“A picture speaks a thousand words right? So you better make sure your pictures do that.” with Vivek Chugh and Candice Georgiadis
Content marketing. Instagram, maybe more than every other platform is all about quality content. A picture speaks a thousand words right? So you better make sure your pictures do that. Otherwise why will people follow or engage with your photos?
I had the pleasure of interviewing Vivek Chugh the founder of Listables. Vivek started Listables two years back after realizing that there had to be a better way to use checklists. He has also worked at senior positions for the best companies on the planet in their respective computing verticals, and managed world class product, engineering, and operations teams worldwide.
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 really have always had a desire to start my own business, but never really had that spark or idea. Until one night, at 3 am trying to debug a major deployment issue, I wondered why couldn’t we make checklists more collaborative, interactive, auditable and community oriented.
I started digging deeper into the idea, looking for services that would fit, but I couldn’t find anything just right. Either they were too complicated, or not built well enough. So I decided I wanted to build something to fit my criteria. Fast forward a couple of years later and here we are.
Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?
When you are the founder of a startup, if frequently requires you to wear many different hats. You are the CEO, you are the marketer, the customer service, project manager and so on. Since that is the reality of a startup, it allowed me to very closely work with our marketing team over the past couple of years to really hone in on what our marketing strategy should be, what works best, our ideal customer and other KPI’s.
Through this process I really think I have become very experienced in social media marketing from content marketing, to influencer marketing and other strategies.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
I think one of the most interesting things about my personal journey is leaving a very secure six figure job to pursue my own business. It wasn’t a decision that was taken lightly but, one that I am very proud and grateful to have made. I truly enjoy working on my own business and the challenge of making it succeed.
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 was working very long hours. One particular night I was up very late finishing a build for the app. The next day I had a very important conference call with some potential partners, 10 minutes into the call I dozed off for a few minutes. Thank God I wasn’t snoring because the other people on the call just thought I got disconnected.
From that point on, I made every effort I could to make sure I was getting enough rest. People always champion hard and long work hours, like you are stronger than the next person. However that is not the case. Giving yourself proper rest, and daily breaks will allow you to work more efficiently, and produce better quality work as well. Plus you won’t fall asleep on conference calls.
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 social media platforms that we found to be most effective for Listables, are Facebook and Instagram.
Using paid Facebook and Instagram advertising combined with influencer marketing we have been able to grow over 200% year over year with an incredible ROI.
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 is certainly one of our favorite social media platforms and makes up a large part of our marketing penetration strategy.
Here are 6 ways we leverage Instagram.
Content marketing. Instagram, maybe more than every other platform is all about quality content. A picture speaks a thousand words right? So you better make sure your pictures do that. Otherwise why will people follow or engage with your photos?
Use stories. We try and use Instagram stories as often as possible. It is a great easy way to communicate with your followers and the best part about it, many people don’t use it. So while you are competing for screen time on your followers time line, when they are viewing stories, less people are posting so you will show up more often.
Engage with your followers and other users. It is important to take some time each day to engage with your followers and other users who might be interested in your business. Like their photos, make a comment, even repost one of their images.
Use influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is one of our very favorite ways of using Instagram. The concept is simple, find a popular influencer who has a similar demographic to your business, and pay them to post. For this to have the best effect you should try and have the post be of some value. Good information, a funny meme, something that will get high engagement while not being to advertorial usually works best.
Boost your posts. Like Facebook, Instagram has changed their timeline algorithm making it more difficult for business to get in front of their followers. They best way to solve this is to have good content. Aside from that, boosting your posts is a great way to increase engagement as well as get in front of current and new customers. It also doesn’t have to cost a fortune. $100-$200 per month will do the trick.
Use paid advertising. Similar to boosted posts, however this is a more structured direct sale or advertisement. For example we very aggressively use Instagram paid ads to promote the download of our app. Whereas boosted posts is more branding and awareness. With the paid ads we are trying to get a user to take a specific action.
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. 🙂
Like many people currently, I think this world can use a little more empathy and more people to lend a helping hand. I always loved the thought of the pay it forward movement, and we actually have diligently been working to build up the community section of the Listables app where users can share checklists with the community. Offering up skills and knowledge that other people in the community might find valuable. For example we partnered with the American Cancer Society to create checklists like “6 steps to help lower cancer risk” and others to help spread cancer awareness and prevention.
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 🙂
The first person that comes to mind has to be Michael Jordan. I feel there are many things we can all learn from Michael. From his work ethic, to his dedication, to his business prowess.
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
“Sometimes the most successful campaigns come from using a platform in a way it wasn’t intended.” with Dustin Zick and Candice Georgiadis
Walk before you run. The most innovative Instagram campaigns happen when the social media manager falls down a rabbit hole. Exploring and using Instagram outside of work serves as inspiration when coming up with a social media campaign. Sometimes the most successful campaigns come from using a platform in a way it wasn’t intended. This can lead to Instagram “hacks” that surprise the users and grab their attention. For example, my idea for building an Instagram scavenger hunt came from playing around on the platform. It sparked the idea that I could use geotagging and captivating images to guide users through a scavenger hunt in downtown Milwaukee.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dustin Zick, social media manager at Bader Rutter, who has more than 10 years of experience working for national brands, including Dremel Tools, Paper and Packaging Board, Kroger and Pioneer Seed. He is a Bronze Effie Award winner in the culture and arts category for his work on the Milwaukee Public Museum. Going beyond Instagram’s capabilities, Dustin created a city-wide scavenger hunt, resulting in more than a thousand participants and triggering more than 200 people to visit the Milwaukee Public Museum. Dustin “hacked” Instagram to create a unique experience by creating a collage and tagging accounts to enable an interactive experience. He achieved all of this in a short time period and with a low budget. Not only does he create social experiences but he also he works with bloggers and influencers to create visual content that tells the story of a product.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
In high school, I dreamed of being a journalist and writing for a newspaper. Around 2007 or 2008, when I was halfway through college, it became evident that a newspaper probably wasn’t a great career path. When I graduated college in 2009, I’d replaced my dream of being a journalist with the idea of joining the Peace Corps for two years and hopefully coming back to an America that was rebounding from the recession. Before I could do that though, my dad passed away unexpectedly a month after I graduated. I spent the next year bouncing around doing odd jobs (continuing my college summer job as a cemetery groundskeeper, stocking potato chips at grocery stores and more). After a year of not knowing what to do, I resolved to find a job that could become a career and landed a marketing internship at an e-commerce company that sold costumes and party supplies — this was in the summer of 2010. During my internship, I carved out a niche for myself as someone who was interested in social media — and on Jan. 1, 2011, I was employed as the company’s first social media specialist.
Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about social media marketing?
It’s easy to throw my experience out there and talk about my time doing that, but I don’t think that alone is enough to be considered an authority. Yes, I’ve spent almost a decade managing social for local, regional and national brands, won multiple awards and managed budgets of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But I think one of the most important things when it comes to being good at social media marketing is to be a consumer of it yourself, to submerse yourself in the thick of it. I’m always signing up for the newest service, trying the newest tools and trying to figure out ways to push the limits of what people expect to see from their favorite (and not-so-favorite) brands on social.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
A few years ago, I won a social media contest I’d entered on Twitter. The grand prize was a Zero-Gravity flight experience, on the same parabolic airplane that the filmmakers of Apollo 13 used to shoot the zero-gravity scenes. When I won, I had forgotten I’d entered the contest. I had to ask the woman who sent me my winning email (who was the social media manager for the brand) to call me because I wasn’t so sure that the email wasn’t a scam. So, I am probably one of the very few social media marketers who’s experienced zero gravity.
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 was managing the social media for a historic hotel in Milwaukee, I live-tweeted about half of a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game before I realized I was posting it through the hotel’s account and not my own. Fortunately, the hotel is a fan of the team, too, so it was about as “safe” of a screwup as one can have. After that, if I was going to be live-tweeting anything from my phone, I made sure I was logged out of all other accounts at that time.
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’ve found great success on different channels, and it depends on the brand, objective and audience. Platforms are constantly adapting and improving their systems, which means we’re often uncovering new successes. Right now, LinkedIn is capitalizing on sales in new ways, like making lead generation easier, and it’s adapting to audience needs as well. Instagram has become a great platform for product sales with its growing offerings. We’re finding highly engaged users; and with robust and growing paid tactics, it’s an effective channel for directly impacting revenue. I start by looking at the brand’s offerings and objectives. Then I dig into audience demographics to determine the best channels.
Let’s talk about Instagram specifically now. Can you share six ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.
Think like a general user. Whether you’re a college student trying to be an influencer or a business trying to make buzz, the rules are the same because the platform doesn’t distinguish between the two. These fundamental tips are the foundation to making your business increase dramatically by using Instagram:
1. Think visually. The photo on Instagram should stand on its own regardless of the caption. Don’t try to recycle content from other social platforms or different mediums (like a landscape photo from a Twitter post, for example). Instead, use content specific to Instagram to set your account apart and use maximum real estate on the platform. Instagram is a visual-first platform and it’s important to think of your image and how it relates to your audience. What visual story are you trying to tell? What will it inspire? Imagine the story your photo will tell without a caption before writing one to support the post.
Connect your posts thematically. View your Instagram account as an ongoing story. To amplify the story, leverage different types of media functionalities, such as Instagram Stories and boomerangs, within the app. In addition, think about your hashtags. The newest Instagram trend is to follow hashtags, rather than just accounts. Because of this popularity, Instagram has increased its search capabilities, which gives brands the opportunity to “connect” with hashtags, location identifiers and other accounts.
3. Explore paid promotions. A little goes a long way when it comes to paid promotions on Instagram. Small businesses tend to shy away from investing in social media, but it only takes a few dollars to make a sizable difference. Paid promotions build awareness and capitalize on key efforts of any business. Social media managers only need $20 to $30 when advertising locally to make an impact. There are no minimal contributions on Instagram paid promotions, which means you have full control over your investment.
4. Walk before you run. The most innovative Instagram campaigns happen when the social media manager falls down a rabbit hole. Exploring and using Instagram outside of work serves as inspiration when coming up with a social media campaign. Sometimes the most successful campaigns come from using a platform in a way it wasn’t intended. This can lead to Instagram “hacks” that surprise the users and grab their attention. For example, my idea for building an Instagram scavenger hunt came from playing around on the platform. It sparked the idea that I could use geotagging and captivating images to guide users through a scavenger hunt in downtown Milwaukee.
5. Think about your audience. Your primary purpose on Instagram is to give your audience value. To do so, a solid audience analysis is needed to best direct efforts. What age group is your target audience in? Do they like basic product photos or perhaps they want to see the product in use? Do they follow dog accounts? Maybe you want to take a picture of your product with a dog to best grab their attention. Asking yourself questions about your audience gives you a better idea of how to strategically post on Instagram. You can only engage your audience if you understand what they want to see on social media.
6. Build a social team that responds as quickly as the platform. Businesses need a social media team that can quickly handle a crisis. A single negative comment on a post can escalate quickly if not handled correctly. You need people — even if it’s just you — who are always ready to respond to defuse a situation. On the opposite side, responding quickly to positive posts can be equally important. Say a celebrity shared an image of your product. Responding quickly and capitalizing on the opportunity can increase traffic and lead to more business. Being ready for both negative and positive social moments is key to increasing your business on 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. 🙂
I am blessed to have a 12-year-old rescue dog that I adopted from the Wisconsin Humane Society when she was four years old. I firmly and strongly believe that the impact adopting a rescue animal goes far beyond their adopter. My dog has not only helped me through tough times but also many of my friends. I would honestly just put my weight behind the #AdoptDontShop movement. And senior pets. The gratitude senior rescue dogs have is unparalleled. It’s impossible to not feel good around them.
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 United States, 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. 🙂
Nick Offerman. I’d love to pick his brain on his woodworking shop and how he got into woodworking, and to get his thoughts on how someone like me with no access to tools could get into it — as I’ve always wanted to. I love Parks and Recreation, too, but I really want to talk about his woodshop.
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
“ It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to have worries. It’s okay to doubt yourself. But it’s not okay to give up because of that.” with Dhar Mann and Candice Georgiadis
Don’t be afraid to go after your dreams. So many people are stuck in fear or self-doubt. They’re worried about failing or what others are going to think of them. But what separates successful people from unsuccessful people is not that successful people don’t have those same thoughts, it’s that they decide to move forward anyway. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to have worries. It’s okay to doubt yourself. But it’s not okay to give up because of that. Don’t live with regret later in life wondering “what if”. Never forget the biggest obstacle is always in your own mind. Push past that mental block that’s preventing you from going after your dreams so you can live your best life!
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dhar Mann, a serial entrepreneur who shares his personal stories of success and failure to help inspire others. He is currently the Founder and CEO of LiveGlam, a cosmetics company that he took from $600 in starting capital to 8-figures in annual revenue in less than 2 years. On social media, his motivational videos on life and business have been viewed over 150 million times and shared by millions of people in less than 6 months.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Throughout my life I’ve experienced epic successes and failures. From starting my first business at 19 and funding millions of dollars in real estate transactions to losing it all in the mortgage crisis. From making International headlines as an early pioneer in the medical marijuana industry to going completely broke sleeping on a friend’s couch. I’ve experienced more setbacks than most people can even imagine on the way to creating the 8-figure cosmetics business I run today, and that life and business experience ultimately is what led me to being the storyteller and content creator I am today.
People are able to empathize with failure, and because I’ve failed more than most people have, that’s what makes me relatable. I turned to social media as the best way to connect with more people and spread positivity and inspiration.
Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?
Six months ago, I decided to create my first motivational Facebook video. I committed myself to making two videos a week, and within a short amount of time, my videos started catching on. Today my videos have been viewed over 150 million times and have been shared by millions of people. I’m growing over 50,000 followers a week on Facebook, and on Instagram I have over 500,000 followers.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
On one production for an Instagram video, I was working with a makeup artist who was shooting a class on how to do bridal makeup. The model happened to be another Instagram beauty influencer named Laura (@LauraG_143). At the end of the class, to complete the bridal makeup look, Laura got fully decked out in the bridal veil and wedding dress. When the class was over, we all decided to go out for drinks to celebrate. Laura only had her wedding dress to wear and I was coincidentally dressed up in a white button-up shirt. Everywhere we went, people thought we had just gotten married and were congratulating us. Even though we had just met, we played along. And sure enough, we actually ended up together. So when people ask us about our story today, we tell them we got married the day we met! In summary, using social media is not only a great way to scale a business or make money, but also to meet your partner!
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?
In my experience, the fastest way to increase business revenues is through Facebook due to one simple fact: virality. While Instagram and YouTube are the most influential platforms for influencers to drive sales, it takes a long time to stand out on those platforms and to gain influence. But with Facebook, one piece of content can translate to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in revenue very quickly.
When I first started a nail polish line for my cosmetics company, we had posted a picture of a girl’s hand wearing three different nail polish colors to our few hundred followers. A beauty blogger ended up seeing the picture and decided to share it to her audience. Then all of her followers starting sharing it and it created a massive snowball effect. That one post ended up getting shared by tens of thousands of people and resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. We had to restock those nail polish colors several times just to keep up with the demand. It’s unbelievable the amount of traction one great piece of content can get on Facebook if done correctly.
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.
Develop relationships with key industry influencers — This is a great way to make the brand more exciting, generate sales and grow a following.
Do giveaways of exciting products and have influencers promote it — Our last giveaway helped my cosmetics company @liveglam.co gain over 80k followers in less than 24 hours.
Take time on your captions — People like to look at pretty pictures, but they really engage with captions that speak to them. Take the extra time to write engaging captions and don’t underestimate the power of storytelling.
Your first 9 pictures matter the most — For most people when they come across your page they will not take the time to scroll it if you don’t capture them right away.Have exciting content that will make people want to follow at first glance.
Use Instagram Stories, IGTV and Live — Facebook and Instagram like when you use their new features. They will rank you higher in the algorithm. Be an early adopter to all new feature releases and your visibility will increase.
Respond to every comment and comment on other Influencer’s pages — It doesn’t matter if you have 5 comments or 500, respond to every single person that comments on your content. Similarly, take the time to like and comment on the content for Influencers that are important in your industry. It’s a great way to develop a relationship, have them get to know your name and possibly want to work with you.
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. 🙂
Don’t be afraid to go after your dreams. So many people are stuck in fear or self-doubt. They’re worried about failing or what others are going to think of them. But what separates successful people from unsuccessful people is not that successful people don’t have those same thoughts, it’s that they decide to move forward anyway. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to have worries. It’s okay to doubt yourself. But it’s not okay to give up because of that. Don’t live with regret later in life wondering “what if”. Never forget the biggest obstacle is always in your own mind. Push past that mental block that’s preventing you from going after your dreams so you can live your best life!
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 🙂
Gary V simply because he has the ears of a lot of young people aspiring for more. I feel my message will resonate with his audience. I similarly come from an immigrant family, am the CEO of my own business and am creating my own content that’s getting shared by millions of people. He doesn’t read articles, only comments, so hopefully his team sees this!
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business, With LaShawn Wiltz and Candice Georgiadis
Leverage your Captions! Yes, Instagram is a visual platform, but once you hook them with the photo, to increase the chance that they will do more than just double tap and move on, you need to give them a reason to stop and comment. Make sure your caption continues the story that your photo is trying to tell! And give users a reason to comment by using a call to action. A call to action gives a user a reason to do something. For example, Head to the link in our bio for the latest sale information. Or telling users to “leave a comment with your best advice about…” This gives users a reason to comment and a feeling of community when you respond to that comment. And THAT keeps them coming back.
I had the pleasure of interviewing LaShawn Wiltz, the creator of Everyday Eyecandy.com where she blogs about motherhood, her life, her passion for capturing everyday moments through photography and trying to find her version of balance through it all. She was the 2017 Mom 2.0 Summit IRIS Award winner for Best Instagram and is passionate about helping everyone live their best Instagram life. Based in Atlanta, GA, you can find Lashawn on Instagram, capturing the beauty in life’s everyday moments, documenting her days as a wife and mom with half-finished coffee in one hand and her camera in the other.
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 have always loved Instagram. Over the years, I slowly built a community over there and even though it was small, it was mighty. I started getting questions on how I did things, why I posted when I did. How I grew. I started helping friends and it bloomed from there.
Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?
I have spoken on the topic of Instagram at conferences ( BlogHer and Mom2.0). I have written about Instagram for online publications and I teach strategies about Instagram to other influencers. And my strategies work!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
It actually happened to my husband! He is rarely featured on my Instagram, but one day he and my son were both recognized at our local YMCA by someone who follows me. He was so surprised because before then, he just thought I was playing around online.
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 selling courses, I just thought if you build it, surely they will come. NOT! My mistake was just saying I had a course and listening to the crickets for months until I figured out I had to be proactive.
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 have found that Instagram is! You never know who is watching. I post to Instagram several times a week about my love of coffee. I do a simple story almost every morning about my first cup of coffee. I have gotten many contracts and opportunities in the last few years simply because of that love of coffee. The lesson here is: do what you love, share what you love. Somewhere out there are people who will see that and want to hire you because of it.
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.
Be Social and Engage. I put this first for a reason. Instagram is a SOCIAL network that thrives and runs on being engaged. Interacting with other Instagram accounts in your niche by liking, commenting and following is still one of the fastest ways to grow your accounts. Why? Because you are making connections. So if you sell shoes, you should be interacting with companies that sell shoes and fashionistas who wear shoes and post about them on their accounts.There are your people! They are the ones who will most likely to engage back and follow you because they are interested in your content.
Engage Back. When a customer takes the time out of their day to like or actually comment on your content, ENGAGE BACK! Instagram’s mission is to keep you and your customers on the app as long as possible. This is why they gave us the ability to like comments, threaded comments on our posts and the ability to send DM’s. Engaging with your customers shows them that you care and it keeps them coming back. But remember that engagement shouldn’t have a spammy quality. Make meaningful comments!
Leverage your Captions! Yes, Instagram is a visual platform, but once you hook them with the photo, to increase the chance that they will do more than just double tap and move on, you need to give them a reason to stop and comment. Make sure your caption continues the story that your photo is trying to tell! And give users a reason to comment by using a call to action. A call to action gives a user a reason to do something. For example, Head to the link in our bio for the latest sale information. Or telling users to “leave a comment with your best advice about…” This gives users a reason to comment and a feeling of community when you respond to that comment. And THAT keeps them coming back.
Use Instagram Stories. Instagram is personal. It’s still a very “social” network. Users want to get to know the people behind the account. They want to see the behind the scenes of your business, you packing away products, planning for the next launch. When they feel like they know you, they trust you. And when they trust you, they buy your products.
Make the most of the link in your bio. I can’t tell you how many times that I come across Instagram accounts with a simple link and no explanation of where it leads to. The best way to drive traffic to your business is to make sure it is clear where that link leads to by using a call to action. Explain exactly what the link in bio leads to. For example: Head here to get a limited time $25 off coupon.
Use your analytics. If you have a business account( and you should!) use your analytics! There is so much information there about your audience! You can find out what cities they are in, what time they are online, which content they respond to the most to. In other words, you can tailor your content to your audience simply by using the analytics that Instagram collects for you.
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. 🙂
I want people to share their everyday lives, not just our highlight reels. Because it’s those everyday moments that are important. These little everyday moments aren’t perfect and curated, but they are just as special because they are the real you. And that is what helps us to connect to one another.
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 🙂
It’s so cliche to say Oprah. But I’m going to say Oprah. Because who wouldn’t? I’ve been so inspired by her and the way she has taken everything that she has learned and life, turned it around and shared it with us. As someone who switched careers and started a business later in life ( I’m 42) I always look to how she saw what wasn’t working with OWN, learned from it and bloomed! Who wouldn’t want to sit and learn from that?
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
“At the end of the day, no one purchases your product, they purchase your brand.” with Melanie Balke and Candice Georgiadis
Here’s the number one mistake brands make on Instagram: Being too professional. Instagram is a social media platform and customers want to see your brand’s personality. When you do show your brand’s personality a customer’s emotional connection to your brand and who you are / what you stand for becomes so much stronger making them more likely to purchase. Because at the end of the day, no one purchases your product, they purchase your brand.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Melanie Balke, Director of Growth Strategy at BAMF Media, LA’s fastest growing marketing agency. Melanie has consulted for start-ups you have never heard of as well as global brands you interact with daily. She’s worked globally across several industries such as automotive, healthcare, clothing retail, skincare, tech and real estate, from Germany, Australia, China and the US.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
If we traveled back in time to when I was 15, we would be standing in the middle of an operating room and I would be helping dissect a cancerous intestine during my first ever internship. That’s a weird beginning to a story, but when I was younger I was torn between going to medical school and business school, which sounds silly because they are two completely different fields. What I loved about medical school was that I would be able to truly help people, but what I hated was the inflexibility. The fact that I wouldn’t be able to move from country to country easily or change who I worked with, take time off easily to have a family or focus on a hobby. Working for a marketing agency and in consulting truly is the best of both worlds because I get to help people realize their dreams and calling with their companies every day while at the same time I get to maintain the flexibility. It’s a blessing!
Can you explain to our readers why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?
In a nutshell, I would say that I have worked and seen brands small and large utilize social media in different ways for different purposes across various industries and types of businesses. Basically, I’ve seen it all and along the way have helped grow accounts organically from 200 to 20,000 followers within a few months while utilizing social media to build a stronger customer connection and increase sales.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
The most interesting story to share is probably when one of my clients, The Vibrant Body Company, accidentally went viral. The Vibrant Body Company is a bra brand that stands for making undergarments for women free of harmful chemicals. They had set up a coupon code for a charity event with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which then got leaked into a Facebook group aimed at sharing freebies. Within an hour, while we were on the phone trying to figure out what to do next, the orders for free bras went from about 160,000 to 300,000 orders.
The best thing is what happened next though. Someone on the internet thought that it was a bit suspicious that people were giving away a $90 bra for free. So, they figured it must be a scam, more specifically, a sex trafficking scam aimed at getting female’s home addresses so they could later be kidnapped. This story then spread like wildfire on Facebook and my client started getting death threats including pictures of guns, dogs as well as unsolicited visits by very angry looking men.
The moral of the story is, if you want to go viral on social media, you better be prepared for it.
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?
One time I was incredibly sick and totally out of it from all the medication that I accidentally copy and pasted the wrong link into the Instagram bio. Instead of directing people to the giveaway I had promised them in the post, I was directing them to a WebMD page about sinus infection. ?
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?
It truly depends on the audience you are trying to reach. I’ve found that Pinterest is mainly made up of window shoppers. A lot of people will engage with your content and pin it but the number of people who will actually purchase from Pinterest traffic is fairly low. I worked with a bracelet brand where people would constantly visit the website coming from Pinterest and engage with the content there, but very few of them converted to customers. Especially because it was a higher price product.
On the other hand, I have found that Instagram story ads have been driving a lot of sales and revenue with the right target audience. Young female millenials are likely to click and purchase something based off of a cool Instagram story ad they saw, if it appeals to them. I’ve used this successfully for a clothing brand client who used summer themed ads with content shot on the beautiful Italian coast of Amalfi to promote their new collection during spring.
Snapchat is a great brand awareness platform. Creating sponsored post stories on Snapchat can really help you reach younger audiences to build brand awareness, which in the long term may also increase revenue, but in the short term usually doesn’t.
Last but not least, the giant, Facebook. Facebook can definitely increase business revenue from an advertising standpoint — (beware: As long as your business is the right fit). However, I’ve seen a decline in organic posts driving traffic from a client’s Facebook page to their website. The new secret weapon for Facebook is Facebook groups. With a client in the nutritional space we’ve successfully built and used a free Facebook group where we offered content around the Paleo diet of life, from recipes, eBooks, videos and nutritional coaching to upsell into a paid membership in another more exclusive group. The more exclusive group contained more / better recipes, videos, one-on-one coaching as well as fitness training.
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.
Absolutely, let me break down the 6 most impactful ways to dramatically improve your business with Instagram.
1) Leverage Instagram Stories To Drive Sales
Instagram stories are a great way to drive sales both through ads as well as through organic content.
400 million people use Instagram stories and observing habits I have noticed that people are more likely now to click through stories rather than scroll through a feed. Instagram stories have people be more actively watching and engaged than just scrolling through a feed. That’s where brands’ opportunity lies to create an Instagram story ad that is compelling and seems like organic content seducing the audience to watch your ad without even realizing it is one.
The number one mistake to watch out for is to have your ad be placed in an automatic placement on Instagram. That could lead to an ad looking like this:
The ad is immediately identified as such and therefore more likely to be skipped. Additionally, the text takes the focus away from the video/image where you want the viewers focus to be and where the audience on Instagram stories wants to focus. A better Instagram story ad is created specifically for the Instagram story audience and would look more like this:
The ad format fits the Instagram story screen perfectly, the video has subtitles for people who are watching without audio and the content on the example to the left seems 100% organic.
All in all, Instagram story ads are a great way to capture your audience’s attention when they are most likely to be receptive and engage with your content.
But there’s more! If you do not want to spend money on Instagram story ads you should still use the feature to create stories for your brand’s account.
Instagram stories are, like I mentioned before, more likely to be engaged with. Instagram at one point revealed that 1 in 5 stories gets a direct message from viewers. So, Instagram stories are a great way to engage with your customers and have them reply to one of your questions, which can create a stronger customer / brand bond, show behind the scenes material giving your customers insight into who you are and what you stand for, again, creating a stronger customer brand / bond, or just selling.
Soludos does a fabulous example of using Instagram stories to announce their new arrivals and jumpstart sales.
First of all, their story tells a, you guessed it, story. Second, their story features a strong call to action. Something that Instagram feed content doesn’t allow for as much. So immediately from watching the story you can swipe up to purchase. Something that is much easier via stories rather than feed posts.
2) Build A Name In Your Niche With Peers & Influencers
Instagram gives you the opportunity to reach out to and come in contact with people that you normally wouldn’t or at least wouldn’t as easily.
Use Instagram to reach out to peers. Brands in your industry that you respect and that would be great for a partnership. For example, Apt2B, an e-commerce furniture retailer I worked with, used Instagram to reach out to other home furnishing brands that would make good partners (not competitors). By regularly engaging with those peer’s posts and establishing a connection long before reaching out for a partnership a base of trust had already been built and the name Apt2B already had recognition.
We did the same partnerships with influencers. Instagram was a great medium to reach out to home decor influencers we liked and partner up with. Not just for posts, but even for long-term partnerships like that with interior designer Kyle Schuneman, who regularly designs collections, creates a DIY series and more for the brand.
Don’t underestimate the opportunity Instagram gives you to reach out to brands you want to collaborate with, influencers you admire or even customers for a one-on-one chat. Direct messaging people within the platform is much more effective and likely to get a response than emailing will ever be again.
3) Give Your Brand Personality
Here’s the number one mistake brands make on Instagram: Being too professional. Instagram is a social media platform and customers want to see your brand’s personality. When you do show your brand’s personality a customer’s emotional connection to your brand and who you are / what you stand for becomes so much stronger making them more likely to purchase. Because at the end of the day, no one purchases your product, they purchase your brand.
Here’s an example of a brand with no emotional connection created with their Instagram:
What did the brand do “wrong”? The images are mostly product images and don’t provide any real value to the customer. However, they are aesthetically pleasing. Let’s look at an example of a brand that curates interesting content driving value for their users.
Vissla is a surf brand, their customers engage with and enjoy surf related content. Instead of posting product pictures of plain T-Shirts that are uninteresting or unengaging, all their content, even the ones including products such as surfboards or wetsuits, are packaged as a visually engaging image. Most of their images are shoppable and really conveyed an emotional message with the image.
Therefore, make sure every post you share provides value to your followers. If you’re selling, don’t try the hard-sell. Rather, go for a soft sell with a shoppable amazing lifestyle image.
4) Create a Movement
More than one movement has come out of Instagram. From clean eating to body positivity and more. For your brand, Instagram and its hashtags offer a unique opportunity to create your own brand movement and engage your customers.
Clif Bar, for example, launched #meetthemoment asking their followers, fans and customers to post pictures of their outdoor adventures with the tag and offering a $1 donation to the International Mountain Biking Association per post. Ultimately, they raised $4,000 for the cause receiving many entries even after campaign end.
But it can go way bigger than that. These campaigns can cause entire movements such as it did for REI when they launched their #optoutside campaign closing their stores on Black Friday and encouraging their customers to rather spend the day outdoors in nature instead of shopping. The campaign turned into an entire movement with people now using the hashtag to express the best moments and days of their lives with over 10 million Instagram entries.
Creating movements like that can spread your brand’s name like wildfire and increases brand awareness exponentially. Encouraging your customers to engage with your brand supporting a movement and cause together also strengthens the emotional bond and liking of your customer towards your brand.
5) Turn Customers Into Advocates: Give Exceptional Customer Service
If you have an Instagram business account you will have likely already noticed that many customers will direct message (DM) you their customer complaints. Especially for younger generations, customer service hotlines and support emails are not the preferred method of communication. They want to talk to your brand on the platforms they are active on. Use this to your advantage and provide them with exceptional customer service by going above and beyond.
Besides answering direct messages that means answering and engaging with your (potential) customer’s comments on not just your pictures, but also pictures of your products by other customers. You can even use Instagram to just engage with potential customers in a fun and playful way even if you are not mentioned in the post at all, but it is content that fits your brand. For example, if you’re a fashion label you can comment on great outfit combinations even if they don’t include your brand yet. If they do mention you or post about your product, give them the deserved attention and repost / repurpose their content. Not only will your customer feel special and appreciated, but seeing user generated content serves as a very trustworthy source of referral for other potential customers.
Use Instagram to get close to your customers and go above and beyond with customer service.
6) Get to know your customers
Nothing is more valuable than having a clear understanding of who your customer is and what pain points they are struggling with. Why are they using your product? Why aren’t they? Where do they live? How old are they? What do they do for a living? Do they have shared interests? All the answers to these questions are crucial in understanding who your customer really is and why they need your product. This knowledge is what you truly need to advertise and communicate your product to the right people further.
The people that reach out to you via Instagram and engage with your brand are perfect examples of customers or potential customers. Using Instagram to study their accounts, who they are, what they enjoy and maybe even engage in further conversation with them to schedule a complete customer interview will give you insight into the questions above and help you refine your targeting and messaging to perfection.
The process might be tedious, but even using a small sample of a dozen people and closely studying their Instagram account and what they post can give you quite good insight into who your customers are.
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. 🙂
Yes, please! If I could trigger a movement I would trigger “1 for 5”: You do 1 thing in 5 categories every day:
● List 1 thing you’re grateful for when you wake up
● Tell 1 person you love them you normally wouldn’t tell
● Do 1 random act of kindness for a stranger
● Pick up 1 piece of trash on the ground
● Do 1 thing that scares you or is out of your comfort zone
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 would love to share a (vegan) brunch & Cappuccino with Ellen DeGeneres. First of all, she’s just so funny and I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to have Cappuccino spurt out of my nose (just kidding). Second, I admire her work and life story beyond being a TV host, but also a business woman and activist.
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
