If there’s anything Covid-19 has taught us, it’s to expect the unexpected and prepare for a crisis before it happens. As many companies have overcome the initial shock of it all, they are now looking to the future and how to protect themselves from being caught off guard again.

Whether it be a global pandemic or a more localized issue, a PR disaster could be lurking around the next corner. It’s the stuff that a social media manager’s nightmares are made of. And, contrary to common belief, this can impact every size of business; from start up to enterprise.

How a business weathers the storm at the worst of times can make the difference between a quick recovery and a slow (and very public) death by a thousand Tweets or Instagram posts. Mitigate the damage ahead of time by having a social media crisis plan in place to avoid being caught off guard next time. 

Social media is equally a public relations frontier as it is a marketing playground, and so we can rest assured that many PR crisis best practices are still relevant in today’s digital world – with a few modifications. Here are the top questions you need to answer to build an effective social media crisis plan:

1.Do you have existing social media response guidelines?

Every company should have a foundation of social media response guidelines that tackle how we respond to day-to-day questions. This can be invaluable in crafting a crisis response strategy as it allows the business to remain consistent in voice, tone and approach during the chaos.

To build your guidelines, align on your brand voice, then build a decision tree for who, how and when you would respond to customers. Finally, build a bank of FAQ assets and responses to make day-to-day online customer service quick and effective. As a PR crisis unfolds, you can update the FAQ to ensure messaging is up-to-date and in line with what people are talking about.

2.Does your business have social listening procedures and tools in place?

At its core, social listening is literally listening to what customers are saying in social media channels to help inform your messaging and business decisions. For small businesses, that might be something as simple as searching out hashtags, comments and @mentions on the crisis topic to glean important insights around sentiment and FAQ.

For a larger organization, a social listening tool could be brought in to provide powerful insights into conversation volume (how many people are posting about the topic), engagement and reach of your content. During a crisis, reporting and analyzing incoming social data is critical to identifying simmering crisis issues, managing operations during the issue, and assessing results after the fact.

For enterprise-level businesses, there are many social listening tools on the market, ranging drastically in terms of budget and functionality. To ensure your tool can be activated for a crisis, ensure that it checks the following boxes:

• Allows for monitoring of hashtags, keywords (geographically is ideal)
• Enables assigning conversations to other members of the team to warm-transfer to subject matter experts
• Provides some type of tagging functionality to categorize conversations based on subject matter, sentiment, influencer status, or other important data that will be useful for aggregate data later on
• Allows you to track conversation volume (ideally against competitors), reach, engagements, sentiment and most engaged users 

3.What is the chain of command for messaging?

One of the most common hang ups when dealing with issues is miscommunication about who approves messaging. Companies can spend precious hours – or even days – chasing their tails as they wait for sign off and alignment. Does the buck stop with your CEO or does the PR prime have final say?

Before you go down the sign-off wormhole, identify which stakeholders need to be looped into the messaging. The leaner the team, the more effective and efficient. It may help to create a sliding scale of severity from 1-5 with examples for each, then establish a RACI model:

• Responsible – in charge of stick-handling the messaging and approvals from end-to-end
• Accountable- they will die on the sword for any decisions the team has collectively made
• Consulted- feedback required, but not final say
• Informed- FYI only

4.Does the rest of your team know what their role is during a crisis?

Finalizing a crisis and issues management plan is a major win for any organization, but an even greater (and more important) feat is making sure your team is in the loop too. Socializing with your business stakeholders will be critical to the successful execution of the plan, should you ever need to activate it.

Do the front-line folks know the plan – and the specific do’s and don’ts during an issue? Has the CEO, PR prime and manager seen and signed off? Are your company’s third-party representatives looped into the plan (i.e. contractors, agencies, or sales representatives)? 

5.What’s your target (and realistic) reaction time?

What is the realistic amount of time it will take to craft and execute on your first messaging response during a crisis?

Time is of the essence when an issue is unfolding in the online space. This means we’re talking hours, not days. All it takes is a few Facebook shares to add gasoline onto already burning embers and you’ll have a sweeping wildfire on your hands.

That said, it’s important that you move forward with accurate, consistent messaging that the whole company is on board with. Remember, the tighter the plan, the faster you can begin to remedy the situation.

6.Is your Customer Service game on point?

The best defence is a good offence, as they say. When you have winning social media response approach during the good times, you will have a much easier time rebounding when things go sideways. Invest in your front-line superstars to ensure they are well-trained and have the resources they need to deliver online service excellence to your customers. Do this now, and  you’ll find a ready army of customer advocates willing to come to your defence if tumultuous times ensue.

7.Do you have the ability to pivot quickly?

One of the common denominators about Covid-19 is that regardless of size, businesses are having to pivot at lightning speed. Whether it’s a mom and pop shop struggling to remain open for business or a multi-national corporation shifting its workforce to remote technology; the struggles are different, but united in their need for agility. Companies that have a lean and agile approach and see challenges as an opportunity are weathering the storm and standing out from the pack. A pivot is only as good as the communications that support it, so ensuring that you can get the word out to your customers through social media and marketing tools is critical.

Here are two recent examples good pivots and supporting social media communications during Covid 19:

EXAMPLES

Guinness Pivots On Saint Patrick’s Day

What happened:

Just days before St. Patrick’s Day, Covid-19 began to grip the Western world. Ireland cancelled celebrations and Guinness, which has been an integral part of St Patrick’s Day celebrations for generations, had to make a giant shift into the unknown.

How they dealt with it:

Rather than go silent, they pivoted—quickly and drastically. On March 13, the company launched a “We are all human” campaign, which promised $500,000 to communities in need during this difficult time through their Guinness Gives Back Fund. They paid tribute to their resilience over the company’s 260-year history and infused a sense of calm during the impending storm. 

We know that St. Patrick’s Day feels different this year, so however you choose to celebrate, stay safe and be good to one another. Guinness is committing $500,000 through our Guinness Gives Back Fund to help communities where we live, work & celebrate. #Guinness pic.twitter.com/EZpYpzAGE0

— Guinness US (@GuinnessUS) March 13, 2020

 

Later.com shifts their content strategy to address Covid-19

What happened: Instagram scheduling and management platform, Later.com is well regarded in the social media industry for their thought leadership; not only on the Instagram platform, but also in digital marketing overall. The company plans their content weeks out, but with the impending crisis of Covid-19 affecting every sector and global market, they had to scrap all planned content and shift focus rapidly.

How they dealt with it: Later.com viewed this as an opportunity to shepherd marketers through this storm. The content team held a brainstorm to adjust their focus, anticipating the needs of their customers and creating content that would address growing concerns around how to continue marketing on Instagram during the emerging crisis. They provided an arsenal of content to give current and prospective clients ideas about how to move forward in this challenging business landscape. Also, most importantly, they met customers where they were at: working from home during quarantine.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Right now, our only job is helping you.

A post shared by Later: Social Media Scheduler (@latermedia) on Mar 18, 2020 at 10:09am PDT

These are just some of the many examples of how pivoting, rapid ideation and customer insights drove an evolved communications approach. Looking to protect your business from a social media firestorm? Connect with us! 

The world has been abuzz in recent weeks amidst the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data scandal. This is, perhaps, the most damaging and far-reaching revelation in the company’s 14-year history. Rally cries to #DeleteFacebook have been trending for weeks – and many individuals, including large brands like Tesla – have followed through on this threat.

Mark Zuckerberg’s scrutinized testimony at the congressional hearing, was followed by Facebook and Instagram’s sweeping API changes to crack down on how advertisers and third parties can access and use customer data. This has created a ripple effect across the digital marketing industry, as third-party developers and software companies play catch up.

But, I’m not going to write a blog post today about how marketers can adapt their privacy, data usage policies and overall social media advertising approach to the new era of social media marketing. There is plenty of coverage on that. Today, I’d like to share my thoughts how we must create healthier boundaries around social media.  

Admittedly, I am in deep conflict about the state of affairs of the digital media landscape. Having worked in the social media space for over a decade now, I’ve helped some of Canada’s top brands capture the hearts, minds and attention of their customers. On a personal level, I have met and connected with amazing friends and colleagues, and have access to a flood of helpful information on a daily basis that helps me stay on the cutting edge of this industry. That said, I have also had my fair share of burn outs from staying connected to the firehose day in and day out.

The utopian vision of universal connection on which social media was founded upon has been crumbling for years now. Left in its place, there is a darker, more dystopian landscape, where social media has become a tool powered by algorithms, populated by marketers and, in some cases, manipulated by “bad actors”.

The #DeleteFacebook movement isn’t directly caused by the data scandal – this sentiment has  been simmering below the surface for a while. It’s as if we know our social media usage isn’t sustainable, but we want to find a reason to cut the cord. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is just the latest reason, but it won’t be the last.

We all know that the platforms on which we’re spending increasing amounts of time are creating damaging dopamine-fed behavioural loops, where we keep checking for Likes and RTs like Pavlov’s dog and bell experiment.

Thanks to machine learning designed to personalize the experience, our feeds have become information echo chambers where our values, news sources and ideals are reinforcing existing views versus exposing us to diversity of thought. There are countless studies that speak to the direct correlation between an increase in social media usage and self esteem issues, anxiety and depression. To put it plainly, our current-day usage of social media is unhealthy and it’s making society worse off.  

But, it’s not as simple as turning off our social media is it? We’re tied to social media for many reasons, whether it be work, social lives, extracurricular activities, committees or family.

Creating Mindful Habits

In my view, we don’t have to look at social media usage as all or nothing. There are still many positive benefits to using these tools – in moderation. We can create boundaries around how, when and why we use social media to enhance our lives – and when we need to put the phone away.

It’s not just about locking down our privacy settings and being more aware of third-party apps. It’s about creating mindful habits to allow moderate usage and give us the freedom to experience life outside of the addictive sandbox that has been carefully crafted for us.

I work in the digital space, so spend some days completely glued to one social channel or another for my clients. But, I’m working to create boundaries in my personal life by:

• Setting specific hours for when I check my social feeds and private messages
• Being mindful each time I pick my phone up to check my feeds. I ask myself: “Is this out of habit or are you checking for a specific reason?”
• Thinking before I post: “Am I just posting to get likes?”
• Creating digital detox days where I turn my phone off or leave it home
• Opening the virtual door at a reasonable time, not while I’m still in bed

The Advertising Model

The largest digital platforms, Facebook (and Instagram), Twitter, Google (and YouTube), have all been built around a business model whereby the tool is free for users and paid for by advertisers. On the surface, it’s going well. Facebook’s meteoric rise since it went public in 2012 has meant great financial gains for its shareholders as its ad platforms continue to rake in obscene amounts of cash. In 2017, for example, Facebook reported earnings of $39.94 billion USD in ad revenue.  

The problem is that to sustain their advertising model, these digital giants need to keep enhancing their habit forming technology to keep users coming back for more.  What if there was another way to sustain these platforms, ad free? For example, if Facebook charged its 2 billion users just $20 per year for an ad-free platform, that would cover off last year’s ad earnings.

Scientist and technology watcher, Jaron Lanier, explained more about shifting this paradigm on the TED stage in Vancouver this year:

 

I know I am not alone in the struggle to find balance between real life and the virtual worlds that continue to pull at my coat tails. This is going to be an ongoing challenge for our society as we fight against the dystopia.

One thing is certain though, there is a groundswell of discussion around this topic in academic, tech and digital marketing circles. Thought leaders with creative solutions are emerging and it’s only a matter of time before the landscape shifts once again. I just hope we can steer ourselves back to that utopian vision so many of us still believe in.

360 video and virtual reality are slated for explosive growth in 2018 as technologies become more accessible to the mainstream user. If you have a unique and visually appealing offering that could be turned into a virtual experience, immersive content is worth a closer look.

We recently reached out to our clients at Immersive Explorers – a 360 content creation and media company based in Whistler, BC – to learn more about how businesses can leverage 360 content. Here’s what they had to say:

Q1: Tell us a little bit about the current 360 video landscape (what are the trends, what’s the technology like, and who are the players)

A1: This is a very broad question since VR is growing across so many industries – we might have to write a book! Right now though, we would say that the growth of VR as a marketing tool has been evolving quickly. At first it was kind of a gimmick – think McDonald’s activation in March of 2016 in Sweden where they created a Happy Meal box that could be folded into a cardboard VR headset ( or Happy Goggles!) to play a VR game called Slope Stars.

With steep growth in users, organizations are embracing the opportunities that immersive content presents. The technology for both cameras and headsets is evolving and becoming more accessible, resulting in more content and broader adoption of the technology outside of the core user groups of “geeks and gamers”.

The main players right now are Google, Samsung, Facebook / Oculus, Microsoft, and Intel.

In the travel sector, the last two years has seen an increase in VR usage – Tourism Australia, Destination BC, and or Qantas have all made significant investments in virtual reality / 360 video content and reaped the rewards of being among the first to bring travel experiences in 360 to market.

Q2: How does the 360 experience compare to regular video content?

A2: We have found 360 assets to be way more engaging, providing double the average view times and a higher click thru rate than conventional assets. Recently, Destination BC posted a 360 video that we shot at Superfly Ziplines in Whistler. They had also posted a conventional video of dogs playing in the snow, taken at Silverstar Resort in that same week.

Just as background, after capturing content and working in Whistler Blackcomb’s PR department for many years we consider dogs playing in snow to be the holy grail of social content – it is super engaging – people love it.

Both videos were about one-minute long. The 360 video content outperformed the conventional video by receiving 175% more likes, 459% more shares and 159% more video views on the Destination BC page. To us, this is an incredible illustration of the strength that immersive content has to be super engaging and rise above conventional content assets.

Google partnered with or Columbia Sportswear to create an ad campaign using 360 Labs. Two campaigns were created using TrueView – one featured the 360-degree video format, whilst the other was a standard video format. The 360 in-stream video advertising underperformed for view-through rates across mobile and desktop.

However, click-through rates on 360-degree ads were higher compared to standard video. Interaction rates which includes tilting and scrolling, were also higher for the 60-second 360 ad. This led Google to conclude that 360 video formats drive engagement through interaction.

Indeed, the format attracted more views, shares and subscribers than traditional ads. Overall, the 360-degree video ad drove 41% more actions. Overall, the video had a 46% higher view count compared to the standard ad. That’s likely due to 360 being a more engaging and immersive format.

Q3.  How are consumers using 360 video in 2018?

A3: Well, first of all there is a lot of really terrible user generated 360 content on Facebook!

But seriously, the number of people engaging with immersive content is growing. NBC was showing the Olympics in 360 format, you can view news stories on the New York Times VR app, CNN has a channel and many brands are using immersive experiences to share stories and content about their products and experiences.  

As the price comes down for VR headsets and more content creators master the skills needed to create immersive content we can eventually see the VR headset becoming as ubiquitous as mobile phones.

Q4: What are some of the use cases for brands who want to leverage 360 video?

A4: The interest that we are seeing is coming mainly from hotels, destinations and adventure experiences.

Since 360 video allows for realistic spatial representation the inclusion of immersive content is a great balance to conventional photo and video assets. We can create utility-based content that can orientate people in spaces and show them the “lay of the land” without having to visit in person.  

Aspirational content drives that dreaming phase and engages people by putting them in the driver’s seat in the middle of the action so they can experience something as if they are really there. Since the content that is created can be used as 360 assets on websites and social channels (Facebook, Youtube and Vimeo) as well put in a headset for sales and demo purposes the ways you can leverage a project are almost limitless.

Q5: What are the most common distribution channels for 360 video?

A5: YouTube (they have a Virtual Reality channel with 2.8 million subscribers), Vimeo, Facebook, veer.tv, Kuula.com, apps that host collections of content such as the Oculus store or New York Times. We plan to have an app for in headset distribution in the future and our website features 360 video and photographs in 4K.

Q6: What should businesses keep in mind when considering 360 video?

A6: Finding the right team to produce the content. Since this technology is emerging and is just starting to get more traction there are a lot of video teams out there getting into immersive content creation.

The problem is, filming immersive content the same way you film conventional content will result in footage that will literally make people sick when viewed in a headset. So, it is important to look for a team that  has years of VR experience and can prove that they can capture immersive content free of sensory conflict.

A lot of immersive content relies solely on the “gimmick” that you can pan around and get the 360 view. The next layer that we are hoping to delve into with our clients is the storytelling aspect. Just because the content is super cool and immersive doesn’t mean we can’t layer in story to inspire the viewer.

Q7: What’s the best way for brands to get started with 360 video?

A7: My simple answer would be to give us a call! The price of capturing a short experience isn’t as much as people assume and working on a short experience is a great way to see the increased engagement that immersive content provides on website and mobile platforms.

Q8: Anything to add that we haven’t covered off?

A8: Immersive content is recalled in the brain in the same way as a memory is. Creating VR/360 content also separates you from your competitors, making you look like a forward thinking company.

About Immersive Explorers

Immersive Explorers is driven to create and widely share 360 content that allows past, present and future travellers to have deeper connections with destinations and experiences. Anyone, anywhere can explore a new place or revisit a beloved location; this is the richness of experience VR and 360 content enables. Immersive Explorers and its social channels feature and amplify editorially-driven virtual reality and 360 video or photo stories created in partnership with destinations, activity operators, and experiences.

This custom VR content is featured on both Immersive Explorers’ platforms, as well as those belonging to the partner.

We know content marketing is a crucial component of the marketing mix for brands in the tourism sector. Immersive Explorers provides VR and 360 custom content solutions for both headset technology and digital platforms. As VR technology becomes more accessible and consumer uptake increases, this is the time to invest in these exciting digital marketing assets. Besides full-service content development, Immersive Explorers offers distribution to ensure the asset is easily discovered, as well as the technical expertise and support partners require to maximize the opportunity immersive content presents.

Visit them online at immersiveexplorers.com Facebook, Twitter.  or Instagram.

A few months ago, we wrote about how analog is making a comeback. Perhaps it’s this rejuvenated appreciation for simpler times that is also fuelling the audio revolution. Influencers, brands and media are capitalizing on an auditory renaissance as podcasts creep slowly from niche to mainstream.

When I was a little girl travelling the world with my family, nothing was more comforting than listening to talk radio or music on CBC AM Radio or hearing the iconic chimes of BBC’s World News broadcast. It felt – though thousands of miles away – I was connecting with humanity from my remote location.

It wasn’t just me, though. For generations, families and colleagues crowded around radios to listen live as events shaped our world. We experienced the sound of wars, presidential elections, assassinations, rising music stars and even groundbreaking fiction, such as War of the Worlds.

But, gradually, the radio star died and video reigned, as televisions turned from black and white to colour; from high def to 4K and so on.

Now, the once-forgotten art form of audio storytelling is storming back onto the scene – and brands are taking notice. Podcasts have become a lucrative medium for both advertising and brand experience. In 2017, Edison’s annual research report indicated that 24% of Americans had listened to at least one podcast in the last month. With several viral podcasts bursting onto the scene in 2018, this number is expected to leap exponentially for 2018.

Public awareness about podcasts has nearly doubled over the last decade and the number of users who’ve listened to a podcast has nearly tripled. Today’s podcast listeners skew slightly male, over-index in the 18-34 age group, are highly educated and have a higher-than-average income.

Media have been early adopters of podcasting; Outside Magazine, the LA Times and Harvard Business Review, to name a few. Podcast stars have carved their niche and drawn cult followings, leading them to go “on tour” for live recordings in front of thousands of enthralled viewers.

But, what is more interesting is how big brands like General Electric and Shopify are captivating audiences by offering intriguing, value-added content to their audiences.

So, what’s all the fuss about? Here’s why audio is an effective content marketing touch point for your business:

Cost Effective Production – When you weigh the costs of video production, podcasts are a cost effective way to produce and self-publish content. All you need is a quality microphone or recording equipment, basic editing software, simple artwork and time. Publishing to iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast listening platforms is simple and free (or at least very reasonable).

Longer Dwell Time– Podcasts are inherently long form, often ranging from 10 minutes to an hour in length; or even produced as an episodic series. The average podcast user listens while they’re commuting, walking or working, so you can bet that in their earnest attempts to kill time, they can easily crush an entire season of episodes in less than a week. More time with your brand creates a sense of connection and loyalty for customers.

Combat Algorithms – As we know, social media organic reach is shrinking and news feeds are cluttered. It’s difficult to get in front of your audience, let alone capture their attention for longer than a second. Podcasts are often discovered through earned means, such as word of mouth, reviews and media coverage. A great concept that resonates can generate free exposure and gain traction quickly.

A Robust Brand Experience – When you’re building for the 3-second audition on Facebook, your content must be short, snackable and snappy. While it can be a great chance to drive action or build awareness, it doesn’t leave much time for in-depth brand building. A podcast, provides a blank slate for businesses to build multi-dimensional brand experience that includes music, visual aesthetics, tone, and personality.

Partnership and Collaboration Opportunities – In the podcast world, collaborations and co-creation are common and encouraged. Publishing networks like NPR or Wondery often create teaser episodes that are distributed to other like-minded podcast shows; and hosts often give shout outs to up-and-comers or new season launches. Leveraging the power of like-minded podcasts is a great way to reach new audiences organically and authentically.

Intimacy – Audio storytelling cultivates a sense of intimacy. It’s just you and the listener – no newsfeed to contend with, minimal distractions, and a certain level of concentration that only listening to a story can provide. Intimacy creates an emotional connection and listeners are more likely to regard your brand with the comfort and familiarity of an old friend. After all, your podcast has become part of their daily or weekly ritual.

Advertising – If producing a podcast isn’t the right fit for your business, another consideration is to advertise on an already established one. In fact, 60% of podcast listeners buy products highlighted in the ads, according to Midroll – a media buying platform for podcast advertisers.

Regardless of where you sit on podcasting for business, here are some of our favourite podcasts to whet your appetite. Do you have any to add to our list? Comment below!

• • • How I Built This
    • Stuff You Should Know
    • Dirty John
    • S-Town
    • TED Radio Hour
    • 99% Invisible
    • HBR Ideacast
    • Adventures in Design
    • Marketing Over Coffee
    • Tropical MBA

Last week, Facebook announced  that in order to combat “fake news” and over-crowding of its Newsfeed, it will now prioritize content produced by people versus publishers, media and brands. While organic reach has been steadily declining for years, this officially marks the final nail in the coffin.

In his official statement Mark Zuckerberg indicated that users will now “see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media” and more from their close connections and groups. Additionally, he said, content emphasizing “meaningful interactions between people” will be elevated in the algorithms that power Newsfeed.

So, what brought us to this place? For starters, Facebook faced heavy scrutiny in the wake of the United States presidential election, after allegations that the platform was used as a pipeline for distributing fake news with the intent of manipulating voters.

Meanwhile, due to an influx of advertisers, Facebook is facing its biggest challenge yet: supply and demand. Its pipeline of available reach (organic or paid) is at capacity, which means the user experience has declined as Newsfeed becomes cluttered with ads. Facebook is no longer a social platform – it’s a media platform. But, if it can’t keep its users, there will be no advertisers.

Exact timelines for this roll-out are still unclear, but one thing is certain: it’s time to rethink your Facebook marketing approach.

Having weathered many of Facebook’s product and algorithm storms over the years, we have some insights to share on how we think the landscape will change in 2018:

1. Pay to Play, But Spend More

Remember, it is a publicly traded company with revenue targets and investors. Facebook needs advertising dollars to exist. Your advertising spend is more important now than ever, but at what cost?

Organically posting photos and videos to generate organic engagement for your business page is no longer going to be enough. The cold, hard truth is that you have to pay to play in the Facebook landscape, and it’s essential to carve out a budget in order to reach anyone at all. Otherwise, there is no point in generating content.

In this new era, Facebook is no longer the “cheap and effective” media platform it once was. It’s still effective (incredibly so), but at a higher cost than ever before. According to a report by Adstage.io, CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) jumped by 172% in 2017, while overall impressions and reach have not increased. This demonstrates a major inventory problem and Facebook’s desperate efforts to moderate Newsfeed for its users.

Is Facebook still worth the media investment? For the time being, yes. Its powerful targeting and reporting systems are second-to-none. But, don’t be surprised if you have to pay more to achieve the same results in 2018.

2. Declining Website Referral Traffic

For a time, Facebook was on track to outperform Google in terms of web referral traffic for some industries. Media outlets in particular, were experiencing a renaissance. Now, Facebook referrals are called into question as the team has blatantly said brands and publishers will experience declining website traffic from the platform.

Does this mean that you should stop posting blogs and links on Facebook? Not completely. A reduction of link posts is definitely in order, but if your business produces thoughtful, educational, provocative content, people will still read it – and, importantly, share with their friends. All this to say that good content will be elevated by the people.

The key here is to monitor your Facebook Insights closely and evolve your content based on performance. Do more of what’s working and remove the things that aren’t delivering outcomes.

3. Less Cadence, More Quality

There was a time when posting seven days per week was essential to keeping the lights on.  However, more is not necessarily better. With the exception of targeted content (for time zones or specific demographics), businesses should aim to produce fewer, but better content – and always amplify with ad spend.

On top of that, Facebook is now focused on quantifying and prioritizing engagement versus simply counting all engagements as equal. A comment trumps a reaction. A longer-comment trumps a shorter comment. The deeper we can engage our audience, the more relevant we will be in this new world.

The Facebook algorithms will elevate content that fuels conversation between people. It’s more important than ever to truly understand your audience and what matters to them, so you may generate the most engaging content possible. Leveraging your insights to get a deeper understanding of keywords, pain points, FAQ, and human truths will ensure you’re on track to keep your tribe talking.

4. More Strategic Use of Video

For several years, we’ve been harping on video as the next frontier in social media marketing. But, does Facebook think we’ve gone to far with it? As video has exploded, quality and quantity of interactions on the platform have declined, due to the passive nature of the medium.

Facebook VP, Adam Mosseri, recently told Wired that not all video is created equal with the algorithm shift. Videos that don’t spark interaction with the audience in some shape or form may be deprioritized.

Facebook LIVE, while not a blanket solution, will be an important tactic in the content mix. Not only do fans receive a notification with a brand page is live streaming, but engagement mechanisms and prompts are naturally built into the user experience.

5. Influencers With Engagement Focus Will Reign

Brands are already scrambling to reach new audiences by any earned or paid means necessary, and the new algorithm shifts bode well for influencers. Even now, the “influencer outreach” checkmark is a staple on most marketing plans.

While we don’t know exactly how the Facebook changes will impact influencer brand pages yet, the speculation is that they will have even more skin in the social media game. This could spark exponential growth in what is already a multi-billion dollar industry.

Identifying and partnering with micro and macro influencers who resonate with your target audience is a winning strategy for the simple fact that personal and curated stories are more relevant and engaging to customers.

Influencers who value audience engagement above reach are most likely to benefit from the halo effect, while those with mass following and little community might suffer. The challenge for this group will be to maintain credibility and sustain engagement in a world where almost everything they publish is sponsored by brands.

Revamping your Facebook marketing strategy? Connect with us! 

You might have the sexiest content ever created by humankind, but without a distribution plan, it’s going to slip into the black hole of the Internet, never to be seen or heard from again. Set your content marketing up for success by taking a step back, and think through the execution.

For starters, a social media distribution plan is comprised of these areas. Each has a ripple effect on the other:  

• Objectives
• Targeting
• Timing
• Channel selection
• Amplification budget
• Quality of creative
• Real-time analysis  and optimization
• Community engagement

Putting a plan on a page will ensure you’ve thought through these crucial elements.

Most of these areas are fairly self-explanatory, but let’s take a minute to talk about budgets. You might be wondering if budget is even necessary. The answer is a resounding “yes”.  For most businesses, organic reach is so low on social media that it’s almost not worth investing in developing content unless you’re going to invest in amplifying it.

How much you invest is really up to your annual media budgets, the importance of the campaign in your overall messaging strategy, and also how much you invested in building your creative.

Ultimately, digital marketing channels will spend as much or as little as you want to throw at them. You will, however, need to adjust your measurement scorecard so that it’s realistic based on the budget.

Next, ask yourself the following questions:

What Do You Want the Audience to Think, Feel and Do?

Never lose sight of your audience. We want to do everything in our power to ensure they taking the action we want. Every aspect of the creative, from post copy to photography and video thumbnails matters. The more clarity we have with our vision, the easier it is to pull the right levers to help the audience feel all the feels.

What Is The Content Objective?

It seems simple, but you’d be surprised how few people stop and have a think about this. Are we driving website traffic, social media conversation, advocacy or reach? The answers matter, as they will help shape, not only how you package the content, but how you optimize the media. Know what your objectives are before you launch and it will save you countless hours of rework.

Is My Creative Optimized For Objectives and Audience?

Creative matters, but how you package it up matters more. There are so many special features and ad units available – particularly on social media channels like Facebook. Post formats are designed to encourage different actions, so do your research and make sure you choose a format that will drive the action you’re looking for.

All too often, we get so wrapped up in the blood, sweat and tears of our projects that we sometimes lose objectivity. And, most importantly we lose sight of the end-user. Take a step back and create one more checkpoint – a simple question that may give you fresh perspective. You may not like the answer, but at least it will prompt you to look into what features about the campaign or creative are posing a barrier.

Nothing is finite in digital marketing and so the ability to be nimble and adaptive is key. Take time upfront to think through your distribution plan, but be prepared to tweak it as you go. The best time to build a distribution plan was yesterday. But, the next best time is today.

Want to learn more about content marketing? Read our recent blog post about building a content strategy. 

As we head into a busy holiday season and start planning for  a fresh new year in 2017, it’s time to set social media content goals for the year ahead. Having a solid social media strategy that ladders back to your business goals is one thing. But how do you execute your content marketing day to day?

Here are our 5 go-to planning tips to help you build richer, more insight-driven content.

1. Facebook Insights Portal

Facebook has really stepped up their game over the last few years in terms of arming marketers and content creators with research and trends to help inform their content development. Go down the marketing research wormhole with the Facebook Insights Portal and learn about seasonal trends, consumer buying behaviours and other fascinating info that will help you turn insights into action.

2.Google Search Trends

A healthy content calendar has a mix of evergreen and more timely, relevant storytelling. Get your finger on the pulse by visiting Google Trends daily. Mine insights across a variety of topics, including business, entertainment, technology and sports. This helpful tool can also break these trends down by country, which can be helpful if you have a global audience.

3.Historical Website Data

It’s stating the obvious, but sometimes you have to look back to where you were to determine where you want to go. That means reviewing your website analytics and top performing landing pages or historical blog posts is crucial to understanding the behaviour of your audience. Often times you can predict the seasonal interests of the audience based on performance from previous years.  Create a Google Analytics dashboard to give you a window into top performing past and present.

4.Ask Your Audience

Take the guesswork out of content planning and come right out to ask the audience what they want to see. You can be overt about it by doing a survey or a poll, or run a series of content tests to see what category they engage with the most. Use these insights to fuel your content and you will see your content performance jump in leaps and bounds.

5.Aggregate and Curate What’s Trending

There are about a bajillion places to mine and curate ideas from. Depending on your industry, you’ll have go-to blogs and news sources. Aggregate them using Twitter lists (yes, Twitter is still sort of a thing) or Flipboard so you can get all your trends, news and information in one place. And don’t forget about the folks who are attuned to the heartbeat of the Internet! Here are a few sources I check on a regular basis to see what’s trending:

• Reddit AKA “the front page of the internet”
• What’s Trending – a news site that specializes in top trending content
• Twitter Moments – a one-stop-shop for all things trending on Twitter

Do you need advice on planning your content calendar? Get in touch with us!

At long last, Substrate Studios is born! Years of dreaming, and six months of planning have come to fruition. So, how did we get here and who are we?

We are a husband-wife graphic design and marketing strategy team, proudly based in Squamish, BC.

We founded Substrate Studios because we have a passion for helping businesses grow and we want to see the entrepreneurs and companies in our town – and other small towns – prosper to create thriving local economies. We believe that consistent visual identity and smart marketing are the tools every business needs to achieve success – and we can help.

Amber Turnau brings more than 10 years of marketing experience to the table, having worked on the marketing teams for Whistler Blackcomb, TELUS and – through her agency life – numerous other clients in a variety of industries. She’s been immersed in the world of digital – particularly social media marketing – and has a strong background in content marketing, online advertising, and analytics. 

Neil Foster is a maker and a creator. He’s an artist, illustrator, graphic designer, and screen printer – who also co-owned a BMX and skate apparel company in his home town of Plymouth, UK. Neil looks at design through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, bringing his passion for clever visual storytelling that evokes emotion and reflection. He is versatile – both in his ability to use a variety of different artistic mediums – and the wide spectrum of clients he’s able to service.

We are yin and yang: wildly creative and adventurous, yet pragmatic, thoughtful and strategic. By bringing the left and right brains together under one roof, we’re able to solve business problems from a 360-degree perspective.

Together, we create, we build and we explore. And, we look forward to doing great work with you.

Have a marketing or design challenge for us? Get in touch!