Facebook’s daily active users (DAU) on mobile are at >1.15B. Facebook defines a DAU as “a registered Facebook user who logged in and visited Facebook through our website or a mobile device, used our Messenger app, or took an action to share content or activity with his or her Facebook friends or connections via a third-party website or application that is integrated with Facebook, on a given day.” [Source: Ingrid Lunden]

Adopt a ‘Mobile First’ Approach

It’s not surprising then that Facebook adopted a “mobile-first” strategy, introducing advertisements that appear in the news feed area, right where mobile users see them. So which type of ad that is seen by the mobile user converts best?

According to the Facebook Ads Benchmark Report by Sales Force, “sponsored place check-in story” is the type of Facebook advertisement that is most clickable. The item posted an average click-through rate or CTR of 3.20%, beating sponsored page post like story (2.32%) for the top spot.

So should you run ads on Facebook then? Not so fast. The lesson here is that users are clicking check-in stories. They take action on check-in updates that appear on their news feed. As a business owner ask yourself: Are my fans or my client’s fans seeing these check-in stories in their news feeds? Are customers even checking in and sharing it on Facebook?
Facebook Leads the Sales Race

In a study by Vision Critical, 43% of social users do actually buy. The purchases usually happen after users are engaged and did a social action such as liking, favoriting”, or sharing an item. Facebook appears to lead the social sales race with 38% of its users have purchased an item after liking and sharing it. Pinterest ranks second place with 29% of users saying they have purchased an item. Twitter was third with 22%.

Beware of the Negative Feedback

Now, you may be thinking that bombarding your fans with constant check-in updates and ads is the best possible way to engage them, drive traffic to your website, and get leads and sales. The problem is updating posts on a fan page – and yes, the highly clickable check-in stories included – has some dangers. Apart from overwhelming your fans, going for quantity over quality posts may lead to a high “negative feedback engagement” rate.

On Facebook, negative feedback is given by users through four actions; 1) hide the post 2) hide all posts from the user/advertiser 3) mark as spam and 4) “unlike” or “un-fun” the page. Facebook’s algorithm counts these figures in an attempt to reduce spam and the reach of content that’s likely to cause complaints. A post with a high negative rate may, therefore, be interpreted by the algorithm as less relevant, and not prioritize it when displaying items on users’ newsfeed.

Is a Mobile-Ready Strategy Enough?

Savvy online marketers suggest four separate services as one solid online marketing strategy. This is a “social, local, mobile” combination enhanced by “online reputation management.” This strategy aims to convert Facebook’s sizable mobile user base into leads and sales.

  • The first step is to ensure the client has a mobile responsive website. Use a mobile responsive tester to check out your website. If you are going to get traffic from and engage prospects on Facebook, your site must be ready to receive mobile visitors (78% of U.S. Facebook users are mobile). A Google study also showed that 52% of users are unlikely to engage with a company whose website brought them a bad mobile experience, but 67% are more likely to purchase if the site is mobile friendly.
  • Use Social Media Optimization to establish your social media presence.
  • Next, use Local Buzz to facilitate web check-ins for your online audience. Local Buzz ensures your client’s customers check-in on Facebook Places, Google Places, and Foursquare and share it on social networks. Of course, these updates will be published on fans’ news feed and will be seen by their friends as well.
  • Finally, ensure that your client gets as little negative feedback as possible by publishing only relevant content for fans. Do this by combining Social Media Optimization and Online Reputation Management services. According to Nielsen, online reviews are the most trusted form of advertising after word of mouth. Online Reputation Management ensures your genuine reviews are published online.

This strategy enables you to convert your Facebook mobile users into leads and sales. It attracts Facebook traffic through regular and relevant posts like reviews and check-ins. And because the receiving site is mobile responsive, visitors are more likely to engage with that business and become leads and customers.