Billboard: July
Carousels are having a moment!
Carousel posts (where you post a collection of stills and/or images) are going really well on Instagram at the moment. They’re much more powerful than just a single image post (as per our Monday marketing tip last week!) and great for engagement.
And it’s clear that Instagram is pushing this kind of content. Just this week, they started rolling out the ability for some accounts to post up to 15 slides in a carousel post rather than the 10 we’re used to (we don’t have this feature yet, but you may. Go and check after reading this!).
Carousels are a good idea because they’re a really engaging and user-friendly story-telling tool. Plus, the algorithm will show them to our people more than once (selecting different images each time to put ‘up front’).
Here are a few ideas for putting together a carousel in your own feed (soon!)
Share snippets of your life lately, or a round up of ‘weekend scenes’ or highlights from a trip or trade show.
Pull together a series of ‘10 good moments’ or ‘what went right this week’.
Put together a bunch of ‘studio scenes’ (mix video and stills) or ‘farm updates’ or ‘garden updates’ or whatever is relevant to you!
Share your favourite products or customer testimonials.
Put together a before and after series if that’s relevant.
Use the carousel feature like a diary!
Be an authority in your area. Create shareable content that people will come back to. For example, compile your 10 ‘must-see/visit/do’ tips for your area this season. Or compile a list of people that inspire you, or artists we might love or whatever is relevant to you and your story.
Share a round up of people who inspire you, and complementary businesses you want to celebrate.
Here are some accounts we think are doing this well; Food writer Molly Yeh, artist Gem Leslie, and food stylist and cook @glasgow_diaz (Sophie LOVES how she uses regular carousels as ‘Dear Diary’ posts).
Tips for talking to Camera
We’re ALWAYS encouraging our clients to show up on their feeds and talk to us/their community. Sophie shared a Reel this week with five tips for doing just that. Please click here to have a look or just grab the tips here below;
5 Things to keep in mind next time you do a ‘to camera’ video for your Reels.
Position yourself in front of natural light and use the back camera.
Know what you’re going to say! Write a script and/or practice a few times before you hit record.
Have one point to make per video and don’t bury the lead.
Keep it brief!
Always finish with a call to action.
I hope this helps and please try out more of these kinds of videos; it’s much easier to connect with people here on Instagram when they show up for a chat every now and then!
Things we’re loving - ICYMI
We love everything DediKate is doing at the moment, from making fitness all about being strong and healthy and ACHIEVABLE for rural women (and women) to their constant rotation of clever collaborations with rural business women across NZ and Australia.
Jenn Donovan’s Small Business Made Simple podcast continues to deliver the goods with short, value-packed episodes keeping us all up to date with the latest marketing news. It’s a goodie!
If you need something good to watch with the kids (Sophie’s teens loved this one); recommend a watch of the movie Boys in the Boat!
And if you’re after a good playlist for getting back into work mode, try this one. And for something nice and chill at aperitivo hour, try this.
