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The Real Reason We All Hate Facebook

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  • The Real Reason We All Hate Facebook

    Likes, retweets, emojis and hashtags. This is lingo that we often don't want to have anywhere near our Haunts. Or am I alone?
    I have been OBSESSED about Halloween and actually becoming a local Haunt owner myself since I was just a tike. However, coming from the younger generation (still in my 20s), I have found that there is an ever growing gap between two deeply-embedded elements of my life. My love for staying connected with people online (I am a millennial after all), and my die-hard dedication to Halloween and Haunted House attraction industry. Why is that?

    Why do our social media platforms fail? There's no way in hell that it's the fact that what we do isn't interesting. Look at Oreo's Facebook page -- I mean, it's a freaking cookie and it is still getting more buzz that your typical Haunted House. So I want to pose two questions:
    1) "Haunters, why do you think that we are missing the mark in social media?" *An acceptable answer would be that we just don't care.
    2) "If you could learn how to market your haunt on social media, would you take the time to do so?"
    Last edited by smootah; 08-16-2015, 03:45 PM.
    Austin Smoot, Specter Media
    www.SpecterMedia.biz
    contact@specterenterprises.com

  • #2
    Spent a lot of time and money on facebook last year and it didn't pay off I ended up spending way more than the actual cost of a ticket to sell a ticket. I think people on facebook mostly just like you to visit their page or view what they say opposed to read or study what you are saying. I think everyones objectives are clear VISIT OR READ OR LIKE MY PAGE not necessarily visit your page. I don't believe facebook plays a major roll in your business success.

    Larry
    Larry Kirchner
    President
    www.HalloweenProductions.com
    www.BlacklightAttractions.com
    www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
    www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

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    • #3
      Facebook, effective or not?

      I can see where you're coming from Larry. A few years ago I would agree with you completely, however, until recently we've seen a shift if how Facebook is being used by business pages. Studies today show that 89% of customers will seek out Twitter/Facebook pages to look for reviews, engagement and operational information -- rather than the company page itself. I heavily recommend that local businesses (especially Haunts) put forth an effort on providing interesting, engaging and relatable content on their Pages, because it is quickly becoming the first impression that the business has with the consumer.

      In regards to Facebook advertising, I don't ever recommend that any business pay more than $0.15 per conversion. If local ads, promos or boosts are anything higher than that, then they should consider changing the content or reformatting their audience. The nice thing about platforms like Facebook is that it provides direct, scalable feedback on how people are reacting to the content. However, billboards, radios bits, and flyers it's kind of a shot in the dark. I personally wish that Haunt owners would reconsider how social media can help their business (obviously I'm biased), but also because I have yet to work with a Haunt that hasn't profited directly from it -- I've yet to see a loss.
      Austin Smoot, Specter Media
      www.SpecterMedia.biz
      contact@specterenterprises.com

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      • #4
        It doesn't help that Facebook goes out of its way to block most your subscribers from getting your news feed (if you're a business) unless you pay them to "boost" your feed. I get swamped with spam from people I barely know (and "liked" out of sympathy) every time I log on, but from the pages I care about (that have any business aspect) I get NOTHING unless they pay for the boost. Facebook expects you to pay for nearly every post, otherwise, they'll just send it to 2% of your subscribers. (Maybe Zuckerberg should spend more effort "giving back" to the people (subscribers) who made him filthy rich and an evil 1%er, rather than nomads in Africa or some other country. -- Just say'n!)
        www.TerrorOfTallahassee.com

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        • #5
          We too spent a great deal of time, money and effort on social media in the past and I have to agree it hasn't benefitted us much in the way of advertising or driving new customers to our door, rather than it has been a useful tool to inform current fans of give aways, hour changes, promotions, coupons, updated weather or any such other important information that might need addressing immediately. We post frequently but more in the way of keeping our brand and image prominent in the sea of other daily posts.
          Daniel Burnett
          PR/Operator
          Reindeer Manor Halloween Park: Est. 1974
          13th Street Morgue/Dungeon Of Doom/Reindeer Manor


          sigpic

          reindeermanor.com
          whenhingescreak.com

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          • #6
            BTW, what do you mean by "reformatting their audience"? Are you saying one should start a new page with an all new audience?
            www.TerrorOfTallahassee.com

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            • #7
              "Reformatting Audience"

              Originally posted by monsterwax View Post
              BTW, what do you mean by "reformatting their audience"? Are you saying one should start a new page with an all new audience?
              Not at all. Stick with the page audience that you have. I'm referring to your target audience via ads. A nice touch in the features that Facebook has added is that you can be incredibly specific about the type of audience you are looking for. For example, you can make a post only visible to parents, or teenagers that attend the local high school. Last year we helped a Haunt that was trying to grow its numbers while living next door to a college town. We made ads specifically referencing aspects of the college culture or mascot and we had a MASSIVE response to it. That Haunt went from 9,000 ticket sales to 16,000 that season. The problem that most Haunters have is that they try a Facebook ad and chuck THOUSANDS of dollars at it with little response - yet they do nothing about it. Advertising in any spectrum includes probing the market and changing your advertising according to how people are responding to your ads. Generally, we think an ad is unsuccessful if it costs more than $0.15 per engagement (liking your page, visiting your site, commenting on your post, etc).
              Austin Smoot, Specter Media
              www.SpecterMedia.biz
              contact@specterenterprises.com

              Comment


              • #8
                Which is why, unless you're a marketer, you should be paying a marketer to do your marketing. Most of us wouldn't do surgery on someone because we haven't gone to school for it, learned the concepts, the demos, how to do a white paper, etc. why would someone with no experience in marketing even think about attempting to do it? And this includes Facebook.


                Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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                • #9
                  Has a point

                  One of the owners of the 13th floor went to college for marketing. Makes since to get a pro when a pro is needed.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by cigsm View Post
                    Which is why, unless you're a marketer, you should be paying a marketer to do your marketing. Most of us wouldn't do surgery on someone because we haven't gone to school for it, learned the concepts, the demos, how to do a white paper, etc. why would someone with no experience in marketing even think about attempting to do it? And this includes Facebook.


                    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
                    I agree, cigsm -- whole heartedly. Which is why a colleague and I recently launched our "Ghost-Hosting" model for this season. Over the last several years as professional Social Media marketers, we've realized that there is a gaping hole between the Haunted House attraction market and social media marketing. We want to prove to the rest of the industry that social media marketing, handled by a team of trained marketing professionals, can cut your marketing budget in half while doubling your market reach. We're really excited about it for sure. You should check it out. Visit our site at: spectermedia.ibz
                    Austin Smoot, Specter Media
                    www.SpecterMedia.biz
                    contact@specterenterprises.com

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      With respect - then you weren't doing it right. A social media marketing campaign - done correctly - will drive more business to your doors then most any other type of marketing. Content that makes people want to engage with you is key. Customers and potential customers should feel like they are talking to YOU - the haunt - as if it were a person. And good quality content that promotes engagement WILL get shared - which expands your reach and ultimately leads directly to higher sales

                      Originally posted by MorgueofDoom View Post
                      We too spent a great deal of time, money and effort on social media in the past and I have to agree it hasn't benefitted us much in the way of advertising or driving new customers to our door, rather than it has been a useful tool to inform current fans of give aways, hour changes, promotions, coupons, updated weather or any such other important information that might need addressing immediately. We post frequently but more in the way of keeping our brand and image prominent in the sea of other daily posts.



                      Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Checked out your site. Looks great! I do the marketing and social media marketing for our haunt. Luckily my owners are awesome and had already gotten on board with SMM when I came in. When I came in we doubled our FB following to 40k and grew overall engagement by 400%. I've let them know that those results aren't always so drastic, so Im looking forward too a much smaller but steady growth this year.
                        It helps when your owners trust you to do what's best for the business and I'm very lucky in that respect. They have amazing ideas of their own and are always up for my ideas as well. Kind of a perfect marriage - and I'm sure you know as a marketer in your own biz that it IS a marriage. Lol. Best of luck this year.

                        Originally posted by smootah View Post
                        I agree, cigsm -- whole heartedly. Which is why a colleague and I recently launched our "Ghost-Hosting" model for this season. Over the last several years as professional Social Media marketers, we've realized that there is a gaping hole between the Haunted House attraction market and social media marketing. We want to prove to the rest of the industry that social media marketing, handled by a team of trained marketing professionals, can cut your marketing budget in half while doubling your market reach. We're really excited about it for sure. You should check it out. Visit our site at: spectermedia.ibz



                        Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

                        Comment

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