The Socialize Strategy - An Instagram Debrief
Welcome to the socialized strategy. It is Friday and I am recording my last Croatia episode before I head back to the United States. So live from my hotel room, if you're watching, we're going to dive into how often you should post on Instagram, what are the differences between posts, reels, stories, and an overview of Instagram. I love this because even though I think people, maybe they're on the app and they think they know everything about how to do things on the app, there is always learning that can be had when you really think about what's the purpose of each thing, how to manage each part of it. Instagram has exploded from just being a photo sharing app through the years and how it takes little things from TikTok.
Helen:It takes little things from I don't even want I don't wanna say YouTube. But there are there just the way TikTok takes some things from Instagram, Instagram takes some things from TikTok. So it does go It's a little bit of a two way street, but Instagram has pushed forward into threads. So there's just so many different ways to think about Instagram that I just wanna make sure I'm covering a nice overview. And I am I am sharing this week.
Helen:I have shared already by the time of this recording. I have shared that that a very simple way, if you're new to Instagram and you're intimidated and you've never made a video before, I have posted and I'm linked and is linked in the newsletter, a very beginner how to make a reel. And I think this is so helpful because why did I do this? I'll tell you. I'll tell you why.
Helen:Because Tommy and Jenna, my son Tommy and his new wife Jenna, they are working on They have some Airbnbs and they were, oh, let's make some videos for our Airbnbs. And so Jenna took it on. She started an Instagram account. She's making the she's attempting to make videos. And one weekend when they were down, she's I said, let me give you a power Instagram lesson just to see if what she knew and how I could help her.
Helen:And I realized that even someone who spends a lot of time on Instagram viewing, posting, commenting, There was a lot that she didn't know as someone who's been years on social media. And I'm like, this is enlightening. And she learned so much in that You go, girl. I love seeing them come up now. Alright.
Helen:You go girl. I love seeing them come up now. Alright. So because of that, I am spurred to share about Instagram on this podcast. So number 1, how often should you post on Instagram?
Helen:So the first thing is that social media apps like when you post to their channels consistently. So the more the better. They want you obviously, the whole point of social media apps is getting people to stay on them longer. So the more you post, the more comments you have, the more you're gonna go back and answer comments. And so you're feeding what they are looking for.
Helen:So the more you're go back and answer comments. And so you're feeding what they're looking for as an app. So for starters, if you think about that, the more you're on the app, the better you're going to do. Okay? But you have to have a life and you have to find balance.
Helen:So the idea is to post consistently without debilitating your life and becoming so where you're only spending your days looking at the phone. And there is a balance to be had. Look, I'm here. I'm working. I shoot all day on production shoots and then I find time to post my content in the evening.
Helen:So I can't always be on these apps all day long. I wouldn't want to be. I wanna live life. I wanna meet people and interact. So balance is key.
Helen:So how should you post? How often should you post? We like to say you should post to your stories every day if you can. I try to do it and some days are just not happening. But mostly and if you look at the successful creators, I love to mention Lorraine and Skinnytaste Gina and my Conquering Tammy, all of my experts that I've had on.
Helen:They post consistently on their Instagram stories. That is where your loyal followers are watching you. That is those are the people who are commenting, interacting. They are your key people. So you want to keep them in your life and I love to take them along with me.
Helen:I like to post day to day when I'm on a trip like this and I find something to post because I think people, once you're in their life in that way, they are happy to join the ride with you, and it's so fun. So if you're a brand, your customers are gonna wanna join the ride with you. And that will keep them remembering you and coming back. I do think that is why I have opportunities coming to me for production is because I'm consistent and I'm in people's feed. And so when they have a project, all of a sudden they'll be like, oh, I remember Helen was shooting something like that.
Helen:And so they'll contact me. Alright. So being in the story feed consistently is helpful. Posting to your regular feed, which would be a static post, a carousel or reels, we suggest 3 to 5 times a week. And that just keeps you on a consistent cadence.
Helen:And you could do every other day consistently. You could say Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Whatever it is. Pick 3 days and just be consistent because that will keep your flow going and it will keep you on people's feed. So now, let's break down the types of content and the best strategy for using them.
Helen:The best strategy for static posts is try not to just post 1 single photo. If you are doing a static post, make it a carousel, meaning, you select multiple photos and then you have a grouping of those photos with a caption. And then, when you post it, what happens and I'm going to give you the hot take on this. What happens is, if the person if your post, the first photo in in the carousel shows up in someone's feed and they don't like it or commented on it commented comment on it, the Instagram platform will feed them the second and the third post. The wait.
Helen:The second and the third photo in your carousel. So you have 2, 3, 4 chances to get in front of that person and eventually they might interact. And I notice myself doing it as a viewer. Sometimes I'm scrolling so fast and I'm like, oh, I I I'll pass somebody, you know, a friend of mine's like a graduation photo of their kid and I'm just too fast and I I didn't like it or whatever. Shortly thereafter, down as I scroll, the next photo in the carousel shows up and I'm like, oh good.
Helen:I'm so glad this is back. And then I can like and comment on it. So the platform feeds the first carousel post to your audience. And then if they don't interact with it, the platform feeds the second and the third. And watch it happen.
Helen:When you're scrolling, look and see which dot it's on. When you're viewing a post, you can see the first dot shows it's the first of the carousel, the second and third dot, and so on. If a photo comes up on your page and it's the second or third dot, you can best know that you've already the first one has already passed your feed and you probably didn't interact with it. I just love this. I think it's like the secret tip that no one knows about.
Helen:Alright? That's that one. Let's see. And the best strategy for using carousels is when you want to share images as a way of making a guide or hacks or some things where you want to maybe put titles on them. So you can use static posts to highlight different facets of your business with some titles on them or you can just do photos and people do it personally for graduation photos and show like a group shot or wedding photos, multiple shots of the wedding.
Helen:So it's the ability to show one event with multiple posts. The next one is real. Why, why, why? Whether you love it or you hate it, reels are the one that can get you seen the most by people who are not following you. They're most likely to go viral.
Helen:They're most likely to get you in front of new eyeballs. That is why to post reels. So the tutorial this week that I'm linking in the newsletter is how to post a reel if you've never made a video before. So I'm excited because I think this one's going to be a good beginner lesson and I shot it in the hotel room on my last hotel. So you know what?
Helen:On the go. I'm shooting them. I'm going. I'm making the tutorials. I do not stop.
Helen:That's a tip for you there. Alright? So the best strategy for using reels is the more you can post them, the better. And if you think, Oh my gosh, I have to keep my reel to 90 seconds, think again. If you post a if you upload a 3 minute video as a regular post, Instagram will put it into the reels category.
Helen:So, any time you upload a video, even if you say post instead of reel, if it's a video, it will go into the platform as a reel. Let me say that again. If you make a reel from the beginning and you choose reels and you say plus and you make it reel, You only have up to 90 seconds. But if you make a video outside the app, you shoot, you edit something in CapCut, it's 3 minutes long, you go to Instagram. You hit the plus If it's more than 90 seconds, don't tap Reels.
Helen:Tap Post. When you tap Post, you can include the whole 3 minute video and it still puts it into the Reels platform. Play that back again. Rewind and play that back again if it's confusing. And I will remember to make a tutorial about that soon because I really think it's important and I think a lot of people don't know it.
Helen:Now stories. Instagram stories are the photos or videos you add to your Instagram profile that are in the circle at the top and they only live for 24 hours. And they're great because you can make them live longer when you tap and you can create it as a highlight. And if you notice at the top of your Instagram, some people have highlights in categories across the top. So you can categorize them after you've posted them to a story.
Helen:You can make them into a highlight reel. So I could take all of my Croatia stories and put them in one little circle that says Croatia and then people could just tap on that circle. And those would make the stories live for longer than 24 hours. It is probably the last feature of Instagram that is a priority, but it's used a lot by businesses or people who want, when people go to their feed, they want them to be able to see a lot about them. So I probably should have like one that's just, I don't know, maybe tutorials or something.
Helen:But it is an extra thing to manage in Instagram doing the highlights, but it could be really helpful. So stories, they live for 24 hours. They are your big circle. Underneath your username, above your thumbnails but below your username, the ones that are going across the middle are highlights. Those are your stories that you have chosen to make permanent as a highlight.
Helen:Okay? So the story itself only lives for 24 hours, but if you add it and create it as a highlight, then it lives forever at the top of your feed for as long as you want, until you take it away. So those are all the features of Instagram. And honestly, I know that it's long overdue for me to have a full on Instagram course, but you can see with everything that it needs to be explained, how long it would it's going to take to put it together to make it make sense. And one needs to find time to do that, a k a me.
Helen:I need to find time to do that. And I promise to myself that I'm going to. But hopefully, this was a good overview for you of Instagram and how to use it and how to think about it and which how to prioritize your things. So I think that, as I always say, stories keep you connected to your core audience. So I tend to When I don't post as much on Instagram, I tend to always have my stories going even if my posts have to fall off the wagon a little bit.
Helen:However, because I'm consistently posting on TikTok, I almost always post the same thing from TikTok to Instagram so that I have some content going out there into the Reels platform. Okay. Well, if you have questions, because I have a feeling after this Instagram recap, there's gonna be a lot of questions. So please, submit your questions in the newsletter today and I will answer all the Instagram questions that I possibly can in next Friday's episode. For this Friday, I'm going to sign off because it's my second to last day in Croatia.
Helen:It is beautiful and sunny. I'm going to swim in the Adriatic Sea and get myself nice and cool and relaxed and have some downtime before I fly back to the United States. So thank you so much for being with me on this trip. Thanks for staying with me and listening to me on these podcasts wherever you are. And I look forward to my next adventure.
Helen:I always think when one adventure ends, another one's gonna begin. But I also am very looking forward to having some downtime in the summer and just staying put. Because traveling in the summer, the heat, especially in Europe, it's rough. And it has been somewhat exhausting. Today, I went for a morning run before it got really, really hot and it was beautiful.
Helen:I went along the coastline. I'm literally out of it 7:30 to get myself out before it was brutally hot, and it was really nice. So I'm happy that I did that. And I hope I can get one more of those in in the morning before I head out. Thank you so much for being here with me in Croatia.
Helen:And I wish I could speak the language. Next time I'll go to a Spanish speaking country and then we'll really be we'll be in deep Spanish on the podcast. I sure hope. I'm channeling it, manifesting. Okay.
Helen:Have a great weekend. Happy Friday. And I'll see you next week back in the USA.
