But..my ideal client isn’t on Instagram.
I’ve experienced variations of this situation a few times lately and in the past and I want to talk about it…
I’m paraphrasing but here’s how it goes down…
Potential client to me: “I need PR”. And automatically defaults to thinking PR is publicity (more about that here).
Me: Looks at website, all social media platforms and can see that there’s a heap of work to be done on all things design, images representing the business and in a digital marketing and reputation management capacity before the business is ready for a media outreach campaign.
Me to potential client: Hey client, ermm…(in my most polite version of diplomacy)…”we need to spend some solid time on finessing your approach on social media. Your Instagram is a hot mess, there’s no visual strategy, no content strategy, and dare I say it…everything is really kinda ugly. You’re really good at what you do, awesome in fact, but no one is going to pay attention to much of what you say in a competitive market with your personal and business branding looking like that, least of all media. All good, we can fix this and reach your outcomes”.
Potential client then says one or all of these:
- Oh I’ll just shut down my Instagram or make it private. Instagram is heading down hill isn’t it? I’d rather spend time on TikTok if I was going to invest anywhere.
- Social media isn’t important to my ideal client and so it’s not important to me. I don’t convert there anyway. The only place I’ve had success is LinkedIn.
- But I just want you to focus on getting media coverage. I’ve got someone managing my social media. I’m sorted in that area.
Me….sigh… oh where do I even start in addressing this type of thinking. Big deep sigh. Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in telling said client that their social media is worse than a bad perm on a wet day.
Perhaps we’re not right for each other because they don’t get it and aren’t listening and it’s a wrestle right from the start. But are they not the people we need to save most?!
So with the freedom of a blog and my manners on the loose, let me shed some light on just some of the reasons why Instagram game has got to be good.
01
If it doesn’t look good and the design is not thoughtful people wont read it. Simple. They wont recommend it to their friends limiting your capacity to hook, line and sink roving ambassadors to your brand. They wont take it on as part of their own identity. Potential fans will just move right along leaving you with a heap of missed acquisition opportunities.
02
If it’s not visually consistent, potential fans will move away from it at once. You’ve got less than two seconds. You’ve got three scrolls on Instagram to convert someone into a ‘follow’. They’re not reading your content (yet), they don’t know you or how amazing you are (yet), they’re looking at the visual aesthetic and making a call on whether they want THAT in their life. If it’s all over the place visually, it doesn’t incubate much reassurance in your capacity to be awesome.
03
If you can’t execute professionally and at the standard of your competitors do on Instagram, what makes you think you can execute well on LinkedIn, or TikTok. Whatever the platform you choose to triple down on it needs to be relevant and great for the norm’ of that platform, visually and strategically led. Period. (unless you can sing and dance on TikTok that is).
04
Oh really, your ideal customer isn’t on Instagram. I find that hard to believe. One billion people use Instagram every month. Even if you think your ideal customer is not on IG, their colleagues are, their sisters are, their friends of friends are. It’s one of the most available ways to spread meaningful word-of-mouth and manage another layer of digital reputation, while sharing your story. You’d be crazy not to utilise this powerful marketing platform and use it well. I repeat, use it well.
05
No Instagram is not going down hill. It’s only just warming up. The platform is changing as always, the free lunch is over and your local sporting groups and accounting firms have arrived, but while the early adopters are moving on and all the businesses that follow comms trends (rather than set them) are arriving late to the party, this doesn’t mean Instagram is going down hill. It means there are more people to market to, niche advertising opportunities are just getting started and executing strategically is now an absolute must.
Words by Jade Roberts
raraPR Founder and Creative Director
raraPR is above all the sum of people who together help build brands and share stories. We are present in our determination to make a positive difference to the world by representing individuals and businesses that are doing good. We are an extension of the personal stories within us, those that we exist for and those within you that need to be heard.
