https://www.widefoc.us/about-widefocus If you’re a small business owner, or maybe just a sleep-deprived social media manager, you’re likely skilled at procrastinating and somewhat weary of Facebook advertisements. Let’s face it, finding the exact right ad copy (image, audience, placement) is no easy task, especially when you’re trying to compete on a crowded feed. Not to mention, Facebook can be picky when it comes to ad approvals. What could you possibly be doing wrong? Well, turns out, a lot. Facebook is very particular about positive language in ads. In a world cluttered with negative sentiment, preying on the fears of consumers, this is a welcome breath of fresh air. Our clients, whether a dating app, a furniture chain, or a natural lotions brand, could easily focus on the negative aspects of what they aim to fix. “Lonely? We can help.” “Is your house feeling tired and uninspiring? We can help.” “Are your hands dry and cracked? We can help.” But the best results (and fewer ad rejections) come from maintaining an upbeat tone and a can-do attitude. And here’s how to do it. 1. Clear, concise language and CTAs. One of my college professors once told me that memorable ads are written to be read at a fifth-grade reading level. Consider the following advertisements with lasting taglines consisting of two or three words: Nike’s “Just Do It,” Apple’s “Think Different,” Maybelline’s “Maybe It’s Maybelline.” These accessible slogans can inspire… just about anyone. Accessible content means broadening your audience, which ultimately means more clicks and more sales. Keep language simple and straightforward. Calls-to-actions should be specific, but use positive verbs and phrases such as “Learn more,” “Act now,” and “Hurry in.” 2. Highlight benefits instead of negative consequences. In advertising your product or service, don’t rely on a cliché or the negative consequences that could befall your customer should they pass on your Etsy shop. Instead, focus on how the product will benefit the user and improve their daily routine. Don’t use fear in creating buying incentives. The world isn’t going to end should they not click on your homemade, cat-themed koozies. For example, I don’t purchase a premium dog food brand for my pups because it will prevent their inevitable demise. I purchase specific dog food because the television ad featured a chihuahua with strong joints and better teeth, all thanks to the premium pup chow. In a few words, no one wants to think of their dead dog. 3. Spark warm and fuzzy feelings Consider selecting paint. Each color makes you feel differently. Ideally, you’ll paint with a color that makes you feel inspired, calm, or even relief after a long day at work. A larger purchase, such as a sofa, home, or car is a long-term, high-investment purchase. It has to “feel right.” Consider your word choice in creating that emotion. Subaru’s “The wilderness is second nature to our wagon,” or “You’re going to need a bigger map,” inspires adventure and prompts drivers to envision their future on the road, in a Subaru. It doesn’t emotionally-manipulate; it builds the user’s narrative. When I say you should infuse warm and fuzzy feelings into your ad copy, I mean that you attach positive emotions to the benefits of your product, so that the audience can envision how the product will make them feel long-term. 4. Don’t misrepresent your product. Your copy needs to properly represent the product you’re advertising. It’s important not to misrepresent products in Facebook ad copy (or any copy, for that matter!). Match your copy to your product’s function. Consumers normally don’t purchase a coffee mug because it’s described as “the cup of your dreams.” Really place yourself in the shoes of your audience and use words that truly initiate a purchase — how does your product or service make things better? As an aside, getting someone to click from Facebook to your website is just the beginning. If a user clicks on your ad and arrives on a page that’s not enticing, doesn’t match the look and feel of the ad, and isn’t mobile-friendly, they’re not likely to make it to check-out. We have plenty of experience A/B testing ad copy, images, and targeting on social platforms. And though Facebook’s pickiness when it comes to positive messaging can be a pain, performance across the board improves with aspirational content. If you still have doubts in writing your ad copy, follow this advice from David Ogilvy, “If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.” In other words, everyone needs a good editor. Happy writing! Agree? Disagree? Good news, we’re hiring, so contact our office today to share your thoughts with me! I’m always open to a healthy discussion about Facebook advertising. KT Heins is a Community Manager at Widefoc.us who specializes in technical writing. When she isn’t at the office, she is most likely hanging out with her Chiweenies, “working” on a novel, or freelance copywriting. Follow her on Instagram @ktotheheins for mountain views, cold brews, and fancy food.

Halloween has come and gone, and although it’s time to retire the jack-o-lanterns it’s too soon to dust off the Christmas lights. November has more to offer than Thanksgiving food babies and Black Friday deals. It’s a time to fill your Instagram page with snow day photos and Starbucks holiday cups. So instead of staying inside and waiting until it’s an acceptable time to play holiday music, put on your fuzziest mittens and warmest booties to explore the Mile High City’s best events! And of course, if we’re missing a “must-go” event of the month, let us know! Denver Arts Week November 3 - 11 Prices Vary With more than 300 events in galleries, museums, concert halls. and theaters scattered around the city, it can feel overwhelming to learn about the musicians, performers, and artists who call the Queen City of the Plains their home. But that’s where Denver Arts Week comes in. Check out these top reasons to celebrate all things art during this eight-day event. Ski Season is Officially Here! November 10, 17, and 22 Prices Vary Dust off your ski boots and slap some wax on those snowboards. Starting November 10, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mountain will open their slopes for the season. Where are you most excited to shred this year? Holiday Wine & Cocktail Fest November 11 $16 - $80 Plan your cocktail menus for upcoming holiday parties at Social Scene’s Wine & Cocktail fest. Booze-based companies will create signature drinks perfect for office parties, along with wine connoisseurs who will share their knowledge. A portion of the proceeds will go to a local charity for the holiday season. The Great Candy Run November 12 $30-$40 The sweetest race in the country, the Great Candy Run, is open to experienced runners, casual walkers, first time racers, and families. The day includes a candy village, family festival, costume contest, and afternoon of entertainment to raise funds for and awareness for fetal health syndromes. A whole day dedicated to healthy living based off candy? I know I’m in! Holiday Alpaca Extravaganza November 18 - 19 Free Calling all alpaca lovers! Join the South Eastern Colorado Alpaca Breeders for their 12th annual Holiday Extravaganza. This is an educational event showcasing garments, apparel, and accessories produced by alpaca fur. Clothing and yarn will also be available for purchase, so you can make your own scarves and hats with the Peruvian staple. And most importantly, you can hang with alpacas, so bring your phones and cameras, because they’re a pretty instagrammable animal. Downtown Denver Grand Illumination November 24 Free A Colorado tradition, join Denverites for the annual Grand Illumination Ceremony, which lights up the downtown area from Union Station to the Denver City and County Building. Although the lights will be up until December 31, there’s nothing more magical than seeing the them sparkle for the first time on opening night! -- By Kaleigh Myers Community manager Kaleigh Myers lived in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Amish Country, and Chicago before finally settling in Denver. When not coming up with a clever caption for her Instagrams, you can find Kaleigh in her car on her way up to Summit County for a weekend adventure in the mountains.

Whether we’re launching a client’s Instagram presence, or taking on an account that isn’t performing well, the first question we’re asked is always about the number of followers. Clients want their social accounts to grow quickly into an enormous fan and follower base, because, to them, it’s the clearest measurement of social media success. I used to believe that the number of fans was a vanity metric, because it didn’t tell the whole story. If you have 10,000 followers on Twitter, but zero retweets or mentions, and nobody ever clicks through to your website, what’s the value? If you have 110,000 Facebook fans, but your post visibility is low, your post engagement (likes, comments, shares) is sub-par, and referring website clicks are minimal, then what’s the point? Measuring real outcomes — clicks and conversions (or donations), on-page engagement, retweets and shares and comments— tells you much more about your social media effectiveness than the mere number of followers on your account. But after a decade of building communities, I now understand that’s only part of the story. Because, if you’re a financial services company, or selling a product, or vying for donations to your nonprofit, the credibility of your brand is essential to your success. People need to trust that you’re the real deal before they’ll agree to spend real money on you. And if your Facebook account has 129 fans, that doesn’t communicate authority or longevity in your industry. (This is definitely an area of opportunity for the WideFoc.us team when it comes to our own social presence. We’re so intent on building effective social media outreach and engagement for our clients, our internal efforts sometimes suffer.) So, yes, your fan and follower numbers matter — they imply a level of authority or credibility, and a larger base means a bigger audience to engage. Although we understand a simple solution to grow your followers may be to purchase them, we never recommend doing so, because it tends to be sketchy. You may get a ton of followers for a little bit of money, but they’re not in your target audience, they’re not going to engage with your brand, and they may not even be legitimate profiles — which means you’ll be penalized when those accounts get suspended by the platform. Why pay for a bunch of off-shore fake accounts, if your true goal is to create value for your target audiences? Paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can be a smart way to build your base, because they all allow for highly targeted campaigns. We’ve found that we can get new Facebook fans at a range of 30 cents to $1 cost-per-fan, but have sometimes seen that cost go up to $5 or more depending on how granular and specific our targeting is. Instagram, at least so far, tends to be a bit pricey when it comes to cost-per-fan. But if you don’t have a giant budget to run fan campaigns on a monthly basis, how can you build an Instagram following that matters? Cultivation. It’s hard work, it takes time, and it requires focus, but cultivation of your fan base on Instagram (and on Twitter, too!) can lead to stronger relationships with your followers and better results when tying your efforts to business goals. What’s cultivation? WideFoc.us community managers spend time every day on clients’ Instagram accounts. Not only are they posting new photos and using hashtag strategies to build visibility, but they’re also making a conscious effort to engage other Instagram users. 1. Be a follower One of the strongest ways to build a following is to follow others. Reciprocal following isn’t guaranteed, and shouldn’t be expected. But the more people you follow, the more followers you’ll get. That said, don’t follow just anyone. Be strategic. Follow Instagram users in your target audience, influencers (bloggers, artists, experts, journalists) who are posting on relevant subjects to your brand, and celebrities (both real and Insta-famous) who might find your brand worth engaging with. 2. Like and comment Get all up in Instagram and be ready to put positivity out there. Search relevant hashtags and like and comment on posts that fit your brand aesthetic, concept, or values. Be authentic with your compliments (and don’t promote your brand – that’s spammy). Share your true delight, or commiseration, or hopeful message. 3. Regram when appropriate If someone posts a photo of your product or cause, regram it. If a local resident posts an awesome boomerang in the vicinity of your company or community, regram it. If a customer posts an image that’s relevant to your target audiences, regram it. We use the “Repost” app to make sure we’re providing proper credit to the original user — don’t regram without tagging and thanking the account that posted the original photo. This is probably the stickiest part of cultivation, because it’s essential to be careful in how you co-opt someone else’s creative work. The more generous you are in giving props, the better. WideFoc.us community managers are tasked with this kind of daily, real-time, intentional engagement, because it drives strong results. Not only do we build fans and followers this way, we create relationships with influencers, potential customers, and the media that can lead to powerful results for our clients’ brands. It’s time-intensive and requires a deep knowledge of our clients’ priorities, voice, and brand values. And it’s totally worth it. Eric Elkins is CEO and Chief Strategist at WideFoc.us. Eric brings nearly two decades of experience to our clients. In his other life, he’s a single dad, an avid eater, and a bourbon aficionado.

Autumn is filled with captivating Instagram posts of changing leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, fall OOTD, and far too many fireplace boomerangs. THIS is the most wonderful time of the year. Your calendar may be booked with beer fests, pumpkin patches, and costume parties, but let’s be real... it’s far easier to stay at home with a cozy blanket and horror movies. If you do decide to venture out onto those chilly Denver streets, we’re here to share which events are worth exploring. And, as always, if there’s a notable event we glossed over, let us know! Maize in the City Sept 29 - Oct 31st $0 - $12 Maybe it’s the ”East Coaster” in me, but nothing says fall like a family outing to a corn maze. Throw in some spiked cider and I’m in! If you also crave this autumn tradition, take a trip up to Wellington, Colorado to enjoy the carnival rides, pumpkin picking, and petting zoo available at Maize in the City. Great American Beer Festival Parties Oct 5 - Oct 7 If you’re familiar with GABF, you understand how quickly the event sells out. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss the boozy fun. If you don’t want to pay a billion dollars for a ticket, pop by an afterparty. Everyone knows one of the coolest things about GABF is the events that are held in conjunction with the main celebration. And because we have some of the best breweries in the state, don’t miss your opportunity to schmooze with the city’s top brewers. Capitol Hill’s Haunted History Tour Oct 13 $20 - $25 Denver is packed full of historic spooks, mostly in the mansions sprinkled throughout the city, and there’s no better way to spend a wicked Friday evening than with a ghost tour. If you’re an avid fan of Ghost Adventures like me, you’ll remember one of the most notable moments happened at the Peabody-Whitehead Mansion, which is included in the tour. Join the Denver Architectural Foundation on Friday the 13th for a 90-minute walking tour of the historic haunts of the neighborhood and see how many EVPs you can capture. Loveland Opening Day 10/15 - Subject to change Pass Price Varies Skiers and snowboarders rejoice; Ski season is back! Loveland Ski Area (opening in the middle of month), and Arapahoe Basin (opening at the end of the month) are dusting up their slopes and welcoming guests back into their cozy cabins. So wax those skis and boards, head west up I-70 with your favorite opening day costumes, and get ready for an happy day of shredding. Urban Party Adventure Lumberjack Party 10/21 $20 per person or $80 for a team of 5 What’s better than a run of the mill bar crawl? A bar crawl that’s also a scavenger hunt. Urban Party Adventure is ending their summer of events with a Lumberjack Party, and proceeds will be donated to MaxFund Denver Animal Shelter. Grab your finest flannel, witty lumberjack puns, “ax” a friend to join you, and, for the love of facial hair, start growing out your beard now. Strides Against Breast Cancer 10/22 FREE October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To celebrate the brave fighters, survivors, and caretakers, join the American Cancer Society for Strides Against Breast Cancer, presented by University of Colorado Health. And if you’re not interested in running or walking in the race, sign up to volunteer and cheer on the participants. Disney In Concert: Nightmare Before Christmas 10/27 Price Varies Our CEO and founder Eric Elkins stands behind the principle that Pixar “movies aren’t kids movies… they’re people movies.” Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas isn’t Pixar, but it’s not just for kids. If you agree, hang out with Jack Skellington and Sally at the Denver Performing Arts Complex for a magical viewing of the film. The Colorado Symphony will play the hauntingly beautiful score throughout the film, bringing the music of the Oogie Boogie man to life. Halloween Bar Crawl October 28th $5 Can somebody say “BOO”ze? Why spend all your time at one party, when you can do it up at multiple bars? Social Scene wants you to spend your hallo-weekend at the Halloween Bar Crawl, enjoying drinks from bar to bar around LoDo and South Broadway. Oh, and did we mention no cover charges? There’s also a social media costume contest with a $500 prize! Don’t forget to stay hydrated, kids! It’s a marathon, not a sprint. -- By Kaleigh Myers Community manager Kaleigh Myers lived in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Amish Country, and Chicago before finally settling in Denver. When not coming up with a clever caption for her Instagrams, you can find Kaleigh in her car on her way up to Summit County for a weekend adventure in the mountains.

Lately I’ve been assisting our office betta fish Pluto with the Widefoc.us Twitter account. Having Pluto manage our Twitter means we bring a unique perspective to the social media world. Every morning, I pop open my laptop next to Pluto’s fabulous fishbowl and we scroll through the trends and news of the day. After weeks of working with our pun-filled fish friend, he and I have found that perfect mix of the funny, informative, and engaging. Here are Pluto and my five tips to improve your Twitter effectiveness: Hashtags If you’re tweeting about a hot topic (which you should always do!), the best way to catch the eye of an important influencer is by using a trending hashtag. A solid example of this is Wendy’s accidentally successful campaign NuggsForCarter. After a 16-year old asked the fast food chain what it would take for him to receive a lifetime of free chicken nuggets, Wendy’s responded with “18 million retweets.” And so began the most engaged tweet of all time, surpassing Ellen’s Oscar selfie. Although he only received 3.5 million retweets, the nugget lover went from 138 followers to 100,000, the hashtag NuggsForCarter was used 234,000 times, generating 330 million impressions, and he managed to score a lifetime supply of the tasty treat from Wendy’s, thus becoming my ultimate hero. Build Relationships By Tagging Whether you have a deep need for chicken nuggets, or wonder how much extra that Chipotle queso is going to cost, it’s always important to tag the brand/person/influencer you’re referencing. Pluto and I found this tip most successful when Chipotle’s queso was first announced. Before the national upset over the cost of the side ensued, Pluto and I awaited the cheesy goodness with baited breath. All ‘Potle lovers know that the guac is extra, but what about the queso? Would I have to take out a student loan to enjoy the majestic melted cheese? After a conversational tweet asking about when the Mile High City would be able to test the highly anticipated side, a representative responded within minutes, letting us know Denver would soon be blessed by the queso. Little did we know the dip would be less than “grate”. Have A Conversation You don’t have to slide into DMs to create a relationship. Pluto works hard at starting conversations with our betta buds, Denver foodies, and social media influencers to build our community of followers and network of sharing among our fellow tweeters. Each morning, Pluto and I scroll through our lists to find new friends or influencers in order to begin a discussion. One example of conversational success comes from Pluto complementing an artist’s watercolor painting of a betta fish. After we tweeted kudos about the art, Lady Loki was so moved she retweeted our retweet and has since become a loyal follower on the WideFoc.us account. Conversational tweets don’t have to cause chaos! Just compliment a joke or a photograph to get the relationship started. Lists, Lists, and More Lists The best way to organize your thoughts and strategize your retweets is to create and subscribe to lists of thematic influencers, reporters, and more. By organizing who you follow into lists, you’re able to keep better track of who and what your brand retweets. Pluto and I cover Denver news, Colorado business partners, fish friends, social media news, and, of course, Denver restaurants. It’s so easy to peruse our lists and make sure we aren’t focusing on the same news outlets and influencers every day. Don’t be afraid to be funny! If you’ve ever read a tweet from Pluto or me, you know we love puns. One of Pluto’s punny responses caught the eye of the town of Collierville who announced a renovation to their school bells via twitter. Also, don’t be afraid to make the obvious dad joke when responding to tweets. Silly responses add personality to your profile much more effectively than retweeting and favoriting throughout the day. People love humor, and, on a platform overrun by chatbots, a spark of creativity allows individuals to actually imagine the person (or office fish) behind the tweet. Whether you use your Twitter account for “Game of Thrones” rant sessions or are creating a brand voice for your company, have fun with it! If the idea of editing down your thoughts into 140 characters is overwhelming, our team at WideFoc.us will help. And don’t forget, the internet is forever so write something your grandchildren would be happy to retweet someday. -- By Kaleigh Myers Community manager Kaleigh Myers has lived in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Amish Country, and Chicago before finally settling in Denver. When not coming up with a clever caption for her Instagrams, you can find Kaleigh binge watching Real Housewives with her doggo Doc.

We’re all guilty of social media faux pas. We’re inundated with so many so-called social media don’ts: sharing too many pictures of your kids; not sharing enough pictures of your kids; writing a status update that could be a text message; signing your name after you comment on a relative’s update (Looking at you, Aunt Jan.); and using Facebook as a reddit forum for your many complaints. You may have your own strategies for wading through the sea of stay-at-home over-sharers and poorly written Facebook advertisements on your feed, but we’re betting certain messaging and calls-to-action drive you batty. But how do you keep your own blog and updates from pushing your readers toward the social media pit of despair? Avoid words and phrases that alienate your audience. If you work in social media content creation, keep this list of vocab to avoid handy. Dated Acronyms Acronyms à la 2015 are the equivalent of the old Taylor Swift right now. Dead. While “newer” acronyms pop up every day, such as RN for “right now,” or IDK for “I don’t know,” it’s important to ditch the old ones. LOL, YOLO, SMH, and JK are not going to come back to life any time soon, especially on platforms such as Snapchat or Instagram, which are increasingly popular with Gen Z. If you’re going to use acronyms, make sure they’re on brand for your company. You’re not likely to see a tech blog or insurance company urging its audience to peruse its GR8 products 2nte. Guarantee Let’s face it. You promise to call your grandma every day, but it’s not happening. So stop making promises you can’t keep; never guarantee anything to a consumer or purchaser. Not only is it a hollow promise, but it puts your brand integrity at risk. You can’t guarantee 100% happiness with any purchase, so don’t give consumers a reason to point fingers when they’re less than thrilled with results of their purchase. If you’re repping your own products, or yourself, don’t add fuel to your haters’ fire. Check This Out! Is there a call to action more tired than “Check this out”? Do you remember the last time you clicked on a Facebook advertisement that prompted you to “Check this out!”? No? Me neither. This CTA lacks specificity, and frankly, it’s lazy. If you’re writing social media ad copy, and use this phrase, you’re not doing your homework. Researching your brand should give you enough details to create a specific CTA that totes the benefits of your brand or highlights a certain product. Not only are more specific CTAs more timely and applicable to users, but they’re less boring. Less boring = an improved brand identity on social media, more clicks, better results. Great/Best Don’t let bad vocabulary get the BEST of you; say no to overused positive proclamations. If you’re pushing “great” or the “best” products, benefits, or blogs, you risk sounding not only over-confident, but you’re not really proving your worth as a content creator. You have infinite word combinations at your disposal, and so many ripe phrases that could better suit your message than “best” or “great.” Test drive a Thesaurus today. Millennial If you’re expanding a brand’s social media presence, trying to sell posh cuisine, or maybe pushing your travel blog, you may want to save the word “millennial” for the boardroom and keep it off your newsfeed. Making claims such as “millennials love” or “millennials hate” typically lumps your users into one identity, which doesn’t make them feel special. Nor does it demonstrate consideration for your audience. Millennials have the power to make or break a brand on social media, so be careful when making blanket claims about them. Besides, Gen Z might be the user group you want to attract. The Road To Hell Is Paved With Adverbs. “The adverb is not your friend.” I’ve never forgotten this sage advice from Stephen King’s memoir "On Writing." Adverbs don’t perform well in a call-to-action. For example, “immediately” does instill a sense of urgency, but it’s overused. Urging a user to click or buy immediately doesn’t typically work, because the word should be reserved for emergencies, not when you can’t think of a better way to incentivize users. Adverbs also rob you of your ability to use strong verbs, which are necessary when constructing a CTA. Slang that doesn’t belong to you. So you want to sound hip? As with acronyms, consider what’s hot and not for your brand image before committing to slang. If you’re selling air ducts, your crowd might be slightly different than those at a local coffee shop or shopping mall. Should you claim that your vent caps are Gucci? Or should you emphasize the quality of the product itself, using words that actually resonate with your target audiences? Jargon If you’re writing a blog for industry professionals, try to avoid terms that were coined ten years prior and have since lost their meaning. For example “synergy” may have been purposeful, even exciting in 2009, but has since lost any meaning due to overuse. Other meaningless phrases to consider: “Think outside the box,” “Win-win,” “bottom line.” These are abstract and vague, applied when one has nothing to say, but wants to encourage productivity or make a point in conversation. There you have it. Do your best to eliminate the words no one wants to see on their newsfeed, opting to craft language that’s engaging and entertaining. High-performing content starts with strong source material, but solid syntax gives it power. The key to success is not to waste words, but to find the right ones. -- by KT Heins KT Heins is a Community Manager at Widefoc.us who specializes in technical writing. When she isn’t at the office, she is most likely hanging out with her Chiweenies, “working” on a novel, or freelance copywriting. Follow her on Instagram @ktotheheins for mountain views, cold brews, and fancy food.

It’s that time, again! We’re looking for talented, strategic thinkers who can write well but also understand how to use social media to tell a brand story and drive results. WideFoc.us community managers are responsible for curating, writing, delivering, and publishing posts across platforms — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, and more. They engage with online communities, and work closely with assigned clients. The ideal candidate for this position is a friendly communicator who has solid time management skills, pays attention to detail, is organized, and works well under limited supervision. Community managers are supported in strategy by the WideFoc.us team. Responsibilities: Participate in regular client strategy meetings Communicate with clients weekly and sometimes daily Community management of assigned clients: Manage social media platforms Curate content for assigned social media content calendars Write and post daily and real-time content for assigned social media platforms Engage in two-way, online conversation with target audiences for assigned accounts Monitor assigned channels for customer service and online reputation issues Support social advertising campaigns Draft blog content Requirements: Excellent writer, proficient in proper grammar, punctuation, and syntax Skilled in interpersonal communication; able to build relationships with clients Ability to respond to social media replies and complaints with messaging that fits the situation (critical information and messaging will be provided) Familiarity with social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, Yelp, YouTube, and others Ideal candidates will: Have experience in using social media tools for business, including developing and managing social media strategy and communities Have previous client and account management experience Be chameleon-like in their ability to write in the distinct voices of their client’s brands Be able to write intriguing blogs Enjoy creating and consuming new content types Know how to help clients and others understand the value of our social media outreach and engagement Apply to this position if you: Have strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills Enjoy working independently and with a team Are a self-starter and able to manage your own time well Are highly organized and can complete work objectives and goals under limited supervision Carry yourself in a professional demeanor with a positive approach to customer service and teamwork Appreciate the benefits of working for a smaller company with a “startup” mindset Use social media every day Don’t apply if you: Can’t work from home or other locations on a regular basis Can’t work in our LoHi office on assigned days Need constant oversight, management, and direction Want to work 40+ hours per week Don’t use at least one social media channel consistently You’ll need a moderate degree of familiarity with online systems and general technology and you’ll need to supply your own computer. A strong personal brand/social media following is a plus. Initiative, creativity, and inspiration are appreciated. Agency experience is a bonus, but solo practitioners are also encouraged to apply! Work design and compensation: Our community managers enjoy a high level of flexibility in the design of the position's workflow. Hourly pay or project rates will be determined according to the candidate's qualifications and clients assigned. This is a 90-day, contract-to-hire position; part-time to start, with potential to move to full-time. Why us? WideFoc.us is a company made up of full-time and part-time employees, and consultant contractors. We like each other, like working together, and have a friendly office. WideFoc.us considers full time to be 30 or more hours per week and prefer that our team members keep as close to that 30 hours per week as possible, for maximum work/side gig/life balance. We offer some benefits, like paid time off and opportunities for professional development. We like to give gifts, free lunches, and high-fives. To Apply: Demonstrate you’re a strong writer with social media chops, and that you can follow instructions. Please send a resume, links to your social media work, at least three examples of your kick-ass professional writing, and three synonyms for the word "great" (we think it’s an overused adjective) to jobs@widefoc.us. Be sure to include “WideFoc.us Community Manager” in the subject line of your email, so it’s filtered properly.

It was September of 2007. I’d spent the morning consulting with a digital agency in Boulder on how several of the big brands they were managing needed to leverage social media — at the time, that was limited to a bit o’ Twitter, a blog, and influencer outreach — and one of the VCs from the startup I’d left a couple months before wanted to catch up and debrief over coffee nearby. I’d started WideFoc.us at a favorite coffee shop in Denver, with the thought that sitting on patios and working on projects that interested me sounded exponentially better than being cloistered away in a fluorescent-lit office. Over tasty dirty chais, the VC guy — one of the smartest people I’ve ever met — and I chatted about how the startup was doing, my experiences in the last few weeks that I’d been part of the team, and its future direction. Eventually, the conversation turned to me, and what I was doing with WideFoc.us. “Pull up your website for a second,” he said, “I want to show you something.” I opened my laptop, connected to the painfully slow wifi, and typed in the URL that people never forget once they see it. The first WideFoc.us website was something I built on my own on the same Typepad platform I was using for my blog. It was nothing fancy; a header with the logo, marketing copy, and a list of services provided. “See how you have ‘marketing strategy,’ ‘PR,’ and ‘copywriting’ at the top of the list, and ‘social media’ way at the bottom?” The VC dude asked me. “Just get rid of all that stuff and put social media at the top. You’re going to be busier than you can imagine.” From that moment on, when people at cocktail parties or networking events asked what I did, I’d answer, “Social media consulting.” And every time, they’d say, “Oh my gosh! We need that. Can I get your card?” I was so busy, I made my first hire within a few months of that conversation. Did I mention the VC investor had a PhD in divinity? This month, we celebrate 10 years since I built that rickety website and started taking on clients — mostly marketing collateral development and copywriting for businesses and nonprofits at first. Now, we work with companies around the country, field a full team of professionals, and have our own beautiful office, with a big garage door we open on temperate Denver days. Our range of services has evolved as social media outreach and engagement strategies have grown (though some things haven’t changed), and we’re always busy these days. But the work aesthetic that I envisioned for myself on the patio at ink! Coffee on a sparkly August morning is still an essential part of our company culture. We only do office hours Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so none of us feel stuck in a grind. The team can work from wherever they’d like the rest of the week, as long as they’re available to clients and keep up with their assignments. We’re a team of creatives, so I try to support our people in their side hustles with a 30-hour work week and flexible schedules. That’s made for a spectacular 10 years, personally and professionally. We’ve had our struggles and our successes, and the dynamic nature of our industry means we’re in a constant state of growth and development. I’m not always the perfect boss or business owner, but I’ve learned a great deal along the way. I’ll be sharing the big lessons here later this year. In the meantime, thank you. Thank you to the teammates who’ve helped WideFoc.us change and grow over the years. Thank you to our former and current clients, who’ve been such an integral part of our evolution. Thank you to our strategic partners — creative agencies, SEO companies, digital strategists, content developers, graphic designers, and PR organizations — who’ve believed in us enough to put us to work for their clients. And thank you to our families and friends, supportive and patient, who were always there when we needed them. We wouldn’t be here today without you. For the next few months, we’ll be celebrating this milestone with the widefocus10 hashtag on social platforms. If you have a happy memory you’d like to share, we’d love to see it. Hugs all around, Eric

Facebook didn’t take a summer vacation, instead rolling out a slew of updates. From changes in the way fans can interact with business pages to new ad products, the platform with two billion monthly active users has been busy. Here are the updates you should pay attention to this month. Facebook Front End Updates Facebook Groups Earlier this summer, Facebook hosted their first Facebook Communities Summit in Chicago. New features were rolled out to support business pages’ online communities by making modifications on ways to grow and manage groups, including: Group Insights Membership request filtering Removed member clean-up Scheduled posts Group-to-group linking The Groups mobile app is going away September 1. Facebook Live Audio: Facebook Tests Live Stories Instagram rolled out Stories last year and since then has acquired 250M daily users. Facebook Stories, on the other hand, has not been so hot, but Facebook Live has taken off. They’re also testing Live Audio, which are live videos in a story format; this new feature is only being tested on personal pages. Do you think it’ll catch up to Instagram? Live Video + Guests Everyone has something interesting to share, but many struggle to create videos and video stories because they aren’t sure what to say or how to approach the format. Chatting with a friend (or two) allows conversation to flow easier without the added pressure to entertain a large group. As Facebook works to enhance its Live Video feature, and take off as a broadcast platform, they now allow you to invite guests to your own live video. Below, Mike Seltzner and Erik Fisher of Social Media Examiner test the latest tool. Facebook Video Reporting Metrics When posting a video to Facebook, measuring views and engagements is key, but what happens after the video is shared with another user's audience? Facebook is digging in and finding a solution to measure and track insights on re-shared content. That said, Facebook states, “The video creator will not be able to see insights on which Pages are re-sharing their videos and related metrics.” For the person re-sharing the video, Facebook advises changes will be made in order to: Remove the retention graph, average watch time, 30 Seconds Views and detailed breakdown of views (autoplay/click to play, unique/repeat) – so only creators can see this information. We also tested offering minutes viewed, 10 Seconds Views and sound metrics with some Pages but will be removing them, as well, for the same reason. Page owners who re-share videos will be able to see aggregated information about the demographics and general location of the people who are viewing that video. They’ll also see a graph of daily views of the re-shared video, and additional breakdowns on the re-shared video related to paid versus organic activity. Facebook Advertising Updates Messenger as a Destination for News Feed Ads The Facebook Messenger development team has been working hard this year to enhance users’ experiences through instant messaging via business pages. Previously, individuals who opted into a business page’s messenger by messaging them first were then targeted for Messenger-native ads. Now businesses have the ability to add a call-to-action (“Send Message”) button for Facebook users to directly message their page from a News Feed ad; this results in users opting into Facebook Messenger advertising. A few advertisers have creatively used chatbot ads that auto-populate a message to users through the comments section on their News Feed ads. Instagram as a Destination for News Feed Ads Facebook Messenger has only been used and marketed via the Facebook platform and Messenger app. For the first time ever, Instagram will now allow Facebook messenger destination ads. So, if you place an ad on Instagram, it will let you use a “Send Message” call-to-action button on the ad. Once people click to send their message, the Messenger app will open and message the business page responsible for the ad. Facebook also introduced a new feature this past week allowing you to toggle between all three mobile apps to enhance user experience when switching between platforms. Advertising coming to Facebook Messenger’s Home Screen Additionally, target sponsored ads will now be placed in Messenger at the top of personal conversations in the app and in the right column sidebar on desktop. (Limited testing in Australia & Thailand) Optimize for Clicks before Conversions Optimizing Facebook ads for conversions for the first time can be tricky. It’s hard to determine if you should bid on a conversion, an “Add to Cart,” or if your conversion window should be at 1, 7, or 28 days. Additionally, if you are testing all of this out for the first time, Facebook may simply not have enough data to help deliver your ad to the correct audience. Now, you have the ability to optimize for a combination of link clicks and website conversions. Facebook states: “Optimizing for link clicks and conversions together allows us to get more people into that funnel, albeit at different points. With link clicks added in, we increase the frequency of the results we're optimizing for (link clicks are more common than conversions). This additional data helps us narrow down the group of people we search through to find converters.” You can choose to test this as “standard” or “extended,” which allows for shorter or longer learning phases. Leaner budgets will most likely work with the extended option while healthier budgets can work with the standard option. Custom Audience Website Traffic Enhanced Facebook has also been making changes on a monthly rate to enhance audience targeting. The most recent feature includes developing a custom audience based on website pixel tracking information related to specific actions and events on your website. Example: If you are tracking Facebook purchase conversion metrics, you can now create an audience based off of all purchases or specific product purchases. You can also create an audience around people who have purchased 2, 5, or 10 items on your website. Customized Facebook Report Columns Adds ROAS This is probably the one metric I use most when it comes to Facebook conversion campaigns. ROAS is a calculation that measures the return on advertising spend; it’s found by dividing the revenue derived from an ad source by the cost of that ad source. Essentially, this helps you measure how effective your online advertising campaigns are. Bonus: You can see below how I customize the majority of my column to track Facebook conversions for direct marketing clients. For more Facebook updates, tips, and tutorials, make sure to follow WideFoc.us on Facebook and Twitter. We’ve been brainstorming how these new Facebook tools will help our clients break through the noise and drive real results. If you’re not taking advantage of Facebook advertising and advanced targeting methods, drop us a line at info@widefoc.us today. By Carrie Gottschalk Carrie Gottschalk is Senior Strategist at WideFoc.us, and excels at creating effective social advertising campaigns for our clients. In her free time, she’s an avid traveler, a Denver foodie, and she dedicates her marketing and PR prowess to the nonprofit Denver Active 20-30 as a board member.

Bicycles, firefighters, and tacos...oh my! We’re officially in the last month of summer, which means festival season is coming to a close. But don’t freak out! Denverites still have time to participate in the Mile High City’s bar crawls, parties, and concerts galore. Keep your phone handy for a strong Snapchat game, and fill your Facebook feed with good food, yummy drinks, and A LOT of bikes. And if we missed anything noteworthy, make sure to tell us; we will personally come down to take as many instaworthy photos as your heart desires (just ask Insta-queen Chelsea). 2018 Firefighter Calendar Debut Party August 10 $5-$10 New year, new firefighters. The 2018 Firefighter Calendar benefits the Lifeline Puppy Rescue. Grab your friends and head to The Grizzly Rose for free drinks and MIX 100’s MC, Emily, as she introduces the lovely gentlemen who grace the pages of this year’s calendar. Velorama August 11-13 $45 On your mark. Get set. ROCK! Velorama is taking over the RiNo Art District with rockin’ music, beers from Colorado craft breweries, and of course, bikes. Jam out to Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, and more as the Colorado Classic cyclists cross the finish line right at the festival. We’ll be ready with our phones for the perfect finish line Boomerang. Westword: Tacolandia August 20 $25-$65 “Nacho” average Taco Tuesday. Cha-cha your way to the most delicious day of the year, featuring food from more than 40 Denver taquerias and Mexican restaurants. And with sponsors like Exotico Tequila, enjoy margaritas “jalapeño” mouth. Got a problem with our love of puns? Find us at Civic Center Park on the 20th, and we can “taco” ‘bout it. Tour De Fat August 26 $25 The Tour de Fat is back with the dynamic sounds of Capital Cities. The Vaudeville experience brings together musicians, magicians, circus performers, and Denverites for an evening you’ll never forget to benefit Bike Denver and Denver Cruiser Rides, which both work to make us a more bike-friendly city. Reggae on the Rocks August 26 $55+ Red Rocks Amphitheater is the place to see a concert in Colorado. Throw on your tie-dye, grab your old high school buddies, and enjoy an evening of jamming along to the tunes you’d blast in the car back in your ska-reggae days. And don’t forget to warm up your pipes so you can sing along to “Santeria” with headliner Sublime with Rome. -- By Kaleigh Myers Community manager Kaleigh Myers has lived in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Amish Country, and Chicago before finally settling in Denver. When not coming up with a clever caption for her Instagrams, you can find Kaleigh in her car on her way up to Summit County for a weekend adventure in the mountains.

Do you own a company or business that sells products online? If yes, then you definitely want to take advantage of Facebook’s new targeting feature to enhance your Facebook advertising. A little over a month ago, the social network announced they were releasing LTV (Lifetime Value) Lookalike Audience targeting. Follow along as I explain how this new feature works and how to effectively set it up to enhance your Facebook targeting. First, what is a Lifetime Value (LTV) Lookalike Audience? Facebook created Lookalike Audiences to expand reach on custom audiences (which are audiences advertisers can set up based on preferred targeting), as many custom lists are limited in size. Lookalike Audiences allow advertisers to find new customers with similar interests and behaviors to their current base. If you own a company that sells products online, you’ll want to know your customers’ lifetime value (that is, how much each customer is worth in revenue), and you’ll want to keep track of it. Daniel Kehren of BizBest explains it best: “Understanding the value a customer has to your business over time is critical to making smart, cost-effective decisions about where to spend money on advertising and marketing.” Facebook defines LTV as “a value associated with your customers based on how much and how often they spend with your business over the course of their relationship with you.” Facebook also notes that these customers “may be more expensive to acquire, but lead to greater value over time.” For instance, if you own a furniture store with ecommerce sales, the lifetime value of a customer isn’t just the value of that first purchase; repeat business also factors in. The cost of acquiring that customer may be high, but the LTV should exceed that initial investment. A basic understanding of customer lifetime value is fairly simple, but setting it up may be the hard part. So let me walk you through the process. The first step in setting up your LTV Lookalike Audience is to create a custom audience. This requires a file with extensive customer data. Putting an audience together for an online clothing store, I was able to export an Excel document from the backend of client's website that included customer names, email addresses, and lifetime values to date (how much money they spent with the company on clothing purchased). Using the exported data, I completed the following steps: Step 1: Used one or more customer identifiers (name and email). Step 2: Included a column with a range of customer values. For this step, add up all purchases per customer and make a single column that aligns with their name and/or email and then format your numbers to avoid decimals. Once the upload for step 1 was complete, step 2 asked me to make sure I aligned the correct values with custom identifiers. I verified that the numbers in the Excel document were the correct customer values and the names were full names. Using email address instead of the full name can help provide a higher match rate for the audience. Step 3 (not shown for privacy) asked me to edit data mapping. This allowed me to exclude information that did not match, and remove names. Step 4 matched the audience to Facebook users (that’s where the magic happens!). Step 5 asked me to create a Lookalike Audience. I typically start these by targeting 1% of users in the US. And there you have it! A new, value-based target audience to test. Make sure, when testing Facebook audiences on the Facebook ad set level, that you are qualifying or disqualifying certain types of audiences. Ask yourself: Who am I targeting and why? And make certain your advertising creatives align with the audience type. For more Facebook advertising tips, make sure to Follow WideFoc.us on Facebook and Twitter. We’ve been brainstorming how these new Facebook tools will help our clients break through the noise and drive real results. If you’re not taking advantage of Facebook advertising and advanced targeting methods, drop us a line at info@widefoc.us today. -- By Carrie Gottschalk Carrie Gottschalk is a Senior Strategist at WideFoc.us, and excels at creating effective social advertising campaigns for our clients. In her free time, she’s an avid traveler, a Denver foodie, and she dedicates her marketing and PR prowess to the nonprofit Denver Active 20-30 as a board member. For more of the stuff she nerds out on, take a look at her favorite highlights from the Facebook Developers Conference.

No more link preview changes? If you manage social media, you’ve likely noticed a major change. Facebook just announced that it will no longer allow users to modify metadata on linked posts. What is metadata? It’s the coding behind the scenes on every webpage, which tells crawlers (like Google) what that page is about. Facebook pulls metadata when you post a link to the website, to populate post images and headlines. Until now, when social media managers copied a link into a Facebook post and a preview popped up, one had the power to insert a better image or improve the headline. No more. Facebook says this change will help reduce fake news by ensuring images and headlines match linked posts. But we can’t help feeling a little panicked, like Margaery on the Game of Thrones finale last season: We’re annoyed, because Facebook’s metadata change limits our ability to edit post images, headlines, and descriptions — something we do every day to make posts more compelling and clickable as people scroll through their news feeds. No, the Sept of Baelor isn’t on the verge of exploding, but for social media managers, it may feel that way. Read our FAQ to help you navigate the change! What does it mean for my business or clients? In short, you will not have as many opportunities to choose engaging images or write compelling calls-to-action. There are two exceptions. First, if your Facebook page is classified as a publisher page (the Facebook blog mentions “news, sports and entertainment Pages [sic]” that “modify links to their own articles at scale”), you can change metadata until September. Hmmm, so news organizations, who you’d think are most responsible for fake news, get a few extra months to clean up? Second, if you create a carousel post, adding images to at least one original image, you can edit the post headlines. What if my link has no image in the metadata? Ooh! Solid question. Here's an example of how a post from our blog page shows up when we share it to Facebook: This link has no image in the metadata, so Facebook allowed us to pick our own (yay, bettas!), just like the old days: But look! We can’t edit the link headline and description (wah-wah). The general description above isn’t the end of the world, but it might not inspire click conversions in the same way as “Go Deep into Strategy with Our Blog.” What if my link already has an image in the metadata? If a link already has an image in its metadata, Facebook now requires you to use that original image (and not sub in another); if the post has more than one image, you can add additional images, but you’re required to use at least one of the originals. (Cue the carousel post!) Ok, so under the new system, how do I make my web links stand out? If you’re linking to another site, you won’t have as much control over how that site’s content looks on Facebook, but you DO have power to edit your own metadata. We recommend spending a few hours backward planning your website for social so images and descriptions translate well. This means adding engaging images and calls to action on all your existing web pages, as well as giving yourself a few extra minutes to add them when you create future pages. Some extensions—like Yoast for Wordpress—allow you to edit how a post appears on Facebook. If your website platform gives you this much control, take advantage of it! How can I work around the Facebook metadata change? We’re always focusing on productive solutions at WideFoc.us while also adapting to an ever-changing social media landscape, so here’s what we recommend right now: If your post is part of an advertising campaign, you can make it into a dark post using Power Editor. (Don’t know how to do that? We can help!) Facebook still gives advertisers complete control over creatives. Without the ability to edit link headlines with calls-to-action, you must ensure that your post copy is on point. You know your business’s value propositions, its products, and its offers, so sell! This is where a team of creatives supporting your business can help you rise above the pack. If you know the link image or headline won’t lead to conversions, use a photo/video post and provide the hyperlink in the post copy. (Pro tip: Use an emoji arrow like the one below to draw attention to the link.) Finally, as mentioned above, if a link has images embedded in its metadata, you have to use at least one of the originals, though you may be able to build off of these images. Remember that means you’re working with a carousel post, so plan ahead with square pictures. We hope you find these tips to be a useful place to start as you adapt to Facebook’s new posting limitations, but if you’re also looking for deep social media strategy, we’d love to talk. WideFoc.us specializes in real-time social media strategy and engagement, which means we’re not only representing your brand across social media platforms, but also monitoring trends and changes in the platforms themselves. Let us know how we can help you and your business. -- By Paul Bindel Paul has a lifelong love of sentences, words, and writing. After teaching composition and literature for five years, he found a new passion in applied communications in social media. At WideFoc.us, he is energized by the opportunity of connecting his clients to real-time conversations and people.