Out of Instagram’s 500 million daily users, 200 million of them visit at least one business profile every day. Knowing that, it should come as no surprise that brands are dedicating a larger and larger percentage of their marketing efforts to their social media strategy every year. If you’re looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or improve customer retention, let’s just say you better have a horse in this race. And, as with most things in life, the better prepared you are, the more successful you’re going to be. Here we’ll break down the most critical aspects of a social media strategy that every beauty and medspa professional should know.
Organic Social Media Posts
Let’s start with the basics. Organic social media is unpaid advertising. On Instagram, for example, these posts are anything you share to your Newsfeed or even your Stories. Brands post an average of 27.9 times per month. Take note…that’s just about every day. If you’re looking to harness the power of social media, it’s important that your social media strategy maintains a similar consistency. If posting every day or even 3 times a week sounds unrealistic (or even downright impossible), that’s ok! It could simply be time to enlist the help of a professional content creator like Brandabl to help fill in the gaps. Also, do not underestimate the power of Instagram Stories. Stories are a quick and authentic way to engage with your audience. They’re not only simple to execute, but they put your profile smack dab in the front of your followers’ Story Updates. Stories literally keep your brand “front and center.”
“Brands post an average of 2.5 Stories per week...U.S. marketers spend 31% of their Instagram ad budget on Stories and 69% on newsfeed. That’s a mix of about ⅓ Stories and ⅔ newsfeed. It’s a good balance to consider when planning your own Instagram advertising mix.”
Influencer Marketing
Having evolved from celebrity endorsements, influencer marketing is any paid collaboration with a social media content creator—aka influencer—to promote your brand’s product or service. That said, “influencers” come in many shapes and sizes. Today, a micro-influencer with 10,000 engaged followers or even just 1,000 followers located in your geographic area could easily bring more value to your brand than a macro-influencer with 500,000+ unengaged followers.
Collaborating with a micro-influencer can be a great way to drive engagement and build trust with your target audience. If you find a content creator whose audience and vision seem to align with your brand’s goals, don’t be afraid to send them a Direct Message (DM). Introduce yourself/your brand, provide a short summary of the collaboration you have in mind, and ask if the individual might be interested in providing their rate. There are many factors that play into the cost of influencer marketing, including the industry, the goals of your campaign, and the type of post (image, story, video etc.), so be aware that rates can vary greatly. Just remember, oftentimes you will need to vet several influencers before finding the right fit for your social media strategy.
User-Generated Content
User-Generated Content (UGC) is any content created IRL (in real life) by unpaid customers—as opposed to marketing collateral created by the brand. This might be a client’s own before and after comparison on Instagram, a customer’s unboxing video of your product on YouTube, or a review of your services on Yelp. UGC is so incredibly valuable because consumers (especially millennials), are more likely to trust information provided by their peers than they are to trust artificial, branded content.
In fact, TurnTo did a study that yielded incredible findings about UGC and consumer behavior. They found that:
- Most shoppers (81%) will pay more and wait longer to receive products that are paired with UGC.
- Of those aged 18-29, 97% report UGC has an extreme influence.
- Nearly two-thirds of shoppers (63%) believe UGC creates a more authentic shopping experience.
- Nearly three-quarters (73%) say UGC increases their purchasing confidence.
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Lean on the Experts
Brandabl is the first curated content provider that makes marketing easy for the beauty and wellness industry. We provide stylish, ready-to-post social media content that’s written and designed with your brand’s voice and style in mind. Stay tuned for more marketing tips and don’t forget to follow @mybrandabl on Instagram and sign up here to be notified of exciting updates and receive other fun goodies.
