Week 9 | Post A

When it comes to marketing visually, nothing shines in the spotlight like stained glass.  Stained glass as an art form relies on the visual dancing of light to make its point.  Stained glass does not thrive in darkness, and because of this the photo-based platform of Instagram works extremely well for it.

For this assignment I'll be evaluating the following four stained glass businesses, found through Instagram's Discover feature (so these aren't businesses that I already follow).

• Wavehavenglass
• Sarahbrueckwilliams
• culottacreations
• theglassbucket

In reviewing these accounts, it appears that Instagram is working well for them.  Though there's a wide range of follower numbers (173 to 13k), all of the businesses' posts get engagement, largely by likes.  Many posts also get comments, but not nearly as many as the likes.  In evaluating their hashtags, many are using the strategy of using base "stained glass" hashtags such as #stainedglass, #artglass, and more, and then using additional hashtags to describe the stained glass work they're posting.  However, none of the accounts use excessive hashtags - most use no more than 10-15 hashtags per post.  The most heavily followed accounts seem to be able to get by with less (likely due to Instagram's metrics showing more popular pages).

For my account I've been using a base hashtag structure of
#shellebelledesigns #shellebelledesignsstainedglass #stainedglass #stainedglasspanel #stainedglasscraft #artglass #glassart #handmade #crafter and then adding Etsy-specific tags if applicable, plus more tags about the content of the piece such as #cat, #nightlight, #beach, and more.  However, my hashtags might not be quite right since I don't get the nice engagement that these other examples do.  Perhaps I should take more of a SEO approach and move the most important hashtags to the front?  And drop hashtags about my business?  I'll have to try it.

These accounts also post nearly daily, with a gap of a day or two here and there.  This frequent posting, I've found, really helps your content to be seen by others (the hard part is coming up with that much content when you aren't a full time glass artist!).  In fact, this frequent and recent posting is probably why I was directed to these accounts through the Discover feature in the first place.  In the past when I've had time I've been able to create more and post more often, and there was a noticeable uptick in engagement.  I think that's the real trick to Instagram - frequent posting of engaging content.

When it comes to what kind of content gets the most attention, it's largely the tasteful styled photos of finished stained glass pieces that get the likes.  Photos about the artists' "life" get less likes.  However, some of the artists do post videos of their process and assembly, which get impressive view numbers (probably because artists love to learn tricks from each other).

Week 8 | Post B

My group:

Patricia Rabito - Patty's Gluten Free

Sandra Sanchez - El Cubano Food Truck

Miguel Velasco - Baja Tacos & Cantina

Unfortunately, my remaining group members have not provided their Instagram links at the time of writing.

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When it comes to how different businesses use Instagram the myriad of uses can be categorized within the following categories:

• Portfolio
• Products/Promotion
• Informative
• Customer Outreach

For portfolio business users, like me, Instagram is used to showcase created works.  For my stained glass business I share photos of my completed works, which almost always have a buyer already in place.  However, I can cross over into products when I advertise a finished piece or pattern to sell.  Another example of a portfolio use could be a dancer showing off their skills in the hopes of being recruited for a performance.

For product business users, such as a makeup company, Instagram can be used to show off the gamut of their product selection.  Here, care would be taken with regards to photography to show models at their most beautiful so that potential customers are inspired to want that look.  Or, a car company could use Instagram to show the capabilities of a new model through photos and videos, or even advertise special financing offers.

Informative business uses of Instagram could be a city sharing information about summer youth programs, new restaurants in town, or even information about street parking during snow season (something I often see friends on the East Coast chatting about come November).

Businesses that work via customer outreach are businesses whose products are largely sold to an established fanbase.  By using customer outreach they cultivate that fanbase, keep them interested, and also slip products in here and there.  TV chef Ina Garten is actually doing this right now - she has the fanbase in place, but she is cultivating her relationship with them by creating pantry recipes and sharing them (since it's difficult for quarantined people to shop/plan meals right now).  She is also asking her followers to tell her what they have on hand and don't know what to do with - and she whips up easy and achievable meals with those ingredients.  This outreach makes those fans feel heard and in response get usable information from someone they respect.

Week 8 | Post A Alternate Assignment

As my stained glass Instagram profile has been running for a few years now, I've opted to complete the alternate assignment this week.

My business uses both Facebook and Instagram for social media and Instagram is hands down the more effective platform for me.  I think that this is due to a few things:

• Facebook severely limits how many of your followers see your business posts unless you pay up.  Also, they take user engagement into consideration when feeding content to newsfeeds - if a follower (who has taken the time to Like your page!) doesn't like or comment on your posts Facebook will assume that they're not interested in the page anymore and won't show as much content from that page.  This is really a disappointing tactic, as not all users want to engage with posts but many do still want to see them.  And it also negatively affects small businesses that don't have the budget or reason to run ads.  Instagram on the other hand shows ALL posts to ALL followers.
• Instagram is more image-driven, which works extremely well for stained glass.  The focus is on the aesthetics of the image with little visual clutter, whereas on Facebook the images get lost in the mire of content a bit.
• It's easier to gain organic followers on Instagram by way of hashtags.  Yes, Facebook has hashtags but they aren't used to the extent that Instagram uses them.  It's easy to wander on Instagram and find new people who make stained glass, peruse their content, and decide to follow or not.  I get one or two new followers on Instagram every month simply by hashtagging.  I don't have this luck on Facebook.

Currently, my Instagram profile has 128 followers and I am following 72 people (largely other stained glass creators, a few friends, and several stained glass supply manufacturers/retailers).

I post whenever I have a new piece to show off, perhaps 2-3 times a month (though I wish I could be finishing and photographing creations constantly!).  I'm conscious of the "grid" on Instagram so I'm careful to take attractive pictures that are cohesive and interesting.  Any works in progress or silly pictures go into my stories where they will be seen, but will not affect my aesthetics.

Currently, I have a "base" set of hashtags on every post:

#shellebelledesigns #shellebelledesignsstainedglass #stainedglass #artglass #glassart #stainedglassartist #stainedglasspanel

And then, depending on the type of project or product I'm selling, I'll add some of the following:

#etsy #etsyshop #stainedglasspatterns #stainedglasspatternsforsale #nightlight #lantern #pattern

Following that, I'll add hashtags that are specific to what the creation is of, such as:

#cat #dog #moon #sugarskull #pineapple #lemon #dragonfly and so on.  Basically, I work to define my content from all angles so that I can tap into as many organic searches as possible.  It seems to do ok, though I've had my best results when I'm posting several times a week.

I also see some traffic from my Instagram into my Etsy storefront, so something is working to a small degree.  I do also enjoy the little group of other artists I follow!

Week 7 | Post B

This week I prepared three scheduled posts for my stained glass Facebook page.  They are:

• A picture of a recent piece of mine, using new techniques that I'm working on (and have been posting about).  This post will go live on Monday morning.
• A post about a sale I'm running on my Etsy page to celebrate my business's 5th birthday next month.  A link to my Etsy page is also included.  This post goes live on Wednesday morning.
• A post that links to a YouTube video about how art glass is made.  This post goes live Thursday evening, based on Facebook's recommended time for when my followers are most active.

I crafted these posts with the mindset of providing a variety of content for my followers.  I'm noticing more and more that I appreciate that in a page so it's worth trying for myself.  Here, I show off some of my recent work (what I sell), which satisfies the art side of my followers and perhaps even gives some of them ideas.  For those that don't create stained glass, it's something pretty to look at and maybe purchase.  Then, I post about how to get what I sell cheaper, and who doesn't love a sale?!  This also has the bonus of driving traffic to my Etsy page which will boost my SEO over there too.  And on top of that, the sale is for my cheapest, lowest effort items (digital patterns) so I don't have to worry about the stress of an influx of orders.  In fact, it'd be nice if I did get an influx!  And my last post caters to my followers' curiosity and teaches them something they didn't know, and likely have never thought about.  This shows them the hand work that goes into just the basic supplies that us stained glass artists use, and also helps to add value to the art (and ultimately help justify its cost).

I am hopeful that by presenting a variety of content to my followers that I'll get better engagement and also teach them something along the way.

Week 7 | Post A

This week I liked the following businesses as my page:

Stained Glass by Mary - I hadn't heard of this page before, but it came up with a Facebook search for "stained glass".  While Mary's style is a bit more traditional than my preference, I love that she posts frequently and engages with her audience.  And, she's amassed 13k followers in a little over a year!  That's amazing!  According to her posts she recently switched to running her stained glass business full time and I truly admire artists that can do that.  I don't even know her but I'm cheering her on from afar!  By liking this page I hope to be able to get daily doses of inspiration and perhaps little insights into how to pull an income from stained glass, as I'd like to retire into it some day.

Beveldine Stained Glass - This is another artist page I wasn't familiar with, but this business appears to specialize in stained glass restorations.  I've done a few repairs (mostly on my own pieces that I broke in finishing) so the posts here offer an interesting view on techniques that I could certainly improve on and offer as a service.  Plus, the company posts fairly frequently so that's always a plus!

Stained Glass Association of America - I have to admit, I'd never heard of the Stained Glass Association of America, which is odd because I feel like it would have come up in my stained glass group (my glass mosaic group talks about its associated trade group constantly).  But, this showed up in my Facebook search so I took a look.  Fortunately, this looks like my kind of page!  They post frequently, and post a variety of content that keeps the page fresh and interesting.  It's a range of showcasing work, advertising works that the public can go see, how stained glass has played a roll in peoples' lives, and more.  All interesting, informative content that I look forward to browsing and possibly using as interesting "sharable" content on my page.

Stained Glass News - Fortunately, I have heard of this publication from my stained glass group.  Some of the group's members are even featured on occasion!  This page is especially interesting to me because instead of flouncy articles about ancient stained glass, this dives into the functional aspect of it with tutorials, product reviews, and news on up and coming artists.  It'd be neat to get my patterns or pieces featured in it and get more traffic to my social media and Etsy in response.

Bullseye Glass Co. - Due to necessity, I've started working with more Bullseye glass lately (I wrote about my the difficulties my favorite manufacturer - Spectrum - is having in a recent post).  While I can't say I love working with it, the glass is genuinely beautiful and has great "personality".  By liking this page I hope to learn more about their products and perhaps even pick up some tips along the way.  Using a variety of glass in my work also helps to make the work I post more interesting.  I could also start tagging the company whose glass I used (if I could manage to keep track of what's what) and perhaps even get a shoutout on social media!

Youghiogheny Glass - Youghiogheny Glass is another glass manufacturer whose products I've started using due to Spectrum's troubles.  And like Bullseye, their glass has its own feel too!  While their page is a little sparse on variety of content, they do seem to post frequently so I feel like I can actually learn something by following them.  I could take the same approach to tagging the manufacturer here and perhaps get a shoutout.

Surfing Madonna Oceans Project - Funny enough, the Surfing Madonna was the spark that got me into stained glass.  I'd been toying with the idea that glass art sounded interesting and my grandparents had taken a few classes, but I didn't really know where to start.  And then when the Surfing Madonna showed up, technically as vandalism, it was a curious juxtaposition of illegal and beautiful.  Though this piece is a mosaic, it still explored glass in an interesting way, plus I appreciated its quirky take on the Virgen de Guadalupe and I support its message of conservation and caring for the Earth.  This piece will always be special to me.  Perhaps if this project ran a craft fair I could participate and drum up more traffic to my social media.

Week 6 | Post B

When evaluating the success of a Facebook page there's many factors to consider - two of them being post reach and post engagement.  According to Social Media Examiner, post reach is "is the number of unique people who saw your content".  This isn't to say the number of followers who saw your content - instead it's the actual number of Facebook users who saw your post via a share, Facebook showing that one of their friends engaged with the post, or even just showing up in their feed because they follow the page.  And, not only that, there's different types of reach too.  Social Media Examiner lists them as post, page, organic, viral and paid and emphasizes that Facebook runs on post reach, and as a consequence, so does your business page.

The other major player mentioned - post engagement - is where Facebook users actually interact with your post somehow.  This is by liking, sharing, or commenting on your post.  This tells Facebook that the post was interesting enough for that user to stop scrolling and interact, and therefore other users might feel the same way.  The most a post is interacted with, the better its chances of being shown to more users.

It's important to understand the difference between post reach and post metrics because one represents your content simply being there, and the other represents your content being good enough for users to want something to do with.  As marketers, we should always strive to get the highest engagement possible with high quality postings.

My page happens to have its insights enabled, so I can take a look at how I can use them to better serve my customers.  In my case, I already know that my page struggles due to infrequent posting.  It's simply life and not being able to develop the physical content to share.  However, when I do post at least some people see it:

Looking at my results, my post about me working with a different style of art glass making (bottom of the list) resulted in a noticeable uptick in reach activity.  Though, I must chuckle when one post click and two likes is an "uptick".  However, this tells me that switching up my content and styles, as well as varying my photography styles has a result.

I can also use my metrics to determine the best time for posting, who my audience is, and track any new likes and page follows after posts to really dial in my content.  I'm hopeful that I can get the hang of understanding all of this!

Facebook Pages I Followed and Commented On:

Patty's Gluten Free (Patricia Rabito)
El Cubano (Sandra Sanchez)
Baja Tacos & Cantina (Miguel Velasco)