Month: August 2024

Building a strong, community-driven social media presence is more important than ever. With increasing competition and ever-changing algorithms, it’s crucial to stand out from the crowd and strive for authentic connections with your target audience.

Picture this: a new potential customer wants to find out more about your brand, and they head over to Instagram to see if you’ll bring the quality, value and trust they’re looking for. Will they find a curated brand feel and strong first impression that meets their expectations?

If you’re a beginner to all things Instagram, or you’re looking for ways to leverage your platforms to grow brand awareness and engagement, you’re in the right place. We’ve put together 4 key ways to grow your social media presence- whether you opt for Instagram or want to make waves on TikTok.

1. Optimise your feed for a strong first impression

To build that all-important follower count, your feed’s first impression needs to deliver. It’s like your digital storefront – and a visually cohesive and appealing feed is the key to attracting new followers and keep current followers coming back for more.

Use a consistent colour palette and theme throughout your post cover photos and video thumbnails that effectively reflects your brand’s identity, and bear this in mind when planning future content. Your feed should communicate your aesthetic in seconds – and intrigue visitors and potential followers to explore your content.

Mix things up with font placement and high-quality imagery- you can utilise a feed planner like Later to visualise what your posts will look like when they each go live.

Finally, make sure your bio quickly communicates who you are – and what your values are. Give potential followers what they want to hear – what will your brand and social media content offer them? Inspiration, feel good, fitness advice? Keep it short and punchy, sticking to a consistent brand voice.

1. Use Stories to level up your engagement

Instagram Stories were created for accounts to engage with their followers on an easy, regular basis – and in a more casual style than permanent posts. Stories remain on your feed for 24 hours – and you can keep them permanent by adding them to your categorised profile Highlights, which can each display your brand’s key themes and products.

Stories are a great way to keep your brand at the top of your audience’s mind, and build engagement with the plethora of interactivity features they offer. With every tap, your engagement factor increases, from quick polls to question boxes and quizzes.

1. Maximise your reach with Reels

Instagram responded to the every-growing popularity and impact of TikTok by creating Reels for video content – and they’ve ever since provided a great way for accounts to go viral and attain high reach levels. They were designed to maximise your content’s discoverability via the Instagram algorithm- while potential followers scroll through their Reels feed, they might just encounter your brand- so make it count!

• Jump on trending sounds, challenges and styles, where appropriate, to relate to the Instagram user’s expectations and content intake, and stay ‘relatable’ and ‘on trend’.
• Share value and inspiration to prompt a ‘follow for more’. This could be key tips, how-tos or inspirational messages.
• Impress potential followers with high-quality, visually appealing product showcasing – lead with the brand aesthetic and promote the lifestyle behind your brand, to relate to potential new followers.

1. Put time in active community building

Nowadays, community is the word when it comes to Instagram success. Engaging with your audience not only boosts your algorithm ranking, but also forges valuable connections with potential purchasers. It’s important to devote time to regular account engagement, to keep your Instagram space a two-way street, and give back to your followers.

Make sure the following bases are covered:

• Respond to comments and DMs- they go a long way and grant a more personalised feel behind your brand.
• Reshare tagged content to Stories of customers engaging with/using your products to deepen ties with individuals.
• Engage with other accounts in your industry and community, or even followers that mention you in their content, by commenting on posts – this increases your visibility and cleverly crafted responses or comments to relevant trending content might just elevate your brand’s esteem within the community.
• Consider hosting a giveaway for a lucky winner- this also encourages engagement as contest posts often require followers to like, comment, share and/or tag friends to enter.

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And that’s a wrap!

All in all, a successful Instagram requires consistency, creativity and active engagement to stand out amongst the competition. It’s good to experiment and try new styles to see what most engages your community, and refer back to the metrics to replicate highly-engaged content.

And if you need another pair of hands to elevate your brand’s social media presence, you’re in the right place! Get in touch to find out how we can take your brand’s reach and engagement to a new level.

Don’t Ghost Your Customers: Why Email Marketing is a Must

In today’s fast-paced digital world, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest marketing trends. But while everyone’s busy chasing the next big thing, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience. Why? Because it’s personal, direct, and incredibly powerful at building relationships that last.

Keep Them Coming Back: The Power of Retention

Customer retention is what separates good brands from great ones. Sure, attracting new customers is important, but keeping them around? That’s where the real value lies. Email marketing helps you do just that. By staying in touch and offering value, you remind your customers why they chose you in the first place, turning one-time buyers into loyal fans.

Tips for a Winning Strategy

So, how do you make sure your emails hit the mark? Here’s what you need to know:

1. Subject Lines That Scream, “Open Me!”
   Your subject line is your first (and maybe only) chance to grab attention. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Personalise it when you can. Something as simple as using the recipient’s name can make a big difference.
2. Stay True to Your Brand
   Your emails should sound like you. Whether your brand is fun and quirky or serious and professional, your tone of voice (TOV) needs to be consistent. This builds trust and makes your emails instantly recognisable.
3. Scroll-Worthy Content from the Start
   People are busy, so don’t make them work to get through your emails. Start with a strong hook, use short paragraphs, and break up the text with headers and images. The easier it is to read, the more likely it is they’ll stick with you to the end.

Conclusion

Email marketing isn’t just about pushing products. It’s about building relationships. By focusing on retention, crafting engaging subject lines, and keeping your tone of voice consistent, you’ll not only keep your customers coming back but also turn them into brand advocates. In a crowded digital world, that’s something you can’t afford to miss.

Want to make email marketing work for your brand? Contact us now, and discover how we can help you craft emails that engage and convert.

Want to create high-quality scroll-stopping UGC for your brand- but you’re not experienced in the content creation side? We’ve got you.

There’s a growing network of UGC creators out there that can help you to craft the standout video content you’re looking for – whether it’s a product demo, testimonial or organic-style ad.

We’ve put together this handy guide splitting down the process into 3 key areas:

1. The search
2. The storyboarding
3. The editing

Once you’ve mastered each stage, you will have created a streamlined system to put together great UGC with great creators. This is how our team collaborate with experienced creators to craft bespoke videos that hook the audience in – and keep them watching with relatable, engaging editing.

Our process involves briefing and receiving filmed raw content from creators – as opposed to fully edited videos. By requesting raw content (rather than edited) from your chosen creators, you’ll unlock the freedom to create variations of top performers, and complete editing according to your vision – but be mindful that some creators may charge higher for the freedom this grants you.

If you would prefer for creators to complete the full editing for you – disregard the third and final stage here! They’ll have it covered.

Without further ado – let’s go through each key stage of the process, and get you started on creating scroll-stopping content.

1. The search

There are a multitude of places and platforms to find the perfect creator for your brand, that best connects with your audience and delivers authentic content that they can trust.

We can split this down into active and passive searches, depending on how quickly you require your creator(s):

Active searches – Actively searching for the best fit across social media and freelance platforms such as: Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Fiverr and Upwork. Utilise specific keywords for your searches on these platforms to find the right fit: eg “UK UGC creators”, “mum UGC creators”, “fitness UGC creators”.

Passive searches – Sending out callouts on Twitter, Fiverr and Upwork (also called a request), detailing a brief outline of the content you’d like creating, and any requirements the creator must meet. Creators can then respond to your callout if they think they’d be a good fit. Ensure to use hashtags on Twitter for higher reach in the UGC creator community (eg #ugc #ugccreator #contentcreator etc).

Once you’ve found a creator that might be a good fit, it’s time to go through their portfolio of previous work. Ensure they have plenty of examples showcased and the level of experience you required, and look out for the following (depending on the type of content you require):

• High quality footage – great lighting, clean and minimalistic backgrounds, crisp sound
• Great camera presence- do they deliver voiceovers/direct-to-camera testimonials naturally and authentically? Do they use a natural tone and facial expressions? Do they engagingly deliver the messaging with enthusiasm and good pacing?
• Outlined rates and packages – it is always worth reaching out to creators regardless as they may cater to custom rates if you provide sufficient details.
• Evidence of creativity and marketing strategy knowledge

Employ your best judgement at this stage to analyse potential – even if a creator has a limited portfolio, their Instagram/TikTok may demonstrate sufficient evidence of quality and experience.

The next stage is to reach out and let your chosen creator know of your opportunity and offered compensation. Outline your exact requirements (the length of the desired video/script, the number of B-roll clips you require and an idea of what the video will entail- the angle, location and style). Be prepared to negotiate and to be flexible if needed!

Once both parties reach an agreement and are ready to proceed, it’s time to prepare the brief the creator will use to film all content required.

1. The storyboarding

The best practice at this stage is to use a storyboarded brief, which verbally outlines to the creator exactly what the finished video will look like. This allows you to effectively manage expectations and give sufficient guidance, to obtain the exact footage and style you’re looking for, and will allow yourself and the creator to see when the brief has been fully met.

The storyboard may involve a script for the creator to use for a voiceover or direct-to-camera testimonial, and alongside each line the piece or set of B-roll that will be shown when the line is delivered. It is important to bear in mind the engagement factor – the same clip should be shown for only a few seconds, so how often should clip styles and angles change to create an engaging video? One clip may not be enough for a longer script line, for example.

Ensure to include plenty of visual guidance to assist the creator and help them understand what you’re looking for. This may be specific clips you’d like replicating, that you’ve seen on another brand’s video, or an example of a full video with the same angle that the creator can use as inspiration.

Ensure also to include all technical requirements, to ensure you receive the best possible quality – eg minimum lengths for B-roll clips, notes on lighting, sound and camera quality, and encourage clips to proofed before they are sent across to you, to ensure the full brief has been met.

Then you can set a feasible deadline with the creator to film all content, and give them the opportunity to ask any questions/clarify sections on the brief. If you need to send your product out for filming, make sure you bear shipping in mind with delivery timespans.

1. The editing

Once the creator has sent all content back to you and has met the brief, let the editing commence! There are a few key pointers to bear in mind at this stage, to craft the best quality, engaging video possible:

• The visuals should maintain an engaging pace, utilising cuts/zoom ins/angle changes every few seconds to keep the audience engaged throughout.
• Lead with the hook – ensure the first few seconds contain a strong visual and/or verbal hook to stop your audience’s scroll and engage them from the outset. Meet their pain point, drive their curiosity, present yourself as relatable to them- to keep them sticking around for more.
• Finish off with a CTA – make sure your testimonial and/or captions encourage the audience to click through to your site – you may want to make this obvious and build hype, especially for a promotion, or you may want to keep it subtle to distance yourself from giving an ‘ad-like’ feel.

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And that’s a wrap! We hope this guide aids you in your UGC creation process- it’s an ever-growing world full of creative talent, you’ve just got to put in the time to find the best fits, and with careful briefing and editing work, your UGC will then do the work for you.

Need help in getting this process started – or need an extra pair of hands in setting up an efficient UGC content creation delivery system? We’re here to help. Get in touch with our team to find out more.