Many NZ small businesses are wondering how to ride through this global pandemic season and come out successful on the other side. Can social media carry a small business through this time? That is an excellent question.
We don’t know the answer to that. But this is what we do know. Last quarter we worked HARD to step up our Instagram game. Consequently, our brand advocacy last quarter grew by 70.4%.
70.4%!!
That is a big number - even for us.
If you’re unfamiliar, brand advocacy is essentially word of mouth - online. Brand advocates leave positive reviews, frequently return as clients, and refer new customers. During this lockdown period, brand advocacy is especially vital for small business success. We all need people willing to stand around us, support us, and help us shout out about our work from the rooftops - and we need to do the same for others.
"During this lockdown period, brand advocacy is especially vital for small business success."
With Instagram being one of the most used social media platforms during this time, we think it is an important tool to help ag-based organisations and our fellow small businesses to continue to grow in this space.
We have learned a lot in the last few months to reach that 70.4% stat and we want to share some of this knowledge with you.
- Optimise. We optimised our profile for search results on Instagram to become more visible to our community.
- Tools. There are SO many free tools available to help pre-plan your grid so it looks smashing. Unum and Lightroom are two we love and use every week. We discuss them more in this post about Instagram photography and grid layout.
- Hashtags. At the moment, we believe less is more when it comes to hashtags. One algorithm theory is that posting only 5 - 6 smart hashtags in your post caption is all that’s needed for good search results. This is forever changing though, so we’ll keep a watchful eye on this into the future.
- Time. Remember Tamogochi’s?? Instagram is like one of those - it doesn’t do well if you simply feed it and leave it. It requires a little bit of attention. Engaging on IG as your account {engaging = liking and commenting on other pages} for a period prior to posting is proven to increase post visibility.
- Stories. Stories are currently where it’s at. At this point in time, spend more time engaging in that space than on your timeline.
- Imagery. Yes, Instagram is a visual platform so imagery is important. So important we wrote an entire piece about it. How to Freshen up your Instagram Feed During Lockdown
- Grid. This is something that takes time and is hard to get right immediately. Often it needs to reflect YOU and your brand. If you scroll back on our grid, you will see we’ve had our own highs and lows. We’ve found a good groove now through the consistent use of a chosen filter and a planned set of photos for each season. You can also learn a little bit more about our grid strategy in the link above.
To be honest, we could talk about this all day. We have poured hours of research into this platform and are ready to share the best bits with our followers. We know you are worried about what this season means for your business. We also know that brand advocacy is VITAL during this time.
So, we are burning the candle at both ends to make something that will help ease your Instagram anxiety and answer your questions. A class that will help you answer who, what, why, where and the how of YOUR Instagram strategy so you can coast into the next season a little easier.
Sign up here to be the first to hear about it and get your hands on that copy.
