Relapse to an Addiction, Substance or Behavior

Relapse to an Addiction, Substance or Behavior Addiction Addictive Behaviors Print Relapse After Addiction Recovery By Elizabeth Hartney, BSc., MSc., MA, PhD Elizabeth Hartney, BSc, MSc, MA, PhD is a psychologist, professor, and Director of the Centre for Health Leadership and Research at Royal Roads University, Canada. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Hartney, BSc., MSc., MA, PhD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on January 05, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on November 18, 2019 Matt Cardy / Getty Images More in Addiction Addictive Behaviors Caffeine Internet Shopping Sex Alcohol Use Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Put simply, a relapse is the worsening of a medical condition that had previously improved. A relapse to addiction is when the person with the past addiction starts doing his or her addictive behavior again after a period of not doing it, known as abstinence. For example, someone who had completely stopped drinking for a period of time, say, six months would be experiencing a relapse if they had a single alcoholic drink, as much as if  they went on a drinking binge. For people trying to control their behavior rather than trying to quit entirely, a relapse happens when the individual had got control over the behavior  but is re-experiencing a period of uncontrolled behavior. For example, someone trying to control their drinking, who had been drinking according to relapse could result in a session of binge drinking. For a shopaholic who is trying to follow a spending plan, a relapse could be going on a shopping spree. How Common Are Relapses to Addictive Behaviors? Relapse is a hallmark of addiction; it is common, even expected, that people who are attempting to overcome addiction will go through one or even several relapses before successfully quitting. Relapse is even considered a stage in the stages-of-change model, which predicts that people will cycle through a process of avoiding, considering quitting, taking active steps to quit and then relapsing. Sometimes people will cycle through the stages several times before quitting. Is Relapse a Sign of Failure? Despite the fact that relapse is a well-recognized aspect of recovery from an addiction, many people attempting to quit an addiction will feel they have failed if they relapse. They might abandon their efforts, feeling that quitting is too difficult for them. Even some treatment programs take a hard line on participants who relapse. Accepting that relapse is a normal part of the process of recovery is a more helpful way of looking at relapse. Individuals and treatment programs that take this view are more successful, and in the long run, those who accept and work to try again after a relapse are more likely to eventually overcome their addiction. How to Respond to a Relapse Positively This is not to say that a relapse should not be taken seriously. Good treatment programs plan ahead for the possibility by including relapse prevention as part of the process. Relapse prevention helps people in recovery anticipate the factors that might cause them to engage in their addictive behavior again â€" and to plan ahead for these situations. It is important to remain focused on recovery immediately after a relapse. Thinking through what led to the relapse is an important step in avoiding it from happening again. For example, were there any triggers that happened just before the relapse, either positive or negative? Sometimes, stressful events can trigger a relapse, particularly if the addictive substance or behavior was used as a way of coping with stress. But happy events can also trigger a relapse, especially if others are celebrating with alcohol. It is important to put this in perspective  and move on from the relapse with a stronger commitment to avoiding future relapses by avoiding or managing triggers before they occur. Remember, if you are trying to quit, you should plan for and try to avoid relapse. But if you do relapse, you should accept that it is a normal part of quitting and resolve to learn from the experience.

New York City Essay - 1741 Words

New York City Every time I hear this song it makes me long to leave all of my responsibilities and head off to the city of dreams. A trip to New York has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. I have always wanted to visit the place of tall buildings, history, and where culture is intertwined with its people. I have wanted to live the fast pace life of a New Yorker, where I could stand outside and see, smell, and taste all of the experiences that this city has to offer. I have been building and building this ideal image in my mind for so long. If I ever get to New York, will I be disappointed by the city that never sleeps? The city that is a part of almost every movie I watch. Can New York live up to the expectations I have†¦show more content†¦My husband thought this to be a bit corny, but not me. How exciting it was to hail my first ever cab to the city. The taxi ride itself was long, but I was to busy to care, because I was taking in all of the sites like a vacuum. The true mo ment of the taxi ride came to be once we entered the city of Manhattan. The taxi driver was true to form by honking, speeding when allowed, and not caring if we cut off anyone during our drive. The traffic from the airport to the city was a big jumbled mess. I have never experienced traffic this bad before. I was so excited once our taxi man paid the toll to get into Manhattan. Paying that toll was like gaining access to a secret society. The city, it people and the buildings welcomed us with open arms. The sounds of the city penetrated the walls of the cab as we drove through the streets of Manhattan. I could hardly wait to partake in the action that was happening outside. The buildings themselves were an amazing site to behold. The buildings took on personalities of their own. Each building was bigger and more graceful than the next. When lights were added to the mix it was a dazzling combination. The city itself felt like a great big hug, and I felt overwhelmed by its power. The city allowed me to become part of it just like many others many years ago who immigrated to this awesome city. As I was looking out of the cab I finally got to see in person the sight of all sights; Times Square. The main juncture ofShow MoreRelatedNew York And York City864 Words   |  4 PagesNew York, New York. With the exception of Ted Cruz, everyone loves New York. Among its wonders, New York state contains New York City, the most populous city in the U.S. New York is also known for its beautiful la kes and mountains, a great wine growing region, and lots of farms. New York City has the largest concentration of billionaires anywhere on the globe, the financial heart of the world known as Wall Street, and is the ultimate destination for every wannabe taxi cab driver in the world. NewRead MoreThe City Of New York City748 Words   |  3 Pagesperson as they walk the streets of New York City. The rush of a city can often be overwhelming. Even though that may be true, 80.7 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas as of the 2010 Census. Living in New York City is better than living in a Haysi. Living in a city offers many more conveniences, opportunities, and more diversity. Living in a city offers many amenities and service that might very well not be available in a rural area. New York City for example, has terrible trafficRead MoreNew York : The City Essay1283 Words   |  6 PagesNew York: the city that never sleeps, the Big Apple, the most lively city in America. It is home of the greatest pizza (right behind Italy) and the greatest bagels. It is home to the some of the greatest food in the world, as you can’t walk a hundred feet without seeing a different restaurant. It is home to nearly eight and a half million people, many of them world renowned names like Jay-Z, Robert De Niro, and Adam Sandler. I must admit, though, I am a little biased. This is because I come to UMassRead MoreThe New City Of New York1299 Words   |  6 PagesIt was not easy for Johnny to move into a new city. It was very problematic for him to move into a new city because he knew no one, and he had no friends. The new city that Johnny moved into was New York. It is also known as The Big Apple. That city has a population of 8.6 million people. New York has many attractions. Examples of them are: Empire State Building, Statue Of Liberty and Time Square. Johnny always had a dream to go to New York and see these attractions, but he did not picture it likeRead MoreNew York City1607 Words   |  7 PagesNew York City is always bustling, after all, it is known as the city that never sleeps. There are only a few places that offers an escape. Ever since Governors Island have opened its doors for visitors, it has been the escape. However, the Island needs to go through some changes to be a perfect recreational area worthy for the people of New York. History To understand the Governors Island and fix its problems, we need to look at the history. It was originally owned by the Lenape tribe and used asRead MoreNew York City : The City Of The World914 Words   |  4 Pages the city that never sleeps and the place that I call home -- New York City. Although there are many other cities across the United States, New York City has a certain je ne sais quoi about it, that makes it seem better than the rest. Home to the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, the Empire State Building, and many other landmarks and attractions, New York City is a tourist’s dream come true. Unfortunately, people like me, who have lived and grown up here, tend to find the city and itsRead MoreThe New York City Council1154 Words   |  5 Pagesbrought to a legislative body. In the case of the New York City Council, the bill is introduced into the Council at a Stated Meeting and becomes a law after an intricate voting or vetoing process with the Counci l and the Mayor of New York City (â€Å"Legislative Process†). In the last year, many bills were passed by the New York City Council. While browsing through the list of bills passed in the last year, a bill in particular stood out to me – â€Å"Reducing city government emission of greenhouse gases by 40Read MoreMiami And New York City947 Words   |  4 PagesMiami and New York City are cities located at complete opposite sides of the United States. Miami, the city where sunshine, palm trees, and beautiful beaches are the norm, is located in the southern part of Florida. Meanwhile, New York City, famously referred to as the city that never sleeps, is located right in the heart of New York. Both, have numerous compelling similarities, as well as many distinguished differences that give each their own distinct identity. Whether it’s their weather, culturalRead MoreNew York is the City of Dreams662 Words   |  3 Pages New York is the city of opportunity, it has been a home for many who have immigrated through the famous Elis Island in hopes of creating a better life and living an american dream, for others it is an inspiration and a place to chase their dreams. The city that never sleeps is a place where millions of people daily are all trying to accomplish something. The song â€Å"Empire State of Mind† by rapper Jay Z and Alicia Keys released in October of 2009, reminds us just what New York represents. Both artistsRead MoreHunger Of New York City1374 Words   |  6 Pages Hunger in New York City Since the recession started in 2007, the national statistics of unemployment, low-income households, and hunger have increased yearly. Even after the recession had ended in 2009 the economic issues are still very prominent. Everything economically related to the health and welfare of the vast majority of our American citizens, has sky rocketed in a very negative way. Students, parents, children and families alike have, and continue to struggle with hunger on a day to

Marketing Management Brand Loyalty - 1913 Words

The primary focus of this research is to develop and understanding the reasons for brand loyalty, as there is a literature gap in this area of marketing management. A lot of researches been done in the past on the benefits of brand loyalty but there is a literature gap on how an organisation can build brand loyalty. The literature of market is still debating of what compromises brand loyalty (Chaudhuri Holbrook, 2001). The literature review analyses the general theories surrounding the concept of brand loyalty in previously adapted marketing management guidance, marketing science and the human communication researches with an indication as how understanding the factors contributing brand loyalty can actually help organisations to build brand loyalty amongst consumers. The sources used for the literature review are journal of management, information quarterly, textbooks, academic blogs, and official website publications. The structure of literature review begins with of definition of brand loyalty and then moves to the general theories surrounding factors contributing for brand loyalty d then a focused research on Apple’s achievement of brand loyalty. Brand Loyalty According to Bennett, Brand Loyalty has been existence since the 1920’s (Bennett Rundle-Thiele, 2002). Brand loyalty can simply be defined as the prejudiced behavioural purchase by consumers over the time with respect of one brand in comparison of other brands with similar functions due to psychologicalShow MoreRelatedResearch Proposal on Brand Loyalty in Mobile Phone Market1416 Words   |  6 PagesI. Introduction 1. Problem Statement A number of papers have discussed about the factors that influence a consumer’s brand loyalty, such as An empirical model for brand loyalty measurement (Punniyamoorthy, M and Prasanna Mohan Raj, 2007), or â€Å"The relation between Brand Loyalty, Product Involvement and Information Search† (Ai Lin Lim, 1999). Although both of the researches mentioned above reached some conclusions about their topics, it is our initial assumption that these conclusions will beRead MoreBrand Management; Influence on Consumers’ Behaviour and Satisfaction1103 Words   |  5 Pagesimage. As a result, companies create own brands. According to American Marketing Association (2013), a brand is â€Å"a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one sellers good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.† Also, the process of creating connection or association between emotional perception of the consumer and company’s product with target of cre ating distinction and building loyalty has known as a brand management (Hislop, 2001). For instance when someoneRead MoreThe main concept of brand loyalty has been approached from three different factors which is600 Words   |  3 PagesThe main concept of brand loyalty has been approached from three different factors which is behavioral, attitudinal and composite loyalty. The researchers have their own assumption or known as behavioral view which they assume that the loyalty of a guest toward a brand is based on the repeat transactions occur. The study of O’Malley (1988) show that this approach provides a more realistic picture on how well the brand is performing compare to other competitors. However, this approach have been criticizedRead MoreCase Study on LOreal Essay1636 Words   |  7 PagesExecutive Summary L’Oreal was the world largest French-based cosmetic company, achieved successfully in global marketing with businesses in East and Western Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and some other countries. Later, they spotted on China as a potential cosmetics market due to its extremely high population and entered the Chinese market to compete with other cosmetic brands as a late entrant. This report attempts to discuss on L’Oreal’s expansion in China. For example, in order toRead MoreComparative Analysis: Funnel Based Marketing Relative to Consumer Decision Journey Processes1725 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Branding in the Digital Age Introduction In the article Branding in the Digital Age (Edelman, 2010) author and research David Edelman successfully illustrates how the Internet has re-ordered the balance of power between consumers and the brands they develop loyalty to over the long-term. His premise of the article is based on how successfully the Internet is transforming buying decisions into a more egalitarian- and trust-based relationship between marketer and customer. The concepts he bases his CustomerRead MoreTrue Brand Loyalty1659 Words   |  7 Pagesconsumers that will switch brands or products as soon as the feel the need to do so. What companys look for in this consumer environment is creating a so-called brand loyalty. This paper will explore the ways companies go about in creating this brand loyalty and it will investigate the circumstances and effects that come with it. It will start of by thoroughly explaining what brand loyalty exactly is. After that an overview of key success factors stimulating brand loyalty will be given and we willRead MoreWhy Customer Loyalty Should Influence Marketing Strategy1375 Words   |  6 PagesThe concept of Customer Loyalty can be seen in the work of Deming in his TQM model but the modern more detailed definition was derived from the work of Storbacka, Strandvik, and Gronroos (1994) in the area of service quality models. Relationship marketing places great emphasis on customer lifetime value. The conventional wisdom suggest that loyal customers are the most profitable but recent work by Heiner Evanschitsky and John Glanfield, both now at Aston Business School suggests that this may notRead MoreInternational Journal Of Contemporary Hospitality Management Essay15 40 Words   |  7 Pagesimportance of branding as an undeniable tools for marketing strategy. (O Neill and Matilla 2010) I strongly agree with this statement because brand creates tremendous persuasive appeal and positive perception in the mind of customer which drive them to buy service from branded company rather than unknown non branded company or organization. Event though another article which was published in 2011 (Yoo, M., Lee, S., Bai, B. (2011). Hospitality marketing research from 2000 to 2009: topics, methodsRead MoreQuestions On Customer Knowledge Management Essay1211 Words   |  5 Pages2.2. Brand Exploratory 2.2.1 Customer knowledge As the core of the customer knowledge management, the customer knowledge is created the intellectuals of both businesses and customers. To improve the product innovation, which is including the customer s consumption preferences, the channel of consumption, and the nature of consumption (Lin, Che, Ting, 2012). People through the regularity of customers behavior realize customer knowledge (Dholakia, Kahn, Reeves, Rindfleisch, Stewart, Taylor,Read MoreMarketing Strategy Of Tesco Direct1656 Words   |  7 PagesAfter two years Tesco introduced their loyalty program with steady growth, Tesco moved to another marketing strategy, which is Tesco Direct and Tesco.com. Tesco Direct is a platform to sell home electrical, sports, beauty, toys, entertainment, books, etc. The positioning and message in the main page of Tesco Direct (Figure 1.0) is very clear and significant. When viewer click into the organisation’s website, the first sight is fall on the homepage. Homepage can decide how truly the viewers are engaging

Time And Romance Essay Free Essays

In his sonnets, poet and playwright William Shakespeare creates a romantic tone when describing how romantic relationships are affected over time. Vivian Tiller’s article â€Å"Is love really Blind? † provides research to suggest that romantic relationships are affected over time because people tend to lose physical attraction to their mate. After reading both Shakespearean and Deedless works one can conclude that time has a negative effect on love because people’s feelings change about their mate overtime. We will write a custom essay sample on Time And Romance Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now One of the ideas of time that and Shakespeare presents is Love is not really love if it changes. In Sonnet 1 16, lines 2-4 Shakespeare states, â€Å"love IS not love which alters when it alteration finds†. This quote means Love is not really love when the supposed feelings Of love from one or both partners change . This has to do with time because in most relationships love changes overtime. One of the ideas that Dilled presents is physical attraction impacts relationship satisfaction. In paragraph number 7, Dilled states, â€Å"By asking peoples at various stages of relationships how they feel about their partner’s appearance, we learn a lot about underpinnings of physical attraction, an ingredient that clearly bonds men and women, but one that relationship experts rarely study’. Dilled utilizes statistics to gain a better outlook on the topic. Additionally, Dilled uses Data from the people she interviewed. Shakespearean outlook regarding love is positive but, Dilled views love by statistics and people’s personal experiences which are mostly negative. In a nutshell, Shakespeare and Dilled have Different opinions of love. Shakespeare views love based on his personal experiences, On the other hand, Dilled uses statistics and data to formulate her opinion on love. Shakespeare and Dilled are two of the many people in the world with contrasting opinions on the subject on love. Based on their theories ,a question comes to mind, is love born of the heart destined to last forever or perhaps its subject to change as the day is to the night? How to cite Time And Romance Essay, Essays

Reflected Appraisals free essay sample

Many people have influenced and shaped my self-image. From the time I was young, my parents and family members told me if my behavior was acceptable or unacceptable by rewarding or punishing my behaviors. This started to build my self-image and as I got older, my peers, teachers, coworkers, and bosses perceptions of me has also influence how I view myself. â€Å"Reflected appraisal is our perception of another’s view of us. How we think others appraise us affects how we see ourselves† (Wood, 2007, p. 44). My Dad is the reason I’ve decided to go back to school. We will write a custom essay sample on Reflected Appraisals or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The reflected appraisal that he made clear to me before he passed away, almost three years ago, was that I needed to further my education and finally do something with my life. He made it clear that he didn’t want me to struggle my entire life, like he always had. He really stressed the importance of me finally reaching my highest potential and going back to school. My entire life, he always told me that I was a lot smarter than I let people see. I also remember him telling me that I let my friends influence my behaviors way too much. At one time or another, I reflected the appraisals of my peers. Through self-fulfilling prophecies, my peers lead me to believe that I wasn’t the smartest in our group of â€Å"friends†, so I lived up to that for years and had very low self-esteem. â€Å"The principle of reflected appraisals notes that an individuals self-esteem is greatly influenced by how he or she is viewed by others. If others hold a person in high esteem, the person is likely to have high self-esteem†(Rohe and Stegman, 1994). Over the years, I’ve learned to surround myself with positive influences known as â€Å"uppers†. Instead of degrading me and my weaknesses, like â€Å"vulture’s† do, they encourage change and appreciate my self-worth (Wood, 2007). For way to long, I have surrounded myself with people that didn’t have me or my interests at heart. I know that I will always come in contact with people that may be â€Å"downers† and â€Å"vultures† but I don’t have room for them in my close circle of friend’s any longer. I think it is only natural to believe things about myself that aren’t necessarily accurate. What is important is that I am constantly advancing my capacity for self-renewal and that I continue to grow into the person I want to be, regardless of what people think.

Free Essays on All The Kings Men

ALL THE KINGS MEN All the Kings Men is a story of the rise and fall of politically challenged man in the South. This story takes place around the 1930’s, and the narrator is a man who is named Jack Burden. Jack Burden probably would not be considered the main character, but he is the main character’s right hand man. Jack Burden is a really smart guy who does most of the work in the office, while Willie Stark is rising from poverty to become a governor of his state. Willie Stark is the main character, and he plays a very demanding, and somewhat ferocious role. Willie Stark isn’t the smartest of them all, so he hired Jack Burden, and after doing so, he was able to blackmail his enemies and make a huge series of liberal reforms that are made to tax thee rich and ease the harshness of the state’s poor farmers. Willie Stark is usually good on defeating his nemesis, one of which is named Sam MacMurfee, who was a defeated governor, and he always wants to be like Willie Stark . Jack also has a family of the states government, who turns his back on his so called aristocratic dynasties, and becomes Willie Stark’s partner, or right hand man. Willie and his partner Jack are like two very sneaky scammers who usually try to blackmail their enemies. One day, Willie asked Jack to look for skeletons in a closet of Judge Irwin, and Jack is forced to say his ideas concerning the consequences, responsibilities, and motivations. Judge Irwin was the man who took bribes from Adam Stanton, and Jack somehow finds out that Judge Irwin took a few bribes before, and that the old Governor, Stanton, covered it up, which most likely made Judge Irwin kill himself. This then makes Governor Stanton accept the position of director of a new hospital that Willie is building. A couple days later, Anne decides to have an affair with Willie while she is married to Stanton, and after Stanton hears about this situation, he murders Willie in a rage, and ... Free Essays on All The Kings Men Free Essays on All The Kings Men ALL THE KINGS MEN All the Kings Men is a story of the rise and fall of politically challenged man in the South. This story takes place around the 1930’s, and the narrator is a man who is named Jack Burden. Jack Burden probably would not be considered the main character, but he is the main character’s right hand man. Jack Burden is a really smart guy who does most of the work in the office, while Willie Stark is rising from poverty to become a governor of his state. Willie Stark is the main character, and he plays a very demanding, and somewhat ferocious role. Willie Stark isn’t the smartest of them all, so he hired Jack Burden, and after doing so, he was able to blackmail his enemies and make a huge series of liberal reforms that are made to tax thee rich and ease the harshness of the state’s poor farmers. Willie Stark is usually good on defeating his nemesis, one of which is named Sam MacMurfee, who was a defeated governor, and he always wants to be like Willie Star k. Jack also has a family of the states government, who turns his back on his so called aristocratic dynasties, and becomes Willie Stark’s partner, or right hand man. Willie and his partner Jack are like two very sneaky scammers who usually try to blackmail their enemies. One day, Willie asked Jack to look for skeletons in a closet of Judge Irwin, and Jack is forced to say his ideas concerning the consequences, responsibilities, and motivations. Judge Irwin was the man who took bribes from Adam Stanton, and Jack somehow finds out that Judge Irwin took a few bribes before, and that the old Governor, Stanton, covered it up, which most likely made Judge Irwin kill himself. This then makes Governor Stanton accept the position of director of a new hospital that Willie is building. A couple days later, Anne decides to have an affair with Willie while she is married to Stanton, and after Stanton hears about this situation, he murders Willie in a rage, and ... Free Essays on All The Kings Men Ellison 1 Growing up in the American South during the 1920's and 30's one is steeped in the history of Southern gallantry and honor, the â€Å"Glorious Cause† of the Civil War, agrarian life and politics. Such was the early life of Robert Penn Warren, born April 24, 1905 in Guthrie, Kentucky. He spent his youth on his family’s tobacco farm listening to the stories of his grandfathers who had both served with the Confederate Army only a half-century before. Warren dreamed of a military life and was later granted an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. However, in the Summer of 1920, he was blinded in one eye by a stone thrown by his brother, Thomas. Later in life Warren would comment on his misfortune, â€Å" I felt a kind of shame,~ shame is not the word, but disqualification for life...some sense of being maimed.† That accident, however, changed the course of his life as Warren enrolled in Vanderbilt University to study engineering. He quickly became friends with a group of young writers who published a college magazine called The Fugitive. Soon after Warren tried his own hand at writing and saw his work published. The literary seed had been sown. Warren attended graduate school at both the University of California and Yale University. In 1928 he left the U.S. bound for Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. There was a disdain at the time for classic literature and more importantly its interpretation. In response to the old critics, Warren began experimenting with a new style using both irony and paradoxes. Later this style would become his trademark, along with his strong sense of history. On his return to the U.S. with a degree in English Literature, Warren taught at Southwestern College in Memphis before receiving an invitation from Vanderbilt University in 1931. By 1934 he had taken a position at ...

Facebook Marketing Strategy Why You Need One How To Build It

Facebook Marketing Strategy Why You Need One How To Build It Facebook marketing has gotten exponentially more challenging now than it was in the early days. Organic reach is harder to come by, advertising has become more important, and old-school tips and tricks that once worked well may not anymore. Now, more than ever, having a clear strategy is crucial for success. You know that though. Thats why youre here, right? So, your next questions might include: Can you still do effective marketing on Facebook organically? How exactly should smart businesses approach crafting their strategy? What are current best practices to consider following (and to consider breaking)? Which tactics are worth experimenting with right now? Should you consider using tools to better manage your processes? This post will dive into each of these points (and more), showing you exactly how to map out a robust strategy that will help you make the most of Facebook. Facebook Marketing Strategy: How to Plan the Best One in 8 StepsWhat Are the Benefits Behind Planning a Proactive Strategy? research data shows that marketers who document strategy are 313% more likely to report being successful. If Facebook is a primary marketing channel for your company, that means proactive planning should be considered important to ensure the effectiveness of your efforts. Of course, that strategy needs to be thoughtful and on-point. Youll need to do some research and keep it flexible enough to adjust your tactics based on performance over time, but having a plan will put you ahead of the game. You can make documenting that strategy easier by downloading the templates and resources below. In it, youll find a ZIP folder that includes the following: Facebook Marketing Strategy Template (PPT): This template will make it easy to document your entire strategy from start to finish. Google Analytics Custom Reports: Use these links to set up custom reports in Google Analytics for measuring social media success in just a few clicks. Social Media Calendar: Plan every post and keep the execution of your strategy organized in one place. This post will show you exactly how to put it to use so you can get this entire task completed quickly and easily. Planning Your Facebook Strategy in 8 Steps Step 1: Establishing Goals Step 2: Conducting a Facebook Page Audit Step 3: Understanding Your Audience Step 4: Developing a Brand Voice for Facebook Step 5: Running a Competitive Analysis Step 6: Planning a Facebook Content Strategy Step 7: Setting a Facebook Posting Schedule Step 8: Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Strategy Step 1: Define Your Marketing Goals For Facebook Before you know what to do, you need to know why you are doing it. It's easier to succeed when you give yourself a target to aim at.  Here are some common business goals for Facebook brand pages: Drive referral traffic. It isn't as easy as it used to be, but you can still drive traffic from Facebook. Strengthen brand awareness. Odds are your target customer is active on Facebook. Make them know you exist. Build a relationship with your audience. Groups are a great way to build community and achieve this goal. Provide customer service. People expect to be able to reach businesses through their Facebook pages. Generate leads and conversions. Particularly through advertising. No matter what your goal might be, it's important to remember Facebook is a social platform that allows two-way communication with your customers and target audience. Treat it accordingly. Step 2: Audit Your Existing Facebook Presence Do you currently have a Facebook business page (even if you haven't done much with it strategy-wise)? If so, it's a good idea to review where your page's performance is currently standing. This can help identify opportunities for improvement.  Here are some simple things to check (they may seem basic, but lots of little details can collectively add up to a big difference for your brand perception). Is Your About Tab Complete? People discovering your company on Facebook need a way to get to know who you are. If your About tab isn't accurate or complete, though, they'll have a harder time understanding your business. Check out this example from Saucony: Here, you can see they've filled out the following sections: Mission. What are you all about? Contact Info. How can people get ahold of you? Website. Where can I find more about your business? About. Add a company bio here. Company Overview. What do you do? Products. What do you sell? This might include some things that aren't obvious to people. Categories. How is your page best understood? Our Story. This is an extended section to share more about your company. Which Types of Content Appear to Perform Best? Research data shows that video content performs best on Facebook. That's a broad and general truth, though. What's actually working best for you? Review your recent posts (consider going back 90 days or so) and the following questions: Which tone of voice works best? Humorous posts? Serious posts? Inspirational posts? Do successful image posts have anything in common? Certain colors? Subjects? Text vs. no text? Are videos performing well? And if so, what attributes do successful videos share? Are they short? Long? Funny? Serious? What about posts with links? Facebook has indicated a desire to keep people on Facebook, rather than sending traffic away. Is your link post performance reflecting this? This simple exercise can help you figure out what might work well in the future based on what's worked well in the past. You can also quickly see your top performing posts using the Insights tab on your Facebook business page and taking a quick scroll downward: Click See All Posts  to take a deeper dive into your post history: How Does Your Cover Photo Look? If your cover photo hasn't been updated in a while (which it may not have been if you haven't optimized your business page in a while), now might be a good time to consider updating it. One option is to create something simple, timeline, and on-brand like this example from Vans: Or, you can create one that's coordinated with a current campaign you're running, like this example from Hulu: It's a small thing, but it can make a difference toward putting your brand's best foot forward. Step 3: Know Your Facebook Audience It helps to know who you're talking to before starting a conversation. Knowing who your audience is on Facebook, however, can be a challenge. Fortunately, its own built-in analytics and other tools can make this task a bit easier. Understand the People Currently Interacting With Your Page Using Insights Facebook offers page owners with plenty of useful data (and at no charge). So, take full advantage of it. Step 1:  Visit your page (if you're the admin) and click Insights: Step 2:  Click on People. Here, you'll find a wealth of useful demographic information. Step 3: Review your demographic performance data on Facebook. Who's interacting with your content the most on Facebook? The answers are easy to find.Use Google Analytics to Analyze Facebook Referral Traffic Google Analytics won't break down your Facebook audience directly. However, it does provide valuable data about who is visiting your website. You want those folks following you on Facebook too, right? Knowing what they like will help achieve that goal. Step 1:  Log into Google Analytics and click on Audience.  Then, click Interests to find out what your website visitors are interested in. Step 2: Next, try finding information about the demographics of your website visitors. Step 3: Next, try clicking into Social. Then, click into the Overview tab to get more useful data. Step 4: You can find detailed data on which social networks (including Facebook) are sending referral traffic back to your site under Network Referrals: Step 5: Clicking into Landing Pages can help you see where Facebook is sending traffic on your site. This is helpful for understanding which content is performing best on the network. Spend some time seeing what you can learn about your audience here. Between Google Analytics and Facebook Insights, there's a lot you can extract. Recommended Reading: 49 Facebook Marketing Tips to Drive Better Results Right Now Use 's Facebook Report If you use 's Social Organizer to schedule your company's social media content, you can use its Facebook Report within the Analytics tab to find the following performance data: Impressions.  How many people saw your posts? Impression Rate By Post Type.  Which types of posts got the most attention? Number of Posts Sent. What does your overall post volume look like? Best Days to Post. Does your audience appear to be more active on some days rather than others? Best Times to Post. Same goes for times. When does your audience engage with your content the most? Best Post Types.  Stats show that video dominates Facebook. Is that the case for you, though? Engagement Rate.  How is your content performing based on engagement? Top Posts. Which specific posts have performed the best (and how might you recreate that success moving forward)? Using this data can help you understand your audience by understanding which content appears to resonate with them the most. Run A Survey This is perhaps the easiest way to know exactly what your audience wants. Sign up for Crowd Signal or Survey Monkey. Create a short list of simple questions asking your audience what they want to see on your Facebook page. Promote your survey on social media and your email newsletter. Analyze the results.Step 4: Develop Your Brand's Facebook Voice You now know who you're talking to. It's time to figure out how you'll talk to them. This means establishing your brand voice on Facebook. This doesn't have to be complicated. It just helps to understand how to make the voice of your brand work on social media. 1. Serious Are you  in an industry where a light-hearted or casual tone would be inappropriate? If so, memes, Millennial lingo, and other things you might typically see on Facebook probably won't be your bread and butter.   Fortunately, it is possible to be formal, professional, and interesting. For example, UNICEF creates compelling content that often carries immense emotional weight: It’s about time A special message from our Goodwill Ambassador, David Beckham on why early moments matter. #EarlyMomentsMatter Posted by UNICEF on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 2. Casual Let's say your brand is in a serious industry. How can you make your Facebook content entertaining and on-brand? Take a cue from Capital One: All Bracket buddies are good luck for #MarchMadness, but a bracket buddy as good as Charles Bark-ley 🠐 ¶ is #FanGoals. Posted by Capital One on Thursday, April 4, 2019 3. Humorous A little bit of light humor can go a long way. Don't worry if you're not the world's best comedian, either. Sometimes, a small amount of subtle humor (as long as it's relevant to your content and brand) can go a long way: "When it comes to Dad Jokes, this is the Nucleus Option." - Michael Buxton, the winning artist from our Dad Jokes design challenge! âš›ï ¸  https://bit.ly/2KclvMW Posted by Threadless on  Wednesday, May 29, 2019 Facebook Marketing Strategy Why You Need One How To Build It Facebook marketing has gotten exponentially more challenging now than it was in the early days. Organic reach is harder to come by, advertising has become more important, and old-school tips and tricks that once worked well may not anymore. Now, more than ever, having a clear strategy is crucial for success. You know that though. Thats why youre here, right? So, your next questions might include: Can you still do effective marketing on Facebook organically? How exactly should smart businesses approach crafting their strategy? What are current best practices to consider following (and to consider breaking)? Which tactics are worth experimenting with right now? Should you consider using tools to better manage your processes? This post will dive into each of these points (and more), showing you exactly how to map out a robust strategy that will help you make the most of Facebook. Facebook Marketing Strategy: How to Plan the Best One in 8 StepsWhat Are the Benefits Behind Planning a Proactive Strategy? research data shows that marketers who document strategy are 313% more likely to report being successful. If Facebook is a primary marketing channel for your company, that means proactive planning should be considered important to ensure the effectiveness of your efforts. Of course, that strategy needs to be thoughtful and on-point. Youll need to do some research and keep it flexible enough to adjust your tactics based on performance over time, but having a plan will put you ahead of the game. You can make documenting that strategy easier by downloading the templates and resources below. In it, youll find a ZIP folder that includes the following: Facebook Marketing Strategy Template (PPT): This template will make it easy to document your entire strategy from start to finish. Google Analytics Custom Reports: Use these links to set up custom reports in Google Analytics for measuring social media success in just a few clicks. Social Media Calendar: Plan every post and keep the execution of your strategy organized in one place. This post will show you exactly how to put it to use so you can get this entire task completed quickly and easily. Planning Your Facebook Strategy in 8 Steps Step 1: Establishing Goals Step 2: Conducting a Facebook Page Audit Step 3: Understanding Your Audience Step 4: Developing a Brand Voice for Facebook Step 5: Running a Competitive Analysis Step 6: Planning a Facebook Content Strategy Step 7: Setting a Facebook Posting Schedule Step 8: Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Strategy Step 1: Define Your Marketing Goals For Facebook Before you know what to do, you need to know why you are doing it. It's easier to succeed when you give yourself a target to aim at.  Here are some common business goals for Facebook brand pages: Drive referral traffic. It isn't as easy as it used to be, but you can still drive traffic from Facebook. Strengthen brand awareness. Odds are your target customer is active on Facebook. Make them know you exist. Build a relationship with your audience. Groups are a great way to build community and achieve this goal. Provide customer service. People expect to be able to reach businesses through their Facebook pages. Generate leads and conversions. Particularly through advertising. No matter what your goal might be, it's important to remember Facebook is a social platform that allows two-way communication with your customers and target audience. Treat it accordingly. Step 2: Audit Your Existing Facebook Presence Do you currently have a Facebook business page (even if you haven't done much with it strategy-wise)? If so, it's a good idea to review where your page's performance is currently standing. This can help identify opportunities for improvement.  Here are some simple things to check (they may seem basic, but lots of little details can collectively add up to a big difference for your brand perception). Is Your About Tab Complete? People discovering your company on Facebook need a way to get to know who you are. If your About tab isn't accurate or complete, though, they'll have a harder time understanding your business. Check out this example from Saucony: Here, you can see they've filled out the following sections: Mission. What are you all about? Contact Info. How can people get ahold of you? Website. Where can I find more about your business? About. Add a company bio here. Company Overview. What do you do? Products. What do you sell? This might include some things that aren't obvious to people. Categories. How is your page best understood? Our Story. This is an extended section to share more about your company. Which Types of Content Appear to Perform Best? Research data shows that video content performs best on Facebook. That's a broad and general truth, though. What's actually working best for you? Review your recent posts (consider going back 90 days or so) and the following questions: Which tone of voice works best? Humorous posts? Serious posts? Inspirational posts? Do successful image posts have anything in common? Certain colors? Subjects? Text vs. no text? Are videos performing well? And if so, what attributes do successful videos share? Are they short? Long? Funny? Serious? What about posts with links? Facebook has indicated a desire to keep people on Facebook, rather than sending traffic away. Is your link post performance reflecting this? This simple exercise can help you figure out what might work well in the future based on what's worked well in the past. You can also quickly see your top performing posts using the Insights tab on your Facebook business page and taking a quick scroll downward: Click See All Posts  to take a deeper dive into your post history: How Does Your Cover Photo Look? If your cover photo hasn't been updated in a while (which it may not have been if you haven't optimized your business page in a while), now might be a good time to consider updating it. One option is to create something simple, timeline, and on-brand like this example from Vans: Or, you can create one that's coordinated with a current campaign you're running, like this example from Hulu: It's a small thing, but it can make a difference toward putting your brand's best foot forward. Step 3: Know Your Facebook Audience It helps to know who you're talking to before starting a conversation. Knowing who your audience is on Facebook, however, can be a challenge. Fortunately, its own built-in analytics and other tools can make this task a bit easier. Understand the People Currently Interacting With Your Page Using Insights Facebook offers page owners with plenty of useful data (and at no charge). So, take full advantage of it. Step 1:  Visit your page (if you're the admin) and click Insights: Step 2:  Click on People. Here, you'll find a wealth of useful demographic information. Step 3: Review your demographic performance data on Facebook. Who's interacting with your content the most on Facebook? The answers are easy to find.Use Google Analytics to Analyze Facebook Referral Traffic Google Analytics won't break down your Facebook audience directly. However, it does provide valuable data about who is visiting your website. You want those folks following you on Facebook too, right? Knowing what they like will help achieve that goal. Step 1:  Log into Google Analytics and click on Audience.  Then, click Interests to find out what your website visitors are interested in. Step 2: Next, try finding information about the demographics of your website visitors. Step 3: Next, try clicking into Social. Then, click into the Overview tab to get more useful data. Step 4: You can find detailed data on which social networks (including Facebook) are sending referral traffic back to your site under Network Referrals: Step 5: Clicking into Landing Pages can help you see where Facebook is sending traffic on your site. This is helpful for understanding which content is performing best on the network. Spend some time seeing what you can learn about your audience here. Between Google Analytics and Facebook Insights, there's a lot you can extract. Recommended Reading: 49 Facebook Marketing Tips to Drive Better Results Right Now Use 's Facebook Report If you use 's Social Organizer to schedule your company's social media content, you can use its Facebook Report within the Analytics tab to find the following performance data: Impressions.  How many people saw your posts? Impression Rate By Post Type.  Which types of posts got the most attention? Number of Posts Sent. What does your overall post volume look like? Best Days to Post. Does your audience appear to be more active on some days rather than others? Best Times to Post. Same goes for times. When does your audience engage with your content the most? Best Post Types.  Stats show that video dominates Facebook. Is that the case for you, though? Engagement Rate.  How is your content performing based on engagement? Top Posts. Which specific posts have performed the best (and how might you recreate that success moving forward)? Using this data can help you understand your audience by understanding which content appears to resonate with them the most. Run A Survey This is perhaps the easiest way to know exactly what your audience wants. Sign up for Crowd Signal or Survey Monkey. Create a short list of simple questions asking your audience what they want to see on your Facebook page. Promote your survey on social media and your email newsletter. Analyze the results.Step 4: Develop Your Brand's Facebook Voice You now know who you're talking to. It's time to figure out how you'll talk to them. This means establishing your brand voice on Facebook. This doesn't have to be complicated. It just helps to understand how to make the voice of your brand work on social media. 1. Serious Are you  in an industry where a light-hearted or casual tone would be inappropriate? If so, memes, Millennial lingo, and other things you might typically see on Facebook probably won't be your bread and butter.   Fortunately, it is possible to be formal, professional, and interesting. For example, UNICEF creates compelling content that often carries immense emotional weight: It’s about time A special message from our Goodwill Ambassador, David Beckham on why early moments matter. #EarlyMomentsMatter Posted by UNICEF on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 2. Casual Let's say your brand is in a serious industry. How can you make your Facebook content entertaining and on-brand? Take a cue from Capital One: All Bracket buddies are good luck for #MarchMadness, but a bracket buddy as good as Charles Bark-ley 🠐 ¶ is #FanGoals. Posted by Capital One on Thursday, April 4, 2019 3. Humorous A little bit of light humor can go a long way. Don't worry if you're not the world's best comedian, either. Sometimes, a small amount of subtle humor (as long as it's relevant to your content and brand) can go a long way: "When it comes to Dad Jokes, this is the Nucleus Option." - Michael Buxton, the winning artist from our Dad Jokes design challenge! âš›ï ¸  https://bit.ly/2KclvMW Posted by Threadless on  Wednesday, May 29, 2019