Lindsey Edson Spills the Beans on Why Marketers' Content Is Not Being Seen

Liindsey Edson of Hailey Sault

This past Friday Lindsey Edson from Hailey Sault, aka the agency formerly known as Klatzky & Associates, made a presentation titled Why Your Audience Isn't Seeing Your Content at the March Twin Ports Social Media Breakfast. Edson, who started in traditional advertising with a New York agency, talked about Facebook changes, ad blockers and fake accounts. Here is a brief re-cap of the salient points of her talk.

She began by noting that social media is a fast changing industry so it can be a challenge staying current. Citing Darwin, she stated that survival is dependent upon your ability to adapt to change.

FACEBOOK
The numbers are quite astonishing. Facebook alone has 2.2 billion users. For marketers it's important to know that it's the Facebook Algorithm that determines what users see. As most in the room were likely aware, on January 11 Facebook changed the rules again. Their purported aim is to help users find relevant content. Most marketers were not happy with the changes.

What they (FB) said and what really happened are two different things though. Maybe we will see less fake news. And (maybe) local publishers will be able to break through with more success.

Engagement Baiting and Reaction Baiting and Share Baiting will be demoted, she said.

How Will This Affect Your Brand Page?
Brand pages will see a decline in reach but the true impact won't be evident for brand pages. "We've all survived algorithm changes in the past. We'll make it through again."

Edson addressed some of the things Facebook dislikes (as do users) and admonished companies to NOT do the following:
Clickbait
Like Baiting
Spammy Links
Frequently Repeated Content
Posts That Ask For Likes.
Overly Promoted Content

Instead, she said do these: 
Video
Groups
Quality over Quantity
Content that creates conversation
Targeted ads
Posts with Links
Posts with high engagement
Posts that are timely
Pages with complete profile info

And: BE HUMAN MORE THAN EVER

Edson's advice on this score:
Tap Into Live Video
Prioritize Your Ad Budget
Up Your Influencer Game

Groups are the New "Pages."

AD BLOCKERS

Ad blockers were developed because ads became increasingly more annoying. 92% of people have considered using ad blockers, she said. After sharing some stats she told us about the top 8 types of annoying ads.

Edson noted that Google is leading the charge, bringing an ad blocker feature to Google Chrome.*
"We want to create a more user friendly experience," is Google's rationale. The Chrome browser is used by 60% of all web surfers..

There are a variety of ad types that violate Google's guidelines, not the least of which are those that play audio and are annoyingly frustrating to turn off. She shared several other examples. She indicated that there are currently 615 million devices using Ad Blockers or 11% of all devices. (I went to another source to see how current this was and according to the 2017 PageFlair Adblock Report that number was dead on.)

There are a variety of reasons ads can be annoying besides screen takeovers and auto-audio. These might include exposure to viruses, interruption, slow website loading time and the visual interference of too many ads on web page.

People especially dislike ads on mobile devices. And it isn't just young people using ad blocers. They're being used across all age groups.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
According to Edson, the threat of ad blocking is not as drastic as studies may suggest. More people are paying for content now and want it. Therefore marketers should take the following steps:

1. Play by the rules.
2. Request to Whitelist.
3. Make your ads matter.
4. Use native advertising integrated into the editorial content.

FAKE ACCOUNTS
Edson stated that there were 69 million fake accounts now on Facebook, 24 million on Instagram and 48 million on Twitter. Bots are blamed for many of these fake accounts.

Why does it matter?
Fake Accounts = Fake News
Fake Accounts = Fake Ads
Fake Accounts = Fake engagement

Social media platforms have been cracking down on fake accounts, she said.

Lindsey's RECAP
Why Your Audience Isn't Seeing Your Content
1. Algorithms
2. Ad Blockers
3. Fake Social Accounts

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Ed's PostScript
*In his book BadMen, ad contrarian Bob Hoffman's gripe that is not that people are using ad blockers. The bigger concern for consumers is that Google, Facebook and Amazon exist to scrape all of our personal info and sell it back to marketers for personal gain. For this reason, Google's rationale to incorporate ad blockers into the Chrome browser are designed to keep users trusting Google so they can continue to track behavior and gather information on us. It's not altruism, he says.

RELATED LINKS
Marketing Week: Marketers undervalue the impact of traditional media channels 
Facebook Group Social Media Breakfast Twin Ports

Five Minutes of Insight from Twin Ports Social Media Marketing Maven Molly Solberg

Molly Solberg has 17 years of experience in Marketing, PR, Sales, Social Media and Digital Marketing. I met her back when she had garnered a reputation as "Duluth Pack Molly," helping gain national attention to one of our local small businesses with a good story. In the spring of last year she started MAS Marketing (Molly Solberg Marketing) to fill a need training micro, small, and mid-size businesses in the region to help them learn how to marketing their own unique businesses.

Solberg is also the Founder of the Social Media Breakfast Twin Ports (#SMBTP), a group that now has over 550 members. SMBTP is made up of large and medium corporations, small and micro businesses, students, universities and entrepreneurs. On the second Friday of each month they gather in various spaces to swap success stories as well as frustrations and to learn from local experts how to improve the visibility and sales of their businesses.

A long time fan of her energy and enthusiasm, I was able to catch up with her this weekend after her marketing presentation to the group last Friday.

EN: You're leadership as a social media professional is impressive. How did you first take an interest in social media as a business venture?

Molly Solberg: While at Duluth Pack years ago I saw similar larger businesses using social media as a way to further promote their brand. I learned quite early on how to speak to the customer through the brand’s voice and tone.

EN: Why does social media make sense as part of a marketing plan in today's world?

MS: I tell my clients that social media is only one piece of the pie, their website comes first, next is creating valuable content that can be used across all of your marketing channels. That content is then repurposed to fit each unique social media platform and demographic.

EN: Is content really king?

MS: Content is truly king as consumers develop more “marketing blindness.” To break through the clutter you must create valuable content that fits within your brand, piques buyers' interest, and creates brand evangelists.

EN: Which platforms do you feel are most important for small community-based businesses?

MS: It depends on your demographic. First off you would optimize your website for local search, then pick one or two platforms to not tax your business or overburden you. Facebook is usually the best choice.

EN: How does one avoid wasting a lot of time and money on social media?

MS: By scheduling your posts and creating content that is used across several channels. Measure everything you do online. If it’s not meeting the realistic goals you have set, then revamp the content until you find a formula that works.

EN: Are there any books that you would recommend or do they get dated by the time they are in print?

MS: I haven’t read any marketing books for a while since any free time I have is filled with marketing blogs, articles, email marketing subscriptions, and podcasts.

EN: Best websites?

MS: Lots. My go-to’s are social media examiner and hubspot blog.

EN: What do you do to stay motivated to keep learning new things?

MS: My entrepreneurial clients do! As they come up with new and unique business ideas I come up with new and unique marketing ideas. This town and talent is amazing. I’m beyond happy at what I get to do and who I get to help!

EN: Thanks for sharing, Molly. Yes, there are a lot of amazing people doing interesting things here. You're one of them.

For more information on social media marketing, visit MollySolberg.com. If you're a small business,  be sure to bookmark it for future reference.

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NOTEWORTHY: TONIGHT is the opening reception at the Red Mug Coffeehouse in Superior for an art show designed to raise funds for students from Superior High School. It's a six week art show by high school alumni and young artists featuring 100 original pieces, each the same 8"x 8". The event begins at 4 p.m. till 6:30 tonight, but the artwork is for sale till the end of August. All are framed and each is $20. Support the arts, and the kids.  Check it out. Full story here.

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