Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Facebook gets a lot of attention on this podcast when it comes to talking about marketing on social media, but what about Instagram? It seems to be getting more and more popular, are Instagram ads just as good as Facebook then? Why or why not?
Derek tackles this question with Graham in tow and explains the nuances of the different platforms and why you’d post on one and not the other, despite that they are both owned by the same company.
Show Resources
While we mourn the loss of Ashkahn at Daily Solutions, don’t blame it on the Float Conference. Purchase tickets, see event schedules, and find hotels while you still can.
Can you Cross Post to Different Social Media Platforms? – DSP 191 (the episode Graham mentioned, a great place to start if you want more information on cross-posting to more social media platforms)
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: All right. Welcome, everybody.
Derek: Hey there, hey there.
Graham: I’m Graham.
Derek: I’m Derek.
Graham: And he’s been living under a rock for the last few days. Ashkahn’s not with us, he’s-
Derek: He’s with us. He’s with us. Not in person, but he’s still alive.
Graham: Oh, he’s still alive. Yeah. Yeah, he hasn’t died. He’s just working on the conference. It’s right around the corner, so in the meantime, you get to hear me and Derek answer some questions about marketing. Derek’s the kind of marketing expert on board with Float On and today’s question is: “You talk a lot about Facebook,” Derek. It doesn’t actually say Derek in there. “What about Instagram and Instagram ads?”
Derek: Oh. I hate to break it to you, faithful listener, but that’s Facebook too. They bought Instagram many years ago for, like, a billion dollars.
Graham: They were the same thing for Float Tank Solutions in the conference.
Derek: They own everything Instagram. It’s actually one of their smartest moves ever done because there’s a lot of backlash about Facebook, but Instagram’s so great, and it has pictures and whatnot. But you can actually control Instagram ads from your Facebook business manager.
Graham: Can you control Instagram posts from Facebook?
Derek: You can, now. That actually happened literally weeks ago.
Graham: Oh, crazy. I didn’t know that.
Derek: You can post to Stories on Facebook from your Facebook platform. You can also crossover stories, so you can post an Instagram story and it’ll go over to your Facebook page story. They’re really trying to make the platforms very similar, but still have a distinct delivery difference.
Graham: And Instagram, I assume, is still just all about the pictures primarily.
Derek: Pictures and videos.
Graham: Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let’s say that I, just as a float center owner – which I’m guessing this person is having the same thought process – but I’m like, okay, I want to rock out Instagram. It’s mainly visual. There’s photos and I think float tanks and float tank centers make for some really good photo content.
Derek: And there’s a different audience that might be on Instagram more than are on Facebook. Like, I feel like everyone’s on Facebook, but maybe a more targeted, younger demographic’s on Instagram, so if you’re really trying to go out there and, yeah, you can demographically target by age, but if you really want to be on a platform that your audience uses more than daily, hourly in some cases, I’m a huge fan of Instagram. I’m on that all the time. If you see me on my phone, I’m probably not checking emails. I’m really on Instagram.
I mean, when it comes down to it, Instagram ads are one of those things that, if you want to completely rock out on that all by itself, go for it. Test it out, right? I feel like it’s going to be pretty hard to get people on Instagram to book a float. Yeah, you can link to something and then they can go in through a paid Instagram ad and hit your booking manager, but, you know, they’re really there to just browse pictures. The Instagram browser’s not the greatest experience, as far as the web browser that’s within Instagram. And so I feel like if you want to build brand awareness, try to get people from that state of not knowing what floating is to curious about what floating is, Instagram might be a great visual platform to do that because it can’t get lost in copy. If you’re not a good copywriter, great. The first thing that’s going to catch people is a great picture or video.
Graham: So would you say posting on Instagram is useful and, maybe, ads on Instagram aren’t as much? Or, I guess, what’s your take on the organic posting versus ads on Instagram, specifically?
Derek: So I do a lot of ads on Instagram. If I’m doing something on Facebook and I’m boosting it, I’m probably also doing it on Instagram, and the Facebook ads platform, you can do more than just Instagram. You can also do Facebook Messenger ads, you could put ads on the Marketplace. The Facebook ads platform, you could hit whatever Facebook owns, you could probably advertise on that network, so Instagram is just one of many places you can advertise on the Facebook platform that’s not Facebook.
Graham: And so I guess I was asking because you said that you don’t really see people on Instagram going to actually book a float, so what’s the return on ads? Or what’s the value of kind of running ads on Instagram? Or even backing up further: why do you think that people would come in to book a float off Facebook, but not off of Instagram as much?
Derek: Well, I think the way it kind of works out is Instagram, there’s not really an easy desktop platform whereas Facebook, there’s a desktop platform and so even though the majority of people are accessing Facebook and Instagram from mobile, I see a lot more conversions coming from the desktop platform. I think just because it’s easier to enter your credit card information, you probably already have that information saved in your browser. It’s easier to type in passwords that are your favorite passwords that you keep reusing all over the internet. It’s just a more native experience and that’s shifting. Like, more and more when the mobile browsing gets better, people are just going to naturally shift to buying things off of mobile but, you know, integrations with Apple Pay is going to come and that’ll make it easier to book. But until it’s easier to book mobile, most people, I feel like, are still going to book on a desktop.
Graham: Interesting.
Derek: At least that’s with Portland. I mean, maybe Portland’s that counterculture where, you know, people are not buying on mobile, but I feel like it’s a lot easier to buy on desktop than it is mobile.
Graham: And it’s an interesting theory. I mean, either way, it seems like, both in talking to other float tank centers, that they get more bang for their buck with Facebook, and also not even float tank centers. Just doing some research into advertising on social media in general, it just seems like Instagram ads are not quite as successful for a lot of people as Facebook ads are. And maybe it’s just you really need to go with those products that are so visual, you know? Like, I could see clothing, for example, doing better on Instagram than on Facebook, and maybe floating is just so experiential. It doesn’t have that same, what you’re viewing is actually the product and so an image-based platform is more successful. I’m not exactly sure. Again, it just seems like I-
Derek: So, you can sell some really quick Stories on Instagram and do quick ten second Instagram Story ads, and so it’s more of I use, when I advertise on Instagram, it’s more of an awareness thing. I’m not looking fully for conversions. A lot of our marketing at Float On isn’t directly tied into conversion, which is counter to what I say for a lot of starting centers-
Graham: It is counter to what you say, yeah.
Derek: But for starting centers, you’ve got to really seek those conversions. So if you’re, again, strapped for cash and you want to go ahead and put your money where you’re going to get money back, test it out. Maybe Instagram’s a hit in your community, but I would put my money on Facebook. When you do have a little bit of budget or you are just a super user of Instagram like myself and you have fun just using it and you’re going to use it as your center quite a bit, develop an audience on it. I mean, I think Float On’s got, like, 17-1800 fans, which is a fourth of what we have on Facebook, but they’re super engaged. When I actually post on Instagram, I get a lot more engagement. I can get up to 100 people liking something out of 1500 people, whereas I post on 8000 on Facebook and, maybe, 20 people like something.
Graham: Yeah, and we did a good episode before too, so go look it up. Just if you type “social media”, it’ll turn up on our site, but it’s on how you can cross-post. You know, do a Facebook post and make sure that’s going out to Instagram and vice versa, so it doesn’t even need to cost you more time when you’re – either running ads or not – really cross-posting between Facebook and Instagram, which is great. Or, at least, that time is minimized.
So that’s the nice thing, you know? If you want to maintain an Instagram, if you don’t care about it being your primary social media platform, there’s a lot of ways to do that without adding too much to your plate.
Derek: Right.
Graham: And yeah. I think that’s all I have.
Derek: Yeah. If you’re a fan of the platform, develop it, but only when you can have the extra money to not care about return for Instagram.
Graham: Cool. And if you have your own marketing questions or any float-y questions at all-
Derek: Go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast.
Graham: And we’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Derek: Take care, everyone.
Graham: Bye.
Recent Podcast Episodes
What to Look for when Buying a Used Float Tank – DSP 144
So… float tanks are expensive. Buying used is an option, though. What does that look like and what should you know before thinking about delving into the market of used tanks? There’s a lot to it, how the tank has aged, if there are any components that have failed, and what the filtration system is like are all good things to keep in mind.
Graham and Ashkahn go over this, as well as where to look for tanks and some tips and tricks from the trade.
How to Run a Float Center out of Your Home – DSP 143
Starting up a float center out of your home isn’t nearly as daunting as it may sound at first and is a great way to get your foot in the door. Graham and Ashkahn break down the logistics of this time honored tradition in the industry.
What to look for in a lease – DSP 142
Picking a location is stressful and time consuming, but it can still be one of the most fun parts of starting a float center.
Graham and Ashkahn examine what to look for in a new center and how to go about the search. Along with all this, they explain some of the nuances you want to discuss with your landlord when drafting your lease. Tune in here.
Options for offering neck pillows – DSP 141
Finding a good neck pillow for your float tanks can be a surprisingly tricky endeavor. There are endless amounts of flotation pillows designed for swimming or in the bath, but float tanks have very particular conditions and getting the wrong neck pillow can make it, and your float tank, a hassle to clean.
Graham and Ashkahn dish about their experiences with neck pillows and what’s worked for them in the past and offer up some solid recommendations, as well as provide some helpful tips on what to look for when shopping for the ideal neck pillow for your float center.
Having a walkthrough script for float center staff – DSP 140
How specific do you want to get when walking a customer through a float for the first time? Everyone is gonna have a different answer to this, but it’s important to have consistency when running a business. A lot of places do video walkthroughs, but that runs the risk of losing that personal touch.
Graham and Ashkahn share a little Float On philosophy about how they instruct staff to introduce the practice of floating as well as some helpful tips for making your intro speech grow and evolve over time.
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