Mar 31, 2021
Thanks for joining us on the Catapulting Commissions Podcast with your host, Anthony Garcia. At every level sales professionals and entrepreneurs are looking to scale and take their brand to the next level. However, many times they’re not utilizing the most common resources out there. Our guest today, Giselle Mascarenhas, is a social media branding coach whose passion is helping small businesses and her community overcome the immense intimation social media presents and show up boldly to thrive.
First things first--it’s NOT too late to get into the social media game. The only question you ever have to ask yourself in regards to social media, Giselle says, is “where is the attention?” It doesn’t matter what people are doing--what matters is that you can show up to serve. Once you get through the learning curve of how you’re going to provide value, you need to work on the backend to be seen. You HAVE to learn it, but the good news is this: you can do it. You just have to be engaging and bring value! People often post and think people will just...arrive. Think about why people should follow you? Be consistent and allow yourself to be vulnerable and it will happen.
Make sure that you’re giving love as much as you are getting it on social media. A few moments of double-tapping your follower’s posts, your mutual follower’s posts, and others will go a long way. They will see your next post--it’s an algorithm. It’s all about engagement. That same algorithm is watching to make sure you’re engaging because when you do, you’re rewarded with attention from people who are also engaging. The point is, you have to stand out. Your posts should fit one of these three identifiers: entertainment, curiosity and education, and problem-solving. None of these posts NEED to be about business--it’s about opening the door to your audience into your life and being authentic. When that happens, you build trust.
There are six facets to Instagram that are all extremely impactful when used properly.
Stories are your reality show--this is how you communicate with people through their feed. It’s often the first place people go to get a feel for who you are, a massive defining factor in their choice to engage. They are now in your world. They can interact with you directly through it.
Your homepage, where your posts live, is the magazine of your brand. This is where stories, interviews, ads, and other content go. Think about what makes you ‘you’--the pillars of what is constant in your life. That is how you create your grid.
Instagram Live--the only space where you can give presentations with slides, a place where you can have Q&As, interviews, guests, and other immersive, real-time experiences. Don’t be afraid to explore! Mess around and learn what works best for you and your business.
Reels are the only editing mechanism across all social platforms. You can create entire commercials on Reels. You can talk creatively about upcoming offers, releases, launches, searches, whatever it is you need. The thing is, you can start a project and pick it up later when you have the content you need. It can be the film of your brand.
IGTV is your “show.” You can bring anything to life through this method. You could do something on Live and create a series (with episodes!) on IGTV, just like a television show. It can be as high production as you want. The point is, this is a way for your to show people how they can level up. This is another way to become a resource--your audience can learn retroactively about you and your brand.
Finally, Guides are the best way to shout people out and give you the ability to do so with businesses, posts, products, and other important areas of your business. Sponsors, partnerships, and general love-showing can live here.
So, you’re successful in your career, but some obstacle is holding you back from building your community. It’s important to remember that you’re not alone. There is a generational gap--when you’ve achieved already, it can be overwhelming to dive into an all-new way to network and market. At the end of the day, you don’t know what you don’t know until you do. Once you do, you open yourself to opportunities. There are millions of people on social media, why aren’t you showing up?
These IG skills can be applied to other platforms. The idea is that you find what content you are comfortable producing and are good at, create at least one chunky piece of content, whatever it is, and use it on as many platforms as the medium of content allows. Videos can go on IG, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. Give your audience added value by pulling highlights, quotes, etc.
Running a business and a social media account can be difficult. The key is time-blocking. Once you’re clear on your content strategy and flow, you can set time aside to generate your posts. Have a filming day, a writing day, an editing day, etc. built into your work. Pick one day a month, turn off all distractions, and write down what pops into your mind. You’ll end up with a foundation of ideas to write content. It doesn’t have to be deep or long--it can be whatever resonates. After a few hours of writing, content and visual creation, and scheduling, you’re golden. From there, you can post different things on different days to provide value across all platforms.
Ensuring you’re getting the maximum amount of engagement is dependent on what you’re going to minimally post, and never falter. Never falter from showing up on your bare minimum. The easier this process gets, the more you’ll naturally post. You don’t need to post every day, but post what you’re committed to every week. Show up and learn how to do it better so you can do more. You won’t get the most engagement until you’ve invested in showing up and invest in nurturing a team to support you.
Prospecting on Instagram is powerful. Think about how you’re showing up and how you’re posting. Posting with intention brings in genuine engagement. The easiest way to nurture your following is to show love to those who are engaging with your content. Like, comment, and organically engage with THEIR content first. This will post your engagement and will lead to inbound prospects. Write 30 people on a list, and for 30 days, you’re going to go to a person’s account and engage with one of their clips or posts. When you’re done, write a new list. The people on this list come from your research looking for people with problems across large communities with similar interests.
LINKS
Follow Giselle on Instagram! @thebrandingprofessor