What You Need to Know About the New Facebook Algorithm

Facebook recently announced that it will be rolling out a new algorithm, and it has gotten brands and businesses alike abuzz with worry about what these changes mean for them. The reality is that your newsfeed will favour content from your friends, family, and groups over business pages, which really, is what Facebook was originally all about. 

Yes, unfortunately your organic reach will probably drop. The good news? These changes forces brands to up their content game. We've been preaching quality over quantity for years, and that earning engagement online is like winning the Stanley Cup of social media, and platforms are finally getting on board. 

How can your brand stand out with these changes?

·      Comments = King

The new algorithm favours authentic engagement above everything else. Not only should you be taking the time to comment on others posts, but you should focus your posts on asking thought provoking questions and encouraging engagement as well.

What not to do: Increasing engagement does not mean bugging your audience to comment on every. single. post. You wouldn’t do this in real life, so don’t do it online either.

·      Now is the time to give Facebook Live a try

The keyword here is live. According to Mark Zuckerberg “live videos often lead to discussion among viewers on Facebook – in fact, live videos on average get six times as many interactions as regular videos.”

What not to do: Of coure this isn’t a catchall; use Facebook live when appropriate but don’t overkill it with irrelevant topics. Does your breakfast really need to be shared on Facebook live? Probably not.

·      Personal branding is where it’s at

Think outside the box of your business page. Use your personal account to build relationships and reach people. If you are an entrepreneur or business owner, it’s pretty much expected that you eat, breathe, and live your business, so why not spark conversations with your network about ideas or hear their suggestions?

What not to do: There’s a fine line between promoting your biz and spamming. Building relationships does not mean talking about your biz 24/7; it’s about nurturing your current connections through a wide range of personal and professional conversations. 

·      Be a good listener

Listening skills are going to be even more important with these changes. The only way to have an accurate pulse on who your audience actually is, is to listen to them. Take the time to hear what they care about, what they’re talking about, and where they spend their time online.

What not to do: Don’t forget to listen to your competitors too. You probably share an audience, so if they aren’t talking about you, they just might be talking about them.

Facebook returning to it’s roots means that your brand should as well. Think back on the classic building blocks of relationships and communications – creating trust, two-way conversations, and transparency. 

Social media doesn't replace real relationships; it merely provides a medium to further them. The key here is to treat your online relationships the same as you would if you were face to face, and by the sounds of it, this new algorithm will reward real relationships accordingly and help cut out the fake news. 

What do you think of these changes? Do you have any concerns?

The Mystery Behind Facebook Business Manager

Benefits of Facebook Business Manager

Most businesses are active on Facebook, aiming to reach a portion of their one billion+ daily users; and many of those companies have been switching from using a personal profile as a business platform, to a Facebook Page because if not, they risk losing the page entirely. It is against Facebook Terms to use a personal account to represent something other than yourself, so they have the right to deny access to that account. If you manage one or more pages for a business, company, or organization, you have probably heard of Facebook Business Manager.

What is Facebook Business Manager?

It is a free tool, released in 2014, for agencies and organizations to manage access to their Pages and ad accounts without divulging their account passwords, and giving full access to each user. Facebook has been asking anyone who shares login information with others for their pages and ad accounts to change the way they sign in. This has become almost mandatory, unless you have a small account and have the option to choose to link your Pages and ad account to your personal profile.

The initial setup the Business Manager is actually very simple. However, it can take about an hour to figure it all out. I would caution you to make sure that the personal account you are using to get to https://business.facebook.com/ is the CEO of the business, or the main admin as they will have the highest power when managing all of the Pages and contributors on this account. What kinds of benefits are there to Business Manager? Here are a few:

Business Manager keeps you focused and efficient

You can keep your work and personal life completely separate with the use of business manager. Your Business Pages login is not the same as your personal profile login, which means that you are brought directly to the timeline of your projects, and your pages. This tool brings all of your pages and ad accounts to one centralized location, which you can easily flip through using the tabs provided. There is no more need to log into different accounts for multiple platforms, they can all be accessed through the same account.

This tool has made managing multiple Facebook Pages much easier and less daunting. It is more simple now to request access to a client’s page, and you can specify what kind of access you need, such as ad analyst, or editor. The client receives an email and can approve the request with just one click.

Assigning roles

One of the best features of business manager is that you can easily assign roles. This means that you can grant people access and tasks to different pages and ad accounts. There is a tab that allows you to easily see who is working on what page, whether it be an individual or a group. The master admin has the power to remove people easily, and grant specific access based on each project or task.

The beauty of this is that you do not have to be friends with someone to grant them access to a page. You simply need a coworker’s work email, avoiding seeing photos of their new dog on your personal timeline.

Recommended improvements

As mentioned previously, Facebook Business Manager was released in 2014. Since then, a number of bugs and technical difficulties have been erased and improved. We couldn’t help but notice a few ourselves, like the difficulty to comment or like posts from pages in business manager from a mobile device. Additionally, the steps to access a page’s newsfeed seem to change often, however Facebook does not provide this update information to its users. Please keep us in the loop, Facebook! Overall, it seems that Facebook Business Manager is a great tool for managing pages and ad accounts, but less ideal for interacting as a page.

The mandatory switch may feel harsh, but take the time to explore the benefits of Business Manager. Have you used Business Manager? How is your experience with it? Let us know in the comments below!

How Instagram Stories are kicking Snapchat’s Butt

The new Instagram Stories feature hit the social media scene on August 2nd and has been making more of a splash than anyone expected. Instagram stories are photos or videos where you can add text that only appear for a period of 24 hours.

Among my own personal network, I’ve noticed a surprisingly consistent decline in Snapchat usage ever since Instagram stories launched. Gone are all the stories from my friends and family, stories of the few celebrities I follow are seem to be the skeletons of what remains.

This could also be attributed to the unfortunate timing of launching an anime inspired filter that many thought to be racist and caused multiple brands like Buffer to jump ship from Snapchat. This was the perfect moment for Instagram to creep up and steal the spotlight, while many users were already questioning Snapchat’s values. Although Snapchat removed the filter and made a statement ensuring it wouldn't be put back into rotation, the damage was already done and the opportunity created. 

Here’s how Instagram seized it:

• Going after growth

One of the main reasons Instagram stories are successful is because they aren’t trying to covert current Snapchat users (even though they may successfully do just that), rather they are going after the ones who haven’t jumped on the Snap bandwagon yet. They aren’t trying to diminish or take over the app and it’s current following, but tackle it’s opportunity for growth. This TechCrunch article does a great job of explaining how they are using the “good enough” strategy, stating that "The real target for Instagram Stories, though, are all the people who've been curious about Snapchat's fun creation tools and format, but either tried and abandoned it, or wrote it off as just for teens or too much work to adopt"

• One platform

Instagram stories offer the added benefit of being embedded right into Instagram, allowing you to have both features (short term stories and long term photo posting) in just one app. In a world where a new “it” app is popping up every day, and storage space on our cell phones is a constant struggle, this is huge. We already have so many apps to keep up with on a daily basis, adding stories to an app you’re already using anyways simplifies your life, and who would say no to some simplifying? Not me, that’s for sure!

Instagram CEO even openly admitted "They (Snapchat) deserve all the credit. This isn't about who invented something. This is about a format, and how you take it to a network and put your own spin on it."

• The numbers

I’ve read multiple articles about how Instagram stories are booming, but I always like to test the theories for myself for multiple reasons: 

1) Many of the articles are based out of the US and don’t take into account a Canadian market, 

and 

2) they usually use large companies as examples for statistics and numbers, which isn’t overly pertinent or accurate when it comes to small business and/or personal branding.

On average, my Snapchat stories get between 20-40 views. I would attribute this to many factors, how many friends I have, time of day, content, etc. My very first Instagram story received over 90 views within the first few hours. I’ve been on Snapchat for months, but have been on Instagram for years. It only makes sense to take advantage of the platform you’ve invested more time into building your brand and audience on.

Facebook owned Instagram clearly had timing on their side, but also had strategy to back it up to ensure success.

Have you used Instagram stories yet? Which social media platform do you think will win the battle to share our stories?

How Do You Maintain Real Relationships From Behind a Screen?

In today’s day and age, most of our lives are spent behind a screen, whether it be a desktop, laptop, cellphone, tablet, or some kind of gaming device. So naturally this corresponds to our ever evolving work life. It’s almost impossible to work a job, let alone run a business, without using some type of electronic device. Therefore how do we not get lost behind the screens and lose the sense of actually talking to an individual? Here are some helpful tips that we’ve implemented to help maintain as much of a real life relationship with people through screens as possible.

1: Respond to e-mails and text messages as soon as possible
 

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how often people don’t check their e-mails regularly and lose clients over a lack of response. People like to feel valued, so make them a priority. Even if you do not have a response for them right away, shoot them a text or e-mail back letting them know that you see their questions/concerns and will get back to them as soon as you know more, or you’ll keep them updated as the details unfold. When people feel like they’re a priority in your life they’re more likely to give you more time to come back with the full answer when they know that they are not being ignored. When you show respect for their time, they’ll show you respect right back.

Challenge: Set the standard, commit to always responding to people’s emails within 24 hours and see how much of a difference this will make in their patience and attitude towards you and your business. If you want to take it one step further, turn on your read receipts and watch it keep you accountable that when you read their text message, you should respond right away, because they’ll know that you’ve seen it. 


2: Be professional, but personal

Now one of the worst things to do, especially when interacting with or looking for new clients, is to send them a message that looks like you just simply copy – pasted it and sent it out to everyone. People like to feel valued, so take the time to send them a personal message. You don't have to spill your personal life to them, but you also don't have to come across like you don’t have feelings. Find the happy medium, and read the message out loud to see how it comes across. After sending the initial message, it never hurts to observe how they respond to you. If they come back with a very professional message continue with that, but if they add some smiley faces, exclamation marks, etc. it doesn’t hurt to throw some in as well, so that you can become more of a real person to them. In the beginning it never hurts to lean more to the professional side, you can always tone it down a bit later on as the relationship grows.

Challenge:  Find a friend/colleague that can be honest with you and get their opinion on what you’re intending to send your client – at least the first few times. What could be normal to you, could come across pushy or annoying to others. A second opinion never hurts!

3: Get to know your clients

Now that all of our lives are constantly exposed online, we have all have done some social media stalking at some point in time.  "Stalking" or "creeping" might not be the best definition, but it doesn’t hurt to get to know your clients on a more personal level, especially if you plan on working with them for any long period of time. Find a way to get to know their likes, dislikes, if they have a family, if they like sports or music. Take the time to check them out on professional networks like LinkedIn, social platforms like Twitter, and even Google. People like to feel that you actually care and are taking an interest in them, they’ll be more likely to want to use your services in the future if they feel like they’ve built a relationship with you, so find a way to casually get to know them, ask about their week, and see where it goes from there.

Challenge: When adding a new contact in your phone, take some time as you get to know this person to write down a few things that you learn about them in the notes section of their contact information. Make a point to comment on last night’s hockey game, or ask about a recent concert they’ve been talking about. If they have kids, people love bragging about their kids, so ask about them and get interested. It may seem forced to you at first, but as your relationship grows you’ll become genuinely interested in how your client’s daughter’s cheer completion went and if she beat out last year’s nationals winners. 

 
4: Make time for face time.

As much as we all use our screen these days to do just about anything in our lives, it’s always good to make time for actual face to face time. Everyone’s schedules are so overloaded these days, but making time to meet over coffee, lunch or even drinks (depending on the type of meeting it is) can make all the difference. People appreciate being able to put a face to a name, and making an effort to do so can greatly increase your chance of obtaining and maintaining clients throughout your career. If you are working with clients that do not live close to you, set up a time to Facetime or Skype them. As I’ve mentioned throughout this post, people appreciate being valued and the fact that you’re willing to set aside undivided time for someone will mean a lot to them, and boost their confidence in you. 

Challenge: Make a point to meet with or plan face to face screen time with each of your clients, at least once, to show that they are a priority to you, and see your business flourish! It can be a bit nerve-wracking at first, but the more you do it, the more natural it will become.

I hope this has started your mind rolling and thinking about different ways you can create a more personal relationship with your current and future clients. With how much we all use electronic devices, there are many ways that we can easily use them to communicate more effectively. This is just the tip of the iceberg to get you thinking, please feel free to post your comments and any more ideas you use to try and keep a personal relationship with your clients. 

To Bey or Not to Bey: What Beyoncé's Surprise Album has Taught Us

The age old phrase goes as follows: All publicity is good publicity.

For Beyoncé it seems as though no publicity is good publicity.

As always, Mrs. Carter not only follows her own rules, but creates them. She shocked the world by releasing a surprise fifth album last Thursday at midnight.

Let's take a look at how Beyoncé played a risky PR game, yet managed to win. And did she ever win big. In a blink of the eye, the album has become the fastest selling release in the history of iTunes.

1. She's lived & learned

After much hype and hoopla, her last album was met with a large degree of disappointment from media, critics and fans alike. It's no wonder she took a complete opposite approach for this latest album, if at first you don't succeed try, try again, right? Right. Not only has she proved that she's learned from her mistakes, but that she's a savvy business woman as well. She may take risks, but as she just showed us all, they are indeed calculated ones. A large portion of PR is attributed to gaging and understanding your audience. Reacting fast is crucial to survival. She has clearly learned from her mistakes and proven that she knows very well what we want.

2. Element of surprise 

In today's digital age its extremely difficult to keep a secret. Someone either leaked that, this website posted that spoiler, or that paparazzi saw this; not to mention throwing real time apps like Vine and Twitter into the mix. The fact that she was able to keep not only the recording stage of this project under wraps, but the video process as well, is an incredibly impressive feat. The element of surprise is something that has been lacking lately, and the fact that she was able to bring it back is retro and rewarding.

3. Quality vs. quantity

The self titled album only has 14 songs (yet 17 videos) and every single one rocks our socks off. Not often do you hear an album where each song is better than the previous one. It is clear that on this album she simply let the content speak for itself. This could've proven to be dangerous if the content wasn't up to snuff. Quality first, promotion second. It makes our jobs as PR professionals extremely difficult if there isn't quality in the products we have to promote.

Regardless about how you feel about Queen Bey, it is impossible to ignore that she knocked it out of the park on this one. This tactic is one that requires exacting execution and can only be pulled off by a superstar such as herself. Sorry to burst your bubble, but if your garage band drops a secret album it's pretty safe to say that it will remain a secret album. We can't even imagine how many moving parts were involved in this stunt, and in order for it to be effective it would have to pulled off ***flawlessly.

That being said, some takeaways for our less famous friends can include:

-Don't be shy to switch it up! Try new things. Out with the old and in with the new. Our generation has the attention span of a fly and is always looking for innovative ideas.

-Keep your secrets to yourself. There is so much temptation for competition out there. Nowadays, you are exposed to everything and anything online, thus making it incredibly easy to be influenced by others. To shut the world out and focus on your art is both a rare and necessary practise. Turn the tables on yourself and turn your attention inward instead of outward.

What do you think of Beyoncé's strategy? What other lessons would you add to our list?