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#3 How do I get to be a “recommended post” on Instagram?

You know all those “recommended posts” Instagram likes to clog your feed with?  While you may shake your fist at them and wish they would go away, Instagram execs have made it clear they absolutely aren’t going anywhere (if anything, you’re going to see even MORE of them).  Instagram’s real goal is to make these recommendations just so darn awesome and perfect for your interests that you’re going to be happy to see them (and stay scrolling on their app longer and longer). 

So instead of trying to fight the impossible, we encourage you to embrace the inevitable and learn how the Instagram algorithm selects recommended posts.  These posts are going to be present whether you like it or not, so you might as well have it be YOU who’s being recommended, right?

#2 Email ain’t dead!

We see it all the time … we recommend email marketing to a prospective client and they roll their eyes and say, “Does that even work anymore?”  

The answer?

Yes.

Actually let me say that more emphatically … YES!!!!!

96% of consumers check their email every day, 81% of online shoppers are likely to make additional purchases because of email, and 60% say they prefer email communication from brands versus any other method.  Oh and it is free (or relatively cheap) to send them an email. (Thank you EmailIsNotDead for the factoids.)

Our clients see great results from email marketing as a way to sell products and events, but also simply as a way to stay top of mind with their customers and we HIGHLY recommend it as a tool in your marketing arsenal.  Still not convinced?  Read this … and if you do and still think email marketing sucks, well then we can’t help you and you should probably just delete us.

#1 An easy way to post some Reels content without losing your mind

Welp … here we are talking about Reels again.  If this makes you want to chug from the nearest bottle of tequila and pray to the Internet Gods that Instagram will change their minds, let’s run down some simple facts …

FACT #1:  Everybody is mad at Instagram.  

And yes, “everybody” is an over-exaggeration, but when you see articles like “Why Instagram Sucks Now” and top influencers are bagging on the platform, it’s pretty obvious that people are annoyed.  That said …

FACT #2: Instagram ain’t going anywhere.

Even if they “suck” and “everybody” hates them, Instagram is still a multi-billion dollar company that is owned by a megalomaniac who seems hellbent on world domination (or at least virtual world domination).  You would have to roll the cold dead corpse of metaverse overlord Darth Zuckerberg away before he would give up on Instagram or have it “lose” to TikTok.

What we’re getting at here is you can be rest assured that IG will be part of your social media plans for quite some time and that means it is important to incorporate best practices for the platform, and right now that’s with Reels.  It remains the single best (and free) way to have your brand reach new eyeballs.  But here’s one more fact …

FACT #3: Reels are a pain!

Posting a cute picture with a fun description is SO much less time consuming than a dang Reel!  Buuuut … if you really want to up the reach and engagement of your brand, you gotta suck it up and do ’em.  Doing Reels from scratch takes a lot of time and a little bit of skill (we’re happy to help if you need it BTW), but there’s also a way to balance that with something that is super easy … repurposing old Stories and turning them into Reels.  Meta has just added the ability to easily do this from your archives, and it is a great way to breathe life into some old content and post some Reels without going insane.  Is this the best practice for ALL Reels for your brand?  Probably not, but it’s at least something you can use to supplement your content.

Also, in other great news, you will soon be able to schedule Reels directly through the Instagram platform (as well as any third-party resources you may use), which is incredibly helpful if you’re someone who likes to stockpile and schedule content in one session versus having to develop it on the fly.  It’s still the added effort of creating Reels, but it’s at least a helpful way to schedule them out.