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Lesson Info

Social Media Aesthetics

What we're gonna get into right now, is social media aesthetics. Now, this is one of those moments that I'm like, "Do I include it? Do I not include it?" Because, we have been open about the temptation to make our feeds look and feel really beautiful. And our temptation is to look at the really beautiful feeds and be like, "See, they're doing it right." Now, I'm about to show a video, and I'm gonna expound the video a little bit after. But, I want you going in understanding that what we're about to talk about is the idea of a very perfect social feed. And we're gonna get into that right about now. Let's have a little bit of a brief break for social media aesthetics. I said social media aesthetics, but what we really know, or what we've been told to believe is that aesthetics on Instagram, they're queen. How clean is that feed? How good does it look? Oh yes. So... Where Instagram used to be, is that Instagram came out, people started using it, loving it, eating it up like a soup spo...

on, and then some pretty smart people started using it with such a strategy, and they said, "We can curate our lives to such a degree, that it looks and feels like you're walking into a museum. We get to create our own movie, we get to create our own story." And it was wildly inspiring, influencers took off, it was like this big thing to have every photo that we have ever seen. "I'm at a cafe, at a coffee shop, with my head down. I'm in Coachella. Hold my hand, I'm on vacation. Here's my dog and baby. Oh, we're snuggling by the camera." We've seen the feet on the beach on a boomerang 18 billion times. Yeah. Right, so all of the sudden, it became a story. I read an article about people in Russia who will hire a private jet, like, they have photo shoots in a private jet, and they give the effect that they're actually flying in a private jet so they can put it out on Instagram. It has gotten to such a degree that last year I was, I'm seeing there's this boomerang effect, and I feel really excited that I went out publicly, and I was like, "That's where it was. Where are we going?" The boomerang is coming back to where Instagram had started. Instagram now, I'm just putting a stake in it. I know that a very few people, they're like, "That influencer marketing space isn't going anywhere." I get it, but I feel like it's strongly going to change. These highly, highly perfect, curated feeds, are going to be a thing of the past, because people are craving authenticity. Real, real, I agree with that. Yes, real soon. Okay. So how do we mix the two? So we see this. So... Cause you want it to look good still. You want it to look good. Yes. And, when we do the live class, I'm gonna do a juxtaposition of where my grid used to be, and where it is today. Do I care that I still want it to look good? Yes, Yeah, that's right. Does it have to be overly perfect, and make it look like every sixth photo has to be a quote, and a photo of me, next to me, doesn't perform as well? No, that's gone. And as more people enter the platform, Instagram has now been over 1.2 billion people. It's outtrending the growth for Facebook quickly. So, we can quickly see that there's gonna be billions of people on the app. And the more people that follow your account, the percentage of people that are still seeing your content that three to four percent will stay the same, but it's gonna be harder and harder to compete as more people come on the platform. So to me, strongest content wins, perfect content, no longer, not as much. So the moral of the story, is that consistency is better than perfection. You guys, I applaud you guys for that consistency. Katelyn, don't get caught up with perfection. Don't get caught up in looking at your feed. How many people, You guys follow on that business account 7500, Katelyn-- (lady interrupts) Okay, but Katelyn, how many times do you go back to people that you follow? How many times in a month have you gone back to somebody's account to go back to their grid? To their feed? Yeah, no. It's like we're talking-- You're gonna learn it's like, "What is she telling me, that advice or whatever?" Exactly. But we don't go back. So the grid and feed is for new followers. But content, if it's good, will win over beautiful and perfect... Perfect layout. Moral of the Story: Authenticity is better than being cool. Now, I don't think you should be dorky, I don't think you should be hot mess if that's not you, but people are craving something real. So don't posture to be anything you're not. Be you. And I want you to do one of two things. I want you to attract and I want you to repel. I don't want you to be for everybody. I don't want you to be for every mom. I want you to be for the moms who are just like, "I know you, I like you, I trust you. You speak my language." That's who I want you guys to be for. Moral of the story is that your followers' needs are so much bigger and more important than your desires. I know you wanna sell product, I know you wanna get clients, but that to me in my mind, 80:20. 80:20 of that content that you're putting out. 80% should be inspirational, educational, content-driven, help, help, help, help. Specifically for Katelyn, Katelyn's like, "Well, how much do I share without giving it away?" Give it all away. People will pay a premium to work with you one on one. People will pay a premium to go deeper with your content. You just share. (snapping fingers) Quickly position. There's a big gap in the market. Cool. So... I know that it's probably not that popular to say that the appearance of your Instagram feed is not as important as it once was, but it's just the state of the Instagram union. Often times, if you were to think back, the same question I asked our small business owners, how many times do you go back to somebody who you follow and go back to their grid to see what it looks like? We just don't really do that. And so if we're putting a lot of pressure on having a perfect feed, we remove the power of what I've been preaching is that one happy customer tells seven other people. One inspired or educated or somebody who you had helped on Instagram is telling somebody else, "Go follow this person," and they're not gonna go and just look simply at the aesthetic of your feed anymore. Do I think aesthetics matter? Yeah, it's a visual platform. Do they matter the way that they once did? And that would shackle you or lock you up to be like, "Oh no, this color just throws off the entire feed. I can't use it." It shouldn't be that anymore. And I know that people hear that and they're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." All I'm saying is aesthetics matter, they just don't matter as much as they used to. So, on that note, we are going to pop into a hot seat. And what I didn't expect yesterday was that we weren't gonna get a lot of in-class questions and so I put in these hot seats, but what I'm actually very thankful for is that people online really enjoy the hot seat, so, if we have extra time today, we might be able to pop one in, but we have content really driving us throughout the day, so let's see what happened. Hot seat... hennapreneur.official, Chelsea, yes! Front row like you just knew it was coming. (audience laughs) "I help henna artists worldwide to improve their design proficiency and to build sustainable business practices through personal, comprehensive online instruction." Cool, we now know what she does and who she serves. She says, "Though I batch and schedule my social content, sometimes I fall behind with regular post. I try to keep up with Instagram and Facebook by at least posting to my stories daily even if I'm unable to post content to my grid or timeline. Is there a problem with this? Is posting to the grid, the timeline non-negotiable? I worry that perhaps by not checking this proverbial box of posting traditionally, my status in the algorithms may be affected." - Chelsea. Do you still feel that way right about now? Is this the same question that you would ask? Yeah, I think I'd still like the answer. Perfect, great. And the answer then becomes very similar to going on a diet. If you want to lose 10 pounds, you can lose it in a month, and you can lose it in 10 months. So, if you're not getting the type of engagement at the growth that you would like, then the next natural thing to think about is, "Am I giving people an opportunity to engage?" Because the only way that you grow, like truly, is when you get engagement. That's just it. And we're gonna break this down a little bit more when we get into Facebook, but there's these components that Facebook and Instagram have called as inventory. When we give inventory to the platform, then Instagram and Facebook get to choose, "Who are we gonna show this inventory to?" If we don't provide the inventory, we can't complain, "I'm not growing." You're not giving them anything to grow. So, do you absolutely need it? Do you need to post everyday or else you're losing? No. But if you're not getting the type of growth and engagement that you want, prime suspect number one would be the fact that maybe we're not giving enough inventory to the platform for them to show. Okay. I asked this, primarily, because I read a study where it indicated that about, what you post on the grid, a very small amount of people will see. But in stories, about 70% of your followers will view that. And so, when I post in stories, I get the engagement. I have people in my DMs all the time. But if something falls behind on the grid, I'm like, "Is there"-- Can I ask you a question, real talk? Tell it to me straight. Okay. You have... On this account, like 400, yeah. 455 followers. So, are you saying that you post six to seven stories, or just say four stories in a day, and 65 people will stay through, not even 65. So you're saying, 70% of 450. You're saying that over 350 people are watching your stories when you post them? No, mm-mm. 'Cause that story to me seems suspect, 'cause I don't get 70% of people watching my stories. In fact, it's actual opposite is that there's not even 50% of Instagram users who say they check stories on a daily basis. Now, if this story was focusing specifically on marketers watching stories, then the answer I can totally believe is 70% because a lot of us, who we follow as marketers and business owners, we watch stories to analyze and see. The average Instagram user is not going to stories. And not even 50% of them on a daily basis. So... The numbers that I had seen were somewhere in the ballpark of 12% of your followers are seeing stories. Now, I'm not to say that my numbers, or not my numbers, the numbers that I read were right, or the numbers that you read were right. All I'm saying is you gotta do the math on your numbers. Right. So, if you're saying, if, statistically, 10% of your followers are seeing your stories, that we could say 46 people are watching your stories, and I would venture to say that if you put out an Instagram post, more than 46 people will see it. At least, right now, where the algorithm is. Because, Instagram will show your post organically, right about now, to four percent of your audience. And then they estimate, based on the four percent, how much more Instagram juice they will pour on it. And they decide how much more Instagram juice they're gonna pour on it based on the interaction that you get immediately after you post it. Now, it could be immediately 10 minutes later, an hour later, 10 hours later. We don't know the time, and Instagram will never tell us, and Instagram's always changing it. So, they say, "We're gonna try it and we're gonna see, roughly, to about four percent." But if the four percent that they show it to are like, "Chelsea, this is amazing, we love you, you're amazing, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." And then they engage and Instagram's like, "Oh, well this percentage of Chelsea's followers liked it. Let's show it to more percent of her followers and let's see what happens there. And then more, and then more." And that is what causes something to go viral, is that Instagram's noticing, "Whoa, this is really poppin'. We should show it to more people." Good content is rewarded in an algorithm. So, what I'm saying to you is if you wanna be rewarded, and if you want the ability to get more engagement, you have to give them the inventory. So, is going on stories better than not posting anything at all? Yes. Do I think that posting stories alone make up for not posting on the daily? No, but is it a make or break? No, you're just not gonna get the results that you would like. I see. This particular community I nurture most on Facebook, and-- Beautiful. Yeah, and Instagram, rather, really it's growing small and it's growing slow and I'm happy with the growth that it's having right now, but I I find myself leaning now more into IGTV, and into the stories, and it's good to hear this answer. Okay, good. Yeah. Good. And then, often times, you could test your content. If you feel like your Instagram TV is really amazing, then how much would it cost? And I am a huge believer in outsourcing content, and finding virtual assistants. You can hire a virtual assistant who does basic video-editing from the Philippines and on average you're paying them four to five dollars per hour. And you give them a 12-minute Instagram Live, a 20-minute Instagram Live and say, "I want this edited between here and here, and I want it cropped in a square, and I want you to add subtext." And they will probably come back with a quote that's less than $15. And what you're doing is you're finding a way to repurpose content, inserting it on your grid, and giving you a way to do the same amount of work, but show up in two different ways. I love that. Okay, cool. Thank you. Anything else? No. And if it comes up, you'll just raise your hand and you will ask. I guess. Okay, good. (audience laughs) Good, good, I love that. So, clap it up. Clap it up for Chelsea. (applause) Yes. Cool.