This post is for anyone who has had a social media post go viral!
You know, the one that everyone shared.
Anxiously waiting to see how many shares, comments, and likes it got. There’s just something so exciting about reading the number of people who’ve witnessed your content and what they thought.
This is for anyone who has been wondering what to do after their post goes viral because it can be all too easy to get swept up in the excitement of having a piece of content go so far and then have no idea where to take it from there.
We share some tips on how we handled our most recent success story: North Florida Animal Rescue.
July 24, 2019 – September 1, 2019
It was an otherwise ordinary day when I posted the above meme. Nothing major in the news was happening and by all accounts the weather was fine.
I finalized the post you see above and hit ‘Post.’. Then something incredible happened.
Here is the net growth from the 5 days before this post (activity from Jul 20 – Jul 23, 2019).
We hardly made the needle move the week before but what happens next is nothing short of magical.
1-day later: 100 new followers
1 week later: 992 new followers
1 month later: 3364 new followers
The post fizzled out by the first of September 2019 but not before we collected 3614 new followers!
The new followers allow us to hit the goals of our client: keep their audience engaged and drive donations.
Here we can see that all metrics are pointing north even a year later.
Social Media Retargeting: How to Turn Viral Exposure into Guaranteed Sales
Now that we’ve doubled their followers, we have seen a direct increase in donations. This success is a direct result of connecting the right message to the right people at the right time.
For now, at the request of our client, our strategy hasn’t changed. Heather Keeler, Director of North Florida Animal Clinic, is very pleased with our results. So we will continue to entertain their audience with great content while mixing in promotions and requests for donations regularly.
But…
If I could, I would have implemented these social media retargeting strategies:
Target Specific Audiences – A great marketing strategy requires a thought-out and clear plan. What messages will appeal to the customer? Instead of retargeting every person that interacted with your post, try segmenting audiences into interest-based groups. Here you’ll want to address their needs in detail with clear messaging and visuals.
Retargeting Specific URL Visits – Custom Audiences on Facebook are your secret weapon to getting more retargeted customers. They offer a diverse range of customization options that allows us to target specific groups.
Since your post is getting so much attention, your website traffic should increase, too. People are curious and some will check you out online. Capture this interest by running retargeting ads using visitors that land on a specific URL.
Get very clear on who’s going to see your ad and what they’re looking for. This is one of the best reasons to advertise using Facebook.
This is the best chance to get win back your audience, grab their attention again, and remind them why they were interested in the first place.
Think of all the sales that didn’t happen.
Lead-gen ads based on page engagement – Email marketing isn’t dead. Far from it, so use the success of your viral post to build your list by using Facebook’s Lead Ads. Lead Ads are super effective in getting people to convert because the user isn’t forced to leave Facebook.
These hyper-aware social media users are constantly checking out new brands. It only makes sense to target them with Facebook Ads employing the page engagement retargeting setting.
A reason to grow your email list: Email marketing has the highest return on investment for small businesses. (Campaign Monitor, 2019).
Conclusion
Most of this new attention won’t convert into a sale with the first round of retargeting. It’s only because these fans don’t know who you are or what benefits to expect yet.
It’s not that Facebook advertising doesn’t work.
Just like most people in a relationship don’t get married right away; your new visitors need time before committing themselves to buy from you. So don’t stop talking to them. Don’t stop trying to relate to them. Stay consistent with trying to reach them with the right message.
Good luck!
For more information on Facebook retargeting strategies, click here.
