How to Improve Facebook Marketing Campaigns (+ 5 Mistakes to Avoid)

Did your Facebook marketing campaigns generate buzz around your brand in 2019? Perhaps you celebrated a few wins but struggled with organic reach and engagement. Maybe you hit your goals of brand visibility but suffered from a lack of conversions. Social media continues to pose a challenge for businesses of all sizes.

53% of marketers feel social media will provide the best source of leads for their business. Yet, only 32% think their current marketing activities are optimized for lead generation, according to Social Media Today. This gap signifies a need for marketers to review their content marketing strategy and make improvements to align their plan with their objectives.

Measuring content performance using established KPIs and content marketing ROI help you make every dollar of your budget count. If you’ve been using giveaways, contests, and polls as part of your Facebook marketing campaigns, then now is a great time to look at what’s working and what needs tweaking. Learn how to collect and review 2019 data, how to avoid marketing campaign mistakes, and brainstorm your new editorial calendar. Discover these marketing insights (and more) to ensure optimal results in 2020.

Achieve 2020 Goals by Collecting and Reviewing 2019 Data

Between algorithm shifts and privacy regulations, we’ve seen quite a few changes in 2019. However, one thing is for sure; companies with a documented content strategy edge out the competition. The latest research from the Content Marketing Institute shows, 69% of top-performing businesses rely on a well-documented plan, whereas only 16% of the least successful companies use a strategy.

But, creating a plan is only one step. Leading marketers reach their goals by continually reviewing data and using that information to inform their strategic and tactical marketing decisions. While your overall analysis should include information from all of your marketing channels and activities, today, we’ll focus on how well your specific Facebook marketing campaigns worked in 2019.

Examine All Facebook Marketing Campaigns

For each 2019 marketing campaign, list the various Facebook giveaways, contests, quizzes, and polls used and its purpose or Facebook goal. Also note how you promoted each Facebook marketing campaign, such as other social media channels, emails, your website, and landing pages. Don’t forget to include dates, times, and if you segment your audience on each channel.

Gain Deeper Insights With Woobox Performance Stats

Download data using the stats export file for Woobox offers. With this file, you’ll get information on views and visits. Each category breaks down into specific data sets.

Stats Traffic page tracks total conversions and engagement to every part of your offer that users land on.
Stats Entries page shows the total number of entries and bonus entries.
Stats Shares page displays how many times people shared your campaign using the share popup or share buttons.
Stats Sources page separates traffic into direct and viral categories with subcategories for those who click on the Facebook page tab versus URL clicks.

Gather Data From Outside Sources

Typical sources used include Google and email analytics. If you use a content management system, then you can combine data from various sources into one spot.

Google Analytics. Your UTM tracking links show up under the Acquisition tab, where you’ll find a campaign link. Choose a timeframe that coincides with the data you want to collect, then click the secondary dimension link to find information about the sources and mediums from your campaign.

Email Analytics. Although you’ll likely have insights from email in Google Analytics, your email app may provide further information about your unique opens, bounced emails, and unopened emails.

Social Media Analytics. Use data from various social channels to determine which social media contests had the most engagement, impressions, and conversions.

Dig Into Your Facebook Marketing Campaign Data

Just because a campaign received less engagement doesn’t mean that the contest itself didn’t work. Instead, it may be due to timing, a lack of organic views on your social media account, or an issue with your copy or image quality.

Highlight top-performing content. Which Facebook contests, giveaways, quizzes, or polls had the best results?
Pinpoint your worst-performing content. Which Facebook promotions had limited views, engagement, and conversion rates?

You may see a pattern of timing or better performance with a specific segment of your audience. If you’re not happy with your results, then see if you’re making one (or more) of these five mistakes.

Top 5 Mistakes Made With Facebook Marketing Campaigns

A Facebook marketing campaign has many moving parts. Tracking each one is difficult, which is why it’s essential to use the right tools, along with only sharing your best content. The biggest problems content marketers face with Facebook giveaways and promos include:

Lack of campaign data from not using custom source tracking and UTM tracking for URLs.
Unclear information due to not embedding Google and Facebook tracking pixels.
Poor cross-promotion resulting in less overall campaign reach.
Not using Facebook tabs and website popups for contest promotion.
Issues with promotional copy, images, hashtags, or CTA.

How to Avoid Making the Same Mistake This Year

Fortunately, it’s easy to fix each of these mistakes. While it may seem time-consuming at first, once you create a process that goes along with your editorial calendar, it’ll get easier.

When creating your Facebook marketing campaigns, list the UTM tracking codes, including custom source tracking, for each promotion right on your editorial calendar.
Add tracking pixels in Woobox by going to the setup tab and clicking on Advanced, then on Tracking.

Create a Facebook contest promotion strategy for every giveaway, poll, or quiz you create.
Embed your campaign on your website using the code found under the Embed section of your Woobox campaign dashboard.
Ensure that every social media post delivers a clear message via your images, copy, and a strong CTA.

Brainstorm Your Editorial Calendar

Now, it’s time for the fun part. Of course, before you can devise any content, you’ll need a clear understanding of objectives for each Facebook marketing campaign. Your Facebook comment giveaways, contests, and polls should support your overall campaign and goals. A few key takeaways from successful campaigns include:

Mix it up! Use various promotions throughout the month. Add Facebook polls, contests, and quizzes to your calendar to add some variety.
Showcase UGC. Use the gallery function to display user-generated content, allow Facebook comments on gallery photos, and enable voting.
Uncover the hottest hashtags. Each social media post needs a few hashtags for increased visibility. Add your hashtags in your editorial calendar.

Need some examples to fill in your calendar? We’ve included a few top-performing Facebook marketing campaigns below. Plus, check out these posts for tons more Facebook contest examples.

Fill-in-the-Blank Facebook Contest

With 5,700 followers, Bee Mart rocks their fan engagement with a fill-in-the-blank contest. Their use of a simple branded photo and clear entry instructions garnered more than 465 comments and 77 shares within days of posting, proving that you don’t need to be fancy to attract attention.

Caption-This-Photo User Generated Content

Zag Interactive gathers user-generated content then turns that content into shareable Facebook posts their audience loves. This image is from a caption-this-photo contest. Zag Interactive created new material from hundreds of entries to keep their social media content fun and fresh.

Fan of the Week Facebook Contest

Motherhood.com wins big by showcasing ten fans every week. Even their posts AFTER the contest ends receives dozens of comments. Your followers love recognition and repetition. A Fan of the Week contest satisfies both needs.

Facebook Quizzes and Trivia

BuzzFeed quizzes continue to attract hundreds of comments on nearly every quiz created. Design a viral quiz by understanding your followers’ passions. Social platforms deliver insights that you can use to develop fun quizzes on every topic of interest.

Conclusion

While you don’t have to toss out last year’s Facebook marketing strategy, it’s worth your time to review data before creating your next editorial calendar. Refresh your social channels for optimal engagement and conversions by putting this information to work for you!

Get Help from Woobox Support

If you need more ideas or help using Woobox stats, then contact our team. Woobox Support is available for help from 8 am — 5 pm PST, Monday through Friday at 1-360-450-5200 or support@woobox.com.