Day: March 25, 2019

How to use Instagram to Dramatically Improve your Business, with Christian Tabing-Dalit and…

How to Use Instagram to Dramatically Improve your Business, with Christian Tabing-Dalit and Candice Georgiadis

I had the pleasure of interviewing Christian Tabing-Dalit. Based in San Francisco, Christian is a Senior Product Manager at Kenshoo, the Sequoia-backed firm known for its industry-leading, cross-channel marketing technology platform. Prior to Kenshoo, Christian served in product management roles at Dailymotion (acquired by Vivendi), Adap.tv (acquired by AOL), and Intuit. He’s a Silicon Valley native and a graduate of Stanford University’s School of Engineering.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was nearing the end of my senior year at Stanford, and unlike many of my peers, I didn’t know what I wanted to do in the real world.

The stars aligned when I met a recruiter at an on-campus career fair. She introduced me to a unique opportunity at Intuit, the makers of TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Mint. Intuit’s Rotational Development Program (RDP) was designed as a career launching pad for recent college graduates. I was fortunate to land a spot in the 11-person program.

Every six months over two years, my position at Intuit shifted to a new function and business unit. I rotated across product management, marketing, and business development roles at Intuit QuickBooks Payroll, Intuit Mobile Ventures, Mint, and Intuit Brainstorm.

My experience at Intuit provided the exposure that I needed to discover my long-term passion — a passion for developing products that enable consumers and businesses to prosper.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority on Social Media Marketing?

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege to advise some of the world’s largest and most well-respected brands and advertising agencies. I’ve authored 20+ patents and have built solutions to help social media marketers reach, engage, and convert audiences at scale — across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, and Snapchat.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

The digital marketing ecosystem has evolved, and continues to move, rapidly. Startups have played an integral role in fueling this growth. It was thrilling to be a part of AOL’s acquisition of Adap.tv in 2013; then, to be a part of Vivendi’s acquisition of Dailymotion two years later in 2015.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

In 2012, I considered going all in on Facebook following their IPO; unfortunately, I didn’t. Since then, I’ve learned to listen to and trust my gut.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Facebook’s family of apps, including Instagram, have proven to be incredibly effective revenue-driving vehicles for many businesses. In my experience, businesses within the retail, ecommerce, travel, financial services, automotive, and gaming verticals have yielded the best results.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Build a large, loyal following and actively engage your audience with amazing content. Build a reputation for posting visually captivating images, videos, and Stories that inform, inspire, and delight. Airbnb (www.instagram.com/airbnb/) has done this extremely well and has built a community of over 3.6m followers.
If your business manages physical locations, make them Insta-worthy. Take inspiration from Museum of Ice Cream (www.museumoficecream.com) and Color Factory (www.colorfactory.co). They’ve created visually stimulating environments that people immerse themselves within, take photos and videos, then actively share with friends and family via Instagram.
Collaborate with complementary brands (e.g. GoPro + Red Bull) to jointly develop and share content to your respective Instagram audiences.
Hold contests (e.g. “Caption this…”) to actively promote engagement, including comments and likes that magnify the visibility and impact of your posts.
Turn your customers into Instagram followers. Actively remind them to follow your brand on Instagram on receipts, within emails, at the end of customer support calls, etc.
Leverage Instagram’s comprehensive ad targeting options to precisely reach the people that matter most to your business. Drive awareness of your brand, encourage people to learn more about your products, and generate product sales and store visits. GAP, Overstock, SumUp, and Land Rover are just a few examples of brands that have driven results with Instagram.

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Deep empathy and compassion towards others.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

I’d love to brunch with the husband and wife co-founders of Panda Express. They started with just a single location in 1983 in Glendale, California. They’ve since expanded to over 2,000 locations worldwide and have become self-made billionaires. I’m deeply inspired by Andrew and Peggy Cherng’s entrepreneurial drive, enduring resiliency, and successful pursuit of the American Dream.

I’d invite them over, along with friends and family, to enjoy a Family Feast including Orange Chicken, Beijing Beef, Black Pepper Chicken, Fried Rice, and Chow Mein.

Thank you so much for joining us!

How to use Instagram to Dramatically Improve your Business, with Christian Tabing-Dalit and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“There is no one-size-fits-all plan for social media strategy.”

“There is no one-size-fits-all plan for social media strategy.” with Jen Estill and Candice Georgiadis

Effectiveness really depends on your target market and intended goals. For example, nothing beats Facebook when it comes to promoting events and motivating users to share and amplify your content. Still, you need to acknowledge that Facebook exposes you to an older audience as compared to Instagram. On the other hand, if you’re trying to position a person or a brand as an expert, Twitter is helpful. And when it comes to developing an aesthetic or developing a brand’s voice, it’s Instagram for the win. There is no one-size-fits-all plan for social media strategy.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jen Estill, principal and creative director at Redhead Design Studio, a multi-disciplinary marketing, branding and design studio in Lansing, Michigan. Jen started Redhead Design Studio in 2000, out of a spare bedroom with $200 and a Macintosh. Since then, she’s grown the business to work with more than 200 clients at statewide and national levels. Jen is also co-host of The Speak Easy Podcast, which includes honest advice and conversations for entrepreneurs and those in the creative industry. In her work, Jen strives to combine clients’ business goals with creativity and innovation to help them develop messages that are heartfelt, humorous or inspiring — and always smart.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’m pretty sure I landed my first job at an advertising agency because I knew AP Style and how to read proofreading marks. I had earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, but by the time I graduated I realized I was more in love with designing the page layouts than crafting the words themselves. So I landed in the design department of a full service agency, and I learned a ton.

But at a certain point, it became apparent to me that the glass ceiling was real, and I wouldn’t have opportunities to grow there. The creative director was a man and there were no women in the upper reaches of the creative department.

So, I struck out on my own to start a design shop which grew into a strategy, marketing and creative development studio. I quickly learned that marketing has an incredible power to change the world for the better. I was hooked, and have been since. Strategic planning, compelling content, and excellent aesthetic are a trifecta that can really move needles.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

Marketing changes as culture changes, and social media literally grew into existence as my business was growing. Therefore, we got into it organically. Our strength is helping clients craft channels that resonate with their intended audiences. That means being clear on voice, personality and aesthetic. We help clients develop social media and marketing plans, then establish new channels or refine existing channels accordingly.

On all of our social media projects, I’ve noticed one major common theme: it’s all about reaching your most relevant audience. You can have aesthetically pleasing content on Instagram for days — but if your target audience isn’t seeing it or engaging with it, there is very little ROI. When planning and executing social media plans, we first help the client determine their target market, and we then motivate these individuals to follow and engage rather than casting too wide of a net.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Picking a favorite client or project is like picking a favorite child. I just can’t do it. When we’re in the middle of a campaign or a channel launch, I fall in love and it’s all I can think about. Almost every client is my favorite when we’re in the creative stage. Truly, there is so much opportunity to make great, compelling content that really benefits users — the only limits are time and budget.

One project that I would highlight is the Get Real About Breastfeeding campaign we planned and executed for the Ingham County Health Department in Michigan. The campaign aimed to normalize breastfeeding, support families and combat misinformation through a series of social media posts, billboards and display advertisements. When planning social media content for this, research was critical. We talked to numerous mothers and recorded their thoughts on societal judgement toward breastfeeding as well as messaging in existing breastfeeding campaigns. From doing so, we were better able to understand what the audience needed to see: a down-to-earth reflection of the realities of breastfeeding that would spark public conversation. This goes to show the strategy behind social media; without this research stage, we wouldn’t be able to strike the emotional chord that we did.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

A few years ago we launched Love Lake Michigan, an advocacy campaign for the Delta Institute. The call-to-action was simple: sign a pledge committing to protect and appreciate the lake, and get a sticker. We did not anticipate the overwhelming flood of responses we’d get. People love stickers, man.

Because we didn’t plan for the manpower it would take the client to respond to all of these requests, the client had to shut down the sticker component of the campaign after a month. I guess we were too successful. Oops.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Effectiveness really depends on your target market and intended goals. For example, nothing beats Facebook when it comes to promoting events and motivating users to share and amplify your content. Still, you need to acknowledge that Facebook exposes you to an older audience as compared to Instagram. On the other hand, if you’re trying to position a person or a brand as an expert, Twitter is helpful. And when it comes to developing an aesthetic or developing a brand’s voice, it’s Instagram for the win. There is no one-size-fits-all plan for social media strategy.

With our Get Real About Breastfeeding campaign, Facebook was a channel on which both the models and the target market were comfortable and active. Our models were able to reshare the client’s content — photos of themselves — easily and add their own voice. They had a lot of pride in the photos and in their role, and therefore became brand evangelists to help spread the message. Further, our billboards were attention-grabbing, so members in the community shared images if the boards on Facebook. In the end, we achieved a high amount of organic mentions and watched a few posts attain viral results.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Use targeted channels to send a strong message.

Our client, United Dairy Industry of Michigan, came to us for a campaign geared at teens (primarily teen girls) who are likely to forgo traditional milk in favor of alternatives like soy or almond. The message? Drink your milk because your bones need calcium.

We developed a whole new campaign and language tailored specifically at the target market, and launched a new Instagram channel solely devoted to that market. While the client did have an active Instagram account, the content mostly revolved around farms, fields, and cows. Not exactly to stuff that inspired teen girls.

The new channel, Conquer, offers health tips, daily inspirations, celebrity engagement, and a positive online community for young women in Michigan. Using targeted channels is much more effective than trying to talk to too many markets in one channel. Your content becomes watered down and does not serve anyone.

2. Keep your captions intelligent and goal-driven.

Many of us consider Instagram to be the platform that will establish your visual tone, which is true. But that doesn’t mean you can forget about the caption. For example, I co-host The Speak Easy Podcast, which includes honest conversations for entrepreneurs and those in the creative industry. For the podcast’s Instagram account, we invest time into writing each caption with a central theme, which ties back to the current episode’s topic. This way, it’s able to spark interest in a couple of paragraphs and lead the audience to listen to the full episode.

Before posting, ask: how is this helping us generate leads or express our offerings and services? Thoughtful captions are a part of what separates a personal Instagram account from a business’s.

3. Be strategic with your hashtags.

This should go without saying, but Instagram hashtags should never be random. Do your research on which hashtags will best reach your target market, rather than the hashtags that will simply reach the largest market. There’s a significant difference between reaching a large number of individuals and reaching the people you actually want to talk to.

4. Keep your content calendar flexible to accommodate timeliness.

We advise our clients to keep an editorial calendar or queue of social posts that are pre-scheduled to go out at optimal posting times. But it’s important to be flexible with this. Did a breaking news story just come out that affects your industry? Prioritize a post about that timely event rather than strictly sticking to the content calendar. And, on that note:

5. Keep visuals consistent and on-brand.

Remember to keep your photos in line with your brand guidelines and personality. Across your photos, use the same filter and do your best to maintain a consistent color palette. For example, if you’re sticking to warm colors, throw a red flower in a post showcasing print materials. Small nods to the color palette make a big difference when audience members look at your feed holistically.

6. Engage, engage, engage.

Follow partner organizations and members of your target audience and engage with them on their content. This can be as simple as a like or a short but thoughtful comment on their post. Not only can this inspire more engagement on your posts, but it can help you stay on top of what your audience is up to and help position you as an industry thought leader.

I would use marketing to inspire America to dump money into public education like our lives depend on it. To change perceptions, to increase funding, increase staffing and support for teachers, increase access for families who struggle and increase equity in education. And I’m talking the whole arc — 0 to 20 — from infant care and early childhood education through a college degree.

No family would ever have to wonder how they were going to find the money for childcare or for college. No school would ever had to make hard choices about which books to buy this year or which repairs. No teacher would have to dig into their own wallet to make sure their classroom has supplies. I’d inspire Americans to hold a secure and excellent education for every child as a moral imperative.

If there’s any granting organization out there who wants to fund that work — give me a call. (Ha ha. But really.)

I’ve been reading about Sojourner Truth recently. If I could travel in time, I would love to hear her talk about what it was like being an abolitionist and advocate.

Thank you so much for joining us!

“There is no one-size-fits-all plan for social media strategy.” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Keep your eyes open for new emerging markets.

“Keep your eyes open for new emerging markets. Nobody ever told you that your photo caption should always be in English.” with Nadzrul Hanif and Candice Georgiadis

This isn’t unique to Instagram but it’s an important one nevertheless. As a marketer you shouldn’t always target the United States or your own country. Think about MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region where the users speak Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew. These are new emerging markets and where you could potentially land yourself in a world where there’s little to none competitors for your products. Instagram supports 33 languages. Nobody ever told you that your photo caption should always be in English.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Nadzrul Hanif. Hanif is the technical advisor at Mindtrick known for their Lightroom presets as well as the range of professional services from Search Engine Optimisation to Video Production Services. Based in Malaysia, Hanif has a successful track records of starting up small businesses and turn them into something special. He has worked with Post Production companies handling clients from Petronas to McDonalds producing some of the best videos known to mankind. His ‘Creative Space’ project in London and his connection to businesses in the Middle East and the United Kingdom has made him one of the most exciting entrepreneurs here in South East Asia.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’m very fortunate that I was born in a family of entrepreneurs, the fighters and soldiers. It was very easy for me to look up to an example, one after another, and simply observe all the good and the bad things around me. I was inspired by not one individual but many from my family members and friends. It’s difficult for me to feel content or stick to just one thing. My focus has always been to get new and exciting things done and I believe that screams entrepreneurship.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I think because I approach it differently. I see the Social Media as these ‘platforms’ that make up a different kind of world. However it’s not entirely has to be approached in a completely different way. Traditional way of marketing, or what we call the ‘human-touch’ is still present inside the social media. Marketing is no longer simply write-ups or the art of copywriting; but it is now about building brands and having businesses that are transparent to create trust for our customers. That’s why social media is very important, because it allows the consumers to have unbiased look at a brand. Influencers on the other hand can’t simply make an influence through just copywriting; it has to be done in so many ways but mainly by being ‘honest’ about a certain brand or product.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Well, I started very early. I got into the social media during the Friendster time and they didn’t really call it a social media. There were tons of spamming during those time since it was difficult to detect spams whether it was done manually or even through automated software. During the Myspace era, the funny thing is that ‘Spamming’ was considered to be one of the most effective online marketing methods. We had a small group in Kuantan and we experimented with this ‘mini-Myspace’ project called The Globe. We were one of those little groups responsible for spamming Myspace; asking the users to switch from using Myspace to our own social network.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I can’t really remember anything funny but I used to experiment with different kinds of projects and one of them being a marketplace that sells PHP scripts. I can’t really tell you what it was but there was an instance where one of our ‘PHP script products’ stopped working and we had all sorts of complains everywhere on Facebook. Since then I learned a lot about how important to keep our products to continue to be developed and stay on top of the quality standards. Of course especially and technically since we were in the software business but I guess that is the same everywhere. It’s not just about hyping up a brand, your products need to be great.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

I would say Facebook. As an advertiser, you have the option to extend your advertising reach to Instagram since they are both the same company. Facebook has made it very easy for advertisers to advertise their products to reach your target in a non obstructive way, as well as respecting the privacy of its users. You can actually read their ToS and you’ll see how much effort they have put into making this work. I’ve had great experience running Facebook Advertising campaigns for my clients, and of course in specific countries like the US, UK and Canada the advertising cost can be a little higher than expected. Based on my experience running these campaigns I would recommend Facebook but keep in mind that you won’t be expecting ROI immediately like how Search Engine Advertising works. You’ll want to keep your ad campaign consistent, things like content marketing for example are great for Facebook. I’d say it is the best platform to create product or brand awareness.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Instagram Doesn’t Stay The Same. Keep Learning.

Sure, for my first tip, I believe it is important that influencers keep learning about Instagram inside out. Why? Because there’s always that new feature or new algorithm that they are going to announce every once in a while. Instagram don’t stay the same and so shouldn’t you. Keep learning and don’t fall under the impression that you have mastered Instagram.

Learn about Photography. Seriously.

Most entrepreneurs who like to leverage Instagram often forget that Instagram is a social media for photos. How do you take advantage of that? Simple, by being really good at photography. Think about YouTube, sure, you can see that some folks get really famous even with cheap production setup. But once they get really famous, notice what happens next? They step up to the game by hiring professionals and get videos done with better editing and cinematography. You just can’t run way from it. Don’t be ignorant, your Instagram feed needs to look good and surely your business and brand will follow.

Keep Your Eyes Open for new emerging markets

This isn’t unique to Instagram but it’s an important one nevertheless. As a marketer you shouldn’t always target the United States or your own country. Think about MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region where the users speak Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew. These are new emerging markets and where you could potentially land yourself in a world where there’s little to none competitors for your products. Instagram supports 33 languages. Nobody ever told you that your photo caption should always be in English.

Share what your followers are posting. Make them feel special.

Similar to Retweeting, you should share or ‘re-share’ what your followers are posting. Let’s say if you own a restaurant, obviously you should be encouraging your customers to share the dishes or the interior look and feel or your restaurant across social media. In addition to that, you should also be sharing what they have shared. If someone posted about that delicious Pasta from the menu to their IG Story, you should re-upload that story, tag that customer and thanking them. Make them feel like they are part of the brand.

Promote Creatively by Making the Most out of Instagram Features

Instagram Stories have become a great feature to promote products. They have the CTA (call to action) opening up a link by swiping. You may have seen these implemented in bunch of creative ways. Imagine if you are promoting a cereal box, you can have something like ‘Swipe up to make your day better’, and it opens up a link to that cereal box. It’s fun because it’s not about baiting people to click on a link, you do have to swipe up, and people don’t accidentally do that. It’s quite effective, and it’s very fun to think about a bunch of different ways to make people swipe up.

Use Instagram Polls to Engage with your Followers

Polls are probably the most addicting way to engage with your followers. I use it all the time not just for business but through my personal Instagram account. For some reasons you get a lot of people to engage with polls compare to other features on Instagram, particularly because it is simple but yet it does requires certain attention to it. You can make a series of Instagram stories with polls and ask people to tag their friends to cast a vote.

I’d like the world to be a safer place just like everybody else, there’s nothing so different about what I wish. I think we can start by looking at ourselves in the mirror and make that change, not just merely imagining all the people living life in peace. The best thing about the social media is the ability to be heard. You don’t have to knock on BBC’s door and ask them to let everybody know about your story. You can do that right away in less than 5 seconds. There’s good and there’s bad online or offline it doesn’t matter. It always have to start with you. We had a movement after movement, but we are lacking significant efforts to change things. That’s my answer. I want people to have a look at themselves and start contributing. We all can inspire a movement in each other.

Elon Musk. Why? He’s the real life Tony Stark. I doubt if we’re going to have a lunch together, but please tag him.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

“Keep your eyes open for new emerging markets. was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“When you show that you have your client’s best interests at heart and when you genuinely root for…

“When you show that you have your client’s best interests at heart and when you genuinely root for their success on and off the field, then your brands’ reach is endless.” with Shahob Mehr and Candice Georgiadis

Your content is seen by so many people, that it may catch the eye of a prospective client. Everyone is one click away from being reached and showing that you have your clients best interests at heart and when you genuinely root for their success on and off the field, then your brands’ reach is endless. Your clientele are your family members, so treat them as such on your platforms.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Shahob Mehr. Shahob is the Social Media and Marketing Manager for William Raymond Communications, a public relations, marketing and crisis communications firm specializing in professional athletes and entertainers. WRC’s clients consist of the NFL, NBA, broadcasters, podcast hosts, and everyone in between who is looking to expand and protect their brand. Shahob has an eagle eye on the social media landscape when it comes to the latest trends, most talked about platforms, and pop culture to fully utilize content creation. Shahob uses his platform to show the other side of sports that you don’t necessarily see every day. He strives in building and developing relationships between athletes and the everyday fan.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was always the kid in school who read, talked, and debated sports. And I had a close knit of friends who shared that same love and passion with me, still to this day. I didn’t know that such a career in social media and sports existed entering college nor was I sure if it was something people considered to be a “real job”. For 5 years, I worked hard and received my Bachelors in Kinesiology hoping to work anywhere in the field related to sports science.

I took a year off after graduating to work full time before realizing that I wanted to be involved in the business side of this remarkable industry. So, I enrolled at Long Beach State University’s Sport Management Master’s program (I will be receiving my M.A. at the end of January!) hoping to open my opportunities, network, and find a new career path.

While bouncing through internships, I was offered the position of Social Media and Marketing Manager by William Raymond Communications’ CEO, Lauren Renschler. Her faith and leadership skills allowed me to be myself. For the first time in my life, I can truly tell people that I love what I do. To wake up every single day to pursue your childhood passion is something that words can’t explain. All credit goes to my second family at William Raymond Communications that works tirelessly with love and enthusiasm for what they do, 24/7, 365 days a year.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

Social Media Marketing is a round the clock, 24-hour job. You must be kept up to date with the latest trends in pop culture and in my case the sporting world. If I miss the latest highlight play on Twitter, or one of my clients’ story on Instagram by a certain time frame, then I missed out on a huge opportunity to capitalize and market my brand.

Social Media Marketing helps validate your brand and drive loyal customers/fans to your company. Often, you are the first line of interaction for anyone. Having that constant mindset of how we can organically create content has driven our success rate. We strive to not just be consistent for WRC, but for our athletes in a timely and responsible matter.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Not a story necessarily, but the most interesting thing that I have faced since starting my career has to be the general assumption that being involved with social media is simply just tweeting away or posting on Instagram, as if there’s no thought put behind it. That is maybe 1% of what a Social Media manager does in his/her day. There are so many things that goes behind the scene for my career at least. It involves being in contact with graphic designers and video editors for the best quality of photos and videos. I have to be aware of any article, good or bad that is being posted about my clients, my colleagues and I discuss our partners and sponsors that I have to be mindful of when posting something. All of these things I mentioned are under a time restriction too, if a couple hours or days pass, then I lost my window of opportunity to push something out that would’ve made a huge difference in maximizing our company’s outreach.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake I made has to be the typos. The person’s username that I’m trying to tag might have an underscore and/or number eerily similar to a random stranger, but luckily we have the edit button (Twitter, we need one ASAP). The lesson learned is to double, triple, even quadruple check your work!

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Instagram’s platform for sure. After all, the saying goes “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Our presence on there has been extremely effective due to consistently sending out content in a timely and relatable matter, utilizing Instagram’s algorithm to our advantage, but most importantly humanizing and making our clients relatable to the common person.

Your content is seen by so many people, that it may catch the eye of a prospective client. Everyone is one click away from being reached and showing that you have your clients best interests at heart and when you genuinely root for their success on and off the field, then your brands’ reach is endless. Your clientele are your family members, so treat them as such on your platforms.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Hashtags, Hashtags, and Yes, Hashtags:

Posting hashtags is the very first pillar of getting eyes on your account. I say this because think of hashtags as being the first introduction to a stranger for your profile. Find hashtags that are relevant to what you’re posting and the most popular ones related to that relevancy. Finally, post your hashtags in the comments section. It looks cleaner, more professional, and when someone happens to be scrolling by your photo, they’ll see “1 comment” instead of your hashtags spilled everywhere.

2. Utilizing the algorithm to your advantage:

Instagram favors accounts that keeps their followers engaged and active for as much as possible. So keep engaging your audience, respond, comment, like, etc. Do not repeat the same hashtags over and over, or else Instagram will throw you under the spam accounts which means less eyes on your profile.

3. Having accessory applications that aid in the professional and clean look of your page:

Having certain apps will aid and develop your account in ways that Instagram itself won’t. Applications such as CutStory help cut your videos into clean 15 second (or more) slates that help with your stories or 60 second long videos. Another one that I love to use is Adobe Spark Post which creates unbelievable visuals and helps watermark your photos.

4. Adding a location in your posts:

Putting a location on your picture and videos drives even more eyes to your profile. But it’s important to keep the location relevant to what you’re posting. Do not just tag Time Square with a picture of something clearly taken in your living room. This comes in handy for me especially when I’m posting about clients and their games. If a client of mine is playing a basketball game against the Golden State Warriors up in the Bay Area, then whatever photo I post of him will be located in Oracle Arena. Oracle Arena is relevant, related to the game, and you have thousands of fans, media, and others at home checking up on that location in real time. Relevancy in a timely matter is key!

5. Posting at the correct time:

I cannot stress how important it is to post at the correct time. I currently live on the West Coast, so I have to keep the East Coast in mind anytime I send something out. Sometimes that can possibly mean scheduling a post for 4 or 5 in the morning so people in New York, Boston, or Miami can wake up to William Raymond Communications on their feeds. More engagement stems from sending out a picture, video, or story early in the morning or late at night when people are not at work and presumably on their mobile devices.

6. The Caption:

The caption is the most fun and in my personal opinion is the heart of what your business represents. Other than what you post, your captions really differentiate leveraging a good business on Instagram from a great one. I can name several Instagram accounts off the top of my head that has kept me engaged and made me a big fan based off their captions alone. This is where you can make people laugh, get them inspired, emotional, etc. So let your creativity run wild here.

Create, Create, Create, and Watch it Bloom

If I can inspire a movement, especially on a social media landscape, it would be to find a career that you love and enjoy every single day. Do not ever listen to someone that says your dreams are invalid.

It only takes that one person, that one opportunity for someone to see your full potential and help you take the next giant step. So go pursue that hobby of yours that you set aside and be proud to show off your work on social media. Even if nobody understands what you’re going after, they will respect your leap of faith and you will have many eyes on it.

Man, this is a hard one. Being the sports junkie that I am, sitting down with Kobe Bryant and just picking his brain for an hour would be amazing. He’s a genius beyond the game of basketball. His constant craft and attention to detail in regards to his outside ventures is unmatched and unparalleled with any athlete that I’ve witnessed.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

“When you show that you have your client’s best interests at heart and when you genuinely root for… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Authenticity creates empathy and loyalty from your followers and goes a long way in building a…

“Authenticity creates empathy and loyalty from your followers and goes a long way in building a long lasting tribe that will last for the ages.” with John Huntinghouse and Candice Georgiadis

Be authentic. Not fake, social media authentic but authentic authentic. Are you a small business and struggling with a business issue? Are you a larger brand and you are trying to get your “tribe” to better connect with you? Well let them behind the curtain. Not the fake curtain that you spend hours prepping and getting ready for prior to you pulling it back but the real curtain. Authenticity creates empathy and loyalty from your followers and goes a long way in building a long lasting tribe that will last for the ages.

I had the pleasure of interviewing John Huntinghouse. John is the Director of Digital Marketing at Epic Marketing, a multi-million dollar a year full service marketing agency located in Utah. He has his M.B.A. from the University of Utah and has over 10 years of digital marketing experience in social media and digital advertising. He has worked with a variety of national and local brands such as Disney, Amazon and VASA Fitness. He has his own blog that receives over 1 million pageviews a month over 250,000 followers on social media. He also has been teaching digital marketing for the past three years at LDS Business College and currently sits on multiple Digital Marketing Advisory Boards.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I actually used to be a cardiovascular genetic researcher until I ended up taking an entrepreneurship class at the University of Utah while I was in my MBA program. I heard that he fed the students pizza so I figured that would be a great class for me. It turns out that it was in that class that I found my true passion in life, understanding the creation process. I learned how to create new things (businesses, campaigns, departments, projects) under conditions of high uncertainty. It was here that I finally realized my true passion in life and from here I started my own business and became a full-time blogger and started my journey into digital marketing.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

You could look at all of the brands that I have worked with over the past 10 years or the millions of dollars I have spent on social media advertising and realize that I might know a thing or two when it comes to Social Media Marketing.

Or the fact that I was able to grow organically, from scratch, my own social media following that currently has over 250,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Or how I helped the #1 TV station in Utah grow their Instagram account by 750% month over month and again say that I know a little about Social Media Marketing.

Or you can look at the over 400 students I have taught social media marketing to and see how they have been able to grow within the industry by utilizing the tools and instructions from the program. You could look at all of these things and think that maybe I know a little something about this space but then again…maybe you don’t. In that case, there probably isn’t much that I could say to change your mind.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Probably the most heartwarming story that has happened since I started this career came from a former student of mine. He didn’t know anything about digital marketing or social media when he signed up for my “Introduction to Social Media Marketing” class. He struggled at first because he wasn’t very tech savvy at all (he didn’t even have an email account). Slowly but surely we got him to understand the principles of social media and he got fairly proficient at it.

Towards the end of the semester he came up to me and said “I hated computers and hated the idea of social media even more. But this class forced me to get ‘comfortable with being uncomfortable’. I decided to embrace it and do the best I could with it.

Last week out of the blue, my daughter who I have not talked to for over 19 years was able to find me and reached out to me to reconnect. I was in tears. We talked and talked and talked and now my current family and I are all going to be seeing her next month to attend my daughter’s wedding.”

There will probably not be another more impactful story that happens to me than helping this father gain the confidence to get online and helping him reconnect to his estranged daughter.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Probably the funniest mistake I ever made was when I was working for a major local news outlet here in Salt Lake. I was watching an NBA game and I was live tweeting the game like many others on my personal Twitter account. At half-time I switched accounts to make an update of some smaller news that broke on the official twitter account of the television station and then took a break.

When I came back to watch the second half, the refs made some horrible calls and I went onto Twitter and started berated the referees like any idiotic fan would do when all of a sudden, one of my friends who was in the room said “dude, you’re ranting from the news’ account, not your account.” I had forgotten to switch back to my personal account.

It was incredibly embarrassing and funny in hindsight. Lesson learned, be much more mindful and present with whatever I am doing as it may have unintended consequences into other aspects of my life.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Both Facebook and Instagram are the two platforms that I have the most experience in when it comes to driving revenue for a business. One of our clients, a multi-state gym has seen tremendous success utilizing both Facebook and Instagram to drive profitability for their business. By utilizing both of these platforms we have increased their total online ROAS (return on advertising spend) from 2.4x to 10.62x. They are both powerful tools in understanding and shaping awareness for any business and are heavily underutilized by most companies.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

1) Utilize remarketing audiences and actually advertise with Instagram. I know that nobody wants to hear about paying for ads on Instagram and people are trying to find different hacks organically to grow but most companies leave so much on the table by not actually advertising on the platform.

When you advertise, you can specifically target individuals based on how they have already interacted with your business and by location, both of which you can’t do if you just post organically.

For one of our clients who is a multi-state gym, we retargeted individuals who had already been to the website in the last 30 days who were not already members at the gym. By utilizing this audience, we were able to deliver an 18x ROAS for them during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, smashing their previous records they had in previous years. Yes, you can get sales by organically posting on your Instagram account but nothing compares with the amount of sales you will deliver by spending a few dollars on marketing on Instagram.

2) Create a real paradigm shift: If you want to grow your following on Instagram for your business, you need to stick out. Do you do photography? Do you post amazing photos on your account with very little engagement and followers? Well join the club. Just posting amazing photos onto Instagram alone will not cut it. The reason is because as amazing as your photos may be, there are a bazillion other talented photographers are also sharing their amazing photos on Instagram as well.

Photographer Seth Casteel stood out and really made a name for himself by capturing photos of dogs catching jumping into the water catching different objects. He created a paradigm shift by photographing dogs in a new way that hadn’t been photographed before. Is he the most talented photographer in the world? Of course not but he now has over 118k followers on Instagram and has created a cult following simply by taking something old (photographs of dogs) and presenting them in a new light.

3) Give them a reason to come to your Instagram account daily and be consistent about it. @cupbop is a Korean food truck who posts on a daily basis exactly where their trucks are going to be every day. Their customers have developed a habit of going to Instagram specifically to check out where they will be and as your brand grows, the effect of this habit will be magnified. At first when Cupbop started doing this on their Instagram account, it didn’t drive the needle for new sales or for engagement.

4) Leverage authentic influencers and brands to help fuel your growth. You need to partner up with influencers who will evangelize your brand with their followers..

@shonduras has created a media empire online and fully immerses himself with the brands he chooses to work with. He fully engages the brand and their story into his and does it so well, if he didn’t say that it was a sponsored post, you wouldn’t know that it was. By fully immersing himself with the brand, his followers can see how he would actually use the brands in his daily routine and how they could do likewise.

5) Utilize engagement pods. Engagement pods are groups of brands/individuals who come together who decide that they will interact and help promote each other’s efforts when it comes to their Instagram efforts. This was the tactic that we utilized to help grow our @ldsmsile Instagram account from 200 followers, to over 7,000 followers 8 weeks later.

6) Be authentic. Not fake, social media authentic but authentic authentic. Are you a small business and struggling with a business issue? Are you a larger brand and you are trying to get your “tribe” to better connect with you? Well let them behind the curtain. Not the fake curtain that you spend hours prepping and getting ready for prior to you pulling it back but the real curtain.

Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner does this incredibly well and one of their most watched video ever was when he let the viewers in on a real struggle they were having with their shows. Authenticity creates empathy and loyalty from your followers and goes a long way in building a long lasting tribe that will last for the ages.

If I could inspire a movement, it would be a movement to help individuals to see themselves as they truly are. It would help individuals to see their intrinsic self-worth without any qualifiers. You are of worth…period. No additional follow ups, no additional commentary but simply a matter of fact.

Not only would it allow for better self-reflection and self-improvement, you would be able to see yourself as you truly are, an individual with intrinsic value regardless of what you did. You then would be in a better position to see areas where you could improve and grow to improve both your life and those around you without falling into the despair of self-pity.

If I could sit down for breakfast with anyone, it would definitely be Ed Catmull without a doubt. It’s easy to highlight all of his successes now and everything that he has accomplished at Pixar and at Disney but it is his story prior to reaching that success that has always intrigued me.

I always recommend to all of my students to read “Creativity Inc.” that Catmull wrote because I love how he lays out the creative process or put in another way, process of creating new things. This has had major ramification on my life as I apply those principles to almost every aspect of what I do (family, personal, clients, agency work etc.)

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

“Authenticity creates empathy and loyalty from your followers and goes a long way in building a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Using Instagram to Dramatically Improve your Business, with John Kanell and Candice Georgiadis

I had the pleasure of interviewing John Kanell, founder of the digital brand, Preppy Kitchen. Preppy Kitchen is a digital food- and family-focused brand that empowers home cooks of all skill levels with inspiration for all of their cooking and hosting needs. John’s goal with Preppy Kitchen is to make cooking at home more approachable, ensuring his audience can spend more time with loved ones. He believes that by providing his followers with the right techniques and a few basic tools, he can help them discover how easy and enjoyable it can be to put together a meal worth sharing. With his cooking, John makes it a priority to use seasonal and readily-available ingredients that will not only make his dishes look delicious, but taste great too. While he loves to scour local farmers markets for the best produce, he also cultivates his own home garden, ensuring readily availability of seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs. A husband to Brian and father to eighteen-month-old twins, Lachlan and George, John is a Los Angeles native who divides his time between Los Angeles and Connecticut. When he’s not in the kitchen, he can be found renovating his new home and its adjacent farm with Brian.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I had been a middle school math and science teacher for over a decade, but have always loved cooking, baking, and entertaining. After my husband and I decided to start a family, I wanted a job that allowed me to work from home so I could spend more time with my (future) children. Now that our sons are 19-months-old, I’m so happy I took the plunge as it has allowed me to be with them every day. Family time is incredibly important to me.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I’ve grown Preppy Kitchen from zero to over a million followers across various social media platforms in 3 years by constantly adapting to changing audience habits and platform best practices. Almost from day 1 of starting Preppy Kitchen on instagram, video has been my primary medium which helped me stand apart early on. Many culinary bloggers are still only publishing still imagery.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Having been an art major in college and painted for many years beyond that, I started Preppy Kitchen with recipes I loved but none of the aesthetic from my artwork. After sharing some of my somewhat homely recipes my husband gently reminded me that people can’t taste my creations online so they have to be visually engaging too to stop people in their scrolls and gain their attention. I started applying my artistic sensibility to everything I made and luckily people’s interest was piqued enough to cluck through, learn more about the recipe, and try it for themselves! The amount of user generated content from my recipes has been very gratifying.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I’ve had some cakes just fall over and collapse when I had finally finished decorating them. I ended up sharing the fails with my audience and learned that they want to see what really happens behind the camera, not just the polished end product. Honesty and relatability are crucial factors in developing an authentic relationship with your audience.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Brands right now are incredibly focused on Instagram. Brands will always follow audience engagement and right now the lifestyle audience is most engaged on Instagram.

I would want many more people to make their own food and eat together with family and friends. Gathering around the dinner table and sharing your thoughts and experiences with loved ones while you enjoy a good meal is so important for staying connected. Food brings people together and it’s been fun to see how Preppy Kitchen has become a dinner table where people from all over the world gather to celebrate their love of good food.

I admire entrepreneurs like Jeffrey Katzenberg, Katherine Power, and Brian Lee for building incredible businesses that touch people on a daily basis.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Using Instagram to Dramatically Improve your Business, with John Kanell and Candice Georgiadis was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“I learned the hard way that authenticity is essential in marketing.

“I learned the hard way that authenticity is essential in marketing. It’s not about quantity, but quality” with Ben Guez and Candice Georgiadis

When I started marketing, I was young and stupid. Now I am old and stupid. I was pro “Fake it until you made it”. I made a stupid mistake of buying a bunch of fake likes for a clients Facebook page. It was ridiculous and caused a backlash on their page, as they received 50k new likes in a single day, but it didn’t make any sense. I really learned that authenticity is essential in marketing. It’s not about quantity, but quality and one small mistake can hurt your brand reputation- a lot.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Guez . He left France 5 years ago to start his entrepreneur journey and founded his business venture as LAXIR a digital marketing agency, and been involved in many start up since then as Shamana, Tradefan and Universal promote. He is also a Savage!

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I run a social media marketing network in LA, where we sustain a clientele of over 2,000 small business owners. We recently launched a series of campaigns for a few big brands, like Lionsgate. I am also active on Instagram, and currently have over 90,000 followers. And most of all, I am a learning addict so I am always keeping up with the latest updates and technological improvements within the social media world. I am a big believer in A/B testing for everything, and trying it out there first.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

A few years ago I had a client who was launching his Vape brand and needed exposure. He was trying to be perceived as a fashion item, it was more than just a vape ( he used leather material and it was indeed very fancy). I decided to go to a fashion show in DTLA and sneak into the models changing room . I gave all of them a vape and asked them to use it on the runway.

And that’s what they did. We gained a lot of exposure from it and made the headline for taking initiative and merging to a different world- fashion meets vape.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I started marketing, I was young and stupid. Now I am only old and stupid. I was pro “Fake it until you made it”.

I made a stupid mistake of buying a bunch of fake likes for a client’s Facebook page. It was ridiculous and caused a backlash on their page, as they received 50k new likes in a single day, but it didn’t make any sense.

I really learned that authenticity is essential in marketing. It’s not about quantity, but the quality and one small mistake can hurt your brand reputation- a lot.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

The most effective platform to use varies based on the business. You have to assess your business and decide how you want to be seen and engage with your audience. For example; I find Wendy’s twitter to be very entertaining. They found a creative way to engage with consumers and drive traffic to their business. However, Twitter isn’t something that I utilize for my business.

Business wise Facebook and Instagram are my go to in terms of lead generation and bringing traffic to your site while increasing your brand awareness.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Niche hashtags
Hashtags help you to organize and categorize, but don’t just #hearts&flowers. Try using hashtags that are within the market that you would like to target. This will help you attract the right audience rather than a bunch of irrelevant users. If you need help, try following hashtags your followers are using to help you appeal to your audience.
2. Know when to post
The cream to your pie, the most thrilling adventure, is right after you post and you look down at your phone to see who’s liked or commented. To know and understand when your audience is active on social media it’s probably best that you download a social listening tool, something that can monitor engagement. The end result is that it shows you the best times to post a day. This will optimize the number of likes and comments you get. We’re sure that you will reach the right audience and you’ll definitely get into those triple digits.
3. Sliding into your DMs
Don’t be afraid to interact with your followers or influencers that can help boost your brands’ image, slide into the DM’s, there’s no shame in this. Talk to your audience that way you would talk to someone face to face. Remember, don’t be afraid to tell them what you want and to let them know what’s in it for them. This is your opportunity for people to ask you questions about who you are and what your ultimate goal is as a business.
4. Stories
Usually when people go on Instagram, the first thing they look at are the stories. This is an effective way to keep your customers engaged with the most up-to-date news and relevant content.
5. Content
Displaying goal-driven, stimulating, and consistent content throughout your business’s Instagram page can urge consumers to want to visit your page. This can show just how creative and professional your business really is.
6. Engage with influencers
Instagram is the hot place for influencers to post about their lives as well as what brands they enjoy interacting with. This gives you the opportunity to work a deal with them in order to further promote your business and increase its followers.

I am a big supporter of the entrepreneur community. I work to advocate for the importance of starting your own business and creating your own success. As someone who moved from France to America to build a business as a digital marketer, I want to support other people in my position. I want to influence other immigrant entrepreneurs to pursue their own professional endeavors.

There are so many people to choose from, I can’t possibly choose just one. I would want to speak with Jen Gurecki to discuss her travel and how she perfected her system to work remotely. I want to engage with Gary Vee for his authentic tools in motivation. He has a unique way to inspire people on a personal level rather than using conventional methods and phrases. I want to learn more about Xavier Niels school project because I think it can be a game changer in education. And lastly, I would want to learn advice from Jeremi Berrebi, regarding business and Torah.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

“I learned the hard way that authenticity is essential in marketing. was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“I learned to think big, beyond myself, and above the ceiling I had set for the business” with…

“I learned to think big, beyond myself, and above the ceiling I had set for the business” with Corri Smith and Candice Georgiadis

I’d have to say that the silliest mistake when starting was thinking too small. I was limited by my expectations, the concept of keeping it small, and plan to minimize growth opportunities. I learned to think big, beyond myself, and above the ceiling I had set for the business and re-evaluated and expanded my concept of success.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Corri Smith, Owner of Black Wednesday, a Marketing Consultancy and PR company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Known for out-of-the-box thinking and creative concepting, Corri leads her team to support clients large and small in developing innovative marketing messaging, campaigns and programming. From there, the team engages the community by spreading the word across platforms, from earned media coverage to social media campaigning, to influencer activation, events and more.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I always knew I would own my own business, but it took me a while to learn what my specific monetizable skill sets were. Post undergrad, I started in sales and quickly learned that I liked the idea of selling, but needed 1) human interaction, 2) to fill a void in that person’s life and 3) to be able to use soft skills through messaging rather than your everyday aggressive sales tactics. Once I got into more marketing-focused roles, my purpose was realized: I was able to capitalize on relationship building, strategic and tactical planning, and bringing creative and unique programming to life through various platforms.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

There are plenty of “social media influencers” who can speak about social media; the difference is that I am actually functioning strategically (forest) and also tactically (trees) daily. I am staying up to date with changes, but also experiencing the social media marketing landscape firsthand and across a variety of brand types, which allows me to better understand how to turn social media activation into actual dollars. In short: I am doing it, not just talking about it. I teach one SM class per month, and they always sell out far in advance. I have become a local authority, resource to the community and key marketing partner for Black Wednesday clients.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Starting your own business is thrilling and terrifying at the same time. I’d have to say that the most interesting thing that has come from being an entrepreneur is the experience of having created something from scratch ($0) and watching it grow to a living, breathing machine that supports 25+ clients, 5 FT employees and continuous growth from a profit margin and revenue standpoint. From the social media perspective, I’d say the most interesting thing is that I no longer get to be a consumer in society as I am almost TOO plugged in, to the social media landscape, to the dark side of social, to the game that the space has now become.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I’d have to say that the silliest mistake when starting was thinking too small. I was limited by my expectations, the concept of keeping it small, and plan to minimize growth opportunities. I learned to think big, beyond myself, and above the ceiling I had set for the business and re-evaluated and expanded my concept of success.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

The most effective use I have found within the social media marketing space is the engagement piece. The SM landscape has shifted from just a place to post, post, post. Yes, content has to be exciting and creative, and photos/messaging need to be awesome, but we also need to work on reeling people in. One example is how we use Instagram to market businesses. For example, we might post something and then go look for people who might be interested to see it and try to bring them over to our/our client’s page.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

1) Use Facebook Ads Manager to create ads specifically targeted for Instagram. We know people are now wired to consider Instagram as a shopping platform, but there are also algorithms in place — buying ads can allow your message to get in front of your own audience, but also a broader one.

2) Paying attention to posting times and audience engagement on certain content themes — we use business page insights to better understand when our people are online and manually keep track of which types of content they prefer and engage with the most.

3) Testing against yourself, instead of feeding into the hype, is key. I read about 10–15 blogs with updated SM guidance daily, but the real magic is in paying close attention to audience and followers. We often archive poorly behaving Instagram posts and try posting them at different times.

4) Engaging our followers. Example: Not just expecting them to always like our posts — we can like theirs to. Providing reminders that there is a human behind the screen creates greater connectivity between brands and their followers

5) Seeking influencers to leverage can be a great way of expanding on traditional word-of-mouth (isn’t social media just an expansion of that?). We work with macro-influencers with paid budgets to get in front of larger audiences for products or larger campaigns; we use micro-influencers for more localized items like new menu roll outs.

6) Replying to every single comment. Comments on posts add fire to the success of your post — we have seen success from liking and replying to every comment on our feed posts (2 comments are > than 1, right?) This takes time, but it’s worth it.

If I could inspire a movement, it would be for every single person to consider themselves a marketer. Consider everything you wear, everything you say, everything you do as a targeted message with purpose and a plan.

Jack White. In my life, music has always been on, in the background through headphones as I work or through the car as I drive, or in the foreground at concerts. I am not musical, but a passionate supporter. Since the late 90’s I have been obsessed with Jack White’s music, and more importantly, his creativity. Making a living off of talent while maintaining a general offbeat demeanor, I find his odd-ness, outrageous ideas, and business success truly fascinating and so very inspiring.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

“I learned to think big, beyond myself, and above the ceiling I had set for the business” with… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Use Instagram to Dramatically Improve Your Business, with Jared Vinik and Candice Georgiadis

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jared Vinik, founder of the Brooklyn-based streetwear company FLAN (Forever Laughing At Nothing). The brand is just as sweet as its namesake with colorful, comfortable and fun streetwear for all. Let there be coziness!

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path? Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Due to popular streetwear becoming less and less accessible, I wanted to create a clothing brand that stood out from the others on the market. I wanted to inspire all to stop taking themselves so seriously by adopting the company’s value of Forever Laughing at Nothing.

I remember my first big deal. I was in Tokyo, Japan in a corporate high-rise. I always try to remember the feeling I had when I walked into that boardroom.

I wore short tie-dye shorts and a tank top with crazy sandals, which perfectly represents FLAN’s brand mission of providing stylish comfort in all settings; whether it’s a plane ride, an important business meeting or a night out.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

Right now, it’s about building a relatable, real life brand that surrounds social media. Reaching out to some of the biggest artists/influencers/celebrities in the world is a great start, but that’s not the full strategy behind FLAN. While it’s great for the artist to wear the product on social media, it’s just as important to get their community and people surrounding them actually wearing it.

People today are hit with ads every second of every day and the ad space isn’t the same as it’s always been. Having people wearing FLAN in real life is the real strategy behind the social media. Natural buzz combined with organic, user-generated content is better than that manifested through paid marketing.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

In the first collection, we created a diner-inspired t-shirt. I put “Famous Since 1960” because I thought my dad was born in that year, but he was actually born in 1959…

If anybody reading this was born in 1960, I have the perfect t-shirt for you.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

Definitely Instagram. One example — posting high quality product shot grids is a great way to very clearly and simply display your product, while the caption section allows you to include any relevant specs about the materials of the product. We always post product shot grids of our releases, sometimes on the day of release and sometimes a few days later, to refresh our fans’ memories and keep the excitement going.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Giveaway contests with other accounts — We’ve had a lot of success partnering with other accounts on giveaways where in order to enter, you must follow each account and engage in various other ways. This is a great way to get in front of a specific audience outside of your usual following.
Question stories — This is a great way to engage with viewers. Posting something like “Whoever responds with the best joke receives a free sticker,” drives engagement and becomes something fun that people can expect periodically from your brand.
Poll stories — Polling your followers gives you another avenue to talk to your fanbase, albeit from a more passive manner. For instance, you can ask which colorway of a product is preferred, and thus know to order the most desired colorway for that product in the future.
Responding to DM’s — This is obviously not public-facing but responding to DM’s and private messages on Instagram shows your audience that you’re not just a robot — you’re a real person reading their messages and willing to respond. A little effort and engagement with your audience here can definitely go a long way!
Reposting Stories — Anytime someone tags and posts a story wearing FLAN, we repost onto our page. We do this to both show appreciation for the support and to spread the message that if you buy FLAN and tag yourself wearing it, we will repost you. This adds a little bit of incentive and shows our followers that we are listening.
Commenting — Commenting on other accounts is a really valuable tool for us and is yet another way to give the Instagram version of FLAN more life and soul. We always try to actively comment and engage on our friends’ and other brands posts.

I would love to push the “don’t take yourself too seriously” or even the “kid at heart” movement. The entire FLAN team is truly kids at heart, and it’s our belief that everyone else is, too. The idea of not taking yourself too seriously means appreciating the beauty of life, it means spreading positivity and it means withholding judgement of others. We’re all in this together, so instead of judging differences, we should not take everything so seriously and all just join up, have some fun, and stay Forever Laughing At Nothing. Maybe one day!

It might be hard for you guys to arrange this, but:

Salvador Dali. You never said if they could be dead or alive. First things first, people don’t know that Dali literally NEVER paid for meals. Imagine that. He drew on each of his checks, and said the art was worth more than whatever he had to pay. The king of social campaigns that go against the status quo. Drawing close analogies between food and sex and to never stop innovating. Just imagine his strategy to approach influencer marketing.

Also, he never left his pet leopard. I don’t have a pet leopard, but my dog Gabe never leaves my side. He’s FLAN’s first full time employee. So, make it a reservation for four: me, Gabe, Dali himself and his pet leopard.

Thank you so much for joining us!

How to Use Instagram to Dramatically Improve Your Business, with Jared Vinik and Candice Georgiadis was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Maree Jones and Candice Georgiadis

I had the pleasure of interviewing Maree Jones, social media strategist. Maree Jones is passionate about everything she does, and it shows. As a seasoned content, social media and PR strategist, Maree manages all aspects of social media campaigns for clients: from executing day-to-day tactics that excite fans and followers to creating that perfect 30K-foot view social strategy. A trend forecaster and social media proponent for both individuals and organizations, Maree speaks all over the US on how to achieve a best-in-class digital footprint and online reputation. Blending data analysis with a razor-sharp intuitive approach, Maree’s insights have been featured in PR News, Inc., AdWeek, Buzzfeed and other online publications, and she has received recognition for her work in PR by the American Advertising Federation. Not to be outdone by her professional accolades, Maree’s personal interests include being a wife, mom, foster mom, pet mom, a remote work advocate, and the creator/Chief Curator of her own buzzworthy digital platforms: FemmePrint and The Influencer Whisperer. Maree currently resides in Birmingham, Alabama, and travels all over the US to speak to and work with organizations of all shapes and sizes.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I began working in social media nearly 10 years ago. Back then, I was actually an educator, and I started getting my students interested in the material they were learning by incorporating elements of social media. It was a smash, but what I quickly realized was how interested I was in social media as a discipline. So I left teaching and began offering my services to whoever would let me. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with large and small ad shops, PR firms, beloved national CPG brands and really amazing global communities. Today, I manage social media efforts for organizations such as Young Entrepreneur Council and Forbes Business Councils.

Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I don’t necessarily see myself as an authority or expert, just because the world of social media is in constant flux. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of someone who is an expert in a discipline that isn’t the same as it was a year ago. What I do refer to myself as, however, is a superuser. I consume and create an extraordinary amount of social media content for myself and my clients, and I see every piece of content published as an opportunity to learn and to better perfect my craft.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

I’ve been in the office chair posting when a piece of content I developed suddenly went viral. I sat in disbelief as those numbers went up and up and up. Into the hundreds. Into the thousands. Into the millions. That’s a wild experience. It’s something everyone thinks they want, too, until you realize that when something goes viral, it’s almost as if it doesn’t belong to you anymore. It’s just out there. For the world. Then there are questions of licensing and monetizing and whether or not you should.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started, I did what many people do when they first start out, or if they’re inexperienced with social media — I linked my accounts. Specifically, I connected my LinkedIn account and my Twitter accounts together. So when I posted on Twitter, it went straight through to my LinkedIn feed. One Saturday, I kept Tweeting out pretty obnoxious Tweets about my team (and a few Tweets about the other guys). The next day, when I checked LinkedIn, I noticed a pretty snarky comment from a man who was my insurance agent at the time, berating me for not keeping LinkedIn “professional.” Needless to say, I learned my lesson and unlinked my accounts. I also found myself another insurance agent.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

For the past couple of years, I have had an on and off freelancing business, and most of my website referrals tend to come directly from LinkedIn, and, surprisingly, Twitter. People find me, and they want to see what type of content I produce for myself, before entrusting me to develop content or creative for them. I would say that consistency in posting (meaning every day, or every other day) for several years, directly attributes to the success and growth of my freelancing business.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share 6 ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

High-Quality Images: Instagram wouldn’t be the platform it is without beautiful, compelling images. No one is successful on that platform without something cool, great, creative, funny or interesting to share on a regular basis. High-quality photos must be the backbone of any Instagram strategy.

Consistency in Posting-Frequency: As I mentioned with LinkedIn and Twitter, consistency of posting directly contributed to my personal business growth. The same can be said for Instagram. Posting frequency, and learning what that should be for your business, is something that’s very underrated.

Leveraging Stories: It’s not enough to share a post. The super users are alerting people, via Stories, of the fact that they’ve posted something. It can be an incredible tool for getting more views and interaction on your regularly scheduled content. Plus, you can make it much more fun and engaging with gifs, stickers, and other clever Story accessories.

Saying NO to Automated DMs: I can’t tell you how disappointed I am when someone sends me an automated DM after I follow them. It’s incredibly presumptuous from a customer journey perspective.

Boosting or Promoting Posts to Target Audiences: There are some really great promotional and targeting features within Instagram business accounts. I especially love to promote content while targeting people similar to my followers. It’s handy regarding finding like-minded people.

Community Management: Some of the most successful Instagrammers are ones who take the time to follow new people, comment on posts, ask people questions and actually engage.

I noticed that there is so much negativity around social media: from fake news to issues with influencers and authenticity to complaints of social media being a time suck and an addiction. I started trying to spread much more positivity in my content about social media and some of the good that it can do. I would love to see much more positivity in all of our news feeds!

I want to have breakfast with Amy Poehler. I’ve been captivated by her since watching her on SNL, and I’ve loved everything that she’s done since. From some of my favorite movies and shows to her book Yes Please to what she’s doing with Smart Girls and Making It. She’s the epitome of creativity.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With Maree Jones and Candice Georgiadis was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.