There is no doubt that Instagram has become our favorite social media platform. For those of us who devour art, home furnishings, travel and interior design on a daily basis, it makes sense that a visual medium like Instagram would feed our passion. And we are very grateful to you for edging us into the 30K zone, which may not have gotten a headline this week, but meant the world to us. Thank you!
Our own Instagram has improved tremendously ever since the three Em’s took over. Luckily we've got steady Mackenzie who has been our inspired Insta leader at the Art gallery from the start. At the Home store, we’ve had Emily, Emma and another Emily all run our social media, except during those very noticeable times when the Em’s chose maternity leave over managing our Instagram feed! That’s when Meg and I took over, saying “It can’t be that hard!” and discovered, as we lost followers, grumbled about coming up with fresh ideas and argued about whose day it was, that it is indeed that hard! Now that the Ems are back, we love Instagram again and have discovered that it’s one of our best ways to talk to our clients.
So what do you love about Instagram? Here's what you tell us every day, measured by the ever powerful "likes" on our feed, along with your helpful comments too:
The above was of Meg and me, on our first week back after our Covid lockdown last spring, respecting our 6 foot separation over a 72" round French table. (This is before we received our most popular item of the season: Our luscious silk masks, to which we are all comfortably addicted.)
Now that we're not inputting the day-to-day content, we love Instagram! If you are doing your own content and struggling to grow your following, our very own Emma has some tips for helping you find your voice:
- Really hone in on your brand and what you want to be known for. Stick with it!
- You’ve heard it before but consistency is key! Don’t make your followers wait or search for your posts. Be consistent and stay in their feed. You can also use Instagram’s insight tools to really study your audience and learn when they are online. Use these!
- Interact! It’s so important to make sure your followers know they are being heard and answered.
- Be personal – it’s important to that show there are people behind the brand! It helps lend to your relatability.
- Take some time to learn how to use your iPhone camera (it’s amazing what it can do) and research apps that will help you - Like creating presets in Lightroom (totally free!).
Thanks, Emma, but you forgot the most important tip: If you want to grow your insta feed, hire someone whose name is Em - but don't hire ours! (And M for Mackenzie is off limits too, BTW!)
We respect the work that it takes to feed the Insta appetite every day and appreciate everything we've learned from our Em & M's along the way. And of course we wouldn't even have a feed if it weren't for you, dear friends, for liking us. We hope we can continue to earn your following, with gratitude and appreciation, as we say cheers to @Insta, thank you to Em & M's, and hats off to all of you!
Ta ta,
@huffharrington
