Creating a Social Media Plan {day twelve}
Welcome to Day Twelve of the Write 31 challenge! If this is your first time stopping by, head over to Day One to get started from the beginning, and now on to Day Twelve…
Today we’re going to work on putting together a plan for using Instagram effectively. I am hoping you are able to create a rough draft of your Instagram plan by the end of the day and then put it into practice over the next couple of weeks. Then on Day 29 we’re going to put all of the pieces together so you have one master social media plan. So don’t feel like you should have a perfect plan for Instagram by the end of today! Today should be about getting the plan started.
Sharing Your Content
Instagram is probably one of the most personal social media platforms. It’s not the place to really drive all of your blog traffic, but rather a place where people can genuinely get to know you. Instead of only trying to promo new posts on your blor or a new product you are offering…show your followers your real life. Offer behind the scenes pictures of your work, sneak peeks at what is coming, and a glimpse at your real life. I don’t think you need to stick to a strict posting schedule, and in fact if you do Instagram can seem less genuine, but I do think you want to try and be consistent. And don’t clog up people’s feeds with picture overload from one particular event. I know your cousin’s wedding is great, but I don’t know them so I don’t want to see 14 pictures from the wedding. Pick one or two great ones to share and then put the rest of the pictures in a collage you can share.
Sharing Others’ Content
Here is where Instagram is very different from Twitter. On Instagram you don’t really want to share other people’s content. With the exception of the occasional repost, Instagram is about your sharing your own unique content.
Engaging with Others
Just like Twitter, Instagram is a social media platform, which means you need to actually BE social! Comment and like people’s pictures. Start a conversation. Connect with new people. Instagram tends to be more personal than Twitter or Facebook so it is a great way to really connect with people.
Making a Plan
Download the Instagram Printable and then we’re going to use what we’ve talked about over the last three days to put together your Instagram plan.
Tasks to Complete Daily – This is going to look different for each person because everyone has different Instagram goals and it’s definitely going to look different from Twitter. The biggest difference is regarding the number of times per day you post. Because the pace of Twitter is so fast it’s okay to tweet 10+ times a day, but that’s not really the case on Instagram. Use this space to write down everything you would like to do related to Instagram each day and then try completing the various tasks over the next few weeks. Then when we put the final plan together you can pick out the tasks that were most effective. Here are a few of the things on my daily task list for Instagram…check on the hashtags of any 30-day photo challenges I’m currently doing, respond to comments, explore hashtags to find new people to follow, and comment on other people’s photos.
Best Times for MY Audience – If you do a search you will find quite a few different articles, infographs, blog posts, and suggestions about the best time to post on Instagram. But I’ll say the same thing I said about Twitter… when it says the best time to post is 1-3pm do they mean Eastern time, Pacific time, or do they mean 2pm in the land down under?!?
Here is what I recommend doing…keep track of when you are sharing content during the next few weeks and then track the engagement. If you post a picture on Instagram at 6pm and 10am the next day, see which one gets the most engagement. As you start to track when the best times are for YOUR audience, you will find it easier to post your pictures.
As I mentioned earlier, what you write down on this printable is simply your rough draft…we’ll be finalizing details towards the end of the month…so don’t stress too much about having it perfect right now!
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to leave them in the comments below or email me at girlonthemoveblog01 {at} gmail {dot} com
What questions do you have about Instagram? Do you participate in any photo challenges on Instagram?
9 Comments
Kirsten Oliphant
Great tips! I have found that engagement is not great for me on insta. I have a decent following but few likes. I think of it as more personal, like my personal Facebook profile and assume the people there know and “get” me. But over half my followers are people I don’t know. This post is making me think about being more intentional with insta and posting for THAT audience rather than the one who does share through and engage on Facebook when I share the pic.
jmdenouden@gmail.com
Your audience can definitely vary from one social media platform to another so it’s important to look at each one separately and then decide what to share based on that information.
Meaghan
Yay! A social media platform I’ve already mastered! I’ve noticed hashtags are crucial for me. When I have the right hashtag my likes go from 3 or 5 to double digits which is exciting! I’m currently participating in the BloggersGetSocial photo a day challenge. It’s the only one I’ve been able to stick with. And as much as I love to see people’s posts on Instagram I never click over to them. I prefer their behind the scenes real life glimpses way more!
~Meaghan
jmdenouden@gmail.com
I don’t click through posts very often either but their Instaram accounts connect me to them as bloggers and make me want to follow them on other social media platforms so I can follow their blogs!
Shaunacey
great tips… I definitely need to head back to the first entry and start because I think this series could be super helpful!
jmdenouden@gmail.com
I hope you find the series helpful!
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom
I really don’t know what my best times to post are on Instagram but in this case, I kind of don’t feel the need to “grow” on Instagram. I want to pour efforts into other places for the time being.
Last year from February – June I dedicated a month per S/M outlet and poured all my energy into one social media outlet at a time. It really worked for me. I might do that again in January and perhaps focus on my Instagram account in its particular month.
You’ve given lots to consider.
Thanks!
xoxo
jmdenouden@gmail.com
I think the best strategy for social media is to tackle the platforms as you have time. If you try to go big on all of them at once…you probably won’t be successful!
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