When your early decision is what social media platform to use for your marketing, Kim Walsh Phillips makes a strong case for Instagram in The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business.
Instagram’s engagement with brands is 10 times higher than on Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest and 84 times higher than Twitter, according to Hootsuite, she points out, while its mobile ad revenue is expected to reach US$3 billion this year – a tenth of the colossus Facebook, even though it is six years younger.
Ms Walsh Phillips, who is based close to New York City, knows her onions. She runs three businesses – Elite Digital Group, a direct response social media marketing agency launched in 2001; Elite Capital Advisers, a marketing agency for financial advisers; and the Powerful Professionals community. She works with brands including Harley-Davidson and Hilton Hotels and has already co-authored one book, The No BS Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing.
This book acts as a step-by-step guide, with lots of explanatory screenshots on how to set up an Instagram account, write your bio, use filters (“the best thing about Instagram”) and hashtags. There are interviews with leading Instagrammers, case studies of clients’ return on investment and detailed lists of useful apps for editing images, scheduling posts, creating videos and analysing your statistics. Ms Walsh Phillips is also frank about the merits of buying followers. Additional toolkits are available on her site when you buy the book.
Ms Walsh Phillips’ favourite app is Word Swag, which she used to transform her own Instagram account. Originally, she posted quotes from different people; she now uses the same template and font each time, with Word Swag, and adds a watermarked logo. And she only uses her own quotes as posts. “There should be consistency,” she says. “So if someone picked 10 random posts, they could tell they are all yours.”
Some good tips? Use a unique URL and landing page in your bio so you can track traffic from Instagram, use relevant hashtags and one unique to your account each time and get professional headshots and logos. And don’t “spam-tag” other accounts or you’ll become an “annoying gnat”.
More than just an Instagram guide, this book is really worth a skim-read for anyone working with social media.
The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business by Kim Walsh Phillips is available from Amazon.com for US$14.63.
Q&A: Kim Walsh Phillips offers Suzanne Locke more insights into her book The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business.
Why was Instagram your social media of choice?
Instagram is one of the last platforms that allow you to reach your target market organically (for free), using hashtags. While I love Facebook Ads, Instagram crushes it.
How likely is Instagram to stay in the game?
As Facebook owns it, it’s likely to be around for a long time – plus it is focused on pictures, the most shared medium on Facebook.
Instagram Stories and Instagram Live are new – any tips?
Just get started: the more you do it, the more comfortable you will be. Lead with a question addressing your target market (“Want more blog traffic?”), tease a solution (“There is a free way to get people to your blog”), give content by offering two to three tips and end with a call to action – where to go for more information.
What difference did creating a uniform look and theme make to your Instagram?
I made the shift when I started writing the book and researching successful accounts. Creating a brand board (of brands whose Instagram accounts I liked) helped me to attract new followers and get more opt-ins on my page. I am no longer embarrassed to have people visit it.
You have about 6,000 followers, which seems modest when compared to celebrities’ 100 million plus. Is it enough?
By growing slowly, we have been able to get quality followers. For everyone who joins the list, we are making on average US$43. I am not planning on being an Instagram celebrity, so this method works well.
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Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
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Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
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Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
