Episode 2: Curating Instagram
We spoke with Meghan McKeighen, founder of Fenix Social Media, to get some pro tips on managing your Instagram account. She manages the social accounts for many of Nashville's music festivals and some of the biggest names in Las Vegas. She built her business from the ground up and has spent over 10 years mastering the social media arena.
Q: Instagram is the hottest social platform right now. Why would you recommend a business to have an Instagram profile? What are the most important areas of an Instagram business page to be optimized and looking its very best?
Meghan:
You’ve got to go where the market is heading and everyone (and their mom) is now on Instagram and using it at a much higher rate than Facebook. Instagram stories are absolutely key to your strategy as Instagram revealed earlier this year that it’s their main driver for pulling people in and stories are essentially more important than feed posts. Why? The algorithm change that went into effect last year only shows your posts to people who have recently followed you or have interacted with your brand in the last couple of weeks. Story notifications live at the top of the app and users are more likely to continue watching fluidly from friends right into brand content.
Q: Being such a visual platform, how should a business owner create and maintain a “brand” look and feel?
Meghan:
Definitely try and go for beautiful images with minimal text. When a user sees an Instagram account with a ton of graphics, they are less likely to follow - so be sparing with those. Trying to stick to a color scheme or specific filter can help. Be sure to select stock photos or use images that you or your team takes of properties are well lit can be a game changer unto itself. Lighting is everything. Some great free stock photo sites I recommend to folks are unsplash.com and pexels.com.
Q: Images are really important, but how much text should an Instagram post have?
Meghan:
If we’re talking about images, minimal text. Little to none if possible. If you want to boost that image you’ll need to stay under the 20% text rule to maximize your spend. Copy wise, the sky's the limit as long as you don’t overwhelm people with massive paragraphs. Use periods returned down to break up posts or save a blank space
([ ]) in a note on your phone and add them in when needed to break up heavy text.
(Check out this link on how to create the right blank space in Instagram.)
Q: Getting followers to get to important links on your site on Instagram can be tricky, since you can’t have clickable URLs in the caption. How do you create the cool "link tree" for your Instagram account?
Meghan:
Just google “link tree” or head to linktr.ee/ and connect your Instagram account. Once you create your account they’ll make you a custom link that you then need to place in your website settings/bio on your Instagram account. Then in posts and stories you can say things like “link in bio” in order to send people to a link that has multiple links/subjects for them to select. This makes it so you don't have to swap the link in your bio every day for every new post. Do make sure to keep your link tree updated weekly or monthly though.
Q: Top 3 must haves for a great Instagram business profile.
Meghan:
1. Make sure your Instagram profile has actually been switched to a business profile so you can get analytics and more information (you MUST have a Facebook Page to connect it to).
2. You need a well written one-line bio.
3. Great, beautiful photos!
We hope you enjoyed this interview with Meghan. Make sure you stay tuned to next week's Momentum Makers where we chat about YouTube. If you would like to hire Meghan and her team at Fenix Social Media for social media coaching and consulting, click here!
