Let’s be real: do you regularly review your Instagram Insights? For many business owners, looking at your analytics quickly falls to the bottom of your to do list. It’s daunting! There’s confusing jargon and the data can be tricky to interpret. That’s why today on the blog, I’m walking you through how to review your Instagram Insights so you can use them to take meaningful action.
Read MoreWhen it comes to marketing, Instagram is an amazing platform. You can include great visuals to captivate your audience, write compelling captions to engage your followers, and share behind-the-scenes content in your Stories to showcase more of your brand. One tiny thing that’s harder on Instagram, though, is getting people to click on links. In our post on 11 Things Not to Do on Instagram, we mentioned that links in Instagram captions aren’t clickable. This seems to get forgotten quite often! The only place you can include a link is in your Instagram bio. That’s why you’ll frequently see people mentioning “link in bio” in their captions.
Linking to the homepage of your website in your Instagram bio is the simplest thing you can do. It’s a good start, but it’s pretty basic. It’s more effective to link to specific calls to action based on captions in your latest posts. For example, you might have a new blog post you want people to read, a cool product you’re launching that folks can shop for, and a newsletter you’re encouraging folks to sign up for. How do you choose which one to link to in the bio if there’s only room for one link? Luckily, there are a couple of great ways to optimize the link in your bio so it can drive your followers to multiple CTAs!
Read MoreIt’s hard to believe that 2019 is coming to a close already. A lot has changed this year. Back in January, I was working full-time at a startup incubator. As I close out the year, I’m sitting at a Wayfair desk in my home office with my dogs snoozing nearby.
I wanted to take some time to pause and reflect on everything I’ve achieved this year (at the risk of sounding braggy), because it’s important to remember how far we’ve come and to celebrate it. And besides, as a self-employed person, no one else is going to celebrate for me! Let’s do this:
Read MoreAs the year draws to a close, I figured it was a perfect time to talk about something we all want to get better at: making your content work for you. Creating content is a LOT of work, and folks outside the social media profession often underestimate how much time, knowledge, and creativity it takes to create quality content that your audience will enjoy.
Based on my and Elise Miklich’s presentation at Upstate Social 2019, I’m sharing some tips for making your content go further. We shared 10 tips for overwhelmed small business owners at Upstate Social, and today I’m sharing five of my favorites from that presentation.
Read MoreFor over three years now, I’ve been working on a project called I Heart ROC. We tell the stories of Rochesterians living in and loving Rochester, NY. One of the ways we’ve been able to grow our following is through Instagram takeovers. When I joined in May 2016, we had about 800 Instagram followers. By October 2019, we’d reached 13,000 followers. Because Instagram takeovers have been such an effective strategy for us and for many others, I thought I’d share some tips on how to run a successful Instagram takeover.
Read MoreLast week in Rochester, social media beginners, fanatics, and experts alike gathered at the Temple Building downtown for the 5th annual Upstate Social Sessions, the largest social media conference in New York State outside of New York City. It’s jointly founded and run by two badass women, Danielle Raymo and Leah Stacy. This year was the first time the event spanned two full days, and it was jam-packed with great #content. Seriously, the word content was said so many times I started to forget what it means.
It’s easy to attend a conference, walk away with a head full of ideas, and head back to work inspired, but lacking time to implement it. So here’s a list for you of 7 key takeaways from the event and 7 action items you can tackle to start putting that knowledge to work!
Read MoreI recently had the opportunity to teach a class at the Rochester Brainery, a community classroom space that offers one-time classes on pretty much any topic you can imagine. Whether you want to make a wreath, learn about paranormal activity, or decorate a cake like a pro, the Brainery has you covered.
My class was on Social Media for Small Businesses; we had a great group and the attendees asked awesome questions. The class was comprehensive and chock-full of examples and activities! On the blog today I’m sharing just a taste of what it was like and some key takeaways that may help you as a business owner.
Read MoreThere’s a trend I’ve been noticing on social media for awhile now. I call it: performative honesty.
You may have seen it too. An influencer, a blogger, or even a friend of yours shares something thoughtful, vulnerable, and reflective… paired with an ultra-curated photo of their perfect life. Something doesn’t quite match up. They’re sharing about their anxiety and pairing it with a professionally taken photo, makeup done, hair looking fly, cute outfit. They’re projecting perfection, and writing a caption that says “no no, I’m not perfect, I’m just like you.” It often leaves you questioning if the content in the caption is real, or fake like the photo.
Read MoreKeeping it fresh on social media can be a challenge. Once you get in a groove, it’s easy to keep delivering quality content in the same old ways. Clever tweets with images in them. Carousel posts on Instagram showing off new products or event photos. Enticing Facebook events that make everyone want to click “Interested.”
That’s great! But we can take it to the next level with just a bit more effort and planning. Here are five creative tactics you can try on social media.
Read MoreThis week I had the honor of presenting at the Rochester Regional Library Council’s Storytelling & Social Media Symposium at St. John Fisher College. The event was very well rounded, with sessions on Leadership & Storytelling, Data-Driven Storytelling, and How to Craft Your Message and Share it Strategically on Social Media. Everyone shared tons of great content and ideas, so I wanted to recap some of the highlights from each presentation.
Read MoreDigital, Social, & Creative by Emily Hessney Lynch.
