#i'm not a massive workout person i do it 4 days a week and I walk a lot but i don't go the gym i aint paying

[upperranktwo]

Good morning good morning everyone!!!!!! 💖

[downontime]

"Come on, motherfucker, you survived, you gotta give yourself a break"

That lyrics from Everybody Lost Somebody by Bleachers has been stuck in my head for a while now. Almost got it made into a wooden plague before I remembered my finances.

On February 9, 2024, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma after suffering with symptoms and misdiagnoses for over a year prior. And on November 4, 2024, I was declared to be in remission.

The entire process was hell. Every two weeks, I would go in for an infusion of nivo+AVD for two and a half hours, followed by five days of dealing with poison. The body pain, the nausea, the weight gain, the fatigue, the cognitive decline. I hated it all. For a while, I was mentally okay as I just had to focus on getting through chemo week. But the monster of self-doubt and self-loathing mixed with the stress of the ordeal. Was I even really suffering? I only had Hodgkin lymphoma, one of the most treatable cancers where I live. And I was on immunotherapy plus chemotherapy, a less severe alternative to straight chemo. And I lived an unhealthy life. So maybe I deserved it. Maybe I deserved cancer.

Evil fucking thoughts in an evil fucking time. Shit that I am ashamed to admit. Shit that I am scared to share with people. But they were mine, and it made an already soul-scathing year even more relentless.

So here I am in survivorhood. People have told me that survivorship is not the end of it all and now I fully understand what they mean. The fear of relapse, how every symptom could be a sign of recurrence. The grief of losing almost a year of my life to cancer, not to mention the other health issues treatment has brought about. The burden of those around me knowing what I am now, the feeling that they feel I am no longer capable of much. The knowledge that they are right. I am fatter and dumber than ever and I have so much shame and self-hatred around all of it. And why I quoted that song in the title: the feeling that I should and need to just move on and be normal.

I am still unemployed. I am still poor. I am still in massive debt. I am still professionally pathetic. Nothing stopped when I got my diagnosis and treatment. I initially took my remission as the permission to live normally, but I can't get back to that normal. I am not the same person I was a year ago. I have trauma, I have fear, I have limits. I'm slower in every sense, less capable, and now less forgivable.

I don't know what it would mean to process things or get better. I have spent too long looking up ways to get my brain back only to not remember or stick to any of it. I incorporate workouts and diets only to struggle with losing the massive weight I gained in just one year.

But I need to be normal, or at least act it. I need to be capable. I need to get a job. I need to get smarter. I need to be reliable again. I need to be respectable again. And I needed to accomplish all of this yesterday.

Something in me wants to listen to my therapist making the same push that lyric is. I have been through a lot. I need to recover. I need to process. But I don't have the time or, as it feels at this point, the capacity. And the shame of my diagnosis still lingers in here, too, feeling like I do not deserve any rest. I did not really suffer. I am just lazy and incompetent.

Motherfucker, it was stage 3 cancer! Is that not enough!?

Apparently not to me.

[bigwishes]

Hey I am in dire need for some help!

I'm a 6'4 handsome jock, big beefy muscles, a deep baritone voice and got every guy on the team begging to suck my 8.5-incher.

I know this al sounds amazing and fuck yeah it is.. but the last few days I felt weak, not like I was sick or anything, but like my strength started leaving me. I heard a lot about your wishes where people drain their bullies or the jocks of their school. I'm an upstanding person, I have helped go up against bullying even from my teammates, I've helped my younger brother in the gym when he didn't know what he needed to do, even coach thinks I have everything he needs to become state champion this year.

So please save me from loosing all my hard worked size, I don't even know who is doing this to me.

Oh no you're losing muscle?!?!?! well we can't have that. The truth is mate I know exactly what is going on and who is doing it to you. A new student at the college gym always wanted to work out but his parent's never let him, worried it might stunt his growth. He desperately wanted to catch up and asked if I could put everyone in the gym's gains on him for the next week. Nobody noticed but you've got a keen eye and seem to notice what's going on so I tell you what I'll stop this guys wish, tell him to wish for something new and as a reward for being so perceptive I'll make you the new focus of the wish. Get you your gains back from the past few days and give you the gains of everyone who goes to the gym for the next week.

Day 1 was dope as fuck, your muscle felt pumped again, you were no longer tired after lifting and you felt incredibly solid after a workout. You were happy to be yourself again, working towards you goals. As much as you had prided yourself on hard work and being natural you were low key excited for a little magical boost, just a couple pounds of muscle from magic surely would still make you natural, after all the gains being sent your way are still gains worked for, just not gains worked for by you.

Day 2 was even better, whole fuck you were pumped all the time, you probably didn't even need to go to the gym but you wanted to, you loved the gym and didn't want to take the week off because you were getting free gains. After all it was like working double time getting swole, you were excited for the state championships in a few months and to go home and see your brother and show off your gains. The Christmas dinner keeps running in your head of him asking you how you got massive and you just saying diet and exercise. the thought of entering a bodybuilding comp crossed your mind, you were getting huge and its not like you could test positive for roids, and you'd never be tempted by them either.

Day 3 was different, you woke up at 12:01am on the dot and felt an insane pump, it wasn't slow and every lasting like how day 2 was this was fast, like a flood of blood throughout your whole body, like you were being pumped up like a balloon,

You struggled on your bed feeling more and more mass being added to your frame. The growth finally subsided and you passed out.

You struggled driving your car to the campas gym, the seat was uncomfortable and your thighs and swollen up so big you gym shorts felt like they were cutting off the circulation to your legs, maybe you should take the rest of the week off....or maybe ask for the growth to stop now....

Day 4 was a struggle, you had another growth surge in the middle of the night and it really set in just how much mass hundreds of people using the 24 hour gym daily can make. You would be fine to be like this, it'd be awesome and absolute easy win at state championships followed by sponsorships, you could drop out and be paid by supplement companies to simply pose with their products, but you couldn't get bigger than this, anymore size and you wouldn't even be able to get in your car anymore, no, you had to text the genie and ask for it to end early.

Day 5 was hell, you had a growth spurt in the middle of the gym changing room, bringing a whole new meaning to the words "Changing Room" not a single person in there noticed, like the magic was just making everyone thing you were always this big. Your coach had commented on how genetically gifted you were, apparently you had been made to do a random roid test several times and always come back clean, something you had no memory of. Going through old social media posts you saw you were much bigger in high school then you actually were, like the past was changing to accommodate for all this new found size.

Still after today you knew you didn't want anymore, even your best friend stood next to you as your posed your hulking frame in the mirror.

"bro, there is such a thing as too large, slim down for a few months or you'll be off the team for being too slow"

He was right, the new size was impacting your ability to play, one strong and fast you were now just strong, a brick wall no one could get by sure but what was the point it you couldn't chase a guy down or move your arms properly to catch the ball.

Day 6 was spent messaging the genie all day different combinations of "I wish to be smaller" or "please stop the growth now" any phrase you could think of to try to get the genie's attention to stop the growth. What your young mind thought would be cool t first turned into your biggest nightmare, you had outgrown your car and you couldn't even sell it for a new one as last time you got out of it you completely caved in the drivers side by simply shutting the door. You spent an hour walking to the gym, the only thing to clear your mind was lifting weights. During a rest your daily does of growth kicked in, your pecs and traps were swelling so close to your neck you could barely turn your head anymore.

Day 7, the final day of growth. You had become a fucking monster. Lost your place on the team from barely being able to move. You were staving all the time and spent most of your day now shovelling food down your throat as simply waling down the dorm room stairs caused you to burn a whole day's work of calories for any normal guy. You were anxiously awaiting today's growth and spent the whole day locked in your room. Everything around you was destroyed, unable to handle all the strength you had busted most things you touched and your furniture had all collapsed. Cheap college budget furniture could barely hold your weight how you were before all this but now it was just scrap wood and metal on the floor, you couldn't even bend down to pick it up. The whole day passed you buy and you saw the time 11:30pm...any moment now your final growth would happen and then you could figure out how to reverse it, or live with it. You tried to think positively, how awesome it would be to be an absolute monster, how much action you'd get. A deluded lie you told yourself, the truth was after what you did to your care you were terrified to go on a date or out for a hook up, every time you thought about it you could only think about accidently breaking the guys spine, but you'll finally get to figure all this out in just a few minutes, after tonight no more growth, just learning to live with the size. A message appear on your phone, from the genie, maybe he had finally seen your messages, maybe he'll shrink you back to how you were a few days ago, maybe you'd get punished for turning away the gift and turned into a twink....but being a twink would be better than this.

"hey bro, hope you are enjoying all the mass from the guys in the gym, today is gonna be a bit different. I explained what was going on to the original wish maker and he felt shitty and made a new wish, he wanted the nicest guy in the gym to triple in size and well I have decided you're nicest guy! you've been great carrying your team and just being a nice guy in the gym so I dunno how big you are now mate but I hope you always dreamed to be massive. If you've gotten too big from this tell me now and Ill stop the wish but after 11:59pm thats it, it goes through and nothing I can do about it"

You laughed loudly, this was your chance, to get the body from a few days ago, be a massive goliath but not be too big. Thank god. 11:45, still heaps of time. You excitedly went to message back but your phone slipped out you massive hands. Instinctively you went to catch it before it landed on the floor *CRUNCH...you opened your hand to see bits of crushed aluminium and glass slip out your fingers and on to the floor. You stopped, in shock you simply got off your bed and walked to the bathroom mirror. No one had gotten shell shock from breaking their phone before but you just stood in your bathroom, barely big enough for you to fit in and stared at yourself in the mirror. You thought you had become a monster, no, you were a freak, a massive freak of nature but in just a few more minutes, then, then you'd truly become a monster and there was no way for you to stop it now.

---------------------------------------------

Morphs in the story done by the incredibly Max Morphs check out their blog and show them some love.

Here:https://www.tumblr.com/maxmorphs

[nctsukashii-archive-blog]

hc + food & music bc I'm unoriginal™

Let me ramble about my son.

Nothing is too unoriginal! There can be something amazing even from the most simplistic of words! It only becomes unoriginal when you have a lot of the same things. Hence where such a statement comes from! But aside from that tangent I hope you like reading essays because I can never learn to shut the fuck up lol.

- FOODHoshi and food are an interesting combo. This mostly stems from his background in tennis, because surprise surprise, tennis still plays heavy in his life. So Hoshi can eat a shit ton of food like it’s practically nothing- it’s a skill developed over years, and how that skill came about is simple; tennis. If you don’t know, it’s VERY common for many athletes before practice or training to consume a lot of calories all at once to then burn it off all at once. It’s like, giving a campfire a shit ton of wood and then letting it all quickly burn away. It improves physique because you’re still working out, but also getting all the necessary energy to do that kinda stuff. So Hoshi ate a lot of food while growing up. A mix between fast food and regular made meals, with a lot of trips to restaurants while over in other countries.

Remember that he was international by middle school. Famous athletes can eat as much as 5,500+ calories a day, which doesn’t sound like a lot until you remember that the average man should be eating around 2000-3000 calories a day. Of course Hoshi isn’t average by any means, but that just means that he can have more infrequent eating habits. A normal 3 meals a day probably didn’t jive well with the average workout schedule for normal sized people, because it’s accustomed to our size and calorie output. Which means he had more time to stop and relax and eat more, for more rigorous workout / training regimes. I’ll get more into that later, because that can be it’s own separate post, but as a result Hoshi prolly had quite a bit of fast food in his life. Not because he and his team couldn’t afford to go to good restaurants or take time to make a good meal, but because of being an infrequent eater he probably had more-so around 4-5 meals a day just to fit with his practice and workout schedules. 

As a result, there were times where he had to make something fast, and that just so happened to maybe be buying a bucket of chicken and eating it before waiting a bit and going back out to the courts. It’s a guilty pleasure kind of thing, he’ll eat a lot of fast food and probably try to work it off just as fast, which isn’t hard given his body size and his usual performances on the court. In scenarios where he can��t work out as much physically, whether it be from depression or a different profession out of prison, there are moments where he’ll experience massive weight gain just by accidentally falling back into routine. Of course he’ll try his best to lose said weight in doing things like push-ups, crunches, jogging, etc. but it can be really hard sometimes. Overall, it’s a fall to habit more than anything, although he’s usually excellent at controlling himself to eat like a normal person nowadays.

That being said, prison destroyed a lot of his eating patterns when he first arrived, having now grown back to 3 meals a day, he also had to deal with being lethargic and unable to move while barely eating anything. It’s like imagining that same fare with barely any logs, and occasionally having a little gas dumped on it so it’ll keep burning. Very different from the glory days. He still keeps his big stomach though, that never went away, but he has grown to be more inactive if he plans not to eat much some days, whether that be from prison, mental illness, whatever. He can still eat a lot though, but will try to pace himself and not gain a lot of weight if he knows he won’t be able to lose it all quickly. 

(More under the cut because I will flood the dash if I don’t)

Although his favorite kind of food is honestly just anything homemade. After having prison food, ya know the good ol mystery meats, the fish that’s always too salty, the undercooked rice, the soup that tastes like water, all that fun stuff; it’s good to just get some food that doesn’t blow? Like a lot? Something cooked fresh from home is always a favorite. It gives him a healthy and wonderful nostalgia from times his mom cooked for him when he came home from tennis practice or after travelling international for weeks at a time. Nothing can compare to a good meal made by loved ones. 

Hoshi holds a preference for stronger flavors, just because his tongue was a bit destroyed by salted foods in prison. He likes things with stronger tastes, while not really hating but not preferring things that aren’t very taste-heavy. Of course he also knows not to hurt himself with things like spicy foods, but some seasonings or spices are well preferred in his meals.

But he also has quite a bit of a sweet tooth as well, able to eat candy often and sweets baked by his girlfriend. He can control himself decently when it comes to it, but it slips into his beverage preferences at times as well. Doesn’t really like the cool professional taste of coffee unless it’s filled with sugar, and he loves grape soda. Not that he hates water or anything like that, but sometimes he likes having some sweetness in his life.

- MUSICMusic is weird because he doesn’t ever really listen to music. Hoshi just never really felt a desire to listen to that kinda stuff when he was playing tennis, and when he wasn’t playing tennis he was either eating, sleeping, or relaxing with his cat on the couch or smth, so he just never really had a real reason to play a tune here or there. He’s not against music or anything, but silence can be comforting sometimes, especially after a long day of work. While silence can also be associated with the emptiness of prison, he does like the light sounds of ringing in the air or cats paws on the floor. Sounds, rather than music. 

He can enjoy light pieces though. Hoshi practically has the taste of a geezer because he loves slow and light music. Stuff that plays in the background as filler rather than anything meant to keep his attention. Just a preference when he performs daily activity. He likes being active despite what some could think, it’s just that prison has kinda forced a lethargic lifestyle onto him. Even then, he still likes to stand or walk around, so something he doesn’t have to really think about does wonders. Songs without lyrics are a plus, because it gives him something to not focus on- instead letting him just listen to the whole song and it’s melodies. He’s a simple guy at heart, but hey, it’s just who he is.

A lot of music preference is dictated by what he thinks is cool. Cool music would be stuff like piano solos, or pieces that really feel like people are putting energy into instruments. He has a load of respect for people that can play an instrument or instruments super well for multiple songs, because it’s a dedication of effort which he reflects back onto himself and tennis. He also is quite a fan of songs which fit his aesthetics. Deep guttural music that isn’t loud per say, but powerful. He’s not a fan of rock or screamo, but he does love a song with deep bass that shows strength in its tone and treble. It fits his bad boy image very well.

Although he does have a preference for romantic songs as well as anime intros. The romantic songs are obvious; he can relate to them well, but he’s a weeb as well considering he loves watching anime movies and reading manga. A good anime OP can get him pumped right in the mood depending on the genre (but mainly he watches sports stuff- he took a lot of moves and put them into his own after all!) and ready to enjoy a good show.

He’s not a fan of making music, but can appreciate the effort that goes into it; just like many things in life. It’s cool that someone can make something that manages to reach out to so many people. He’ll bob his head to a good tune, but he won’t dance, and sometimes even whistles things from time to time. Although he has no idea what a bpm even is he supports good wholesome music that’s great for sitting on the couch and chilling with his cat to.

[maeelizabethg]

3 REASONS WHY I'M NOT YOUR AVERAGE FITNESS FANATIC

"I DON'T USE FITNESS TRACKERS"

Back when I was training to race outside, my Garmin was LIFE and if I didn't cross post my workout to Strava than I felt like it didn't even happen. I was obsessed with how far I had ridden, how many feet of elevation I had climbed and how many hours I had been in the saddle that week. One day I received a pretty nasty message from someone who had gone through and stalked out my race results, my workouts, etc. They used it as a personal attack to make me feel like I was undeserving of any sponsor I had earned and any recognition I had received. Clearly this person didn't follow my blogs on the Specialized website or actually take the time to read my Instagram posts because my entire journey was about starting from nothing, never claiming to be the best, but rather sharing the ups and downs with other people in hopes that they would get out there and try riding, too! Not too far after that incident I pretty much stopped posting my workouts. I went back and forth deciding if I stopped because I wanted to or if I stopped because someone made me feel bad about it. I didn't want to admit that someone actually got to me. Hate happens allllll of the time and most times you can let it go - sometimes you don't. Regardless of whether or not I stopped because of this person, I will say the silver lining is that when I did stop, I finally found balance in my life. The pressure was gone and I was finally working out for myself, not for the likes on Strava or to appease what I thought I "should" be doing. It's now been around a year and a half and I haven't looked back since. 

"I DON'T COUNT CALORIES OR MACROS"

Listen, I am a definite rare bird in this scenario. Most people will not relate to this, but if you do, know that you aren't alone. I fully appreciate that tracking food intake helps A LOT of people and to be totally honest, I WISH it had that effect on me. Unfortunately, every single time I've ever tried using an app to track my food it has the reverse outcome. Instead of eating better I end up only thinking about food, absolutely obsessing over it, and after awhile I lost my mind and binge eat...bad. By the end of it, I will have eaten WAY worse than if I had just went about my day eating what I wanted. After several tries of monitoring my food I had to accept that it just didn't work for me. I would rather be aware of what I'm putting in my body and try and make good choices rather than flipping a switch and completely losing control of myself. Again, most people I tell this to think I'm nuts, but if you're anything like me - I FEEL YOU. I will say, even though I don't use things like MyFitnessPal anymore, I did learn a lot about what I was eating when I was using it. I still think it's a great tool for a lot of people, just not me. 

"I EAT (admittedly) TOO MUCH JUNK FOOD BUT I'M NOT AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT IT"

Look, I grew up eating terribly. The only spinach I ever grew up eating came from a can and was cooked in a pot with loads of butter and salt. It's amazing I don't weigh at least 100 pounds more than I do and even more amazing I was able to get where I am now. However, sugar is still a massive addiction of mine. It's my HUGE personal battle, but rather than cutting it out 100% (probably not possible) or pretending that I eat salads on the daily, I use it as a means of balance. Now, do I eat 3-4 donuts for breakfast anymore? Absolutely not, but if I want one than I will have one. It took a lot of trial and error to find what works for me and a lot of feeling guilty that I wasn't the perfect health specimen. In the end I finally found that balance was king and my balance will not be the same as your balance. If you can cut sugar out than by all means you go Glen Coco, but for me, I'd rather have one donut than lose complete control of myself and end up eating that donut, plus a pie, plus fried food, plus literally whatever else I can find. IF the day comes where I decide I want to be shredded, I am fully aware that I will need to do some major adjustments, but until that day comes, I'll take my small daily food victories and accept that although I'm not perfect, I know that I've come a LONG way in my eating habits. 

I'd love to hear your journey with food. Did you grow up eating healthy? If not, how do you think that's influenced how you eat now?

Outfit by the amazing Largo Drive. Check out their blog post where I did an interview and talk about my journey in becoming a fitness instructor. Interested in buying something from them? Use code MAE20 from now until November 11th to get 20% off all regularly priced items. I'm wearing the Lanston Sport Slit Bra and the Lanston Sport Slit Leggings. 

[dorothydelgadillo]

Everything You Need to Know to Build an Extraordinary 2019 Facebook Ads Strategy [Expert Interview]

"I still think a lot of people don't understand all of the potential that's there for Facebook ads," says IMPACT Facebook Strategist Ali Parmelee.

Why? Because when Ali gets a chance to look under the hood of a business' Facebook ads account -- even if they've just come from another seasoned agency -- she's often surprised at how much they're not doing with the social advertising platform.

"They're still using Facebook ads as standalone a channels for one-off promotions and sales, instead of what they should be doing -- looking Facebook ads as a full-funnel solution."

After seeing Ali speak at IMPACT Live about full-funnel Facebook ad strategies, and having had the chance to pick her brain multiple times about Facebook since THINK merged with IMPACT last year, I had two thoughts. 

One, she is a Facebook ads wizard. You only need to hear her speak for about 30 seconds before that fact becomes abundantly clear. 

Two, given her "wicked New England smahts" about Facebook ads, I thought it would be a great idea to sit down with her to talk about how strategic and tactical marketing professionals should be looking at Facebook ads in 2019. 

Her response?

"Absolutely! Marketers need to realize that -- most likely -- what they've been doing with Facebook ads is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more things they can and should be doing. I would love for them to start thinking about Facebook ads as part of their entire digital marketing strategy, not just a standalone piece."

Before we dive in, keep in mind that when we talk about Facebook ads, we're also talking about Instagram ads. The former owns the latter, and you manage both within the same Facebook ads portal.

OK, let's go! 

What Were Some of the Big 2018 "Headlines" for Facebook Advertising?

First, Stories & Bots

According to Ali, Instagram stories stole the show last year -- which is why no one should have been surprised by the fact that Facebook has been aggressively pushing their own stories feature with users. (In fact, one of Ali's clients saw more than $50,000 in product sold from a single 15-second story ad that ran during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.)

The other major innovation in the Facebook ads space was the rise of the bot. 

"The other huge, huge story for 2018 are bots. If you do not have bots as part of your Facebook ads repertoire, then you are missing the boat. People are already using Messenger for the customer service, but bot advertising is massive."

Ali recommends that if you want to learn more about bots and Facebook ads, you need to get familiar with ManyChat -- they're the primary player in the space.

But for Facebook, 2018 Was Also Basically One Long Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Of course, Facebook also spent the vast majority of 2018 mired in controversy:

With Yet Another Facebook & Instagram Outage, What Are Marketers Supposed to Do?

Facebook & Cambridge Analytica Roundup: 7 Updates on the Data Privacy Scandal

Should You Delete Your Facebook Account? Responses from Our Community

Advertisers Who Sued Facebook for Inflated Video Metrics Now Claim Fraud

NAACP's #LogOutFacebook Protest Uncovers a Whole New Danger of Data Misuse

4 Key Takeaways from Day 2 of Mark Zuckerberg's Congressional Hearing

Basecamp Deleted Facebook; Here's Why They Want You to Join Them

Ali's take?

"I think people got really caught up in the idea that there's all of these privacy issues happening -- Cambridge Analytica, Zuckerberg is going to Congress, Facebook has been exploited by foreign actors, lawsuits. Those are all serious issues, of course."

She continued, "You're always going to have ebbs and flows in the marketplace where you're going to get people who say, 'I'm out. I'm done. I'm not going back there.' I mean, my mom even did it. She took a break. And now she's still back posting cat videos a month later. Facebook has become so important in so many people's lives for different ways. And I think human nature of FOMO will always help with Facebook, as well. Plus, Facebook has also diversified to the point where it is amazing to me how many people don't realize that Instagram and Facebook are one and the same."

So, bottom line, we can't tell you what you should think about Facebook. But we can tell you that it's a powerful platform with millions and millions of users -- and right now, those numbers that aren't dwindling. 

It's your choice whether or not you want to leave money on the table.

What Should Marketers Focus on with Facebook Ads & Instagram in 2019?

So, we've already discussed bots. And we've touched upon Instagram stories. But what lives at the heart of the success of Instagram (and soon Facebook) stories is UGC (user-generated content) and a type of marketing many are claiming is out of fashion -- or at least soon will be. 

Influencer marketing. 

A New Kind of Influencer 

But instead of looking toward influencers that live at the top of the celebrity stratosphere -- like Blake Lively or (cringe) Kim Kardashian -- 2019 will be the year of the nano- and the micro-influencer. 

What's the difference between those types of influencers?

Ali used me as a non-Blake Lively example. Three times a week, I go to 24 Hour Fitness to pick things up and put them back down again for up to an hour. To make it fun and hold myself accountable, I post an Instagram story of my Apple Watch showing my completed workout. (I've earned the right to brag, which brings something positive out of the pain.)

I'm not at a micro-influencer level by doing that, Ali says. 

"Let's imagine you're talking that to another level, where you're specifically showing video of what it looks like there -- or you're talking about how they have this brand new program -- and it's amazing. If you have a super strong following, that's where it takes your user-generated content brings you into the sphere of being a micro- or nano-influencer."

Still, it wasn't clicking for me.

If I'm a brand, why are nano- or micro-influencers more powerful than say, getting a Ryan Reynolds to do something for me?

"They're more accessible," Ali pointed out. "Because people love to see themselves in these aspirational ads, and that more niche, every day-person influencer makes that much easier."

Also, Video Is Still King (Duh)

Next, Ali says video is another massive opportunity for 2019. But in a much bigger way than most marketers think, because -- as she pointed out at the start of our conversation -- too many marketers leverage Facebook as a one-dimensional platform. 

"Everyone thinks you have to do 15-second, 30-second, 60-second videos ads, and that's what's going to work. I can tell you from tons of experience, that's one way to do it -- but that's not the only way. We have hugely massively successful clients where, we take their Facebook Lives -- that are in essence like mini shows that are 30 to 60 minutes long -- we turn those into ads."

An example from one of our clients.

Why do these more top-of-the-funnel, long-form videos work for brands trying to drive revenue growth?

"Because it's content, and it's helpful," Ali pointed out. "It's inboundy. You're not selling something, but it's educational -- you're going out of your way to empower people with genuinely valuable knowledge. So, who cares if it's sponsored? I'm learning something."

That's why Ali says she wants to challenge marketers to think outside the box with video and Facebook this year. Facebook Live, long-format videos... any kind of video that you can think of! Keep playing with it all and exploring. 

Bots, Bots, Bots! 

Also, bots will carry through to this year -- and like video, Ali encourages marketers to pretend like they're scientists in a laboratory. Now is the time to experiment.

"It's kind of like the Wild West right now with bots. There's so little known, and it's all just theory. So, be bold. Try things. But I will say, follow the rules. There are very specific rules for engagement that you have to follow with this."

What are the rules? Again, Ali says, "Get thee to ManyChat!"

Also, Don't Mentally Glaze Over Mobile

The only thing marketers talk more about than video is mobile. Mobile, this. Mobile, that. Mobile, first. Mobile, now. Always. Forever.

Unfortunately, that repetitive refrain of "Give me mobile-first, or give me death!" means that us marketers may forget how important mobile devices are to the effectiveness of more niche strategies -- like Facebook advertising and Instagram. 

That's why Ali says, "Mobile is absolutely something that you have to be obsessive about this year -- from your ads to your overall digital footprint. What does it look like? How is your site working? When you're dropping people to your site, is it optimized or a proper mobile experience?"

It's not enough to ask, "Is my website responsive?"

For everything you create -- especially ads -- you need to run through the user experience of going from your ad to your landing page to... whatever comes next. You have to evaluate your Facebook and Instagram ad collateral and digital footprints from the perspective of, "What would I think of my brand and the experience, if I were to never interact with these ads or pages on a desktop?"

Ali's testing process is rigorous:

"Whenever we bring on a new ecommerce client, I have them issue me a test promo code. Then I run through the purchasing process, and I will check it on every platform to see what the experience is like. I'm checking to see if there are going to be UX problems. Is there going to be a conversion issue where, once I lead the horse to water, they won't be able to drink? That's my worst nightmare, and you'd be surprised how often businesses miss obvious roadblocks that will prevent the action they want their customers to take."

Still, Your Results with Facebook Ads & Instagram Will Only Be as Effective as Your Mindset

"You basically need to sit down and look at your entire marketing plan," Ali says.

Because if you continue to approach Facebook and Instagram advertising as if they're islands you only vacation on occasionally, when it comes to your marketing, you'll never see the results you're looking for. 

Yeah, you'll see some results, but they'll be fractured. Never quite reaching the potential of what could be. 

You'll never be like Ali's current client at IMPACT who saw 20% of their sales for December 2018 come from a single Instagram stories ad.

So, Ali says you need to embrace Facebook as an equal player in your overall strategy.

"What are you doing for email? What are you doing for your blog? What are you doing for video? What are you doing for your Google ads? Then, you need to ask with the same level of importance and weight, what are you doing with your Facebook ads and Instagram? Because everything that you're doing goes together as an omnichannel experience."

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/facebook-ads-strategy-tips-2019