Ive started a Company in the last few months and have been busy bashing my head on the desk with Google+ and Facebook.
With Facebook I added a business page to my personal Facebook then advertised it via the Facebook pay per click route. The results were poor apart from clear and obvious friends support the clicks were nearly all the result of click farm activity. So I pulled that add and have concentrated a bit more on the Google side.
With Google+ things have been a bit better, having created the landing page I took out and add (local) have had telephone contact so the adds have worked and to date just the one closed sale from a Google lead. But our sales have quite a high value so I'm ahead at the moment.
I have had one or two snags though. in particular with Google maps (a popular search). My company address is in Waltham Abbey which is in west Essex but I wanted to advertise in the Essex/Suffolk area so using the app I centred the area over Braintree and expanded the range about 30 miles or so. Its then that without any warning Google decided that the centre of the add must be where the company is based and adjusted the map pointer on the advert accordingly. So I had and address in one area with the map pointing to another, NOT GOOD. Clients don't like things like that and there will always be another company whose details all line up nicely on the same page so I think we suffered a bit there.
I've just corrected that today and got a boost from Google with some free advertising so we go again once all is settled down.
Interesting what you say about boosting Facebook posts, I might give it a go once I can go back to the page without feeling like I've just paid Facebook to pay someone else to click on my add. Grrrrr.
FB 467 likes, Twitter 139 followers and Google Plus a declining total of 4!
There is a reason for Google Plus, it seems I set up the wrong type of page, meaning it wouldn't show in Google maps or have the ability to leave reviews. The main aim for this page was to show up in the Google results for Brand search terms. So I had to delete the Google page and create a new one, going through the pain of waiting for a postcard validation pin number being sent.
So lesson learnt, make sure you set up the correct Google Plus page from the beginning!
To be honest, Facebook and Twitter are on semi tickover mode as they have served their purpose to generate initial interest, but will ramp up again shortly when the scheme is publicly launched and the social media channels will be used to reinforce messages.
But in summary, Facebook promotional campaigns have been very successful at generating interest and leads for a new service, which may be worth considering for any startups. ”
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