New features on the most popular and well-known channels are popping up right and left. Instagram Guides came out last year and while they are overshadowed by Reels right now, we think you will find Guides are a useful tool and one that also does well in the current algorithm.

Why Use Instagram Guides?

Guides allow you to curate lists or recommendations using content that is currently on Instagram as a wall post or in your saves including Reels and IGTV videos if they have been shared to the wall. There are three   categories for Guides: Places, Posts or Products, so you have lots of options depending on your area of expertise or business focus.

Instagram Guides Resources:

Here is the rollout announcement from Instagram, another quick overview from Later, a how to from Social Media Examiner and another from Hootsuite’s blog.

Examples of Guides from a few Different Industries: 

Travel destination – https://www.instagram.com/australia/guides/

Cosmetics – https://www.instagram.com/lushcosmetics/guides/

Tech – https://www.instagram.com/hubspot/guides/

Magazine – https://www.instagram.com/parents/guides/

Gift Guide – https://www.instagram.com/thetreatment/guides/

Construction Materials – https://www.instagram.com/thedeckcompany_colorado/guides/

Video Tutorial of How to Use Instagram Guides

Part 1 of 2

There’s a lot going on in the world right now and that has resulted in some brands going dark, some changing their messaging, and others pushing on like everything was status quo. No matter what camp you find yourself in you may be analyzing your social profile, finetuning your messaging, and developing a go-forward strategy for the rest of the year.  

Are you ready to restart your channels, reinvigorate your commitment to social posting for your company or take your side gig to the next level? Let’s take some time to do some housekeeping that will help make your channels more secure, help you be more organized and put your best branding foot forward for new fans and followers.

Let’s review some things you can do right now to enhance your social media initiatives: 

Grab a pen and answer the questions below!

Social Media Channels

1. What channels do you have? 

A simple spreadsheet is a great tool to track this and help you stay on top of where and how you’re spending your time.  

2. What channels are you consistently posting content on? 

Analyze the last 3-12 months, look at number of posts, engagement metrics, and total ROI.  

3. What channels should you put on hold? 

Use your ROI analysis to determine if it makes sense to step away from a platform and focus your energy on the ones that are providing tangible results. 

You have an entire digital ecosystem that includes your website, blog and social media channels. Any time someone encounters your brand online, they should be able to easily get to your website. Afterall, your website is your home turf. You aren’t beholden to changes in algorithms, or other third-party issues that can impact or even devastate your traffic.  

Log In’s and Access

1. Do you have a password app or document? 

If so you need to be sure if it will keep your data safe in the event you’re hacked. 

2. Do you have a regularly updated back-up of the data in case of a breach?

It is also important that you know who all has access to that information. 

3. Have you updated your passwords recently? 

Most security experts agree changing passwords every 90 days is a solid way to reduce the risk of someone else getting access to your data. Are you using a password generator? The street you grew up on with your child’s birthdate won’t cut it. Most password apps have the ability to generate complex passwords for you.   

4. Who has access to your channels? 

We’ve all heard the stories of an employee who was terminated but still had access to social channels, or the consultant that was hired years ago that still has ownership of a brand’s Facebook page. Don’t let that be you!

The security aspect is important for many reasons, make sure your reputation is not at stake because you are hacked and inappropriate things are posted to your channels. You also don’t want to lose access to your channels and have to start over losing the branded URL’s that people will use to find your brand or business online.

Many of these things are simple, do take a little time but will pay off for you.

We would love to know which items you tackled – share below.

Check back for Part 2 of Cleaning up your Social Media Channels!

Twitter lists should be an important part of your 2020 marketing strategy.

What is a Twitter List?

A Twitter list is a curated list of Twitter handles within Twitter that allows you to view the tweets of those within that list only. You can create your own lists or subscribe to one created by someone else.

Public vs. Private Lists

Public lists are just that – public! They are searchable and those you include on the list will receive a notice they have been added. Public lists can be followed, and you can share the URL as a resource for others.

Private lists cannot be seen by anyone but you. The accounts included within the list will not receive a notice they have been added to your list and if someone has the list URL they will not still not be able to view it.

Follow vs. Add

You can add Twitter accounts to your list that you follow already, but you do not have to be following an account to add it to your list. This is a great way to keep your follower list down but still be able to keep up with all the accounts that interest you.

For more specifics on how to create, add, edit Twitter lists.

Ways to Utilize Twitter Lists

There are a variety of ways you can utilize Twitter lists and I find they are all helpful to the diverse group of clients we work with.

Monitoring

Twitter lists are a great way to monitor trends in your industry, media, a crisis and more. I always recommend a local media list (or multiple if you have locations or interests in different cities), national media list if you work nationwide, supporters/partners/sponsors and thought
leaders in your industry.

Scanning those lists weekly will help you catch up on what is going on or in the case of a crisis you have one place on Twitter to monitor sentiment.

Content Curation

This is one is my favorite. Creating lists takes time, but if you put in the effort to build great lists it will be a big time saver going forward. Creating lists for the different topics or industries you are interested in or focused on will allow you to scan and find great content to read and share across your social channels. I will share more ideas on different types of helpful lists to have in addition to the media lists mentioned above, below in the examples.

If you have created a list that you think would be helpful to others – share! While you can follow and subscribe to other people’s lists it is always great to create lists that others will follow as well. It helps to show your expertise as an expert and/or industry leader as well.

Examples of Twitter Lists

Medical Client – created lists of all locations, local partners, national health organizations
Sports Client – created lists of local teams both professional and amateur, national sports and coaching organizations, US professional and Olympic sports (during an Olympic year), local hotels and sports facilities

Final Thoughts on Twitter Lists

Twitter lists take time to build, so go slow and don’t try to do it all in a day. In my experience the time commitment is worth it!

Question

How do you plan to use Twitter Lists for your business in 2020?

Social media is a big part of getting the word out about your organization. You’ve spend considerable time and effort creating content and selecting the right images to get your message across. That makes it all the more important to know who your audience is, so you will know if your messages are getting to the right people.

Identify Your Desired Audience (if you haven’t already)

First you should identify your audience or target market. Who do you want to talk to, market to, educate, etc.? Write it down and keep it for reference!

Identify your Current Audience

Social media platforms have made it much easier to figure out who your fans and followers are. Let’s talk about Facebook and Instagram specifically. There are 3^rd party tools that can help you understand your audience better, but using Facebook and Instagram directly is a quick and easy way to identify your audience.

Facebook

If you have a business page, the “Insights” tab should be your best friend.

Go to “Insights” across the top of your home page, then click “People” on the left-hand side of your screen.

From here you can see information on your fans including gender, age, country and city.

Instagram

If you have a business profile, you can find out everything from demographics to viewing habits of your current audience.

Go to your bio page, click the three lines in the upper right-hand corner and select “Insights”.

From here you can see insights on your content, activity and audience. Find out your top locations, age range and gender, plus when your fans are online by day and hour!

Speaking to your Current Audience

If your insights show your followers are your target – congratulations!!

If your insights show that your audience is not quite who you thought they were, you can make adjustments to include them.

Adjust Your Content to Reach your Desired Audience

If your current audience is not exactly who you thought it was that is ok, but you may need to adjust your content to make sure you are speaking to the fans you have in the best way possible.

Example: You are a health care provider targeting women 30-55 and mainly post content for women 40+. After reviewing your audience, you realize the majority of your followers are 25-35. Adjusting content to appeal to the audience you have is a good plan in this case. Most likely they are mothers with younger children – content that includes information on how to treat ear aches, healthy snack recipes and promoting services such as preschool TB tests or back to school physicals would help reach your audience more effectively.

There are some instances where despite who is currently on your channels you want to continue to talk to your intended audience to prevent confusion or a large change in tone or purpose. You don’t want to abandon your current audience completely, but make slow, incremental changes to start bringing in the demographic you desire.

Example: You are a hotel and your existing social media audience is mainly locals. In this instance you would want to continue to talk to visitors (your target) and possibly add in some messages on staycations or local events for your current audience. Switching to talk to the audience you have (locals) would be confusing and off-brand but adding in specific content to include the current audience of locals would be worthwhile as you continue to build your out of town fans and followers.

If you don’t currently have the audience you want, use targeted advertising to help you reach them!

Do you have your target audience clearly defined? What metrics do you use to know that you are effectively reaching them?