Make your social media work for you
Over the next few editions, we’ll focus on giving you the tools and tactics to improve how you implement and get results from your social media.
Part 1: Understanding and Implementing Metrics That Work!
Are you bumbling around Instagram, creating content and posting it day in day out, only to feel that nothing is changing? Are your Facebook posts generating leads, but you can't seem to track what's working and what isn't? Are you sending out emails to your database and clients, but not really knowing if they're making an impact?
If this sounds familiar, then you're in the same boat as many Pilates Instructors out there.
It can be a real challenge to create and implement effective marketing and social media strategies, but it's important to recognise that in this day and age, marketing and social media play an important role in the success of your Pilates business. Without engaging in effective marketing and social media strategies, you may find that your Pilates classes are not as well attended as you would like them to be. With that being said, it is important to find a balance between the time you spend teaching Pilates and the time you spend on marketing and social media.
So, what's the solution? The key to success for Pilates Instructors lies in understanding and using the right metrics to measure the success of your marketing.
For starters, you should be tracking your website visits to identify how your campaigns and content are resonating with your target audience. Heat map software is a great tool to discover website usage patterns and get even more detailed insights into how your website is being used. It allows you to see where users are clicking on your website, as well as which pages they are visiting. With this data, you can make changes to your website navigation and home page so clients can easily find the information they are after. (A simple google search will pull up some suitable heat map software you can use).
For social media, Instagram posts, Facebook likes, to email campaigns, understanding the metrics behind your marketing efforts can give you the insight you need to adjust, optimise and ultimately increase your success. Knowing exactly what you want to measure and how to measure it is key to unlocking the answers that will help you reach your goals.
For example, your strategy might be “to focus on Instagram for six months, to increase your reach to your target audience, grow your followers and get sign ups to your newsletter”. You may do this by:
Target your ideal client in Instagram via
- Geotags – when posting “add location” and select your suburb or surrounding suburbs. People search Instagram via their suburb.
- Hashtags – select from different types
§ Location i.e. #perthpilates, #freemantlepilates
§ Niche i.e. #pilatesreformer #matpilates
§ Audience i.e. #mumsinperth #fitwomanperth
§ Post specific i.e. #pilatesclass #corestrength #strongglutes
- Create an opt-in to get people to sign up to your newsletter so you can continue to talk and connect with them. Include the sign up landing page in your bio. You can create the landing page in your website or email marketing software, or via an app like Linktree. Linktree is great because it allows you to share multiple links on social media. For example, you could have a page to promote your team members and their specialities, a services page and an opt-in to subscribe.
And do you have a call to action? Are all the stops in place for someone to actually do what you are telling them to do? Like… DM me for details, click here to buy, or sign up to our waitlist?
The metrics you could measure for the content created include:
The number of people engaging with your post - how many people or businesses are commenting and DM-ing you, and what are the quality of the comments. Are they located in your surrounding suburbs to the Pilates studio?
The number of posts shared and saved. People will share posts with their friends and save posts for when they are ready to purchase, when they like what you are posting.
The number of new followers, making sure they are potential clients / your target audience.
Number of new email subscribers.
Lastly… post likes, which are a vanity metric - meaning you can have 1,000 followers that don’t buy or engage with you or 200 followers that engage and buy from you… It is better to have 200 engaged followers that purchase than 1,000 that don’t. Engaged followers are people that comment on your posts, tag their friends, like your stories, share your posts to their stories, and DM you with comments.
Then, Instagram insights. To find the insights… go to the Professional Dashboard in your Instagram profile, and click ‘see all’ in the top right corner. Scroll down and you can take a look at the number of people reached via hashtags, and the number of people reached who aren’t following you. This will tell you if you are using the right hashtags, as well as the people that have engaged with you. Have a play around in here… you might be surprised by what you uncover!
How many people who have clicked on your opt-in? Depending upon which software you use to collect email addresses, this information can usually be found by clicking the campaign or webpage in your dashboard.
Instagram Insights will tell you a lot of information and you will start to see a pattern of what posts are working and what posts are not.
When you create content, do it with purpose, and set metrics to measure the success of it. Do this for all the activities you create - email campaigns, Facebook, Tiktok, Pinterest, LinkedIn… whatever platform or activity you choose. You don’t need them all! Pick the one’s that best suit your audience.
Marketing is more than just creating content and posting. When it is strategic, you increase your chances of a successful campaign, and once you start tracking and analysing these metrics, you'll be able to adjust your strategies and start seeing real results.
In our next edition, we’ll talk about how to create engaging content each month to boost your Pilates business.
Michelle Vogrinec is a business and marketing strategist with over 20 years of experience. She co-founded GAIA natural baby, an iconic Australian baby skincare brand, that she grew from the ground up and sold in 2019. Now, she works with small business owners as a coach, mentor, and supporter, helping them build trusted brands and long-term, profitable businesses.
You can reach out to Michelle for business advice at michellevogrinec.com.au