UNIT III

What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social networking website that was founded in February 2004 by Harvard
University students Chris Hughes, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin
and Mark Zuckerberg.

The idea behind Facebook was to provide an online book of faces for university students to
connect and share information. It was initially a social network for Harvard and expanded in
the following years to any university. It eventually became a social network for anyone,
anywhere in the world.

The concept of a social network was a nascent one in 2004 and not entirely unique. Other
social networks that were active at the time Facebook was created were Friendster, which
was launched in 2002, and MySpace, which was launched in 2003. Users post information,
status updates and pictures of themselves on social networks. These items are shared with
friends, family and communities of interest.

Facebook is more than just a social networking platform; it's also a business. Facebook had
its initial public offering on May 18, 2012, on the Nasdaq stock exchange trading under the
symbol FB. The company rebranded as Meta on Oct. 28, 2021. As of Dec. 1, 2021, Facebook
trades under the symbol MVRS.

Facebook is only one of several technologies that Meta operates. In 2012, Facebook acquired
social networking site Instagram for $1 billion. Facebook then acquired WhatsApp for $19
billion in 2014. Facebook later got into virtual reality (VR) hardware with its acquisition of
Oculus VR in 2014 for $2 billion. With Meta, the idea is to create and enable the metaverse.
This would meld social networking, VR and augmented reality components to create new
types of user interactions and experiences.

Key Facebook features

Facebook started out as a community where users shared information about themselves and
different topics. Over time, different features expanded the scope of its capabilities:

 Timeline. User profiles and updates are shown on what it known as the Timeline.
Timeline is the successor to the Facebook wall, which was the original home for user
profiles and updates. The user timeline includes posts, status updates, friend listings,
photos, videos and user activity information.
 Friends. A primary feature of Facebook is the ability to search for and connect with
friends and family. The search interface helps users quickly find acquaintances and also
suggests potential connections.
 News Feed. News Feed enables users to view news from the connections and groups that
they follow. Users can like a given post or comment on it.
 Pages. Pages are the profile and content pages for businesses on Facebook. Pages provide
the ability for businesses to share information and communicate with customers.
 Games. Facebook provides an integrated capability enabling users to play games on their
own or together with friends. Among the early successes of games on Facebook was
Zynga's FarmVille.
 Groups. Communities of interest can organize themselves with the Facebook group
feature. This enables the sharing of information, images and active discussions.
 Events. This feature enables users and groups to organize events that their followers can
attend. It enables users to send out invites and help manage an attendee list.
 Marketplace. This is an online yard sale, where users can buy and sell goods and
services with other Facebook members.
 Messenger. This is an instant messenger that enables friends to communicate in real time
via webchat or a mobile app.
 Video. Facebook Live is a feature that enables individuals and businesses to stream live
video to friends, family and followers.
USES FOR FACEBOOK
Billions of people around the world use Facebook daily to create and grow communities,
personal interactions and revenue. There are many uses for Facebook that individuals,
community groups and businesses can benefit from:

 Connecting with friends. The primary use of Facebook has always been about
connecting people. Facebook is a way to find and connect with friends and remain
updated on their activities.
 Creating communities. Facebook is used to create and organize communities of interest
on just about any topic. It's a platform that can enabled like-minded individuals to come
together, share ideas, discuss and organize.
 Engaging with customers. For businesses, Facebook can help with brand building and
customer engagement. Having a Facebook presence enables businesses to share
information about products and services to established and potential customers.
 Searching for jobs. Facebook is often a way to look at the personal and professional
lives of people and organizations to see if there is a cultural fit. Businesses also often list
available jobs on the app.
 Selling goods and services. Businesses can sell goods and services directly in the
marketplace. They can also push consumers toward their products via advertisements.

TO CREATE A FACEBOOK PAGE

You must already have your own Facebook account before you can create a Facebook Page.
If you don't have an account, review our lesson on getting started with Facebook.
1. Click the drop-down arrow on the toolbar, then select Create Page.
2. Choose either Business or Brand or Community or Public Figure as
your Page category.

3. Enter a Page Name and Category, then click Continue.

4. Upload a profile picture and a cover photo for your Page.

 5. The Facebook page will appear. From here, you can customize your page,
invite people to like the page, create posts, and more.

CUSTOMIZING A FACEBOOK PAGE

There are many ways to customize the appearance of your Facebook page. Here are some
basic tips that will help to make your page look more polished and professional.

 Use large, high-quality images for your profile picture and cover photo.
 Choose a short name for the page because it will also be the page URL. In our
example, the URL is https://www.facebook.com/SongbirdBakeryRaleigh.
 If you want people to be able to leave reviews on your page, you will need to
include a street address for the organization.

Using a Facebook page

After you create a Facebook page, you'll be the only person who can edit the page
information and post updates to the page's Timeline. However, if you'd like to give other
people permission to do these things, you can add them as page administrators. To add a
page administrator, click Settings near the top-right, then select Page Roles.

Managing a Facebook page

While there are many ways to manage a page, these tips should help you get started.

 Share responsibly. Just like with your personal Facebook account, it's
important to think before you share. A Facebook page is a public face for
your organization, so it’s best not to share anything that could be considered
offensive or derogatory.
 Engage your audience. Many people create pages as a way to promote their
businesses and post advertisements on Facebook. While there's nothing wrong
with using a Facebook page this way, it's important to make sure the things
you share will be relevant to the people who've liked your page. Posting
constant advertisements and updates may become annoying to followers,
which could lead them to unlike or unfollow your page.
 Experiment. There's no formula for creating a successful Facebook page, so
you'll want to try different things to see what works best for you and your
audience. One suggestion is to spend some time reviewing more popular
Facebook pages. Pay attention to the types of posts they share, and see how
they connect with their followers.
AD VISIBILITY

How to Boost Your Facebook Ad Visibility

#1: Use a Clutter-Free Image With Minimal Text

The image you choose for your ad depends on what business you're in and whom you're
targeting. If you're a personal brand, you may want to choose a picture of yourself, because a
friendly face can improve the performance of your ad. It's also possible to get good results with
images that show a product or something else that's relevant to what you're advertising.
When choosing an image, make sure that it isn't too busy or cluttered. And avoid using an
image that has Facebook's shade of blue because people may dismiss your ad, thinking it has
something to do with Facebook. It's also helpful to add a border around your image.
Keep images text-free, or use a very small amount of text. Facebook has implemented a 20%
rule for text in an ad image, which means text can cover no more than 20% of the image. In a
tiny ad on the sidebar of a page, a lot of text on an image wouldn't be legible anyway.

#2: Write Short, Attention-Grabbing Copy

Your ad copy should be short and enticing and grab the user's attention immediately. Spend
some time coming up with your ad copy. Facebook suggests you include a timeframe and a
price (when appropriate) and stick to one call to action.
You can create multiple ads with different text.
Test multiple versions of an ad with different copy to see which one performs best.
Then test them to see which gets the most engagement.
Test one part of an ad at a time, like the headlines in these two ads.
There are two distinct components to the ad copy: the headline and the text. In the news feed, the
ad's headline (which is clickable) appears under the picture, and in the sidebar, it appears before
the text copy. Try to keep the headline to a single line in the ad.
The text copy sits above the image in the news feed or under the headline in the sidebar. Keep
the text short enough that the person viewing the ad won't have to click the See More
button.
The placement of the headline and copy are different for ads in the news feed (top image) and
sidebar (bottom image).

#3: Explore Audience Targeting

When you're targeting an audience for your ad, don't just type in male/female, 30 to 40 years
old, in a certain city and hope for the best. It's important to know who your customers are so
you can drill down and segment accordingly.
Target the people you want to be connected to you and your brand. For example, if you're
advertising something that people can buy, you might want to target those who have bought
from you before or expressed an interest in buying at some time.
When creating your ad, always choose the location, age, gender and interests you're
targeting. Most people won't list their job title or very personal details on their Facebook
profile, so you can leave these details out.
Target interests by specifying the pages that your ideal customer likes.
You can target your direct competitors' pages. For example, if you're a photographer in
Toronto, target the followers of the page of a competing photographer in the area.
Target the followers of a competitor's page.
You might also want to target the pages of businesses whose products and services are
complementary to yours. These people likely have the same customers as you. For example, if
you're a web designer, target people who like the pages of a particular copywriter.
Look at the profiles of people who like your page and see what other pages they like. You'll
probably find common likes among your fans.
Make sure that you target the actual pages, which show up in Interests, rather than the
interests themselves.
Target pages in the Interests section.
Note that there seems to be no real rhyme or reason to the pages that Facebook pulls up in the
Interests section. You may enter the name of a page that has over 20,000 likes, and Facebook
won't find it, but one with 2,000 likes may show up if you search for it. This is something you'll
have to test for yourself when choosing pages.

#4: Set a Daily Ad Budget

For more visibility, choose a daily ad budget rather than a lifetime ad budget. Consider starting
with a small budget of $1 to $2 per day. Then once the ad has been running for a week and
slowly picking up momentum, increase that daily ad budget a little at a time.
Start with a daily budget of $1 to $2.
What you're looking for from your ads is a good conversion rate. Most of the time, you'll want to
see a conversion rate under $1. Sometimes, depending on your type of business, the conversion
rate may be over $1, but if it ultimately leads to a sale, the cost was worth it.

CONCLUSION
Facebook is a valuable platform for advertising and getting results. It's just a matter of knowing
how to make your ads more visible to your target market so you can achieve those results.

Instagram and its Options

Optimization of Instagram profiles

Instagram has made plenty of changes recently. Not only have they incorporated new features

to combat Snapchat, but they’ve also removed access to the platform for many third-party

applications. This move makes it harder for businesses to grow their following, making

optimization even more important. Here are a few ways to make sure your page is running at

top speed.

1. Reels, reels, reels

Since Reels were added to the platform in mid-2021, they have taken off. Instagram released

Reels to compete with TikTok and, in doing so, started prioritizing Reels over other types of

content. Reels are under 60 seconds and in a vertical format. Play around with trending

sounds and content types to see what fits your strategy best. Here’s a reel we made earlier this

year as an example.

2. Post at the right times

Are you just sending your Instagram posts out at any time? If so, you could be missing out on
a lot of likes and follows. While there have been many articles done on the best time to post,
this is something that’s actually specific to you and your audience. You can use your insights
to see when your audience is online, and then schedule your posts around their activity.
3. Include relevant hashtags

These will bring you more eyeballs from people searching and using the discover portion of

Instagram. Do your research and find 5-10 relevant hashtags that you can place in the

comments section below your photo. Change them up and monitor which works best for your

brand. Remember, posts with at least one hashtag receive 12.6% more engagement, so don’t

skip this step.

It’s also possible to follow hashtags on Instagram. By following the top hashtags that you’ve

researched you will be able to see which type(s) of content frequently get featured on that

hashtag’s feed/story. This can help you finetune your content to get more exposure with

hashtags.

4 tips to help you find the right hashtags

-Find the hashtags your competitors are using.

-Use hashtags that influential people in your industry are using.

-Consider related hashtags – ones being used by other IGers in combination with ones that

you use.

-Use Instagram’s search functionality to explore.

4. Always add a location tag

Again, if you want people to be able to discover your photo when they search Instagram,

adding a location is essential. People will then see your photos in the area you’ve tagged

them in, opening you up to a new audience that is interested in the location tag.
5. Leverage stories to get more eyes on your brand

Instagram stories were released in August of 2016, and haven’t looked back. Since then, the

platform has added in a live feature, multiple filters, location tagging, and the incorporation

of gifs. When it comes to brand marketing, Instagram stories are a great place to, you guessed

it, tell a story.

6. Change your profile to a “business profile”

Switching your Instagram profile from a personal account to a business account will unlock

several powerful features for you/your brand to take advantage of.

First, you will receive call-to-action buttons allowing customers to easily contact your

business.

Second, you will get access to the analytics–by far the most valuable. Analytics will let you

know where your followers are from, what time they are online, and what types of content

perform the best. Ultimately, these numbers let you iterate as you continue to create content,

ultimately giving your audience more of what they want.

Third, as a business profile, you get access to ads within Instagram; so if you want to do some

paid promo, it’s easy and accessible. you do this by going to Settings–>Switch to Business

Profile–>Select the Facebook page you’d like to associate it with.

Integrating Instagram with a Web Site and other social networks

Since its launch on October 6, 2010, Instagram has quickly occupied a previously vacant
niche: the social network of images and photos. In its early days, most of its traffic came from
individual users and subscribers. Today, Instagram has more than a billion users, including
more than 200 million business accounts! Instagram has evolved as one of the best apps for e-
commerce today!

The numbers to know

  First, and unlike other social networks such as Facebook in particular, Instagram has
never "gone out of fashion". The hype around this mobile app has remained intact for
more than a decade after its launch. The content that is broadcast there announces new
trends. Therefore, its marketing potential for brands remains enormous.
 As a result, Instagram is one of the most popular social networks, with more than a
billion users. Better: 63% of subscribers connect online, on their profile at least once a
day to consult new posts (photos, images, videos, stories, content from influencers and
brands, etc.). Making it absolutely neccesary for brands to post every day new content.
 20% of the online mobile app or Instagram website users and subscribers visit brands
profile and feed at least once a day.
 Each Instagram ad campaign displays a potential audience of 850 million users.
 This social network (available via mobile app and website) is adapted to human
nature. In fact, 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. It has even
been shown that visual content (photos , images, videos) recorded 94% more clicks and
40 times more shares than textual content. This record engagement is a formidable
weapon for marketing.

Everything we mentioned earlier has made Instagram one of the biggest and trendiest referents
of e-commerce and fashion.

Boost your Instagram feed by integrating it with your website.

By integrating your brand's Instagram feed on your website, you will send your posts directly
to the web page of your choice! This way, you can reach even more users! There are several
advantages to linking the Instagram feed and the accounts of the brands on this social network:

 This link makes it possible to boost the brands' website. Displaying Instagram posts will
give your website a new lease of life.
 Then the users who visit your website stay on the page. Your news and your content
marketing strategy will be carried by your blog and your Instagram feed (posts,
hashtags, photos, images, stories, etc.).
 Finally, displaying the posts from your Instagram on your website will bring a new
source of traffic to your business account on this social network.

To link their Instagram feed and their website, brands can use a dedicated plugin (WordPress
website) or module

Brands can use a dedicated plugin (WordPress website) or module (PrestaShop website) to link
their Instagram and their website. The most used are Elfsight, 10Web Social Photo Feed,
Gallery for Social Photo, and Easy Photo Feed Widget. You can also link your Instagram feed
and your website without going through a plugin or mod

Integrate the Direct messaging of the Instagram mobile application

Instagram is also a powerful messenger with commercial potential. Over 150 million
users have at least one conversation with a brand via Instagram Direct every month. Better:
59% of them believe that messaging via Instagram with brands brings them a better customer
experience.

Brands have every interest in being present on the mobile apps messaging system. To do this,
they can be content with their presence on the social network or go further by integrating
Instagram into their website. The goal is to encourage visitors to get in touch with the brand to
move them forward through the funnel. But how do you do it? You have the solution of the
code, which remains time-consuming, tedious, and above all, risky. How about a turnkey
solution, no code, and no hassle?