Interviews with Girls around New Zealand
Tash and Viv met at Otago University a few years ago whilst studying Food Science. At the time, Vivien was using Instagram to drive traffic to a website for her sportswear brand, @vividsportswearofficial,
and Tash was using Instagram to showcase her food styling/recipe creation for the upcoming job hunt at the end of her degree @tastefullytash.
As it were, Viv and Tash became committed to figuring out how to best grow their Instagram accounts so that they could drive traffic & make sales, and build an influencer profile respectively. Many hours were spent researching, learning, testing, (and repeating).
Viv once woke up on the hour every hour from 2am to test new theory And Tash would spend any spare moment at work on her phone figuring out the latest methods for growth.
I personally know these two lovely ladies, so I sent them through some questions I have been dying to ask them!
1. Saejung - What are the common mistakes people are making on Instagram?
A. Tash - “One of the biggest mistakes we see people making on Instagram is not prioritising content. Remember that Instagram is a visual platform, and your content needs to reflect that. If you struggle to create good content, think about outsourcing or taking a course to learn how to become better at taking thumb-stopping snaps!”
Viv “Another common mistake that we often see is people not using stories enough. The best thing about stories is that they don’t have to be ‘perfect’. In fact, BTS or relateable face-to-camera stories often get the best engagement. Stories are also a great way to get another touch point with your audience. As people's behaviour on Instagram changes and more people watch stories, being present on the newsfeed and in the stories bar keeps you top of mind.”
2. Saejung - Tips for people to get recognised on Instagram?
A. Tash “Be consistent. Both in your voice (the way you speak to your audience & write your captions) and in your content. For example, if you’re a makeup brand, your voice would be completely different to that of a mountain biking account. Make sure you know who you’re speaking to, and how they want to be spoken to!
Consistency in your content is also important. Decide on 3-4 different types of content that will provide value for your audience.
As an example, if that content doesn’t include snippets of your personal life, suddenly posting a pic of your cat or family gathering will appear super inconsistent & receive less engagement than usual.”
Viv “Engage! People (especially brands) often forget that Instagram is a SOCIAL media platform. Not only is engaging with your online community important in order to be recognised by the algorithm, it’s also important that you keep making touchpoints with your audience. When you’re commenting and liking ‘grams from other accounts in your niche, it’s an easy way for people to see your username popping up time and time again.”
3. Saejung - What does a typical day look like for you two?
A. Viv - I’ll usually go to F45 in the morning (unless the surf is good), work until 2pm, and then spend the afternoon on other projects. I’m also into a few random activities, so on any given day there could be an ocean swim or some friday drinks thrown in there.
Tash - I usually walk/run up the Mount either when I wake up or at lunch time. The rest of the day is always different depending on photoshoots, meetings or events. I also run my health and wellness Instagram @tastefullytash so I often do photoshoots/content creation for that in the afternoons.
4. Saejung - How do you balance running your own business and also trying to maintain your lifestyle?
A. Tash: “We live together and work from home. I think we’ve integrated a lot of our business into our lifestyles which has it’s pros and cons.
The pros are that our business often involves working with friends and on projects we would be doing regardless of whether we were getting paid or not- We love the days when work feels like play.
Cons are that it’s sometimes hard to switch off from thinking or stressing about work.
I think we balance this style of working with the other activities/relationships we have in our lives. Viv loves partying and endurance sport events whereas I love yoga and brunching and not going out.”
5. Saejung - What are some of your favourite Quotes to live by?
A. Tash: “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”
Viv: “Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting for centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.” - GM Trevelyan
And
“ Worrying is a way of upperlimiting yourself and bringing you back to a zone of excellence or competence” - Gay Hendricks
6. Saejung - Who are some people you aspire to?
A. Tash: Taylor Swift, Ellie Bullen from @elsas_wholesomelife, and Sam Stuchbury from Motion Sickness
Viv: Loz Green - Very successful internet marketer from NZ
Cliff Young - Sheep farmer who decided to enter a 875km Ultramarathon (yes, 875km). He’d never been told to sleep every 18 hours by a coach, and ended up winning & setting a course record of about 2 days. His story is the epitome of grit & not letting what other people say get in the way of what’s possible.
Sabrina Philipp - She’s amazing. 24yr old business goals! Look her up!
Saejung - Thank you girls for answering these questions!
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Their dedication and passion for results is what lead them to achieve rates of 3,000+ new followers per month for some accounts, And more than 6,000 posts from other Instagram users using a client’s branded hashtag. It quickly became clear that Instagram was a massively under-utilised marketing platform and for the most part, those that were trying to use Instagram were struggling.
Tash and Viv have since built a community of those wanting to learn about Instagram in their Facebook Group, and Instagram Growth and Engagement Their Podcast.
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