Live video
• Up to 60 minutes for IGTV video

Posting more videos can help you grab your audience’s attention and hold it.

#4: Create More Savable Posts
One of the things about Instagram is that it’s easy to miss posts or to gloss over them. But what if there was a way to keep your audience engaged by getting them to revisit a post frequently?

There is! More brands are recognizing the importance of creating posts that their followers will want to save and return to. That’s unlikely to happen with a simple photograph, but there are ways to create content that’s suitable for Instagram and provide ongoing value to your followers. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Create carousel-style posts with multiple images organized around a theme. For example, a boutique that sells clothing could do a “Back to School” carousel or a “Holiday Party” carousel.
• Create mini-blog posts that provide information that your followers can use, such as a checklist or packing list.

The key is to think about what your target audience will find valuable and provide it to them, Instagram-style.

#5: Add Instagram Stickers to Your Stories 
Instagram Stories are great for engagement, especially if you let your followers now how you want them to engage with you. One of my favorite ways to boost Story engagement is by using Instagram Stickers.

Instagram Stickers appear on Stories and offer your customers an easy way to interact with you. The options available include:

• Question stickers: Ask your followers a question, such as which products they’d like to see from you. The question sticker is a great way to collect valuable information from your followers.
• Quiz stickers: Offer your followers a multiple choice question to boost engagement.
• Countdown stickers: Add a countdown to your Story to build excitement for a new product launch or a big announcement.

Here are the steps to add a sticker to your Instagram Story:

• Add a picture to your story
• Click the peeling smiley face icon to bring up your sticker options
• Tap to add the sticker you like
• Rearrange it on the page – you can make it bigger or smaller and choose where to place it and add a question or countdown

Engaging customers on Instagram isn’t just a numbers game and the new algorithm changes mean that Likes are only the tip of the iceberg. The five engagement tips here will help you take advantage of the updates and make 2020 your best year ever on Instagram.

Fortunately, you don’t need to spend that money – especially when you look at Facebook Live Video, which is free to anybody who wants to use it.

Because these videos are live, they’re usually held to a lower standard in terms of quality. You don’t need to be scripted – in fact, it’s better if you’re not. You can use Facebook Live to shoot how-to videos, give a behind the scenes tour, or answer questions from your followers. Then, you can edit and post the video to your blog or YouTube channel.

#2: Become a Hashtag Expert
Hashtags are like social media signposts. They’re free to use and they point potential clients in the direction of your content. The key is to choose and use the best hashtags – the ones that are most likely to attract people who’ll buy your products.

One option is to focus on community hashtags such as #ThrowbackThursday or #givingback. Just make sure to use them appropriately. You can also create your own hashtags that incorporate your business name or most popular product, along with locational tags that will help you reach a local audience.

#3: Blog Regularly
Blogging for business is hardly a groundbreaking marketing strategy, but it’s one that you can do for free. Blog posts can be short or long and if they’re relevant to your business, they’re a great way to attract new people to your website.

The key is to choose blog topics that are highly useful to the people you want to attract. For example, you can do a series of blog posts answering common questions about your product or service. Add some relevant images and tags and you’ll be sure to attract some traffic – without spending money.


#4: Cross-Post Everything 
A lot of small businesses making the mistake of creating content for one outlet and not reusing it. That’s not ideal because it limits your scope and means you need to spend more time and money creating content.

Instead, come up with a cross-posting strategy that makes sense. For example, you might:

• Share blog posts on Facebook with an image that contains a pull quote from the blog
• Share visual content from Pinterest on Instagram
• Put pull quotes on images and share to Twitter with a shortened URL
• Create a Pinterest board with your most liked images from Instagram

There are dozens of ways to repurpose your social media content and share it elsewhere. The most important thing to remember is to keep the platform where you’re posting in mind. You won’t need hashtags on Facebook, but you will on Twitter and Instagram.

#5: Create Free Graphics
You’ve probably noticed that infographics and other graphic images are popular on social media. While you could hire a designer to create images for you, there are also plenty of tools you can use to create them for free.

One of the best free tools is Canva, which has a ton of templates and tools to create social media posts, infographics and more. You may also want to check out Venngage to make infographics.

#6: Encourage and Respond to Reviews
You already know that online reviews are important. Most people read reviews before purchasing products. You can use reviews to your advantage without spending any money.

First, you can encourage your existing customers to leave reviews of your business by asking them in person or in an email. You can also link to your review pages from your website. Once people post reviews, make sure to reply to all reviews, positive and negative, to show reviewers that you care about their opinions.

#7: Film or Write Customer Testimonials 
A customer testimonial can do the same work as a review in a slightly more formal way. People are happy to be asked their opinion and many of your customers may be eager to help you out by filming or writing a testimonial.

Testimonials can be shared on your website, blog, or social media pages once they’re completed. They serve to inform people about your business and demonstrate what you can do for people who buy your products.

#8: Publish a Newsletter
Email marketing is easy and affordable. If you have a small list, you can manage it using a free version of autoresponder software – and a newsletter is a great way to keep people informed about your business.

Newsletter articles can be very short, even as short as 100 or 150 words. Your goal should be to keep people updated on what’s happening with your business. You can also use it to preview new products and services.

#9: Pair Up with Other Business Owners
Whatever your business does, the chances are good that you know other business owners who sell products or services that complement yours. For example, perhaps you sell furniture and there’s a boutique in your area that sells artwork and decorative items.

Identify business that mesh well with yours and cross-promote each other’s products and services. You can do this for free. You can even offer joint packages or deals to attract more customers.

#10: Get Involved in Local Events
Finally, one of the best ways for local businesses to attract new customers is to get involved in local events. Does your town have an annual tree lighting or charity ball? Participating can help raise your profile and earn you some goodwill from the people who are most likely to buy from you.

You may also decide to:

• Sponsor a Little League or soccer team
• Raise money for a local charity
• Help with a local street fair

The key is to find things you can do that won’t cost you anything. If you decide you can spend a little bit, then do it wisely and in a way that’ll help to attract new customers to your business.

Marketing doesn’t need to cost a fortune – or anything at all. The 10 free ideas here will help you kick-start your marketing even if your budget is non-existent.

The benefits of geolocation marketing are clear:

• You’ll have access to a highly targeted audience of people who are likely to frequent your business
• You can attract new customers by reaching out to them with offers that appeal directly to them
• You can learn about the shopping habits and preferences of your existing customers and use what you learn to grow your business
• You can reward your most loyal customers with special content and offers designed to turn them into brand ambassadors

In other words, geolocation marketing can help you to tap into a resource base of your existing customers and potential customers in your area, allowing you to connect with them and market your business in a way that’s likely to yield a high return on your investment.

Tools to Use for Geolocation Marketing for Your Business

There are three kinds of geolocation marketing that you can use depending upon your needs. They are:

1. Geotargeting. This is the broadest form of geolocation marketing. It uses the IP addresses of your customers’ web browsers. In practical terms, you can’t use geotargeting for precise target audiences because it can’t pinpoint your audience’s location exactly. It’s best suited for marketing to general regions, cities, or states.
2. Geofencing. Geofencing is more precise than geotargeting, allowing you to target specific neighborhoods and even streets. Don’t think that limits you, though – it can also be used for entire towns or cities. Geofencing uses mobile devices’ GPS locations instead of IP addresses. That means you can track your customers’ locations even if they move. It’s ideal for attracting foot traffic but not as effective for tailoring specific marketing campaigns to your target audience.
3. Beacons. Beacons are by far the most specific option for geolocation marketing. A beacon is a small device that you’ll put inside or near your business. It collects data from Bluetooth signals in smartphones. They’re ideal for use in places with poor Wi-Fi reception because they’re used for close communication. The Bluetooth technology allows you to send messages and offers directly to customers who are in range.

 
The type of geolocation marketing you choose depends on what you hope to accomplish with it. If your business is highly dependent upon foot traffic, you may decide that geofencing is the most cost-effective and useful form of geolocation marketing.

Tips for Using Geolocation Marketing
Now, let’s talk about some specific tips to help you make the most of geolocation marketing and grow your business. There are lots of ways you can use this technology. Here are some suggestions.

• Target people in a venue or at an event. If yours is the type of business that relies on foot traffic and  you’re near a popular event venue, such as a stadium or theater, you can set up a geofence to target people who are at the place you specify. For example, a bar could target concertgoers at a nearby theater. You can also use this option to target office complexes and neighborhoods.
• Set up a geofence in your delivery area. If you own a business that delivers – whether you’re delivering Thai food or furniture – you can easily use geofencing to target the people who live in the area you service. Those people are the most likely to buy from you and they may not know about your business – until you use geolocation marketing to tell them what you have to offer.
• Use geotargeting to map out your audience based on where they are. While geotargeting is a more “big picture” type of geolocation marketing, it can be extremely useful to help you find people who are nearby. For example, if you sell a luxury product, you can use geotargeting to get your message to people who live in upscale neighborhoods.
• Use a beacon to attract foot traffic to your store. What if you own a retail store or restaurant that relies heavily on foot traffic? You can set up a beacon to ping your customers when they’re in range and then target them with specific offers. For example, if you own a restaurant near a busy downtown area or office park, you can send out an offer about your happy hour, including information about special deals on appetizers and drinks.
• Speaking of beacons, you can also use them to send you an alert when a repeat or loyal customer is in your store. Imagine how flattered and grateful your customers will be when you show up at the door to greet them by name and show them what you’ve got to offer! This is a terrific tool for personalized marketing that can turn loyal customers into brand ambassadors.
• Use geolocation marketing to learn about your target audience’s buying habits. For example, you might have a nearby competitor and use geotargeting to provide potential customers with an incentive to visit your business.

The bottom line here is that geolocation marketing allows local businesses to use GPS technology to connect directly with the customers – and potential customers – who are most likely to frequent their stores.

The key with geolocation marketing is to determine which method will deliver the returns you want. That means defining your marketing goals and choosing the tech that’ll allow you to achieve them, whether it’s a beacon or a geofence.

Update Your Page
The first step is to update your page. Look at your profile and make sure that it includes:

• The full name of your business
• Your address
• Your telephone number
• The URL of your website
• Your email address

You should also update any additional information that’s outdated. For example, if you’ve changed your logo then you should add your new one. Have a new sign in front of your store? Take a new picture and post it.

Decide on Social Media Goals
The next step is to set some reachable goals for your social media marketing. Marketing is most effective when you have a clearly defined goals – something you want to achieve with your social media presence. Here are some examples:

• Increase your social media following and build your brand
• Get more readers for your blog
• Increase your views on YouTube
• Build your list

By articulating your goals, you’ll be able to steer your social media pages in the direction you want to go.

Create Original Content
If you’re going to reach any marketing goal using social media, you need original content to do it. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on content creation, but you do need to keep your brand and goals in mind.

Original content can take many forms, including:

• Facebook status updates
• Written content (blogs, articles, white pages, etc.)
• Photographs
• Graphic content, including illustrations, infographics and cartoons)
• Video content
• Memes  

Your content should always speak to your brand and the way you want your audience to think of you. In other words, it’s not a good idea to create cat memes unless cats are relevant to your brand.

Keep in mind that you can create original content on your own or hire someone to do it for you. For example, you can hire a freelance writer for your blog or commission a graphic designer to make infographics for you.

You should intersperse original content with curated content that you get from relevant websites and publications. Always be sure to put your own spin on the curated content you share.

Create a Content Posting Schedule
Social media marketing is about consistency – and that means you’ll need a schedule to follow when you post social media content. The good news is that there are lots of tools that can help you set up and stick to a schedule.

Facebook has built-in scheduling tools that you can use to set up posts ahead of time. The one thing I don’t like about it is that you can’t share posts from other pages on a schedule. You’ll need to open and copy the link to use the scheduling tool.

If you’ve got a social media presence on more than one site – say Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest – then you may want to consider using a paid social media scheduling tool to help you keep track of everything. I like Hootsuite because it allows you to schedule posts and track their performance.

Speaking of scheduling, it’s a good idea to think about your posting frequency as well as your content. You should post:

• 1 or 2 times a day to Facebook
• 5-10 times a day to Twitter
• 1 to 2 times a day to Instagram
• 5-30 times a day to Pinterest
• 20 times per month (once per business day) to Linked In
• 2 or 3 times a week to YouTube

That might seem like a lot but check out the next step for tips on how to keep your social media marketing work manageable.

Eliminate Pages Based on Performance
What if you don’t have time to manage a Facebook page, an Instagram feed and a YouTube channel for your business?

I’ve got good news for you: you don’t need to. You are perfectly within your rights to choose to focus on just a few social media sites and let the rest go. If you have pages set up on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn and only your Facebook and Instagram pages are generating significant income, you can (and should) simply deactivate your other accounts.

Why? Because a dormant or inactive page is worse than no page at all. If people find you on YouTube and see what you haven’t posted a new video in years, it’s not going to impress them. There’s no rule saying you must be active on every social media site – so don’t be. Pick the sites that give you the biggest ROI and let the rest go.

Focus on Engagement
Engagement is what happens when someone comments on your post, shares it with their followers, or clicks on a link. In the world of social media marketing, nothing else matters.

Here are some pointers to help you engage with your social media followers:

• Ask questions and respond when people answer
• Monitor your social media mentions and engage with people who talk about your company
• Use hashtags wisely – for example, getting involved in social media community tags such as #ThrowbackThursday can help attract new followers
• Encourage participation by holding contests or requesting user-generated content

The more you can get people to interact with your content, the more organic traffic you’ll get.

Track Your Results
Finally, you should track your results on social media and refine your strategy based on what you learn. For example, you might notice that when you post a video on Facebook, it gets 10 times the engagement of your written content. That’s useful information because it tells you that it’s a good investment to make more videos.

Metrics can also tell you:

• What times of day and days of the week your followers are online
• What topics your audience wants to hear about
• Which social media pages get you the most traffic and sales

Using that information, you can refine and update your overall social media strategy and your marketing goals to give you the best possible chance of success.

The bottom line is that it’s never too late to bring your social media presence back from the dead. The key is to be practical, methodical and realistic – and to listen to your audience!

Instead, it’s your job to sort through content online, choose the things that are most likely to appeal to your target audience, and then put your own spin on them – providing real value to your followers while building your authority.

It might sound complicated, but there are tools and resources that can help.

Pocket
Pocket is an app and a great organizational tool for content marketing. If you’re like me, you might have a ton of favorites bookmarked on your browser with the idea that you’ll come back to them later. I’m willing to bet that many of them are now outdated – and you’ve never used them.

Pocket can change that. It keeps track of articles, images and videos you want to use in one convenient place. It also integrates with more than 500 other apps, so you can use it in a way that suits your needs.

Twitter Lists
Tweets come and go quickly and even if you check your Twitter feed throughout the day, it can be easy to miss worthwhile content. The solution? Twitter Lists.

Twitter Lists allows you to organize the people and companies you follow into categories. Then, you can easily access their Tweets and links using the app. It also integrates perfectly with Pocket!

Scoop.it
Scoop.it is a paid tool that costs $67 per month, but it’s worth the price if you do a lot of content creation and need some help doing it. The tool scours the internet and grabs content related to the topics you choose, presenting it in one easy place for you to select what you want to post and put your spin on it.

What I like about Scoop.it is that it sorts articles and links by relevance. It will also suggest other Scoop.it users for you to follow, all of which makes the job of content curation very easy.

Sniply
Sniply is also a paid tool. It won’t help you find content to curate, but it will help you automatically add a call to action to any curated content you choose to share with your followers.

If you know anything at all about online marketing, you know that including a call to action is a must. It’s what tells your followers (and potential customers) what they need to do next. The right call to action will make a huge difference in your conversion rate and ROI – and that makes the low price of this tool one that’s worth paying.

Quuu
Quuu is another free tool that I recommend because it will pull suggested curated content based on the parameters you set. You can then browse through the recommendations and choose the content you want to share with your followers.

It gets better. In addition to finding and recommending content to you, Quuu also integrates with most social media scheduling tools. That means that after you find content using Quuu,  you can also use this tool to schedule your Tweets and Facebook updates.

Facebook Pages Feed
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention something that’s built into Facebook and can be used, free, with any Facebook business page. To find it, simply:

1. Click on “Pages Feed” on the menu on the right-hand side of your Facebook page
2. Type in the name of a page, publication or business you want to follow
3. Click the follow button

Going forward, posts from the pages you follow will appear when you click the Pages Feed. From there, it’s easy to share posts and add your own commentary and call to action. The one thing I don’t like about the Pages Feed is that you can’t schedule posts from it, you can only share them. However, if you open the link in a new tab and copy the URL, you can schedule it at your convenience.

Feedly
Feedly won’t find content for you, but it will help you aggregate the websites and accounts you follow in one convenient RSS feed that you can access from anywhere.
Once you’ve added a website or social media page to your Feedly account, you’ll be able to view the content on your feed from your computer or mobile device.

Curata
Curata is a high-powered content curation tool that takes finding content to a new level. It uses a combination of keywords, bookmarked sites, and other tools to scour the web, identifying the content that is most likely to appeal to your target audience.

Because Curata’s algorithms offer a service that goes above and beyond what some of the other tools on this list do, it costs more. Pricing is based upon your usage and you’ll need to contact the company for a free demo and a quote.

Publish This
Publish This is like Curata in that it uses a sophisticated algorithm to identify, aggregate, and suggest content for you to share.
In addition to curating content, Publish This can also be used to:

• Sharing original content that you create
• Sharing curated content that you find on Publish This or on your own
• Tracking analytics for the content you share, both original and curated

In other words, Publish This goes beyond the other tools here to allow you to share and track the content it finds.

Curating content can be time-consuming if you try to do it one link at a time. Fortunately, there are tools to make the job easier. The ones I’ve listed here are some of my favorites – and they can help you round out your social media presence, attract new followers, and grow your business.

So, what is a chatbot and how can your business benefit from one? Sit tight! We’re about to unpack everything you need to know. 
​
What is a chatbot? 
A chatbot is an automated messaging system or computer program that interacts with your customers on your behalf. Chatbots are integrated into the back end of your website and pop up as a chatbox on the front when a visitor reaches your website.
 
Welcome to the future! 
In 2001, A.I. might have spurred images of a young Haley Joel Osment. Jump forward 18 years and A.I. (artificial intelligence) is at the heart of modern-day advertising and marketing. In marketing, the role of artificial intelligence is to anticipate the customers’ needs and provide the information or resources they need to make a purchase decision. 
 
If you’re trying to get your head around how artificial intelligence is used in marketing today and how you can leverage it in your business, start with understanding and using your own chatbot. 
 
How does it know what to say? Chat
Your chatbot is prepopulated with a series of questions, answers and resources to help your customers through their purchase journey. Think of it like a smarter, more engaging FAQ channel. The prepopulated list of questions and answers is meticulously mapped out and tells your chatbot how to behave or respond when certain actions are taken, or questions are asked. 
 
More advanced chatbots and virtual assistants can be customized to do a lot more than handle customer queries. They can be integrated with booking systems and other communication platforms enabling people to make reservations and purchases.
 
Chatbots for the hospitality industry (hotels and restaurants) 
20 years ago, you might have found Trudy or Kenneth at a desk answering the phone and taking reservations in a dusty old reservation book. In 2019, you’ll find Trudy and Kenneth enjoying the finer things in life while their chatbot takes care of bookings and reservations for them. 
 
Benefits of chatbots for hotels and restaurants
Here’s what you can expect from effectively implementing a chatbot on your hotel or restaurant’s website:

• An increase in direct bookings. Visit Skyscanner or booking.com to see their reservation tool in action. 
• Reduction in office hours. A chatbot can handle many questions and activities that would otherwise be managed by a receptionist. 
• A better understanding of the different profiles of guests and travellers and appropriate offers based on their profiles. 
• Better customer experience. Guests can opt-in for information on things to see and do in the area, helping them get the most out of their stay. 
• Better customer service. Guests can get the support they need 24/7. 
• Better customer satisfaction. The ease of booking through a chatbot is unbeatable!
• An increase in reviews. Emails requesting reviews get lost in a busy inbox. A chatbot prompts reviews which are quick and easy to submit. 

 
Best chatbots for the hospitality industry
Our recommendations for chatbots in this industry are Trilyo, HiJiffy and LivePerson.
 
Chatbots for the retail industry
Simplicity makes sales. If retail brands make it easy for their customers to buy from them, they will! Chatbots help retailers make more sales by providing customer support and customized suggestions to shoppers, increasing the chance of a sale. 
 
Benefits of chatbots for the retail industry
In retail, some of the benefits of implementing a chatbot include:

• Less abandoned carts. We’ve all added items to a cart and failed to check out (for whatever reason). A chatbot reminds you to checkout, encourages you to complete your purchase or offers you a discount if you check out within a certain timeframe.
• Enhanced and smoother customer service. Chatbots are available 24/7/365 to answer any concerns a visitor might have about a product. Knowing everything you need to know about the product increases the likelihood of you making a purchase. 
• Customized post-sale offers. Chatbots can send custom offers and information to customers based on their previous purchases. 
• Increase in conversion rates. Lack of sales on an Ecomm website is often as a result of a poorly designed conversion funnel. Chatbots make the purchase journey super simple helping increase conversions. 
• Driving sales! All these benefits combined naturally drive sales. 

 
Best chatbots for the retail industry
IBM Watson Assistant, Bold 360 and LivePerson.
 
Top 3 best chatbots in 2019 and 2020?
There are hundreds of chatbots available to you. Some paid, some free. Some basic, some customizable. Here are our top picks for chatbots in 2019 and 2020.
 
LivePerson
The thing we love most about LivePerson is that it is suitable for all industries. Text messaging, Google Rich Business Messaging, Apple Business Chat, Line, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Google AdLingo can all be integrated into the chatbot. 
 
Inbenta
Designed for the needs of enterprise brands Inbenta has a simplistic interface and can handle simple demands with a high level of intelligence. The best feature Inbenta has to offer is the ability to detect when the conversation needs a human to step in. 
 
IBM Watson Assistant
Suitable for big brands and businesses, Watson Assistant has been designed by IBM, the leader in A.I. solutions. This chatbot is a lot more advanced and recommended for larger businesses who require more extensive support and chatbot capabilities. 
 
Regardless of your personal views on talking to a robot, customers set the demands and don’t really have a preference when it comes to dealing with a robot or a human, as long as they get what they need*. Your business could very well be a chatbot away from better customer support, happier customers and more sales. So, what have you got to lose?

Now, they prioritize local search over everything else.

What does that mean? In short, it means that creating compelling local content isn’t optional. It’s as necessary as oxygen. You’ve got to show potential customers that you’re part of a community – and that means that you’ve got to think about more than giving out your address.

The Basics of Local Marketing
I’ve already written a lot about local marketing, but I think it’s important to include a summary of how to optimize your website and content for local search. Keep these pointers in mind:

• Choose local keywords that are highly relevant to your business and have a high search volume. The best local search words include the name of your city, state or neighborhood as well as keywords that are relevant to your business.
• Optimize for local voice search and “near me” searches.
• Optimize for mobile search and make sure your site looks great on mobile devices.
• Use your local keywords in important places on your website, including in title tags, image tags, meta descriptions, anchor text for links, H1 tags, and in your content.
• Use rich snippets to add essential geographical information to your Google search results.
• Get important local sites to link back to your site. Remember, when it comes to building links, quality is more important than quantity. Focus on local business guides, the Chamber of Commerce, and related local businesses to build your local SEO “cred.”
• Encourage your customers to leave reviews and link your site to your review pages. Customer testimonials, which go into a bit more depth than reviews, are also essential.

Following these tips will set you up for success – but you’ve still got to create the kind of compelling local content that will attract customers.

Tips for Creating Local Content
Once your site is optimized for local searches, it’s time to focus on creating local content. That means more than simply putting your local keywords into general content. You’ll need to show casual visitors to your site that you’re a part of a local community.

Here are some pointers to get you started.

1. Blog about local events. Every community, from small rural towns to huge cities, has local events that are a big deal. As a business owner, you should be aware of these events and find a way to write about them that ties back to your business. It’ll be easy if you’re planning to sponsor a booth at your local street fair. But local charity events and holiday celebrations offer the opportunity for you to talk about your community and why you love it.
2. Talk about local news. Did your local Little League team make the playoffs? Did a high school student win a contest? Is there a new business coming to town? Any of these things could be turned into blog posts and they’re especially effective if you can find an organic way to relate the story to your business.
3. Develop case studies that are relevant to local prospects. You might serve a variety of neighborhoods or more than one town in your area. If that’s the case, it’s your job to show that you care about all the places in your service area. One way to do it is to develop case studies that demonstrate your knowledge of the area and of any special circumstances that might be unique to where you are. For example, a landscaper in Southern California might talk about the risk of wildfires or offer tips on how to get rid of black widow spiders.
4. Find out what your audience is interested in and then write about it. Of course, you don’t want to stray too far from your business, but there’s nothing wrong with getting excited about the things your audience cares about. For example, you might write about an upcoming holiday or the year’s first big storm.

A good way to get ideas for your local content is to stay plugged in to your community online. You might follow you local Chamber of Commerce on Facebook, subscribe to your local paper, and stop into the library to see what new flyers have been added to the bulletin board.

What is the Intent of Your Content?
One of the most important things to remember when you’re creating local content is that every blog post or social media update you write should have a clear intention that’s related to your business.

What do I mean by that? Simply that you can’t waste time blogging about things if you don’t understand why you’re writing about them. Sometimes the intent will be clear. You own a hardware store and blogging about predicted winter snowfall might help you sell some shovels and snowblowers, or at least some Ice Melt.

At other times, though, the intention may be a bit harder to pin down. There’s nothing wrong with that but make sure you don’t skip this step. If you’re creative enough, you should be able to find a way to tie any piece of content you create back to your business.

For example, say you want to blog about a local charity event, but you can’t figure out a way to connect it to your business organically. Instead of giving up, you might consider donating a portion of your sales to the charity or collaborating with other local business owners on a fundraising effort.

The key here is to make your local content relevant to your business and to your target audience. You can still share general content, too, but local content is a must if you want your business to grow.