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You have an amazing photo to share on Instagram. You now need to spend time crafting the {nearly} perfect caption and adding hashtags. But let’s be real, this caption/hashtag stress is one of the biggest obstacles to posting on social media. Anyone else have the perfect image and find themselves sitting and staring at their phone, only to give up? We will be releasing a caption writing guide soon. But let’s assume you find inspiration and compose the perfect caption to go with that perfect picture and you post it. You’ve now been rewarded with several comments and a lot of likes. Way to go - but what is the next step?  At some point, whether you’ve decided to respond instantaneously or during dedicated “social media” time (my recommendation), you need to respond. You should respond to each and every comment on your post and every DM that comes into your inbox . Not responding is the equivalent to being out on a road ride and not giving a nod or wave to passing cyclists or how one might feel when they drop into their local bike shop and no one says “hey” as they enter. That is not a good feeling. We’ve all felt ignored by someone and, personally, I’ve vowed never to return to some of those situations. You? I mean, we don’t want to be stalked as we drool over the newest bike release, but “hey, can I help you” goes a long way.  Your social media response could be simple or really detailed, depending on the original comment. I always suggest asking a question so that you can learn more about the people who follow you - also, it boosts your engagement rate to have more comments on the post and questions can help facilitate that. I’d suggest not relying solely on emojis for a response...but sometimes a 👊🔥🔥 is just what the comment calls for. The way I see it, as long as you’re being authentic, kind and responsive, you’re winning. Being true to you and your brand will always win. We can all tell when someone is being fake or inauthentic and if they don’t really care about us as customers. Don’t be that person. If you need more help with instagram, or maybe a plan on how you can engage with your cycling fans and customers, we’ve created a guide for you. We’re sharing all our tips to improving your engagement rate, reaching more customers and being authentic online. Be one of the first to get it, by clicking here.
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Does engagement really matter? We all know it does, so why does our Instagram account become the first thing we toss aside when we get busy? Why do we ignore Facebook during our peak sales season? It is easy to claim that social media isn’t driving sales, that your followers aren’t engaging with your posts, or that your 2K+ followers aren’t seeing your content because of the “algorithm”. Let’s be truthful, you know better. You’re a smart business owner, who often has to decide between posting or commenting on social media, running the business or {in rare instances} taking a full lunch hour. Personally, I’d choose the lunch hour every time.  Having a social media strategy or plan can give you more time - like a full lunch hour or a nice solo ride. I like to equate social media with a trade show full of your {potential} customers. If you are busy setting up or tweaking your display, you’re ignoring all the people hanging around or passing by your product. Quite clearly that would not be smart business, and as I said earlier - you’re smart. So instead, you’d probably say hello, ask them about their bike, a recent ride, or see if you could help in some way. Social media is the same. Say hello, ask how you can help, and compliment them on their bike (ride, KOM, whatever). Social media presents a rare opportunity to check in with all the people who love or are interested in your product. The best part is that Instagram and Facebook reward you for all this engagement. For the comments you share, for the responses you give, and for how regularly you post. You will be rewarded with more followers, more engagement, and more views. You will suddenly find yourself in a prime spot at our virtual trade show and having rewarding conversations with potential customers and fellow cycling enthusiasts.  Engaging in a conversation on social media is no different than engaging with a potential customer right in front of you. Don't ignore the opportunity! I’m not saying that this doesn’t require effort or that you can’t ever take a break from it. You can. I have. We all have at some point. But if you can come up with a plan - perhaps hiring someone to take care of it for you or dedicating a specific time during the day to spend engaging - then social media and customer engagement doesn’t get ignored.
If you need more help with Instagram, or a plan on how you can engage with your cycling fans and customers, we’ve created a guide for you. We share all our tips and tricks to improving your engagement rate, reaching more people who ride bikes, and being authentic online. Be one of the first to get it here  Anna enjoying a ride and a stop at a favourite bakery. We sat at the local craft brewery, enjoying laughs and tasting beers. Anything cycling was always a topic of conversation - or the topic of conversation when the four of us got together. Stories about Joe and Bob riding and trying to outdo one another. If they haven’t come home completely spent and exhausted then they’d tell you it wasn’t a good ride. Most of the time they stumble in the door and crash on the floor in complete and utter exhaustion. At my house the phrase “Bob broke me” is frequent. When Bob returns home, he is usually so gassed he can’t formulate the words to convey it, it’s just a look. Anna and I, on the other hand, enjoy the social aspects of cycling. Don’t get me wrong, we like the workout - we just don’t always push each other to the ragged edge. But I digress, back to the brewery where we sat talking about all things biking. We had talked many times about going into business together. Actually that’s not true exactly - I talked about it, and Anna turned me down. She didn’t want to mix business with friendship but I continued to pitch ideas to her. The conversation turned, as it so often did, to the cost of our own cycling addictions - the bikes, the clothes, the maintenance, and the socks. Socks are important to a cyclist. And there are lots of cool socks out there. Lots of fun colours, patterns, and even mismatched pairs to show personality. We talked about Instagram, our favourite and inspirational feeds, and how there are so many cool (and expensive) socks. As we swallowed the final mouthfuls of our pints and debated having another, I pitched Anna once again on a business idea. Could we partner with cycling brands (really, socks) and create photo content for social media. Not influencers exactly, but use my photography skills (I’ve been in the business for over 10 years), Anna’s ability to write like a 16th century poet, Joe’s instagram strategies, and bring it together in a way that might get us more socks? My excitement wasn’t exactly shared and I quickly dismissed the thought of socks and fun photo shoots. Fast forward to today and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We are trying to fill a gap in affordable yet custom photography for social media content. We serve the brands that serve us and our fellow cyclists. Because we are the customers, we know the industry. So, I finally got Anna to buy in and her, Joe, and I are equal partners in this adventure. To be truthful, I love working with both of them because somehow we just click and sometimes we unintentionally wear matching socks.  How nice is it to work with one of your best friends. When the sport we love becomes part of our business too. Yesterday Joe and I hosted a live Q&A on instagram and answered questions about how to grow a community on Instagram. For us it is important to think of Instagram as a community, and not a place to sell. So let's dive into what Joe had to say. 1. WHY - why did he want to grow his account? For Joe, he was looking to gain support and an community around some big cycling plans he had for the summer of 2018. He also wanted to learn more about instagram and how it really worked. Joe is an avid cyclist and in his words "a weekend warrior that took it too far". 2. GOAL - did you set goals and what were they? Initially Joe had set a goal of 500 followers. He quickly realized that he would surpass that and decided to go for 1000. After about 6 weeks, he met that goal - although the last 50 seemed to take forever!! 3. HOW - what steps did you take to reach your goal? The first thing Joe did was simplify his account. He chose to only post cycling photos and photos with a bike in them. He saved food and family photos for his Instagram stories, so that his grid looked cohesive. Next, he "went down the rabbit hole" of hashtags. It's important that the hashtags fit with the photo you are posting. Avoid ones like #love #likesforlikes etc. Even hashtags with 1M posts, may not be the best to use because there is almost too much content. Finding a nice niche hashtag is probably best. Joe also posted at least 1 photo a day so that he was top of mind. Finally, and probably the most important was engaging. Engaging with people on your own account, but also reaching out to others and asking questions and making comments on their account. You can follow Joe here. REMEMBER: Your account should be a community, not a place to sell! ACTION STEP: How can you make your account more of a community? Make a list of ways or content you can provide your followers so they can get to know you or your company and trust you. NEXT WEEK: Live Q&A moved to Wednesday afternoons instead of Mondays.  As you know, setting goals for your business is essentially a requirement. You need to know where you want to go and each of the smaller steps it will take to get you there. I won't bore you with the high school health class goal setting template - although valuable, it's available where ever you shop for goals! You know - is it attainable, measurable, blah blah blah. Ok, really I shouldn't knock it because it is a good starting point - and really if you can't measure it, it's only a dream. Moving on, I spoke on Instagram Live yesterday about what sorts of things you could be measuring and yes, likes and follows are a start, but engagement is where it's at! What kind of posts/images/captions are you getting engagement from? How are people responding? Are they customers or just followers? And most importantly - Are you being helpful to your customers? ACTION STEP - evaluate your goals for Instagram as part of your marketing plan. Are people responding to your posts? What kind of post brings you the most engagement? Are the people that you're engaging with actual customers? NEXT WEEK: We'll be sharing the test we did with an Instagram account. How we grew it from 80 followers to 1000+ in 6 weeks. Plus how we're getting amazing engagement!  Let's get right down to it. 1. Plan a photoshoot - either a DIY shoot, or with a professional photographer. Either way, make a list of exactly what you need. A professional photographer should ask lots of questions about your company, customer and brand. They should have a really good idea about what you do and why you do it! 2. Crop older images or change angles when you are photographing. You don't need a whole new set up to create more content. 3. Re-use old content. Was something popular or bring you more sales/leads? Feel free to use it again. But maybe wait a few months. 4. User-generated content. Come up with a fun hashtag and share images of your customers using your product or service. This can help create a community around your business and provide you with great content. 5.Behind the scenes images or video. What makes your product or service special? Show how and why you offer that to your customers. Do you use special materials or have a creative technique? Share that with the people who want to buy! ACTION STEP - Make a list of 10 "things" you could put in your feed. Think of them as categories for your content. Then get rid of a few to simplify. Simple is always better!! NEXT WEEK: Authentic engagement on Instagram Missed last weeks Live? Details here Every Monday, Karen goes live on Instagram to answer questions about photography, Instagram and creating great content so you can attract more customers. April 2 was our first Instagram live and I've committed to do at least 10. That's one thing that I think entrepreneurs and solo-preneurs fail at - is giving up too quickly when something seems not to work. People are creatures of habit and they need consistency. So commit to 10 of whatever new thing you're doing - then see where things stand. April 2nd was a new and fun experience for me, but I gave some key advice for anyone starting out or wanting to "up" their Instagram game. 1. Followers and likes don't always mean customers. "I don't know about you, but popularity doesn't pay my bills". Certainly getting more eyes on your company isn't a bad thing, but if they aren't buying, it really isn't helping your business. Create content your customers will enjoy and use Instagram as a tool, not a popularity contest. Instead of focusing on likes and followers, focus on customer relationships and authenticity! 2. Part of being consistent, is creating a cohesive Instagram grid. Your grid should look like a carefully curated set of images or video that make your {potential} customers want to learn more about you. There's a couple of easy ways to make that happen. A.Use branding colours - no matter where the images came from, the feed will look consistent and well thought out. Plus if your colours appeal to your audience, it's a win-win For inspiration, check out Being Boss B.Edit all your photos in a similar way. Use the same filter, or similar lighting to create an awesome looking grid. check out Alex Cormier ACTION STEP Make a list of things you care about and value. Then make a list of things your customer cares about and values. Anything match up? I hope so. These matching points will give you a great starting point for creating content. Do you both care about the environment? Is family important to your customers and you? Create content for instagram with those 2 things in mind! NEXT WEEK: 4 tips for creating more content
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