Screw the Algorithms

I am hoping to be able to solve a very important problem for you today. Instead of stressing over whether your ads or your social media posts are working with those crazy algorithms on social platforms, I am telling you to screw them. The reason I want you to screw the algorithm is because you probably don’t need to know it.

I’ve been running Facebook ads for years and years. Instead of worrying, I present you two healthy options. Option number one, don’t run social media ads! Option number two, outsource them. If you absolutely have to run Facebook ads and you’re not an expert, or it’s not what you do for a living, I highly recommend you make it someone else’s problem.

You may be wondering, how do you actually promote a business if you’re not going to run ads? One way you can promote your business is by running a series of videos. I call this purpose-based branding, and you can learn about it in two places. You can get the simple version in my Ignite Your Fire program, or the full version (which shows you how you can use video marketing to promote your business, make sales, and never have to worry about an ad again) in my Life On Fire program. The message I want to drive home today, is that unless Facebook or running ads is what you do for a living, you should either outsource it or use a different methodology. One of the best things you can do is video-based marketing.

Frank Kern says your phone is like a new broadcast tool. It broadcasts Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, the whole nine yards. You can promote yourself in these venues. You can also turn your broadcasts into a podcast. You can take it one step further and take your broadcast video and stick it in your emails.

The main reason I push for purpose-based branding through broadcasts and videos is because of engagement. It is a fact that if a user does not feel engaged with someone they are following they will flee, unfollow, you name it. With videos people can see you. They feel like they can interact with you, especially in a live video environment. As long as you deliver content that your audience values, you don’t ever need to worry about algorithms. You don’t have to understand how Facebook ads are changing. All you need to know it as is a broadcasting tool.

Imagine you’re doing a live video on Facebook. They see it and enjoy it. When it’s done you can share the video not only on your page, but also with people on your personal account. If you belong to a group you can share it there, if you own a group you can share it there. You can cross post it. Do you see how quickly and easily it is for you to reach thousands of people?

But why limit yourself there? Now you can share the same video to all of your social media platforms. Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter. Now how many tens of thousands of people are you reaching without spending a penny?

There is one little caveat to disregarding ads altogether. If you are going to do video marketing, you must be consistent about it. Don’t worry about making too many videos, people will choose to tune in and out based on their own preferences, but they will find comfort knowing that you are always churning content out that they can interact with. So, while I have shrunk my ad budget by 90%, I am investing more of my personal time in my video marketing. But guess what? I’m making more money than I was before!

It’s simply not worth spending your time trying to learn the algorithms. I’ve done it for years. By the time you decipher what the changes mean, they’ve changed the algorithm yet again! It can be incredibly frustrating. So I re-iterate to you, don’t run ads, or if you do, outsource them.

For those who choose to do video marketing, every video you do should have an offer. If you are interested in learning more about offers and how to make them perfect for your video marketing, check out my Life On Fire program. Businesses thrive and grow by understanding their clients, understanding their hopes, fears and nightmares and their dreams, and they create content that addresses those kinds of things.

My method for my videos is that I create a spreadsheet on Google Docs to keep track of the topics I want to film. I shoot two videos a day, working three weeks ahead of time. There may be some days where I might want to switch things up, but because I have planned ahead, I never have to hum and haw about what it is I want to say.

I really encourage you to think. If you are running ads at the moment, how much does it cost?  Are you running them yourself? If someone else is running them for you, that’s fine, as long as they’re delivering results. If you are outsourcing, are you spending your time on revenue generating activities?

As far as any digital marketer I know can see, video based messaging is what’s going to help people to get to know you, communicate your message, build your brand, build your audience, and make sales. The way you make sales is by adding an offer into your videos. So the offer I’ve been making to you today is to go check out my new program Life on Fire. Mention it a couple of times and you drive people there. You consistently promote that message of what you want people to do, and you drive them into your sales funnel.

If you are running ads, I really want you to think hard about their effectiveness. Can you replace them with video? Would it be more effective? Would it reach more people simply because you can take one video like this and broadcast it across multiple platforms, which means people might see your Facebook video, or they might open your email, or they’ll see you on YouTube, or they’ll check out your Twitter feed, or they’ll see it on Instagram. It is undeniable that the more people see you, the more they will feel they know you better, like you better, and want to engage with you more.

I have made tremendous friends by shooting videos like this, and I’ve never met them. It is the most awesome feeling. Eventually, I do want to meet them in person, but they’re kind of scattered all over the world. Rid your head of any misconceptions that you’re not pretty enough or don’t have a nice voice. If no one is running from you on a daily basis, you will be perfectly fine making videos every day. Don’t be the biggest obstacle on your path to success.

One of my greatest pieces of advice is, if you want to get into video but you’re kind of worried about it, shooting a live video is great because it’s live. You hit ‘record’ and away it goes. It’s out there. If you don’t like watching yourself, don’t watch it afterwards. Shoot a live video and you’re good, don’t have to worry about it anymore.

If you want to know more about how you can double your business by using video marketing (just one of the many tactics I teach) please check out my Life On Fire program. Just doing consistent video marketing instead of running ads can double your business in a year. But the Life on Fire program has three other things that could independently double your business. If you have any questions, please let me know. I hope you have a fantastic day. The sun is shining beautifully here, and I hope it’s shining where you are too.