Every single element of your digital business, every aspect of every social network profile under your brand needs to carry that level of clear intent. All of it needs to communicate your message seamlessly and without contradiction or confusion. Your profile photo, the information in the biography at the top of your profile, your banner image, your pinned posts, your captions, your use of hashtags – these are all tools you have in your digital toolbox. Use them to colour in that space inside the chalk outline that encapsulates your influencer business.
Don’t forget to audit the accounts you follow, as well. These are all the influences you take on board every time you open a platform. These are the sources you’ll retweet, share and repost, and their impact on your voice cannot be overstated.
One of the sure ways to drive Instagram and TikTok engagement in ways that set the hearts of brands, agencies and marketers aflutter is to create posts that users will save or download. This is the platform’s equivalent of pinning on Pinterest or likes on Twitter. Content that has timeless value, that is specific in its instruction or simply provides tips, will inspire your followers to mark and keep it for later use. Sharing content of this nature should always be pinned to your Instagram Story highlights as well – a great showcase area where you can briefly highlight what sets your account apart, for a prospective follower who has clicked through to your account biography in curiosity, by accident or because they saw or heard you on some other platform.
How often do you need to create content?
Nadia Jaftha, Katinka die Kat and Wian Magic are all convinced that they need to produce content every day in order to maintain engagement, but this is not a universally held opinion.
I monitor the numbers every single day, [shares Nadia], because they keep changing. I have to post every single day. That keeps my engagement up; that keeps my numbers consistent. I need to do that so I can show brands that my metrics are consistent. My followers know that when they come to my page there will be something new and something fresh. Whether it’s funny, more lifestyle, there’s always going to be something new. That’s really important, to keep that relationship with your followers and make them feel like they can rely on you for new content.
It is about more than just engagements though; Nadia says the return on this investment is also brand loyalty and sentiment.
It also makes them feel like they can support you with whatever you’re doing. For example, I’m in my first movie now and it’s very different for me: going from social media to cinema. When I shared that with my followers or my supporters, they responded really well to that and I was really surprised by how much love I got. I think that’s really important: when your followers feel like they can grow with you; that when you succeed – they succeed. Essentially, that’s what it is, at the end of the day.
In Katinka’s case, she maintains a balance between video and photo content:
I need to post a video at least every second or third day, while I need to post photos every day. People talk about what is trending, you know. You need to constantly pop up in their stories and you definitely get out what you put in.
Wian explains that instead of looking at what he’s putting in, he measures his effort in terms of the results only.
The motivational guru Gary Vaynerchuk changed my way of looking at this with his emphasis on the fact that we all have time, we just tend to use it wrong. You can only measure how you spend your time by looking at the actual results, not at your effort. Results are all that matters. Sometimes I plan videos, like a movie, for over two weeks and then they get the same engagement as something I came up with on the spot. I now try to keep my planning minimal, because every day that I spend planning and not posting costs me a day’s growth. Most people treat their Instagram feed like a photo album, curated around a theme, and so perfect that not a single aspect of it is out of place. But how much growth do they miss out on, how much money and following do they lose because of this obsession with perfection? Quality is important, but not more than being productive.
Liesl is one example of an influencer who works on big campaigns regularly but doesn’t prioritise social media every day.
I often don’t post over a weekend or for a day or two. I was recently on an influencer trip, hanging out with a few other influencers, and they explained to me how they work, but I’ve never bought into it. I do wonder if it takes away from being pure. I really only look at which day is best for me to post.
I also know my personality and the A-type person I am
