As many of the regular readers of this blog will know, here at TravelMedia.ie we are slightly bonkers about social media. On any given day we generate and distribute over 100 tweets and over 20 Facebook posts on behalf of our clients. We also set up and manage advertising on a number of Facebook pages. This is in addition to work that we do across LinkedIn, Google + and YouTube. Hands up – we are social media geeks.
With our assistance, we have seen many of our clients follower and fan numbers increase, along with an increase in their post reach and engagement numbers. One such client who we manage social media on behalf of is ‘Couples Resorts UK’. Couples Resorts are a family of luxury, all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica which are a favourite destination for honeymooners, couples celebrating anniversaries and wedding parties. 
In mid-March 2014 we began managing the Couples Resorts UK social media accounts. In this blog we will take a closer look at their Facebook page, which has seen a steady growth in likes through both paid and organic means.
At the time of taking over, the Couples Resorts UK Facebook page had just over 3,000 likes. At the time of writing this blog post, August 2014, the page has over 14,500 likes.
Here is how this was achieved:
Paid likes
Paid likes, otherwise known as Facebook advertising, is a common way for brands to increase their like numbers on a page. However, many brands make the mistake of going after any like they can get. Of course this may result in an impressive amount of likes on a page – but how useful are these likes? When it comes to Facebook we stand by the saying that it is ‘quality and NOT quantity’.
When advertising on Facebook we always use Power Editor. In our view, executing an advertising campaign on Facebook without using Power Editor is pointless. You can find out more about Power Editor in this recent blog post.
In the case of Couples Resorts UK, we initially set up a large number of adverts and split tested them. From doing so, we found out what worked and what didn’t. We were also extremely careful with our targeting. We didn’t just want anyone to like the Facebook page. We wanted people who had been to a Couples Resort, or were planning on making a trip to one, to like the page. We knew that we were not going to be able to sell directly to any of these fans on Facebook. Facebook is not a direct sales channel, it is however a step in the purchase funnel.
As well as targeting Facebook users by age, location, marriage status and interests, we also targeted users who had visited the Couples Resorts UK website. These users are known as warm leads. If they had visited the Couples Resorts UK website in the last 24 hours then, once they arrived at Facebook, they were shown an advert for the Facebook page. This is known as Facebook Exchange or FBX. You can read more about this in this recent blog post.
To date we have had great results from the advertising campaigns that have been set up, with each like now costing an average of 8c (this figure is decreasing every month).
Getting to know the fans
Upon taking over the management of the Couples Resorts UK Facebook page we decided that we needed to spend time trying out different types of content in our posts, to see what worked best and what didn’t.
We spent a few weeks monitoring the reach and engagement on different types of posts. From blogs to images, videos to flipagrams – we tested it all.
This resulted in some posts having poor reach and engagement but it provided us with what we were looking for – the knowledge and understanding of what type of content the page fans were most likely to engage with.
When we had figured out what type of content appealed to our audience, we then needed to research what time of the day they were most likely to interact with the page posts.
To do this we used a number of online tools and scheduled posts for different times of the day. This simple exercise allowed us to understand the type of people that the page fans are. Most work until 5:30pm in the evening so are most likely to engage with content after this time. Weekend evenings also proved to be very popular for sharing, likes and comments.
Invaluable insights
Monitoring insights on Facebook is essential when you are trying to build your audience. While building the fan base on the Couple Resorts UK page, we kept a close eye on the insights – and we still do. Fan behaviour can change very easily on Facebook so it is vital that you know when your fans are most active. Facebook insights also tell you the locations that your fans are based in, which is great for geo-targeted posts.
As well as monitoring Facebook insights, we also send monthly reports to Couples Resorts UK. This is beneficial for us, and for them, as it outlines what the most successful posts of the month were, what the best time and day for posting was and how much engagement the page had.
You can visit the Couples Resorts Facebook Page here.
Do you need help with your Facebook strategy? Contact a member of the TravelMedia.ie team to find out how we can help you.