We all are on multiple social media platforms, but we all secretly have our favorite. For whatever reason, Instagram is the one that I’ve noticed that I tend to favor.
By now I hope you know that the business Instagram account I run is strictly for the “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast. And I post on there every single day. That is, I put something up not five, but, seven days a week.
Ten days ago I did a Lunch & Learn called, “How to Promote Yourself and Your Brand On and Offline.” When I mentioned posting every day of the week, it drew a lot of gasps. Some attendees even later told me, “There’s just no way I can post on Instagram seven days a week.” That’s when I told them that an Instagram expert whose session I attended at Social Media Marketing World said that you should actually post twice a day on Instagram, so as to catch different time zones.
Whether you’re posting twice a day or once a day, not to mention seven, five, or, say, three days a week, here are six common mistakes I’m seeing made on there that you really want to avoid committing (in no particular order):
1. Long links. Folks, bit.ly is your friend. The only place on Instagram that you can put a link where viewers can actually click on it is the URL that they let you place in your bio. That’s it. Just one. Only there. When you post a big, long, messy URL in your photo caption/description, not only can no one click on it, but there’s no way they can remember it, nor will they take the time to toggle back and forth on their screen to go character by character to get in the letters, numbers, uppercase, lowercase, and special characters. So, I’m sorry to let you down, but, those iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube links you’re putting in your photo caption/description are not getting any click-throughs. Simply go to bit.ly and (for free) shorten your link AND (most importantly) customize it so that it’s memorable so that it IS easy for people to (remember and) go type into their browser! When I posted that I have been nominated for Best Local Blogger (and that Now Hear This is also in the Best Local Podcast) category, I took a big, long, messy URL and turned it into bit.ly/Vote4NHT – which makes sense and is short and memorable. (Click on that and when you land on the destination page, look to see what the messy URL would've otherwise been!)
2. Everything is not post- (or story) worthy. Yes, I have many times cited the Seinfeld episode where they said, “What’d you do today?” “Nothing.” “That’s a show!” However, restrain yourselves, folks. If I took a selfie right now so you could see me and my laptop and this blog being written, you’d furrow your brow at such an Instagram post and say, “I don’t care, I just want to read the blog!” You’re eating chicken soup? So what?! There’s plenty of chicken soup in the world and lots of people eating it. Why do I need to see you doing such? How is that newsworthy? Oh, it’s homemade? Guess what? Whoever gave it to you isn’t the only one that knows how to do homemade chicken soup. It kind of reminds me of this blog that I had written about paying to go to a concert but then watching it mostly through your smartphone. Meaning, put down the phone – everything is not a post or story. And besides all this, it starts to (no chicken soup pun intended) feed into…
3. Posting TOO much. Okay, twice a day, seven days a week is what that expert recommended. And I don’t have a problem with his advice. But when you’re putting up, seven, eight, ten pictures each time you sit down to post – not to mention then putting ALL of them up as a story too, it’s just too much. People are going to get turned off to the point of (brace yourself) unfollowing you! In this primary season, I recently heard someone mention the name of a candidate who they said they’re intentionally NOT going to vote for because his signs are too big AND there are way too many around (as in, an obnoxious amount – more than the typical political candidate). Do you get the comparison?
4. Using a YouTube link as your profile URL. I get it that you’re a musician and you want people to check out your video(s). But, do you know how much work it is to then go find your website and your other social media channels? I know I’m in the minority when it comes to, “Duh, you just click into the About section of the YouTube channel.” Where do you think people are going to go after they watch your video? I’ll tell you where they’re not going – to your website, as in, to see your list of live shows and how to buy your music.
5. Hijacking someone’s post with a self-serving comment. Want to learn how to (quickly) get your comment deleted from someone’s post? Put in, “Hey, check out my profile!” Or, “Yo’…check out my music.” Or even, “Follow for follow?” Contribute something meaningful. Show the poster that you looked at their photo and read their caption (description) and say something about the picture and/or what they wrote. Comments like those that I gave examples of are interpreted as, “I only came on here to try to get people over to MY Instagram.” Annoying.
6. Disappearing for an extended period of time. There is SO much competition out there that if someone goes to your profile and sees that the last time you posted was, say, five months ago, they might not only assume that you’re not using the Instagram account (anymore), but (yikes) they might even think you’re not doing music anymore (or operating your business if you’re reading this and aren’t a musician)! You will hear every social media advisor say, consistency is key.
Do you need help with your social media? Or just an evaluation of your online presence in general? (Where you are, where you aren’t, how it all looks, what you’re missing, and so on?) Let’s do a private, one-on-one video consultation and we’ll use the Share Screen feature so I can help you improve the public face that you're presenting to the world on your website and your social media. Book a session with me now.
Talk about your Instagram tips, challenges, and/or pet peeves in our Facebook group.