We got to launch many projects, drive numerous campaigns and work alongside extremely dedicated and talented people! In this post, I would like to look back at some of the most fun and exciting things that we worked on this year… and of course thank those who made it all possible.

Intent

I couldn’t be more grateful for Intent reaching out and inviting me to take part in the project that was as ambitious as it was vital to Canada today. SMM Headquarters provided social media support and advertising expertise for I Am a New Canadian, an initiative by COSTI. The artwork by Hans Poppe remains the visual highlight of the year for me!

We continue our collaboration with Intent. A major ongoing project for Rainbow Health Ontario stands out the most, but the shorter-term work we have done for the Ontario Caregiver Organization is no less significant for us.

Holistic Medical Clinic

SMM Headquarters’ client since April 2019, Holistic Medical Clinic has some of the most dedicated and compassionate healthcare professionals in the paramedical field. The clinic owners trust our expertise completely and listen very closely, which is definitely not an everyday occurrence in the hot digital marketing business!

We have made considerable progress on all digital fronts and will continue developing the clinic into the leading health and physiotherapy centre in Toronto.

Beaches BJJ

A place near and dear to my heart, the small martial arts dojo in the Beaches has been home to the highest-quality karate, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu instruction in Toronto since 2003. This year, we joined forces with the club owner Mark to promote the Brazilian jiu-jitsu program and grow the club membership overall.

Happy to report it’s already been kicking ass, pun intended!

Costa Brava Maniacs

A deeply-researched and lovingly illustrated online portal dedicated to the stunning Costa Brava region in Spain relies on SMM Headquarters for community management, organic page growth, editorial guidance, and copy-writing.

The photos alone are enough to make you forget that this is work!

In 2020, I would like to see CBM grow even faster than in 2019.

Thank you, everyone.

I am grateful and humbled for all the support that my company and I have received this year. No one can work in a vacuum and very few can produce great work alone. I am definitely not one of those lucky people. Collaboration, discussion, leaning on others’ expertise all make up the success that is attributed to the select few.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to my clients past and present, for being part of SMM Headquarters’ journey. We are honoured to serve you and we hope to continue for years to come.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy New Decade to all!

The post A Year in Review: 2019 at SMM Headquarters appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

The subject of the workshop wasn’t chosen by accident. Privacy in the digital space is an increasing concern of mine. The workshop will focus on account access levels and privacy settings individual users can control, but I take the most issue with how data is handled by the platforms themselves.

Action against Facebook abuses has to start with an understanding of the urgent importance of privacy at all levels! So this workshop is an exciting opportunity to teach what I know and love. I am stoked to see who attends and how I can help them to feel more in control of their data on Facebook and Instagram.

Details of the workshop are here. The event is open to all, with no registration required. Shoot me an email if you’ve got questions!

The post Social Media Privacy Workshop — Toronto, February 3, 2020 appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

Sounds pretty good! It is heartening to see Facebook consulting with the industry prior to launching Facebook News. It is also encouraging to learn that a human editorial team will be prescreening the Today’s Stories section — something that the long-gone Trending tab (often populated by inflammatory clickbait) sorely lacked.

Facebook News was built to bring people closer to the stories that affect their lives… We hope this work aids in our effort to sustain great journalism and strengthen democracy.

Facebook Newsroom

That sounds nice, but with recent blowouts of public trust, it will take a lot to convince the audience that Facebook truly has its users’ best interests in mind. The claim of “strengthening democracy” is a bold one indeed.

Facebook News will roll out gradually to a subset of users in the U.S.

The post Facebook Announces Facebook News appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

The metrics in question are:

1. Relevance Score (replaced by a new metric set of Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking)
2. Offers Saved and Cost Per Offers Saved (replaced by Post Saves)
3. Messaging Replies and Cost per Messaging Reply (replaced by New Messaging Connections and Messaging Conversations Started)
4. Mobile App Purchase ROAS and Web Purchase ROAS (consolidated into Purchase ROAS)

Different advertisers may feel the loss of the above more acutely. Some may not miss them at all. For our clients, Relevance Score stood out as a handy number that was easy to understand. However, it was not always accurate and definitely never reflected the full picture. It would be good to see how Quality Ranking, Engagement Rate Ranking, and Conversion Rate Ranking will fare in this regard.

Broadening the Offers Saved metrics into Post Saves is unfortunate. It may dilute the precision of reporting for e-commerce advertisers — many links get saved for a myriad of reasons that have nothing to do with offers.

No matter what you think of new metrics introduced by Facebook, one thing is for certain. It pays off to pay attention to the upcoming changes in Facebook Ads Manager! Take some time to re-organize your reports, so that you do not scramble to locate metrics that no longer exist. Contact us if you need a little extra help with reporting or Facebook ads in general.

The post Upcoming Facebook Ad Metric Removals appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

Google Plus wasn’t perfect — it was different and so unlike any other social network, perfect in its strangeness and incompleteness. It was visually stunning with its emphasis on beautiful photos and vertical graphics. The best part was that Google+ had a hardcore, truly dedicated network of real people using it. Not enough, by Google’s own admission. So this is the end.

Will Google Plus be missed? By some, surely. However, with so many other social feeds to take care of, digital marketers are unlikely to notice the difference. Visiting the old G+ profiles of my clients prior to the shutdown was definitely a trip down memory lane.

A client’s Google Plus profile

Goodbye, Google+!

The post RIP Google Plus (2011 — 2019) appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

2017 was all about getting started, putting processes in place, acquiring the first few clients. The year 2018 was supposed to be the year of growth, in its most general sense. And it definitely was! In 2018, the growth of SMMHQ was measured not only by a larger client base and growing revenue but also by the increasing complexity of the business and the wider scope of client requirements and goals.

2018 was about learning to say goodbye to processes that have outlived their usefulness and about putting new ones in place. It was also about closing down some projects to say yes to the new ones. It was most certainly about levelling up my skills and growing as a marketing professional (which I am planning to do every year!).

As the founder of SMM Headquarters, I am eternally grateful for all these opportunities to learn, to expand my professional horizons, and to make the business work. Ultimately, it is all about one goal and one goal only — to serve those who make SMM Headquarters possible and serve them better. I am so happy to see my clients grow and succeed. It is a privilege to play a part in this success.

So thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for this year, everyone. Here’s to 2019 and to continue improving and growing together!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Katya Ryabova
SMM Headquarters founder

The post Looking Back at the Year 2018 in the Headquarters appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

We are definitely going to add more information to the website as we grow. In particular, our blog will play an integral part in sharing our expertise, advice, tips and tricks for anyone who wants to make their social media presence bigger, better, more exciting. If there is anything we can do to help you on the way, do not hesitate to let us know!

Welcome to the Headquarters! We are so glad you are joining us.

-SMM Headquarters team

The post The Headquarters Are Now Open for Business! appeared first on SMM Headquarters.