Today, I participated in the free #latercon conference. The conference was curated by Later, an app that allows you to schedule social media posts. Later is one of the many technological resources that I use to support my business. You can learn more about Later here. Here are my key takeaways from #latercon:

As a consultant, it is important for me to stay informed about the resources that are available to my clients, and to know how things work and to be able to articulate that. On more than one occasion I was excited to know that despite the changing features and algorithms, the core essence of how the platform is used for business remains the same. Everything starts with our why (our mission) and our who (target audience) which is where I start when helping my clients with brand strategy and social media marketing.

Here are my key takeaways:

(1) Identify what your audience cares about (monitor likes, comments & impressions to determine that).

(2) Only add “link in bio” to the most popular or important posts, not every single post.

(3) Instagram Stories will increase in importance as brands consider working with influencers (due to the reality that people can purchase followers and likes). Also nano- and micro-influencers will be more important as brands want to target very specific audiences. Major influencers are also very expensive as their has been no “plateau” on Influencer costs.

(4) Brands are interested in using your branded content on their channels vs. having you post about their brand on your channels. This also allows them to see what resonates with their audience. Also, be open to receiving brand products in order to use them and determine if you actually like them. It is a red flag when influencers say “no” to a brand before trying it, or when they say “yes” eagerly. Authenticity is key.

(5) 90% of product judgments are made based on color.

(6) Font helps you to express your tone of voice.

(7) Most people start with the visuals and then craft the caption. Quigley reverses that process and recommends writing your caption first, and then creating or finding the appropriate visuals to match the caption.

(8) The Instagram Feed is the new homepage. Most of the speakers framed Instagram as the first place that people will be introduced to your brand. From there, we have to “move” or “drive” them elsewhere (our e-mail lists, our e-commerce sites, etc.) with strong CTA’s (Call(s) to Action).

(9) “We never post anything we’re not obsessed with.” - How the brand Ritual approaches their social media marketing.

(10) “Pick your KPIs [key performance indicators] and really stick to those, trying to be good at everything sets your brand up for failure.”

(11) All clicks are not created equal. Be sure to look at “outbound clicks” which measures how many people are clicking the link that takes them to your website. Remember that “clicks” could mean someone clicking your profile, other images on your feed, etc.

(12) Locate and engage with your target market daily.

There were many different gems that were shared during the conference. If you’re interested in learning more, please join my e-mail list and I will be sharing more of my notes from the conference there. You can sign up for my e-mail list at the bottom of my home page here. You can learn more about Latercon including the speakers here and search the hashtag #latercon on Instagram and Twitter to view some of the highlights from today’s conference.

Thank you to Taylor Loren, Head of Content Marketing at Later and the entire Later Team for making this free resource available! I look forward to putting many of the tips into practice and learning more about the apps and tools mentioned.