12 Instagram Grid Layouts to Make Your Profile Look Amazing

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

It’s important to create good looking Instagram profiles, that way when someone organically sees one of your posts and clicks through to take a closer look you want to give your visitor reason to drop you a follow!

And there are loads of different methods, all of which take a varying degree of planning:

 

  1. The Same Filter Method

 

An easy method to tie your Instagram account together. Pick a filter which you feel suits your brand and every time you post, use that filter on your pictures. That way, whatever they are, you tie them together in a similar vibe.

Check out: @bclivingmuseum @stellamariabaer @dannystheatrelife

  1. The Diagon-alley Method

Tricky to plan, this involves taking 3 linking posts (whether this be in colour, quote or subject of photo, etc.) and creating your posts so they appear diagonally on your feed.

As you can see, @adesignkit uses patterns, quotes and pictures. @lisamessenger uses quotes alongside differently themed pictures whereas @wehaveawish simply use colours to create a diagonal line in their feed.

This can be tricky because when planning this to create the diagonal you really have to think about what posts you’re putting out in what order to create that visual.

 

  1. The Checkerboard Method

Think like a chess board, here you have two types of visual content and alternate which one you post each time to create a checked pattern in your feed.

@thalia_arts_company have done this by posting their most recent show logo followed by a photo. @bossbabe.inc alternates between quotes and photos. Here at @theartzbiz we have adapted this to suit our brand so we post a photo and then content on patterns and blocking of our brand colours to create the zig-zag.

 

  1. The Row-by-Row Method

Stack your posts like you’re stacking shelves in a supermarket, row by row. You can really play with this method, get those creative juices flowing to decide exactly how you’re gonna form your rows.

@bobthedragqueen uses colour to pull together their fabulous headshots. @gregorygeipel takes architectural pictures of buildings and either uses similar backgrounds or a single panoramic split into three separate posts to create his rows. @musical_theatre_quotes uses the logo of the musical they are drawing quotes from in the centre which are then displayed in inkeeping branding on eitherside.

Remember to keep this theme looking slick you ideally have to post all three at the same time which could mess with your posting algorithms but makes your profile super appealing to anyone visiting.

 

  1. The Column-by-Column Method

Like the row-by-row but it’s more like you’re building the foundations for the roof of the acropolis, or composing a visual newspaper article.

@mysimplegram almost creates a row and column system with two thematic photos around quotes or images on a white background. @valleygirlstanning provides two columns of quotes and one column of photos. @traumaandco always keeps their central column with exactly the same formatting and puts alternative content either side.

So long as you post the same three type of content in the same order each time the columns will remain the same, they will simply shift to the right each time which means no need for three posts at a time.

 

  1. The Rainbow Method

Create a picture-perfect profile by using all the colours of the rainbow in your content! This really helps spread a little joy to your followers and beyond!

@ilonaverley plays the long game in their rainbow profile uploading 3×3 grids of photos using one colour as a focus then follows it with the next colour in the spectrum. @sarah_peretz does her rainbow effect row by row seamlessly blending from colour to colour. @thecheerfulchica posts differing colours from image to image, slightly less stringently than the others but still to gorgeous effect.

 

  1. The Colour-Coded Method

Similar to the rainbow but picking out one colour which suits your brand! So every post has the colour theme in common.

@birmingham_mag consistently uses beigy tones to tie in their paintings and artifacts. As managers of museum and art galleries across Birmingham, it helps that many of their pieces are already displayed on a white background. @museumoficecream has gone with vibrant pink which has a way of bringing immediate happiness! @blackdrop.co goes for classic monochrome pictures and infographics to make their profile look chic.

 

  1. The White Border Method

Using a white border around your images on Instagram negates the problem of trying to fit all your posts into a square. I have photographer clients who find this really helpful as often they develop their work in a bespoke size which would have to be edited again for Instagram, so instead they surround their images with a border in their properly proportioned form.

You can create columns (like @yellowbellyphoto), rows (like @yukastudio) or combine the two for a cool looking pattern (like @jonnycartwrightphotography)

 

  1. The Grid Method

In this method you take a single image and split it into squares using special apps like 9 Grid for Instagram. This can leave some pretty weird single images appearing in people’s newsfeeds, but it makes your profile really striking! So, if you do get users to click through, you’re bound to get them to hit that follow button.

@showupprods has recreated a poster for their Halloween showcase in their 3×3 grid. @theskullcrown.co uses 2×3 grid photos in black and white to show off their awesome bespoke jewelery. Whereas @theatricalthoughts are reimagining the grid. Their quotes work as individual images but come together in grid format to create a beautiful design.

Be careful with this method though as it can really mess with your impressions and interactions as, generally speaking, your posting content less often, but when you do you post 6-9 images at a time which will not be equally viewed.

 

  1. The Educational Infographic Method

An Instagram profile where the main focus is to enlighten and educate visitors. As you can see our select profiles use brand colour alongside illustrations, quotes, hashtags and information so that users can come away with a clearer understanding of what their profile is about and maybe even learn a little something in a fun and visual way in the process.

You can check out our selected profiles here: @artofmanetta @letstalkaboutmentalhealth @themindgeek

 

  1. The Branded Thematic Method

This is where companies use 2 or 3 content types and post them with consistent business branding, whether that’s colours, font, logos etc. You’re not creating a pattern here but by keeping your content thematic it pulls it all together to give a great overall aesthetic.

@museum_of_comedy posts their chalkboards, comic headshots and collages of photos in their feed. @chronicleswardrobe use great infographics, gorgeous illustration and great colour theming to tie in their profile to their brand. @blondetheatre black and white photos and tongue and cheek pop art in black, white and shocking pink making their profile look sick!

 

  1. The Collage Method

Use a bit of everything! And mix it all up into your own profile design.

Take the following Instagram accounts as inspiration: @nelsonmouellic @schoklenderklein @the_oa_

 

Remember, in general you should plan your Instagram Posts for the maximum impact. Instagram stories are for more spontaneous moments.

So, why not make it as beautiful as possible?

Are you proud of your Instagram profile? Link us in the comments so we can check it out!

APP OF THE MONTH: Repost: For Instagram

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Marketing, Social Media

With the monotony of the current uncertainties of life it can be difficult to constantly come up with new content, so why not Repost a previous bit of media that has done really well… and now it couldn’t be easier!

Name Repost: For Instagram
Product Description This app does what it says on the tin! Simply allowing you to easily pull and repost your existing content from Instagram.
Availability Available on the Apple App Store
Key Features ·       It allows you to repost or archive content from Instagram

·       It supports all types of Instagram content including Stories, IGTV, Reels and regular posts

·       Once you have signed into your Instagram you can repost media from private accounts

·       You can add an overlay with attribution details if you want to

·       Your previous caption is automatically copied to your Instagram clipboard

Prices and Plans It is completely free, just one of the reasons that it is the best option for reposting out there! You can upgrade to Repost Plus which removes ads, allows for custom icons and takes out company tagging from the copied caption for only £2.49 per month or £17.49 for the year (a 41% saving).
Biggest Pro It is super straightforward and only takes three simple steps:

1.     Search Instagram for the content you want to repost

2.     Tap Options (…) and select “Copy Link”

3.     Open Repost and the content will magically appear!

Biggest Con It’s not currently available on Android! Super annoying for none apple users because this is by far the best Instagram Repost app. If you are on android and recommend any Instagram Repost apps then please let us know in the comments below!

There are loads of these sorts of apps available but this is easily the best (and cheapest) one.

I’ve done the legwork so you don’t have to so if you’re looking for an easy way to repost on Instagram, this one is the app for you!

APP OF THE MONTH: LinkTree

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Digital Marketing, Websites
Name LinkTree
Product Description All your important links available in one place to connect your audience to all your key content!
Availability Available online through the LinkTree Website
Key Features If you have ever been annoyed that you can only put one link in your Instagram profile, then Linktree is definitely the answer:

·       Set up your companies very own specialised URL to connect people to your LinkTree.

·       Get an Unlimited Number of Links so you can send your audience wherever you like! Are you a Gallery? Add links to your exhibitions and every artist you’re showcasing. Launching a Fringe Theatre Show? Link to all your social platforms, the box office, a trailer. The possibilities are endless!

·       Customise your LinkTree with a series of built-in themes so you can get as close as possible to matching your company branding.

·       Collect emails, phone numbers and payments safely via your LinkTree

·       Track how many lifetime views and clicks your LinkTree has had so you can tell how effective it is!

·       Embed Video into your LinkTree.

Prices and Plans It is completely free to set up an account and to be honest you’ll probably only need the free version! But for just $6 per month, you get more design features, scheduling options and advanced analytics to help your business grow. They also have enterprise packages available on request for mega businesses that need multiple lists of links.
Biggest Pro As I may have already mentioned… It is perfect for your Instagram profile where you can only put one link in your description! Finally! Celebrations all around!
Biggest Con I wanna say nothing! I love it! I mean, it would be great if it was all free I guess, but you can’t have it all and they have to make their money somehow!

It is an ingenious way to fill a gap in the market. Something like this has been needed for ages and the fact that it is all done with such elegant simplicity just makes this app an all-around winner!So go and get it already!

COME ON!

What are you waiting for!?

Boosted Ads vs. Targeted Ad: How to Choose the Right Adverts on Social Media

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Promotion, Social Media, Start Ups

Spending money on Social Media Ads can be a little daunting, especially if you’re a small-scale arts company with a small to non-existent budget.

A good place to start is to know exactly what you’re spending your money on!

So, what exactly is the difference between a Targeted Ad and a Boosted Ad, and how will they help you reach your social media goals.

What is a Boosted Ad?

We’ve all seen Facebook ask us if we would like to Boost a post that is doing particularly well, sometimes they even offer us free money to kickstart our campaign, but what exactly does this mean?

Also know on Twitter as a Promoted Tweet and recently introduced to LinkedIn, a Boosted Ad is when you take a regular post that you’ve made and pay to improve its reach.

Generally, the better the post has done organically the cheaper it will be to promote as the platform, like Facebook, can see the existing data on your post and compare it to previous content.

This data is then used to find a wider audience who are more likely to engage with your content. It is worth noting your extended reach through a Boosted Ad is more likely to be pre-existing customers and followers but you can opt to generate new leads.

What are the benefits of a Boosted Ad?

Why would you choose to use a Boosted Ad over a Targeted Ad?

  • Generally, it’s cheaper. But that is because Boosted Ads are more limited. In regards to formatting, there is very little you can do to change the original post other than adding a Call to Action (CTA) Button.
  • Some marketers prefer Boosted Ads as they appear more organic than Targeted Ads. They look like a regular post other than small grey writing near your business name saying ‘Sponsored’.
  • It has a simple budgeting process by which you set the total budget and amount of time you would like the boosted post to run for then a daily spend is calculated for you.
  • The data already exists so the Social Media Platform will already know who to target without you having to break it down even further. It is for this reason that you get a more limited targeting ability.
  • It’s great to improve overall reach and impressions. It can be good for improving your brand awareness, stats like your follower count, likes, shares/retweets and other forms of social engagement.
  • It can be super helpful for smaller, shorter campaigns whether boosting the traffic to your website to highlight new content or raising awareness of a one-time-only event.

What is a Targeted Ad?

Also known as a Social Media Ad, using Target Ads opens a whole box of opportunities across your community platforms.

Broadly speaking, Targeted Ads are better for achieving goals like increasing app installations, improving website conversions, upping your video views and excelling orders from your online store! They can have a bigger, more immediate impact than Boosted Ads.

It takes a little bit more legwork to set up as you’ll need to join a whole myriad of ad managers including getting yourself a Facebook Ads Account. I recommend if you’re new to Social Media Ads you start here as you can oversee ads across all Facebook Platforms including Instagram and Messenger.

There’s a range of ads you can opt for from In-Feed ads, side ads, messenger bots and influencer marketing partnerships to name but a few options.

You’ll probably wanna also download yourself Facebook Business Manager (Previously known as Pages) where you’ll be able to view all of your analytics so you can gain more knowledge on what content works for you and your brand and how your ads work alongside this.

What are the benefits of a Targeted Ad?

Why would you choose to use a Targeted Ad over a Boosted Ad?

  • You have way more formatting options, getting to choose your style of ad and where it appears with a variety of alternative appearances including Carousel Ads (pictures that keep scrolling horizontally round and round), Slide Show Ads (one photo to the next) and Canvas Ads (which allow you to select the ad for a full-screen view). You can also catalogue your products so users can view the full range of what you offer.
  • You can add more dynamic CTA buttons with a wide variety of functionalities to drive your campaign goals more effectively. Goals include gaining unique reach, signing up to your newsletter, improving event RSVPs, collecting new leads, directing more traffic to your website, promoting products and increasing your conversion rate.
  • It comes with a wider range of targeting options, including age, gender, location, interests, and hobbies, so you can ensure your ads reach your Target Audience. Watch you don’t get too specific though! You still need those data bots to find you a wide potential audience.
  • They have way more analytical data available allowing you to properly track your campaigns, tweaking and refining them as you go and allowing you to learn a lot more about how Social Media Ads can be used to boost and complement your sales funnel.
  • It offers A/B Testing for your ads so you can approach them from different creative angles and figure out which ones work better for you can your company.
  • They allow for more flexibility when setting budgets so you can adapt your spending for maximum impact, whether you want a slow and steady approach or an accelerated delivery for super-speedy results that pack a punch. You can limit both your lifetime spend and daily spend separately and choose whether you’re paying for impressions or click-throughs.
  • You can schedule when your ads appear, whether this is limited to during your office hours or dependent on your time zone.

So, which one should I choose for my Social Media Campaign? 

Well, it depends on what your end goals are, both long term and short term.

When you’re starting out, the best thing to do is to try out a combination of both to help you figure out what methods work best for your arts business.

If you need more advice please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If you have any hints and tips for Social Media Ad Campaigns of your own, please let us know in the comments!!

APP OF THE MONTH: Hashtag Expert

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Digital Marketing, Social Media
Name Hashtag Expert
Product Description Finds popular hashtags so you don’t have to! This app is bound to boost interaction across all your social media platforms!
Availability Available from the Apple App Store.
Key Features ·       Find hashtags for all the top social media apps including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn.

·       Browse millions of trending hashtags in over 50 industry categories

·       See in-depth analytics to see exactly how well they work!

·       Get personalised hashtag suggestions based on your hashtag history

·       Add trendy and super cute captions to your posts!

·       Get all the best hints and tips about hashtags, the impact they can have on your posts and exactly how to use them!

Prices and Plans Completely Free to begin, but it will cost £2.99 per week/£7.99 per month/£33.99 per year for additional features.
Biggest Pro They provide you with loads of helpful information on hashtags and how to use them including their Four Rules of Hashtagging:

·       Rule #1 – Relevant – make sure you always match the hashtags with the content of your posts

·       Rule #2 – Diverse – make sure you choose hashtags that have a wide range of post counts

·       Rule #3 – Alive – make sure you choose hashtags that are alive, and still have lots of new posts being tagged with them

·       Rule #4 – Reachable – choose hashtags where the top posts have similar amounts of likes to your average likes

Biggest Con The constant pop-ups! Although I imagine if you pay for the products you don’t get these, they are running a business after all.

So, stop wasting time trying to think up 30 hashtags that won’t even work!

Try Hashtag Expert now!

APP OF THE MONTH: 9 Grid for Instagram

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Social Media
Name 9 Grid for Instagram
Product Description Create beautiful Instagram feeds without photoshop by easily cropping your images into 3×1, 3×2 and 3×3 sections to upload jigsaw grids to your Instagram in the right order every time.
Availability Only Available on Android through the Google Play Store. Similar app ‘Grids’ is available through Apple Store and on Desktop.
Key Features In addition to those mentioned above features include:

·         Numerous combinations of arranging your images on Instagram

·         HD resolution for cut images

·         Saving images to your phone or SD card

·         Adding any coloured text to your image

·         Adding emojis and stickers to your image

·         Giving you a numerical order to upload your images on Instagram to get the desired effect looking good.

·         Uploading your images directly to Instagram into both your feed and direct messaging.

Prices and Plans Free! Although you do have to cope with adverts which are inbuilt into the app and can be a bit annoying but again, it’s FREE!  So, just get on with it!
Biggest Pro It is so easy to use and (so long as you upload your images in a minimum quality of 3240px x 3240px when creating a 3×3 Grid) you get great quality results without the faff!
Biggest Con It is only available on Android.  As mentioned above there are different apps available on Apple.

 

There are plenty of other apps out there which also help you achieve this effect so if you use any others to create Jigsaw Grids, tell us about them in the comments!

Find your Perfect Social Network: Part 1

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Social Media

Find your Perfect Social Network Part 1

Relevant at all times of the year, but also hella helpful for your Fringe residency!

With so many platforms available to you and your business it is difficult to know exactly what platforms you should cover.

Don’t just go mad and join all of them at the same time!  Especially if you’re a one man band.  As we’ve have mentioned in 10 ways to your social consistency is key and you will make your life incredibly difficult for yourself (unless you are a content creation machine!).

We’ve broken down the key stats of leading social media platforms for you to make your life a little easier.

 

Platform Name Facebook
Monthly Active Users 2.41 billion
Key Demographic Basically, everyone and their parents, and often their Grandparents.  Pretty much one third of the entire world uses Facebook so your target audience is bound to be here!
Pros Everyone is on it!  And every community group you could ever want to find probably already exists somewhere.  It is also diverse in the content you can share including live video, gifs, photos, text etc.
Cons Due to the high number of users it means you also have a high number of competition so it can be really difficult to build followers organically

 

Platform Name YouTube
Monthly Active Users 1.9 Billion
Key Demographic Again, a lot of people! But the people who use it for the longest each week are aged 16-24, followed by the 25-34 age bracket.  Also, keep in mind that 70% of users turn to YouTube to learn something.
Pros The Biggest Video platform in the world!  Streaming platforms are slowly taking over from TV and YouTube stars are becoming the new celebrities so if you hit the right market not only will you find your audience but you could even make a living from Vlogging.
Cons Like Facebook you have a lot of competition so do your research and make sure you’re using it to your advantage.

 

Platform Name Whatsapp
Monthly Active Users 1.5 billion
Key Demographic Like many social platforms it is predominantly your younger audience, but it is slowly taking the place of text messaging and its market is growing.
Pros It all runs through the internet so it’s pretty much free, unlike text messaging.  It has multiple ways you can use it for business means including: internal team communications; customer support; marketing and promotion.
Cons Not many companies currently use whatsapp for business.  I think this is really a pro disguised as a con.  What it means is that if you can creatively think about ways you could use Whatspps in your business you can be ahead of the game!  You could set the example.

 

Platform Name Instagram
Monthly Active Users 1 billion
Key Demographic Those in their 20s and 30s, Instagram has, in some cases, replaced Facebook for many people due to its simple, image based interface.
Pros It can be used to direct message other users even if you’re not following each other!  It has built in photo editing software so that even the most rubbish pictures you have taken look amazing.  It integrates tags and hashtags seamlessly.
Cons The focus on photos means users are less likely to read content so find a way to integrate text into your photos.

 

Platform Name Twitter
Monthly Active Users 330 million
Key Demographic Millennials and Stephen Fry
Pros Like Instagram the ability to tag others and utilise hashtags is hugely beneficial.  This means you are easily able to keep up with the latest trends and see what people are looking at on a daily basis.
Cons You can only message people if you both follow each other which, although is marginally restrictive, does make sense because of the number of celebrities who would otherwise receive mountains of spam.  You also have a limited letter count on Twitter so be succinct.

 

Platform Name Reddit
Monthly Active Users 330 Million
Key Demographic Predominantly Males aged 25-34.
Pros A platform which openly encourages discussion on anything and everything it differs to other social networks because of its high levels of interaction.  These discussions are split into categories or ‘subreddits’ to make your subject matter and audience easy to find.
Cons Some people only use Reddit to act as the opposing party so be prepared for what can often be unnecessary and time-consuming debates.  It can be easy to take things personally on Reddit so make sure you spend some time detaching yourself from your online profile for the sake of your sanity

 

Stay tuned for tomorrows post where we will be talking about some of the smaller social networks which can be equally as useful for your company.

APP OF THE MONTH: Hootsuite

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Marketing, Social Media
Name Hootsuite
Product Description This software allows you to manage all your social media platforms in one place quickly and easily!
Availability Through Browser at http://www.hootsuite.com/ and as an app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
Key Features Schedule Posts in your own time so your profiles always look active.

Easily find, manage and share content across all your platforms.

Boost all your best posts.

Check all your analytics in one place.

Monitor topics and hashtags relevant to you and see when their activity peaks and troughs.

Assign tasks to others in your team.

Protect your brand with inbuilt security measures.

Learn how to use Hootsuite in their very own cohesive online Academy available for subscribers.

Prices and Plans FREE for the most basic plan which allows you to manage 3 different platforms in each place and limits the amount of scheduling you can do (although it is still a huge amount!)  Handy Tip: They tend to hide their free plan pretty well so when looking at plans simply scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and you’ll see a link to their free plan.  Paid plans for more platforms and users available from anywhere between £25-£520 per month.  Find out more here: https://hootsuite.com/plans/upgrade
Biggest Pro Having all your social media profiles and pages in one place to save you chopping and changing between apps and website.  It really helps you get the best out of your time.
Biggest Con If you have multiple companies running through Hootsuite there is currently no way to easily change between profiles so a bit of a faff involved in constantly logging in and out.  I reckon this will come soon though!

 

Spread the Word of Mouth

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Social Media

The best way to sell out your Fringe Show still via word of mouth.

 

Up until recently Word of Mouth was entirely organic, like people sharing show ideas with friends down the pub.  I once overheard someone raving about a Korean Adaption of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which remains one of the best pieces of theatre I have ever seen!

But when the internet began to take over the world, marketers realised they could begin to encourage the generation Word of Mouth themselves. 

How?

Social Media of course!

So here are 10 pieces of advice to help you spread the word!

1.       Make your show the best possible experience – people want to talk about experiences good or bad.  Obviously, we’re looking to spread the positive but remember: no publicity is bad publicity (Unless you’re Harvey Weinstein)

2.       Ask people to post – Most companies are doing this now so if you’re not buck up!  It’s the norm.  At the end of the show simply ask your audience to give you a social media shout out if they enjoyed it!  Afterall, if you don’t ask you don’t get!

3.       Share the fun – people love sharing jokes, gifs and interesting content they can relate to so don’t always keep it serious! Don’t just spam people with your flyer.  Think outside the box and share the bants!

4.       Don’t be afraid of gimmicks – or as I would like to think of it: Instagramable Promos!  So, give out those condoms covered in your show branding!  Share those cheeky pin badges!  Your audience loves a freebie and you’ll get a bit of free advertising!

5.       Think interactive posts – Hitler’s Tasters do some awesome tweets requesting people to reply gifs with how they’re feeling.  It gets all the action! So think quizzes, polls, puzzles, questions, challenges, competitions, ticket offers, whatever will get people to interact!

6.       Do your hashtag research – what’s trending, what’s hot, what are people searching for.  The Edinburgh Fringe always create hashtags that get a lot of action so use #edfringe #edfringe2019 #MakeYourFringe and find some that suit your show and genre!

7.       Go Live – Whether your streaming the backstage gossip and grabbing audience at the end of your show to get their opinion live on video or sharing hilarities throughout your day on stories, audiences love these ‘DVD extras’.

8.       Never be missed – stick your social media branding on everything! Flyers, Posters, T-Shirts, Websites, Reviews, toilet doors with a sharpie! Make sure the public can’t miss you!

9.       Real Life Interactions – shocking, I know, but not everything needs to take place online!  Think about those photos taken at the end of escape rooms with hashtags and branding all over them!  Take this idea and make your own experience when you flyer out on the mile!

10.   Make Friends – are you an all-female acapella group?  You know you probably have a similar audience and similar interests to other female acapella groups so use your posts to tag companies like you.

 

Viral Marketing can make sure your show ‘gets around’.  Plus, all of it improves your credibility in the eyes of the algorithms of social and circulates the word!

 

Have you had some awesome social campaigns that have spread the word! We want to know! Tell us in the comments!

Social Media Platforms

10 Tricks to Stand Out on Social Media

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Marketing, Social Media, Technology

 

Most arts organisations are using social media, but the problem is most of the creative industries are using social media because they feel like they have to. It’s the “Everyone else is doing it so maybe we should to” kind of attitude.

I interviewed for a company recently who promote themselves as a marketing organisation for poetry and spoken word performers. To prepare I checked out their social media presence. It is safe to say that it was not particularly inspiring. Take for example their YouTube channel. They had loads of videos up there with a good variety of the performers and some interesting content but these videos averaged about 20 views each. 20 views! And, in all honesty, that was at best. (When I was at college I made a joke video of my friend dancing in a kitchen… In a day I had 50 views just by sharing it with mates on MSN Messenger.) For a company that sells itself on promotion, if anything, this is detrimental to their campaign. If you go on to an advert for a festival or event on YouTube which are you going to attend? The festival that has 10,000 views and positive comments or the one with 20 and no interaction.

Now don’t get me wrong, I commend the effort, but they were posting because they felt they had to, because everyone else was doing it. They clearly had no understanding of why they were doing it and how to get the best from it.

So here are 10 fool proof ways to get you started with successful social media campaigns!

 

(I will go into more details of how to best use specific platforms and features in social media in later posts but you can use these basic ideas as a jumping off point so at least now you know where to begin)

 

  1. Choose the social media that suits your business

Often, when first setting up, businesses feel obliged to set up pages on absolutely every platform there is out there. Not only is this incredibly difficult to maintain but it is entirely unnecessary. Are you a photographer? Then why not think about Instagram to begin with. The focus is on imagery and it comes with built in editing software and analytics. Images are after all what you produce and what you want your audience to see. Do you design knitwear? Think about Pinterest or Ravelry. Ravelry is a social media group specifically designed for lovers of crochet and knitting so it would be easier to find your target audience and like-minded folk. I saw a knitting cabaret show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year which could have done really well promoting through Ravelry!  Pinterest focuses on craft and images and has recently introduced a business platform from which you can sell your work. This opens business opportunity and currently has limited competition. Are you a museum or gallery looking to promote your conference centre? Go straight for LinkedIn! This way professionals and conglomerates can find you easily and learn what you have to offer over other providers.

Going straight on to Twitter and Facebook is never a bad idea but be warned. You may think that surely this is where you will find your audience because of the number of users. Everyone’s on Facebook right? Well yes, but so is every business. There is a lot of competition and it can be difficult to get noticed!

Twitter has a similar problem. A tweet has an average life span of 18 minutes or less according to Moz.com. When you think about the number of people tweeting this might not seem so bad, but chances are your tweet will be lost in the ether to a post from Stephen Fry informing us of what he had for breakfast. So research your hashtags to know which ones will stand out from the crowd and gain some power from your tweets.

 

  1. Post relevant content

When you run out of ideas it can be tempting to Instagram that coffee and cake your having for an afternoon snack. But stop right there! Remember your audience! They are following you to learn more your company and your message. They really don’t care about your daily eating habits.

If you’re having content block, then never fear! This is when content curation comes in. Perhaps you’re an art gallery: your exhibition has been up and running for two weeks with two more weeks to go and you don’t want to keep bombarding your audience with more messages regurgitating information they have already read. How about some interviews with the visitors? Get some live responses for how they found the exhibition. Perhaps there are published reviews about your event you can link to. What about other galleries doing similar work to you? Or previous articles written about the artists in question? Think outside the box and link to these sites. If you let them know they might even link to you on their social media in reciprocation and beautiful working relationships can be formed.

 

  1. Post content consistently

I cannot stress how incredibly important this is: for your audience, your search engine optimisation (SEO) and your online reputation management (ORM).

Many companies, ever optimistically, begin the social media marathon with a sprint, posting on Facebook all day every day. After a while one of two things can happen, either there’s not enough time in the day or there’s not enough interesting, relevant content to keep generating posts at this pace. If you drop off dramatically this can affect your online presence in multiple ways. If you go on to businesses Facebook page and see that no one has posted any content for 3 weeks when before they were posting once every couple of hours what would you think? At worst, you may query if they even still exist, at best you think if they’re too lackadaisical to maintain their online presence what else are they too lazy to do? Google will also take this information into account. If all of a sudden, a site stops posting new content when it has been renewing posts at full throttle you will be moved down the Search Engine List. It will damage your ability to be found through organic search and your online reputation.

What is important to note is that you don’t have to post this much! Take for example accomplished arts blog PostSecret. Started in 2005 by Frank Warren and still going strong today it reached out to the community of America, and now the world, asking them to send in their personal secrets illustrated on a postcard. Not only did Frank Warren tap into the community, after all we all have secrets, but since 2005 he posted a fresh blog post every Sunday. This has now been taken over by someone else but continues the same pattern. The audience don’t get frustrated when they check it out on a Wednesday there aren’t any new postcards because they know the drill, some checking back every Sunday religiously, but what if this suddenly stopped? The audience would trail off, some would never return. Over time google would recognise the lack of consistency its position in a search engine would also drop off.

So, remain consistent. If you’re a small arts organisation and feel you can only commit an hour a week or even a month to social media then fine. Start at that slow pace. Your audience will recognise the pattern and come back after the next time frame to check again. It is better to start slow and grow your online presence with your business than to start off all guns blazing and drop off abruptly, both for your community and your SEO.

 

  1. Link your social media platforms together

We see everywhere nowadays websites have links to Facebook and Twitter built into the pages. This is important as it draws more followers to our Social Media. Not only does this increase the likelihood of likes and shares from our posts reaching new audience but it can also act as an easier method to keep our audience up to date with what’s new. So simple, so effective!

This isn’t it though. You can also link your pages together. For example, on Instagram and Twitter there are options to share whatever you’re posting on Facebook as well. You can take this to another level by using software like Hootsuite (where you get a 30 day free trial or can run 3 social media platforms for free) you can easily manage all of your business pages from one place. You can schedule to post at specific times, decide which sites to post on and easy engage with audience. The great thing about Hootsuite is that they offer free online courses in both how to best utilise their software and the fundamentals of Social Media Marketing so you can really get to grips with it and eventually become an expert. If you do decide on this option remember not to share all posts on every platform. Your community deserve unique content for their dedication to following you and some posts that are relevant for Facebook, a more casual platform, may not be suitable for LinkedIn. You don’t want people opening up your page in a professional environment and seeing links to your after-show party with the Chippendales.

 

  1. Upload Headers, Profile Pictures, Photos and Logos.

This may seem obvious but there are plenty of people out there who don’t do it! Simply put, it looks inattentive and unprofessional. It discourages likes and follows which will basically lead to no conversions! And nowadays there is no excuse. With high powered digital cameras on our mobile phones and tablets and editing software built in both to applications and social media sites it is simple to create quality, professional looking, unique images with limited effort. You don’t even need to be a good photographer. And remember, pictures engage people more than text!

Branding is always important in marketing so ensuring your logo is easily found on your pages. This constantly reminds your visitors who you are and what you do. It’s a straightforward way to keep your business at the front of the viewers mind at all times and to ooze professionality.

 

  1. Keep Up to Date with new platforms and features

Social Media is being updated all the time. With the pace of technological development almost every day we are confronted with new challenges and with these come new opportunities.

I cannot stress the importance of exploring new features! Even after a few years of its first launch, if you broadcast a live video on Facebook their algorithm has been adapted to boost you near the top of a followers Newsfeed. This allows Facebook to promote the Live option for other users but is highly beneficial for you as it means your live videos are boosted for free and will therefore (for the meantime) attract more viewers. I am incredibly excited for the near future extended use of VR and AR within Social Media platforms and imagine when these add-ons are introduced a similar boosting method will be put in place. Also remember: the newer the feature the less competitors will be using it which, for some reason, is especially the case in the creative industries.

 

So be on trend, be modern, be exciting, be now. Let your social media reflect your business.

 

  1. Be Honest and Relatable.

I know that this seems obvious, but it is incredibly important to remember with every tweet, Instagram or post! The best way to engage your audience is to find a way to relate to them: whether the situation demands finding a way to make your target audience laugh or cry try and discover that sweet spot. Speak to them the way you would like to be spoken to, give them content you would like to see, then sit back and watch your audience grow.

And, of course, always tell them the truth. I could go into detail on this but if I am being honest the perfect example of what not to do already exists: Fyre Festival. If you haven’t already seen it (then, quite frankly, where have you been) the Netflix documentary acts as a checklist for exactly how not to use Social Media. In brief: you can’t just use popular models to promote a bespoke, expensive festival that doesn’t really exist and expect in the world of the social media empire that the truth won’t out.

 

  1. Do your keyword and hashtag research.

Organic Search traffic, believe it or not, is still a key method to get noticed. I have been promoting a show for the Edinburgh Fringe recently and every time I put out a post using #edfringe #edfringe2019 or #MakeYourFringe I get at least one new follower on Twitter. I appreciate that it is also presumably the incredibly honest and relatable posts I share, yet it never ceases to amaze me how powerful the hashtag can be. Using existing popular hashtags helps you tap into a ready existing supply of your target audience. Additionally, creating your own hashtags for certain campaigns makes it easy for you to track the people who are interacting with you.

You also need to think about your keywords as these will seriously help to improve the SEO of your website. I know what you’re thinking, how can what I put on Social Media help to build the online reputation of my business page. The simple answer is that the google algorithms are very clever and take all accounts that are linked with your website into consideration when your determinising your search engine ranking for certain search terms. For example, if you’re running a start up museum in Birmingham you probably want to be ranking for the search term ‘Birmingham Museum’ so start using this in your posts. It takes some time, months and sometimes years, but it really is that simple. Don’t try and abuse the system though. You can’t just post ‘BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM’ over and over again all day every day. As I said, Google is very clever: they will read this as spam and rank you lower!

  1. Use Analytics.

I find it remarkable the number of companies who don’t use their built-in analytics. Think about it, if 20 years ago you turned to say a touring theatre company and said: “Publish an advert in our newspaper and in return we will tell you everyone who has seen that advert, gone out of their way to learn more about it and continued on to make a ticket purchase because of it. In addition, we will also be able to provide you with certain demographic information about your audience for no extra charge.” It basically would have been an impossibly, some kind of voodoo magic. But think about what it could have done to help your marketing campaigns! If you knew that for example a national paper with touring listings had sold you 10 tickets and local papers with local listings had sold 100 tickets, then wouldn’t you change your strategy into putting more time and money into local papers?

This is the information that social media platforms offer businesses for free! It answers all your questions and loads you didn’t even have so you can know exactly which posts and ads work and which don’t. Questions like:

  • What time will my posts get the most views?
  • What kind of content works best on my posts?
  • How do I maximise post interaction?
  • How many people clicked through the link on my post?
  • Should I post a gif, an image or a video?

There are countless queries but you get the idea. Use analytics to figure out the overall and most constructive use of your time.

 

  1. REMEMBER: It’s all about community!

Fundamentally, this is the reason SOCIAL networks were set up in the first place. They act as community groups in the digital age: a way for us to keep in touch with one another and businesses online. It is your opportunity to reach your exact target audience and with patience and consistency its possible to build this for free.

In addition to most of the world being on a social media platform of some kind you can also get specific really easily as there are already so many existing Community Groups out there, especially on Facebook. I have found ‘advertising’ or posting on pre-existing community groups incredibly useful whether your targeting people from a specific location or with certain interests or both these groups are often already out there! I worked for a circus skills company in Birmingham for a while and a lot more traction for their festival was made by posting on groups about: circus skills across the UK and internationally; the Birmingham Arts scene; the Birmingham festivals network; the local Digbeth community. The possibilities are endless! So think about the group you’re looking for and search for it on Facebook! Chances are there is already one you can join and campaign to.

 

These 10 tips will be enough to get you started on social media! So enjoy! And get moving!

If you have any queries or suggestions for future posts about social then contact us or put it in the comments below and I will endeavour to get back you!

 

Read that Moz Article about Twitter HERE

Join Hootsuite HERE

Check out Ravelry HERE