How to Effectively Manage Your Instagram Community

For brands in the hospitality industry, Instagram is one of the most effective social media channels.? According to Instagram Insights, hotels and restaurants see the highest engagement on Instagram compared to other industries.

Posts related to food and travel gain an average of 4.21% engagement, which is higher than other industries. Instagram Stories related to food and travel see an average of 8.5% engagement.

Instagram has undergone a remarkable evolution since its inception. Launched in 2010 as a simple photo-sharing app, it quickly gained traction among users for its user-friendly interface and filters that enhanced the visual appeal of photos.?

Over the years, Instagram has introduced several significant updates, including the ability to post videos, stories, and live broadcasts.?

The platform's algorithm has also been refined to personalise content for users, making it a powerful tool for influencers, businesses, and individuals alike. With the recent addition of features like Reels and Shopping, Instagram continues to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing social media landscape.

There are over 200 million business profiles on Instagram, and 90% of Instagram users follow a business profile. Of its user base, Instagram has a reasonably balanced gender distribution. Approximately 50% of users are female, while the other 50% are male. However, it's important to note that the gender distribution may vary across different countries and regions.

Instagram attracts a wide range of users. The largest age group on the platform consists of users between 18 and 24 years old, accounting for a significant portion of the user base. Following closely behind are users between 25 and 34 years old, forming another substantial segment. Instagram's global audience is heavily influenced by these two age groups.

Instagram's addictive nature and engaging content have made it a go-to platform for users worldwide.?

Approximately 62% of users log into their accounts at least once daily, and 42% check them multiple times daily. On average, users spend around 30 minutes per day on the channel.?

The Instagram community has developed a distinct tone characterised by positivity, creativity, and inspiration. Users often seek out content that uplifts and motivates them. Brands that can tap into this tone and provide content that resonates with their audience's aspirations and desires have the potential to foster strong connections and loyalty.

Authentic Communication

Being authentic means staying true to your brand's values, voice, and purpose. It means being transparent, genuine, and relatable in your interactions with your audience.

An Accenture survey in 2022 found that 63% of consumers worldwide will buy from companies whose beliefs match theirs and eschew others.

Take the time to engage in genuine conversations with your audience. Reply to comments, answer questions, and participate in discussions about your industry or niche.?

Show genuine interest in your audience's opinions and feedback.?

Be open and honest about your brand's practices, policies, and values. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it and take steps to rectify the situation. By demonstrating transparency and accountability, you strengthen your brand's credibility.

How to Avoid Being Inauthentic

• Misleading advertising includes making false or exaggerated claims about a product or service or using images or videos that do not represent the product.?
• Greenwashing is when a brand claims to be environmentally friendly or sustainable, but its products or practices harm the environment. For instance, a company could falsely advertise its products as being made from recycled materials when they are made from new plastics.
• Cultural Appropriation occurs when a brand uses cultural elements without understanding their significance or respecting their origin. One example of a restaurant that faced social media backlash for cultural appropriation is Lucky Lee's in New York City. Owned by white chef Arielle Haspel, the restaurant received criticism for its descriptions of its "clean" Chinese food, which many felt demeaned Chinese cuisine and perpetuated negative stereotypes. The backlash was so intense that the restaurant's online pages on Instagram, Twitter, and Yelp were flooded with harsh comments accusing Haspel of cultural appropriation and profiting off someone else's culture.
• Clickbait: This is when a brand creates headlines or promotional materials designed to mislead people into clicking on them, even though the headline or promotion content is irrelevant to the product or service advertised. For example, a brand might create a headline that says, "You won't believe what happened next!" when the article's content is just a product review.

Authenticity is not a one-time effort but an ongoing commitment, and consumers do punish brands if they feel they are being inauthentic.?

Managing Your Community

Just as you would take the time to prepare your venue before doors open, it's worth taking the time to prepare your business for success on Instagram.

Set Up How Others Can Interact With You

You can determine how others can interact with your content by setting up your account preferences. Doing this will ensure that your brand's guidelines are followed and that your account remains secure.

Availability & Away Messages

Manage customer expectations by setting clear customer service operating hours. Instagram provides features such as availability status and away messages that can help manage these expectations effectively.

Quick Replies

To save time and provide efficient customer service, create quick replies. This feature allows you to create predefined responses for frequently asked questions or common enquiries. Here's how to set it up:

• Open the Instagram app and navigate to your profile. Tap the three dots in the top right corner to access the Settings menu.
• Select "Business Settings.".
• Under the Business Settings menu, select "Quick Replies" to access the auto-complete feature.
• Tap the "+" icon for a new quick reply. Enter the desired response and assign it a shortcut keyword. For example, you can create a quick reply for "Thank you for your enquiry" and assign the keyword "TY" for easy access.
• When replying to comments or messages, type the shortcut keyword, and the auto-complete feature will suggest the corresponding response.?

Consider creating Quick Replies for

• Allergies & Dietary Requirements
• Cancellations
• Careers
• Check-in/out?
• Collaborations & Sponsorships
• Competition Entry Received
• Complaints & Suggestions
• Directions & Parking
• Disabled Access?
• Events?
• Feedback and Reviews?
• Local Guides?
• Menus?
• Media Inquiries?
• Opening Hours?
• Restaurant Reservations?
• Room Service Requests?
• Special Occasions or Offers
• Spa & Wellness
• Standard Greeting
• Thank & Close Message

Establish Community Guidelines and Moderation Policies

Maintaining a safe and respectful Instagram environment starts with clear and simple community guidelines and moderation policies.

As a platform, Instagram has developed user guidelines to promote a safe and respectful community for everyone. They emphasise the importance of treating others with kindness and respect.

Brands need to protect themselves from potential misuse or abuse on their Instagram account. Clear guidelines can help prevent offensive, inappropriate, or spammy content from being posted, ensuring a positive and safe environment for followers.

Sometimes, brands may need to address or comment on controversial topics or events. Guidelines can provide a framework for handling such situations, ensuring that responses are thoughtful, respectful, and aligned with the brand's values.

To effectively determine your brand community rules, consider the following:

• What is the purpose of your Instagram community?
• What are the core values you want to promote?
• What kind of behaviour do you want to encourage?
• Be specific about acceptable comments or behaviour.
• Ensure the rules are consistent with Instagram's Community Guidelines.
• Regularly review user-generated content to ensure compliance with the brand rules.
• Address violations promptly and consistently.
• Provide warnings or reminders for minor infractions, allowing users a chance to rectify their behaviour.
• When necessary, consider banning or blocking users who consistently violate the rules.

Engaging Your Instagram Community

Engaging personally with your audience on Instagram is essential for building trust, fostering loyalty, and nurturing long-lasting customer relationships. By responding to comments, sharing user-generated content, and initiating conversations, you signal to the platform's algorithm that your account is valuable and active, increasing visibility in user feeds and driving user interaction and engagement.

Personal engagement also allows you to collect zero-party data from your audience, which is willingly shared information like preferences, interests, and feedback. This data is invaluable for understanding your customers better, delivering personalised and relevant content or products, and strengthening customer relationships.

A strong community leads to higher user engagement, increased brand loyalty, and more conversions. It's about fostering a two-way dialogue, making followers feel valued and fostering a sense of belonging.

Respond to Comments and Messages

Whether positive, negative or constructive, responding to comments and feedback shows that you value your audience's opinions and are committed to continuous improvement.?

50% of Instagram users say they would recommend a brand to their friends if they had a positive customer service experience on Instagram

To provide exceptional customer service on Instagram:

• Be responsive. Respond to customer enquiries as quickly as possible.
• Be personal. Address customers by name and use a friendly tone.
• Be helpful. Do your best to resolve customer issues.
• Be positive. Even if you can't fix a customer issue, try to end the conversation on a positive note.
• Be creative. Use Instagram's features to provide customer service in a creative and engaging way by adding emojis, images and gifs where appropriate.

If the comment is positive, double down on the positive sentiment in the reply. Thank the user for their feedback or question, respond by referencing their comment, and ask an open-ended question to continue the conversation.

Sharing Community Content

When it comes to sharing other people's content on Instagram, there are a few best practices to keep in mind:

• Select content that aligns with your brand and audience interests.
• To share someone else's content, asking for their permission first is a good idea. Respecting their work helps build positive relationships within the Instagram community. This could also lead to productive collaborations.
• Whenever you share content, always give credit to the original creator. You can include their username in the caption or the "Tag People" feature.
• Make sure you add value to someone else's content when you share it. Provide additional context or thoughts about the content in the caption to enhance the viewer's understanding.
• Leave thoughtful comments or like the original creator's posts after sharing their work. Doing so adds value to the community and encourages further collaboration.

Create a Favourites List

Instagram's algorithm determines the order in which posts appear on users' feeds. However, you can take control of your Instagram experience by creating a Favourites list.?

This list allows you to prioritise the accounts you care about the most, ensuring their posts appear first on your feed. Use this for VIPS, Influencers and Campaign Partners.?

If you want to stay up-to-date with the latest posts from your favourite accounts, you can enable notifications for their posts. This way, you'll receive a notification whenever they share new content, allowing you to engage with it promptly.?

Hide, Delete, or Disable Comments and Likes on Your Posts

Managing comments and likes on your Instagram posts is essential to maintaining an active community. Here are some options to consider:

Regularly review and delete irrelevant or spam comments to keep your content clean and relevant. Hide or remove them according to your brand community guidelines. Your followers will see that you value quality interactions and engagement by doing this.

Consider turning the comment feature off if you anticipate controversial discussions or negative attention on specific posts.?

Managing Messages Effectively

Engaging with community feedback and enquiries is an opportunity to show your audience that their opinions and concerns are valued.

• Take the time to understand the message thoroughly before responding.
• Label the conversation type and take any notes. Be aware that if a customer sends in a Subject Access Request or similar, that these details would be handed over - so keep to the facts and avoid opinion or conjecture.
• Acknowledge the feedback or enquiry and express appreciation for their input. Conversations are more positive and constructive this way.
• Offer helpful solutions or assistance based on the nature of the feedback or enquiry. You can provide instructions or connect them with resources.
• Where appropriate, use multi-media like audio notes, gifs and images to personalise the message.

Community Management Strategy

Daily

• Respond to comments and direct messages
• Like and comment on posts from your followers and other accounts in your niche.
• Save Inspirational Posts to turn into Guides
• Register and escalate any complaints
• Respond to positive and negative feedback
• Moderate comments
• Check the latest posts using branded and/or campaign hashtags
• Use the Explore function to get inspiration and find new accounts to follow?
• Use local geotags to see what's going on in your area.
• Identify UGC to share.

Weekly

• Use the Guides feature to turn saved posts into helpful resources.
• Brainstorm content ideas based on customer conversations and questions in the week.
• Update your Favourites list
• Review any outstanding enquiries in the Inbox.

Monthly

• Analyse your Instagram Insights to identify trends, determine the best-performing content, and understand your audience demographics and behaviours.
• Evaluate your social media goals and metrics to track progress and refine your engagement strategy.?
• Check for Platform Updates
• Update the Community Management Scorecard

Yearly

• Conduct a YoY Performance Audit
• Conduct Competitor Analysis and Benchmarking
• Conduct a SWOT analysis
• Update and create Buyer Personas
• Review Brand Guidelines and Quick Replies

Take-Away

Cultivating a vibrant and interactive Instagram community is imperative for brands in the hospitality industry. It's your ticket to bolstering engagement, fuelling conversions, and nurturing a devoted audience.

If you need an Instagram Audit, Strategy, or Campaign Plan for your Hotel or Restaurant, visit dgconsulting.uk