A guide for bloggers and media publishers looking to grow their Facebook audience through better content, promotions and advertising.

1. @GRINER #TypeACon
BY DAVID GRINER
C O N T E N T S T R A T E G I S T

2. @GRINER
TYPE-A PARENT CONFERENCE 2013
A T L A N T A , G A .
S P E C I A L T H A N K S T O :
K E L B Y C A R R , T Y P E - A P A R E N T F O U N D E R
M E L A N I E N E L S O N , T Y P E - A P A R E N T P R O G R A M M I N G
D I R E C T O R
C O V E R P H O T O B Y R E T O F E T Z / F L I C K R C R E A T I V E C O M M O N S
Originally presented at
#TypeACon

3. @GRINER
• About 20% of referral traffic to major
content publishers is driven from
Facebook
• Twitter is around 6%
• That said, it varies wildly by site
First off, how important is
Facebook?
#TypeACon
Source: ChartBeat/Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic, 10/12/12

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How important is Facebook?
#TypeACon
Overall traffic sources for YearOfAlabamaFood.com:

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When your post does go viral on
Facebook, you’ll want to make sure
you’re ready to make the most of it
And you never know when
things might blow up
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Oh, hey there.

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1. Organic content
2. Promotions (Giveaways, contests, etc.)
3. Advertising and promoted content
So how do you build
a Facebook audience?
#TypeACon

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1. Better images
2. Better coding on your site
Part I: Organic Content
Two ways to grow audience
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Recently, Facebook changed the way it
displays photos in post links.
The change is good, if you adapt to it.
1. Better images
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It used to work like this:

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So publishers started
doing this:

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Facebook
compromised
with this:

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Which is great, unless
you end up with this.

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• Go horizontal. (Specifically, Facebook
uses a 1.91:1 aspect ratio.)
• Recommended minimum size is
600 px x 315 px
• Ideal is 1,200 px x 630 px or more
For ideal Facebook images
#TypeACon

18. @GRINER
No worries.
Now you can upload custom photos when
you’re posting.
Doesn’t work with your
blog layout?
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Huzzah!

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Welcome to the super duper boring part
of blogging.
But it’s pretty important.
2. Better coding on your site
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Facebook Open
Graph (OG) tags
can have a big
impact on your
site’s shareability
and fan growth
Let’s get OG
#TypeACon

22. @GRINER
They’re built into the metadata of your
site in the same way that your post titles
and summaries are.
OG tags tell Facebook lots of info about
your site and your posts.
How OG tags work
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OG tags in their natural environment
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Woo, it’s gettin’ hot in here.

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OG tags you already know
#TypeACon
OG:Title – Post headline
OG:Site_name – Name of your blog
OG:Description – Post summary (Facebook
recommends 2 sentences or more, btw)
OG:Type - Designates your content as an
article, opening up other tag options
(WordPress plugins typically cover all this.)

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Other tags you SHOULD know
#TypeACon
Article:author – Lets you identify the
Facebook URL of the post author, which will
trigger a “Follow” button on posts
(Good for multi-author blogs.)
Article:publisher – Identifies the
Facebook page of your blog, which will
trigger a “Like Page” button on posts.
(This one’s super important.)

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Effect of Author and Publisher tags
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Right now, lots of blogs and even
mainstream media outlets are behind on
these new Facebook formats and options.
Taking advantage of them now can help
set your site apart and make the most of
your content being shared.
Subtle, but important
#TypeACon

28. @GRINER
As you probably know, Facebook has
eased up its restrictions on giveaways and
contests, but there are still lots of rules to
know about.
Part II: Promotions
#TypeACon

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Until August 2013, Facebook required all
promotions be hosted on third-party
applications, usually in the form of “tab apps”
on your Facebook page.
Now Facebook has dropped this rule, allowing
pages to host giveaways that can be entered by
Liking or commenting on a post.
The big change
#TypeACon

30. @GRINER
Hosting a promotion in an application still
has a lot of benefits.
But just because you CAN
doesn’t mean you SHOULD
#TypeACon

31. @GRINER
Why still use an app?
#TypeACon
Using an app for
your giveaway or
contest makes it
easier to gather
contact information,
sign up participants
for future emails
and embed rules.

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• The ability to measure analytics
• Fan-gating to require visitors Like the
page before entering
• Lots more design/image flexibility
A few more perks of
promotion apps:
#TypeACon

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• Your attempts to contact winners privately
can get caught in their “Other” inbox or
blocked outright by privacy settings
• You’ll still have to include the line, “This
promotion is in no way sponsored,
endorsed or administered by, or
associated with, Facebook.”
If you do a giveaway on your
Facebook page…
#TypeACon

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• “Personal Timelines must not be used to
administer promotions”
• That means you can’t allow entries via
sharing a post on a user’s own wall (or a
friend’s)
• Try to avoid violating this when running
giveaways on your blog, as well.
Giveaways on your wall also
include one big restriction
#TypeACon

35. @GRINER
If you’re going to be doing several smaller
giveaways, create a Facebook tab app that
makes it easy for winners to enter their
contact info. It can also include your rules
and disclaimers.
Then you can simply link to one app when
you announce giveaways or notify winners.
Here’s a good compromise
#TypeACon

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A few promotion tools I recommend
#TypeACon
Shortstack
Woobox

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When used in conjunction, promotions
and Facebook ads are the single most
effective way to build audience.
Part III: Advertising and
Promoted Content
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Daily fan growth example
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Daily fan growth example
#TypeACon
Giveaway w/ advertising
& email blasts
Contest w/ email blasts
(no advertising)
Giveaway w/
advertising
& email blasts

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Daily fan growth example
#TypeACon
Giveaway w/ advertising
& email blasts
Contest w/ email blasts
(no advertising)
Giveaway w/
advertising
& email blasts
Despite strong daily engagement, fan growth
between promotions was essentially flat.

41. @GRINER
Advertising on Facebook comes in a lot of
flavors, but the two you should care most
about are:
• Like ads (Sponsored Stories)
• Promoted Posts
Facebook ad options
#TypeACon

42. @GRINER
If your site is well known, Like ads can be
an effective way to generate new fans.
Plus….
Like ads vs. Promoted Posts
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Daily fan growth example
#TypeACon
They are literally
the cheapest ads on earth.

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But if your content is your strong suit and
your name recognition is low, go with
promoted posts.
Like ads vs. Promoted Posts
#TypeACon

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1. Create a budget and timeline, then tell
Facebook to promote your newest post
2. Manually promote your posts for any
dollar amount on any schedule
Remember: You can target your
promotion to any location, demographic
or fan base.
Two ways to buy
Promoted Posts
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If you’re promoting content, first be sure
any image you’re promoting contains less
than 20% text. Otherwise, Facebook will
reject your post.
Beware ‘The 20% Rule’
#TypeACon

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The 20% Rule in action
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Facebook’s ‘Grid Tool’ lets you check
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While many people focus on complying
with the 20% rule, they don’t realize that
promoted posts also must abide by
Facebook’s lengthy ad guidelines.
So many rules
#TypeACon

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“Ad text must include proper grammar
and the use of all symbols, numbers, or
letters must adhere to the true meaning of
the symbol.”
(Bless you for this one, Facebook.)
More Facebook ad rules you
should know about
#TypeACon

51. @GRINER
More Facebook ad rules to know
#TypeACon
• Can’t “position products or services in a
sexually suggestive manner.”
• “Ads may not contain content that
exploits political agendas or ‘hot button’
issues for commercial use.”
• Can’t imply the audience’s gender,
religion, age or sexual orientation
• “Ads may not promote the sale or use of
weapons, ammunition, or explosives.”

52. @GRINER
Keep an eye out
#TypeACon
Facebook is currently overhauling its entire approach
to ad units, scheduled to roll out “this fall.”

53. @GRINER
As frustrating as Facebook’s
ever-changing options can be, it’s worth
experimenting and adapting your
approach to audience growth.
(But you still have a Constitutionally
protected right to complain about it.)
How to keep growing
on Facebook
#TypeACon

54. @GRINER
David Griner
Twitter: @Griner
Email: Griner@gmail.com
Linkedin.com/in/Griner
Thanks for your time
#TypeACon