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Boosted Posts vs. Dark Posts in Facebook

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If you are new to advertising your business on Facebook it’s important to understand the difference between boosted posts vs. “dark posts”.

In short, a boosted post is published from the News Feed on your Facebook business page. A dark post is created and published with Facebook Ads Manager or Power Editor. A dark post DOES NOT show up on your Facebook business page, although it shows up in the News Feeds of other people (that you choose through targeting) as coming from that business page.

Think of your Facebook business page as a “store front,” “community center,” or “brand center” where you can create messaging that supports and engages your audience so you can build a relationship with people that are already interested in what your business has to offer. Now think of dark posting as a function of “Ads Manager” which is more the back-end advertising machine of your business.

Dark posting allows you to run multiple ad posts with different messaging to as many different target groups that you need. You can run ads to people that have visited your website, ads to different demographic audiences you create, lookalike audiences, etc. And it doesn’t all show up as an advertising mess on your Facebook business page. It is all organized in Facebook Ads Manager.

You can also split test. You can switch out images if one isn’t working for a particular audience or test different copy or offer ideas. You constantly want to be split testing your ads for improvement and using dark posts allows you to do this.

Hopefully this clarifies a little better on what it means to advertise on Facebook. Happy marketing!

For more tips and tricks, get the social media content guide cheat sheet, just for childcare centers. 

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Should You Create A Landing Page For Your Facebook Ad?

Something to consider when marketing your childcare business on Facebook is WHERE you are sending new potential customers to. If you just send them to your child care website then you probably aren’t capturing their information. Why do you want to capture their information? Studies show that you need to have at least 7 connection points with a potential customer before doing business. This is ESPECIALLY true in child care, an industry heavily based on trust, with a lot of time and consideration put into the decision making process. If you capture their email and telephone number, you then have endless opportunities to follow up with them and create a RELATIONSHIP with them via email, text, a follow up call, etc.

A landing page is a spot where the potential customer can sign up for more information/events/giveaways, coupons etc. This is the key way to collect important data and contact information from your potential customer. Landing pages are a great way to utilize Facebook ads to capture the information of families in your area.

First, its important to understand that a landing page is a standalone web page distant from your main website that has been designed for a single objective. The main reason for this is so not to distract your visitor from the intended goal, such as joining your email list. You can use websites such as www.leadpages.net to aid you in creating beautifully designed landing pages. They have tutorials and templates which make the whole process easy to handle.

The main type of landing page for a child care center to focus on is Lead Generation. A Lead Generation landing page is used to capture visitor data such as name, email address and telephone number. A lead page will have a form to enter details and a description on what the visitor will gain in return for submitting personal data. For example, you could be offering a coupon if they book a tour of you childcare center and for a visitor to be able to book an appointment they would need to hand over their contact details.

Below are some tips to get the most out of your landing page to drive your business…

1. The best way to get your visitors to sign up is to keep the data required to the bear minimum, people don’t like giving over personal details at the best of times so keep it as streamlined as possible.

2. Make your call to action (CTA) big and prominent and above the fold (able for people to see without scrolling down too much) so viewers can’t miss it.

3. A landing page should have a single purpose and thus have only one single focused message!

4. Make sure you show your service or product being used in context, pictures of cute kids works well. Imagery is key here.

5. Use testimonials if you have them. Viewers are more likely to sign up if they read positive feedback on the service you are offering!

6. Experiment with A/B testing, testing different imagery or copy and letting your viewers decide.

7. Make sure you include contact details and social media links so viewers can read up on your childcare services, you’ll look more trustworthy and viewers are more likely to sign up!

That is all for now, I hope this information helps and guides you to creating a successful landing page to further your childcare business and get the most out of your social media ads!

Want more tips on how to do social media for your child care? Click here.

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5 Tips On Marketing Your Child Care Center With Carousel Ads

No I don’t mean a carousel like the one in the picture above :-)

Don’t know what a carousel ad is? If you’ve ever seen a post on Facebook where there are multiple images that you can “scroll right” through, that is considered a carousel ad. It can be a great method to engage your audience, tell a story, and display your unique benefits.

This is an example of a carousel ad, where the company is also illustrating the unique benefits.

Carousel ads usually outperform regular ads on Facebook, and I’ve seen this as well with my own clients.

This article will walk you through the ideas and techniques that you can use to market your child care center on social media with carousel ads.

1. Capture attention with the first image.

Use a graphic that will capture the attention of parents. This is your first “statement” to the audience in a series of pictures that will encourage them to scroll through.

2. Display the unique benefits of your child care center.

Use QUALITY and attention grabbing photos taken around your child care center. Images of kids looking at the camera or close ups of detail work really well. Highlight your unique benefits. For example, if only use organic cleaners, take a pic of the bottle on a cool background. This will attract parents who find this important.

3. Use carousel ads to highlight your staff.

Use the 4-5 pictures in the carousel ads to promote your professional staff and tell something about each one of them. Put a face with your child care and watch your ads go a long way!

4. Try to be creative and precise.

The only way you are going to get your advertisement read is by producing a unique one. Just like in any marketing, instead of writing the same old words and phrases use new and creative phrases.

Old: Well-equipped classes
New: Lego Mindstorm training for kids.

5. Tell a story

Carousel ads are really effective in telling a story. Create a carousel ad that relates to the growth and learning of a particular child or tell a story of a special event at your child care. Or even about how you first started! This is a great chance to get creative.

So, that’s all from this side! Get creative with it and have fun. If you have used carousel ads, let us know in the comments.

Want more tips on how to market your childcare center, click here.

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