Social Media Guide for Michaels
Instagram Best Practices
Welcome to the Michaels family! We’re so glad you‘re here. As you already know, Michaels has an extensive social media following, particularly through Instagram, @michaelsstores.
Our more than 1.5 million followers view our family-oriented team as one of the most influential sources for all things arts and crafts and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects. Our engagement is also strong with an average of 3,000 likes on our photos and approximately 30–40 comments.
When you picture any given Michaels store nationwide, a common term we hear a lot is “texture.” Our fabric and other craft products are all made from quality materials with texture and our stores are aesthetically constructed around the concept of texture. Michaels’ Instagram profile is no different. (Look at all of the texture below!)
Texture is something we want all of our employees to consider when creating our content in-store or online.
Post High-Quality Content
That means texturize in our book. Make sure you’re using strong and vibrant colors and the pictures or videos are in focus and appropriately framed. This could mean an in-store photo, a GIF, a customer-generated image/post, a video or a reel. Here is an example of one of our favorite customer-generated posts.
While you may have the optimal photo size (1080 pixels wide), the appropriate filter, lighting and backdrop are just as important. While this mug is perfect for Father’s Day, it doesn’t look as appealing in this photo because of the quality.
Use A Maximum Of Five Hashtags
If we use the customer content of the pillows as an example, you’ll notice that this one has only one hashtag, #SpottedAtMichaels. This hashtag not only houses all of our customers’ posts from our stores or online, but it’s a simple way to find a good piece of user generated content (UGC) to add to your line-up of posts.
#MakeItWithMichaels is another social media campaign we use and hashtag. UGC can also be found there, but it’s important to include this hashtag on almost everything you post on Michaels. (There may be some instances where this is not appropriate, use your best judgement).
We like to keep our hashtags at a maximum of five for a few reasons.
- Too many looks messy to the user.
- The more specific and user-focused your hashtags are, the more likely it is to be seen. For example, if we were to use #artsandcrafts, our posts would get lost in the sea of a very general and widely used hashtag.
- It can look unnatural and may detract from the viewer’s experience with too many hashtags.
Below are some best practices to remember when utilizing Instagram, by University of Florida’s Introduction to Social Media professor Kristen Blitch. Michaels Instagram account closely aligns with these strategies.
Create Engagement
Whether it’s through polls, a survey or an ask-me-anything (AMA) with an artist, engagement is key. Bringing our viewers into the discussion and making them feel important and a part of the post is paramount to driving more customers, more sales and more followers. We find it helpful to conduct these interactive posts on Instagram’s stories. You have the option of saving stories into highlights as well, should you decide it’s appropriate. Alternatively, asking an engaging question in the caption of your post is also a strong option. Below is an example of an engaging and strong story poll.
Two Pieces of Content A Day
Similar to inundating your audience with hashtags, they too can become fatigued and bored if we over-post our content. This does not apply to creating stories which houses micro-content that disappears in 24 hours. Keep the posts to no more than two a day with once a day as our sweet spot.
Tone
All of our content on Instagram carries the same tone. It’s light hearted with a couple of emoji’s and most of all, fun! (See Blitch’s guide above for ideal length of captions). We don’t take things too seriously on the platform. Our captions can be simple enough for parents to get their children busy for a couple of hours or it can be a little longer in length when we highlight an up-and-coming artist. That leads us into our final subject, speaking with our customer base.
Responding To Concerns and Comments
We saved the best for last. No matter how strong your social media strategy is, no matter how many followers you have and no matter how great your lighting is, if you don’t respond to customers, there will be no customers.
Frederik Hermann at BirdEye has helpful tips to remember when responding to complaints.
“Respond swiftly — don’t wait more than 48 hours
Admit mistakes — don’t get defensive
Go offline — don’t go back and forth online
Personalize responses — don’t automate it
Master the art of follow up — don’t leave them wondering
Avoid deleting negative reviews — Try to reach out and improve the situation”
It’s important to note that we don’t expect you to take a cookie-cutter approach as you manage our Instagram channel and we don’t want to inundate you with rules. Part of what makes the culture and climate of Michaels so fun is because we encourage our customers and clients to use their own personal spin and creativity. So please don’t forget to bring in your own style too!
Happy creating!
(Please note: This is an article for an assignment and does not reflect Michaels Stores social media policy).
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References:
Blitch, K. (14, June 2021). Instagram Best Practices. Week 5: Best Practices on Platforms.
Hermann, F. Customer Complaints on Social Media? Here’s What To Do. BirdEye. BirdEye.com https://birdeye.com/blog/customer-complaints/