Weekly Instagram Feature: New Iberia Travel and Tourism

Crepe Myrtles in the Louisiana sun

One of the great driving forces in marketing these days is, believe it or not, Instagram.  We've always known what a powerhouse social media can be but take note: Instagram has over 700 million monthly users as of April 2017.  Sure, some of those users are teenagers but the research shows that most teenagers prefer Snapchat over Instagram.  More and more, Instagram is becoming the place to market your brand or to launch your entrepreneurship.

There are some powerhouse players who are using Instagram to great advantage: some are big brands you've already heard of like Nike and National Geographic, but smaller, independent sellers are seeing fantastic results from a carefully curated Instagram feed.  New York stylist and former Radio City Rockette Hilary Rushford decided a day job cubicle wasn't for her and formed the Dean Street Society which is a motivational company helping people develop the best of themselves, whether it's personal style, entrepreneurship, defining a business model, or marketing.

Instagram works best if you define your brand, determine your niche, and do your research on your intended market. To that end, I'm going to use this space once every week or so to run a series of great Instagram feeds that I have discovered: people who are doing it right. These are just feeds that I follow and find entertaining, educational, or helpful: nobody has asked me to put them here.

The first page I'd like to give a high-five nod to is the Iberia Parish Travel and Tourism page.

Currently these are the top photos on their home page:

Iberia_Travel

Their posts caught my eye because it just defines Louisiana for me.  The first photo of a Tabasco pepper and a King cake is pure Louisiana love!  In these twelve photos we see Louisiana food, a plantation, entertainment and nightlife, trees draped with Spanish moss, and the featuring of local businesses which is all any travel and tourism page should be.

If you scroll through the rest of their feed, you'll see bayous, churches, community theater, and of course Mardi Gras!

The reason this feed works is because it's consistent: everything comes back to the brand which is "come visit New Iberia!"  Their photos exude Louisiana atmosphere and flavor.

Their homepage also includes a link to their Facebook feed which successfully integrates their social media presence.

Your Instagram bio is limited to 150 characters so it's important to be creative in order to capture the interest of your intended market.  The bio for Iberia Tourism reads:

Iberia Tourism Official profile for Iberia Parish Travel. Adventure Louisiana's HOT side and get ready to ditch the beignets for the hot sauce!

One of Louisiana's iconic brands comes from Iberia Parish: Tabasco Hot Sauce.  In New Iberia you can tour the Tabasco factory and museum.  Tabasco tour not for you?  There's also golf, garden tours, an historic district, shopping, museums, and plantations.  What's not to love?!

It was through this page that I learned about the Bayou Teche Literary Festival, thus achieving their goal of education and tourism.  I'm dying to go to this festival April 6-8, 2018.   Author James Lee Burke is featured this year and I've been a Dave Robicheaux fan for years. The festival events will feature food demonstrations, Dave Robicheaux tours, a 5K run, an Academic Symposium, authors and artisans fair, and Bourre lessons, just to name a few.  I'm in!

The bottom line is that this page does great job marketing its brand.  Their photos are consistently brand related and beautiful to look at which is critical because Instagram is such a visual medium. 

The page currently has 637 followers.  If you want a little taste of Louisiana in your Insta-feed, go on over and follow Iberia Tourism!

OMG, SCLS TO TCH SCL MDA CLSS IN NJ LOL!

Middle school teachers in New Jersey may be soon designing units around the intricacies of social media.  If a proposed bill passes, social media instruction will become mandatory:

A new bill would make a social media class mandatory for all sixth-through-eighth grade students in New Jersey Public Schools. 

The purpose is to teach responsible use of social media. The class would teach students about the acceptable use of various social media, cyber safety, cyber security and cyber ethics. 

A big emphasis will be on the negative consequences of using social media irresponsibly, like cyberbullying.

The text of the bill, which is expected to pass, can be found here (PDF).

I honestly don't blame New Jersey too much for this one.  

Is it "nanny state"?  Sure it is.  Is it something teachers should have to teach?  Of course not.  Obviously this is something parents should cover with their own kids.  We had this same discussion over sex ed in schools back in the day.  Parental territory.

However, when you have parents suing school districts because allegedly bullying was not addressed in the schools, or when a child commits suicide over bullying and a lawsuit is filed, or when kids are disciplined for posting pictures or video of teachers in the classroom, well, this sort of proactive instruction is bound to arise.

It's a shame, really, that it has come to this.  With new accountability standards for teachers and school districts in place across the nation (thanks to Common Core which requires a rigid evaluation system as well), teachers don't need the added burden of teaching kids how to behave.  It's unclear whether New Jersey would treat this as a full term curriculum, a two-day unit, or just require teachers to work it into their regular classes, but no matter how you slice it, it's parental territory. 

On Political Discourse in Social Media

I'm in a snarly mood this morning.  I've been in a discussion with friends recently about the state of political discourse and the intolerance of the left.  Nothing new there.

Let's talk about Facebook and social media in general for a moment.  New media, even - we can pull this out to the blogosphere, too.

I use my Facebook page not only as a way to keep up with old friends and stay in touch, but also to promote my blog.  Granted, blogging has been slowed by real life these past few weeks but that's another story.   But that's part of the objective of social media as I see it.  Sharing of ideas and spreading information.  Sharing news, articles, and videos you find interesting.

Yet there is a growing trend of intolerance from the left when your opinion doesn't jive with theirs.  That's not really new either, but the chatter seems to be more aggressive.  We've all seen the little e-cards photo that went around Facebook recently that said something like, "Wow!  Your political posting on Facebook has really changed my mind about who to vote for, said no person ever,"

Well, that was kind of funny really and not particularly mean-spirited.  It's the passive-aggressive snark and the even more outright hostile attacks that I find disheartening and that have my blood pressure up today.

A few weeks ago someone in my timeline posted a comment on their own wall (their right, of course!) that derided people for posting political opinion in Facebook.  "There should be a separate place for them to do that!" this person said.  Why?

Why shouldn't I be able to post political opinion and share articles if I want to?  Because it offends YOU?

If I'm offended or don't care to read a person's feed the simple response is to hide their posts or even "unfriend" them if it's that bad.  So why the passive-aggressive snark?

A friend of mine told me of a note she got from one of her Facebook friends which explained that she was unfriending her because of her political posting on Facebook.  That's fine, but why even announce that?   Why not take the high road and take whatever action you feel necessary without provoking a situation of resentment and/or hurt feelings?

Why all the attacks?  Why does the left feel the need to attack and diminish the right?  I'm sure it goes both ways but I've seen it more from the left lately.

We should be able to agree to disagree and stop the snark and hostility.  I get angry about the state of things.  I hate what Obama is doing to this country and I'm quite vociferous and opinionated about it but I won't attack you personally for your differing views.  I'll attack on policy and argument, but not personally.

In social media, I think it's perfectly fair to post and share your opinions.  In this country you are still, for the time being, allowed the right of free speech.