The marketing side of Instagram: Jillian Harris edition
Jillian Harris, a Canadian television personality, is best known for appearing on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and Love It Or List It Vancouver. Though her single days are over, she continues to impress with her interior design skills — which is why it comes at no surprise that her Instagram is equally as well-crafted and aesthetically-pleasing.
Upon scrolling through her account, you can instantly admire her minimalistic technique. All of her posts follow a strictly-white approach with good lighting, meaning that you could literally rifle through them for hours without finding a single flaw in her branding. Jillian also has no problem posting images of her family, particularly of her son Leo, and successfully reaches her target audience of young to middle-aged women with familial values by doing such.
Not only that, but she’s real. She connects with all her fans on a personal level by consistently sharing OOTDs and clothing items of her choosing. She doesn’t attempt to sell you the items; rather, Jillian acts as if you’re her friend and you’d benefit from the product that she’s recommending. In other cases, she appears as the customer and craves the item herself. And, of course, her fans would want to buy anything that Jillian wants.
In today’s society, it goes without saying that visuals are extremely important. How many times do we follow individuals simply because their feeds are beautiful? If I had to respond, I’d say too many times to count. But how exactly does Instagram marketing occur, nevertheless, work?
- USE SQUARE POSTS
Has anybody ever scrolled through the Instagram app and skipped photos or posts that were too long or too wide? Honestly, I don’t want to see a photo that takes up 1/13 of my screen or even one that takes up all of it. A simple square catches the eye and is perfect for cultivating your feed.
2. PROMOTE HONESTLY
Nobody likes to see their favourite celebrity promote an item only to later discover that they really use one of its competitor’s. Take Alicia Keys, for example, her deal with Blackberry was cut short after a troubling year: she was already loyal to Apple. Jillian, on the other hand, promotes products while putting them on display.
3. USE RELEVANT, CONCISE HASHTAGS
“#toronto #photography #street #highsnobiety #hypebeast #vsco #igtoronto #torontophoto #exploreeverything #creativeoptic #justgoshoot #artofvisuals #createexplore #thecreatorclass…”
I can think of many things wrong with this if you’re as big as Jillian Harris. Sure, they’re great for starting out, but if you have a large following, it’s just annoying. Narrow into what you do and create your own hashtags to categorize your posts. People will be more likely to click on them, directing them to a larger pool of similar posts. For instance, Jillian uses #JJHomeBuild for all things interior design.
Personally, I think Jillian has this genuine aura; something about her seems trustworthy because she understands what families want, whether in a home or an Instagram post. Her creativity, intertwined with her marketing, has proven to resonate with her audience: I initially discovered her through a friend because she was inspired by her brand, and now, as am I. Although the three points above do not entirely encapsulate the beauty and mystery of social media marketing, it’s definitely a strong foundation to build upon.
