The Opening Keynote Panel was presented at the 2019 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference with moderator Giovanni Galluci and panelists Heather Nichols, Nicole Wight, and Cameron Gawley. Here are the takeaways from this session.
Our day began with a panel discussion regarding Facebook.
Giovanni noted that unless you are a well-connected influencer, FB is not the place to go for organic traffic. Giovanni asked each panelist a question that focused on their expertise first.
Nicole – What is the most shocking thing that surprised you this year at F8?
A: The Facebook layout is getting changed significantly for the first time.
Heather – You manage Mari Smith’s Facebook group; what is the number one problem/challenge for the group you manage?
A: There’s a buzz right now for video, so it’s not just the technical aspects – so how do you use video to reach the right people?
Cameron – What influences the media mix you deal with?
A: It depends on what you’re trying to achieve. What’s the objective? Every brand needs to be obsessed with the customer and the customer journey. You always need to start with people first. We look at all of the touchpoints and determine what is the best platform to reach the client’s objectives. The media mix changes based on the brand and the product.
There is a rumor that Facebook is going to get rid of the newsfeed, and what does FB become without it?
A: The shift is actually mostly in the layout. The newsfeed isn’t going to disappear, it’s just going to change placement for communities and stories. Driving brands into having Groups. We’ll see the shift, freak out – and then adjust.
Facebook is trying to help people connect with brands and people they care about – more group interactions are already showing in our newsfeeds. People are already posting more within groups and communities.
For an agency – What impact will this have? Is it becoming more difficult for brands to connect?
A: The newsfeed is evolving and Facebook is rolling out new features. Voice will be a big player in the future of messaging. Stories and video are becoming more important. You have to just get more creative about your targeting. Facebook knows that FB in its current form is not the future. The newsfeed will evolve, and you just need to go where the people are – and we just have to keep up.
How do you, in a world where we have to get results fast, how do you build quickly? Because relationships take time to build.
Every brand should, at its heart, understand their audience and choose topics to rally around. Two-part approach: Builders and Drivers. Facebook is a pay-to-play world (as is Instagram). You’re very campaign-focused. If you want to move the needle for a brand, roll out your organic content (12–15 pieces of content needed). And you need to be using video, not static image ads.
We think that we are marketing the product or service, but we’re really solving problems – what else is happening in their lives? Tune into the customer journey. From an advertising standpoint, don’t judge who is on the other side of the click. Awareness, Engagement, Solution.
You need to start leveraging communities. Create something that they truly care about. If your brand doesn’t have a community, you need to start thinking about this: What does my brand have that people care about and want to discuss? Talk with your community about what their problems and struggles are. We want to connect people with the common interest in our product/service.
Tell us one tactical thing we can do when we get back to our office and implement in the next 30 days.
Start a community. Connect at the ground floor level, as a person. Find your top users and invite them to the community. Use paid ads to drive people to the group.
Pull out your phone, and go live! Video doesn’t have to be difficult. Remember to be authentic even if you are imperfect. Then look at your insights and adjust accordingly. Remember: it’s about the who, not the what.
When you start doing video, it’s going to be bad – but just take the leap, because you will never get good unless you just keep going. You don’t have to be great to start, you have to start to be great.
SEM Rush has a topic research tool. Find out what questions people are asking and answer them. People get stuck because they don’t know what to talk about, so utilize tools to figure out what to talk about. Talk to your customers – create a conversation. They want a better experience.
Tips from Giovanni:
- YouTube – type in a keyword and Youtube will autocomplete.
- Buzzsumo.com has a free version, and if you type in a keyword it will give you
- Answerthepublic.com – will give you questions that people are asking
- Tubebuddy.com – $30/mo.
- Get your content transcribed. Scribi.com will transcribe.
- Pay attention to your thumbnails – Tubebuddy will help.
The final question: Is the government going to break up Facebook? Unanimous panel opinion – NO!!
