Last week I went live on Instagram with Tegan from The Digi Kiwi, she is a digital marketing master! We did a quick Q&A on common questions about social media and touched on key points of how to increase your overall interaction. (Primarily on Instagram) I wanted to recap what we went over because this information is a common need from not only my clients, but also my social media community.
So, how do you grow your following? (Answered by Tegan)
First things first, AVOID the temptation of buying followers or like. (Yes this is a thing if you didn't know and it would shock you to find out how many accounts have actually done this) But it's easy to tell when this happened say such as an account only having a handful of post and over 10k followers! Seems a bit odd, right?!
You want your account to be genuine along with the followers you have, so be patient because growth takes time. Tegan had a really amazing acronym she created which is DAHF.
D - Direct Messages: Make sure you are replying and keeping up to date with people that show up in your inbox.
A - Action: Show up daily and ensure you are liking, commenting and interacting with both your followers, those you follow and others in your industry.
H - Hashtags: Make sure you are using hashtags on all your posts (up to 30) and in your stories! (up to 10)
F - Follower love: Your followers are there for a reason so make sure you are engaging, appreciating and showing up for them.
How do you know what to post? (Answered by Kailee)
Knowing what to post relates back to your brand, marketing and purpose for being on social media. Take off the stress of knowing what to post by planning! Sit down once a week and think about what you want to cover, some ways to know about what to share can be done by:
Finding inspiration from accounts similar to yours
Asking you followers what they want to see
Sharing valuable content such as your knowledge, facts, industry tips and tricks
Share things that inspire you and about your journey
What the heck is SEO? (Answered by Tegan)
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which means when people are looking for a topic that matches your industry, you want your content to show up there rather they are searching in Google, Social Platforms or any other search engine. Some ways you can apply SEO to your social platforms include adding hashtags, locations and account tagging.
Reach out to Tegan to make sure your SEO is up to par! tegan@thedigikiwi.com
How do I design an amazing post? (Answered by Kailee)
Here are the main things you need to think about when designing your posts:
Your post is on BRAND. This means you are using your color palette, fonts and image consistency.
Images are sharp, clear and make sense for the content you put out. (Not every account needs to post pictures of their yummy brunch when it has nothing to do with your business. 😉)
Don't write a book on your post, keep the words minimal on the post itself and if you want to add additional details, put it in the caption.
Keep your posts relative to your brand and what your audience wants to see.
How do you design a converting ad? (Answered by Tegan)
Ensure the imagery is eye catching and the headline makes them want to click on it. That includes something that your audience NEEDS such as something that will benefit them within a few clicks.
Make sure your target audience is targeting the people who will want to benefit from this ad, look at all the amazing options that Instagram and Facebook offer. The more defined your audience is, the more specific your target market will get these ads that are interested in your ad.
Check out what your competitors are doing to gain inspiration on how they are finding success.
How important is having a nice looking gram? (Answered by Kailee)
This is one of the most important parts of having a successful social media account because over the years marketing has changed in gaining peoples trust as a business. Now, with the abilities we have with social media, having appealing content is a way of gaining the trust of your followers. More often now, when we hear about a business or person, we immediately go to one of their social platforms to learn more about them and see if we align with their content. It's what creates the action to follow, purchase or share your account.
I highly suggest posting to the feed and NOT the grid. Which means you are posting something that is appealing as we scroll and not for when they go to your account. The reason being is most of the time people will wonder to your account from their feed which means if there is a post that doesn't makes sense because it's grid related, it starts to look like spam and your feed interaction will start to fall drastically. These posts are tempting in the sense that your content amount is boosted, but it's not providing value.
If you really are wanting to do the grid look, I suggest checking out this photographer who has done an incredible job of using a feed and grid style for his posts: https://www.instagram.com/thephotochamp/
How do you use hashtags? (Answered by Tegan)
You can use up to 30 in a post, so take advantage of that. Instagram wouldn't allow for it, if they didn't want you using them. They categorize your posts so that your content can reach more people that are interested. Using them will reach more people, and put you into a topic bucket where your post can be found.
Remember that social media was created to connect with people around the world, not to reassure your self worth in likes and followers.
You can find the full IGTV video here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CAwIp_dlyI2/
Now go out there and have fun on your social platforms!
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