If you’re not running Facebook ads, you’re missing out on one of the most effective and affordable methods of marketing your business, but if you’re not running Facebook ads right, you might be throwing away your marketing budget (and missing a huge opportunity)!

I have been a Facebook marketer for over seven years and I have used Facebook to: double the income of my own business for minimal investment; help the National Comedy Center win USA Today’s award for Best New Museum; help Fredonia, NY win the Small Business Revolution and $500,000; and help promote events with a trackable return-on-investment (ROI) of over 16:1 (that’s $16 in sales for every $1 spend on an ad). I have also taught an introduction to Facebook course that was used by Small Business Development Centers across the United States. 

Facebook is a powerful tool, but it is not silver bullet for all of your marketing needs. 

In fact, there are TWO MAIN REASONS Facebook ad campaigns fail:

1. Not Having a Plan:  Repeat after me: “Facebook isn’t magic.” Almost all small business I have worked with who have struggled with Facebook ads have one thing in common: they don’t have a plan for success. Although this article is going to mostly discuss the second point, you need to have a plan. Start by identifying your goal and how you might measure whether you are meeting your goal or not. Think about how people become your customers. First, they have to become aware of you. Second, they have to become interested in you. Finally, they have to believe that your product or service can fulfill a need or meet a desire. I’ll address this more in another article, because you want to start working on the second step before you start your campaigns... 
2. Not Using the Facebook Pixel (which means you can’t measure success or target important audiences): If you’re running Facebook ads without the Facebook pixel, you’re making a huge mistake because, without the pixel code, you cannot properly measure and optimize your ads, and you cannot retarget ads to people who visit your website (or take action on your website). 

What the heck is the Facebook Pixel?! The Facebook pixel is a piece of code placed on your website that allows you to re-target ads to people who visit your website, measure how well (or not well) your campaigns are performing, and optimize campaigns to help get the most results you care about at the cheapest cost. 

With the pixel you can target anyone who visited your website (or a certain page) with a particular ad. If you sell products online, you can target ads at people who have added a product to their cart but who have not yet made a purchase. You can also target people who made a purchase with ads to up-sell a new product. If you sell product on your website, you can directly track how much revenue each ad produces. The possibilities are nearly endless.

To install the Facebook Pixel you will need a Facebook Ads account and you will either need to (1) be able to copy and paste the pixel code into the header of your website (or have your webmaster do this; or (2) use a third-party app/widget to integrate the code on your website.

Facebook provides an introduction to and instructions on how to install the Facebook pixel on Facebook Blueprint. Now, most small business owners are not web masters, don’t worry! It is not that hard and you don’t need to know how to code. Here are some instructions for the most popular DIY website builder platforms (and Shopify)!: 

• How to Install the Facebook Pixel on a Wordpress website
• How to Install the Facebook Pixel on a Weebly website
• How to Install the Facebook Pixel on a Wix website
• How to add the Facebook Pixel to Shopify

Once the Facebook pixel is installed, it will start gathering data. That’s why it is important to get it set up as quickly as possible – without it each day you lose information that could help you acquire new customers and make more sales.

So, don’t wait any longer! Take a few minutes right now and get started on setting up the Facebook Pixel on your website!

If you are a member of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and have questions or need help with the Facebook Pixel, email me at jweston@chautauquachamber.org and I will do my best to help you! 

During the COVID-19 crisis people are engaging with social media more than ever. Facebook Live is one of the easiest and most effective ways to engage directly with your customers. Follow these six easy steps to get started!

1. Relax and just do it. Your viewers don't care about how you look, whether you have a cameraman, a selfie-stick, or are holding your phone. This is about a real, organic connection with your audience. Just be yourself and act like you are talking to any other customer. 
2. Jot down your thoughts first. It's good for a Facebook Live to be conversational, but you should have an overall message. This could be: telling your story as a business owner, thanking your customers, sharing precautions you are taking for COVID-19, highlighting your staff, asking customers to buy gift cards, highlighting a special, etc. It's helpful to have 3-5 bullet points written out to remind yourself of your message if you are nervous or forget what you want to say (it happens)! 
3. TYPE OUT the main points at the top of your Facebook Live post BEFORE you go live. This can be short descriptions such as "An Update from...", "Sharing Our Story", "Thank You - Update, and Gift Cards", etc. 
4. Reiterate your main points in your video a few times. Understand that many viewers will not watch the video from start to finish, but many will join you mid-way through and watch a portion of the video. 
5. SHARE/SAVE your video after you are finished. You have the option of posting or not posting the video after you create it - unless you have a good to not share it, it is usually best to post! 
6. Respond to questions and comments on your video. You should like supportive comments or, better yet, respond to supportive comments, answer questions, etc. Do this after your video and check back periodically - more people will view the video for a few days or so after you create it. Remember - social media is about being SOCIAL. Take advantage of the opportunity to engage your customers. 

Here are two examples of recent Facebook Live videos that got a great community response:

Ecklof's Bakery: Rich Ecklof made a Facebook Live video sharing the struggles that Ecklof's Bakery is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the response from their followers and the surrounding community was astounding. Watch here.

Panama Rocks: I made this video on what would have been our opening day to update our followers and to promote our Season Pass deal. I DID NOT intend to get emotional when I started to make the video, but as many of you will understand, sometimes that's not easy. The response from our followers was an overflow of unanimous support. Watch here.  

Neither of these videos took much effort or time, but the response they received was phenomenal. This proves that you don't need a videographer and a marketing manager to make an effective Facebook Live video.

​Jonathan Weston is the Director of Member Marketing for the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce. Jonathan also operates Panama Rocks Scenic Park and serves as the Chairman of the Chautauqua County Visitor's Bureau. In addition to marketing his own businesses, Jonathan has run marketing programs for the Chamber of Commerce during the Small Business Revolution, the National Comedy Center during their USA Today "Best Of" campaign, the Great Blue Heron Music Festival, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History, and others.

Jonathan is with the Chamber to help you better market your business to in our community and to the rest of the world. Feel free to reach out to him at jweston@chautauquachamber.org.