Original subtitles

It's time to get our gram on folks.

This could have just been a social media

episode but at this time of recording there

is no doubt Instagram is the market leader

for sharing our content and having a brand

voice through social media.

No other platform really comes close in my

opinion.

In today's landscape, and I've mentioned this before

about adapting as landscapes change, but in today's

some businesses only exist on Instagram.

A website is secondary or non-existent in

some cases.

You can shop, message, search, connect, save, host

your portfolio of work or products all through

that little app on your phone.

The list goes on but you don't or

shouldn't need me to tell you just how

integral it is in today's society.

I actually have a real love-hate relationship

with Instagram though.

I love its functionality and the opportunities it

can create, being able to connect with such

a large audience and to showcase your brand

to the world.

But I hate how it sucks me into

wasting countless hours on my device.

I'm constantly trying to remind myself to be

a creator on there and less of a

consumer.

But also to be present with my family

and in the moment when I'm not in

work mode.

But that's my battle, I'm sure you can

all relate to that feeling.

But let's focus on the positives today and

explore how I focus my efforts on this

incredible platform.

And I'm going to start off by drawing

a few quick comparisons to the subjects we

covered on SEO.

The first being that there are no secrets

or magic tricks and often the tricks end

up causing trouble further down the line when

Instagram run updates to counter those tricks.

If you're serious about driving growth and a

following on Instagram, you need to be here

for the long game and that means turning

up.

We'll talk about this more shortly but I

often talk to photographers who can't understand why

they don't get bookings through the platform when

they've posted a picture a day for two

weeks, then didn't do anything for a month.

So we're going to look at what you

can do to drive more traffic and in

turn increase your following and presence.

But we'll also look at pitfalls and mistakes

that I think are pretty common.

But just to note I'm not perfect at

this, I don't always post as I know

I should, I'm not as consistent as I

want to be or as organized as I

know I should be, but I'm always trying

to be better.

So a successful Instagram strategy for me is

built on three things, three C's actually, content,

consistency and collaboration.

Let's talk about the first one, content, and

hopefully you can remember how we addressed target

clients in the branding episode of the course

and making sure you consider them whenever you

post content anywhere.

To really illustrate the importance of this I'm

going to show you Katie and Luke.

These guys are my target clients from a

few years back.

Both lived in London, they're now in New

York but work in fashion and design.

Both on good incomes, both wanted a relaxed

wedding but with style.

Now for the sake of this point let's

say they found me on Instagram.

I mean this is an Instagram lesson so

it feels quite fitting right?

But they found this image, this was on

Rock My Wedding which Katie follows and she

sends it to Luke via WhatsApp or Instagram.

It is totally the vibe we're after babes

she says.

After they see that initial image what do

they do?

They go and check out your feed and

this is where content and a little consistency

is vital.

Let's show you Instagram feed number one.

Fashion focused, relaxed portraits and moments, there's regular

content and the content has a consistent look

and feel.

I've reassured them of the type of images

they aspire to want from their wedding.

Now let's swap some of these images out

and mix it up a little bit.

Let's throw in some off-camera flash, some

silhouettes, some light trails.

Whilst we're at it let's chuck in a

bit of a different edit and a grade.

Oh and a stormtrooper!

That's not a joke there is there is

a stormtrooper in there.

How do you think they feel when they

see that feed?

Have I shown my target client what they

can expect from me or have I confused

them?

Or more importantly which one of those two

feeds appeals to them quicker?

Which one matches the vibe we're after babes?

I hope you'll all agree it's the first

feed.

The one with the consistent look and feel

that connects with Katie and Luke more and

if it connects with them more they're more

likely to convert.

And as I've said before in this course

I'm not trying to appeal to everyone here,

just the people who connect with my style

of work.

The second C is consistency and we've partly

addressed it with the content we post but

the key here is that you need to

be consistent with how and when you post.

This is a social media platform, you need

to show up and be consistent with it.

You cannot post and be active for two

weeks and then disappear for the next three.

If you're in, you're in.

And this is about more than just posting

every day, that should be the bare minimum.

I'll address how I automate this process in

the business episodes of the course but it's

about turning up and being active.

Whether that be through a post or some

behind the scenes story of your latest edit,

doing an insta live with a fellow supplier,

asking your audience for the latest Netflix recommendation

or doing a story and tagging the venue

you're shooting at this weekend.

And this needs to become routine, you don't

need to live on it but you need

to feed it consistently over time.

The final component in this lesson is collaboration

and the key here is the word social.

You can't expect people to engage and interact

with your brand if you don't engage and

interact with your community or audience.

So that means responding and acknowledging comments by

commenting back, replying to users who have interacted

with your stories but also interacting with stories

you watch and see from your audience.

You get extra collaboration points when you join

a fellow supplier on Instagram live or share

preview images with the florist who then tags

you on their post or the wedding blog

who features the wedding.

They're all signals to the Instagram algorithm that

hey we see you being active, we want

more users like you, let's give you some

more air time.

So ask yourself this, why would Instagram push

content into other users from suppliers who aren't

active and don't engage with their audience?

Do you think that provides a good user

experience?

It's like showing someone the window to a

nice shop but locking the front door and

they're refusing entry because you're back in 10

minutes.

Finally, like any marketing tactic, in order to

monitor whether this is worth your time it

is essential that you track it in some

form.

Marketeers refer to this as KPIs, key performance

indicators.

For us that could be number of inquiries

received from Instagram, engagement levels, follower volume.

Instagram is going to cost us time and

time is money so we need to be

able to monitor whether this time increases those

KPIs.

So by adding a how did you find

me field to your inquiry form, over time

we can track how many couples find us

through Instagram.

By activating a business account with Instagram we

can view engagement levels, monitor follows and unfollows.

And if you post the right content consistently

and collaborate with your audience I have absolutely

no doubt that over time you will see

these KPIs improve.

That's it on Instagram, I'm off for my

lunch.