In addition to the three primary management options, Facebook offers Brand Collabs Manager. This is a tool to help brands and creators find, learn more about, and connect with each other. You can even set an audience match to see the percentage of each creator's audience that matches yours.

When you manage a business page on Facebook, the posting and management options can seem endless. With updates being rolled out on a regular basis, it’s easy to feel like things are constantly changing. 

If you’ve ever been confused about which tool to use, you’re not the only one. In September 2020, Business Suite was rolled out without much warning, confusing users and causing Facebook to bring back Page Manager (after already disabling it completely).

Then, Facebook distributed a message via Business Suite noting that posts and videos are moving to Creator Studio, including a warning that “soon, those tools will no longer be available here.” This ended up not being true, but scheduled and draft posts were temporarily gone. 

All this to say, if you’re confused, it’s not just because you’re a social media newbie. Facebook has greatly contributed to the confusion by releasing multiple new tools with little explanation and then changing their strategy mid-product rollout. 

Now that product rollouts and new features have stabilized for the past few months, we’re going to do our best to provide an overview of Facebook’s three main page management tools. 

Business Manager 

We’ll start with the least powerful tool in your Facebook toolbox. Business Manager has been around the longest of these three tools and is the most high-level tool. Instead of focusing on creating content or communicating with customers, Business Manager is used to manage your page’s assets and settings. 

You can manage pages, ad accounts, product catalogs (basic actions only), apps, and properties from here. You can also manage Pixel, events, and users, registration, and payment options. 

If you’re a long-time user of the Business Manager, it can feel time consuming to switch products – but we recommend starting to familiarize yourself with Manager as soon as possible. Facebook Analytics goes away completely after today, and our feeling is that Business Manager will quietly be phased out in favor of the two other tools we’re about to review. Not all features are offered on both tools just yet, so it may take some time to full migrate your workflow to Business Suite… but the sooner you start the better! 

Business Suite

Business Suite was rolled out in late 2020 to replace the Page Manager app. Its goal is to streamline all communication with your followers – this includes interaction on posts and private messages. 

As per Facebook, Business Suite enables users to:

• Save time: Post to Facebook and Instagram at the same time and manage posts in one place to stay connected to both communities. 

• Stay up-to-date: Get all of your Facebook and Instagram messages, notifications and alerts in one place so you can stay up to date and respond to all of your customers more easily. 

• Business results:  See what’s working with Facebook and Instagram insights and learn what your customers are looking for.
  
  

A few of the key new features for Facebook Business Suite include the following: 

• View your business at a glance: From your home screen, you can see an overview of your Facebook Page and Instagram account. You’ll see updates, recent posts and ads, and insights. You can also create a post or promote your business from here.

• View Activity: You'll see new notifications for your Facebook Page and Instagram account.

• Use Inbox: You can read new messages and comments from your Facebook Page, Messenger and Instagram accounts. You can also create Automated Responses to help save time when responding to questions people commonly ask.

• Create Posts and Stories: You can publish or schedule new posts and stories for your Facebook Page and Instagram account.

• Access Commerce Manager: If your business account has a Commerce Account, you'll be able to access it from Business Suite desktop. You can also create a new Commerce Account for your business if you don’t have one.

• Create Ads: You can create new ads and place them on Facebook and Instagram, boost your posts, and promote your Page.

• View Insights: You can see details about your business’s performance, such as trends, activity on the content you share and more information about your audience.

• Access More Tools: On Business Suite desktop, you'll find other Facebook tools and settings you might use to manage your business presence in the More Tools section. This includes other tools, such as Ads Manager, Business Settings and Page Settings. You can also go to your Facebook Page from here.

Facebook has also stated that they plan to make Business Suite "the main interface for businesses of all sizes who use Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp." That being said, we anticipate Business Suite becoming the most powerful of these three tools. Familiarizing yourself with the current functionality will make it easier to adjust as new features are introduced. 

Business Suite is a great tool to use no matter what size or type of business you operate – and using it in conjunction with Creator Suite will give you the most powerful collection of options. 

Business Creator Studio 

While originally introduced as a tool for building and managing your video business, Creator Studio also has quite a few features that overlap with Business Suite. In addition to the core video features, you can see insights about your business pages, read and respond to messages, and create/schedule/post new content to Instagram/Facebook. 

The main difference between the two platforms is that Creator Studio offers additional post setup options and creative tools. These features include:  

• Post testing to see what videos best perform for your audience. 

• Detailed insights on video performance, view times, loyalty, and retention.

• Instant Articles: A mobile publishing format that enables news publishers to distribute articles to Facebook's app that load and display 4 times faster than the standard mobile web.

• Monetization tools: Content creators and publishers can use a variety of different monetization tools to earn money on Facebook. Depending on your audience and the kinds of content you produce, you need to meet eligibility criteria to use monetization tools, and some tools might have additional requirements. Review which Pages are eligible and apply for access. You'll receive an email after your application has been reviewed.

• Sound collection: An exclusive collection of original tracks and sound effects that you can use on Facebook and Instagram.

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Hue & Tone Creative: Social Media ManageMENT 

Have a question about a recent update? Logging on and unable to locate the tool you’re looking for? We can help! From social media training and content creation to social media management, Hue & Tone can help you effectively use your social media to reach new and niche audiences. We’re here to help you use your social media strategically, effectively… and, of course, creatively!  

Check out the Facebook Ads Guide for the design specifications and technical requirements across each format and placement. You’ll find information on dimensions, file sizes, character limits and more.

On May 20, Facebook released additional detail about how their ad review process works. This new explainer article provided additional context about how errors or missteps may play into your ads being rejected. 

Facebook’s ad policy has long been a cause for confusion – you may spend some serious time digging into their ad guidelines before you submit an ad… only for it to be rejected. The confusion only grows when you see other ads that are obvious scams but have made it through the approval process. 

One of the biggest things Facebook’s new ad guidelines overview focuses on is that the ad review process is largely automated. That information alone better helps advertisers understand why there may be some discrepancies between the ads that are accepted and those that are rejected. 

What qualifies as an ad?  

Before we dive into the specifics of the ad guidelines, let’s make sure we’re all using the same definition of ads. Ads are considered to be any paid content that appears on Facebook apps or services. This includes ad content on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and the Audience Network. Ads include original content that has been boosted as well as ads created from scratch in the Ads Manager. 

What rules should ads follow? 

Getting an ad approved is a multistep process and requires following more than one set of guidelines. 

The first step in the process is making sure your advertising content meets the community standards. It’s important to make sure you meet these basic requirements before jumping into the details of Facebook’s advertising rules. Facebook’s community standards are essentially a list of guiding principles that state content posted on Facebook should be authentic, non-threatening, protect people’s privacy, and be free of harassment. More on that here. 

Once you ensure that your ads meet community guidelines, it’s time to move on to the advertising specific policies. Facebook’s Advertising Policies provide guidance on what types of ad content are allowed. There are a lot of these guidelines, so it’s important to review the table of contents to see where you might run into an issue. Some of the most common points of confusion? Personal Attributes, Sexually Suggestive Content, Facebook's Brands.

As part of the new explanation of rules, Facebook reminds us that your ads may be subject to further sets of rules beyond the basic advertising guidelines. See the graphic below to review the hierarchy of policies -- you need to check to ensure that each ad complies with branded content policies, commerce policies, event policies, and more (if applicable).

Review process

Facebook’s ad review system automatically reviews all ads before they go live – and as we suspected, the May 20 guidelines reaffirm that the system is largely automated. However, sometimes manual review of ads is used – typically for rereviews instead of initial reviews. While ad review is typically completed within 24 hours, it may take longer, and ads can be reviewed again, including after they’re live. 

Based on the results of the review, an ad is either rejected or allowed to run. If an ad is rejected, an advertiser can create a new ad — either with new ad creative or by revising the rejected ad — or request another review if they believe their ad was incorrectly rejected. 

In addition to the standard review, Facebook may choose to investigate overall advertiser behavior such as the number of previous rejections, the severity of those violations, and any attempts to get around the review process. Too many violations and you may lose the ability to run ads on Facebook permanently. 

While this new guidance from Facebook certainly doesn’t answer all of our questions about the process, it does help give some valuable insight into how the process works.

For the full ad review release from Facebook, head here.

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Hue & Tone Creative: Your Social Media Partners 

Struggling to get your social media ads published? Instead of spending all your time reviewing pages and pages of advertising guidelines, let us take the work of writing, creating, and scheduling ads off of your hands.

In the competitive world of digital marketing and web-based sales, customer reviews are a powerful tool. They’re easy to solicit, low or no cost to acquire, and they do the selling for you! What’s more is that reviews offer a genuine perspective that no direct to consumer marketing can provide. 

Seeing a friend review a product online is a powerful form of personal recommendation. These reviews help consumers find new products and help businesses find qualified leads. 

A few benefits to consider: 

• They can serve multiple purposes -- positive reviews get visitors to your website, help you attract potential new leads, and can be used to market to your existing customers. 

• Reviews can be embedded on your website or used on print materials to up the exposure of your brand.

• They’re especially helpful for new businesses who are looking to establish credibility in the marketplace.  

Many customers are willing to provide a review, but you have to make the process easy and be sure to ask your customers at the right time. You’ll want to watch out for signs that your customer is happy with their experience so far. A few tip offs that might write a good review? They’ve referred someone else to you, they’ve repurchased a product, they’ve tagged you on social media, or they’ve spent a lot of time browsing on your website.

To make sure you get it right, here’s four ideas to help you gather more online reviews: 

1.     Leverage social media. Social capital is a powerful tool – if your friends or acquaintances are using a product you’re more likely to give it a try. In addition to the built in referral network social media provides, most platforms provide a great channel for soliciting and sharing reviews. Don’t just ask for new reviews, be sure to share the positive ones you’ve already received! In addition to providing free promotion, they’ll also help give your customers ideas on what to post in their own reviews.

People who have purchased or repurchased products are the perfect target for reviews. Tailor an email or social media campaign directly to these customers so you can don’t miss out on the chance to collect high-quality reviews.  

 2.     Ask more than once. Asking for a review once isn’t always enough – you don’t want to bug people, but you do want to give them ample opportunity to share their thoughts. Different people will want to share their reviews on different platforms and at different times, so be equipped to ask for reviews in a number of ways. Train your team to solicit reviews, add a link into your email campaigns, and incorporate review options into your website pop-ups and landing pages.

3.     Make a direct appeal. If you work as an account manager, are a B2B sales rep, or have a one-on-one relationship, ask your customers directly for a review. Keep it conversational, but inquire how they’re enjoying their experience with your product or service so far. If the response is positive, see if they wouldn’t mind sharing their feedback online. If they have a negative response, see what you can do to fix the problem before inquiring about them giving public feedback. 

 4.     Create Incentives. Offer a future discount, add a bonus product to their order or enter them in a drawing in exchange for their feedback. Be careful you don’t compromise the integrity of the review – you shouldn’t force people to leave a positive review, rather an honest review. 

A few additional tips:

• Accept reviews on multiple platforms like Yelp, Facebook, Google Business, Zillow and more. Everyone has a favorite method of reviewing, so don’t loose out on a good review by limiting people’s platform options. But keep in mind that people tend to trust Facebook reviews more because they’re connected to individual profiles that people can verify the legitimacy of. 

Further Reading: Want to learn more about how to handle a bad review? We’ve got a separate post that goes in-depth on the topic. Check it out here.

• Be sure to respond to all reviews – especially the negative ones! Respond thoughtfully (without getting defensive). In addition to improving the relationship with that individual customer, you’ll also be demonstrating good customer service that shows potential buyers you care and are willing to listen. 

• Make it easy! Cut out additional steps wherever possible and it will up the chances that your customers will take the time to leave a review. Include a direct link so they can head straight to the product page, make login seamless, and provide them with sample writing prompts. 

Have a tip that we should have included? Drop us a comment below – we’d love to learn more about what’s worked for you in the past (and what hasn’t). 

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Hue & Tone Creative: Social Media + Graphic Design

Need someone to take the headaches out of your automated emailing and social media planning? We’re here to help. Whether you’re looking to increase your views or simply need a break from handling your account, Hue & Tone Creative has you covered for all things social. 

Back in June 2020, Apple announced it would be making some substantial changes to how iPhone’s collect your data. The changes include enabling people to share an approximate location (instead of a precise one), adding summaries to the App Store that explain what data each app collects, and requiring third party apps to ask users before sharing their data. 

Facebook swiftly responded to these changes with displeasure, specifically taking issue with the consent driven data sharing. By requiring iPhone owners to grant apps explicit permission, Facebook fears the possibility that most users will block them from collecting detailed information. Facebook uses that data to build out detailed profiles that they market to advertisers (including both small and large businesses). 

The type of data sharing that is specifically being referred to is IDFAs (Identifier for Advertisers). IDFA’s are unique identifiers for mobile devices and are used to target and measure the effectiveness of advertising on a user level across mobile devices. Currently, about 70% of IOS users share their IDFA with app publishers, after this change it’s estimated that this number will drop to 10% to 15% (source). Currently, users can opt of data sharing, but it’s a buried feature that you have to search out.

If people are blocking Facebook from collecting their data, the value of advertising on their platform may significantly decrease. And with it, Facebook’s revenue may take a severe hit. In 2019, about 98.5 percent of Facebook's global revenue was generated from advertising, whereas only around two percent was generated by payments and other fees revenue (source). Much of that revenue is generated by small to medium sized businesses who count on social media advertising as an important part of their marketing strategy. 

It’s important to note these changes aren’t specifically targeted at Facebook – they’re simply one of the biggest companies that may suffer and the company that’s made the most noise about them. The fact of the matter is that every third-party app will have to ask your permission before tracking you. 

What does the timeline for these changes look like? 

Apple originally outlined these changes in June of 2020 in anticipation of a Fall 2020 rollout. The changes were delayed and in December 2020 the pushback from Facebook intensified. 

The changes will begin to take effect as users install or update to the new iOS. When you install those updates a prompt will appear alerting you to opt-in or opt-out of the sharing of this information. 

How did Facebook respond? 

These latest changes are only the most recent development in a tense relationship. Apple and Facebook have been fighting for years, with their CEO’s often aiming comments at each other (more on that here). In December, Facebook launched an all-out offense campaign to try and combat the proposed Apple changes. 

They announced their displeasure on the website/app, took out print ads, and created a subsite for business owners to “voice their displeasure.” Instead of focusing on the potential loss to their own ad revenue, the focus of their latest campaign is that they’re sticking up for small business owners. 

The messaging on their website reads: 

Here’s what’s at stake with the iOS 14 update. 

Apple’s policy could limit your ability to use your own data to show personalized ads to people who are likely to be interested in your business. Now that 44% of small businesses are turning to personalized ads to adapt to the outbreak of COVID-191, this update will be especially hurtful to small businesses in already challenging times. 

Apple’s iOS updates make it harder to reach current and future customers.

Measurement of campaign performance will be disrupted, making it harder to determine the effectiveness of ads.

How will this affect my business advertising?  

If you rely heavily on Facebook advertising to meet your regular sales goals, there’s a good chance that these updates will impact you. After all, the personal information that Facebook collects is what allows you to target customers with creepily specific ads. Apple allowing people to opt out also ups the chance that people will see ads that are less relevant to them. 

Most major platforms are still working through exactly how they will address these major changes – but Facebook confirmed they will not collect IDFA’s on their own devices and will begin updating their SDK to support the SKAdNetwork option. More on that here.

In the immediate future, your advertising may be impacted in two major areas:

• Retargeting: Retargeting to users will no longer be possible for people that have opted out. Platforms like Google and Facebook can still identify users through information like their email or phone number, but other platforms will see a drastic reduction in targetable audiences. 

• Measurement: Ad measurement is built around customers IDFA identifiers – and while Apple has announced a replacement API that will allow for conversion data at the campaign level, there will still be a reduction in the reliability of the data. 

What should you do?

As a consumer, we like that Apple is protecting our data and paving the way for further consumer protections to be enacted. As a digital advertiser and social media company, we understand why business owners are frustrated. But don’t let frustration paralyze you! 

 Now is the perfect time to revisit and revamp your social media advertising strategy. Invest some time into thinking through how these changes might negatively impact your customer acquisition numbers and shift your strategy accordingly.  

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Hue & Tone Creative: Your Social Media Partner 

Not sure what shifting your strategy looks like? Reach out – we can help you create a plan to handle these changes and to futureproof your strategy for future changes. From content creation to analyzing your reach, we’re your partner in everything social media related. 

On the surface, Facebook ads seem like a great value. With startup costs as little as $5/day, most business owners jump on the opportunity to start advertising for such a minimal expenditure.  

Looking for a low cost alternative to social advertising? Maybe email marketing is the right fit for you. Learn more about it here.

The truth is that advertising on Facebook can work for almost any type of business – but the catch is that it takes a well-planned campaign, a clear objective, and an appropriate budget to make it worth the investment. Before starting your first campaign, you’ll want to:

1. Learn how to properly use the Facebook Ads Manager (or hire someone who knows how to use it)

2. Determine a clear budget 

3. Narrow down an objective for your campaign

4. Set a timeline for your campaign, including check-in points where you can retool your creative if needed

5. Design and write your ad creative (don’t forget to consider A/B testing for your creative)

6. Carefully target your ads before launching them 

How much do they cost? 

While it’s true that you can start advertising for just a few dollars, that doesn’t necessarily mean that this is money well spent – or that social advertising will be more cost effective than traditional advertising in the long run. 

The real questions you should be asking here are:

• How much do I have to spend? 

• What are my goals? 

• What cost per click (CPC) do I need to make this worthwhile? 

The fact of the matter is that $5 is going to buy you nothing… in fact, if done poorly a low budget campaign may even hurt your brand. At a bare minimum, we suggest setting aside $500 -$1k for each product or service campaign you plan to do (and this doesn’t include creative development costs). The appropriate budget will be influenced by your objectives, how large of a target audience you want to reach, and the length of your campaign­­. 

Setting a goal

While direct sales goal is one clear cut way to make sure you’ll be able to measure your investment, it’s not the only metric that’s worthwhile. In addition to social media sales (for products), you can also measure:  

• New page “Likes”

• Post-level engagement

• Email opt-ins

• Website click-throughs

• On-site sales or lead generations

Picking the proper objective is going to depend on your specific business. If you’re a new business, brand awareness may be an important piece of your marketing strategy. But if you’re a tried and true brand who is looking to boost sales, you should hone in on conversions or direct sales.  

6 mistakes to avoid

1. Use little to no text on your ad creative. Facebook’s 20% text rule has been the rule of thumb for as long as any social media marketer can remember. In general, the less text means the higher the reach. 

2. Using the wrong ad format. Using the wrong ad format is typically a newbie mistake. The ad manager has numerous options and if you don’t know what you’re doing, there’s a good chance you may not be using the most effective format. Let your objective guide your ad format – and be sure to do plenty of research on the different options before even kicking off your first campaign!  

3. Boosting a post and calling it advertising. While boosting a post may get a few extra eyes on it, this is not the same thing as creating a Facebook campaign. You won’t have any of the targeting or format options available through the ads manager if you simply boost a post.

4. Not regularly monitoring and retooling. Facebook advertising isn’t a set it and forget it medium. You should plan to regularly check-in on your campaigns to measure their success. If something’s not working or performing the way you expected, don’t be afraid to rework it and try again. Live monitoring is one of the benefits of social advertising because it ensures you won’t continue to spend money on something that isn’t working… so don’t let this important feature go to waste! 

5. Only running one ad. Facebook Campaigns are based around sets of ads which are made of individual ads. Limit ad sets to no more than 5 ads so you can compare and contrast what’s working well. 

6. Targeting a wide range. Targeting a broad audience is a big mistake – by casting a wide net, you lower the chances that people are going to respond positively to your ad or engage with it at all. Facebook’s unparalleled targeting is what makes it such a successful platform – and not utilizing these features practically ensures you won’t see a return on your investment.  

The bottom line: are they worth it? 

Want to learn more about Facebook’s targeting options? Facebook has a number of valuable resources available for your use!! 

It’s important to not view Facebook as a silver bullet that will fix all your advertising woes for a minimal cost and labor investment. If done well, your Facebook campaigns will require a lot of careful planning, research, and investment. 

Social advertising should be just one part of a carefully planned and comprehensive digital marketing strategy – and they require as much care and attention as everything else that bears your brand name. 

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Hue & Tone Creative: Your digital marketing partner

Feeling overwhelmed by all the options? Don’t worry – that’s what we’re here for. We’ll help you determine how best to spend your digital marketing budget. Once we’ve decided on the right fit, we can help you take the plan from idea to reality. We’ll help you write, design, and launch everything you need to boost sales.

Black Friday officially marks the start to the holiday shopping season. It’s the kick off to what has turned into a four-day shopping frenzy – and whether you’re looking to capture Black Friday shoppers or Cyber Monday sales, you’ll have tons of consumers who are ready to jump on limited-time only deals. 

While this means the competition out there will be tough, it also means you’ve got a load of hungry consumers to target. If you’re gearing up to get in on the Black Friday or Cyber Monday action, here are five tips to help you make the most of your marketing.

 1. Start it early

Don’t wait until the night before to advertise your Black Friday bargains. We’d recommend warming your audience up a week or two in advance so they: 

• Know to come straight to you once your sale starts

• Can start scouting out what items they might put in their basket

• Can spread the word on your behalf

2. Be clear

People aren’t mind readers, so make it super easy for them to find out when your sale starts/ends, what the discounts will be, and which products or services they’ll apply to.

Drumming your Black Friday bonanza up to be something bigger and better than it is is a risky game to play. You run the risk of not only annoying customers on the day of, but also losing their long-term interest as well. 

3. Check your capacity 

If you’re lucky, your server will see a steep spike in traffic on and around Black Friday as consumers hunt through your site for the best deal. Make sure your systems can handle the increase in volume with ease - the last thing you want is your site or app crashing during peak buying times.

4. Take a targeted approach

Instead of sending out blanket marketing campaigns and hoping for the best, take the time to create a more tailored approach by digging into people’s behavior and targeting them based on past habits. 

Target people who have recently abandoned carts full of items that are now going on sale. It takes more time to set up, but if done right the results will be worth it. 

5. Make sure you standout 

Whatever medium you’re using - email, social media, direct mail, or otherwise, there’s a lot of competition out there. But it’s not only your competitors you’re competing against. 

You need to make sure your marketing collateral stands out from the stuff you typically send out so that recipients sit up, pay attention, and immediately click through to your website. Find the balance between an eye-catching Black Friday ad and your usual brand. It’s a great time to push the boundaries of your every day branding – just don’t lose your brand completely. 

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Your Holiday Marketing Partner

Not sure where to start? Not a problem. Whether it’s support with your landing pages, social media strategy or email campaign, we’ve got you covered. For last minute Black Friday support, reach out to us at 336-365-8559 or hannah@hueandtonecreative.com.

Simply getting your business on Facebook doesn’t guarantee any kind of social media success. To really reach people and build a following you’ll need a top-notch profile that will grab attention and pull customers in… but how do you make that happen?

Keeping up with Facebook’s latest features can feel like a full time job. But no matter how many features are available, there’s a few elements you should never ignore.

We’ve put together our 7 essentials for a killer Facebook page that will take your page from bland to BAM!

1.    Fill out the basics

Before you get focused on the visuals, make sure that all of your business information has been filled out correctly. This means making sure your address, hours, web link, and business description are all filled out properly.

 

2.  Simple + strong profile picture

Keep it simple when uploading your profile picture – stick to your logo or a professional headshot. Make sure your image is properly formatted (square) and is high resolution. Nothing makes a worse impression than a blurry image!

3. A distinctive cover photo

When it comes to choosing your cover photo, make sure that your image enhances your profile picture without distracting from it. Your cover photo should show off your products, relate to your services, or communicate your company’s values/mission.

A properly sized cover photo will be formatted to 820px X 312px for desktop or 640px X 360px for mobile.

Can’t communicate everything in one photo? You can also play around with a video cover photo!

4. Direct Your Visitors

You can enhance your Facebook page by selecting a Call to Action (CTA) button to go at the top of your page (it overlays over your cover photo). You can select one of 7 options that will take your customers to the landing page of your choice. The button options are:

• Buy Now

• Shop Now

• Sign Up

• Call Now

• Contact Us

• Send Message

• Send Email

5. Gather Reviews

Make it a regular part of your customer interactions to ask for Facebook and Google Business reviews. Send a follow-up note to happy customers, put a link on receipts, or offer discounts for people who leave you a review!

Collecting a lot of positive reviews can provide credibility to a new page – and they’re a great way to distinguish yourself in a crowded market! 

6. Set up an auto reply message

56% of shoppers prefer using Facebook Messenger over calling a customer service number when they have an issue. Set up an autoreply message for your page so that people who reach out will get an immediate reply!

But, you ask, what should it say? We suggest using autoreply to set expectations for when you’ll get back to your computer, letting people know where to view FAQ, or to provide alternate ways of getting in touch.

It’s impossible to be monitoring your page messages around the clock, but having an informative autoreply message will ensure customers feel like they’re getting top notch service…whether you’re available or not!
 

7. Keep your timeline fresh

Need ideas on what to post on Facebook? We’ve got you covered.

This may seem like an obvious one – but posting high quality, engaging content is key to creating engaged followers. It’s key to post often and consistently. Be sure to incorporate visual content like photos, videos, gifs, and infographics to help boost your interaction! 

Were these 7 essentials not enough? Download our comprehensive Facebook checklist for even more tips and to-do’s, and before you know it you’ll have more comments than you can even respond to!

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Social Media Marketing in Greensboro, NC

Have you hit a plateau for likes and follows? We can fix that! Whether you’re looking to increase your views or simply need a break from handling your account, Hue & Tone Creative has you covered for all things social.

Getting ready to throw a party, annual conference, or charity fundraiser? It’s never too early to start creating hype for your event. 

Putting time and energy into marketing your event will help spread the word to a wider pool of potential attendees and boost ticket sales. 

Ready to get started? Watch your RSVP list grow with these 5 easy steps. 

1. Create an Event page

We suggest getting started with a Facebook event page. You can link it to your business page and invite friends from your personal page, which will help you gain reach fast!  

Here’s a few things to keep in mind to create a standout event page: 

• Use a bold graphic that draws attention and looks great when it’s resized. Facebook recommends using pictures that are 1920 X 1080 pixels in order maintain clarity. Vector illustrations, event logos, or relevant stock images are all strong options.

• Come up with a clear and compelling headline to entice people to attend.

• Link all your social channels as well as your brand’s page, website, and a link to buy tickets.

• Add as many relevant tags that you can think of to improve your SEO and help possible partygoers find your page.

If you don’t want to use Facebook, Eventbrite is a great alternative (or great to use in addition to Facebook... more on that below). You can even sell tickets through Eventbrite and link it to your Facebook event page!

2. Send Invites and Save the Dates 

Sidebar: This isn’t the first time we’ve extolled the virtues of Eventbrite! Find our breakdown of the best Eventbrite features here. 

Now that your page is published, start sending those invites! If you want to send something more personal than a Facebook invitation, we’d second our recommendation for using Eventbrite. 

Choose from numerous email templates and add custom text for a personalized touch.  Want something a little more stylish? Eventbrite’s partnership with Event Kingdom offers designer digital invitations. Another plus? Every email invitation can be integrated with MailChimp, making it easier to track things like your open and response rates. 

3. Incentivize ticket sales

There’s no point in organizing an event with no guests. Get the ball rolling and start driving ticket sales as soon as possible. Offering special early bird, military, and group promotions can help you build buzz and sell out fast. Friend referral codes are another fantastic way to expand your guest list and spread the news to wider circles. 

Sidebar: Keep an eye on your metrics so that you can see which channels are thriving and which ones aren’t showing a strong return on investment. 

 

4. Drive excitement on social

FOMO is real. No one wants to feel left out. Use this to your advantage with creative posts on all your social channels.

• Use a clever and consistent hashtag on every post or tweet. Be sure to keep it short and make sure no one else is already using it.

• Start a giveaway or contest for a chance to win VIP tickets, gift cards, or event swag.

• Post behind the scenes videos or Boomerangs.

• Hosting a DIY event? Create a mini poll and invite followers to vote on an activity.

• Countdown the event on Twitter as it gets closer.
  

5. Keep Sharing at the Event

Pro tip: Be sure to screenshot and collect images from people – you can use these to help promote your event next year! 

Even when the event begins, the sharing shouldn’t stop. Sharing behind the scenes live videos and sneak peeks can help drum up last minute attendees. Don’t forget to send out another wave of reminder emails for tickets. 

When the party starts, keep the excitement going by encouraging your guests to share pictures on social paired with your event hashtag. Another fun touch is creating your own custom Geo filter for Snapchat. 

Now that you have some new tools and tips at your disposal, start promoting!

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Event Marketing & Graphic Design in Greensboro, NC and Winston Salem

Organizing an event? We’ve got you covered. From event graphics to email campaigns, Hue & Tone can help add style to the tiniest details. Give us a call today to find out more about our creative services.