Houzz is mostly known for the pretty pictures of homes on its web site and mobile app that will stir up house envy in even the happiest of home owners, but the service also offers a wide range of tools that aim to help design and remodeling professionals find new clients. Late last year, Houzz launched its Pro+ platform that allows professionals to market their services on the site in 12 markets after raising a $35 million Series C round. Today, it is expanding this platform for professionals with its new Pro+ Dashboard analytics tools and opening it up to contractors, architects, designers, landscapers and other professionals in 425 new markets in the U.S. and Canada.

The importance of Houzz in the home remodeling market continues to increase. At the end of last year, the company reported that about 168,000 home professionals were using the service actively and today, Houzz says this number has now increased to 190,000. Overall, the service currently sees over 14 million unique visitors every month.

Houzz quickly sold out of spots in the original Pro+ program when it first launched. For an annual subscription, the Pro+ program gives professionals additional visibility in their local area and allows them to highlight their work to attract new customers. The new metrics dashboard gives professionals additional insight into how their photos are doing on the site and includes real-time data about the total number of photo impressions, the number of clicks on them, click-trough rates and add rates (that is, how many people saved a photo to their Houzz ‘ideabooks’). This data, Houzz says, will help professionals “to optimize their marketing and brand-building efforts.”

“With this powerful new analytics tool, remodeling professionals will be armed with real-time insights on how their profile and portfolio are resonating with the homeowner community, enabling them to make adjustments and craft the most effective brand presence possible to attract the right clients,” said Houzz CEO Adi Tatarko in a statement today. “Our goal with Pro+ is to deliver a service that helps professionals build their brands and increase their exposure to homeowners in their local area the way they want.”

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

As part of a continued effort to increase engagement across the site, Facebook has begun emailing some page owners who have not visited or made posts to their pages a while.

Earlier this year we noticed Facebook showing some admins notifications about how many posts and views their page recently received. Now, the company seems to be trying an email campaign that recommends page owners post a new update or photo, fill out components of their page’s Timeline or learn about tips and best practices from a video or pdf. An example of these emails is below.

Now that the social network is beginning to hit a threshold of users in markets like the U.S., it has to focus on increasing engagement. There are more than 42 million Facebook pages with 10 or more Likes, but many of these pages are neglected after they fail to pick up traction or page owners have trouble understanding how to get value out of the social network.

These suggestions could be useful start to helping page owners understand what to do to engage fans. As we recommended previously, Facebook should present page owners with more resources, not just notifications about how many views or fans they’re getting.

Readers can visit our PageData and The Facebook Marketing Bible products for more insights on how to best use Facebook pages to increase reach and achieve marketing goals.

Article courtesy of Inside Facebook

Facebook is rolling out its new “promote” button for pages with more than 400 fans in the U.S., according to the Facebook Marketing page.

The social network began testing the feature last month to make it easier for pages to increase the reach of their posts without going through the ad dashboard. Although the promote button simplifies the process, some page owners will resent the idea of having to pay for distribution to fans they’ve already acquired. Facebook seems to be becoming more aggressive about monetizing pages, but the rise of Sponsored Stories and promoted posts also stems from the reality that there is an increasing number of stories competing for placement in News Feed. Pages, like users, are not able to reach all of their followers organically.

For page owners willing to pay to ensure that more fans see their messages, promoted posts have the benefit of displaying in fans’ News Feeds rather than in ad units on the side of the page. Facebook also says friends of the people who interact with promoted posts will be more likely to see the story in their feeds. The cost per reached fan seems to vary by page. The minimum spend appears to be $5, which can reach between 20 and 2,200 fans, based on different screenshots we’ve seen of the feature. This is a lifetime budget, not a daily budget.

Posts can be promoted for up to three days from when the post was first created. Older posts are not eligible for this type of promotion in order to maintain relevance in users’ feeds. Promoted posts, like standard posts, can be targeted by location and language.

User flow for creating a promoted post

After making a post, click the “promote” button. Set a budget.

Clicking “more options” brings up details about the duration of the campaign and how page owners will be billed. There isn’t a way to change the date and time of when promoted posts will run, but page owners can pause and restart the campaign manually. Page owners can change their billing method by clicking the gear icon in the bottom left corner of the dialog.

After clicking “save,” the promoted post will be reviewed by Facebook’s ad team before beginning to get paid distribution. In the meantime, the post will appear in other users’ feeds as it would normally. Once the campaign begins, page owners will see reach details on the bottom of the posts on their Timeline. Hovering over the metrics will provide further detail.

Clicking on the “promoted for $X” button will offer insights on how many Likes, comments, shares or other actions were taken after users saw a promoted post. Page owners will also have the option to stop the promotion from here.

Promoted posts will appear in fans’ News Feeds with the word “sponsored” at the bottom.

Image credit: Facebook Help Center

Article courtesy of Inside Facebook