Marketing Strategy Today » social media strategy

Are Instagram reels really for you?

Pam Sahota — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 21:17:34 +0000

instagram

Instagram reels, are taking over the platform. As announced recently, all videos less than 15 minutes will be considered reels on Instagram. Sound familiar? Cough cough – TikTok. It should.

The question is, what does this mean for you or your brand? What does it mean for your video content and it’s performance?

Here’s the gist that matters:

According to search engine land and Instagram: ”When your Reels are posted to a public profile, they may be eligible and recommended for more people to see. This also allows other users to Remix, edit, and add their own spin on the videos using Instagram’s built-in tools like templates and a new Dual feature that records your front and back cameras simultaneously.”
“Moving forward they’ll also consolidate the video and Reels tab to create one tab for all of your feed videos.” – Later Blog has stated.
In addition according to Later Blog: there will now be 3 forms of video content to choose from for your creation purposes:
- Instagram Stories: Videos that last for 24 hours, and are split into 15 second slides.
- Instagram Lives: Videos streamed in real-time, that can be up to four hours long.
- Instagram Reels: Short-form vertical videos — now up to 15 minutes in length.
According to Adweek – “Reels creators can now choose between a green screen, a horizontal or vertical split-screen or picture-in-picture reaction view to add their own video commentary to existing Reels.” In addition templates will be available for use of creators if they so choose to go that route.
But what about photos? According to Social Media Today – “Remix for photos: Photos are core to the Instagram experience. In the coming weeks, you will be able to remix public photos. This gives you limitless inspiration to create your own unique reel.”

Why should you care about Reels? According to Social Insider: “In 2022, for example, Instagram Reels have an average engagement rate of 1.95%, which is at least double compared to the other post types.”

So what does this mean and what can you do, now:

You can’t rely on images alone on Instagram
Want a cheat: Some users re-post their tiktok reels on Instagram as an easy win – however – you should consider that the two platforms have different audiences, and your brand may need a different strategy for each
You need a creative and video expert in-house or outsourced to ensure you don’t get lost in the feed (figuratively and literally).
You need a refreshed instagram strategy (and in turn Facebook)
Your brand needs to determine if instagram is still where you want to be and concentrate your efforts (and budget)
Your brand needs to consider influencer content and if that makes sense to help your brand be seen and cut through the clutter
Spend and measurement is not just a choice, but a necessity

And stay up to date with Instagram… because there’s always a new update.

Checklist: How to Create a Successful Social Strategy for Your Brand

Pam Sahota — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 02:16:11 +0000

It’s important to remember that great social media content is the key to being successful on any platform. It sounds obvious but a lot of brands (especially those with minimal resources), post things on social, just to post. There’s not a thoughtful approach. Furthermore, social media is more than a channel. It’s not just Facebook and Twitter. It’s a behavior that people have daily. And in order to reach them, brands need content that truly connects with their target audience.

So how do we build a social strategy that will be successful for your brand? Let’s consider this formula:

First: Do the Research

Identify your target based psychographics (what they value and care about)
See where they spend time online (are they on Instagram 10 times a day or do they tweet every last thought that pops into their heads?)
Compare how your competition fairs on these channels (what are brands that are similar to your doing?)

Second: Put Together Your Plan

Identify your overall purpose or goal for each platform (think more creatively than “making more sales”- mailing list sign ups is a good one)
Choose a few different kinds of content that you think will resonate with your audience (be specific- if you want to post inspirational quotes, what kind? About what topic? Around what sentiment?)
Identify the platforms you’ll use and their purpose for your brand and reaching your customer (i.e. customers use Pinterest to dream/plan – let them dream about their upcoming Fall wardrobe made by your brand)
Consider content formats and frequency per channel (i.e. Twitter will have a larger frequency than Facebook)
Identify content sources for creation/curation/co-creation (how will you make these graphics? Where will you find these interesting articles? etc)
Create success metrics to measure by (video views, website visits, social shares)

Third: Get Moving

Create the content!
Test your content
Measure your content against the goals you created
Review and assess, then make changes as you learn what’s working and what’s not

Tools You Need:

An editorial calendar to keep track of your monthly content per channel, and allows you to plan ahead for upcoming cultural events
A scheduling tool such as Buffer or Hootsuite
A budget to boost and target posts that are successful and important for an upcoming campaign or product launch

Finally:

Create a crisis and response management plan for when things go wrong – because eventually something usually does
Determine how you will mix in customer service or separate it from your posts within each channel

Your content is part of your brand’s identity and it should be created with similar thought and care as your collections.

This post was originally written for Startup Fashion.

Brand Checklist: Working with Social Influencers

Pam Sahota — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 22:35:04 +0000

Grow Your

Influencers is a word that seems to be used all too often. At it’s most basic, it is a word that defines a celebrity, journalist, advocate, social media “star”, or anyone who’s thoughts and opinions have a strong impact on the people who follow them.Working with influencers to grow awareness of your fashion brand can be a great strategy. But first, you have to identify them.

The biggest thing to remember is that it isn’t just the number of followers a person has that characterizes them as an influencer. It’s typically that they are an expert in a subject matter in some capacity.

Whether you’re a startup or an established brand, it’s important to have some set parameters when working with influencers for a program. This helps to avoid issues when it comes to relevance and authenticity of content and ensuring the brand and influencer will work well together.

Here’s Your Checklist for Working with Influencers to Grow Your Fashion Brand

Start with a lot of research: Check their background, check their current posts. What are they saying, how are they saying it? Do they engage with their following or do they delete comments they don’t like? Do they have an email signup on their website– then sign up. Are they on the platforms that you have seen the most traction for your brand? How often do they post? You cannot do too much research.
Make sure they are on-brand: Do they have the same vibe as your brand? Is their tone complementary to yours? How do they communicate?
They are still using their voice: While it’s important that their tone is complementary to yours, you also want to make sure that they still have their own voice. You want to make sure that don’t ever compromise their own brand in order to make money.
Who are they working with already: Check to see that the influencer isn’t working with your direct competitors recently (at least in the last year).
Are they too obvious: Meaning, often, once an influencer becomes more famous he/she may start saturating their content creation with sponsored stuff. When this happens, they often lose the respect of their following. So it’s good to check if they are still doing original content and sponsored posts are not their primary source of content.
Give ideas: Some influencers (especially celebrities) may be great at what they do, but not so great at coming up with ideas for sponsored content. Don’t be afraid to give them a nudge towards what they could do, so when they create an Instagram post, it doesn’t seem like a blatant ad.
Lay out the terms: Be sure you have stated everything that you want done in the collaboration upfront, including the number of social media posts per channel. How many blog posts you get, whether you’re included in any emails, etc. Also make sure that your brand can utilize their name and the content they create throughout owned, earned, and paid media. Don’t make any assumptions.

The last thing your brand wants is to be associated with sponsored content that isn’t original and valuable. So take the time and follow the list.

This post was originally written for startup fashion.

Social Strategy Checklist for your Brand

Pam Sahota — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 22:33:45 +0000

So how do we build a social strategy that will be successful for your brand? Let’s consider this formula:

First: Do the Research

Identify your target based psychographics (what they value and care about)
See where they spend time online (are they on Instagram 10 times a day or do they tweet every last thought that pops into their heads?)
Compare how your competition fairs on these channels (what are brands that are similar to your doing?)

Second: Put Together Your Plan

Identify your overall purpose or goal for each platform (think more creatively than “making more sales”- mailing list sign ups is a good one)
Choose a few different kinds of content that you think will resonate with your audience (be specific- if you want to post inspirational quotes, what kind? About what topic? Around what sentiment?)
Identify the platforms you’ll use and their purpose for your brand and reaching your customer (i.e. customers use Pinterest to dream/plan – let them dream about their upcoming Fall wardrobe made by your brand)
Consider content formats and frequency per channel (i.e. Twitter will have a larger frequency than Facebook)
Identify content sources for creation/curation/co-creation (how will you make these graphics? Where will you find these interesting articles? etc)
Create success metrics to measure by (video views, website visits, social shares)

Third: Get Moving

Create the content!
Test your content
Measure your content against the goals you created
Review and assess, then make changes as you learn what’s working and what’s not

Tools You Need:

An editorial calendar to keep track of your monthly content per channel, and allows you to plan ahead for upcoming cultural events
A scheduling tool such as Buffer or Hootsuite
A budget to boost and target posts that are successful and important for an upcoming campaign or product launch

Finally:

Create a crisis and response management plan for when things go wrong – because eventually something usually does
Determine how you will mix in customer service or separate it from your posts within each channel

Your content is part of your brand’s identity and it should be created with similar thought and care as your collections.

This post was originally written for startup fashion.

Your Brands Needs a Social Strategy

Pam Sahota — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 22:31:59 +0000

Social media still seems new to some brands, but it’s not a new part of marketing. There are people hired for brands to run global social departments in order to stay competitive within the space and stay fresh and engaging with their customer base.

With startups, a social media strategy is an important piece to the overall marketing strategy.Sometimes with little time and little resources, we jump on social channels and run with haste, rather than with quality and thought-through content. Let’s change that.

Social media is:

Visual- Important for fashion brands to be able to show off their assets.
Fast- You can get sneak peeks and new off the shelf products in front of them right away.
A connective tissue- It allows you to connect to consumers in a way that no paper magazine ad could.

Great things for a startup who needs to make its presence known, and fast. But with the right strategy, there’s so much more you can do.

Gain Customer knowledge- You’ll get to see what your customers like and don’t like, what types of content they prefer, and where they prefer to engage with you.
Have faster customer service- It allows you to respond faster to their concerns and excitement.
Be competitive- It allows you to stay on top of your most fierce competition by listening and keeping a close eye.
Make it personal- It allows your startup and brand to connect to consumers on a personal level through responding in real time, answering questions, praising them for being awesome.
Build Relationships- And in turn allows you to build an army of advocates who will speak on your behalf.

These are just some of the reasons why you need to think strategically about your social content and not just post and be on social media because you know you should be.

You need to think through your target market, where they play on social, and what content is right for them (and your brand). We’ll talk about that in detail in our next article.

This post was originally written for Startup Fashion.