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With each passing day, we’re getting closer to 2022. Can you believe it? Keeping up with your social media calendar can feel like a full-time job in this era of constant content creation. Right?!

That’s why having an arsenal of social media holidays and themes comes in handy. It’s always good to stay ahead of the curb, and knowing what relevant days occur on what date makes it easier for you to plan thoughtful, timely posts that will increase engagement.

The tricky part is choosing the appropriate themes, days, and holidays to observe. Here’s my advice: pick a handful relevant to your business and brand, and focus on them first. Then build using a program like Canva to size, save and modify your designs. You should edit, revise, and build upon your Content Calendar each year. By focusing on the most important days, first, you will avoid the stress that comes when you try to do too much early on.

If coming up with social media content is a struggle or if using some new ideas would be helpful, check out my list for January 2022.

Here’s my list of holidays that people observe on social media, a.k.a. social media holidays, or hashtag holidays, and themes for January. I hope you will enjoy my comprehensive list and visit this article whenever you need inspiration!

January 1

  • New Year’s Day #NewYearsDay
  • Global Family Day #GlobalFamilyDay
  • National Hangover Day #NationalHangOverDay

January 2

  • Science Fiction Day #ScienceFictionDay

January 3

  • International Mind-Body Wellness Day

January 4

  • National Spaghetti Day #NationalSpaghettiDay
  • National Trivia Day #NationalTriviaDay

January 5

  • National Whipped Cream Day #NationalWhippedCreamDay 

January 6

  • National Cuddle Up Day #NationalCuddleUpDay
  • Technology Day #TechnologyDay

January 7

  • National Bobblehead Day #NationalBobbleheadDay

January 8

  • National Bubble Bath Day #BubbleBathDay
  • National Vision Board Day #NationalVisionBoardDay 

January 9

  • National Sunday Supper Day #SundaySupper

January 10

  • National Cut Your Energy Costs Day #CutYourEnergyCostsDay

January 11

  • National Milk Day #NationalMilkDay
  • National Shop For Travel Day #NationalShopForTravelDay

January 13

  • Korean American Day #KoreanAmericanDay
  • Make Your Dreams Come True Day #MakeYourDreamsComeTrueDay
  • National Sticker Day #NationalStickerDay

January 14

  • National Dress Up Your Pet Day #DressUpYourPetDay
  • Organize Your Home Day #OrganizeYourHomeDay 
  • World Logic Day #WorldLogicDay

January 15

  • National Bagel Day #NationalBagelDay
  • National Hat Day #NationalHatDay #HatDay

January 16

  • National Nothing Day #NothingDay

January 17

  • Kid Inventors’ Day #KidInventorsDay
  • Martin Luther King Day #MLKDay

January 18

  • National Thesaurus Day #ThesaurasDay

January 19

  • Museum Selfie Day #MuseumSelfieDay
  • National Popcorn Day #NationalPopcornDay

January 20

  • Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
  • National Cheese Lover’s Day #CheeseLoversDay
  • National Penguin Day #PenguinDay

January 21

  • International Sweatpants Day #InternationalSweatpantsDay
  • National Hugging Day #NationalHuggingDay

January 22

  • National Hot Sauce Day #HotSauceDay

January 23

  • National Handwriting Day #NationalHandwritingDay
  • National Pie Day #NationalPieDay

January 24

  • National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay
  • UNESCO: International Day of Education

January 25 

  • Plan for Vacation Day #PlanForVacation

January 26

  • International Customs Day
  • National Spouses Day #NationalSpousesDay
  • National Green Juice Day #NationalGreenJuiceDay

January 27

  • National Chocolate Cake Day #ChocolateCakeDay
  • Library Shelfie Day #LibraryShelfieDay

January 28

  • Data Privacy Day #DataPrivacyDay
  • National Daisy Day #DaisyDay
  • National Have Fun At Work Day #FunAtWorkDay

January 29

  • National Corn Chip Day #NationalCornChipDay
  • National Puzzle Day #NationalPuzzleDay

January 30

  • National Croissant Day #NationalCroissantDay

January 31

  • National Hot Chocolate Day #NationalHotChocolateDay

National Months in January 2022

Food & Drink Months In January

  • National Hot Tea Month
  • National Slow Cooking Month
  • National Soup Month
  • National Sunday Supper Month

Miscellaneous

  • Brain Teaser Month
  • Get a Balanced Life Month
  • International Creativity Month
  • National Hobby Month
  • National Mentoring Month

Is your patience running low or are you having difficulties keeping up with your social media presence?

When you hire Silver Light Media to manage your Social Media Content Calendar you will SAVE money, time, and energy. Stay tuned Social Media Days, Holidays & Themes for February 2022 is dropping soon!

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Have you updated your app? If not do so NOW because Instagram, one of the most popular social networking platforms made links in Stories available to ALL accounts recently.

Previously this feature was only available to accounts with over 10,000 followers or verified users.

As explained by Instagram:

“When we first introduced Stories links, the feature was limited to verified accounts or those with a certain number of followers. We’ve heard from the rest of our community that they also want to share things that matter with their friends and family. Whatever you’re into, from cooking to volunteering or shopping, you now have a space to share in Stories – regardless of your account size.”

As the above examples show, all users can now access the link sticker for Stories, which Instagram introduced as the primary link sharing option back in August.

Stickers give more creative control over how links appear in the Stories frames, which could be an ideal way to drive referral traffic to a website or landing page. Almost everyone except for brand new accounts or users who’ve been flagged for abusing privileges can now add a link sticker, expanding the potential value of Stories by driving audience action outside of the platform.

This update will likely put even more focus on Stories as a communication tool for brands. Instagram, has already placed more emphasis on video content, like Stories and Reels and it seems this trend is continuing to grow in momentum. The platform itself is looking to increasingly emphasize Stories usage as it seeks to continue to engagement in coming years.

Mark Zuckerberg allotted to so much in Facebook’s most recent earnings announcement, noting:

“Reels is already the primary driver of engagement growth on Instagram. It’s incredibly entertaining, and I think there is a huge amount of potential ahead. We expect this to continue growing and I am optimistic that this will be as important for our products as Stories is. We also expect to make significant changes to Instagram and Facebook in the next year to further lean into video and make Reels a more central part of the experience.”

If you didn’t already know, Reels is becoming a central element of the platform. Instagram may align around Stories and Reels specifically, with the traditional feed – standing feed – taking a back seat and possibly shifting to a separate tab in the app all together.

Stories will become even more valuable for exposure, and the capacity to drive direct traffic from them will also take on more priority, making this a very significant announcement.

It’s been one of the most requested additions I’ve received from clients. Expect to see more links in your IG Stories – which could aggravate some users, and lead to less engagement via the disappearing feed or it will like the platform is hoping drive engagement. It’s typically a blessing or a curse for social media platforms when more features are added to monetize more return on investment for businesses. With Instagram rolling out access to link stickers to almost all users, the impact will soon be more clear.

Are you looking to integrate the newest features of Instagram to create a Content Calendar for your company?

Call 208.284.5570 for a 30-minute COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION. Mention this post to receive $200 Off Opening Packages when you Sign Up in November or December of 2021.

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Join Silver Light Media on January 22, 2019 from 12pm-1pm for a Lunch & Learn workshop hosted by Aryonna Richard focused on the social media platform Instagram. You will learn best practice tips like managing disappearing content, expanding your influence with Instagram Stories, growing your social community, and more! The event will begin with introductions, small group networking and lunch. Continue with an educational presentation and end with a giveaway raffle. Check out the event flyer below for details. Email aryonna@silverlightmedia.net with any questions. Join the event page via Facebook. To purchase tickets click here! 

 

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Keeping up-to-date on social media is often a job in itself. Through working with clients I’ve learned people often have no ‘success strategy.’ Businesses and entrepreneurs begin social media campaigns with no realistic goals and get over-whelmed by the pressure of creating regular content and managing an audience. Remember beginning or updating a plan is going to take WORK. It is going to take more patience than you can predict. But if you are dedicated enough to connecting, posting, and collaborating you will experience results beyond what you can dream. I still glance at the hand-made owl from Australia in my office sent from a passionate business-owner in the area as a test to the magical experiences that can happen virtually via social media.

Continue reading for my 5 Instagram Strategy Tips for 2019.

1. Craft Your Captions: Particularly with Instagram being an image-centered social network it can be easy to focus mostly on the photo you are posting. Keep in mind that most of the engagement an update can receive actually comes from the caption. Try not to copy and paste the same text as people following you day after day will get bored and could un-follow you. Remember to prompt action by getting users to like, comment, or tag another user.

2. Know Your Hashtags: Particularly WHY you are using them. Many people ask me how many hashtags to use on Instagram. My short answer is 5-10 hashtags with an emphasis on knowing why you are using the hashtag. The purpose of a hashtag is to connect the information you are sharing with other people searching for and also sharing that information. My top takeaway for hashtags is to keep the focus on integrating local tags that are relevant to your location. Keep in mind that the hashtag limit is 30 on Instagram and I encourage you to not use more than 15 hashtags as it can start to appear as spam. The aesthetic appearance of your updates is important on Instagram so be mindful of your photography, caption, and hashtags. 

3. Remember ‘The Grid’: Have you ever heard ‘the grid’ referenced on Instagram? If you haven’t ‘The Grid’ is the standing profile that appears when users pull up your profile. It is referred to as a grid because the updates appear side-by-side as opposed to up-and-down like on Facebook, Twitter and most blogs. If you haven’t thought about your Instagram profile holistically take a look at your grid to see how the photos/videos are complementing or hindering the overall appearance of your profile. Think about or look back to the last few photos you posted on Instagram to make sure the appearance of your next updates complements to the overall aesthetic of your profile. The dimensions for an Instagram update are 1080×1080 pixels. A photo that is larger will appear cutoff when viewing your grid. Try to avoid uploading wide photos as this will hinder the appearance of your Instagram profile.

4. Community Interaction is Key: What do you do if a customer follows you on Instagram? Follow them back! I am often asked how many people to follow on the platform and my answer is always; it is not about the number of people you follow but the strength in those connections. Don’t be afraid to follow people and businesses on Instagram as this process is essential to community building. Following your customers shows them you care about the connection. It also gives you the opportunity to comment and like their photos, strengthening your connection. When a customer tags you in an update make sure you like and comment; the faster after they post the better from a customer service standpoint. 

5. Instagram Story Success: If you do not already take advantage of the Instagram Stories feature now is the time to start. I’m often asked how many Instagram Stories businesses should post. My answer is: use the story feature to help yourself fill in during times when you don’t have time to post updates to the grid and especially during special events. Do you usually update in the morning or evening? Try to post your stories during the opposite time frame to capture users that are online during that time.

Pro Tips: Use Instagram Stories to informally promote your business. Take customers behind-the-scenes, feature staff members, get customers involved, and use the feature to post the content that may not be as polished you would like for your standing profile but is purposeful in highlighting your company culture. The story feature is also one of the best way to promote events – instead of posting several updates that will stay on your profile during a short amount of time. Try an Instagram Story Sequence or Go Live; this feature pulls your profile to the top of the stories. If you have any questions about using Instagram for your business email me at aryonna@silverlightmedia.net.

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Instagram Marketing, Tips & Advice
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As a full-time social media strategist and SEO blogger, I spend the majority of the day immersed in virtual communities. I am the online “face” of eight companies from across the country in a variety of states and cities from Texas to Colorado, and along the central coast of California.

I believe in the power of social media and how this innovative platform can be used for more than building a following or increasing sales. The power of social media lies in the connection you can create with someone whether they are a block, a state, or several continents away. When working with any of my clients, I stress the difference between working with Silver Light Media as opposed to other public relations firms is my insistence on Creating Inspired Connections.

Many people don’t know that I started Silver Light while enrolled as a full-time college student at Boise State University. I had a limited budget and minimal amount of time to dedicate to the marketing of my business. After graduating from college in May of 2014, I had time to start thinking about my marketing efforts like I never had before while I was enrolled in college.

I relocated from Boise, Idaho to Denver, Colorado and wanted to connect with new people through social media as well as in-person. During this time having people submit photos to a hashtag on Instagram was a somewhat new practice that was taking off. I decided I wanted to have a hashtag for my business that would be inviting enough for others to submit photos to it as well.

Crafting A Hashtag

If you are using social media for your business and don’t already have one, I invite you to consider crafting a hashtag for linking and community-building purposes. In case you don’t know the purpose of a hashtag is to link related content together for search purposes. Being aware of its use you can see how having a hashtag specifically for your business can help with user-generated content creation. Whenever I start working with one of my clients on a social marketing campaign, I always add in user-generated content if it is applicable because it is highly efficient and easy to generate if you take strategic steps, first. I will save those steps for my next post, but I will share a little more from my brainstorming session.

Many businesses use their company name as a hashtag. I thought about and often do use #silverlightmedia as a hashtag on some of my social media posts. The only problem with this hashtag was for me; it didn’t give anyone a reason to use it. So I started to think of ways to tie my business name to some action or feeling that other people could associate with when posting their photos.

Since my company tagline is Creating Inspired Connections, I pulled from my rhetoric. I’ve always loved the word inspire and its derivatives. To me, the word reflects positive emotions that captivate us to feel something. I began to think of how I could combine “Silver Light” and “Inspire” since I knew all the words, together, would be too long, so I took the first letter from each word “S” and “L” with the plural “Inspires.” It wasn’t my first instinct to use a character but the look of the tag “#SL_Inspires” seemed more ecstatically pleasing than “#SLINSPIRES.” I typed the tag into Instagram and found out no one had used it. My new hashtag and one of my smartest branding moves I’ve ever made for my business finally manifested.

Building A Social Media Community

I will be the first to admit the first month starting any content strategy campaign is TOUGH. Mentally prepare yourself if you are ready to take the leap. Social media platforms are hindering organic reach more each day so be prepared to revise your strategies if needed and don’t give up be consistent in your posting, especially during the initial stages of starting a new platform.

When starting my hashtag, I had seen countless of other posts that I was using as an example. It seemed easy, “Use this hashtag on your post for a chance to be featured.” Seemed to be the general breakdown of what every photo sharing platform was emphasizing, the trouble is how do you know when people are going to start submitting to that hashtag? If you are persistent, probably sooner than you think, I started using it on my posts and including a call to action at the end. One day I checked my #SL_Inspires hashtag and was excited to see another user had used the tag.

My First Tagger – Jacque B from Pagosa Springs, Colorado

If you are looking to build a hashtag interacting with the first few people that engage is critical. I was ecstatic the day Jacque B – @jacquebblackie on Instagram used my #SL_Inspires tag. Jacque B was the first person to use it apart from myself. I immediately shared her photo to my following thanking her with credit. When you are in the beginning stages, make sure to give as much praise as possible.

You never know if you say something the person likes they could “Regram” the photo sharing it with their followers in turn, or at least you will get the person engaged enough to use the tag again. This stage is where community building starts. If you are looking to build not simply a following but a “virtual community” you MUST be willing to be as active in that community as possible. After, Jacque B’s feature more users started to use my #SL_Inspires hashtag. My community grew with photographers taking gorgeous landscape shots and sunset captures.

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Silver Light Media in collaboration with Nathan Lopez Photography are excited to announce commercial branding photo shoots to ignite your social media strategy with captivating visual storytelling. Ever wish your photos could be themed to represent a particular esthetic?

Each image will tell a unique story thanks to Nathan Lopez‘s commercial photography. The landscape, portrait, wedding and event photographer specializes in black and white photography with a minimal of amount of retouch and edit and was a 2015 Exposure Awards – Feature in the Digital Gallery of Paris, France. Click Here to learn more about his work.

Each social post will reach a broader range of your target audience thanks to Aryonna Richard‘s social strategy and creative writing. Working in line with the photography Nathan captures; Aryonna’s content marketing will attract an audience, inspire a connection, and complete the storytelling experience. She’s built multiple Instagram accounts with a following of over 10K by emphasizing community engagement.

Have a unique product, service, brand or company? Let your online media reflect your vision. 

Check the marketing photos Nathan Lopez and Aryonna Richard have collaborated on since beginning projects in February of 2016.

Did you know the average person gets distracted in less than 8 SECONDS? Now more than ever each photo you post must tell a story in order to capture the attention of your audience. Inc Magazine even suggests…

An estimated 84 percent of communications will be visual by 2018.” 

Their article titled “16 Eye-Popping Statistics You Need to Know About Visual Content Marketing” suggests over 80% off content is SKIMMED online and that specifically, brands need to be vigilent about shaping their online media.

Facebook posts from brands that included images earned 87 percent of all engagements.”

In today’s hyper visual world it’s more important than ever before to use marketing materials that visually brand your company. If you’re thinking okay, so where and HOW do I start the process?

It’s easier than you think with a complimenatary consultation. Schedule an appoinment to meet with the visual storytelling duo Nathan Lopez and Aryonna Richard, here, or by calling 208.284.5570. We are here for your creative branding and content maketing needs.

 

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Did you know you can manage your Instagram Business account from Facebook?

Wait, hold up, did you miss the news that Instagram created specifically profiles for businesses? I’ll help you understand the latest changes from this visual and social powerhouse in this post.

With 500 million plus monthly active users and 95 million daily posts according to Instagram’s website this platform could help you reach more customers than before. With creativity driving the medium let users be inspired by the lighter side of your company’s story.

Businesses have been a part of Instagram’s community since the beginning showcasing services and products. If you have an Instagram profile, you are using for your business quickly convert it to a Business Profile for increased insights, analytics, and the option to run advertisements.

From your profile home page click on the option wheel at the top and click ‘Switch to Business Profile’ to convert your account. 

If you have a Facebook Business Page, your accounts will link giving you the options to run ads via Facebook Advertising. After converting your account, you’ll notice ‘View Insights’ & ‘Promote’ under each post. Click on ‘View Insights’ and you’ll see the Impressions, Reach, and Engagement for each post. Click ‘Promote’ and Instagram will open Facebook Ads giving you the option between two calls to actions.

 

instagram-reach

Convert your account and understand the impact of each post.

 

Visit your website

Call or visit your business 

Next, you will need to select an Action Button. Click ‘Select Button Text’ to choose between:

Learn More
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Book Now
Sign Up
Contact Us

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If you follow me you know I’m active on social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn I make sure to cover the basics, but my favorite social networking platform is Instagram. I fell for how creatives use it to share their inspiration, being a sucker for sick photography edits; I love the way Instagram pioneered visual storytelling.

In the last few months, Instagram upped its features. In case you haven’t noticed, Stories have been introduced and recently updated on November 10, 2016, to include Boomerang and Mentions. The platform is even starting to test links inside some stories (hint) that upgrade may be coming for everyone shortly.

Boomerang 

This feature lets you turn any moment into something unique. You don’t even have to leave the app, take a Boomerang inside Instagram. Swipe right from your feed, and you’ll be able to open the camera used to share a story. If you are familiar with sharing stories, you’ll notice a new format picker that lets you select Boomerang mode. Tap to record and the camera will put a series of photos into a movie that plays backward and forwards.

Mentions

Already a staple, if you’re used to sharing updates on Instagram. Now the app lets you share who you’re with just mention them in your story. Mentions in stories work the same way they do in captions and comments. After adding text to your story type “@” followed by a username, then select the person you would like to mention in the post. The username will appear underlined when the link is clickable. Click the user mentioned, and you’ll see a pop-up appear that takes you to their profile.

The person mentioned in the story will also receive a notification via Direct Message that they were mentioned in someone else’s story. Tap the preview button to go to the story for as long as it’s live. If you are mentioned by someone who doesn’t follow you, the notification will appear via Message Requests.

Coming Soon

The ‘See-More’ Link Feature is now appearing in select stories. Watching someone’s story and feeling inspired to dig deep? Soon you’ll spot ‘See More’ Links at the bottom of stories. A test phase is taking place that let’s verified accounts add links making it easier for their followers to learn more. Discover newly released music or read a related article just tap ‘See More’ and swipe the app up, there you can view the link right inside.

Want to learn more about these Instagram updates? Click Here to view our Contact Page, a great place to schedule a complimentary consultation with Silver Light Media to discuss any of your social media, branding, or publicity needs. We offer consulting, training, and account management.

New to Instagram Stories? I’ve captured screenshots below of our views for insight into the numbers you could be gaining by using the feature. Call 208.284.5570 to learn how to be more influential to your audience with a custom Instagram Strategy.

Love & Light

Aryonna Richard

IG: @aryonnarichard

TW: @aryonnarichard

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