Tag: Instagram

Facebook Organic Panic

Facebook Like

The recent changes at Facebook announced by Mark Zuckerberg have caused panic and meltdowns by some so-called social media “experts.” These one-trick marketers think it’s the end of the world for Facebook and are spreading false fear to brands. I hope your competitors listen to this insanity.

Please share this terrible advice with your competitors:

  • Yes, Facebook is dying. It will probably go away forever very soon.
  • Facebook organic reach will be so low that it’s just not worth using Facebook anymore.
  • Facebook ad rates will go up. So instead of advertising to grow your business in the midst of the biggest business boom in 30 years, you should pull back and start hoarding pennies.
  • Stop using social media altogether.
  • Go back to relying on direct mail ads, newspaper ads, and yellow page ads, because, sure, that’s where customers are spending time.
  • Also, the sky is falling! Eek!

 

Don’t Panic

Let your competitors lose their heads. If they’re going to pull back on Facebook due to decreased space, that’s more space for the rest of us!

I’m not sure if any of these social media “gurus” really believe Facebook is falling, are just trying to get noticed, or have a deep resentment of Facebook’s success and are looking to celebrate a decline. But make no mistake – the only failure here will be made by those not constantly adapting and capitalizing on changes in social media.

 

What to Do

Here are my three recommendations in dealing with these changes on Facebook:

1. Double down on Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads. Will ad rates go up? Of course they will. Facebook ads are more effective and more efficient than any other ads available today. Prepare for a year where the US economy will grow 3-4% (finally!). So yes, ad rates will go up and so will your revenue if new customers can find you and can engage with you.

2. Create even better, more sharable content. The value of organic content is no longer about hitting many current fans with a message. The real value comes from getting a few fans or customers to share your content or their experience with their friends.  As per last week’s news feed changes, these shared posts by friends will dominate screens.

3. Consult a professional. Do you really want to spend your entire day navigating these increasingly complicated waters?

 

 

What Should YOU Promote on Instagram or Snapchat?

instagram

 

Just when brands got their arms wrapped around posting good content on Facebook and Twitter, some of their audience emigrated to Instagram and Snapchat. If your customer base fits the demographic of either of these channels, ignoring them is as irresponsible as not moving your brand into Facebook five years ago.

Although Instagram is looking more and more like Facebook, and Facebook is looking more and more like Snapchat, these channels are used very differently by consumers than Facebook.

 

Earned & Organic

Depending on your brand and strategy, you should explore spending on some Instagram ads. I’m less bullish on paid opportunities in Snapchat for most brands so far. So, let’s focus organic / earned content.

The good news is that 60% of 13 to 34 year-olds in the US use Snapchat. That’s approximately 50 million consumers.

The better news is they are not passive; they’re engaged!

The bad news is they’re engaged only with their friends and probably don’t want to engage with your brand.

So, let’s build on that. Get your current customers to post for you – in other words, be Snapworthy!

 

Be Snapworthy

Even the most prolific and obnoxious social sharers only have so many snaps or posts they can do in an hour. You have a limited opportunity for them to take a picture of something in your store or say something about your brand.

This goes well beyond social media marketing. This is a challenge for all store managers, franchisees / owners, and especially local staff. You must do something to make that customer feel compelled to pull out their phone and tell a story. This won’t be due to an offer, a discount, or a coupon. It will be due to the way you made them feel.

 

Using this tactic on Facebook too

If the customer posts a pic to Facebook, it’s even better. Even younger demos still have a much larger friend community there than anywhere else. And, with the algorithm changes Facebook made on June 30, a user’s friends’ posts now claim higher positions in his or her newsfeed than anything else — even from news publishers. That’s bad news for traditional media, but great news for you if your customers find you interesting enough to share something that includes you!

 

 

 

 

 

Stop Measuring Social Media

Einstein quote j

 

Stop Measuring Social Media

…unless you’re actively engaging!

You can spend all day measuring social media. But if you are not regularly publishing and engaging in social media, then all that measurement is a complete waste of time and money.

By regularly publishing, I mean multiple times per day, on all your pages with a good portion being original posts or links back to original content.  I’ve spoken with many marketing execs who ironically don’t have the resources to post this aggressively because they’re constantly monitoring and analyzing every word on social about their industry.   

Sure, monitoring and measuring the broad spectrum of social can give you some insights. The measurement industry people will tell you that you can make key business decisions with this information. Perhaps…but if you’re making important decisions about your organization based on what a few people may remark on social media, then perhaps you’re in the wrong seat.

 

Other Noise Versus Your Message

Look at the big QSRs – do they care? I hope not. Thousands of people say nasty things on social about chicken nuggets and $5 pizzas every week. But guess what? Millions of people still buy chicken nuggets and $5 pizzas every week. Those brands are actively putting out their own messages and not focusing on all the chatter.

 

What about the social channels you can’t monitor?

Those who over-measure have a particular fondness for Twitter. Why? Is it the most influential? No. Is it the biggest? No. But, it is the easiest to monitor and measure. Tweets are things that can easily be counted but might not necessarily count.  

Facebook and Instagram have real barricades to monitoring anything but your own content. They count, but can’t be counted. And Snapchat? No chance.

So most “share of voice” reports out there are only measuring a less important portion of a tiny fraction of what might be captured about of what’s being said about the brand! Please reread that last sentence in your most sarcastic voice possible.

 

Next: More Noise?!? 

As social and online conversations, chatter, and noise grow exponentially, each piece becomes less important. Where do you want to be a year from now…gathering more & more data that is becoming less & less relevant? Or, do you want to lead conversations and tell your story? Try these 4 tips:

1. Keep a finger on the pulse of social – not every inch of the body.

2. Of course be prepared to be alerted to any real crisis.

3. Focus all of your social listening on responses and engagements to your original content and your story. That’s all you can control anyway.

4. Focus the majority of your marketing resources on making news, not reading it.