Instagram’s new branding campaign is a reflection of a shift in social media consumption habits on a global scale.

What does it have to do with finding your business PURPOSE?

https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/yours-to-make-brand-platform

Instagram launched a global branding campaign called ‘Yours to Make’ and the web reactions split into two camps. Facebook claims the aim of the campaign is “a celebration of the good that can come from connecting with communities and interests on Instagram.”

Shared interests pave the way to new connections and friendships, create space for more self-expression and boost creativity.

The people opinion is split into two camps. On one side, there’s a supportive and appreciative response for the acknowledgement of the real meaning of this social app – the deeper connection with people alike, friends and larger communities. 

“Yours to Make showcases how you can explore who you are with Instagram. For young people, identity isn’t defined, it’s something that’s constantly explored. Whether that means connecting more deeply with the people that matter to you, discovering and experimenting with new interests, or sharing your perspective, however, work in progress it may be.”

—Instagram

But part of the audience doesn’t seem to be convinced and asks: Is the real aim of the campaign to show younger generations that Instagram is a safe space to create and share?

Is Instagram simply trying to convince younger generations that it is cool and the place to be, for its own growth? Not to offer a safe space to express ideas, create unique content, and engage in meaningful connections and creation of communities, but for its own sake?

Since becoming part of Facebook Instagram is put under the same scrutiny as the social media giant and is judged by the same bias of lack of transparency and credibility. Younger people are more attracted by the smaller “rebel” apps like Tiktok and Snapchat, which are also guiding innovation in the social media world. Filters, stories, reels, video and photo that are automatically deleted after the receiver views them. 

Facebook and its apps seem to be more busy catching pop than creating authentic new features. Will this global campaign help Instagram take steps into getting rid of Facebook’s shadow is to be seen.

Joining the ongoing debate on the goal of this campaign, my question is: Will ‘Yours to Make’ raise awareness among the content creators, that the PURPOSE of the message is KEY?

If Instagram succeeds in repositioning the brand image, will this ultimately lead to more creativity, more content for the benefit of the user, more real engagement? This outcome would be a win-win for everyone.

Finding PURPOSE

In my experience, there is no better Instagram strategy than creating content with purpose. While I often hear the objection that, for a business, the purpose is always the economic return, I do believe that in modern-day society this is not enough to survive.

A business needs a bigger and higher goal to exist, of which profit is a pleasant CONSEQUENCE. This is especially true after the last few pandemic years, which forced all of us – on a worldwide level! – to an inner retrospective. This created a massive and unprecedented shift in consumer behaviour across all industries, with inevitable repercussions on the social media world.

Global shift in social media consumption habits

If a few years ago the buzz was about “bringing back the social to social media”, today it’s all about “bringing back the value to each and every social interaction on social media”. We got used to living partially online, and what we need now, as social media consumers, is fewer but deeper connections.

In the Instagram realm, this means that creating content to simply inform the end-user of your service, or showcase the product is not enough. Brands need to create moments for engagement. That’s when the bigger PURPOSE comes into the spotlight. 

Users do not simply want to engage with a brand to increase their profit, they want to engage with a higher PURPOSE of the brand.

Is it SUSTAINABILITY or making people lives MORE FUN, bringing REVOLUTION to the fashion industry, or making beautiful FASHION items that help feel more sophisticated or happy?

PURPOSE is the key to creating long term passionate relationships with your customers. 

Find yours and start your social media communication by sharing that PURPOSE!

Communicate your business with the same passion you created it, to connect with your audience on a deeper and meaningful level!

Help: What should I post on my feed?

Instagram tips for personal brands

Have you heard that the best way to optimise your Instagram profile is to show up consistently?

Let’s suppose you did and you worked hard on learning all about your clients and all about their problems and you of course know that you have the solution!

But do you also know that feeling of sitting in front of your PC and thinking: Now what? What do I post?

Fear no more as I have just what you need! Chose your content pillars between these six or experiment with them all. Have fun creating!!

Social Media tactics to follow in 2021

We are facing the dawn of 2021 a year, many eagerly waited for. 2020 marked by a global pandemic swept through our lives taking away many of the certainties and especially drastically changing the way we live and the way technology interweaves with our day to day life. 

If only a year ago we would have talked about the digital revolution happened in the last decade by noting how always more often we rely on digital mediums to find any type of information. Learning about breaking news on social media, finding the perfect restaurant for a special occasion or your next holidays destination you would most probably open one of the many apps on your phone to consult or head on google. Today we spend most of our day online not only looking for information, but working, shopping and most importantly nurturing our social relationships almost entirely online. 

This had an impact not only on our lives but also on the way we fruit Social media, defining new trends and new ways of doing business.

THE 2020 IMPACT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Social Media is always more user centred. Guided by the trend of bringing the social back to social. In 2020 this connotation took a deeper level of significance and made so that the algorithms are alway more unbeatable at providing the end users only the content they will really like. Algorithm wants content that is interesting, that will give stimulus for its user to interact with and will keep them on the platform for longer periods of time. 

On the user side the selectivity for contents that are more meaningful and provide deeper conversations peaks among others, making the pressure on content quality and difficulty on gaining visibility higher than ever before. 

People want more meaning out of the time spent online, less interaction but more intense, the need to substitute real-life small social moments is big. We miss our daily chat with the coffee seller, a colleague on public transport or during lunch breaks, a fellow parent at school drop-offs or pick up. We strive to share our opinions, life bits, conquests and failures.

SOCIAL MEDIA TACTICS TO FOLLOW IN 2021

INCREASE ORGANIC ACTIVITY

  • Engage your audience by creating digestible content. In a moment where everything is happening online, the attention span and distraction of consumers are sky-high. This it becomes paramount to your content strategy success to produce content that is easily fruited. Increase your reach and audience engagement by diversifying between different types of content. Think watch parties, prompts or rooms in Facebook groups. Reels, Lives, IGTV, stories on Instagram. 
  • Ephemeral content. Video content importance in digital marketing hasn’t stopped growing and let us admit it it is a perfect breakaway from endless meetings online. Provides the user with fast, snackable bits of information or entertainment. Stories and lives further increase consumers trust in the brand as it allows them to look beyond the super structured campaigns. This type of content is perceived as a warmer and more authentic way to communicate. It is perfect to build up that brand trust.
  • Lifestreaming is now the new norm, we work on live conferences, we study in google classrooms, celebrate our birthdays in WhatsApp group chats, our grandmas and grandpas with no digital literacy are adapting to live calls.  Live content allows us to create a deeper conversation with the audience through real-time interaction. For instance, the buzz around Clubhouse is increasing and the app, though still only by invitation is growing at rocket speed. Why? This platform provides the possibility to engage in meaningful conversation on subjects we are experts in or care about. It allows us to find likeminded people to share that coffee break with.
  • Online commerce has seen the numbers shoot up and is driving the fast technological development of VR and AR. This trend is inset in the need of people to evade the ever so monotonous daily life. Just imagine we in a button click we are given back the possibility to travel, try out new cloth, see furniture in a real life context, test drive new cars, the possibilities are endless. And though the impact of AR and VR is still not understood it is wise to keep a close eye in further developments.

DESIGN EXPERIENCES

  • Personalisation is the keyword to content strategy. Format diversification as mentioned above helps to increase our chances to cater the right content to the right person. Though it is harder to achieve organically businesses than through paid SM advertising, there are some strategies you can use through different social media platforms
  • Research your target personas and niche down your contents to their specific needs, this strategy will help you to increase your conversion rates, boost engagement and encourage sharing. Use your available analytics wisely in determining whom you want to target!
  • Facebook Groups, especially smaller groups guided by homogenised criteria (like solopreneurs, business providing services of a certain type, member clubs, etc.) will provide your business with plenty of opportunities to cater to specific contents. 
  • Use your CRM skills on digital platforms. Be authentically present to understand the needs of your audience. 
  • Personalise the content for each social media channel and its specific goals. 
  • Influencers, micro-influencers and their influence (pardon the pun) are still a big part of social media marketing and the reason why is that their public is already pre-selected. It is easy to reach the audience you have in mind. These campaigns generate brand loyalty and brand awareness through emulation and trust relationship the influencer has with her followers. Make sure to do an attentive selection of the influencer figure you are going to associate your brand with!
  • Create communities, be part of the communities and be authentic. Don’t leave your content out there alone! Engage with your audience by being an active part of their social circle. Reply, become truly interested in their pains, celebrate their achievements and just be there for them.
  • Make use of UGC. Recognise your audience involvement with your business and share your spotlight to gratify and create singular experiences, add a unique side to your brand and increase the likes of your audience and brand interactions. Encourage your customers to share content by inspiring, sharing ideas, giving away bits of knowledge and by participating in causes close to your audience hearts. Don’t forget to give credit! A great example of UGC campaign is GoPro Instagram profile, they have encouraged their users to post pictures under branded hashtags by choosing one a day to feature on their profile.

ANALYSE YOUR DATA

  • Social listening is your driveway to that personalised content that will boost engagement. Listen to your audience, make notes of how they speak, what they say and how they perceive your content.  In 2021 there is no space for the tone-deaf marketing. The public not only requires more quality in contents they want to see on their feed, but they are also less forgiving of the mistakes.
  • Real metrics gaining importance over vanity.  I cannot stress enough how important it is for every business to learn how to use the analytics that they have at hand. A most important rule in this is to start with a strategic approach and know where why and when you are going. To be able to make data-driven decisions you first need to set clear and measurable goals, or otherwise, you risk getting lost in the vanity metrics glitter. 
  • Take a look at all your Social media profiles, optimise them for business and study the insights. Which type of data can you use to evaluate your goals? Reach, engagement, follower growth rate, interactions?
  1. Understand how users are navigating by analysing the analytics data your website and optimise their experience. Which type of content does your audience prefer? Where your website traffic is coming from? Are you reaching set goals? Is the Customer Journey you have set followed?

PRIVACY 

Finally, with our lives going all online, we are concerned about our privacy more than before. Privacy laws are becoming more stringent and “Recognizing changes related to every aspect of data management and adjusting practices accordingly are key to maintaining consistent ROI — not to mention avoiding the regulatory drawbacks of noncompliance. No matter the year, staying ahead of the game is a far easier and more profitable prospect than playing a never-ending game of catch-up.”

Make sure your website privacy policy is up to date and that you have permission when using UGC in your campaigns by always asking permission to use.

Befriending Instagram algorithm in 2021

How can I make a breach in the ocean of content”  Is the algorithm a friend or a foe? 

It is no news that with the world moving online the amount of content created and published across all social media channels is sky-high and it is always harder to make your content stand out.

Instagram with no exception had been growing and according to Hootsuite is now “A second-most downloaded free app in the apple app store” https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/ The bigger the “Insta population” the more content is published every day the more competitive the platform becomes. 

“My organic reach has dropped drastically! The algorithm is sabotaging my profile!

How can I make a breach in the ocean of content”

 So is the algorithm a friend or a foe? 

As a popular expression says “Content is King, engagement is Queen and the lady rules the house” and I’m sure to add the algorithm dances around the queen now more than ever. The platform grows and the algorithm becomes more sophisticated, it is not so to ruin your efforts, but to assure the optimal experience for the app users so that they remain on the app for a longer time possible. What we already know is that content quality matters and that it needs to be tailored to the needs of your followers, but what else can be done to join the dance you ask? 

5 tricks to up your game

  1. ♥ Likes still matter! Know your audience and target your contents as well as posting times accordingly. Analytics is your best friend to assess which type of content is really valuable for your audience and when to post it. More likes increase your reach and with it chances to be featured in top 9 posts in hashtag categories and in explore tab. 
  2. Make content worth sharing. This works on increasing further your post reach and important reaching further than our current followers.  Again what matters here is content but it is the engagement of followers that we need to reach new audiences. Create posts that encourage or ask for sharing like:  giveaways, freebies,  tutorials and how to’s (use videos or multiple photo posts for this).
  3. Make sure you cover all or most of the 4 content types: Feed, Stories, IGTV and lives. Create narratives that engage. Making fixed weekly appointments in stories/lives or series of IGTV videos is one of the tricks to build a loyal audience with the content creating anticipation and deeper engagement.
  4. Just as for Facebook, be curious and use new features rolled out by the platform like reels, shops, features in stories. Keep an eye on the novelty and make sure to evaluate its fit within your strategy and try if so.
  5. Your/brand unique and real interaction with followers is the real key. You might complete all the tasks above but if you/your brand are not present with your community in an authentic way it will be hard to beat odds with the algorithm and most importantly build not a simple follower base but a real community. 

Engage and gratify your community

Many times the posts are automatically scheduled and left to thrive alone. It’s though crucial to be present on the platform for at least twenty minutes before and after to sincerely engage.

Gratify your community by sharing the spotlight

  • Reply to comments in a sincere and interested manner
  • Recognise how valuable your followers are to you
  • Showing a real interest in the content of followers
  • Finally, share and show love to user-generated content related to your brand

This is a simple exercise to wake and warm up your public before a new post, build up trust and create unique and passionate relationships.

How to create Social Media management process

Running social media might seem just overwhelming no matter if you work alone or in a team. 

Are you tired of creating contents just to see them go unnoticed, filling in social media calendars to then forget to create or to post the content?

“Oh is it due already? Was I responsible for this one? Maybe I can do it tomorrow?” 

Here is where the Growth Hacking mindset comes handy. If you think of Social Media as a way to experiment then it is easy to break down the process into three parts/teams:

1. Strategic planning/Leadership

This is a fundamental step to start working on your Social media and if you work in a team it should involve all members.

Main rule here is: too much strategy is better than none! Pull out your analytics data and start the brainstorm on your audience:

Who are they?

What do they like?

Where and when are they active?

Which type of content do they enjoy most? 

Go deeper than simple data reading. Listen to your audience to collect relevant insights, expressions and terms they might be using. 

Next step to take with this group is outlining your strategy: purpose, tone of voice, style, content pillars etc. for each of your social media channels. Follow the document you created to fill in your Social Media content calendar.

2.  Contents and programming 

Once the path is laid out in your strategy its time to take action! For teams: split into two groups one of which will be responsible for content creation and the other for programming and posting. If you are a solo player create your contents beforehand and then programme them according to your calendar. Do not forget though that relying on simple automatisation will not tackle you too far. Any Social media channel you are using, make sure top wake that algorithm by spending some time around the moment of posting. Now more then ever Social Media users are looking for the Social component in the Social media world before granting you with their engagement. 

3. Community management. Once again, even though some of the community content will fall under the preplanned and programmed contents, none of that will ever substitute the real interaction on brands side. Make sure there is a dedicated team to engage and actively listen to your audience and promptly steer the strategy when needed. Do not simply moderate the contents, be active, listen, participate in discussions to create an authentic relationship with your customers. Take the chance to learn from your community.

Process and repeat! Make it a circular process where ideas are created, tested and reevaluated for success. 

Remember that there is no silver bullet, embrace the idea of it being a process of learning and growing together with your followers.