Millions of teens have abandoned Facebook since 2011 and instead are flocking to apps like Instagram. What does this mean for your business? If your target demographic market is over age 25, then you should be marketing your business on Facebook! And if you're looking to reach the 13-24 age group, it's time to take a look at Instagram.

More info: http://www.statista.com/chart/1789/facebook-s-teenager-problem/

The Pink Group has provided us with an updated cheat sheet of image sizes and dimensions for Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Vimeo, and SlideShare: http://thepinkgroup.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Social-Media-Cheat-sheet.pdf

Original Post for April, 2013:

Have you decided that it’s time to create a Facebook Page for your business? Wondering exactly how to get your Page started the right way?

Facebook continues to change and evolve, making it a moving target for people trying to find the correct steps to set up a Page. But never fear--Social Media Examiner has all the critical pieces that you need to put in place to start your Facebook Page today.

To set up your Facebook Page, just follow these steps:

Read more.

The trouble with search today is that there’s a tradeoff between reach and relevance. We have to work hard sifting through the results to find what’s really relevant to us. Or, we can poll our social and professional networks, because our friends are reliable, relevant, familiar, and trustworthy, which legitimizes the information we get from them. The promise of Facebook’s new Graph Search combines the relevance of social information filters with the reach of modern search technology.

What does Graph Search mean for small businesses? Plenty. Facebook recently posted that they are “building a completely new vertical to handle searching posts and comments.” This means that every post and every comment is searchable.

Consistent and relevant posts on Facebook Business Pages are now more important than ever. Facebook’s new Graph Search can make your business’s Facebook Page easier to find, and get you more visibility. The bottom line is this; More people need to “like” your page or check in at your venue so the people they’re connected to get exposed to your page. Here are a few tips you can do now to make your page easier to find.

The first three steps are essentially for entry-level Facebook Page admins. If you’re certain that you’re already implementing the most basic best practices, skip ahead to step four.

Visual marketing is one of the most effective ways you can give your business a voice online. According to Science Blogs, “Pictures were correctly recalled about 1.5 times as often as printed words.” Not only are images easier to recall, they also cause a more emotional response from the viewer, which in turn causes them to engage more. If you want to test this, in a practical way, try this: go on Facebook and update with text, then an hour or so later update with a picture or even better a picture with a quote. More times than not, within 10 minutes the picture will have at least two to three times the engagement the text did. 

Ever get tired of memorizing all the dimensions of the various sizes and specifications for social media profile and post photos? This infographic by Luna Metrics lists all of the sizing information for images on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.

Another article shows how to create an integrated Cover Photo and Profile Picture on Facebook, with a downloadable Photoshop template to help you in this effort. An “integrated” masthead design is where the Cover Photo ( the big image) and the Profile Picture (the image overlaid in the lower left corner of the Cover Photo) seem of a piece, where the Profile Picture appears to be transparent:

Have you ever wondered if what you’re doing on Facebook is right or not? Here’s a simple checklist to properly evaluate your Facebook Page and see if you’re on the right track.

Facebook Page Checklist: 

1. “About” section: is your website URL the first thing listed?
2. Additional “About” section: Are you providing links to your company’s other social channels, like your Twitter account and blog?
3. Cover photo: is it well-designed and does it meet Facebook’s Guidelines?
4. Cover photo description: when someone clicks on your cover photo, do you have a photo description with information, a call to action, or links?
5. Profile photo: does it clearly reflect your brand?
6. App thumbnails: are the three most important apps featured as “favorite” apps, and do the app thumbnails include a call to action or have a promising label?
7. “Talking about this number”: Divide your “Talking about this number” by your Page’s total number of Likes. This will calculate your Page’s engagement from the past seven days. Average Page engagement is two percent. If you’re below two percent, your content strategy needs to be adjusted.

Social media marketing done properly is probably THE most effective and efficient marketing medium available today. Many small and/or local businesses see an incredible amount of new business derived from making meaningful connections with their audience within the social graph, however most do not. There are four main mistakes that small businesses make within social media that prevent them from achieving returns.

1) Lack of Consistency – Above anything, being consistent with your social media marketing is essential. You need to consistently post relevant content, respond to comments and shares, and reach out to your prospects and engage them in conversation. Just having social media accounts set up will effectively do nothing to build relationships and generate revenue. Being consistent in these core areas will.

2) Lack of Strategy – As with all things in business, without a proper plan it is unlikely you will be successful.  Social media marketing requires a very clear strategy and planning that consists of these minimum elements:

• A clear audience/market to target

• A content posting/topic strategy
• A community growth strategy

3) Knowing what you don’t know – A huge mistake many small businesses make is to just jump in without the knowledge and experience. You are better off not doing social media, then to do it wrong. Either a) Pay for some education from someone that has actually done it effectively or b) Hire the expertise, in the form of a professional social media agency. Either of these options will be WELL worth the expense!

4) Lack of Response – If someone called your company to inquire about your product or service and you waited three days to call them back, how likely would it be that they would do business with you? Imagine if you never called them back…  Too many small businesses respond to their community either way to slowly or not at all.

If someone shares your content, thank them immediately and ask them a question that furthers the conversation. If someone comments on your page, they are telling you that they are there, now. Respond and take advantage of the opportunity to build a relationship.

You may have heard that social media marketing is free. It is far from free and requires either a substantial investment in time, education and resources -or- a little bit of money by way of hiring an effective social media firm to help you.

Know that your competitors are already in the space and your prospects are too. Not doing social media or doing it ineffectively will result in a very sad conversation about your business in just a few years. I urge you to not only get in, but get in properly!

Article by SteamFeed.

Are you struggling to generate LIKES, comments and shares on your Facebook page? Whether your challenge is a lack of motivation, inspiration or creativity, knowing how to organically reach fans can be frustrating.  While there is no set rule to determining what content your fans crave most, there are creative ways to figure out what they find appealing, interesting and LIKEable! Read more.