Social media marketing is a key piece in the marketing puzzle. Without understanding social media, the different platforms and the possible impact on your business, you are leaving a huge amount on the table.
When it comes to equestrian social media, the ideas are all the same, but I appreciate that not everyone is quite as in love with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and more as I am! So, in this section of my blog, I try and simplify and inform around anything to do with social media. In this area you might find tips, tricks and hacks to improve your equestrian social media marketing, or maybe ideas to help you develop your platforms and grow an audience in the country space. Have an explore… this is a section of the blog that gets added to a lot, so you’re bound to find something to help you!
In addition to being passionate about social media and teaching on the subject, I also use it a lot myself and for my clients. I think it’s so important when you’re teaching something, especially something as fast moving as social media, that you really do have your finger on the pulse day in, day out.
As you may or may not know, I’m a #SheMeansBusiness Accredited Trainer. This is a programme run by Meta and powered by Enterprise Nation in the UK and Ireland, and I’m delighted to be able to share this training as a podcast to help you get more creative and build your brand through Facebook, Instagram… and beyond!
#SheMeansBusiness – Getting Creative: Build Your Brand
On this podcast, I’m going to share tips and tricks around building your brand through social media with lots of branding points to help your brand identity stay as cohesive online as it is offline. We’ll also look at your brand’s values, its purpose, and the connection between customer, creative and copy.
To round off, we’ll look at advertising vs. organic content alongside the mix of engaging, exciting and educational posts it’s good for a brand to share across its social media platforms.
If you want to find out more about Enterprise Nation and the free training available from #SheMeansBusiness and beyond, head over to the Enterprise Nation website here, and/or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
It’s a slightly ranty title (I know it is, sorry!), but it’s an important subject. Don’t send the damn DM, today’s podcast, is all about how to use DMs well. Because they are the most amazing tools that can allow us to grow and nurture relationships through our social media. But when they’re abused, they lose their value. And that’s what we’re talking about. When not to send the damn DM!
Don’t send the damn DM!
On this podcast, we chat all about when not to send a brand or person a direct message on social media. DMs provide the most amazing opportunity to connect with people in a different way- and it’s so so important that you don’t abuse it. So, some top tips…
Don’t approach anyone in their DMs and be unpleasant. Nastiness has no place on social media. And saying ‘no hate’ afterwards when you’ve just assassinated someone’s character or their appearance doesn’t undo it. Just don’t.
Don’t be unprofessional on social media. Please. There’s no need and all you’ll do is upset the recipient, and give yourself a big black mark against your name.
Don’t be inconsiderate. Social media and the internet has completely blurred the lines of work and life… and that isn’t just for small businesses and solopreneurs, it’s blurred the lines for so many. Please be aware that if you send a brand a message at 9pm on a Friday night, do not expect an immediate response. It’s not reasonable at all. Please don’t.
Don’t send unsolicited approaches. Please. The chances of your success are in the minus numbers if you haven’t put in the work or showed respect to the people you’re trying to connect with.
Don’t spam people and don’t ask for too much from people you don’t know or support. You’re unlikely to get a reaction and if you do, it won’t be nice. If these are people who know you and like you and you’re really supportive of them, asking for their help makes sense, but when someone gets approached out of the blue and they’ve been asked for far too much, it’s not good.
So that’s the end of the podcast. It’s a bit of a feisty one, and the intention is not to offend people, far from it, but to help educate everyone around what people receive, and how to navigate DMs correctly so people feel happier, more valued, and so much else too.
How to annoy your social media followers. Sounds an odd title for a blog or podcast, doesn’t it? Well, don’t worry, I haven’t lost my mind on this – I’m giving you some great examples of how to annoy your followers so you can do the opposite. And please do. We all work so hard to grow our social media followers and nurture an audience, and if we then annoy them… well, what’s the point? So, here I’m giving you some ways to annoy your followers, so you can do the opposite.
How to annoy your social media followers… eight ways…
So I said above, today’s podcast is all about how to annoy your social media followers. Here are eight ways to do it (so you can avoid it…)
Blank them. Yes, you craft a post, you edit the image, the caption is perfection… people comment… and then you don’t respond. At all. It’s like going somewhere to see people and asking them questions, and when those people do what you want (come and see you and answer), you blank them. Why would people keep coming back for more?! Exactly. Some of the best accounts out there – and I mean really big ones – engage. Even if they set themselves 20 minutes to engage after they have posted, they do. And putting that effort into engaging with followers is the way to keep them engaged and interested.
Be inconsistent. If you want people to ‘invest’ in you, your social media, and your following, you need to show up consistently. People get bored and lose interest when you’re scatty. And there’s no need. When you post in real time, it can be a real tie, but of you schedule you can address this issue. I use Later for Instagram, and I use Smarterqueue and Facebook’s in built scheduler to do this.
Rubbish content. And by rubbish content I mean bad images (blurry for no good reason, images that make no sense at all, etc), badly thought through captions. The images are the thing that will make someone double tap or move on. So make sure your images are good. Put time into learning how to take better images, work with a pro photographer if you want to. When it comes to captions, make sure there’s a point to the captions you write and do you very best to limit the spelling and grammatical errors.
Making people work hard. People don’t want to work hard to understand what’s going on in the image, or jump through a million hoops to get to the point of it. One really good example is competitions. If you’re running a competition on social media always keep it as simple as possible and inside the rules. If you make the competition easy to enter and they don’t have to work really hard to enter, it’ll do better. Don’t overcomplicate. Have key objectives.
Be cryptic. I have absolute no patience for cryptic posts. Say it or don’t. We’re all busy enough.
Be egotistical. And I don’t mean don’t share pictures of yourself. Please do this. But it’s really the caption here. If every post is all about how amazing and exceptional you are, it won’t win you any fans or actually help your fans in any way. If you’re telling a story around the image it’s hugely positive. Just saying ‘LOOK I’M AMAZING’ is not good. It’s not storytelling or sharing. I’m not talking about sharing a win – that’s great to share. It’s a very different thing.
Using the wrong people to run your account. Many businesses use social media managers to help them with their accounts (and I’m not being negative here – I work on a number of social media accounts for brands!), but make sure they’re the right people. When working with niches, like equestrian business, it’s important that the person running your accounts is, for example, horsey. Otherwise you’ll turn your followers off.
SPAM comments. Please don’t leave spam comments on people’s posts. Use your time to actually engage if that’s what you’re doing. Putting time into reaching out and connecting is a really big deal and can be so positive, but make sure they’re good, genuine, authentic comments that mean something.
So there you go – eight ways to annoy your social media followers. As I said, a lot of these are really obvious, but some might not to. And the great thing is that with all of the above, it’s just little tweaks we can make. Growing a social media following, a true authentic and engaged one, takes time. And to help accelerate this process we can make micro adjustments to make sure we’re really doing the very best we can by our followers. And, in turn, our account. And the above should really help that.
If you fancy following in all the places, I spend most of my time here…
https://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/how-to-annoy-your-social-media-followers.png14001400Rhea Freemanhttps://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/logo-3-300x224.pngRhea Freeman2019-06-05 05:22:262026-07-10 18:45:09How to annoy your social media followers...
Let’s talk about Canva – can we? If you’ve ever had any coaching with me or asked a question about graphics on social media, you will have heard me talk about Canva.
This episode even includes a freebie I’ve made, just for you! It’s called ‘Five steps to great social media graphics’ and it’s on my freebies page alongside the Instagram Stories freebie.
Before I go any further – I just want to be clear that this
is something I have made on my own and it’s not in any way endorsed or
sponsored by Canva. I’m sharing this free software and some ideas of how to use
it because, to me, it’s been a game changer. And I get lots of comments from
people who I recommend Canva to saying what a game changer it is. And it really
is.
Why you need Canva for your social media graphics…
If you’re looking to create graphics such as quote graphics, top tips, testimonials or anything like that, Canva is going to become your new best friend. In this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast, all about why you need Canva in your life, you will hear…
Why I use Canva and a quick tour of some of the different sizes available and when you might use them. I talk about a few of the common ones I use and how I use them.
How you can use Canva’s own templates for your social media graphic design, but how you can also design your own.
How you can learn more about Canva through the free resources on their website.
Why I don’t tend to use Canva’s templates- but how it’s really easy to create your own templates, either through choosing their sizes of artwork or setting one with your custom dimensions.
How I created my TEDx talk slides on Canva (I imported the slides into Powerpoint) because I wanted more control over the artwork, colours and fonts.
Why Canva allows you to really stay on brand – you can even pick the exact hex colour to match to yours.
We chat through headings, sub headings and text, and how you can then select fonts, sizes and colours.
Why I add boxes behind the text to make the words really pop out… and what might have happened when the elements disappear (and how to get them back).
How you can use your own images as the background, how Canva has a pretty extensive free library of images, and how you can use their ‘frames’ option to organise your images, display them in a frame, or a mix of the two.
Why you might want to add your logo to the downloads file, why getting a logo with a transparent background is a good idea, and that that’s called a png.
How to decide what kind of file to download as from Canva. This will depend on whether or not you’re printing the design or using it on social media.
Why I use Canva AND work with graphic designers. I am a huge advocate of using graphic designers for big jobs and for the ground work when the brand identity is formed. When you have your brand assets, with things like colours, fonts, etc organised, you can create quick graphics inside Canva using these guidelines. It might also be worth telling your graphic designer you plan to do this – they might be able to even create templates for you.
Don’t forget to download the freebie called ‘Five steps to great social media graphics’ – there are some examples of what I do inside the freebie too. As I’ve mentioned a few times, I am no graphic designer – neither do I pretend to be – but I wanted to share how I use it and how you might too.
If you have a go at Canva as a result of this podcast of the freebie, I’d love you to tag me – I’m @rheafreemanpr on Instagram and /rheafreeman on Facebook!
https://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/canva-social-media-graphics.png14001400Rhea Freemanhttps://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/logo-3-300x224.pngRhea Freeman2019-04-10 05:59:042026-07-10 18:45:11Why you need Canva in your world for your social media graphics
Instagram – you know how much I love this little app, but I realised that I don’t talk about the main grid all that much. Those little squares that reveal snippets of our lives that we then share with the world. I usually talk about Instagram Stories, but I thought I’d change in up a bit and give you five Instagram post ideas today – for when your inspiration is lacking a little. These Instagram post ideas will work for all businesses, whether you have an equine business, a country business, or whether you have a business completely unrelated. They’re broad in theme but should help you come up with some great posts…
Instagram post ideas – five to get you started
Introduce yourself. Making sure your followers know who the person behind the account really is can be a great way to increase engagement and, also, creates real connection with your followers. The great thing about Instagram is that your account will continue to grow and change, and this means that your audience will too. You can introduce yourself at regular intervals. Maybe when you’ve had a steep increase in followers or on special occasions. A simple ‘I wanted to say hello to all my lovely new followers, so here’s a little bit about me…’ will do (spoiler alert- next week’s Thursday post will be a little challenge all around this subject…)
Where are you working today? Whether you’re an influencer or a business, sharing your world with your followers is important. And one way to do this is showing the behind the scenes of your day to day life… and one of these could be where you’re working today.
Share a quote you love. Quotes are, usually, pretty popular on Instagram. If you follow me over there, you may have noticed I use them quite a lot. I create quotes on a couple of different apps and use a mixture of my own quotes, famous quotes, and podcast quotes too.
Awareness days. There are SO many awareness days, I can’t even tell you! If you have a Google or buy a media diary, you’ll be able to find them. These can help you connect to a popular theme or # and just give you a few more ideas. Things like Wear A Hat Day are a real thing… and there’s a load more of these days ranging from the really random to the oh so serious.
Testimonials. If you listened to episode 28 of the Small & Supercharged podcast, you will have heard me rave about the power of testimonials – and one place to use these is on your social media. You could publish an image of the person who left the testimonial, then add the copy to your caption, you can create a graphic and use bits of the testimonial on that, or maybe you could combine the two in some clever way? Testimonials can be great for your business or blog… but you have to promote them!
So there you have it, five Instagram post ideas that are super easy to implement and should, hopefully, give you some inspiration. If you need additional help, Sophie Callahan has created a full year’s worth of social media prompts that give you ideas for what to post each day of the year. It might be worth a look!
You know when Facebook and Instagram crashed in March 2019? Yep – it was a rather stressful time for anyone who manages any social media platform. Well… stressful, might be the wrong word, frustrating as I know I didn’t know when it was coming back on (or what I’d then need to do with the posts that were scheduled to post but couldn’t!). However, the Facebook and Instagram crash, as I’m calling it, was actually a good thing. Why? Because it highlighted a few key things to business owners, and ones that we shouldn’t forget in a hurry as we should all be building on this…
Five reasons the Facebook and Instagram crash was a good thing…
1- It reminded us all that businesses that don’t have their own website are at risk. I know I’ve said this a million or so times, but if your whole business relies on a platform/s that you have zero control over whether they work or not, you’re exposed. And seriously exposed at that. Websites cost SO little nowadays that it’s madness not to have one if you have a business and you’re even remotely serious about it.
2- It made us remember that mailing lists are important. You may have lots of lovely fans and followers on Instagram and Facebook but they aren’t yours… and you can’t speak to them if the platforms stop working. Mailing lists, however, are quite different. GDPR scared people when it came to mailing lists but they can still be built and grown… and more than that, they should.
3- It nudged us to look for ways to grow our mailing lists. Connected to the point above, now’s the time to take mailing list growth seriously.
4- It reminded us to make real connections. Yes, social media is amazing on every possible level – I love it and use it for me and my clients each day, but use it to form real connections. You know I talk about engagement a lot? This is such an important part of making real connections. Use the amazing platforms to find people to work with and to make genuine connections with, not just gather likes to boost your ego.
5- For me, it confirmed that social media is really amazing. Didn’t expect that one, did you? Yes, the great Facebook and Instagram Crash reminded me how incredible social media is. Yes, it has its fair share of flaws and niggles and we like to moan about it – but actually, we shouldn’t. With over 2.2 billion people using Facebook each month and over 1 billion people using Instagram, social media provides us with the most amazing opportunities to grow our business for no or little cost. So let’s put the time into using it properly and well. Let’s not focus on cheating the algorithm, let’s work with it, shall we?
https://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/facebook-instagram-crash.png800800Rhea Freemanhttps://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/logo-3-300x224.pngRhea Freeman2019-03-21 05:48:012026-07-10 18:45:135 reasons the Facebook and Instagram crash was a good thing...
Today is World Book Day (well, if you read this on March 7th, it is!). With this in mind, I thought that to celebrate this fab event, I’d write about five books for equestrian business. These books are NOT equestrian. They won’t be able to teach you your fetlocks from your forelocks, but if you run an equestrian or equine business, you’ll know that anyway. These business books should help your business, your mindset, your marketing and more.
If you follow me on social media, you’ll know I’m a bit of a bookworm. Whether I’m reading a book or listening to one when I walk the dog, I like to learn as I go… but the subjects can be quite varied! Mostly, I listen to and read books about business and mindset. Sometimes a bit about branding and marketing too. But business is the general genre. So here, on World Book Day, I thought I’d share my five top books for equestrian business..
Here are my five top books for equestrian business…
Gary Vaynerchuk – Crushing It
In all honesty, this blog was always going to include at least one Gary Vee book. I went for Crushing It because it’s one I’ve listened to most recently (and is also the most recent of his books). Actually, not just listened to, I have the hardback book too! Crushing It is a kind of continuation from a previous book, Crush It, but can also be read and enjoyed alone. If ‘Crush It’ was a blueprint for how to achieve entrepreneurial success and leverage all you have, ‘Crushing It’ shows you using examples. Gary interviewed many entrepreneurs for this book, including lots I knew before (and many I’m pleased I know about now). It’s inspiring, interesting and packed full of ideas and real life examples that you can apply to your business too.
How to get to the top of Google – Tim Cameron-Kitchen & Exposure Ninja
If you’re even a little interested in Search Engine Optimisation, content marketing, and Google, have a read (or a listen!) to this. I downloaded this on Audible and have listened to it more than once. I love knowing how things work, and SEO is something that I have more than a passing interest in. To get an all in one, plain English, crash course appealed to me. I didn’t have hugely high hopes when I started. Part of me was concerned it would be too basic, and a larger part that it would be WAY too complicated… but it wasn’t either. The background was covered but more advanced ideas and strategies around SEO and getting to the top of Google were explained in a way that was really easy to understand and apply. As an extra perk of this book, you can actually have a free assessment of your website. I should say that I have the Audible version of this and I also found it really easy to listen to. A bit like a friend was chatting to me about SEO. It’s always important to listen to the voice of the narrator to make sure you gel with it. That sounds crazy, but trust me on this!
Chillpreneur – Denise Duffield – Thomas
If you haven’t read Denise’s other books (Lucky Bitch and Get Rich, Lucky Bitch) do… I feel that Chillpreneur is a great extension of this. You might think that these books revolve around money and being lazy – they don’t. To me, hearing a different view point from a self made multimillionaire was really interesting and something I enjoyed and took inspiration from. It’s more about stacking the odds in your favour – whatever form that takes – and making sure you’re leading a life that you really REALLY want. Not just going along with the tide and feeling rather unhappy about things. This is Denise’s latest book and one that I will be reading again very shortly.
Building a StoryBrand – Miller Donald
This book is seriously good. It explains the process businesses go through to build a story brand, where the client is always the hero and the business is always the guide. It’s a fascinating look at how all good stories, whether fictitious or real, are built around this brand story idea. The ones that succeed understand the pattern – the ones that don’t… not so much. Building a StoryBrand talks about the seven universal story points that all humans respond to. If you’re looking to improve your brand story, to guide your customers on the right journey for them, improve loyalty and a WHOLE lot more, this is for you!
Brand Brilliance – Fiona Humberstone
Not only is this book incredible to read, but it is a thing of beauty too. But you’d expect that from The Brand Stylist, wouldn’t you? This book is all about branding, colours, design, the way you position your brand, and how you stand out (for the right reasons!) is a busy world. This book is beautifully produced and although some of those topics might sound overwhelming, I promise you that the way they’re presented in this book makes them very accessible. Brand Brilliance will inspire you and get you thinking about your brand and what it stands for, but in a way that’s so, so useful!
So there are my five top books for equestrian business. To be honest I could have written a short book on books I recommend, but I do think these ones are really, really great! They cover different aspects of business, and would be a superb additions to your business library. What books would you recommend? What are your top books for equestrian business? Pop over to my Instagram and comment on the post with the image above!
https://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/5-top-books-for-equestrian-business.png800800Rhea Freemanhttps://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/logo-3-300x224.pngRhea Freeman2019-03-07 05:35:302019-03-06 15:55:445 top books for equestrian business
This is more a DON’T DO THIS post, but I think it’s a good thing to draw attention to. See, we all invest so much time in growing our social media followers, nurturing them, creating engaging content, trying to take lovely pics… the last thing you want to do it pee them off. But it’s actually amazing how many people upset their social media followers. Some are minor infringements and some are a lot more significant. And there are way more than five ways to upset your social media followers, but it’s a starter for 10, isn’t it? I’d urge you though, when you notice someone doing something on social media that seems a bit out there or wrong, note it. Then think about it. Is it going to upset their followers? Why is this? It’s interesting if you’re a bit geeky… yeah… I’m that person. Hopefully the five below will provide a little food for thought and get the grey matter whirling… it’s something I am thinking about way too much…
5 ways to upset your followers…
Inconsistency – you don’t have to post three times a day, but I see so many people who post in an almost scatty fashion. I know that sometimes it’s unavoidable but most of the time, it isn’t. Consistency matters. Being inconsistent is a really easy way to upset your social media followers. People like to see things they expect. And you ‘going dark’ doesn’t help. Also, the way we present ourselves on social media does reflect in us as a brand or a business. Does sporadic posting give off a solid, reliable vibe? Or not?
Demanding things from interested people. Private accounts, blocking people for no reason/because they won’t do what you want… just don’t. If you want people to learn about you, let them see you. Whether they follow you or not, let them have the chance to get to know you. Of course, it would be nice if these people followed you but for whatever reason, they haven’t. Don’t stress. Nothing says ‘you’re here for my ego and nothing else’ more than making demands on people interested in your account.
Never comment. Have you ever commented on someone’s post and they haven’t so much as bothered to tap the tiny heart? Or like your comment? And I’m not talking about people like Taylor Swift who have millions of followers, I’m talking about ‘normal’ people, and normal accounts. If you never so much as tap the heart on anyone’s comments, don’t expect people to keep coming back for more. It’s a bit like trying to start a chat with someone in a room and they just keep blanking you. How long do you try for?
‘You know I’m great, don’t you?’. Please stop. I like to see what people I follow are up to, I like to smile at their stunning images and stories. But what I don’t like is someone continually telling me they’re great. You don’t need to say ‘Wow, I’m great, did you know’, just share in a way that others might enjoy it. I share when I’ve done idiotic things (quite often!), I share content I produce, I share testimonials, I share lots of things, but I personally despise arrogance… and I’m not alone in that.
Have someone who doesn’t get your audience run your account. How many times have you followed a brand, noticed a weird change in style and then felt really disconnected to the brand. I have. I’m not against working with people to help you run your social media (I do this for a number of businesses), but an understanding of the audience and industry is key. Otherwise you just leave your audience scratching their heads, wondering what’s happened. This is such an easy way to upset your social media followers.
What tips would you add to this list? Pop over over to my Instagram and comment on the graphic – I’d love to hear some of your top ‘don’t’ tips!
https://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5-ways-to-upset-social-media-followers.png800800Rhea Freemanhttps://rheafreemanpr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/logo-3-300x224.pngRhea Freeman2019-01-17 06:34:222026-07-10 18:45:145 ways to upset your social media followers
Hello there – today it’s all about Instagram Stories (I know, I know, I’m addicted), but not just this – I have a freebie for you! Yes, I have launched a downloadable PDF freebie that talks you through the different styles/types/modes of Instagram Story AND five easy ways to use Instagram Stories.
Why have I created a freebie about Instagram Stories?
Because I love them. No, it’s more than that. Instagram Stories can be HUGE for building businesses and brands and, now, they have the added bonus of allowing you to link to Instagram TV. Even if you have less than 10k followers, you can ‘taste’ the joys of swipe up!
Instagram Stories are very, very different to the highly curated content we seen in the main feed. Because of the options available and how the Story is only there for 24 hours (unless you add it to Highlights), you CAN be a bit more spontaneous, fun and natural. It’s a great place to test new ideas and see the response. It’s a fab place to ask your audience questions using the poll feature. It’s a great place to ask opinions using the slider feature. You can also use it to promote your feed posts too (you can share from your feed easily). It’s great. But I just don’t think it gets the credit it deserves. The potential is HUGE.
So what’s the freebie about?
I know that many people feel a little afraid of Instagram Stories. It’s not edited. It’s raw and real. What happens if you made a fool of yourself? OK. Let’s stop. You CAN edit clips if you want (you can record using the Camera and then edit before uploading), it can be raw and real- but you can also apply filters and edit. And what if you make a fool of yourself? Delete it, don’t post it… or rest safe in the knowledge that in 24 hours, it’ll be gone.
I created the ‘Five easy ways to use Instagram’ freebie to give people a little bit of a kick to explore and have a play with this fab free marketing tool. And I thought providing five ways that you could use Instagram Stories would be a good way to do this. But don’t feel that the freebie is trying to clip your wings – it is not. It’s a basic foundation for you to explore, play and create your own amazing Instagram Stories. These are just five easy ways to use Instagram Stories. There are soooo many more.
How to download the ‘Five easy ways to use Instagram Stories’ freebie
I’ve created this freebie for my email newsletter list subscribers, but I’ve also added a freebie page here that will allow you to download the ‘Five easy ways to use Instagram Stories’ freebie at any time you want to join my mailing list. My fabulous email subscribers receive these kind of guides and videos first, so if you want to improve your PR, marketing, social media and grow and develop your business, it’s a great list to be signed up to. If I do say so myself!
If you use any of the tips or ideas in the freebie, I would love it if you tagged me so I can see what you’re creating (I’m @rheafreemanpr on Instagram) – no obligation to do this, I’d just love to see.
In May 2018, Instagram announced the introduction of the mute feature. In the last month, Instagram has announced some ginormous changes, granted, but this one, I think, is an important one. First, I’m going to tell you how to mute someone on Instagram, and then we’ll chat about why…
How to mute someone on Instagram
I believe there are two ways to do this: one from an image in your feed and one from their profile. Both seem to work in a similar way- tap the three dots, select ‘Mute’ and Bob’s your Uncle. It’ll give you the option to mute just the posts on the main feed or the posts AND story. And it really is just a few taps away. From the reading I have done, these people will be completely unaware on their new muted status too… so that’s a win,
The other thing is, it’s really, really easy to unmute. Just visit the profile, tap the three dots on the right next to their name and select unmute. You can unmute stories, posts or both. It’s really very easy.
Why would you want to mute someone on Instagram? Why wouldn’t you just unfollow?
This is a very, very fair question and I have been giving it a lot of thought.
Instagram has said that mute has been introduced to allow people to personalise their feed more, to see the content that they want. And before you think ‘well, I’ll just unfollow’, don’t forget that Facebook has offered the ‘unfollow’ option for a long old time now… and lots of people use it. Mute might be new to Instagram, but to social media it isn’t.
I think that, in today’s social media and digital world, unfollowing someone is like a virtual slap in the face and being told that they don’t want to be your friend anymore. It’s a bold statement. Realistically, it’s a click, but people take it really badly and it’s used as a gauge for someone’s like/dislike of you… sad but true…
So – a few reasons why you might want to mute someone on Instagram:
Maybe your friend is doing something seasonal you have no interest in and although you love them, you just don’t want to see all the images of something you have no interest in.
Maybe people are posting too much and it’s drowning out the content from friends and family members you really, really want to see.
Maybe you follow a large number of people because they’re clients or even potential clients and even though you like to keep in touch and see some of their pics, you don’t want to see all of their pics.
Maybe you like their Stories but not their posts. Or visa versa.
Maybe you’re trying to become less addicted to your phone and Instagram feed and want to give yourself less to be distracted by
Maybe you’re suffering with a horrible case of comparisonitis – you know it’s your issue but you need a bit of space away from everyone’s shiny Instagram feeds…
I kind of think I see muting someone as a ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ thing. What your friend/the person you’re following is posting is not wrong, and you don’t like them any less as a person (you’d probably unfollow in both these cases), but you just don’t see their content in the same way as before. You’re still able to go and visit their profile and like/comment away whenever you like, so it’s not so much a ‘go away’, more a way to give yourself a little bit of mental space.
I know there are conflicting views on the mute feature – personally I can really see where it can add value. But I do also agree with the fact that you shouldn’t follow people just for the sake of following them… and then mute them. If you want to build genuine engagement on a genuine account, when a follow from you actually means something, use mute wisely. And if you don’t want to build this kind of account, I’m not so sure that social media is the place for you to hang out… because the ‘social’ part is really important!
Are you on Instagram? I’m @rheafreemanpr – come and share your views on ‘Mute’ over there…there’s a Tip Tuesday post all about it.
How to annoy your social media followers. Sounds an odd title for a blog or podcast, doesn’t it? Well, don’t worry, I haven’t lost my mind on this – I’m giving you some great examples of how to annoy your followers so you can do the opposite. And please do. We all work so hard to grow our social media followers and nurture an audience, and if we then annoy them… well, what’s the point? So, here I’m giving you some ways to annoy your followers, so you can do the opposite.
