Craig Rodney

Craig was initially attracted to the cool filters on the early iteration of Instagram.
He loved looking at beautiful pictures and Instagram had no shortage.
Eventually, Craig was inspired by Ross Symons and Lorraine Loots to embark on a 365 Day Challenge, where he would post an image of SA that he found beautiful a day for a year - and so the @southafrica page was born.

The visual nature of the platform is an important drawcard. The filters and other visual and sharing functions make it fun to create great content.
The simple manner in which you can capture images of your daily life and share them with your community is another win. It means everyone can take part.
Most importantly, Instagram has understood, and encourages, the sense of community that the platform inspires, and nurtures this.

There are a lot of people on Instagram, making it a no brainer for any business that wants to grow an authentic audience.
Because it is built with community in mind, Instagram enables businesses to grow and thrive while engaging directly with your market.
To really reap the benefits though, you have to be willing to participate in the community by creating content that truly resonates with your audience.

As much as people expect him to select global brands, Craig is actually impressed by young Instagram brand @zulu.fire
He particularly likes that it's a locally produced brand with a well thought out market strategy.
More than that, Craig likes that the owner has made good use of the sales and shopping cart tech that's built into Instagram, showing a great awareness of the commercial capabilities of the platform.

Craig believes that there are a lot of brands getting it right and even more getting it wrong.
He puts forward Land Rover and Starbucks as two brands with a great Instagram presence. Land Rover for capturing the spirit of adventure and inspiring it in their audience so well, and Starbucks for their fun, community-led content strategy.
The brands getting it wrong are the ones that 'spray and pray' ads with no direction or understanding of their audience.

Creative storytelling is key to relating to and holding an audience on Instagram.
Instagram has a suite image and video tools that make creating content and interacting with your audience easy and fun.
The winning combination? Imagery that captures your audience's attention, captions they can relate to and great storytelling through the video tools made available on the platform.

Only start an Instagram account if you have the time to put into it. It takes a while to build an audience and consistency is key.
What you're aiming for when you start talkability. Only when other accounts are tagging and speaking about you will your network grow.
Rather than getting stack in cheap Instagram growth hacks, invest time in creating content that is valuable and useful to your audience.

When starting an Instagram account, you need to have a clear idea of what your premise is.
You need to know exactly what it is that you will offer your audience and that will keep them drawn to you.
Make sure you express to your audience, very clearly, what that is and deliver consistently on your promise.

Businesses who don't have the resources to invest in instagram should avoid it.
Because the platform is so specific, it needs nurturing and requires you to have the time and budget to grow your account.
Link your Instagram to your wesbite or other active platforms rather than leaving it inactive.

Do not buy followers or run cheap campaigns to gain followers, there's no need to rush your growth.
Doing this will only result in an inauthentic, unengaged audience that will give you the numbers and nothing more.
Instead, focus on creating content that will earn you an organic following.

Craig Rodney reveals his secret ingredient.