As an award-winning creative, Kay Hsu has been vital in getting big brands to leverage Instagram stories. Prior to becoming the Global Director of Instagram’s Creative Shop, she worked with clients like TOMS, Nike, and Sony. At brunchwork, Kay taught us how to increase our Instagram followers and other social media strategies.
Q: How do we increase our Instagram followers?
A: To increase your Instagram followers, be very consistent. Have an idea and a very strong point of view. I’m obsessed with this page called Dogs in Food. It’s so single-minded in its purpose, but it’s amazing.
Use the basic principles of marketing: understand your purpose, your audience, your tone and your story, and then apply those things to your Instagram. Just because it’s a new channel doesn’t mean you ignore those principles.
How should people use Instagram Stories?
Have fun and experiment. We created Stories because it gives people more creative freedom.
There doesn’t need to be anxiety about creating the perfect image or post. As with many things, don’t overthink about what it is you’re creating.
How do you use creativity in your work?
You don’t have to have a traditional creative background to consider yourself creative. It’s an approach to problem solving, not an output. Everybody has to use creativity in their day-to-day lives to succeed. It’s a fundamental skill that I use constantly.
Where do you get your creative inspiration from?
People inspire me the most. As a media planner, I need to understand someone’s motivations, like a cultural anthropologist. Hearing people’s stories and how they spend their time is a great source of inspiration. I get this from my coworkers and the people I mentor.
How can a leader build a successful team?
Hire people that are smarter and different from you and allow them to help you think more critically. It’s important to bring out the best in other people, but they should also bring out the best in you.
It’s also important to always pursue authentic collaboration. This should be the guiding principle for leading a team or project because it will always produce better outcomes. Your team’s success will bring you success. It’s about believing the tides rise higher together.
This interview was conducted by David Nebinksi and condensed by Katherine Emley.