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INS IGHT 34 WHAT FRANCHISE | ISSUE 19.3 The grid, which can be turned on in phone settings, ensures you’re operating to straight lines – creating a more professional feel from the get-go, according to Jeanette. However, she does warn against cropping images to ‘square’ (something commonly done on Instagram) as this will make it harder to create a ‘scroll-stopping’ composition. Measure your success Having visibility on what Instagram is bringing to your business is incredibly important if you want to justify investing in social media marketing. By measuring a range of metrics (something that can be done on Instagram’s dashboard), you’ll be able to understand what approach is working for you, and what needs changing. “Monitor analytics regularly – it’s not an occasional process but an ongoing one, so you can learn and optimise content continually,” says Jessica. Reach and engagement are two of the most popular metrics and are a good indicator of what content is proliferating across the platform and what’s not. However, even if these figures are positive, they don’t necessarily equate to revenue. This raises a vital question: what is your definition of success? “For franchisees, that could be reaching and resonating with people in the right areas,” says Jessica. “Make sure you know what action you want users to take – whether that be sharing your content, visiting the website, making an enquiry or buying a product. Always use Instagram as part of a wider business strategy.” Is it worth collaborating with influencers? Beyond organic engagement, business owners can take two different approaches to paid content. The first is to pay for targeted advertisements that boost your content to people who follow businesses like yours and search for relevant terms. The second option is to collaborate with influencers. “If you’re using advertisement tactics (which usually show up in-between stories or reels), do your best to make for an engaging or even amusing narrative to capture the viewer’s attention,” says Karim Salama, director at e-innovate. “If you choose to collaborate with other influencers, make sure you prioritise the nature of their content over the number of followers – you want to use influencers as a means to target a particular demographic.” This means that while big names may seem like the best option, a micro influencer who has a smaller but more concentrated following may actually bring your business better traction. “I would avoid having a ‘scattershot’ approach where you try to get anyone with a decent following involved,” confirms Alex Robinson, founder of Novus Digital. “Instead, I would research any influencers who align well with your brand’s message, values, and service. Remember, you want to tap into the demographics of this influencer’s fanbase more than simply get publicity.” It’s not all about posting Having a two-way interaction between your followers and your brand shouldn’t be forgotten. This will require you to put some time aside to engaging with other users. “Instead of spending the majority of time posting your own content and then jumping off, try to spend the majority of your time interacting with other accounts,” advises Jessica. “Follows, likes, comments, even DMs where relevant, will help build a strong profile as well as bring you closer to who’s using the platform well.” “Monitor analytics regularly - it’s not an occasional process but an ongoing one”