Each day in my social feed, I am bombarded with ‘tools’, ‘tips’ and ‘free downloads’ on how to maximise your sales and grow your customer base by learning all the tips and tricks of Instagram.
In my experience, there are really few ‘tips’ or ‘tricks’. Instagram, just like any social platform is focussed on good content. Content that is authentic and engaging to your target audience and yes it needs to look pretty.
In PR, we have always told stories with words and pictures and Instagram allows us to do just that -the benefit is, unlike with a newspaper or magazine where the editor has the last say, we always get a run!
At Bay PR we manage social media content for our clients and have organically grown their social pages without any hidden tricks or tactics. My opinion is that authenticity is the best approach, which is the strategy I have undertaken with my business Instagram page.
When I set up Bay PR’s Instagram page, I decided I didn’t want it to look like a messy ad page for my business but rather, to use it as Instagram intended – a platform for telling stories through pictures. I wanted it to look nice, not ‘shouty’ and showcase the types of companies we represent. The page started with zero and we now have around 600 followers. Not a lot, but given we are a small business, that’s OK with me.
My personal experience is that, just liked any social platform, you get the benefits when you take the relationships you make off-line. As an agency, we have developed some wonderful relationships with influencers on behalf of our clients that we have involved in a range of campaigns to mutual advantage.
As part of my ’15 marketing tactics on a shoestring’ experiment, my plan for my business Instagram page is therefore is to:
1. Continue to post regularly (it goes up and down depending on time). Every day is best.
2. Share some more content about Bay PR, e.g. some of our work via stories and blog links.
3. Follow new business acquaintances on Instagram to stay connected and current.
4. Continuously post interesting content that is on-brand for my business.
5. Post more stories.
Happy to receive any feedback and as always – will keep you posted!