How many of you have a social media account?

Do you have an Instagram account and are you using it to gain exposure for your fashion designs or business?

As a mother and a fashion entrepreneur, I am a huge fan of collaborating with strong women who have found the best way to balance their home life and their business life. This FastTrack Your Fashion Brand episode will give you everything you need to know to help find balance in your life, while also guiding you through how to leverage Instagram to gain feedback, clients, and build working relationships through the use of social media. 

In this episode of the FastTrack Your Fashion Brand Podcast, I’m talking with Tracy Harris, the CEO of the Mums With Hustle online community and educational platform for mums in business, creator of the online Instagram course, Hashtag Hustle, and Founder of the online marketing academy, The Social Method Society.

Tracy is going to lay the framework to using Instagram to help build the platform you need to launch a product or line. She is also providing you with exclusive access to her Instagram Stories Strategy Pack.

 IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL HEAR ABOUT:

• Figuring out how to build a story on Instagram
• Finding your hook, “meat and potatoes” and conclusion for your IG story
• Using polls and countdown timers to engage with followers
• Importance of transparency, sneak peeks, and behind the scenes
• The fine line between business and personal accounts; how personal is too personal?

Building Your Brand on Instagram Before You Have a Full Inventory

Can you imagine building an Instagram account for a product or collection that you haven’t even launched yet? I couldn’t either, originally. But Tracy points out that sometimes when we are stuck trying to make a decision about our design whether it's the color, fabric, texture, etc, our followers can give the best feedback if engaged properly. 

This can actually help you design a product that has a backing or interest, compared to designing an entire collection and then trying to drive traffic to it after it's already launched. We don’t have crystal balls when it comes to determining trends and designing our collections, but social media can help us come pretty close to perfection. 

“The Framework”

The first thing about IG stories that you have to remember is that you’re telling a story. And like any good story, there has to be a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

The beginning needs to hook the reader, set the scene. What are they going to be watching? WHY should they be watching? This is typically going to be your intro. 

The middle is what Tracy likes to refer to as the “meat and potatoes”. This is going to be the main chunk of the information, “the good stuff.” And it should be around 2 to 3 clips long, each clip lasting around 15 seconds. 

Lastly comes the conclusion. This should be why they need to do this, how they can get involved, your call to ACTION! 

Engaging with Followers

Using social media to try to gain new clients doesn’t really work if you’re not able to get people to engage with you, right? Well, Tracy has the best solution. Her favorite thing to do to help boost impressions and engagement is to use polls and the countdown timer. 

Polls are a low-risk interaction to help get the conversation started. If you don’t want the possibility of a negative comment, just keep the poll options positively phrased. But this can help get people to sign up for your waitlist, help you make decisions on colors, designs and pretty much anything that you would want to use this for. 

Another tip and trick from Tracy is surprisingly not keep your launches a secret. It is good and exciting to build anticipation, give sneak peeks, go behind the scenes, and maybe even use the countdown timer sticker on your Instagram story so that people can engage with your collection as you are getting ready to launch.

The Power of Direct Messages

As Tracy learned the art of leveraging social media, mainly Instagram, to help build her business, one of the things she noticed was the power of direct messages. Directly engaging with your followers is one of the easiest ways to build relationships. 

Tracy will even reply to DMs using a voice feature which has had extremely positive feedback. When people come to know you as the face of your company and then receive a personalized voice message from you, it helps build brand recognition but also gives them a sense of connection that they may not have had before. A lot of people think that you are a part of a bigger entity. But by engaging with them directly, you are drastically increasing the likelihood of them responding again. 

The Fine Line Between Personal and Business

Lastly, Tracy explains the tightrope that we, as fashion entrepreneurs, have to walk when it comes to being on social media. A lot of the time our personal social media is tied to our business. And because we are usually the face of our company there is a fine line between what is appropriate for sharing vs not.

Your page should show that you are an entrepreneur or boss, this helps build authority within your domain. When it comes to being personal, its best to choose 3-5 personal elements that you don’t mind incorporating into your business or branded image. The challenge is not becoming too personal because it is hard to push for sales once followers no longer associate your page with a business. 

So, how will you use Instagram Stories to build your brand? Let us know!

EPISODE BREAKDOWN 

02:46-05:17 - The Power of Instant Feedback

08:08-10:20 - Breaking Down the Bigger Picture

10:22-12:50 - How to Build Your Instagram Story for Success

13:41-19:00 - Using Polls, Countdowns and DMs to Build Relationships

26:42-31:00 - Defining the Thin Line Between Personal and Professional

Meet Our Guest:

Tracy Harris, Mums with Hustle

Tracy Harris is the CEO of the Mums With Hustle online community and education platform for mums in business, creator of the online Instagram course, Hashtag Hustle, and Founder of the online marketing academy, The Social Method Society. With two children under 5, one partner (and now co-owner), and a rebel heart, she is fiercely dedicated to supporting big-hearted women wanting to design their life first and business second – by harnessing the superpower of Instagram as part of a complete digital strategy. One that aligns with who they are at their core and one that sees them creating their own version of success.

CONNECT WITH ME

INSTAGRAM: @nicole_di_rocco

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/nicoledirocco

PODCAST FB GROUP: www.facebook.com/groups/fasttrackyourfashionbrandpodcast

WEBSITE: www.fashionbizmentor.com

SUBMIT YOUR FASHION BIZ QUESTIONS: www.fashionbizmentor.com/breakthrough-coaching

SEE MY DESIGNS: www.mynicolita.com

THE SOLD OUT CHECKLIST FREE DOWNLOAD: https://bit.ly/FASHIONCHECKLIST

CONNECT WITH GUEST

INSTAGRAM: @mumswithhustle

FACEBOOK:  @Mumswithhustle

WEBSITE: www.mumswithhustle.com

Make sure you grab a copy of Tracy's Free Instagram Stories Strategy Pack 

• A proven success formula for creating Instagram Stories that engage and convert
• 20 content ideas for Instagram Stories
• Four must-know apps to have you creating Stories like a total Instagram boss

LOVE OUR PODCAST?

Hey there FastTracker!

You know how much I love ACTION TAKERS!!! So if anything on this episode inspired YOU or even lit a fire for YOU to take some action... I would LOVE to hear all about it!! Head on over to the podcast and leave a RATING + REVIEW. I read every single comment and feature listeners each week. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read.

Our guest list for upcoming shows keeps on getting better and better so make sure you are subscribed to the show! I'm adding more bonuses so if you are not subscribed you just might miss out.  Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Download this episode on iTunes

 RETURN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE GUIDE