3 steps to create news feeds that audiences love

This may be a tired analogy, but stick with me for a moment: There is something magical that happens when you mix a variety of bland, or even bitter ingredients (flour, baking soda, cocoa powder…) with a little sugar and bake. Who’d ever think it would turn into something altogether different—and wonderful. Brownie, anyone?

Reaching social consumers happens in much the same way. Who would ever have thought that when you mix your company’s product or service, a rich video, and Facebook’s News Feed (or other social stream), it too would result in something altogether different—and wonderful?

Not long ago, the idea of advertising a product or service in the social stream was considered taboo, and yet today it’s a technique proven to drive engagement and amplification. According to a study by Nanigans, ads that appear within a news feed deliver an average increase in return on investment of 197 percent, compared with those on the right-hand side of Facebook.

Daily organic posting isn’t marketing, though. We can’t expect sustained value at scale without applying the full set of resources and creativity of marketing to the challenge of reaching and converting social/mobile consumers.