After going through airport like security, our mood during the lift ride to the 15th floor overlooking Etihad Stadium could only be comparable to my 3 year old on Christmas Eve.
For any marketing company, Social Media is the pinnacle. The real time feedback, the ability to get to captive consumers multiple times a day, and the ability to be creative at the same time. It’s beyond words. To tell a 20 year old me at a marketing lecture that this would be the reality I would have been both giddy and non-believing.
THE OFFICE
This is CFM’s third time to the office, but the first time our Account Manager has flown out for a 2 hour one on one. Katie is an American whose passion for Social Media Marketing is unrivaled, well maybe only matched by the CFM team I went with and back in the salt mines. She finished studying and moved straight to Singapore to work in one of Facebook’s biggest and best offices.
The Melbourne Offices are as expected, incredible. Views of the city, the water and Etihad Stadium. Spin Bikes, Table Tennis, Fuse Ball tables, free food and drinks as far as the eye can see, murals of the city, and meeting rooms with incredible projectors and whole wall whiteboards were just some of the highlights.
FACEBOOK INSPIRATION
Two Facebook mottos stood out; MOVE FAST, which is the motto of the High-Value-Customer Program we are a part of. With the constant algorithm changes, the marketing early adopters just have such a huge advantage; we absolutely love this motto.
And, OUR WORK IS NEVER DONE, which is reflected in the industrial finish to the roof of every World Wide Facebook office. There is absolutely no doubt they believe this motto. From our experience, something major changes monthly. And more often than not for the good.
THE REVIEW
We were here for a purpose. Our fortnightly video-conferences with Katie are always great, but this was next level. We went through a comparison of our key indicators against the average FB advertiser and against the biggest Chain Gyms operating in Australia and New Zealand.
We went in very confident given
a) the results we continue to get from SM,
b) the incredible team we have in the office and on the road pushing SM boundaries and
c) the continual feedback we get from Katie and the Facebook team. But to be rated in side the top 2% of advertisers globally was for sure humbling and a testament to an incredible team.
The first thing said around the Facebook table after the 2% graph was right, how the heck do we get into the top 1% and GSO status. Hearing back that’s an average spend of 10 million and is where companies like Coke and Cadbury sit, we quickly went back to being satisfied with where we were.
The keys to our success are the incredible videos, statics, lives and events. But moreover, the incredible team we have, both in HQ and on the road.
STAYING AHEAD
After the comparisons we focused on being further ahead. This is what excites every marketing company.
- We went through the success of our recent insta-story advertising and were interested to learn that this marketing avenue is growing at a higher than any other ever has.
- We looked at the new ‘premier video’ aspect of Facebook which we had already tried earlier that week, thanks to Hannah’s finger always being on the pulse.
- The new InstagramTV functionality and application.
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The evolving Bots and how they can be utilized to possibly deal with objections, questions, motivate and book appointments. This is something we have always been hesitant about, and still are, but with every improvement we are keen to learn it, and re-evaluate.
In fact, we sat dot with a Founder of Ingenious AI just yesterday and were wow’ed at how great these bots are. They are doing full tax returns in a bot. Fully signed off but the auto and no human interaction. Also the ability to customise has gone next level in the past 12 months and for our industry, with procrastinators left and right, it allows us to overcome objections and strike while the iron is hot. Pure gold
SUMMARY
Driving home from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory we were still on cloud nine. Proud of our team and excited for the next changes, and how we can best maximize them to help people live longer.
written by Liam Robertson, Director CFM Australia & New Zealand after spending a day at the Facebook offices in Melbourne with our brilliant Social Media Manager Hannah Robertson and fantastic Senior Creative Tess Milani