Tag Archive for "social media"

10 Necessary Steps to Protect Your Facebook Page

Posted on Monday, May 15th, 2023 at 2:11 pm.

Last Updated on Friday, May 5th, 2024

Facebook is a valuable tool for businesses and individuals alike but it's crucial to ensure that your Facebook page is secure from potential hackers. Cybersecurity breaches can harm your reputation, damage your business, put sensitive information at risk and cost you time and money. Therefore, it's essential to take steps to protect your Facebook page from being hacked.

Here are our top ten necessary steps to secure your Facebook Page:

Step #1 Use strong passwords

Ensure your passwords are a random mix of at least 14 to 16 characters - letters, numbers and symbols, and avoid using common phrases or words.

So long as you are using a strong password – along with 2FA – you shouldn’t need to change your password that often. However, some security experts suggest changing your password every 90 days or at least once a year.

You can also consider using a password manager like Bitwarden or 1Password for secure password management across devices. Keep in mind that while convenient, built-in managers may pose security risks if your device is stolen.

Step #2 Enable two-factor (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) – a MUST

Two-factor authentication is an additional layer of security that requires a code to be entered along with your password. This code is usually sent via text message or generated through an app. By enabling two-factor authentication, you can significantly reduce the risk of your Facebook account being hacked.

In fact, if you’re running Meta ads, your ads will quite possibly perform better so long as EVERY admin of your Page has 2FA set up. And you might see an ever so slightly better organic reach for your posts too.

You access 2FA under your Password and security settings.

Although most use SMS to receive a code via text message for 2FA this is actually not the most secure way to set up 2FA as phone numbers can be spoofed.

So, for optimal security, it’s much more effective to use an Authenticator app. Google Authenticator (iOS or Android) and Duo Mobile are among the top authenticator apps.

Many online services not just Facebook - Amazon, Dropbox, Google, PayPal, Slack and Twitter all support authenticator-generated codes as an alternative to SMS-based codes. All the apps can be used for multiple accounts, and you don't need to have a cellular connection, or even Wi-Fi access, on your phone for the codes to work.

Step #3 Do not share your login credentials

Never ever share your login credentials with anyone, for any reason. To share access to your business page, use Business Manager or Business Suite and add Admins with appropriate roles and ensure they also have 2FA set up.

Step #4 Monitor your account activity

Monitor for any suspicious or unauthorised access. Check for any unusual login locations, device types, and login times. Get in-app notifications and emails about unrecognised logins by going to Password and security settings and select ‘Login alerts’.

Also check your old logins and remove all logins on devices you no longer have access to or don’t recognise.

Step #5 Account access

Regularly review who has access to your account and remove anyone who has moved on or should no longer have access.

Also review third-party apps connected to your account. Remove old and unnecessary apps or manage their access to your information.

Step #6 Keep your operating system and software up-to-date

Make sure to keep your operating system and software up-to-date, including your web browser, antivirus, and other security software. Regularly updating these components will protect you from known security vulnerabilities and improve the overall security of your system.

Step #7 DO NOT click on suspicious links

Hackers often use links to gain access to your Facebook account. Avoid clicking on suspicious links sent via DM and/or email – from Meta, an unknown source or even your trusted friends as they could have been hacked. And especially not if they contain a message urging you to click.

Phishing is rampant these days and the scammers are getting cleverer by the day; it’s all too easy to fall prey to something that looks too good to be true. If in doubt, do not click! And, if sent via email, check the full sender’s email – often the scammers don’t even bother to cover the actual email address – which could look totally suspicious or could look plausible but will have something odd about the address like an extra part to the domain like this “mail.nzpost.co.nz”.

You can check legitimate Facebook emails by going to your Password & Security settings and selecting Recent emails under Security checks.

Step #8 Don’t share password details

These are common are where hackers try to trick you into revealing your login credentials or other sensitive information. Don’t respond to emails or messages requesting your password or other login details.

Step #9 Log out of your account after use

Always log out of your Facebook account after using it, especially if you’re using a shared or public computer.

Step #10 Large following? Consider hiding

You might want to hide your Friends and Followers on your personal profile if you have a large number of them. You can do this by going to your account settings, scroll down to Audience and visibility and manage who can see your Friends and Followers. This is particularly important for profiles that get impersonated as it looks very enticing to a scammer to be able to act as you and try to scam your entire network.

You can also “lock” your profile so that only your friends can see your shared information and posts. Go to your account settings and scroll down to Audience and visibility to see 'Profile locking'.

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12 Social Media Tips for Christmas Promotion

Posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 at 1:04 pm.

Written by Philippa Crick

As the countdown to Christmas is on, now is the perfect time to really ramp up your social media marketing efforts with the goal to see a spike in revenue with our 12 social media tips for Christmas promotion.

1. Establish your Goals
  How can you measure your success if you don't know what you want to achieve? Examples of goals might be to increase sales, increase volume of website traffic or have more newsletter sign ups. Use website statistics such as Google Analytics and Facebook Insights to measure the effectiveness of your campaign.
2. Create a Content Calendar
  Reduce stress and errors by preparing in advance your content and when it will go live.
  Begin with key dates, special offers and events you may have planned etc. There is no right or wrong answer as to when to post or how much to post but establishing a regular cadence that your audience can come to rely on is a great start. However in saying that, an indication for Students is not to post on Friday/Saturday as they don't tend to be on Facebook as much then.
3. Try Facebook advertising
  Did you know that only 2% of your fans will see your posts on Facebook? As a low cost way to increase your audience reach you should experiment with Facebook ads.
  This highly targeted form of advertising is an ideal way to ensure important posts are seen by your fans or others in your target market.
  Each ad you create, you can choose how much you want to bid to have your ad shown to your target audience as well as the option between cost per click (CPC) or cost per 1000 impressions (CPM). Budget control is completely at your discretion.
  To give you an idea of what you might pay, Statista reports that in Q3 of 2014, ecommerce businesses saw an average cost per click of $US 0.49 on Facebook.
4. Don't forget Twitter
  If your target market uses Twitter, then it will be just as important as Facebook for building an engaged audience.Zaggora, a fitness wear brand, held a contest on Twitter for Christmas. They asked followers to post a hilarious photo showing off their Christmas gifts.
  Entry criteria was simple: use the #zaggora hashtag to enter. The winner received a selection of Zaggora fitness clothes. It was a very simple yet successful campaign for them, increasing their brand and product visibility.
  
  Last year there were over 282 million Tweets from around the world about holiday shopping. The Twitter Business Blog contains some interesting stats for the upcoming holiday season:
  
  of Twitter users are likely to purchase something from a small business they follow on Twitter
  
  of Twitter users are likely to Tweet about their holiday purchases
  
  of Twitter users are planning to use Twitter for holiday shopping

1. Follow the 80/20 Rule  of social media posting
  Ensure that 80% of your tweets/posts drive interaction and offer value to your followers. The other 20% use for direct offers or ‘selling’ type messages. Facebook is cracking down on 'overly promotional' organic posts so if you post too often "Buy now", "Join now", "Sale on now" and so on, less and less of your fans will see these messages. Read our article about overly promotional posts.
2. Get Creative with your Imagery
  Attract interest by creating customised Christmas cover images/backgrounds/post images for each social media platform.

Give Tips for Christmas that are tailored to your audience
Try to focus on providing some genuinely helpful information such as weather forecasts, gift ideas, travel tips and Christmas recipes. Find a way to tie these themes into your business and promoting your product and how it can be used during the festive season.See this example from Thermomix, which produces a multi-function kitchen aid, where they created a festive drink to promote their product without actually mentioning it or any reference to purchasing.
Respond Rapidly
Gone are the days of getting back to your clients in 24 hours. Today you’ve got to make every effort to get back to them within 1-2 hours - this applies not just to email but to social media messages as well.
Different demographic groups use different social media platforms
Adjust your posts/tweets and imagery for each individual platform and target market. What works in Facebook may not work in Twitter.
Run a contest
Creating a contest is a great way to engage your audience and generate content on your social media site; incentivise your target market to sign up to your database by offering a prize or deal.
Create a Facebook App
To make your e-mail audience bigger, create a Facebook App and encourage your visitors to sign up there. You can also promote special deals and offers through this tool.
Drive Traffic
Most important of all, use Social Media to drive traffic to your website. When posting or tweeting include a link back to your website, when relevant.

If you need assistance with your social media marketing whether it be planning content ideas or Christmas imagery, please call  03 474 1075 or email Philippa.

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