Navigating Instagram’s Latest Updates with Steph Bechard

Crystal Vilkaitis: Holy guacamole. Instagram has made some updates that you need to know about, and we are covering them all in this episode with my guest, Steph Bechard from Crystal Media, who is joining me and she’s going to break it down. She’s going to tell you what these updates are. Why you need to know what it means for you.

It’s good news for you as a small business. So yay. And do’s don’ts. This episode is packed with some really great Instagram best practices to help you get more out of your efforts there, which there’s a very good chance the majority of our listeners are marketing on Instagram and you’re looking for ways to really connect.

To drive foot traffic, to drive website traffic, to increase your audience and your engagement. And we’re going to talk about how you can do that and how these changes are going to support you in this episode.

So let’s dive in.

Welcome to Rooted in Retail. I’m your host, Crystal Vilkaitis. Here we have engaging and informative conversations with successful indie retailers and industry experts. Together, we learn, connect, and grow. All right, here’s today’s episode.

Welcome Steph Bechard, Digital Strategist at Crystal Media

Crystal Vilkaitis: Steph, welcome back to the show. I’m thrilled. You’re here.

Steph Bechard: Thank you for having me again, Crystal. It’s so fun to be in the retail podcast.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I know a lot of our listeners know who you are and love you already. And if you are listening to this and you were at evolve, you got to hear Steph speak in person. And Oh my gosh, so many retailers came out to me and were like, I love Steph. I learned so much from Steph and yes, she’s got so much. So much to share such a great speaker and you always make it so fun.

So this will be a fun conversation today, but for those of the listeners who aren’t familiar with you, will you introduce yourself and tell everybody what you do here at crystal media?

Steph Bechard: Of course. My name is Steph Bayshard. I’m a digital strategist and I started off as a graphic designer, but my whole career has been in marketing more. So I work for small business owners with Crystal Media to deliver the latest strategy algorithm updates. And new features and what’s working for retailers exclusively.

That’s my whole job. Cause I know it’s a lot to keep up with for them. So I break it down and figure out what’s working and then just deliver that to them so they don’t have to, they’re cutting through all the noise with this and I run the insider membership with crystal media and do monthly trainings, catch up with my insiders there, reply to all their questions, give them weekly content and all that good stuff.

So my whole job is. Marketing for small businesses.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yeah, I love it. And some of the conversations that we’re going to have today are around these questions that Steph is hearing from our insiders and from our small businesses, our retailers. So this is going to be great. I also want to give a plug cause this is coming out the second week of June and a lot of our listeners go to AmericasMart and you’re going to be speaking there.

So will you share a little bit about what you’re speaking on at the gift show?

Steph Bechard: Oh my gosh. I’m so excited. I started off there as a buyer when I worked in a retail store. So this is just so full circle for me. I’m honored to be speaking there. And I’m talking about five strategies to move your merchandise using social media. I’m so excited for this session. I’ve been building on it for months and months, and I’m just so excited to present.

An article just came out. I got the same Google alert as my favorite housewife of New York, Jill Zarin, yesterday. I almost cried. My parents couldn’t care less. They’re like, what are you talking about? But so exciting. So I’m just so excited to go there and see all the retailers and you can come to my session.

Please do. It’s July 17th.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I love it. I’m so excited for your stuff. It’s such a cool full circle moment and you’re going to crush it. I can’t wait to hear how it goes. Okay. We’re diving in.

What are the recent changes to the Instagram algorithm

Crystal Vilkaitis: Instagram algorithm. It’s changed. There’s been, it’s been in the news. There’s some new developments. And so will you break down? Very briefly, I think everybody knows what the algorithm is, but just break down what the algorithm is and what are these new changes.

And I think they’re pretty beneficial for our retailers. So break it down.

Steph Bechard: Yeah, so in general, the algorithm is essentially a combination between what the platform wants and what the people who use that platform want. And it’s a combination of how your content is showing up to other people and reaching new and your existing followers by, using best practices using new features and creating really good quality content. And you have to work with a combination of these things to be working well with the algorithm and it’s always changing things are always updating so people are always changing and updating their content to match what the algorithm is currently looking for.

So the new updates happening, if you’ve heard about the new Instagram update, the new algorithm, what’s going on, people have been freaking out. We’ve been getting a lot of emails and questions in the webinars I’m doing. And I just want to say, everyone can take a deep breath because I don’t think it’s too big of a deal.

I think there’s a really good update happening here and something that’s been in the works for a while and now it’s being implemented. So essentially I have to first confront that the legal, impending tick tock ban and battle that’s been going on. Instagram is noticing this and they’re priming their platform to catch any audience members that are falling off of TikTok.

And if you want to look to start establishing themselves on a new platform, so we’re seeing Instagram adopt some of TikToks algorithm updates and things that’s going on that algorithm.

This is what’s happening on the Instagram algorithm currently. We are seeing them Instagram promoting original content. And incentivizing original and smaller creators.

This is great news for small business owners. No freaking out required, no nervousness required. There might be some growing pains as always, as we always see with any updates, just like you likely see in your own business when things are changing, some growing pain, some maybe lower engagement, some lower reach for now, but things should level out and be in your favor eventually.

Crystal Vilkaitis: This is huge. I feel like this can be huge. And I, to talk briefly about the TikTok update, there is really no update when it comes to the shutdown and if it’s happening. And if this happens, I think we’re a ways away from it. I personally don’t think that it will, but you just don’t know.

I have no idea what the U S government’s going to do and what fight dance is going to do and anything. But it’s smart of Instagram to take note. Because that’s the thing, no matter, I don’t know what anybody’s going to do, you don’t know what anybody’s going to do, but we do know that if TikTok got shut down, that they’re going to go somewhere else.

So for Instagram to be studying and implementing some of these features from TikTok is very smart because I will tell you, my preferred platform is TikTok and I barely scroll on Instagram. TikTok is just so much more engaging. I find better content over there. So if I were to leave TikTok. I’d be looking for a different type of platform.

It wouldn’t be Instagram. And I just feel like for our small businesses, they’re already there on, on Instagram. So to not have to go learn another platform, if TikTok got shut down, to just really capture that attention there and then rewarding the small businesses versus like the big box. Or if you’re spending a lot of money, I just think this is awesome.

Steph Bechard: I agree. And essentially what the TikTok algorithm is allows a niche creator, someone who has a niche interest and creates original content around that, grow quickly. We’ve been seeing that with the boom of TikTok since 2020. So if you have a more niche topic or interest that you make content around, it’s getting rewarded and it’s connecting with that community.

Instagram is trying to do the same things. And Adam Mosery, the CEO of Instagram, has said, we’re trying to do more to emphasize smaller creators. Specifically through recommendations. That was his quote. So recommendations is your content being recommended to people who do not follow you to non followers.

So you now have a chance, a direct chance to grow your account there and get connected with the right people for your interest. There’s some do’s and don’ts I’m recommending for people to do following this update because of what the blogs have shared what the ceo has shared directly.

So I want to say that essentially this update is going to be now allowing your instagram content, not just reels all of your Instagram content to be shown to people who are non followers.

They’re gonna put it to a small Yeah, great news. This is good news as a business owner. You’re a smaller creator, right? So this is really good news for you. We’re gonna be seeing your content be shown to non followers, a smaller pool, Instagram is going to choose a smaller pool of people to show it to, and if it does well in that pool, it’s going to move to a bigger pool, and if it does well in that pool, it’s going to move to a bigger pool.

So the example that Adam gave was, if you’re a stand up comedian, and you’re creating reels that content’s gonna be shown to people who are non followers that are generally interested in stand up comedy. If it does well there, it’s going to be shown to people who are interested in general comedy, a little bit bigger of a pool.

If it’s doing well in that circle, it’s going to be shown to a more broader audience who are interested in funny content. So that would probably be where I fall. I love like cute, funny pet videos, reaction videos, things that are generally funny but don’t qualify as like comedy. They’re just keep broadening the range that your content can go in.

That’s exactly how they described it. So as a business owner, how this would relate is let’s say you’re creating educational, entertaining videos about, it’s a gift and home store, and they’re creating like a tablescape video. You’re showing your audience where to put the candlesticks, how to do the placemats.

You’re featuring a few items from your store in this how to video, some preserves maybe from your kitchen section. A few of your dishes, maybe a charcuterie board, whatever it is, you’re featuring a few of your items in this educational video. Instagram may show this now to people who are generally interested in hosting.

They’re interested in hosting, so you’re getting this video put there to non followers. Now it’s doing well there, so they’re going to be shown to people who like cooking and like having people over for dinner. So now it’s being shown to people, that would be me, who like cooking and having people over.

It’s doing well there, so now it’s going to be shown to people who are interested in decorating their home, having people over. Decorating, putting their candlesticks up, stocking their cupboard. So it’s getting, being shown to broader and broader audiences. So that’s really good for us. The more niche we can get.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yes, I love this so much because right now with Instagram, Facebook, the only way people are seeing your content really is if they’re following you. Now, of course, with reels, that can be other people, but this it makes sense because exactly how the tick tock. Algorithm works. It’s based off of that niche content.

And for our retailers, think about this. You can pick specific, like being a little bit more niche and being a little bit more specific and testing the content to see, okay, how is this moving up and how am I growing? And what is my audience really resonating with? And if you’re finding an area where you’re like, every time we do a video about this, it just takes off, then that can be some really great content. You want to keep repeating, keep doing what’s working well, test other things, tweak or stop the things that don’t. But I just, I cannot wait to see what happens for our retailers. And maybe I’m jumping ahead. Actually, I don’t want to go there yet.

The Do’s and Don’ts for the New Instagram Updates

Crystal Vilkaitis: Cause we are going to talk about the local aspect of this, unless you want to go there, but I will say you mentioned you have some best practices. Of some do’s and don’ts. So I want to make sure that we talk about that too.

DO be posting original content that is educational, inspiring, entertaining

Steph Bechard: For sure. So, I think the accounts that are going to be most affected and a little bit peeved at this update is going to be those bigger aggregator accounts. that show like meme accounts that take other people’s content and post it there. Animal doing things like I love that account.

They show like pets from other users like other people’s pets and share their videos there. That’s not now original content. They want that original poster and creator to get that recognition. So they’re going to be replacing those actual videos with the original in the recommendations and in the explore pages and stuff, which is a big update.

Those accounts are probably going to have to do some strategy updates, but our smaller accounts don’t really have to worry about that. But what I do want you to think about is the do’s and don’ts.

First let’s start with do. Please do be posting original content that is educational, inspiring, entertaining, nothing new.

I’ve said this for the past three episodes now I’ve been on Rooted in Retail, be posting inspirational, educational, entertaining videos. So that would be the how to’s, the Trends in your industry, your tips from your industry and recommendations that you know how to take care of a plant, how to extend the life of your bouquet, how to clean a certain fabric, how to iron a certain fabric, things that you know that someone coming to your store might not know, share that in answering those FAQs, those frequently asked questions that you get in the store, create content around that because people are interested in that.

DO create collaboration posts

Steph Bechard: Next, do create collaboration posts. You can create collaborations on both Facebook and Instagram, which is allowing your post to collaborate with another account, up to three. So there’s four total, actually three others. And you can get that piece of content posted on all of those accounts. Normally we see it with two accounts.

So that content is now posted to both those feeds. This is great because it’s original content that’s being shared to multiple pages in a collaboration between these accounts. It’s like helping the algorithm work smarter, not harder by allowing them to be incentivizing and sharing this post from several small creators at once.

Like a two or three or four for one kind of thing. So if you’re able to do a restock with a local vendor that you have share restock post and post to both your pages work with a local influencer to do spend a day with me downtown on main street And feature some businesses and post those accounts some original content like that collaborations are due

Crystal Vilkaitis: I love that Steph and I love collaborations because it’s just a way to like use one piece of content and get so much more out of it and for you to get your content on that person’s Instagram and we normally don’t get technical here, but I have a feeling there’s some people that are listening being like, how do I do a collaboration on Instagram?

How do you create a collaboration post on Instagram?

Crystal Vilkaitis: How would people do it? Because it’s pretty easy, but I do feel like it’s hidden.

Steph Bechard: Yeah, it is hidden, but it is easy. So if you’re, let’s say like my favorite one to recommend to our insiders is let’s see, you have a local candle vendor or someone who makes cards or something. You’re restocking that shelf that has those candles on it. Start off with an empty photo of the shelf. The second slide, you put a couple more candles on that shelf.

Third slide, it’s fully done. Beautiful saying we got to restock from this candle vendor. You’re about to post it, but before you post it, you want to tag the candle vendor. Instead of tagging them, you’re going to invite them to collaborate. It’s in that same spot. So you’re about to post, you write your caption, you’re about to tag them, click that tag button, and it says invite them to collaborate.

A lot of people get worried that what if our followers go shop with them directly now. If they’re already shopping with you, they already have an easy way to access that product in your store now, they know you first, you’re doing a good job making connection with them in social media and in store and other ways.

I wouldn’t worry about that. This is a benefit to you in the algorithm and for growing your community. So I love these sorts of posts and that’s how you find it. Is that. And that tag feature.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Awesome. Yep. So once you pull that all together, you click on that tag, then you’ll see invite for collaboration. Love it. Okay. What else, Steph?

DO be consistent

Steph Bechard: So another one is being consistent. All of the blogs, I listened to at least like three hours of podcasts preparing for this one. And I wasn’t going to make you guys listen to a three hour long podcast. We’re just doing what’s working for retailers being consistent, showed up on all those blogs, all those podcasts.

So they’re saying post daily stories and post consistently to your feed, which if you’ve been a follower of crystal media or, a client of ours before, you’ve heard this before, nothing changing here. So just try your best to be working towards consistency, even if that’s once a week and then next quarter We’re posting twice a week.

That’s growing our consistency. So we’re proud of you for seeing that. That’s gonna be a do.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yep. Awesome. Love it.

DO put your own spin on trends, pop culture and memes

Steph Bechard: The next is putting your own spin on trends, pop culture and memes. They say memes are safe, because from this like original content algorithm update because you’re putting your own spin on it. So let’s say it’s I always go back to that Haley and Justin Bieber mean where they’re walking out of the car. She’s dressed to the nines and then he’s dressed in like a hoodie and Crocs and like being super casual. People always use that meme like Me in the morning, Justin versus me at 901, when I log into my zoom meeting or whatever, like they’re just putting their own spin on it.

So as long as you’re not just reposting stuff and you’re putting your own brand, colors, spin, language on those sorts of trends and memes, that’s going to be a do including pop culture. We always ask our retailers to create content around pop culture because it does well.

I love the scout jewelry example we shared that evolve where. They had the, I think it was the Oscars where they had some sort of gala event and they were showing screenshots of celebrities at the event, which would not be original content, right? But they’re putting their own spin on it with what jewelry. They would pair with that outfit.

So they’re putting their own spin on it. They’re making it that their own content. The algorithm hasn’t seen the same post before. So that’s what’s making it original. That is a do a green light. Go ahead.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Love it. So smart. And that, and have fun with that. Like this doesn’t have to take hours and hours. You could see what’s trending. It’s probably already in your feed and you’re like, okay, how can I make this a little original and add in my product and add in my brand? It’ll do well in the feed.

DO Live Video

Steph Bechard: I agree. I agree. Yes. And then live videos are always going to be do because they’re always going to be original. You’re not copying anyone else’s content. You’re not following a script. You’re just being you. So that’s just an easy one. Live videos are safe for this update.

DO have the right account type

Steph Bechard: And then also having the right account type that’s the last green light to do. I’m going to be sharing today is having the correct account type. We don’t want to be changing now because we’re seeing all this like creator counselor creator accounts, whatever account you have. The algorithm knows truly what you are and it will figure it out eventually.

So we say, please stick with your business account. If it says like a retail store or boutique or jeweler under your Instagram handle, that is the correct thing. We’re an agency under ours cause that’s the correct thing. So make sure you have the right account type. Don’t be trying to turn yourself into a creator following this update.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Okay. Okay. So that’s a really good point because I feel like a lot of retailers ask me that and I just hear, I see this in feeds too. Should I have a business account? Should I have a creator account? We really want them to focus on that business account.

Steph Bechard: Yeah, because we see this a lot, even from like those Instagram gurus on like the algorithm saying like change to an entrepreneurial account so you can access the good music. And that’s like cheating the system. That’s gaming the system. We don’t want to do that. These rules are in place for a reason.

So we want to be showing up as the type of account we are. And that’s also going to help the algorithm connect us to the right audiences, people who are interested in business accounts, people who are primed to buy from those accounts, follow and engage with that content.

We don’t want to be getting shown to a different audience. That’s how our content’s not going to perform. You might go viral once or twice, you might get some extra engagement, but with the wrong audience, it doesn’t matter, right? Who cares if a busload of people come into your store who aren’t interested in your products, because now you just have like more cleaning up to do after they leave and they didn’t buy anything.

Like you want your right audience to be watching your content.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yes, you do. That’s so true. Okay, good. I love it. Now what are the things they shouldn’t be doing?

DON’T post wholesale product images…as is

Steph Bechard: So the don’ts, I’m so sorry to say, there’s a couple here that I know a lot of our retailers do mostly out of like ease and convenience for creating social content, but I just want to really advise against it and be working towards some more original content. I just want to say individuality is going to be rewarded with this algorithm update.

So the more custom from scratch you can make your content, the better.

The don’ts would be using wholesaler product images on your posts. We see these a lot with a nice high def product image with a white background or the white to gray gradient background, just to get the photo out there.

Please be avoiding that because the algorithm sees that there is an original poster of this before. Likely multiple. Other businesses are posting it. The original creator is posting it. Who knows, a photographer could be posting it from their portfolio. Whatever. You want to be avoiding this because the algorithm is now matching the content, finding the original creator of it, and replacing that, right?

Replacing the newer posted content with the original one. Be avoiding posting wholesaler images to your feed. Please.

Crystal Vilkaitis: That’s such a good one. And yeah, it is easy because they’re sending you these pictures and I work with whole manufacturers and wholesalers. We talked to them and they are always like, we want to give images to our retailers to use, but it’s like they could use them on their websites, but not on social media.

It’s that individual content like Steph is saying.

Steph Bechard: But we can say Crystal like, think of how we’re just saying the dos, put your own spin on it. You can easily upload that to Canva, remove the background and put your own product photo in there. You can make it a sticker on Instagram stories, which is a, which is an engagement sticker. You click on stickers, do a cutout of it and place it on a different background.

You could easily. Use those A. I. Backdrop tool. The A. I. Sticker tools were talking about the A. I. Backdrop one actually allows you to upload a product photo such as the wholesalers product photo. Cut out that image in there and place it on a different background. Say, put this in a living room or put this throw pillow on the couch, and now it’s you have your own creative spin to it.

So there’s options to customize from there.

Crystal Vilkaitis: And I get really excited about this because I think this is an opportunity for retailers to do some fun things featuring products that doesn’t take a lot of time. And if you haven’t used the cutout in stories and you haven’t done some of these things, Steph, you’ve got a challenge that’s coming up that’s going to help show people what to do and how to access this.

This is a really good time to talk about it. So will you talk about what’s coming up?

Join the 5 Day Facebook/Instagram Story Challenge, June 24 -28, 2024

Steph Bechard: Yes, I’m so excited. One year ago today, I did a 14 day challenge with our retailers, about 100 people joined, and it was so much fun teaching them the ins and outs of Reels and TikToks. This year, we’re doing a five day more accessible challenge. It’s $29, and we’re going to be talking about, How to post a story on Facebook and Instagram, the ins and outs of it, all the stickers, all the updates, what’s right for retailers and what’s wrong for retailers.

Coming up at the end of June, June 24th to 28th. So I’m so excited to be hosting that five days live.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Oh my gosh, I can’t wait for this because there’s so many things like there are so many things you can do in stories that you should be doing that will drive traffic in your store to your website, whatever that goal is, that can help you sell products that can help your brand stand out, that can connect and engage like stories are so powerful.

And if you’re not using them every single day. And it’s some of the easiest content you could be creating in the fastest, but I think retailers are intimidated by it because there are a lot of things you can do in there. So Steph’s got you covered. How can they learn more about the challenge and sign up?

Steph Bechard: So retailers can sign up at crystalmediaco.com/story where you’re going to join me for the five day Instagram/Facebook story challenge. We’re going to do a challenge each day to teach you how to post your stories, and you’re going to have an optimized story posted where you can. Replicate this going forward in the future.

So we like to teach a man to fish. That’s what this challenge is teaching you how to post stories

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yes, I love it. You can use this time and time again to grow your business, to have fun, to connect, and it’s $29. I heard from some retailers that went through your challenge last year. Actually, somebody just emailed me last month. It was like, that is the best money I’ve ever spent. Like for my business. Go sign up for this challenge. I can’t wait to go through it.

And then Steph, we’re talking about some of these don’ts. However, you’re giving really great do’s tips for this too. Are there other don’ts that they, that the retailer should watch out for with this new update?

DON’T use Canva template (without modifying them!)

Steph Bechard: There’s just a couple quick don’ts so try not to use canva templates without modifying them. Just a straight up canva template. You’ll find a lot of them. They’re beautiful. They’re great They’re accessible, but please update them to your own brand your own colors language, pictures in there, your own spin on it, because that means there’s likely a lot of other Canvas templates that look just like that.

So it’s not original content and also what we mentioned with the do with the memes. Don’t post memes exactly as they are without modifying them. So anything you are taking from someone else or, using from a similar account, modify, update, make it your own, customize. That’s what we’re saying for this update.

Are there issues with copyright if I’m using a meme?

Crystal Vilkaitis: And I know this question came up at Evolve at our VIP day about copyright issues and somebody was like, can I use memes? And so will you just address that? Cause I’m sure people are wondering.

Steph Bechard: Yeah, there’s something called the free use. that it’s like free use for images says essentially if you’re just using a screenshot or a short video clip of something you’re allowed to be posting that because it’s not giving away the whole scene it’s not leaning into someone’s like intellectual property they’re being posted so often on social media that same meme image try to be avoiding logos like if you see like a logo or photographer in there try to be avoiding that or if you are be crediting them and just somewhere in the caption, like image taken from Getty or whatever it is just credit that in a quick little spot in the caption but you’re free to be using those images on social media, like the hundreds and thousands of other people using them.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Exactly. Okay. So there’s, these are such good updates and this is why retailers got to listen to Rooted in Retail. So you could take advantage of these updates. You don’t have to listen to hours and hours of podcasts and really leverage the feed. Any other don’ts there, Steph, or did we cover them all?

CAUTION: Be careful reposing vendor content (without adding your own spin)

Steph Bechard: We covered them all. I do just want to quickly say, like, when you’re seeing your vendors be posting like video content and stuff like that, I see a lot of people repost that to their pages. I would limit that or maybe test that to see. so much for having me. Or put your own spin on it like that, but that’s the last thing just modifying other content.

Yeah

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yeah. It sounds like it’s really about focusing on that original content. Yeah.

Steph Bechard: And we have to feel sympathy for the algorithm like they’re trying their best I know like they’re doing better than we are but like, you know We have to focus on the fact that they’re trying their best to connect the right original content with the right audiences. So that’s what they’re trying with this.

And we’ve been hearing lower reach, lower engagement during this update. People have been saying it’s not working for me. I’m a small creator and I was doing better before this update. This is just those growing pains we talked about in the beginning of the episode. They should level out. It should be in your benefit in the future.

Don’t give up. Be consistent. Be showing up for that algorithm. Consistently posting. And you should see that reward coming in sooner or later. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for you.

HEADS UP – you might be getting a boost based on your location in the algorithm

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yes. Yes. We hope it’s sooner. And when we were prepping for this too, Steph, you mentioned the location feed where we’re seeing some emphasis on a location type algorithm delivering content to people. Like If I’m a store in Fort Collins, Colorado, then people who are scrolling on Instagram who are in Fort Collins, Colorado are more likely to see my content because of a location based algorithm.

And so what are you hearing and what are you seeing?

Steph Bechard: Yeah, that is a really good point because we haven’t been reading about this. We’ve been all these updates or hearing about it from the CEO of Instagram, but we’ve been seeing it in our own feeds and in our retailers feeds. So in a group of retailers, I meet with often, we just talked about this. I was asking them if they’re also seeing this and a lot of people reporting back.

Oh yeah, that’s what it is. Yes. So same with Instagram’s update with rewarding smaller creators like TikTok, they’re also taking another algorithm update from TikTok, which is the geolocation based algorithm where you’re getting content from local creators, people in close proximity to you, literally close to you, physically close to you.

So when I logged into the Crystal Media TikTok, I would get different content than Crystal logging in from a different location versus Pauline logging in from a different location. I’m in a whole different country, so I would get the 10 best places to eat pizza in Ottawa, and Crystal would get the 10 best places to eat pizza in Denver, and Pauline would get the 10 best places to eat pizza in Carlsbad.

So it’s all different. Instagram’s adopting this now. You’re gonna see more content from people physically close to you versus just the content that’s related to your industry or what you’re naturally engaging with on social media. So you’re going to see more content from influencers, businesses who are in your city and town, which is good for businesses.

Good for brick, and that means your content is gonna be shown to more people close to you. This a good update in my opinion, and we need this on Instagram. I like this update.

Crystal Vilkaitis: We desperately need this in my opinion. I love this update because majority of the retailers we work with have a physical storefront. You want that local audience. And we work so hard to create this content to post to social media. And then only our followers are seeing it. So we have to work really hard to get our followers.

Now with these updates, we’re going to get in front of new people that are local to us. And this doesn’t mean that it’s going to only be the local, but this is such a great way because imagine if I’m seeing your content, you’re here in Fort Collins, Colorado. And I’m like, Oh my God. And they’re here. I’m going to go see them after I visit my favorite coffee shop.

Like I’m just going to go in. It’s going to drive that traffic. So this is a way. Long overdue. I think update of having that localized algorithm. And this is so exciting.

Be sure to join the Rooted In Retail Facebook Group

Crystal Vilkaitis: So if you’re in our Rooted in Retail Facebook group, if you’re listening to this in our Facebook group, if you haven’t joined yet, go search root in retail, join, introduce yourself, share a picture of your store.

We always love seeing your store. And share with us, are you starting to see this over the summer? We should start seeing some more activity there and new people finding you, discovering you, following you. Let’s have these conversations and hear what people are seeing. We want to hear from you.

So shared in our Facebook group and and Steph switching gears a little bit here.

Getting notice about Meta monetization? You might want to give it a try

Crystal Vilkaitis: I know that some of our insiders are getting Emails from Meta about monetization. And so if there’s anyone listening to this who have seen the emails or in a group, and they’re like, what’s this chatter about? Will you break down what that is?

What they need to know.

Steph Bechard: Yeah. Absolutely. So we’ve been hearing from our insiders that they’re getting this invite only email to a program for a performance bonus on meta, mostly on Facebook. I’ve been seeing it. It’s a monetization incentive where when you’re posting content. That is mostly getting a lot of reach. Reach is the biggest metric they’re looking at.

You’re getting money for it. You’re getting actual money for posting to social media. You know how we’ve been talking about in crystal media that business owners should be pretending they’re an influencer for their own company. Just be an advocate for your own products and be your own influencer.

Now you’re getting paid like an influencer from the platforms as well. So if you’ve seen this, it is real. A lot of people have been asking us, is this real? Is this fake? Is it spam? It is real. I’ve seen that the email subject line say, congrats, you’re invited to start making money with the performance bonus.

And it’s sent from noreply at support. facebook. com. We always want to look for facebook. com in an email address. I bet hackers are going to take advantage of this and try to be sending similar emails. So keep an eye out for that. We want to make sure it’s from Meta. And essentially, you’re going to be posting content that’s all content that’s not Reels or Stories, randomly.

It’s content that’s um, photos, lives, text based photos on Facebook text based posts on Facebook. You can earn money on interactions for your public posts there. You can find this by going to your professional dashboard. On Facebook, the monetization tab, the bonus tab that’s under monetization.

And then you can tap get started to complete your payout set up there. That’s essentially all we know for now. Be posting good, original quality content. You might get paid for it. So yeah, it’s different than stars and it’s a good way. Yeah.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yeah, it’s a way to make, have meta pay you, which we love that if you’re creating the content and you’re building this audience and people are watching, they want, these platforms want that. TikTok has this similar creator fund that they pay people based on, if you’ve registered, if you’re a creator and if you’re getting a certain amount of views and there’s actually, as we’re recording this, there’s this really funny trend happening on TikTok.

I don’t know if you’ve seen this Steph, but people are like, help me pay off my debt. And so they’re like, will you please at least watch five seconds of this video? Because if you do, then I’ll get paid from TikTok and it’ll help me pay off my debt. And it’s happening. Like people are joining together and watching these videos to help people pay off their debt because they’re getting rewarded for content people watch and engage with.

So now with Meta doing this monetization, I have to say, I have a friend who texted me recently, made over 20, 000 in one month. Off of this because she’s posting content and she’s a retailer and she’s posting content that people watch and engage with. And so that’s like a whole nother revenue stream. So I think my prediction, I think we’re going to see this grow a lot more.

I love it that these platforms are giving back to the users to create the content versus just taking all those ad dollars for themselves. They need this creative content to keep people on the platform and using it. Yeah, so check out if you, or if you’re getting those emails and set that up.

That’s a really good tip.

Steph Bechard: Absolutely. You’re like, might as well. What’s the harm in it? Might as well do it. You’re posting anyways. It’s just going to encourage you and incentivize you to be posting more quality, consistent content, which is good for your brand of business anyways, but now you’re getting big significant payout for it.

So it’s worth it.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Exactly.

What to learn more and stay on top of changes – join our Insider membership

Crystal Vilkaitis: Steph, you shared so many updates with us today. This is where it’s I know this is why we exist, right? Like retailers, it’s hard to keep up with social media, but we got you.

I mean, There were so many great tips you had today. On just this newest update. So there’s so much you can learn with social and I say that not to overwhelm anybody, just to say, there’s a lot of opportunity. We’re here to teach you and support you. If you need to go further, you should check out our insider membership.

If you’re not an insider already, Steph mentioned at the beginning, she runs that program. She’s doing live trainings every month, content ideas every week for your social and email and text. I do AI training every month you get support when you’re getting these emails or something’s not working, you can turn to Steph and our team.

So you can learn more at crystal media, co. com slash insider. We’d love to see you as a member. You can join for 97 a month and go month to month. You can cancel any time. Steph I know you love working with our insiders. Can you just share a little bit about how much you love our insider program?

Steph Bechard: Oh my gosh, of course. I feel like it’s like my connection to the real world. Like I just love being able to meet with them and share with them what’s happening. I translate all that jargon that’s going on in the world for retailers and I feel like they let my job not be in vain. Like they’re implementing these tips.

They’re actually using these content ideas. I recently saw on the Facebook group saying like your ideas are engaging our followers like crazy. Someone said thank you Steph for this national day reminder. We posted this and it’s doing so well. Like All these things being implemented is going to be helping your social content grow, helping you grow your audiences and make more sales.

So I just feel like it’s such a special community of people who are like interested in doing more for their business and committing to their business. And then I’m just there to support them and to teach them all I know about social media marketing and the algorithms.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I know, which is a lot and you’re so creative too. And so that’s why when you’re giving these content ideas and even creating some of these templates for them to reuse, make your own, but give them, make it way easier to get started. It’s unique. It’s different. It’s working because you are creative, you know, what’s working and there’s accountability baked into being an insider.

So be sure to check that out. If you’re not an insider already, we have such an amazing community there.

And then if you need to learn how to leverage stories. Cause like we said, there’s so much to do. You got to join Steph’s challenge, $29. That’s it. You could go to crystalmediaco. com slash story. And Steph remind me, it’s the last week in June, right?

Of 2024.

Steph Bechard: June 24th to 28th. Live five days in a row.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Awesome. And when you buy, you will get the replays too. So be sure if you can go live. Awesome. If you can’t, you’ll get the replace as well.

Steph, thank you for being here and sharing all these amazing tips and updates. We so appreciate it.

Steph Bechard: Of course. I’m honored. Thank you so much for having me again on the Rootin Retail Podcast. It’s always so much fun.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I know. Awesome. And then you’ll be back for episode 99. We’ve got something fun planned. So listeners be sure to tune in because we’re going to do a call to action here in a couple of weeks for you to ask some questions, to get some ideas from Steph, which will be really fun. So I can’t wait for that next episode and to welcome you back.

Everyone remember that I am rooting for your success. Have a great week ahead. Bye.

Thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me. Don’t forget to join the rise and shine newsletter, which is social media news you need to know sent via email every Monday morning, go to crystal media, co. com slash rise to join and don’t miss the newest episode of Rooted in Retail, which drops every Sunday morning.