The 2022 Creator Economy, It’s All About Reels Linkedin and Tiktok

By Hayley Mears

SO, STRAP IN AND FIND OUT WHY THESE ARE THE PLACES YOUR CONTENT SHOULD BE PUBLISHED.

Let’s start by saying 2022 has been a year of shifts. The business landscape has shifted on so many levels and we are now in a ‘postpandemic’ era. Suffice to say, the content we produce has completely evolved into something new and unique.

I think the majority of the hairdressing industry has been late to the game when it comes to implementing dynamic video content. Sure, there were some great TikTok innovators, but those creators that were first to market were often young stylists and millennial team members as opposed to owners, directors and even marketers.

I totally admit I should have jumped on the implementation of Reel content on Instagram much earlier than I did. I was waiting for the creases to be ironed out and the clunkiness to be fixed, when in hindsight I should have just dived into the discomfort of this new content delivery system.

For the first time since launching Six Underground Media back in 2010, I can honestly say we have had to reinvent how we do things entirely because the new platform is new again.

What does this mean for you and your salon? It simply means that your content output needs to change from static images to video. The video you publish needs to have some “wow-factor”. It should embrace transitions between frames, captions where relevant, movie-style effects, and an incredible soundtrack, but MOST importantly it needs to be filled with identifiable trademarks of your brand.

Insert a frame at the completion of each video with your logo, hashtags, and handles. Make it known that this content belongs to you. you’re probably investing around 30 minutes of your time for a high-level Reel. Something that has dynamic transitions, captions, and elements that fade in and out, not to mention the time you have spent clipping each individual video to the perfect length and finding music that sits perfectly over the timing of your edits. Then you need to write the caption, drop the geotag, add some personalised @mentions and upload.

If you’re asking what’s the ROI on this content, you’re in the right headspace for exploring this as content integration. Have a look at the number of views… That’s your ROI. We once measured the success of digital content in likes and comments. Now its impressions and shares. If the number of views per Reel or TikTok is roughly 1/3 of your total audience that’s a great result. Anything above that is INCREDIBLE organic reach.

A few hacks you can use to get the most out of your Reels and TikTok output

• If you allow your Reels to be posted to both your feed and your Reels tab you will get a higher number of views and engagements.

• By posting reels you have a greater chance of accounts finding your content if they aren’t already following you thanks to the “trending” tool and the algorithm showing accounts similar content to what they are actively engaging.

• Use Hashtags, around 3-5 per upload to make sure your content can be filtered into the targeted Reels and Tik Tok streams.

• Drive traffic by using the “link in bio” Call to Action.

So, moving on from Reels and TikTok for a moment, have you thought about the benefits of being active on LinkedIn? Here are a few reasons why this could be a great tool that can totally change your digital strategy.

1. It’s incredible for B2B relationships. It’s not a place to connect with your clients, but rather a community to connect with your industry peers. Unlike Facebook, this allows you have greater optics on someone’s professional network.

2. It’s a targeted recruitment tool, giving you optics on career history and references quickly and discreetly. It also makes your ads visible to anyone with the credentials you are after.

3. If you are wanting to boost your business profile and enter awards you can use the features to build your business timeline, making it simple to extract and export the information you need when promoting your business.

4. It’s a great tool for personalised recommendations and testimonials and highlights your industry position and network. Think just outside your business brand. This is the place to grow your PERSONAL brand in parallel to your business reach.

5. LinkedIn Groups are just like Facebook Groups, but with more focus on the B2B space giving stats on group members’ data for accurate group overviews.

This is only the beginning of what is evolving to be one of the most interesting changes in social media of the last 15 years, so don’t be scared of the unknown spaces, explore them, and find a way to make these channels part of your business landscape.

Hayley x