What is an “Instagram Aesthetic” and How to Establish Yours

Instagram has over 500 million active monthly users who have shared over 40 billion photos to date. Most people use this app to share photos of themselves, friends, family and good times. But for some, Instagram is where they showcase their personal brand. Have you ever had a friend say, “I can’t post this! It doesn’t match my Insta-aesthetic” and been confused? Continue reading and that confusion will disappear. You might even find yourself saying the same thing!

An Instagram aesthetic is basically a theme that all your photos follow. Whether you choose to have a dark and moody theme or a bright, pastel one, staying consistent in your theme is essential. Follow these tips below to perfect your Instagram aesthetic.

1. Download the essentials.

Apps like VSCO, Afterlight and Lightly let you edit photos and choose different filters than Instagram.

2. Think of your feed as a whole.

You want to post photos that look good next to each other so it is important to think of your feed as one. That may be a great picture you’re about to post but how does it look next to the others?

3. Change what you take pictures of.

Is your feed full of selfies? It is important to include other aspects of your life. Try photographing your morning coffee, beautiful scenery, cool street graffiti or even the cosmetics you use and be sure to spread out similar photos!

4. Edit all your photos the same

Use the same filters and settings when editing your photos. Play around with brightness, highlight and saturation until you find a look you like then continually use the same settings on your photos. This can help keep your photos consistent to your aesthetic.

5. Put your hashtags in the comment section

Hashtags can be a great way to grow your followers and get more likes. However, when you caption a photo with tons of hashtags it can look like spam. Try commenting your hashtags instead so your followers won’t see them unless they click on your comments.

6. Take your photos using the square setting on your camera.

Taking a great photo only to have it look awkward on Instagram is the worst. Use the square setting on your camera to take your pictures so you can avoid this!

Written by Katie Nutall of Rebecca Adele PR & Events

The Importance of Evolving with Social Media

With social media constantly evolving at a fast pace, it’s important now more than ever to keep up to speed with advancements. It’s crucial for companies to be using these new features of social media to reach their target markets. The first thing to remember when looking at a new update is to ask if it makes sense for your brand by analyzing who your audience is, as well as what social media platform is most viewed. Not all aspects of social media make sense for every company and their audiences.

About a year ago, Instagram adopted a new feature allowing users to post live videos as well as stories to their profile. I think that this update in particular is one of the best yet. Similar to Snapchat, the Instagram stories post photo or video (as well as boomerangs) that disappear after a 24-hour period. This allows different companies to post more content without overloading their followers with mass amounts of information and photos on their feed. Regular Instagram posts can contain captions and heavier information, while Instagram stories are quicker and can use features such as filters, stickers and writing to make posts more fun and interactive.

Some companies that could benefit from a feature such as this one would include brands that sell products that can easily be marketed through photo or video. Think of this feature as a mini advertisement showing people using the products being sold in real time. It is a great way to show off different tangible products as well as events that are directly related to a specific company and express their overall brand.

Some key-tips to posting Instagram stories for businesses are to post special offers. Due to the short amount of time that stories last, this will put incentive into the consumers mind. Also, give a behind-the-scenes look into the company. This will make viewers/customers feel like they have more of a personal connection with the brand. Another great way to cater to viewers is to show a tutorial. For example, a makeup brand could post a few quick stories showing how to use a specific product or show how a certain color or makeup looks like on different skin tones.

Be sure to keep these tips and ideas in mind when deciding whether or not to branch out deeper into the social media world!

 Written by Meagan Catalfamo from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

How to Create and Maintain a Personal Brand Online

Personal branding is the process of creating and marketing a certain image for yourself online. Basically, your personal brand is your impression and reputation in the minds of others. With the rise of social media, crafting a personal branding has never been easier. Your online presence and personal branding are closely intertwined and work together to create an image of yourself for fellow colleagues and professionals.

In order to cultivate your personal brand, you should have a presence online. In today’s day in age having a presence online is the easiest and most effective way to build a personal brand. Everyone can create an online presence simply by creating social media accounts for themselves. Making yourself a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn is an easy and free way to create an online image for yourself. By keeping these social media profiles active and updated, you are contributing to your online presence and therefore creating a platform to build your personal brand. Be sure to post appropriate content for each social media platform. For example, you wouldn’t want to post a picture of your dog with his or her new toy on LinkedIn. That content is more appropriate for Facebook or Instagram. Another great personal branding tip is to give all your social media profiles a consistent look and feel.

So how do we create and maintain our personal brand? The first step to perfecting a personal brand is to express who you are. Having your education, professional experience, skills and specializations available for others shows people who you are, what you are capable of, and what you plan to do in the future.  Be sure to highlight your strengths, this is what will help you encompass who you are while emphasizing your most important features. In addition to this, showing your personality and interests will really diversify and personalize your brand. This is arguably the most important aspect of your personal brand since it helps you stand out and differentiate yourself from everyone else. Be sure to be as honest and authentic in this component.

Your personal brand is also built off of personal and professional relationships. This includes who you are connected with online and what these people say about you. Your personal brand is also built off of who and what you follow. Following influencers and communities online can really help you encompass who you are, what you are interested in and knowledgeable about, and what you stand for.

If you keep these guidelines in mind, you’ll be able to craft a personal brand for yourself online that will positively portray yourself to your colleagues and professionals.

Written by Emma Bevilacqua from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Do You Know Who You are Talking to??? Know Your Audience!

Momma always said, “don’t talk to strangers!” Well, don’t be a stranger to your audience, get to know them! To reach your audience, you must be able to speak their language. This requires research. Audiences can be broken down by demographics, geographics, psychographics and behaviors segmentations.

Demographics:

These include, family size, gender, marital status, income, and occupation but the most common demographic is age. Communicating to different generation cohorts will require tailored messages and various media outlets to get your audience’s attention. For example; The Gen X community is more likely to read the newspaper than Millennials and you would be less likely to promote anything is “lit.”

Geographics:  

Yes, location plays a significant role in the language used to reach your audience. For example; Soft Drinks, you’re going to say Pop in Ohio, and Soda in Florida. Making that adjust makes all the difference if your soft drink is going to be excepted in that location.

Psychographics:

Psychographics are more personal to the audience. These include segmenting people based on social class, personal characteristics, lifestyles, and values. In a case for promoting environmental health, you will find that marketing toward values will be more efficient than using an age demographic approach. 

Behavior:

Behavior segmenting divides people based on attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors about your promotion. An example of this is promoting a brand based on the belief of its benefit, basically what they want from using the product. If you are promoting dandruff shampoo, create your message based on their belief that having a flaky, itchy scalp can be soothed and remedied by your product.

These are just a few tips on breaking down your audience into segments and creating the message that you give to them. Remember, this includes the slang terms and hashtags you use; if it does not resonate with them, then it will not work. When you learn what motivates your audience, you can successfully reach them and increase your team's efficiency!

Written by Marisha Daniels from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Must Read Books for PR Professionals!

Public Relations is a complex and tactical area of professionalism. Because of this countless books have been written on the subject of PR. These books are great resources for PR professionals that will give insight, advice, and strategies from high esteemed professionals. Here are some of the best PR books in my opinion that are must-reads for every PR professional!

1. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie is a classic read for PR professionals and has sold over 15million copies since first being published in 1937. It provides valuable tips on how to communicate and persuade others in a professional and personal setting. Carnegie also includes a lot of personal stories proving his principles, which make the book a more entertaining read. Not only is this book a classic, but it’s also a good read!

2. “Crystallizing Public Opinion” was written by Edward Bernays, the father of public relations. It explains the psychology behind public relations. In this book, Bernays shares how ideas are spread, why they are spread, and why ideas either thrive or die out. The most fascinating thing about this book is that Bernays was well ahead of his time and seemed to have predicted the future of PR. If you can look past Bernays arrogant tone throughout the book, it is a very interesting read!

3. “Spin: How to Turn the Power of the Press to Your Advantage” was written by Michael S. Sitrick, the founder of a major crisis PR firm. This book gives you an inside look into the world of crisis communications. It’s basically a crisis PR handbook! It’s an important read that will give you the tools to successfully prepare you to deal with any crisis that the PR world could possibly throw at you.

4. “Reputation Rules: Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset” is written by Daniel Diermeier, a professor from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Diermeier covers the importance of reputation and how the digital age has made maintaining a good reputation harder than ever. It’s a captivating read that will open your eyes up to the importance of reputation.

5. “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World” by Michal Hyatt gives you a step-by-step guide to build your own presence in a cluttered world. Hyatt gives insight on how to make your brand stand out by telling you how to be different, relevant, and noticeable. He gives advice on how to do this on various platforms such as blogging, social media, media kits, and more! Definitely read give this book a read and check out Michael Hyatt’s renowned blog and podcasts too!

Do you have any favorite PR oriented books? Share with us in the comment section below!

Written by Emma Bevilacqua of Rebecca Adele PR & Events