How do I get my business noticed online? How can I create an engaged social media audience? How do I convert website visitors and social media followers into customers? What hashtags should I be using? Are Google ads a good investment?
I'm Sydney Chakalos, a marketing nerd and small business owner with a passion for helping other small business owners grow their business using effective online marketing strategies on any budget.
Learn how to create and implement a marketing strategy that strengthens relationships with your audience and increases your bottom line. We'll cover topics around social media, email, Google ads, branding, and websites. Building your brand is a marathon and I'm here to help you win the race.
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Marketing Your Local Business Online Podcast
Social Media
Branding
Entrepreneurship
Ep. 25: New Instagram Features for Your Small Business
On today’s episode of the Marketing Your Local Business Online podcast, we are talking about all things Instagram! Instagram is an awesome platform that all small business owners should consider joining, because the potential for growth is huge!
Instagram is constantly rolling out new features, so I wanted to take the time to talk about the ones that are most valuable to us as small business owners. Let’s get into it!
Grid Pinning
This new feature is perhaps the most valuable of them all. Using the grid pin feature, you can choose any 3 of your posts to “pin” at the top of your Instagram grid, so that they are always the first thing someone sees when they click on your profile.
Try pinning a post that introduces you or your business, or a top-performing piece of content. Or, pin a post about a promotion that you’re currently running! You can swap out your pinned posts at any time, so make sure to keep them updated!
Reels
Reels are outperforming all other types of Instagram by a longshot, getting a ton of exposure! They can now be up to 90 seconds long, meaning you can share longer and “meatier” pieces of content. This doesn’t mean ALL of your Reels have to be 90 seconds– some of the most effective Reels use 10 second trending audios.
Speaking of trending audios (popular background sounds used to create Reels), the Instagram algorithm will often boost content that uses trending audios, so make sure you are taking advantage of that. But this isn’t to say you can’t come up with your own audios! In fact, a new feature allows you to upload your own, original audios to use for Reels. This is a great opportunity to show off your creative side!
Finally, Instagram has incorporated the ability to use interactive stickers in your Reels. Meaning, those fun stickers you’ve been using in your stories (polls, quizzes, questions, etc.) are now available for use in Reels, opening a world of possibilities for your video content!
And with that, I’ll leave you to go spice up your Instagram with these new features! If you have questions, or just want to chat more, please reach out to me! Shoot me a DM on Instagram, or email me at sydney@marathonmarketingbranding.com.
Be sure to share this podcast episode with a friend or fellow local business owner! Until next time, keep running your race.
meet sydney
Strategist. coach. educator.
get to know me
Hi friends! My name is Sydney, founder of Marathon Marketing & Branding, and I’m so happy you’re here! As you might have guessed, I am an avid runner, which allows me to have more of that pinot and pasta in life. Running long-distance is all about training, endurance, and consistency. I realized that these same traits are directly applicable to social media marketing as well.
