On Tuesday, Planoly hosted a panel of seven social media managers and influencers at The Wing. At the end of the discussion, each insider was asked for their best tips and tricks on how to use Instagram to its fullest. Here’s what they had to say about making a splash on social. Spoiler alert: It’s not just a numbers game, and it’s not about “beating the algorithm.”
#TheWing #Planoly
No response on an email doesn’t mean ‘no.’
- @reesalake
- Reesa Lake, Partner/EVP of Brand Partnerships at Digital Brand Architects
Connecticut
4,119 followers
🔑 “It may sound really simple, but be a good person, and there’s not always a value exchange in it for each party, but just be nice and create those relationships that live off-line. And no answer doesn’t mean ‘no.’ Just because you write to an influencer or you write to a brand and you don’t hear back, it doesn’t mean no, it just means they’re on vacation, they’re busy, they didn’t get back to that email. Follow up with them, make them say ‘Wow, she’s persistent, I’m gonna respond back to her.’ Whether something happens or not, there’s a lot of power in that follow-up. Be a good person.”
Keep in mind what your feed offers, and think ‘big picture.’
- @alyssainthecity
- Alyssa Coscarelli, Senior Fashion Market Editor at Refinery29
- New York, NY
- 157,091 followers
🔑 “Think a little bit about what you’re offering and hope to offer. People come to my feed for a taste of my life, fashion, to discover new brands, and I keep that on the top of my mind. Also: Interact with people. I find some influencers kind of cut themselves short. I get a lot of people who are like, ‘Wow! You’re one of the only influencers who responds to me!’ And I’m like, ‘Really?’ I feel like people should be responding to the questions and the comments that they get. You gotta just do the whole picture or you’re not really going to see the same payoff.”
Find your online tribe.
- @gigiguerra1
- Gigi Guerra, Design Partnerships Curator at Target
- New York, NY
- 4,514 followers
🔑 “Cultivate your Instagram group of friends, because you can help raise each other up and promote each other, too. I think it’s really important to do that, and it just feels right. You’re engaging with people who all love each other, and in turn engaging with people following them and you. I think there’s a lot of power in that.”
Live in your DM’s.
- @livvperez
- Olivia Perez, Founder of Friend of a Friend
- New York, NY
- 96,766 followers
🔑 “I wanna live in my DM’s. People are always like, ‘Oh, it goes down in the DM,’ as a weird, sketchy phrase, but I’ve met some of the coolest people I know and some amazing, close friends of mine [through DM’s]. I DM brands, I DM people, I DM photographers– that’s just where I wanna be all the time, because it really is the only way to directly contact people from all around the world. When I’ve talked on panels in the past, people have always been really shy to DM, but it’s really important to put yourself out there and give the virtual handshake, because they might not know you exist until you’re in their inbox.”
Don’t be a jerk.
- @kodeofkondukt
- Priscilla Castro, Brand Partnership Manager at Planoly
- Austin, TX
- 1,485 followers
🔑 “We’re based in Austin, but we don’t feel the miles because it’s such a small community and everybody knows each other, so going back to being a good person— if you’re good to one person everyone will know, but don’t be shady. Word runs.”
Cultivate your brand identity.
- @madison.utendahl
- Madison Utendahl, Head of Content and Social at The Museum of Ice Cream
- New York, NY
- 10,882 followers
🔑 “We have a very, very, very specific brand book, which basically has everything from our values to our colors to words we don’t use, to emojis we— I say ‘we,’ but ‘I’— stick with, and it really allows for there to be cohesion in your stories and in your feed. And you really feel your audience connecting with you because it’s a strong identity that you’re cultivating. And then, we respond to every single DM. I can’t comprehend how people don’t. It’s so important. I don’t understand how you’re supposed to cultivate relationships and develop loyal followers if you don’t. So, always feel free to respond and reach out.”
Internalize your message.
- @izzafacekilla
- Isabel McWhorter-Rosen, Social Media Manager at The Wing
- New York, NY
- 1,587 followers
🔑 “Piggybacking off of that, really understanding what your brand is key— whether that’s just you or a company, what it stands for and what it’s point of view is. I think often times, a lot of that work happens offline, and once you put in that kind of work, it’s not that hard to create consistency in your voice, because you are kind of executing something that’s already been meticulously figured out.”
