August 15, 2023 • 49 mins
In this episode, I'm doing a deep dive interview with Hannah Hoffman of Sunny Social Collective. We are talking all about Instagram and how to effectively market your small business with this platform.
We cover:
- How to get consistent
- When to post
- Optimizing your Instagram Bio
- What kinds of posts you should be creating: Carousel vs Static vs Reels vs Stories
- Where to get inspiration for content
- Making social media marketing simple and sustainable
Find Hannah and Sunny Social Collective on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sunnysocialcollective/
Follow Dear Kate Brand Strategy on Instagram
Learn more at Howyoupicturedit.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kate (00:00):
All right.
I am here today with Hannah ofSunny Social Collective.
She is an Instagram pro and I'mso excited to talk to her today.
Hannah, do you want to go aheadand introduce yourself real
quick?
Hannah (00:09):
Yeah, so like you said, I'm Hannah Hoffman from Sunny
Social Collective.
I have been a social mediamanager, or a version of social
media management, um, since2019.
I have a degree in publicrelations, had no social media
classes though within my degree,which I still find just like
shocking to be honest.
And I graduated in 2020, likeit's not been that long.
(00:31):
And so, completely self taught,um, as far as social media goes.
just trial and error, figuringit out.
Um, I primarily servephotographers as like full
service, social mediamanagement, and then small
businesses and coaching andonline and all of those
different kinds of things.
So I'll think Instagram is whereI live on daily.
Kate (00:51):
I love that.
Um, so when you started yourbusiness, What got you into
starting a business in the firstplace?
And then.
Does your life match kind ofwhat you thought it would be?
Hannah (01:06):
Yeah, so, I started my business on a complete whim.
And if you know me, That'sshocking.
And that does not align with mypersonality in any way.
I am very methodical.
I love to plan.
I love to know what to expect.
And for Sunny Socialspecifically, I had none of
that.
(01:26):
Um, I had been working from, wehad moved to Colorado and I was
working remotely still from thejob in National Tennessee where
we had moved from.
And I had kind of been doing,now what I realize, social media
management.
Kind of on the side at oneclient who's still my client
today.
Um, that I was like, I'm justgonna like experiment with this
working remote, all thosedifferent kinds of things.
(01:47):
And I absolutely loved it.
And I was like, I think I can dothis.
Like, I think I can do this,like.
For more people and like workfor myself and all those things.
And from a very young age, Ialways knew I was going to like
be the boss of something like Ihad, I am firstborn daughter,
Capricorn, like type one, girly,like all of those things.
(02:09):
Like I, I kind of had my ownlittle businesses growing up and
all that stuff.
So I always had that like.
entrepreneurial spirit thatdetermined that determination
that you kind of need to start,but I had literally zero
expectation, zero plan.
I was like, I am, I like to callmyself a recovering
perfectionist, but like I havethat like perfectionistic
(02:30):
personality.
And so I knew if I didn't juststart, I was never going to.
And so one day I sat down and Iwas like, brainstorming names,
which we all know that takesforever.
And I just.
I just created the account and Iwas like, I set a date.
I'm like, this is when my firstpost is going to go up.
I did it.
And then like from there, it'sjust been, okay, what are we
doing?
(02:50):
Like let's figure this out now.
Um, so as far as like what Iexpected, what I hope for, what
I imagined, I really did nothave a lot of expectation there.
I just knew that there needed tobe a change.
I was.
I was not happy in the job thatI was working.
I knew that it was temporary.
It was great being able to workremote and transition to
Colorado having that.
Um, but I knew that that was notlike where I wanted to end up.
(03:15):
So as far as like where I wantedto be and what I expect and what
my life looks like now, I thinkthat's still evolving.
I, Sunny Social has only beenaround since October of 2021.
It's only been a couple ofyears.
And so every day I feel like Iam.
really narrowing down what Iwant it to look like.
Okay, for my first year of SunnySocial, I was working 12 hour
(03:37):
days.
I had way too many clients in myclient load.
Like, you know, we all learnedthat the hard way.
We're taking them on.
Uh, we don't know how to say noto all those things.
So, I still feel like I am verymuch in this process of like,
Molding my life and my businessand how that relates to my life
into what I want it to be.
We were talking before thiscall, even just like how I
(03:57):
structure my days and my weeksand my schedules and all those
kinds of things.
Um, but yeah, to be totallyhonest, I, yeah, it's on a whim
and it's been figuring out eversince.
And like.
I had my, my goal for 2021 or2022, actually, cause I started
at the end of 2021.
I was like, I'm going to hit athousand followers on Instagram.
(04:18):
Well, I was like, that is all Ineed.
I'm happy with that.
I hadn't, I had zeroexpectation, even with my own
Instagram account.
I was like, I'm going to showup, I'm going to book clients
and that's it.
And then just in a matter ofmonths, it just, all these
clients and followers kind ofjust.
It felt like that, right?
Obviously it wasn't that way.
There was work and hustle andgrind, but it just felt like,
(04:41):
what the heck?
Like, this is not at all what Iwas expecting.
Um, so I think a lot of it, evenjust that, that 2022 year was
like catch up, like taking abreath and being like.
What have I gotten myself into?
Like, this is amazing andwonderful, but like, how do I
balance it all?
Um, so hopefully that answersthe question.
There's like three questions inthere.
So I don't know.
Kate (04:58):
No, that was great.
That was great.
So let's talk a little bit aboutInstagram, um, specifically.
Going back to like the how youpictured it part.
I think most of us, when westarted business, we started not
to be on Instagram all the timeand promoting our business
through social media.
How do you feel like what's thebest way for entrepreneurs to
(05:20):
kind of fit Instagram into theirbusiness?
Hannah (05:24):
Yeah.
So I, a big emphasis I have, um,as far as social media goes,
Instagram goes is it needs to besimple and it needs to be
sustainable.
Like you said, You guys aren'tInstagram is not your job.
Like Instagram is not your fulltime job.
It's not even my full time job,right?
Like it is something thatrequires so much time and so
(05:46):
much energy and so much effort,right?
Like for many of us, smallbusiness owners or photographers
or however you fall into thatcategory, like.
Instagram or social media isneeded in some capacity and it
can feel really big.
It can feel really daunting.
So I always like to say is itneeds to be simple and it needs
to be sustainable in the busyseasons and the slow seasons.
(06:07):
It needs to integrate into yourlife.
Like you are not working forsocial media like it is a tool
for your business is one aspectof your business.
So that is a big emphasis.
I always have just with.
Just the mindset itself, right?
Like not treating Instagram likeit is the one I'll be all like,
there's also other avenues andplatforms and things like that.
(06:27):
So learning it and understandingit in a way that.
You can then, okay, this is anew update, or this is a new
change.
How can I compare that to mystrategy and my plan?
Does that integrate well?
Is that something I have thecapacity for?
Like, we're starting small.
We're starting simple.
We're building.
We're learning.
We're evolving.
We're building on that ratherthan trying to attack it all at
(06:49):
once.
Kate (06:50):
yeah, I love that idea of keeping it, um, small and
sustainable.
What tips do you have for doingthat?
Hannah (06:59):
I always like to say is look at your schedule, look at
your capacity, start with howmany times a week you can post.
So consistency and thatreliability is super important
for Instagram.
It's really important forcommunity, the algorithm of
Instagram.
So you, what you don't want tobe doing is scattered posts.
Like once a month, I'm going topost something or once a week,
I'm going to get something upthere or like, Oh crap.
(07:21):
Like I haven't prepped anythingtoday.
I'm going to have a stress andobligated post.
That's going to go up in thenext 30 minutes.
That doesn't have any intentionbehind or anything like that.
Right.
That is where a lot of usbusiness owners kind of rest
right now.
And it's.
stressful and you're like, Ican't even come up with a
caption here.
Like how am I supposed to comeup with multiple at a time?
Like anyways, there's, there's alot of stress there.
(07:43):
And I think a big, somethingimportant to remember is again,
starting small, looking at yourschedule.
Okay.
Do I have the capacity to postthree times a week?
Great.
In the busy season and slowseasons.
Like I said, do I have thecapacity to post five times a
week?
Great.
Seven times a week.
Whatever that is.
Look at that.
Look at your capacity.
Look at your workload, whateverit is.
And figure out how many times aweek you have to post.
(08:08):
Then, go from there.
Okay, what times do I need topost?
Look at your, of course you cango into your insights, and you
can see when your followers aremost active.
That is a great tool, it'sspecific to your community and
your audience.
You can compare that, and then,okay.
I'm going to post Monday,Wednesday, Friday at 11 a.
m.
And I'm going to do thatconsistently for the next three
months.
And that's all I'm going tofocus on.
I'm going to be consistent.
(08:29):
I'm going to get into the habitof posting consistently and
figuring out what works andexperimenting and having fun
with it and not putting a lot ofpressure.
Like if I had to give anyoneadvice for where to start, that
would be it.
Like choose your postingschedule and then just
experiment and have fun and justfigure out what works and what
doesn't.
And then you can...
Take that information.
(08:50):
You can take that data and youcan narrow it down.
Okay, this performed reallywell.
I think this is really in linewith my target audience.
I'm going to continue to worktowards that.
This didn't perform really well.
However, it led to sales.
It led to someone booking withme.
Okay, that's a really goodavenue.
That, that is information.
I think for a lot of times.
We're just posting and likecrossing our fingers and hoping
(09:13):
for the best.
And that lacks obviouslyintention and it lacks strategy.
And so I think just startingfrom a small place of just
getting into the habit ofposting consistently and then
learning from the learning fromthat data is super helpful.
So that's where I would startfirst.
Um, Having an optimized bio thatis, uh, I can, we can talk about
(09:33):
bio optimization, this wholecall, bio optimization.
It is so important.
It is so important.
It is the business card for yourprofile.
If someone saw your bio only,they need to be able to know.
Who you are, what you do, whatyou offer, all of those
different kinds of things.
Your bio needs to be searchable.
Every single piece of, um, copyin your bio, in your captions,
(09:58):
everywhere on Instagram, they'reusing that to categorize your
content and push it to the rightpeople.
If someone wants to searchsocial media manager.
They're going to type in socialmedia manager.
They're not going to type insunny social collective.
They don't know they're lookingfor sunny social collective.
So you need to make sure thatsearchable, you need to make
sure you're accessible.
Um, and that's a really goodplace to start to like obviously
(10:20):
posting schedule.
But before that, if you can haveyour.
We're bio optimized in a waythat when people do come to your
profile and they do startfollowing along or they see your
reel or whatever it is, likethey're getting that
information.
It's easy.
We're lazy.
We do not want to search and digfor information.
So making that easy is superimportant.
Um, so that's what I would sayfor like a good starting point
(10:42):
is just general tips itself ischoose that posting schedule and
optimize the bio.
That's a good, great.
Okay.
Kate (10:48):
Okay.
What are your like top threetips for optimizing your bio
then?
Hannah (10:52):
So your name field, that is right now where you probably
would put your, your personalname or your business name.
It's not your username.
Obviously we have our newsusername, that's where we're
putting our business name.
And then you have your namefield and that is where you want
to put a searchable term.
So something that's the onlypretty much the only place in
Instagram where you want to bebroad where you don't want to
(11:13):
niche down or be specific,right?
So if you are a weddingphotographer or something like
that in Florida, Florida weddingphotographer, if you are a
children's boutique, right,putting those kind of keywords
into that name field that aresensible.
Bless you.
Sorry.
I'm coming.
Kate (11:34):
I was like, it's been brewing and I'm like,
Hannah (11:36):
oh, don't sneeze.
You can feel it on top of yournose.
Yes.
Um, but yes, having that namefield optimized, having that
searchable is going to beimportant.
Instagram is used as a searchengine, just as TikTok and
different things like that are.
And so if you can make it towhere your account is
searchable, that's going to helpin loads.
Again.
In the copy section, that iswhere I kind of like to describe
(11:57):
it as like a cute little missionstatement, like much cuter than
a mission statement.
Like when you hear a missionstatement, we're like boring,
snore, but kind of like thatneeds to encompass kind of what
you offer, who you serve.
So mine says something along thelines of helping photographers
and small business owners.
Uh, grow online through simpletips and sustainable strategy,
but we're coaching call today.
(12:18):
It kind of encompasses.
It's like who I'm serving, how Iserve them.
And then it has that call toaction.
The book called coaching calltoday.
Um, having that having thoseaspects.
Is again, you need to be able toget that information before you
continue to scroll.
I don't want to scroll throughyour whole entire feed to find
out where you're located or tofind out who you serve.
(12:39):
I want to find that in the bio.
I want to find that in thehighlights.
I want to find that in thatinitial profile.
So I don't have me as a viewerdoesn't have to look at it.
We are literally deciding inseconds if we want to continue
to scroll through someone'sprofile or if we want to follow.
So keeping that in mind is superimportant.
Another thing is.
your profile photo, it's greatto have one of yourself.
(13:03):
If you can't, if you're like asingle, um, entrepreneur doing
your business on your own,especially like if you have a
team who are, who's activelyfeel like an agency, or if
you're like a boutique and it's,there's not really one person, a
logo might be appropriate foryou.
But for me, for photographers,for small business owners.
And if you're an influencer, allthose different kinds of things,
(13:23):
a profile of you is important.
A profile picture of you isimportant and something that is
tied in with your branding,right?
We're not taking a selfie from2012 and putting it in our
profile.
We're putting something thatfits with our feed and fits with
our profile.
Something that we can keep therefor a while for mine has like
sunshines behind it.
Um, that's really important.
Another thing about the bio isthis is not the place to be
(13:46):
putting dog mom.
Or like any like coffee lover orlike anything like that.
Like those are important thingsfor your bio to have.
You have a very limited amountof space there and you want to
use it and you want to optimizeit.
Well, you can put dog mom,coffee lover, whatever that is
in your fun facts post that youhave in your feed, but that's
(14:06):
not the place for your bio.
And then again, making sure youhave a link.
That works that has that is easyagain, easy and accessible when
they do click on that link.
And then you have, if you are ina specific location, you can put
a hyperlinked location in thereas well, whether it's the city
and state, or if you have aspecific, um, brick and mortar
store or something like that,you want to making sure you have
(14:27):
it again, ease and accessibilityis super important for your bio.
Kate (14:31):
So now with Instagram's newest, like updates, you can
put more than one link.
How are you feeling about thatversus like, I don't like
Linktree.
I'm going to say that like, notthat if you have like a links
page on your website, that'smuch better for your SEO there
website person here.
But how do you feel about havinglike multiple links versus that
(14:55):
like one links page?
Hannah (14:57):
I really don't have a lot of feelings about it, to be
honest.
I use, um, something calledStamStore, and it's an amazing
platform, and it's, that's whatI use for my LinkedIn bio.
It's, you're able to put linksin there.
I'm able to, people are able toput coaching calls through that.
They're able to download mydigital downloads.
It's all in one place.
Um, so that is what I've chosento use.
(15:19):
But if you have multiple links,I don't think there's anything
wrong with that.
I mean, experiment with that,test that out again, though.
If you were saying, like youwere saying, if you have a link
page attached to your website,that's obviously ideal.
Like, we want that.
That's going to get them onestep closer to clicking on your
website.
It's branded.
It's visually better.
It's great for SEO.
All those different kinds ofthings.
(15:40):
I don't have a great, I don'thave a huge opinion on that.
I really honestly don't see alot of people utilizing that
feature.
I think most people are stilljust sticking with their Lincoln
bio platforms or their standstore or different things like
that.
Um, but if it works for you andif you want to try it out, I
mean, again, that does, um,encourage the ease and
accessibility.
I think the main reason whyInstagram created it as a
(16:00):
feature though, is it just keepsthem within the app for longer.
Yeah.
And it's just, again, that easeand accessibility.
So yeah.
Try it if it works.
And I don't think there's ahuge, personally, I don't, I
don't have a lot of feelingsabout it.
Kate (16:14):
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
I just didn't know if like, youwere seeing that those were
performing better because it's anew feature.
I know typically when Instagramcomes out with a new feature,
they push it more.
Um, so
Hannah (16:26):
specifically it's hard because again, it's like,
that's.
It's a profile feature.
It's not a content feature oranything like that.
So that's the only one whereyes, normally I'd be like, Oh,
it's great.
Reels are coming out.
Like let's jump on reels orwhatever it is.
Um, when that was happening afew years ago, you always want
to be kind of staying up to datewith what's new on Instagram,
(16:48):
especially when it relates toyour content and how you show up
on the platform.
As far as the LinkedIn biosituation, I think just like do
what works best for you.
Okay, cool, cool.
We don't have to sweat too much.
Kate (16:59):
Wonderful.
It's nice when there's somethingwe don't have to sweat, right?
Hannah (17:02):
So
Kate (17:04):
Instagram has again so many different content types How
do you kind of decide like whatthe mix of those is that you use
and does it change over time?
What's the...
Hannah (17:17):
That's a great question.
Obviously you want to be like wewere just saying you want to be
using the tools that Instagramhas so we don't want to be
exclusively only postingcarousels.
We don't want to be exclusivelyonly posting reels.
We want to make sure we have amix of both.
So, for example, going back toour posting schedule that we
discussed, let's say we'reposting Monday, Wednesday,
(17:38):
Friday, maybe you do two reelsin a carousel a week.
Maybe you do two carousels and.
A real a week, whatever thatworks for you.
Personally, for me, I just, formy clients, I have an exact
number of reels.
I post a week, an exact numberof carousels and that works for
you.
Totally do it.
But again, we're talkingsustainability.
We're talking, what do we havethe time for?
(17:59):
We're talking what's realisticin our life.
If, if it's more realistic foryou to post two carousels that
week and one reel, let's dothat.
And one week you have a ton ofvideo content and you have the
time to film reels, do two reelsin a carousel.
I think there's something thatis empowering with knowing like,
I can adjust.
I have my structure, I have therules.
(18:21):
Once I know them, I can breakthem.
And it's just, as long as you'recreating that mix of content, I
think that's more important thanlike, getting so rigid.
And being like, I have to do tworeels and one carousel a week.
And of course, like both ofthose, um, pieces of content
served for purposes.
Right.
So your reels are going to, thatis more focused on reach.
(18:41):
It's going, it's putting yourcontent.
In front of people who haven'tseen it before and so if that's
something that's a priority foryou If growth is a priority for
you right now, then that mightbe something you prioritize.
I'm gonna do two reels a weekHowever, carousels are now being
reprioritized I've actuallynoticed in the last few months
that my carousels my clientscarousels are performing better
than reels right now Okay meanWe stopped doing reels, right?
(19:05):
No, just, I just think the moreimportant thing is just having
that mix.
And of course, like we, that wasin feed content.
So then you have stories, youhave IgE lives, you have all
these different kinds of things.
I personally, people alwayslaugh at this, but I personally
have never done an Instagramlive in my life and I have no
plan to at this moment.
Um, I'm sure I will eventually,and it is beneficial.
(19:28):
Yeah.
If it's like, I want to do thisonce a week so that I can do a Q
and a with my audience or I canbring them along for an event or
whatever it is like, that'sgreat.
Again.
Make sure it fits in.
Like, make sure it's working foryou.
Make sure you're not forcingsomething that doesn't feel
aligned.
Or it could be like, I'm gonnado it once a month.
(19:48):
Like, that probably wouldn'thurt.
I probably could care to do thatonce a month.
But, you know, I don't want to.
And then again, we have stories.
And stories are one of the mostunderutilized pieces of content.
Form of content on Instagram.
It is a great place to nurtureyour audience.
It's a great place to learnabout them, for them to learn
(20:09):
about you, for them, for them toget a view into the behind the
scenes of your business.
This is, it's a great place tosell.
Talking about selling and thingslike that.
We have kind of treated stories,specifically highlights.
Like they are like Facebook, um,albums from how we used to use
Facebook albums back in the day.
We just like dump a bunch ofstuff in them and just like
(20:29):
leave them there.
Yeah.
That's kind of how we've liketreated our highlights.
And your highlights are soimportant.
Again, they're part of theprofile.
They need to have relevant andupdated information.
Accurate information.
There's so many photographersthat I work with that I'll go in
and look through theirhighlights and I'm like, you
don't.
Like, you are so much betterthan this now, like this is 10
(20:52):
years ago, like when you werelearning photography or like,
you don't edit like thisanymore.
You don't offer this anymore.
Having that relevant informationis so important.
And knowing how to, thinkingabout the viewer, almost
treating it like a mini salespage.
So I have an FAQ page, if that'sapplicable to you, I have an
offers page, maybe you breakdown your offers.
(21:14):
Let's, for me, I thinkspecifically I break down my
offers because I want, ifsomeone's coming to my profile
and they want to learn moreabout my subscription.
They can click through andlearn, they can see behind the
scenes of my subscription, whatpeople are saying information
about that.
They're not having to clickthrough a big long highlight of
all of my offers in one space.
It's easy and accessible.
(21:35):
Again, that profile ease andaccessibility is so important.
Um, but yeah, stories isunderutilized.
Take advantage of those.
They keep, they're allowed to becasual.
Like there's not a lot of roleswith them.
It's the wild, wild west, likeletting them expire.
That's a great tip.
Um, using poll and engagementstickers and all those things,
that's great too.
(21:55):
But mainly it's just a place foryou to connect with your
audience and you want to bedoing that.
You want to be nurturing thecommunity you have.
You want to invite them intoyour life.
They have chosen to follow you.
They have chosen to be in yourspace.
They're not numbers, they'repeople.
And Stories is a great place togarner that.
So, yeah, those are kind of howI break my...
My content down beside the IDlives obviously
Kate (22:17):
one thing that you didn't mention was like a single image
post Is that something you stillutilize or no?
Hannah (22:23):
Okay, so I personally do not utilizing a static post
because I find that They areeasily, you swipe by them very
easily.
Carousels are more engaging.
You swipe through them ratherthan past them.
Um, so that's something that Ialways recommend is I just think
if you have the content for acarousel, do the carousel every
(22:46):
time.
And if it's something that'slike, I only have one piece.
I only have one piece ofcontent.
I only have one graphic here.
I only have one picture here,whatever it is.
Um, add a call to action slide.
Like, that's something you cando, or it's like, you know, at
the end of the day, again, ifit's like, this is the only
photo I want to post, do it.
Like, that's okay.
(23:07):
I think the reason why staticposts versus carousel posts is
why you want to be doing that ona consistent basis.
It's just, it's going to beserving you better.
But if you have something, youhave a piece of content where
you're like, static is best forthis.
Do it again.
You know the rules.
You can break them.
Yeah.
Kate (23:22):
That's great.
Okay, I'm really big on gettinghelp where you need help, right?
So don't do the things thatyou're not good at.
Um, if someone else has astrength in a place that you're
really weak, hire them,outsource.
So let's talk about outsourcingsocial media and how that works.
What does that look like forpeople?
Hannah (23:40):
So it really depends on your industry.
So for example, I work primarilywith photographers.
So for that it's, I have accessto their galleries.
I have access to their behindthe scenes content, different
things like that.
If you are a photographer,you're more graphic based or
product business space, then thesocial media manager will be
communicating, collaboratingwith you with the content they
(24:00):
need, or they'll be creating.
They will be creating contentfor you in Canva and different,
different things like that.
So as far as content goes, thatis very collaborative with the
client.
As far as strategy and planning,caption writing, creating reels,
all those things, that issomething a social media manager
can do for you.
All you're responsible forpretty like, it really obviously
depends on the social mediamanager.
(24:21):
For me specifically, all Irequire on my clients is you
give me the information that youneed posted.
If you don't have anything youneed posted that week, don't
worry about it.
I'll take care of it.
And then I send them an emailwhen their grid is ready to be
reviewed.
They go in, they give mefeedback, they approve, and then
it gets posted and that's allthey have to worry about.
And the whole process, we spendhours a week creating content.
(24:46):
Um, and that is something.
That not everyone loves to do,and it's very hard and it takes
a lot of time and it's takes itlike with Instagram changes and
all those things.
It's really hard to keep up,especially if you're juggling so
many things in your work andlife and personal life.
And all those things outsourcingis a great tool and it really is
(25:07):
just like I think my biggestpiece of advice for outsourcing
with a social media manager isfinding someone who is working
within your industry, findingsomeone that you can collaborate
really well with.
I think that's something that isa, misconception about social
media management is it's stillvery collaborative.
It's not like I am taking yourcontent and you have zero say
(25:27):
and you don't see it before itgoes up or you don't have to do
anything right.
It still requires a little bitof that collaborative
communication and making sureyou're on the same page.
I always tell my clients like Iam speaking on the behalf of
you, so I need to know you.
So like something that's builtinto my structure is I, when I
bring on a new client for thefirst few months, I meet with
(25:47):
them biweekly.
We're checking in, getting toknow how did you like this?
How did you not like that?
All those different kinds ofthings.
I need to know and be in yourspace.
I need to know your tone ofvoice.
I need to know how you speak,like, so I can speak on your
behalf.
And so that is something thatsocial media managers can do.
And I get like, The concern withoutsourcing that, right?
(26:09):
Like I've been doing this foryears on my own and it's either
been working really well or ithasn't and just that fear behind
that.
I think social media is, itfeels very personal for a lot of
people, whether you're doing itfor business or not.
And so it can feel a little bitscary to outsource that, but
there's so much structure andstrategy that we have that you
guys don't have the capacityfor.
(26:30):
You don't have the knowledge inand that's where a social media
manager can really help.
Yeah,
Kate (26:34):
so instead of having to learn all of this stuff, it's
nice to be able to hand it overto somebody who Spends their
days learning it andunderstanding it, right?
Hannah (26:44):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah,
Kate (26:46):
so if that's not an option for someone and they're trying
to be consistent What do yousuggest for like scheduling or
planning things?
Is, are those scheduling toolslike Planoly, Tailwind, those
kinds of things, things that youuse?
Or do you suggest onlypublishing, like posting live,
or?
Hannah (27:05):
A thousand percent.
Again, it's not sustainable ifI'm having to drop everything in
my day to like prep a post,right?
So for some, for some peoplebatching does not work.
And that's okay, like if, ifthat really does not work for
you, if you've given it a tryand you're like, it is way
easier for me to just kind ofhave a general guide and
(27:25):
structure that I know what Ineed to post on those days, um,
that's fine.
Um, there's also options.
There's so many good schedulingtools.
I personally use Plannable.
I love it.
Um, I would say if you're not asocial media manager though,
like you can use Plan only, youcan use Facebook Business Suite.
You can do in-app schedulingeven and just have like use a
(27:45):
grid planner or something, um,on Canva or get a grid planner
app.
Like, there's plenty of ways tonot also to save money with
those too.
A lot of those have like, Freeoptions and different things
like that.
But yeah, utilize a scheduler.
Um, schedulers are great.
What I always like to recommend,I do a lot of coaching calls
with people who have the sameissue.
Like, I am not in a financialplace to be able to outsource
(28:08):
social media management yet.
But I'm also not in a placewhere I can just, like, Like,
knock out content in every,every day.
Like, I don't have the capacity.
I don't have the time for that.
It's interrupted.
Again, it gets to thatobligatory and rushed piece of
content.
Yeah.
Whereas we obviously want to beproducing.
Intentional and strategiccontent.
(28:28):
So what I always recommend isfirst, obviously choosing your
posting schedule and thendedicating if it's bi weekly or
weekly, whatever it is, choose aday where you block out a couple
of hours to prep your content.
Even if you're not making thecontent, if you, if it's like, I
don't, I don't want to make it,I want to do it day of whatever.
Sit down, write out your ideas,think about what you've done
(28:50):
that week, think about thecontent you've done, prop your
phone up throughout the week ifyou have something that sparks
into your head, and then sitdown when you're in that zone of
genius and just focus on that.
I think the biggest problem whypeople, um, are apprehensive to
start batching because they'relike, I can't even write one
captcha and like how am Isupposed to sit down and prep
(29:10):
three or six or whatever it isand I'm like valid I get it but
the difference is is one is likea blocked out amount of time for
you to have a focus in on thatand not be your priority in that
moment being in that zone ofgenius where the other one is
that stress and obligatory postof course you're not going to be
able to think of like a greatcaption in the moment you're
like 30 minutes after you'reposting time, you're stressed.
(29:32):
You're trying to get the kidsout the door, whatever it is in
the moment.
Like you have to be able to kindof dedicate that space if you're
wanting to batch and prep aheadof time.
That is what we do as socialmedia managers.
That's all we're doing.
We're dedicating time for yourcontent on a weekly, bi weekly
or monthly basis.
And we're sitting down and we'rethinking it through and we're
writing out the captions.
There's also chat dbt now, a lotof these, um, A lot of these
(29:57):
schedulers also have like builtin AI as well.
Like captions are not as hard asthey used to be.
At least there's something, it'sa point of inspiration.
So if that is something whereyou're like, I really want to
make sure I'm being consistentwith social media, try to just
dedicate some batching days,whatever that is.
And then think through yourcontent and it will become more
(30:17):
of a habit.
That's something to like rightnow, it's not habit.
It's not habit to be thinkingabout content ideas throughout
your week.
Right.
But when you kind of know, okay,on Fridays, I'm going to prep my
content for the next week, whenyou're going Monday through
Friday, you're like, okay, I'mgoing to like.
Set up a time lapse while I editmy photos or I'm going to take a
BTS or Oh my gosh, I'm takinglike, I, the ideas will come to
(30:39):
you.
Like it'll be three o'clock inthe morning.
You're like, that's a great,that's a great idea for content
or whatever.
And you can write it down andit's really just training your
brain and getting your brainused to the idea of creating
content on a consistent basis.
Then that is what's going toserve your plot.
That's, what's going to serveyour account the most, right?
Like.
Posting, uh, one time onWednesday and then two weeks
later posting on Sunday.
(31:00):
Like that's not going to do muchfor you.
Like that's not going to serveyou.
So figuring out what works foryou, again, if batching and
sitting down and doing it all atonce doesn't work, maybe the
alternative is, okay, I'm goingto create some content pillars.
On Mondays, I'm going to talkabout this.
On Wednesdays, I'm going to talkabout this.
On Fridays, I'm going to talkabout this.
So at least you have somestructure, so when you do need
(31:20):
to prep your post day of, youhave some type of idea of the
content that you need to beproducing.
Um, so yeah, that would be myrecommendation.
Kate (31:27):
Yeah, Are you doing like a lot of repurposing content from
like longer form pieces as well?
Hannah (31:33):
A thousand percent, like I will literally, there's been
weeks I have had a really busyspring.
I've been moving, launchingNoCokeGirlsCo, like doing all
these different things.
And so I have been relying onrepurposed content.
I've been scrolling down, okay Ihad a reel on this.
way.
I can turn this into a carouselnow, or I had a carousel.
(31:53):
Ooh, I can make this into areal.
Repurposing content is the wayto go paying attention to what's
worked in the past.
Okay.
This worked really well.
I can even take a sentence outof this reel or this carousel
and turn it into one piece ofcontent.
So not putting thoserestrictions on yourself is so
important.
Having this idea that you haveto be coming up with a hundred
percent new fresh content everysingle time you post, like.
(32:17):
That's exhausting.
Like that's absolutely horrible.
And also doing that with myclients as well.
I'm going through, okay, thisworked really well.
How can we take this and tweakit a little to make it look
different and like repurpose it?
Like, let's do that more.
Like let's work smarter.
And again, making Instagram workfor you is the ideal place.
(32:38):
And again, remembering like.
Not everybody saw the content inthe first place, right?
So and if it was a year ago, sixmonths ago, chances are they
might not have seen it.
They're not going to recognizeit again.
Um, so repurposing that in a wayis definitely beneficial and I
highly recommend for sure.
Yeah.
Kate (32:55):
Yeah.
Well, and I think everybody hassuch a different learning style
that like sometimes if you postsomething as a carousel They're
gonna be able to consume itbetter than if it was posted as
a real and it could be the exactsame information, but just
understanding and learningstyles.
Um, and then also pullingcontent from like longer form
pieces of content, like a blogpost or a podcast or whatever,
(33:18):
um, you know, bigger pieces ofcontent that you own, um, and
repurposing those to socialmedia.
Hannah (33:25):
That's my favorite way for clients when they have.
Recent blogs or something fromlike, let's say a wedding or
something.
I'm able to go in and I'm ableto pull what they've already
said and spoken about thewedding and turn it into a
caption or turn it into a realor just even to gain inspiration
from that.
Like, Oh, I did a blog about 10tips to how to X, Y, Z.
(33:46):
Like I can easily turn that intoa real a carousel, like paying
attention to the things you'realready doing or the things
you're thinking about.
Paying attention to what peopleare asking you, like, can that
be a piece of content?
Um, we also, I think, especiallyfor us, like educators, it's, we
think.
I think certain things are justobvious, right?
Because we do them today.
(34:06):
So, making sure you get into themind of the consumer, of the
viewer, of your target audience.
What do they struggle with?
How can I provide, how can I fixthat problem?
What value can I provide?
How can I connect with them?
How can I help them, how can Ieducate them in this way?
Just because it's super obviousto me that you should have
social media manager or keywordsin your name field, like not
(34:27):
everybody knows that that's apiece of content I can share.
Um, and it's something that'ssuper helpful.
So be thinking about that too,like not thinking from the point
of what do I need to see in myfeed?
What is like my consumer?
What does my ideal audience needto see and read?
Um, that will help too,obviously.
Kate (34:44):
Yeah.
Well, and back to your pointabout what people are asking.
that's a huge piece ofinspiration for your content.
And especially forphotographers, like you're
saying, you know, for educators,going back to those basics, but
also for your photographyclients, like they don't know.
This one was a big one that Iposted was something about like,
When you book a newborn session,because that is a question I
(35:07):
always get in my emails, likeWhen should I be booking this?
Hannah (35:11):
Yeah.
Kate (35:12):
So just like going back to like the basics of what um, what
people are asking you ininquiries, what emails you're
getting, what questions you'regetting in your DMs and stuff
like that is a great place to
Hannah (35:23):
go.
A thousand percent.
And for those, I can alreadyhear them being like, well,
nobody's asking me.
Like, nobody's asking.
I'm not, I'm not a photographer.
I'm not this.
No, nobody's asking me this yet.
Make up some questions.
Yeah.
Like, make up some questions.
You're like, what do I wantpeople to know about my, let's
say for a product, right?
Someone has, no, nobody's askeda question about a product, but
you want them to know somethingspecifically, right?
(35:45):
Take that and make that into apiece of content.
Did you know that our product isXYZ and super comfy and cozy and
whatever, like, you know whatI'm saying?
Like you can, you can make thatfor yourself as well.
Or an alternative thing, goingback to stories is I want to
know what my clients or what myviewers want to see, I'm going
to ask them, I'm going to do afew polls at my stories.
(36:06):
Like, do you want to see more ofX, Y, Z?
Like, or doing a poll box ordoing a question, like asking
your community, payingattention, like the things
they're commenting, all of thosethings, all of that data is
information for you to take andturn into content.
Things that people are DMingyou.
All of those things are superimportant, super helpful.
I think we have, I think it'sreally easy.
(36:28):
To fall into the trap of beinglike, I have nothing to say and
I have nothing to post and Ihave no content and all those
things.
And I totally understand thatfeeling, but I think it's there.
It's just like knowing where tolook for it and like, just your
brain and getting again intothat habit of.
Everything is content.
Kate (36:47):
Well, and another suggestion, too, something that
I've been using lately isChatGPT, and I'll go in and I'll
just say, like, what questionsare people asking about my
topic, and that helps me writeposts that way, too.
Um, the other question I havefor you is that Kind of.
How do you mix your personality,your personal life in with your
(37:11):
professional, um, content?
Do you find that there's a wayto balance that?
Hannah (37:17):
Definitely.
So, I think that is somethingthat I'm still trying to figure
out.
I'm, I'm really trying to figureout what is the balance of
keeping, like, professionalism,keeping personality, and keeping
all of these things kind ofwrapped up in one within my
feed.
I think a good rule of thumb forme is I keep my...
Feed as it's sunny social likeI'm sharing tips there.
(37:38):
I'm sharing things that arerelated to social media I'm
sharing things that are relatedto sunny social all of those
things and you'll see Filteredthroughout there will be some
that are more personal like thathave like it's related to social
media But maybe I've used a clipthat like has my dog in it or
like something like that Yeah,but it's all centered around
still social media.
Like for example like that postit was a Something like, dear
(38:00):
small business owners, you don'thave to work 24 seven and have a
successful business.
Like it was like that.
And the clips were things for mypersonal life.
Right.
So that was kind of a way for meto show a more personal side,
but it's still very intertwinedwith my content and the things
I'm already producing somethingagain.
Going back to stories, that isthe great, great place to show
your personality, show, um,share your stories, like, show
(38:22):
your behind the scenes, like,whenever I was moving and things
like that, like, I talked aboutthat on there, but, like, that
was not, would not beappropriate or relevant in my
feed, like, I'm not gonna, like,post about that in my feed, so
knowing, kind of, that, where onyour grid to kind of post those
things, I think, like, if you'rea photographer, or if you're a
social media manager, or abusiness owner, or whatever it
is, And all of your content isyour product or your photos and
(38:46):
then you just like post like aselfie with your puppy dog on
like the lake or something likethat's not in line with your
strategy and your content, butyour stories can be something I
do, um, is I take every weekendoff social media.
And so what I do every Mondaymorning is a weekend recap of
like what I did and like alittle narrative of what I did.
(39:07):
And then I have like a poll atthe end.
How was your weekend?
Blah, blah, blah.
And that's a way for them to geta peek into what life looks like
outside of sunny social.
But like I said, I still feellike I'm really trying to find
that balance of like, what do Ishare?
What is too much sharing?
I think something that peopleutilize a lot is close friends,
not, and it's not even York.
(39:28):
friends.
It's who wants to be added to myclose friends list and you add
them.
And that's just like your ownlittle place too, for people
that maybe like every threemonths or something, you do a
thing on stories where it'slike, who wants to be added to
my close friends?
And that's a way for it to bemore casual or more candid or to
share more behind the scenes.
Like it might not always, youmight not be comfortable sharing
(39:49):
with your whole entire audience.
Um, but close friends might beover.
And that's also a really goodtime that you can also even be
like, When you join CloseFriends, like you're getting a
more behind the scenes look atwhat it looks like to run this
business.
You're getting first access tonew offers or codes or like, you
can make it to where it's likesomething that like, Feels
(40:09):
exclusive.
And then they're like beinginvited in and that they're
feeling special.
And like that connection is soimportant with social media.
Right.
We've seen that so much,especially with Tik TOK.
Like we, people want access,like they want access.
We are nosy.
So like, if you're ever like, Idon't think people are going to
care about this or whatever,like chances are I will like,
(40:32):
sometimes I'm like a littleweirded out, but I'm also like,
that's great for us.
Still like bringing like, let's.
Say you're a product basedbusiness photographer or
whatever, bring them along a dayin a life and your stories or
bring them do a day in a life.
Um, real or something like that.
Like there are ways to involvethem and get them involved in
your life and share thatpersonal side and share that
personality.
(40:53):
Um, without completely like.
Having to overshare all the timeas far as like personality
itself.
I think that's just comes withlike comfortability and that
I've talked a lot about that onmy, um, in my feed and in my
content, just like gettingcomfortable showing your face
online and talking on storiesand.
Like, crossing that, that'shard, and it takes time, and I
(41:16):
think it, like, is again, itgoes back to just building on
it.
Maybe start with your profilephoto as your face, and then
maybe you start sharing somestuff on your stories, like
photos, and maybe you set a goalto talk on your stories once a
week, and then maybe we startbeat bopping around in reels.
Like, when I started SunnySocial, I was like, I am not
showing my face.
That will not be happening.
(41:36):
Like that, that is absolutelyoutrageous.
Like I was like, it's not goingto be like, you know, but it was
something that I quicklyrealized that.
In order for me to connect withthe people who have chosen to
follow me, in order for peopleto have the trust factor and
that connection, I need to showmy face.
Like, people connect withpeople.
So remembering that, if you'reever nervous about showing
(41:58):
certain sides of yourpersonality or your personal
life, like, remembering peopleconnect with people, these
aren't numbers, and bringing,cluing them in with whatever, of
course, you're comfortable withcan be really beneficial.
Kate (42:09):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I definitely, I always noticethat if I post a headshot or
photo of my family or somethingpersonal, even in my feed, um,
that those posts are going to doso much better than the, like
anything else.
Honestly, quite honestly,
Hannah (42:27):
everything you need to know, right?
Like, right.
If those are the, those are thepieces of content, the ones of
yourself or the ones of yousharing a personal story or the
family photo or whatever it islike, If that's what's your most
liked content, that tells youeverything you need to know.
It means that you need to beshowing up in your reels more,
you need to be showing up inyour stories more, you need to
(42:49):
be, you need to be leaning intothat in a way to where they
trust and know you.
But it needs to then, again,it's hard to be like, All my,
all the likes are coming in onmy personal posts and not on my
actual, like, client posts oranything like that, which I know
how frustrating that can be, butI think learning from that and
knowing that, okay, if this iswhat people are liking and
(43:10):
seeing, like, how can I leaninto that and, like, also
combine that with the content Iwant them to be seeing, um, that
can be kind of difficult attimes, but it's something to,
and it's personal, it'ssomething to experiment with,
figuring out what that lookslike for your own personal
profile, but yeah.
Yeah.
I get that.
Kate (43:26):
Yeah.
Um, one last thing that I wantto talk to you about is how are
you converting your likeInstagram followers into leads?
Like how are you getting themfrom Instagram into their
inboxes or into your inbox andbooking with you?
What are your strategies forthat?
Hannah (43:44):
Yeah.
I think a big thing for me is.
At the beginning, it was, I'mshowing up in a place of
authority.
I know what I'm talking about,I'm providing value, I'm
providing tips, I'm relatingwith you.
I, I'm sharing that I don't wantto talk on my stories.
I know you don't want to talk onthem either.
And it builds this trust and itbuilds this, um, reliability.
(44:05):
I have.
Something I do every week is Ido a trending audio reel.
And when you comment a son's,every person who comments a son
gets a list of audio.
And it's completely free.
It's something that I do.
And it's just been like, that'sbeen a good piece of like,
reliable content.
That's something that people cancome to my profile for.
They know that.
They can rely on that.
(44:26):
And I think a big part of it isjust For specifically, like,
coaching calls.
Like, that's the main thing thatI like to book.
I love coaching calls, differentthings like that.
And the way I do that is just...
Providing value, having CTAs anddifferent things like that at
the end of my, uh, content.
That's like, do you need helpwith that?
Like, let's book a coachingcall.
(44:47):
Posting after my coaching calls,like, that's something big, I
think, for photographers,product based businesses,
anything like that.
Is, I have a coaching call, Ipost on it, I say what we talked
about, and on the next page,there's a place to book.
And they're like, oh, I needhelp with that.
Leggo.
Real life people, other peopleparticipating, different things
like that.
Let's say you go and you have a,um, photoshoot or something.
(45:09):
You take behind the scenes,blah, blah, blah, little text.
The next screen is check, likeinquire for your engagement
shoot or something like that.
I think stories, stories is areally great place to sell.
Like anytime you can do sellingon stories is ideal.
I think something, um, MayaNicole said, who's a huge, um,
social media expert.
(45:32):
She once said that if you areselling on your stories and of
course, when we hear selling,we're like, Oh, like that's what
we're we're like you, but whatwe need to be focusing is on.
Less selling and morestorytelling for, for a good
point of view.
So be thinking about that.
(45:52):
What is the story behind this?
What's the reason behind this?
How does this solve theirproblem?
And bringing that into yourstories on a daily basis.
Going back to what Maya wassaying.
She said, not selling on yourstories is like going into a
store and then being like,sorry.
Nothing's for sale today.
Like it's, you have to make iteasy.
People have to know that you'reselling.
(46:12):
You can't just put it in yourLinkedIn bio and like hope
people are going to like clickit and buy it.
Like that's not what, that's nothow it works, unfortunately.
We have to see somethingmultiple times, multiple,
multiple, multiple times beforewe never even click to find out
more information.
And then we probably have to seeit again before we buy it.
(46:33):
Like that's just how we are,especially, especially in our
business, especially if you're asmall business owner, it's not
like you have the, you're not ina position to just be like willy
nilly, like buying offers andthings like that.
So making sure they know whatthey're investing in and making
it worth their while.
It's not about the price.
It's about how you'restorytelling.
It's how you're selling.
That's something I'm stillactively learning.
(46:54):
Um, but no, stories have been agreat way for me to sell and to
convert into leads.
Just sharing that behind thescenes and having testimonials
and different things like that.
And just again, trying to, Idon't always do this, but trying
to have an offer or sell andsell quote unquote in my stories
on a daily basis.
Just again, with that being ableto see things and Being able to
(47:17):
have that easily click and allthose things, I think, kind of
treating your feed as a place toprovide value and to connect and
your stories as a place to sell,I think is a good role of that.
Kate (47:27):
Awesome.
Hannah, how can people find you?
How can people work with you?
What's your favorite offer rightnow?
Hannah (47:33):
Um, I love coaching calls.
Coaching calls are for anyoneand everyone who is doing social
media on their own.
Like we talked about, like noteverybody has the, is in a
financial position to have asocial media manager or even
want the social media manager,but being able to sit down for
an hour and talk.
In like a personal way, in acustom way to your profile,
(47:53):
we'll audit it, we'll go throughyour bio, we'll address all your
questions, that's something Ilove to do, so I offer coaching
calls, I have a trending audiosubscription in addition to my
trending audio reels, andbasically that is something that
you subscribe to, every weekyou're getting a list of 10
audios that are broken down So Ihave service providers, product
(48:13):
based businesses, creatives,anyone and everyone, coaches,
and each one comes with an audioand it comes with an idea and
then you're able to take it,takes that scrolling time out of
it.
Um, I know for like literallytoday, even I was scrolling for
like 45 minutes trying to findan audio and I know how
frustrating that can be.
So trying to eliminate that asmuch as possible.
(48:34):
Um, so those are my two mainoffers right now.
And then I also offer fullservice social media management
to photographers, booked andbusy photographers who no longer
have the time and capacity to doit on their own.
Um, I'm not actively acceptingnew clients right now, but
possibly will be at the end ofthe summer.
So if that's something that isneeded, definitely reach out.
But yeah, you can find meeverywhere at Sunny Social
(48:54):
Collective, um, andSunnySocialCollective.
com.
That's me.
Kate (48:59):
Thank you so much, Hannah.
Hannah (49:00):
Thank you.
Kate (49:01):
Thanks so much.
All right.
I am here today with Hannah ofSunny Social Collective.
She is an Instagram pro and I'mso excited to talk to her today.
Hannah, do you want to go aheadand introduce yourself real
quick?
Hannah (00:09):
Yeah, so like you said, I'm Hannah Hoffman from Sunny
Social Collective.
I have been a social mediamanager, or a version of social
media management, um, since2019.
I have a degree in publicrelations, had no social media
classes though within my degree,which I still find just like
shocking to be honest.
And I graduated in 2020, likeit's not been that long.
(00:31):
And so, completely self taught,um, as far as social media goes.
just trial and error, figuringit out.
Um, I primarily servephotographers as like full
service, social mediamanagement, and then small
businesses and coaching andonline and all of those
different kinds of things.
So I'll think Instagram is whereI live on daily.
Kate (00:51):
I love that.
Um, so when you started yourbusiness, What got you into
starting a business in the firstplace?
And then.
Does your life match kind ofwhat you thought it would be?
Hannah (01:06):
Yeah, so, I started my business on a complete whim.
And if you know me, That'sshocking.
And that does not align with mypersonality in any way.
I am very methodical.
I love to plan.
I love to know what to expect.
And for Sunny Socialspecifically, I had none of
that.
(01:26):
Um, I had been working from, wehad moved to Colorado and I was
working remotely still from thejob in National Tennessee where
we had moved from.
And I had kind of been doing,now what I realize, social media
management.
Kind of on the side at oneclient who's still my client
today.
Um, that I was like, I'm justgonna like experiment with this
working remote, all thosedifferent kinds of things.
(01:47):
And I absolutely loved it.
And I was like, I think I can dothis.
Like, I think I can do this,like.
For more people and like workfor myself and all those things.
And from a very young age, Ialways knew I was going to like
be the boss of something like Ihad, I am firstborn daughter,
Capricorn, like type one, girly,like all of those things.
(02:09):
Like I, I kind of had my ownlittle businesses growing up and
all that stuff.
So I always had that like.
entrepreneurial spirit thatdetermined that determination
that you kind of need to start,but I had literally zero
expectation, zero plan.
I was like, I am, I like to callmyself a recovering
perfectionist, but like I havethat like perfectionistic
(02:30):
personality.
And so I knew if I didn't juststart, I was never going to.
And so one day I sat down and Iwas like, brainstorming names,
which we all know that takesforever.
And I just.
I just created the account and Iwas like, I set a date.
I'm like, this is when my firstpost is going to go up.
I did it.
And then like from there, it'sjust been, okay, what are we
doing?
(02:50):
Like let's figure this out now.
Um, so as far as like what Iexpected, what I hope for, what
I imagined, I really did nothave a lot of expectation there.
I just knew that there needed tobe a change.
I was.
I was not happy in the job thatI was working.
I knew that it was temporary.
It was great being able to workremote and transition to
Colorado having that.
Um, but I knew that that was notlike where I wanted to end up.
(03:15):
So as far as like where I wantedto be and what I expect and what
my life looks like now, I thinkthat's still evolving.
I, Sunny Social has only beenaround since October of 2021.
It's only been a couple ofyears.
And so every day I feel like Iam.
really narrowing down what Iwant it to look like.
Okay, for my first year of SunnySocial, I was working 12 hour
(03:37):
days.
I had way too many clients in myclient load.
Like, you know, we all learnedthat the hard way.
We're taking them on.
Uh, we don't know how to say noto all those things.
So, I still feel like I am verymuch in this process of like,
Molding my life and my businessand how that relates to my life
into what I want it to be.
We were talking before thiscall, even just like how I
(03:57):
structure my days and my weeksand my schedules and all those
kinds of things.
Um, but yeah, to be totallyhonest, I, yeah, it's on a whim
and it's been figuring out eversince.
And like.
I had my, my goal for 2021 or2022, actually, cause I started
at the end of 2021.
I was like, I'm going to hit athousand followers on Instagram.
(04:18):
Well, I was like, that is all Ineed.
I'm happy with that.
I hadn't, I had zeroexpectation, even with my own
Instagram account.
I was like, I'm going to showup, I'm going to book clients
and that's it.
And then just in a matter ofmonths, it just, all these
clients and followers kind ofjust.
It felt like that, right?
Obviously it wasn't that way.
There was work and hustle andgrind, but it just felt like,
(04:41):
what the heck?
Like, this is not at all what Iwas expecting.
Um, so I think a lot of it, evenjust that, that 2022 year was
like catch up, like taking abreath and being like.
What have I gotten myself into?
Like, this is amazing andwonderful, but like, how do I
balance it all?
Um, so hopefully that answersthe question.
There's like three questions inthere.
So I don't know.
Kate (04:58):
No, that was great.
That was great.
So let's talk a little bit aboutInstagram, um, specifically.
Going back to like the how youpictured it part.
I think most of us, when westarted business, we started not
to be on Instagram all the timeand promoting our business
through social media.
How do you feel like what's thebest way for entrepreneurs to
(05:20):
kind of fit Instagram into theirbusiness?
Hannah (05:24):
Yeah.
So I, a big emphasis I have, um,as far as social media goes,
Instagram goes is it needs to besimple and it needs to be
sustainable.
Like you said, You guys aren'tInstagram is not your job.
Like Instagram is not your fulltime job.
It's not even my full time job,right?
Like it is something thatrequires so much time and so
(05:46):
much energy and so much effort,right?
Like for many of us, smallbusiness owners or photographers
or however you fall into thatcategory, like.
Instagram or social media isneeded in some capacity and it
can feel really big.
It can feel really daunting.
So I always like to say is itneeds to be simple and it needs
to be sustainable in the busyseasons and the slow seasons.
(06:07):
It needs to integrate into yourlife.
Like you are not working forsocial media like it is a tool
for your business is one aspectof your business.
So that is a big emphasis.
I always have just with.
Just the mindset itself, right?
Like not treating Instagram likeit is the one I'll be all like,
there's also other avenues andplatforms and things like that.
(06:27):
So learning it and understandingit in a way that.
You can then, okay, this is anew update, or this is a new
change.
How can I compare that to mystrategy and my plan?
Does that integrate well?
Is that something I have thecapacity for?
Like, we're starting small.
We're starting simple.
We're building.
We're learning.
We're evolving.
We're building on that ratherthan trying to attack it all at
(06:49):
once.
Kate (06:50):
yeah, I love that idea of keeping it, um, small and
sustainable.
What tips do you have for doingthat?
Hannah (06:59):
I always like to say is look at your schedule, look at
your capacity, start with howmany times a week you can post.
So consistency and thatreliability is super important
for Instagram.
It's really important forcommunity, the algorithm of
Instagram.
So you, what you don't want tobe doing is scattered posts.
Like once a month, I'm going topost something or once a week,
I'm going to get something upthere or like, Oh crap.
(07:21):
Like I haven't prepped anythingtoday.
I'm going to have a stress andobligated post.
That's going to go up in thenext 30 minutes.
That doesn't have any intentionbehind or anything like that.
Right.
That is where a lot of usbusiness owners kind of rest
right now.
And it's.
stressful and you're like, Ican't even come up with a
caption here.
Like how am I supposed to comeup with multiple at a time?
Like anyways, there's, there's alot of stress there.
(07:43):
And I think a big, somethingimportant to remember is again,
starting small, looking at yourschedule.
Okay.
Do I have the capacity to postthree times a week?
Great.
In the busy season and slowseasons.
Like I said, do I have thecapacity to post five times a
week?
Great.
Seven times a week.
Whatever that is.
Look at that.
Look at your capacity.
Look at your workload, whateverit is.
And figure out how many times aweek you have to post.
(08:08):
Then, go from there.
Okay, what times do I need topost?
Look at your, of course you cango into your insights, and you
can see when your followers aremost active.
That is a great tool, it'sspecific to your community and
your audience.
You can compare that, and then,okay.
I'm going to post Monday,Wednesday, Friday at 11 a.
m.
And I'm going to do thatconsistently for the next three
months.
And that's all I'm going tofocus on.
I'm going to be consistent.
(08:29):
I'm going to get into the habitof posting consistently and
figuring out what works andexperimenting and having fun
with it and not putting a lot ofpressure.
Like if I had to give anyoneadvice for where to start, that
would be it.
Like choose your postingschedule and then just
experiment and have fun and justfigure out what works and what
doesn't.
And then you can...
Take that information.
(08:50):
You can take that data and youcan narrow it down.
Okay, this performed reallywell.
I think this is really in linewith my target audience.
I'm going to continue to worktowards that.
This didn't perform really well.
However, it led to sales.
It led to someone booking withme.
Okay, that's a really goodavenue.
That, that is information.
I think for a lot of times.
We're just posting and likecrossing our fingers and hoping
(09:13):
for the best.
And that lacks obviouslyintention and it lacks strategy.
And so I think just startingfrom a small place of just
getting into the habit ofposting consistently and then
learning from the learning fromthat data is super helpful.
So that's where I would startfirst.
Um, Having an optimized bio thatis, uh, I can, we can talk about
(09:33):
bio optimization, this wholecall, bio optimization.
It is so important.
It is so important.
It is the business card for yourprofile.
If someone saw your bio only,they need to be able to know.
Who you are, what you do, whatyou offer, all of those
different kinds of things.
Your bio needs to be searchable.
Every single piece of, um, copyin your bio, in your captions,
(09:58):
everywhere on Instagram, they'reusing that to categorize your
content and push it to the rightpeople.
If someone wants to searchsocial media manager.
They're going to type in socialmedia manager.
They're not going to type insunny social collective.
They don't know they're lookingfor sunny social collective.
So you need to make sure thatsearchable, you need to make
sure you're accessible.
Um, and that's a really goodplace to start to like obviously
(10:20):
posting schedule.
But before that, if you can haveyour.
We're bio optimized in a waythat when people do come to your
profile and they do startfollowing along or they see your
reel or whatever it is, likethey're getting that
information.
It's easy.
We're lazy.
We do not want to search and digfor information.
So making that easy is superimportant.
Um, so that's what I would sayfor like a good starting point
(10:42):
is just general tips itself ischoose that posting schedule and
optimize the bio.
That's a good, great.
Okay.
Kate (10:48):
Okay.
What are your like top threetips for optimizing your bio
then?
Hannah (10:52):
So your name field, that is right now where you probably
would put your, your personalname or your business name.
It's not your username.
Obviously we have our newsusername, that's where we're
putting our business name.
And then you have your namefield and that is where you want
to put a searchable term.
So something that's the onlypretty much the only place in
Instagram where you want to bebroad where you don't want to
(11:13):
niche down or be specific,right?
So if you are a weddingphotographer or something like
that in Florida, Florida weddingphotographer, if you are a
children's boutique, right,putting those kind of keywords
into that name field that aresensible.
Bless you.
Sorry.
I'm coming.
Kate (11:34):
I was like, it's been brewing and I'm like,
Hannah (11:36):
oh, don't sneeze.
You can feel it on top of yournose.
Yes.
Um, but yes, having that namefield optimized, having that
searchable is going to beimportant.
Instagram is used as a searchengine, just as TikTok and
different things like that are.
And so if you can make it towhere your account is
searchable, that's going to helpin loads.
Again.
In the copy section, that iswhere I kind of like to describe
(11:57):
it as like a cute little missionstatement, like much cuter than
a mission statement.
Like when you hear a missionstatement, we're like boring,
snore, but kind of like thatneeds to encompass kind of what
you offer, who you serve.
So mine says something along thelines of helping photographers
and small business owners.
Uh, grow online through simpletips and sustainable strategy,
but we're coaching call today.
(12:18):
It kind of encompasses.
It's like who I'm serving, how Iserve them.
And then it has that call toaction.
The book called coaching calltoday.
Um, having that having thoseaspects.
Is again, you need to be able toget that information before you
continue to scroll.
I don't want to scroll throughyour whole entire feed to find
out where you're located or tofind out who you serve.
(12:39):
I want to find that in the bio.
I want to find that in thehighlights.
I want to find that in thatinitial profile.
So I don't have me as a viewerdoesn't have to look at it.
We are literally deciding inseconds if we want to continue
to scroll through someone'sprofile or if we want to follow.
So keeping that in mind is superimportant.
Another thing is.
your profile photo, it's greatto have one of yourself.
(13:03):
If you can't, if you're like asingle, um, entrepreneur doing
your business on your own,especially like if you have a
team who are, who's activelyfeel like an agency, or if
you're like a boutique and it's,there's not really one person, a
logo might be appropriate foryou.
But for me, for photographers,for small business owners.
And if you're an influencer, allthose different kinds of things,
(13:23):
a profile of you is important.
A profile picture of you isimportant and something that is
tied in with your branding,right?
We're not taking a selfie from2012 and putting it in our
profile.
We're putting something thatfits with our feed and fits with
our profile.
Something that we can keep therefor a while for mine has like
sunshines behind it.
Um, that's really important.
Another thing about the bio isthis is not the place to be
(13:46):
putting dog mom.
Or like any like coffee lover orlike anything like that.
Like those are important thingsfor your bio to have.
You have a very limited amountof space there and you want to
use it and you want to optimizeit.
Well, you can put dog mom,coffee lover, whatever that is
in your fun facts post that youhave in your feed, but that's
(14:06):
not the place for your bio.
And then again, making sure youhave a link.
That works that has that is easyagain, easy and accessible when
they do click on that link.
And then you have, if you are ina specific location, you can put
a hyperlinked location in thereas well, whether it's the city
and state, or if you have aspecific, um, brick and mortar
store or something like that,you want to making sure you have
(14:27):
it again, ease and accessibilityis super important for your bio.
Kate (14:31):
So now with Instagram's newest, like updates, you can
put more than one link.
How are you feeling about thatversus like, I don't like
Linktree.
I'm going to say that like, notthat if you have like a links
page on your website, that'smuch better for your SEO there
website person here.
But how do you feel about havinglike multiple links versus that
(14:55):
like one links page?
Hannah (14:57):
I really don't have a lot of feelings about it, to be
honest.
I use, um, something calledStamStore, and it's an amazing
platform, and it's, that's whatI use for my LinkedIn bio.
It's, you're able to put linksin there.
I'm able to, people are able toput coaching calls through that.
They're able to download mydigital downloads.
It's all in one place.
Um, so that is what I've chosento use.
(15:19):
But if you have multiple links,I don't think there's anything
wrong with that.
I mean, experiment with that,test that out again, though.
If you were saying, like youwere saying, if you have a link
page attached to your website,that's obviously ideal.
Like, we want that.
That's going to get them onestep closer to clicking on your
website.
It's branded.
It's visually better.
It's great for SEO.
All those different kinds ofthings.
(15:40):
I don't have a great, I don'thave a huge opinion on that.
I really honestly don't see alot of people utilizing that
feature.
I think most people are stilljust sticking with their Lincoln
bio platforms or their standstore or different things like
that.
Um, but if it works for you andif you want to try it out, I
mean, again, that does, um,encourage the ease and
accessibility.
I think the main reason whyInstagram created it as a
(16:00):
feature though, is it just keepsthem within the app for longer.
Yeah.
And it's just, again, that easeand accessibility.
So yeah.
Try it if it works.
And I don't think there's ahuge, personally, I don't, I
don't have a lot of feelingsabout it.
Kate (16:14):
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
I just didn't know if like, youwere seeing that those were
performing better because it's anew feature.
I know typically when Instagramcomes out with a new feature,
they push it more.
Um, so
Hannah (16:26):
specifically it's hard because again, it's like,
that's.
It's a profile feature.
It's not a content feature oranything like that.
So that's the only one whereyes, normally I'd be like, Oh,
it's great.
Reels are coming out.
Like let's jump on reels orwhatever it is.
Um, when that was happening afew years ago, you always want
to be kind of staying up to datewith what's new on Instagram,
(16:48):
especially when it relates toyour content and how you show up
on the platform.
As far as the LinkedIn biosituation, I think just like do
what works best for you.
Okay, cool, cool.
We don't have to sweat too much.
Kate (16:59):
Wonderful.
It's nice when there's somethingwe don't have to sweat, right?
Hannah (17:02):
So
Kate (17:04):
Instagram has again so many different content types How
do you kind of decide like whatthe mix of those is that you use
and does it change over time?
What's the...
Hannah (17:17):
That's a great question.
Obviously you want to be like wewere just saying you want to be
using the tools that Instagramhas so we don't want to be
exclusively only postingcarousels.
We don't want to be exclusivelyonly posting reels.
We want to make sure we have amix of both.
So, for example, going back toour posting schedule that we
discussed, let's say we'reposting Monday, Wednesday,
(17:38):
Friday, maybe you do two reelsin a carousel a week.
Maybe you do two carousels and.
A real a week, whatever thatworks for you.
Personally, for me, I just, formy clients, I have an exact
number of reels.
I post a week, an exact numberof carousels and that works for
you.
Totally do it.
But again, we're talkingsustainability.
We're talking, what do we havethe time for?
(17:59):
We're talking what's realisticin our life.
If, if it's more realistic foryou to post two carousels that
week and one reel, let's dothat.
And one week you have a ton ofvideo content and you have the
time to film reels, do two reelsin a carousel.
I think there's something thatis empowering with knowing like,
I can adjust.
I have my structure, I have therules.
(18:21):
Once I know them, I can breakthem.
And it's just, as long as you'recreating that mix of content, I
think that's more important thanlike, getting so rigid.
And being like, I have to do tworeels and one carousel a week.
And of course, like both ofthose, um, pieces of content
served for purposes.
Right.
So your reels are going to, thatis more focused on reach.
(18:41):
It's going, it's putting yourcontent.
In front of people who haven'tseen it before and so if that's
something that's a priority foryou If growth is a priority for
you right now, then that mightbe something you prioritize.
I'm gonna do two reels a weekHowever, carousels are now being
reprioritized I've actuallynoticed in the last few months
that my carousels my clientscarousels are performing better
than reels right now Okay meanWe stopped doing reels, right?
(19:05):
No, just, I just think the moreimportant thing is just having
that mix.
And of course, like we, that wasin feed content.
So then you have stories, youhave IgE lives, you have all
these different kinds of things.
I personally, people alwayslaugh at this, but I personally
have never done an Instagramlive in my life and I have no
plan to at this moment.
Um, I'm sure I will eventually,and it is beneficial.
(19:28):
Yeah.
If it's like, I want to do thisonce a week so that I can do a Q
and a with my audience or I canbring them along for an event or
whatever it is like, that'sgreat.
Again.
Make sure it fits in.
Like, make sure it's working foryou.
Make sure you're not forcingsomething that doesn't feel
aligned.
Or it could be like, I'm gonnado it once a month.
(19:48):
Like, that probably wouldn'thurt.
I probably could care to do thatonce a month.
But, you know, I don't want to.
And then again, we have stories.
And stories are one of the mostunderutilized pieces of content.
Form of content on Instagram.
It is a great place to nurtureyour audience.
It's a great place to learnabout them, for them to learn
(20:09):
about you, for them, for them toget a view into the behind the
scenes of your business.
This is, it's a great place tosell.
Talking about selling and thingslike that.
We have kind of treated stories,specifically highlights.
Like they are like Facebook, um,albums from how we used to use
Facebook albums back in the day.
We just like dump a bunch ofstuff in them and just like
(20:29):
leave them there.
Yeah.
That's kind of how we've liketreated our highlights.
And your highlights are soimportant.
Again, they're part of theprofile.
They need to have relevant andupdated information.
Accurate information.
There's so many photographersthat I work with that I'll go in
and look through theirhighlights and I'm like, you
don't.
Like, you are so much betterthan this now, like this is 10
(20:52):
years ago, like when you werelearning photography or like,
you don't edit like thisanymore.
You don't offer this anymore.
Having that relevant informationis so important.
And knowing how to, thinkingabout the viewer, almost
treating it like a mini salespage.
So I have an FAQ page, if that'sapplicable to you, I have an
offers page, maybe you breakdown your offers.
(21:14):
Let's, for me, I thinkspecifically I break down my
offers because I want, ifsomeone's coming to my profile
and they want to learn moreabout my subscription.
They can click through andlearn, they can see behind the
scenes of my subscription, whatpeople are saying information
about that.
They're not having to clickthrough a big long highlight of
all of my offers in one space.
It's easy and accessible.
(21:35):
Again, that profile ease andaccessibility is so important.
Um, but yeah, stories isunderutilized.
Take advantage of those.
They keep, they're allowed to becasual.
Like there's not a lot of roleswith them.
It's the wild, wild west, likeletting them expire.
That's a great tip.
Um, using poll and engagementstickers and all those things,
that's great too.
(21:55):
But mainly it's just a place foryou to connect with your
audience and you want to bedoing that.
You want to be nurturing thecommunity you have.
You want to invite them intoyour life.
They have chosen to follow you.
They have chosen to be in yourspace.
They're not numbers, they'repeople.
And Stories is a great place togarner that.
So, yeah, those are kind of howI break my...
My content down beside the IDlives obviously
Kate (22:17):
one thing that you didn't mention was like a single image
post Is that something you stillutilize or no?
Hannah (22:23):
Okay, so I personally do not utilizing a static post
because I find that They areeasily, you swipe by them very
easily.
Carousels are more engaging.
You swipe through them ratherthan past them.
Um, so that's something that Ialways recommend is I just think
if you have the content for acarousel, do the carousel every
(22:46):
time.
And if it's something that'slike, I only have one piece.
I only have one piece ofcontent.
I only have one graphic here.
I only have one picture here,whatever it is.
Um, add a call to action slide.
Like, that's something you cando, or it's like, you know, at
the end of the day, again, ifit's like, this is the only
photo I want to post, do it.
Like, that's okay.
(23:07):
I think the reason why staticposts versus carousel posts is
why you want to be doing that ona consistent basis.
It's just, it's going to beserving you better.
But if you have something, youhave a piece of content where
you're like, static is best forthis.
Do it again.
You know the rules.
You can break them.
Yeah.
Kate (23:22):
That's great.
Okay, I'm really big on gettinghelp where you need help, right?
So don't do the things thatyou're not good at.
Um, if someone else has astrength in a place that you're
really weak, hire them,outsource.
So let's talk about outsourcingsocial media and how that works.
What does that look like forpeople?
Hannah (23:40):
So it really depends on your industry.
So for example, I work primarilywith photographers.
So for that it's, I have accessto their galleries.
I have access to their behindthe scenes content, different
things like that.
If you are a photographer,you're more graphic based or
product business space, then thesocial media manager will be
communicating, collaboratingwith you with the content they
(24:00):
need, or they'll be creating.
They will be creating contentfor you in Canva and different,
different things like that.
So as far as content goes, thatis very collaborative with the
client.
As far as strategy and planning,caption writing, creating reels,
all those things, that issomething a social media manager
can do for you.
All you're responsible forpretty like, it really obviously
depends on the social mediamanager.
(24:21):
For me specifically, all Irequire on my clients is you
give me the information that youneed posted.
If you don't have anything youneed posted that week, don't
worry about it.
I'll take care of it.
And then I send them an emailwhen their grid is ready to be
reviewed.
They go in, they give mefeedback, they approve, and then
it gets posted and that's allthey have to worry about.
And the whole process, we spendhours a week creating content.
(24:46):
Um, and that is something.
That not everyone loves to do,and it's very hard and it takes
a lot of time and it's takes itlike with Instagram changes and
all those things.
It's really hard to keep up,especially if you're juggling so
many things in your work andlife and personal life.
And all those things outsourcingis a great tool and it really is
(25:07):
just like I think my biggestpiece of advice for outsourcing
with a social media manager isfinding someone who is working
within your industry, findingsomeone that you can collaborate
really well with.
I think that's something that isa, misconception about social
media management is it's stillvery collaborative.
It's not like I am taking yourcontent and you have zero say
(25:27):
and you don't see it before itgoes up or you don't have to do
anything right.
It still requires a little bitof that collaborative
communication and making sureyou're on the same page.
I always tell my clients like Iam speaking on the behalf of
you, so I need to know you.
So like something that's builtinto my structure is I, when I
bring on a new client for thefirst few months, I meet with
(25:47):
them biweekly.
We're checking in, getting toknow how did you like this?
How did you not like that?
All those different kinds ofthings.
I need to know and be in yourspace.
I need to know your tone ofvoice.
I need to know how you speak,like, so I can speak on your
behalf.
And so that is something thatsocial media managers can do.
And I get like, The concern withoutsourcing that, right?
(26:09):
Like I've been doing this foryears on my own and it's either
been working really well or ithasn't and just that fear behind
that.
I think social media is, itfeels very personal for a lot of
people, whether you're doing itfor business or not.
And so it can feel a little bitscary to outsource that, but
there's so much structure andstrategy that we have that you
guys don't have the capacityfor.
(26:30):
You don't have the knowledge inand that's where a social media
manager can really help.
Yeah,
Kate (26:34):
so instead of having to learn all of this stuff, it's
nice to be able to hand it overto somebody who Spends their
days learning it andunderstanding it, right?
Hannah (26:44):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah,
Kate (26:46):
so if that's not an option for someone and they're trying
to be consistent What do yousuggest for like scheduling or
planning things?
Is, are those scheduling toolslike Planoly, Tailwind, those
kinds of things, things that youuse?
Or do you suggest onlypublishing, like posting live,
or?
Hannah (27:05):
A thousand percent.
Again, it's not sustainable ifI'm having to drop everything in
my day to like prep a post,right?
So for some, for some peoplebatching does not work.
And that's okay, like if, ifthat really does not work for
you, if you've given it a tryand you're like, it is way
easier for me to just kind ofhave a general guide and
(27:25):
structure that I know what Ineed to post on those days, um,
that's fine.
Um, there's also options.
There's so many good schedulingtools.
I personally use Plannable.
I love it.
Um, I would say if you're not asocial media manager though,
like you can use Plan only, youcan use Facebook Business Suite.
You can do in-app schedulingeven and just have like use a
(27:45):
grid planner or something, um,on Canva or get a grid planner
app.
Like, there's plenty of ways tonot also to save money with
those too.
A lot of those have like, Freeoptions and different things
like that.
But yeah, utilize a scheduler.
Um, schedulers are great.
What I always like to recommend,I do a lot of coaching calls
with people who have the sameissue.
Like, I am not in a financialplace to be able to outsource
(28:08):
social media management yet.
But I'm also not in a placewhere I can just, like, Like,
knock out content in every,every day.
Like, I don't have the capacity.
I don't have the time for that.
It's interrupted.
Again, it gets to thatobligatory and rushed piece of
content.
Yeah.
Whereas we obviously want to beproducing.
Intentional and strategiccontent.
(28:28):
So what I always recommend isfirst, obviously choosing your
posting schedule and thendedicating if it's bi weekly or
weekly, whatever it is, choose aday where you block out a couple
of hours to prep your content.
Even if you're not making thecontent, if you, if it's like, I
don't, I don't want to make it,I want to do it day of whatever.
Sit down, write out your ideas,think about what you've done
(28:50):
that week, think about thecontent you've done, prop your
phone up throughout the week ifyou have something that sparks
into your head, and then sitdown when you're in that zone of
genius and just focus on that.
I think the biggest problem whypeople, um, are apprehensive to
start batching because they'relike, I can't even write one
captcha and like how am Isupposed to sit down and prep
(29:10):
three or six or whatever it isand I'm like valid I get it but
the difference is is one is likea blocked out amount of time for
you to have a focus in on thatand not be your priority in that
moment being in that zone ofgenius where the other one is
that stress and obligatory postof course you're not going to be
able to think of like a greatcaption in the moment you're
like 30 minutes after you'reposting time, you're stressed.
(29:32):
You're trying to get the kidsout the door, whatever it is in
the moment.
Like you have to be able to kindof dedicate that space if you're
wanting to batch and prep aheadof time.
That is what we do as socialmedia managers.
That's all we're doing.
We're dedicating time for yourcontent on a weekly, bi weekly
or monthly basis.
And we're sitting down and we'rethinking it through and we're
writing out the captions.
There's also chat dbt now, a lotof these, um, A lot of these
(29:57):
schedulers also have like builtin AI as well.
Like captions are not as hard asthey used to be.
At least there's something, it'sa point of inspiration.
So if that is something whereyou're like, I really want to
make sure I'm being consistentwith social media, try to just
dedicate some batching days,whatever that is.
And then think through yourcontent and it will become more
(30:17):
of a habit.
That's something to like rightnow, it's not habit.
It's not habit to be thinkingabout content ideas throughout
your week.
Right.
But when you kind of know, okay,on Fridays, I'm going to prep my
content for the next week, whenyou're going Monday through
Friday, you're like, okay, I'mgoing to like.
Set up a time lapse while I editmy photos or I'm going to take a
BTS or Oh my gosh, I'm takinglike, I, the ideas will come to
(30:39):
you.
Like it'll be three o'clock inthe morning.
You're like, that's a great,that's a great idea for content
or whatever.
And you can write it down andit's really just training your
brain and getting your brainused to the idea of creating
content on a consistent basis.
Then that is what's going toserve your plot.
That's, what's going to serveyour account the most, right?
Like.
Posting, uh, one time onWednesday and then two weeks
later posting on Sunday.
(31:00):
Like that's not going to do muchfor you.
Like that's not going to serveyou.
So figuring out what works foryou, again, if batching and
sitting down and doing it all atonce doesn't work, maybe the
alternative is, okay, I'm goingto create some content pillars.
On Mondays, I'm going to talkabout this.
On Wednesdays, I'm going to talkabout this.
On Fridays, I'm going to talkabout this.
So at least you have somestructure, so when you do need
(31:20):
to prep your post day of, youhave some type of idea of the
content that you need to beproducing.
Um, so yeah, that would be myrecommendation.
Kate (31:27):
Yeah, Are you doing like a lot of repurposing content from
like longer form pieces as well?
Hannah (31:33):
A thousand percent, like I will literally, there's been
weeks I have had a really busyspring.
I've been moving, launchingNoCokeGirlsCo, like doing all
these different things.
And so I have been relying onrepurposed content.
I've been scrolling down, okay Ihad a reel on this.
way.
I can turn this into a carouselnow, or I had a carousel.
(31:53):
Ooh, I can make this into areal.
Repurposing content is the wayto go paying attention to what's
worked in the past.
Okay.
This worked really well.
I can even take a sentence outof this reel or this carousel
and turn it into one piece ofcontent.
So not putting thoserestrictions on yourself is so
important.
Having this idea that you haveto be coming up with a hundred
percent new fresh content everysingle time you post, like.
(32:17):
That's exhausting.
Like that's absolutely horrible.
And also doing that with myclients as well.
I'm going through, okay, thisworked really well.
How can we take this and tweakit a little to make it look
different and like repurpose it?
Like, let's do that more.
Like let's work smarter.
And again, making Instagram workfor you is the ideal place.
(32:38):
And again, remembering like.
Not everybody saw the content inthe first place, right?
So and if it was a year ago, sixmonths ago, chances are they
might not have seen it.
They're not going to recognizeit again.
Um, so repurposing that in a wayis definitely beneficial and I
highly recommend for sure.
Yeah.
Kate (32:55):
Yeah.
Well, and I think everybody hassuch a different learning style
that like sometimes if you postsomething as a carousel They're
gonna be able to consume itbetter than if it was posted as
a real and it could be the exactsame information, but just
understanding and learningstyles.
Um, and then also pullingcontent from like longer form
pieces of content, like a blogpost or a podcast or whatever,
(33:18):
um, you know, bigger pieces ofcontent that you own, um, and
repurposing those to socialmedia.
Hannah (33:25):
That's my favorite way for clients when they have.
Recent blogs or something fromlike, let's say a wedding or
something.
I'm able to go in and I'm ableto pull what they've already
said and spoken about thewedding and turn it into a
caption or turn it into a realor just even to gain inspiration
from that.
Like, Oh, I did a blog about 10tips to how to X, Y, Z.
(33:46):
Like I can easily turn that intoa real a carousel, like paying
attention to the things you'realready doing or the things
you're thinking about.
Paying attention to what peopleare asking you, like, can that
be a piece of content?
Um, we also, I think, especiallyfor us, like educators, it's, we
think.
I think certain things are justobvious, right?
Because we do them today.
(34:06):
So, making sure you get into themind of the consumer, of the
viewer, of your target audience.
What do they struggle with?
How can I provide, how can I fixthat problem?
What value can I provide?
How can I connect with them?
How can I help them, how can Ieducate them in this way?
Just because it's super obviousto me that you should have
social media manager or keywordsin your name field, like not
(34:27):
everybody knows that that's apiece of content I can share.
Um, and it's something that'ssuper helpful.
So be thinking about that too,like not thinking from the point
of what do I need to see in myfeed?
What is like my consumer?
What does my ideal audience needto see and read?
Um, that will help too,obviously.
Kate (34:44):
Yeah.
Well, and back to your pointabout what people are asking.
that's a huge piece ofinspiration for your content.
And especially forphotographers, like you're
saying, you know, for educators,going back to those basics, but
also for your photographyclients, like they don't know.
This one was a big one that Iposted was something about like,
When you book a newborn session,because that is a question I
(35:07):
always get in my emails, likeWhen should I be booking this?
Hannah (35:11):
Yeah.
Kate (35:12):
So just like going back to like the basics of what um, what
people are asking you ininquiries, what emails you're
getting, what questions you'regetting in your DMs and stuff
like that is a great place to
Hannah (35:23):
go.
A thousand percent.
And for those, I can alreadyhear them being like, well,
nobody's asking me.
Like, nobody's asking.
I'm not, I'm not a photographer.
I'm not this.
No, nobody's asking me this yet.
Make up some questions.
Yeah.
Like, make up some questions.
You're like, what do I wantpeople to know about my, let's
say for a product, right?
Someone has, no, nobody's askeda question about a product, but
you want them to know somethingspecifically, right?
(35:45):
Take that and make that into apiece of content.
Did you know that our product isXYZ and super comfy and cozy and
whatever, like, you know whatI'm saying?
Like you can, you can make thatfor yourself as well.
Or an alternative thing, goingback to stories is I want to
know what my clients or what myviewers want to see, I'm going
to ask them, I'm going to do afew polls at my stories.
(36:06):
Like, do you want to see more ofX, Y, Z?
Like, or doing a poll box ordoing a question, like asking
your community, payingattention, like the things
they're commenting, all of thosethings, all of that data is
information for you to take andturn into content.
Things that people are DMingyou.
All of those things are superimportant, super helpful.
I think we have, I think it'sreally easy.
(36:28):
To fall into the trap of beinglike, I have nothing to say and
I have nothing to post and Ihave no content and all those
things.
And I totally understand thatfeeling, but I think it's there.
It's just like knowing where tolook for it and like, just your
brain and getting again intothat habit of.
Everything is content.
Kate (36:47):
Well, and another suggestion, too, something that
I've been using lately isChatGPT, and I'll go in and I'll
just say, like, what questionsare people asking about my
topic, and that helps me writeposts that way, too.
Um, the other question I havefor you is that Kind of.
How do you mix your personality,your personal life in with your
(37:11):
professional, um, content?
Do you find that there's a wayto balance that?
Hannah (37:17):
Definitely.
So, I think that is somethingthat I'm still trying to figure
out.
I'm, I'm really trying to figureout what is the balance of
keeping, like, professionalism,keeping personality, and keeping
all of these things kind ofwrapped up in one within my
feed.
I think a good rule of thumb forme is I keep my...
Feed as it's sunny social likeI'm sharing tips there.
(37:38):
I'm sharing things that arerelated to social media I'm
sharing things that are relatedto sunny social all of those
things and you'll see Filteredthroughout there will be some
that are more personal like thathave like it's related to social
media But maybe I've used a clipthat like has my dog in it or
like something like that Yeah,but it's all centered around
still social media.
Like for example like that postit was a Something like, dear
(38:00):
small business owners, you don'thave to work 24 seven and have a
successful business.
Like it was like that.
And the clips were things for mypersonal life.
Right.
So that was kind of a way for meto show a more personal side,
but it's still very intertwinedwith my content and the things
I'm already producing somethingagain.
Going back to stories, that isthe great, great place to show
your personality, show, um,share your stories, like, show
(38:22):
your behind the scenes, like,whenever I was moving and things
like that, like, I talked aboutthat on there, but, like, that
was not, would not beappropriate or relevant in my
feed, like, I'm not gonna, like,post about that in my feed, so
knowing, kind of, that, where onyour grid to kind of post those
things, I think, like, if you'rea photographer, or if you're a
social media manager, or abusiness owner, or whatever it
is, And all of your content isyour product or your photos and
(38:46):
then you just like post like aselfie with your puppy dog on
like the lake or something likethat's not in line with your
strategy and your content, butyour stories can be something I
do, um, is I take every weekendoff social media.
And so what I do every Mondaymorning is a weekend recap of
like what I did and like alittle narrative of what I did.
(39:07):
And then I have like a poll atthe end.
How was your weekend?
Blah, blah, blah.
And that's a way for them to geta peek into what life looks like
outside of sunny social.
But like I said, I still feellike I'm really trying to find
that balance of like, what do Ishare?
What is too much sharing?
I think something that peopleutilize a lot is close friends,
not, and it's not even York.
(39:28):
friends.
It's who wants to be added to myclose friends list and you add
them.
And that's just like your ownlittle place too, for people
that maybe like every threemonths or something, you do a
thing on stories where it'slike, who wants to be added to
my close friends?
And that's a way for it to bemore casual or more candid or to
share more behind the scenes.
Like it might not always, youmight not be comfortable sharing
(39:49):
with your whole entire audience.
Um, but close friends might beover.
And that's also a really goodtime that you can also even be
like, When you join CloseFriends, like you're getting a
more behind the scenes look atwhat it looks like to run this
business.
You're getting first access tonew offers or codes or like, you
can make it to where it's likesomething that like, Feels
(40:09):
exclusive.
And then they're like beinginvited in and that they're
feeling special.
And like that connection is soimportant with social media.
Right.
We've seen that so much,especially with Tik TOK.
Like we, people want access,like they want access.
We are nosy.
So like, if you're ever like, Idon't think people are going to
care about this or whatever,like chances are I will like,
(40:32):
sometimes I'm like a littleweirded out, but I'm also like,
that's great for us.
Still like bringing like, let's.
Say you're a product basedbusiness photographer or
whatever, bring them along a dayin a life and your stories or
bring them do a day in a life.
Um, real or something like that.
Like there are ways to involvethem and get them involved in
your life and share thatpersonal side and share that
personality.
(40:53):
Um, without completely like.
Having to overshare all the timeas far as like personality
itself.
I think that's just comes withlike comfortability and that
I've talked a lot about that onmy, um, in my feed and in my
content, just like gettingcomfortable showing your face
online and talking on storiesand.
Like, crossing that, that'shard, and it takes time, and I
(41:16):
think it, like, is again, itgoes back to just building on
it.
Maybe start with your profilephoto as your face, and then
maybe you start sharing somestuff on your stories, like
photos, and maybe you set a goalto talk on your stories once a
week, and then maybe we startbeat bopping around in reels.
Like, when I started SunnySocial, I was like, I am not
showing my face.
That will not be happening.
(41:36):
Like that, that is absolutelyoutrageous.
Like I was like, it's not goingto be like, you know, but it was
something that I quicklyrealized that.
In order for me to connect withthe people who have chosen to
follow me, in order for peopleto have the trust factor and
that connection, I need to showmy face.
Like, people connect withpeople.
So remembering that, if you'reever nervous about showing
(41:58):
certain sides of yourpersonality or your personal
life, like, remembering peopleconnect with people, these
aren't numbers, and bringing,cluing them in with whatever, of
course, you're comfortable withcan be really beneficial.
Kate (42:09):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I definitely, I always noticethat if I post a headshot or
photo of my family or somethingpersonal, even in my feed, um,
that those posts are going to doso much better than the, like
anything else.
Honestly, quite honestly,
Hannah (42:27):
everything you need to know, right?
Like, right.
If those are the, those are thepieces of content, the ones of
yourself or the ones of yousharing a personal story or the
family photo or whatever it islike, If that's what's your most
liked content, that tells youeverything you need to know.
It means that you need to beshowing up in your reels more,
you need to be showing up inyour stories more, you need to
(42:49):
be, you need to be leaning intothat in a way to where they
trust and know you.
But it needs to then, again,it's hard to be like, All my,
all the likes are coming in onmy personal posts and not on my
actual, like, client posts oranything like that, which I know
how frustrating that can be, butI think learning from that and
knowing that, okay, if this iswhat people are liking and
(43:10):
seeing, like, how can I leaninto that and, like, also
combine that with the content Iwant them to be seeing, um, that
can be kind of difficult attimes, but it's something to,
and it's personal, it'ssomething to experiment with,
figuring out what that lookslike for your own personal
profile, but yeah.
Yeah.
I get that.
Kate (43:26):
Yeah.
Um, one last thing that I wantto talk to you about is how are
you converting your likeInstagram followers into leads?
Like how are you getting themfrom Instagram into their
inboxes or into your inbox andbooking with you?
What are your strategies forthat?
Hannah (43:44):
Yeah.
I think a big thing for me is.
At the beginning, it was, I'mshowing up in a place of
authority.
I know what I'm talking about,I'm providing value, I'm
providing tips, I'm relatingwith you.
I, I'm sharing that I don't wantto talk on my stories.
I know you don't want to talk onthem either.
And it builds this trust and itbuilds this, um, reliability.
(44:05):
I have.
Something I do every week is Ido a trending audio reel.
And when you comment a son's,every person who comments a son
gets a list of audio.
And it's completely free.
It's something that I do.
And it's just been like, that'sbeen a good piece of like,
reliable content.
That's something that people cancome to my profile for.
They know that.
They can rely on that.
(44:26):
And I think a big part of it isjust For specifically, like,
coaching calls.
Like, that's the main thing thatI like to book.
I love coaching calls, differentthings like that.
And the way I do that is just...
Providing value, having CTAs anddifferent things like that at
the end of my, uh, content.
That's like, do you need helpwith that?
Like, let's book a coachingcall.
(44:47):
Posting after my coaching calls,like, that's something big, I
think, for photographers,product based businesses,
anything like that.
Is, I have a coaching call, Ipost on it, I say what we talked
about, and on the next page,there's a place to book.
And they're like, oh, I needhelp with that.
Leggo.
Real life people, other peopleparticipating, different things
like that.
Let's say you go and you have a,um, photoshoot or something.
(45:09):
You take behind the scenes,blah, blah, blah, little text.
The next screen is check, likeinquire for your engagement
shoot or something like that.
I think stories, stories is areally great place to sell.
Like anytime you can do sellingon stories is ideal.
I think something, um, MayaNicole said, who's a huge, um,
social media expert.
(45:32):
She once said that if you areselling on your stories and of
course, when we hear selling,we're like, Oh, like that's what
we're we're like you, but whatwe need to be focusing is on.
Less selling and morestorytelling for, for a good
point of view.
So be thinking about that.
(45:52):
What is the story behind this?
What's the reason behind this?
How does this solve theirproblem?
And bringing that into yourstories on a daily basis.
Going back to what Maya wassaying.
She said, not selling on yourstories is like going into a
store and then being like,sorry.
Nothing's for sale today.
Like it's, you have to make iteasy.
People have to know that you'reselling.
(46:12):
You can't just put it in yourLinkedIn bio and like hope
people are going to like clickit and buy it.
Like that's not what, that's nothow it works, unfortunately.
We have to see somethingmultiple times, multiple,
multiple, multiple times beforewe never even click to find out
more information.
And then we probably have to seeit again before we buy it.
(46:33):
Like that's just how we are,especially, especially in our
business, especially if you're asmall business owner, it's not
like you have the, you're not ina position to just be like willy
nilly, like buying offers andthings like that.
So making sure they know whatthey're investing in and making
it worth their while.
It's not about the price.
It's about how you'restorytelling.
It's how you're selling.
That's something I'm stillactively learning.
(46:54):
Um, but no, stories have been agreat way for me to sell and to
convert into leads.
Just sharing that behind thescenes and having testimonials
and different things like that.
And just again, trying to, Idon't always do this, but trying
to have an offer or sell andsell quote unquote in my stories
on a daily basis.
Just again, with that being ableto see things and Being able to
(47:17):
have that easily click and allthose things, I think, kind of
treating your feed as a place toprovide value and to connect and
your stories as a place to sell,I think is a good role of that.
Kate (47:27):
Awesome.
Hannah, how can people find you?
How can people work with you?
What's your favorite offer rightnow?
Hannah (47:33):
Um, I love coaching calls.
Coaching calls are for anyoneand everyone who is doing social
media on their own.
Like we talked about, like noteverybody has the, is in a
financial position to have asocial media manager or even
want the social media manager,but being able to sit down for
an hour and talk.
In like a personal way, in acustom way to your profile,
(47:53):
we'll audit it, we'll go throughyour bio, we'll address all your
questions, that's something Ilove to do, so I offer coaching
calls, I have a trending audiosubscription in addition to my
trending audio reels, andbasically that is something that
you subscribe to, every weekyou're getting a list of 10
audios that are broken down So Ihave service providers, product
(48:13):
based businesses, creatives,anyone and everyone, coaches,
and each one comes with an audioand it comes with an idea and
then you're able to take it,takes that scrolling time out of
it.
Um, I know for like literallytoday, even I was scrolling for
like 45 minutes trying to findan audio and I know how
frustrating that can be.
So trying to eliminate that asmuch as possible.
(48:34):
Um, so those are my two mainoffers right now.
And then I also offer fullservice social media management
to photographers, booked andbusy photographers who no longer
have the time and capacity to doit on their own.
Um, I'm not actively acceptingnew clients right now, but
possibly will be at the end ofthe summer.
So if that's something that isneeded, definitely reach out.
But yeah, you can find meeverywhere at Sunny Social
(48:54):
Collective, um, andSunnySocialCollective.
com.
That's me.
Kate (48:59):
Thank you so much, Hannah.
Hannah (49:00):
Thank you.
Kate (49:01):
Thanks so much.
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