Jeweller - April Issue 2018

LOGGED ON
REACH MORE CUSTOMERS WITH INSTAGRAM
INSTAGRAM IS A GREAT TOOL TO BUILD CONNECTIONS AND ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE BUT CONSISTENCY IS KEY. MELISSA
MEGGINSON REPORTS ON HOW RETAILERS CAN USE A FEW SIMPLE TOOLS TO GET IN ON THIS IMPORTANT PHENOMENON.
The number-one question retailers ask about
social media is, “How do I build an Instagram
following from nothing?”
Before you start filling up your feed with cat
pictures or classic quotes, you need to define
your brand voice on Instagram. Images need
to align with your brand and must therefore
promote the brand’s values.
One way to start an Instagram journey is to
summarise your brand’s essence in a single
word or adjective.
Are you promoting beauty, confidence
or luxury? Narrow in on the consumer
experience that is key to your brand identity.
The better you become at curating content
that matches your brand and identifies with
your target audience, the faster your ideal
customers will connect with your business.
BUILD THAT FOLLOWING
Once you’re ready to post, it’s extremely
important to involve your brand in the right
kinds of user conversations.
This is where hashtags come into play.
Users follow hashtags to view content that
pertains to their interests.
When you use hashtags, Instagram
automatically lists your post in those search
results. For example, mark a custom piece
with the hashtags #jewellerydesign and
#bespokejewellery to appear in searches for
those categories.
Likewise, mark your posts as
#melbournejeweller, #adelaidejeweller or
#perthjeweller to appear in searches that are
made based on location.
Be aware that some conversations are very
loud, with hundreds of users adding content
to a topic every hour. These are the hashtags
with higher competition and more volume.
They may be highly relevant but it’s harder
to be seen. Try and use different hashtags to
increase engagement.
One very useful, but underused Instagram
strategy is @mentions. This is when one user
tags another user to draw their attention to a
post, and hopefully engage with it.
There are several different ways to go about
using this tool, but the best way for rapid
growth is to craft content that prompts
followers to @mention their friends in the
comments, where they interact.
Another effective strategy is to create a
‘tribe’ on Instagram. This is a group of users
who are all trying to appeal to the same
demographic. Agree to share each other’s
content to organically help each other
increase reach.
While building your tribe, use @mention
in your description to build rapport with
other accounts. Remember, social media is a
great tool to build connections and engage
with people. Like every social platform,
consistency is key. Similar to Pinterest,
it’s important to post regularly but avoid
posting too much.
THE BEST TOOLS FOR THE JOB
There are so many Instagram tools that can
provide in-depth insights into analytics and
keywords that social-media managers can
find the breadth of choice overwhelming.
The best place to start right now is actually
on Instagram.
The platform recently opened new business
insights under its business-page tools.
Designed to help users create better ads,
this tool unlocks useful analytics about your
Instagram account.
To build a list of relevant keywords, try using
Tailwind’s Hashtag Finder. This tool will
allow you to type in a few hashtags and will
recommend related hashtags.
They are organised by:
• Niche: unique, typically branded hashtags
• Competitive: the really popular hashtags
like “love”
• Better: hashtags that are used, but not as
common as the favourites
DEFINE YOUR BRAND VOICE BEFORE FILLING YOUR INSTAGRAM FEED
THE BETTER
YOU BECOME
AT CURATING
CONTENT THAT
MATCHES YOUR
BRAND AND
IDENTIFIES WITH
YOUR TARGET
AUDIENCE,
THE FASTER
YOUR IDEAL
CUSTOMERS WILL
CONNECT WITH
YOUR BUSINESS
• Best: commonly used but not particularly
overused hashtags
Once you find a great mix of hashtags, you
can save them to a list to use again.
For help creating spectacularly captivating
content, explore Canva and Adobe Spark.
Both platforms give you pre-formatted
templates for each social platform as well as
templates to start creating.
Soldsie helps turn a profile link into a virtual
storefront. Now you can do what you’ve
been craving by turning your photos into
a sales funnel. Soldsie has two different
options and it is the first one that transforms
your profile link into a buyable photo gallery.
Used effectively, a well-managed Instagram
account could be the key to creating
stronger relationship with customers. In
the digital arena, effective social-media use
can be the difference between delivering a
personal touch to potential buyers or generic
mass-marketing messages. i
MELISSA MEGGINSON is
marketing manager at Tailwind,
a leading visual marketing
tool for brands. Learn more:
tailwindapp.com
36 Jeweller April 2018