By Tony Schwartz, “The Social Media DJ”
This past month, I’ve been focusing a lot of my social media efforts on Instagram. While Facebook is the most powerful platform, there is no doubt in my mind that Instagram is the most popular, and therefore, where the attention is. And of its 400 million plus users, 90% of them are age 35 and under.
So, for mobile DJs, especially the wedding DJs reading this, there is no excuse to not be on Instagram. Period.
Now, I know what a lot of DJs are thinking: “Great! How can I make money off this?!?” Therein lies the rub; never forget that social media is really social networking. If you only try to sell and forget to engage, as well, you are toast.
Therefore, I’m not going to talk about Instagram Ads in this post. (By the way, for those of you wondering where one goes to post an ad on Insta, Instagram Ads are setup through your Facebook Ads account.) Yes, you should do ads on Instagram. But if you learn how to engage correctly and respect the platform and its users, you probably won’t need to do Instagram Ads.
The reason why? It all starts with great visual content.
Images (And Video) Rule
Bottom line: only your best visual content should go on Instagram. Grainy, dark photos of your dance floor won’t cut it. (I’ve tried!) A well-exposed photo of a room transformed with uplighting? Hell yeah, watch those hearts get clicked! Therefore, for Instagram photo posts, I recommend taking photos on an advanced camera app - I use Camera+, which I highly recommend for iPhone users - and then importing them into Instagram after doing some post-processing.
Remember, users are swiping down through Instagram and you only have a second or two to make an impression. Video is a great way to capture their attention, but remember, you only have a few seconds to tell the story of that moment.
Use Hashtags
I’ve always turned off by hashtags because of their overuse. However, I started toying around with them in my posts this month and learned that proper use of relevant hashtags will lead to more exposure.
How do you know if a hashtag you are using is relevant? As you type your hashtag, Instagram will make suggestions based of what you have typed thus far. Look to the right and see if your hashtag has a high number of posts or not. If it does, use that hashtag because people will be searching that tag. If it doesn’t, nobody is participating in that “conversation”, and unless you are the Biebs, you won’t make it a trending topic.
Don’t create the hashtag, follow it. Join the conversation and engage. Which leads me to…
Search To Engage
Instagram is a social network. If you only post and don’t engage with others, you are telling other users, “I don’t care about you, I only care about me.” And that’s why social media doesn’t work for so many DJs, they forget that caring is the best social media strategy ever. It’s not about how many followers you have, it’s about your levels of depth with your followers.
One way to increase your engagement outside of your personal timeline is to use the search function. Since my time is valuable, I like to spend it hustling and making new connections. So I’ll search relevant hashtags that apply to my business and start liking and commenting.
And don’t be spammy with your comments. I swear to God, if I ever meet the DJs in person who comment on someone’s just-posted-because-it-just-happened engagement ring shot with “Congrats! Need a DJ? Hit me up!” - I’m going to punch them in the face. She just got engaged, she doesn’t even have a date yet, let her have a freaking moment. Tell her congratulations, give her a follow, and continue to engage with her.
Don’t be a douchebag when engaging.
The Profile Link Is Valuable
Instagram is pretty smart by not allowing posts to have hyperlinks. Could you imagine if they didn’t? Marketers would have already ruined it and the app would be dead. The only link you can post is in your profile, and it is VALUABLE. If you are engaging with other users correctly, this is the link they will possibly click on when they check out your profile.
Alternatively, you can also change this link as often as you like. So, if you want to drive traffic towards a blog recap of a performance you did - this is a right hook sell! - change the link, add your piece of amazing visual content, and mention in the post description to check your profile for the link!
Well, that’s it for this month on my Instagram tips. I’m way over my word count, but I hope you found this of value. If you did, please send a direct Instagram video message to @DJTonySchwartz with what you liked most!
