Facebook live presents one of the best opportunities to build a community and grow your brand or business on social media. Live video is the most engaged type of content on Facebook and is 3x more likely to get viewed than regular video.

This presents a tremendous opportunity to showcase your business and connect with your audience on a highly engaged platform. Live video gives you the ability to connect with your audience in an authentic way that provides value and happens in real time.

Most brands or businesses can benefit from incorporating a live video strategy into their marketing game plan. The best way to increase brand awareness and build an audience is to connect with them. Facebook gives you that opportunity and building a strategy that converts has never been easier.

Why Facebook Live Needs To Be A part Of Your Strategy:

Drive Engagement: People comment and share live video on Facebook more than any other content. This gives you the ability to harness your audience and drive organic growth.

Higher Engagement: Live video on Facebook is watched 3x more than any other content. Because the content gets higher engagement, it is worth developing a strategy to connect with more people.

Audience Growth: Live video will help to build a larger audience because of the engagement rate. More people watch, comment on and share live video than any other content and that makes it a smart play for your business.

Build Relationships: Because live video is authentic and happens in real time, you have a better opportunity to connect with your audience and build a real relationship with them. Success comes from community and live video is the best tool you have to serve them.

Boost Organic reach: Because people comment on and share live video more than other content, it is a good strategy to boost your organic reach.

Paid Strategies: Facebook live video presents a number of paid ad strategies. Some of the best include — boosting your live stream event to get more viewers and boosting your highest engaged live video posts as boosted content.

Live Interactions: Live video gives you the ability to connect with your followers and answer their questions or react to their comments. This also gives you tremendous insight into how you can better serve your community.

Schedule Your Broadcasts: Facebooks API allows publishers the ability to schedule live streams in advance so you can let your community know when you will be live. This strategy will increase your number of viewers you get and increases engagement.

Create Live Events: Create an event and stream it live using Facebook. You can also boost the event to increase the number of viewers using paid ad strategies.

Facebook Groups: Facebook live is a great tool to serve your private Facebook groups. You can host live Q and A’s or build membership communities and charge a subscription fee.

Analytics: Facebook provides the metrics you need to determine the effectiveness of your live videos. These stats include peak live viewers, minutes viewed, unique viewers, views, 10 second views and average % completion.

Developing a Facebook live strategy can be an extremely effective way to build an engaged community and grow your audience. Take the opportunity to connect your business with more people and start to build the types of connections your business need to get more attention, increase leads and drive more sales.

If you would like to learn more about how you can win with live video, connect with me here.

Grow Your Business With Facebook Live was originally published in Digital Profit Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I often get asked how to beat Instagrams algorithm by my clients. My answer is that there are strategies that work better than others, but the best advice I can give is that you need to create engaging content and get attention for that content.

Building a following on Instagram takes time and you need to engage with your audience to build a relationship. There are a lot of players on Instagram and the best way to get results is by building a community.

How you build your strategy on Instagram is different than how you would on other platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. Each social media platform is different from the other and has it’s own flavour and advantages.

3 Keys To Higher Engagement:

1. Interests: Instagrams algorithm will show users content that is similar to other content they already engage with. The only way to win here is to develop engaging videos and visuals and use compelling copy and hashtags to get more attention and increase engagement.
2. New Posts: Instagram will show users the newest content first when they first open the app. What this means for brands and businesses is that you need to post your content when your audience is most likely to be on Instagram. Use your analytics to determine the best time to post.
3. Relationships: Instagram will show users more content from the people and brands they engage with most often. The only way you can get more attention is to create awesome content people want to consume.

How To Develop A Strategy To Beat The Algorithm:

1. Know your audience: The only way you can create the type of content you need for the right social media platforms is to know your audience. You need to create the type of content your audience will engage with to get the results you are looking for on Instagram.
2. Encourage your audience: If you are producing content your followers enjoy; take the opportunity to encourage them to share your content with their followers and friends. This will allow you to get in-front of new audiences and gives you instant credibility with them.
3. Connect with micro influencers: Take the opportunity to network and connect with other people who would have an audience that could be interested in what you are sharing. Micro influencers are easier to connect with, cost effective and typically have audiences with high engagement rates.
4. Engage and connect: Interact with your followers. Respond to their questions and comments and observe what your audience needs or wants. The best way to nurture your community is to listen and give them what they want.
5. Use a call-to-action: Whenever you create content and distribute it on social media, you should use a call-to-action. You already have their attention and you need to encourage your audience to take action. This is your opportunity to drive traffic.
6. Hashtags: Develop a hashtag strategy specific to Instagram. Discover trending hashtags and create ones specific to your brand. Try not to fall into the trap of using the same hashtag strategy you would use on other social media platforms.
7. Boost your posts: You can get more attention for your posts by boosting them using paid ad strategies. Use your analytics and boost your most engaged posts to new audiences. You can also boost new posts to people who already engage with your Instagram profile to increase engagement.

The only sure way to beat the algorithm is to create content that engages your audience. Learn more about your followers and develop a content strategy that provides tremendous value and a reason to consume your content on a regular basis. Start creating and producing more of the content your followers enjoy and watch your engagement and number of followers grow.

If your would like to learn more about how you can increase attention for your brand or business contact me here.

How To Beat The Instagram Algorithm was originally published in Digital Profit Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Podcasting is one of the most impactful types of content you can create for your brand or business. Podcasts fill time and can be consumed while performing other tasks like driving, showering or making dinner.

Podcasting gives your brand or business the opportunity to connect with people in a way that is real and authentic. You can tell your story and connect with people in a way that is easy to produce and engages your listener.

The addition of podcasting to your marketing efforts gives you a massive opportunity to get attention and attract more leads and sales. By producing a podcast and distributing the content on your social media channels, you can drive better results for your brand or business by attracting more attention and increasing exposure.

Podcasting also develops trust with your listener and helps to build the type of connection you need to build your community and win the long game. In today’s market, it’s highly advisable to build a community that you can connect with and serve. Building a community on social media allows you to learn more about your ideal client and how you can serve them better.

Producing your podcast:

It has never been easier to create a podcast. With platforms like Anchor.fm, any brand or business can produce, host and distribute a professional podcast. The advantage of Anchor and the reason I use the platform is the ability to host and distribute The Digital Profit Lab Podcast on 13 different podcast networks as well as Apple Car Play, Android Auto, Google Home and Alexa.

To develop an effective strategy I would recommend the following tips.

• Tell a story: Podcasts give us the opportunity to captivate our listener. Add value by giving your listener interesting and engaging content. Produce content that provides value and build a community of engaged listeners.
• Be creative: Develop a podcast strategy that will engage your audience. Watch and listen to the types of content your audience already engages with on social media and create content that is similar but authentic to your brand or business.
• Provide value: Develop a content strategy that matches the needs or wants of your ideal listener. Remember why you are creating the content and why the listener would want to engage with the content.
• Develop a strategy: Build a strategy that maximizes your content. Listen to what your audience is asking for and create a content strategy that feeds their need.
• Maximize exposure: Distribute your podcast across your social media channels and encourage your audience to share your podcast with others who could benefit from your content.
• Promote your podcast: Look at your analytics and boost your most engaging episodes using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Ads. Boosting your organic content with paid ad strategies can have a massive impact for your brand or business.

Developing your podcast strategy:

When you develop your podcast strategy there are three models I recommend:

• Solo: Going solo is an effective way to create content and produce a podcast. The advantage of a solo podcast is that you don’t have to spend time sourcing guests. This gives you the opportunity to create more episodes and increase your content distribution across your social media channels.
• Interviews: Doing guest interviews is an awesome strategy to get more exposure and grow your audience. Inviting guests onto your show allows you to network and gain exposure to new audiences. Take advantage of the opportunity to connect with more people and increase exposure for your brand or business.
• Multiple hosts: Having multiple hosts is an awesome strategy to build a highly engaging podcast. When you think of hosting a group podcast, think of a morning radio show or NFL Sunday Morning Countdown. A group podcast can offer a ton of energy and insight.

Take the opportunity to develop a content strategy that will engage and impact your listeners. Use podcasting to maximize your social media strategy and connect with more people. Producing a podcast increases your exposure and helps to generate more leads and sales by building relationships with your listeners.

How Your Business Can Win With Podcasts was originally published in Digital Profit Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I believe the opportunity to succeed in today’s market is everywhere around us. Right now we have the greatest opportunity ever to get attention for our brand or business. With social media we have the opportunity to get attention and communicate with people on a level never experienced before.

One of the tools we can use to build our business on social media is Instagram stories. Stories allow us to connect in a way that is fun and authentic. The key to using stories effectively is to develop a strategy that creates an experience and encourages people to take action.

To develop an effective strategy I would recommend using these 7 essential components:

1. Tell a story. Instagram stories give us the opportunity to draw people in and share an authentic experience. Because the content is short and easily consumable, it gets high engagement. Using bite sized pieces of content in our stories allow us to connect with people and build a community of people who endorse our brand or business.
2. Be authentic. The most important part of any social media strategy is being the real authentic version of your brand or your business. You will lose the long game if you try to portray any version that isn’t the real. The authentic version of your business is the one people will most likely connect with.
3. Be creative. There are no official rules for how you can use Instagram stories and social media. Get creative and think of different ways you can create content that engages and offers value to your audience. If your audience has a positive experience with your content they are more likely to take action or share your content.
4. Provide value. Take the opportunity to really understand your audience. Learn about what your audience needs and find a way to help them find a solution. The best way to build a community on social media is to provide value helping people solve their problems in a way that is entertaining.
5. Build a strategy. Take the opportunity to plan ahead. Look at peak seasons, holidays, product launches or promotions and develop a content strategy around your business objectives. Use a call-to-action in your stories and encourage your viewers to take action. Add your stories to your highlights to bring more attention to them.
6. Promote your story. There are several ways to promote your stories. The strategies that I recommend when starting out are to encourage your viewers to share your stories with their friends or groups. From there you can use hashtags, location stickers, @mention as well as cross-posting your stories to your Facebook page. You also have the option of using paid ads to increase engagement with your stories.
7. Use a call-to-action. The number one way you can drive results from your stories is to use a call-to-action. This is why it’s so important to provide the right type of content at the right time. Providing valuable content increases engagement and the likely hood that someone will take action and engage with your business.

To develop an effective strategy that increases engagement I recommend the following content ideas:

1. Create tutorials. One of the most engaging ways to get people to engage with your content is to create mini tutorials that are easy to consume, entertaining and add value to the viewer.
2. Breaking news. Let your audience know about any major announcements or product releases. Take the opportunity to connect with your audience and let them know what is happening with your business. This is a perfect time to use a call-to-action.
3. Go behind the scenes. One of the most interesting and engaging types of content is behind the scenes footage. Every brand or business can use this approach. Using stories to document what happens behind the scenes on a day to day basis is an effective strategy anyone can implement right now.
4. Host a takeover. Takeovers are a fun and entertaining way to get a different perspective on your business or connect your business new audiences using influencers and partnerships.
5. Host a live Q and A. Instagram will post a live video in your stories for 24 hrs after completion. This provides the opportunity to host live Q and A’s and connect with your audience in a way that engages and provides value. Live video is a top strategy to build an audience and grow your community.
6. Give shoutouts. An awesome way to connect with your audience and build a bigger community is to give shoutouts. Highlight the people who make an impact in your business and use the @mention stickers to connect your story with more people.

Have fun developing your Instagram stories strategy and remember to create content that adds value and encourages your viewers to take action. Use Instagram stories to tell your story and connect more people with your brand or business today.

Question:

What does your Instagram stories strategy look like? Join the conversation on Facebook here.

7 Actionable Instagram Strategies For Your Business To Win was originally published in Digital Profit Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Instagram just released a new feature called IGTV which allows users to post long form video (up to an hour) that never expires.

What makes this such a big deal, is that until now, YouTube was the place everyone went for longer form video content.

The problem with that is, if you don’t already have an audience on YouTube, it’s very difficult to get any engagement.

With the introduction of IGTV to the market, Instagram is taking YouTube head on.

This creates a tremendous opportunity for people with smaller audiences or no audiences at all to get started because the platform is still new and growing.

This opportunity can create massive gains for your brand or business because you can get the attention you need to build and grow your audience.

To seize this opportunity you will need a strategy that grabs viewers attention and keeps them coming back for more.

People want to be entertained when they are on social media so it’s important that you provide epic value to your audience.

Give them a reason to come back and consume your content.

When you develop your strategy it’s important to always ask the question? Why am I creating this content? What result am I trying to achieve by producing it?

This is why it is important to provide value to your audience. If it has a positive impact on your audience, it will get results. If you produce good content, you will win the long game.

Social media gives us all the ability to tell our story and communicate with people.

There has never been a better opportunity than now for us to connect our business with more people.

IGTV will give us the ability to tell our story and connect with more people on the most engaged social media platform in the world.

Take advantage of this huge opportunity and start thinking of ways you can use IGTV to communicate with more people and build a bigger audience of engaged fans who want to do business with you.

Now is the time to take advantage of IGTV. Start researching possible show ideas and develop a strategy that will entertain and add value.

Don’t let your business get left behind. Start making the type of content that will get your business in front of more people and start making a bigger impact in your business.

The opportunities we need to succeed are all around us.

Right now is an exciting time and opportunity to get attention and connect with more people.

Develop a strategy to win now and into the future. Leverage the power of IGTV and start building a better business today.

To learn more about how you can succeed with IGTV and social media follow @digitalprofitlab on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Is Instagram Replacing YouTube? was originally published in Digital Profit Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.