Ever look at one of those Instagram accounts or Facebook pages with hundreds of thousands of followers and think: How? How is that even possible? Well, on today’s show we have Kate O’Hara, CEO and creative director of Martha O’Hara Interiors to tell you how she made it happen.

Kate pioneered the firm’s expansion into national and international clientele. She says her favorite part of her role is in getting to speak with so many of our potential clients from around the world. She was also one of Austin’s Social Influencers and Minnesota’s Top 32 Under 32 Marketing Professionals—that’s two awards in two towns—making her a sought-after speaker on topics ranging from social media, to women in business or online branding.

• [2:00] The ornery orangutan is in studio

• Martha O’Hara Interiors

• Lightroom

In the early days of Facebook, businesses were told to open up their doors, peek behind the curtains, detail every little thing. And while you do want to give your audience the chance to know the real you, Kate says that you really have to think audience-first on social. That means engaging with your audience, and providing content that will help them, not help you.

Kate also offered some amazing tips on how to stay consistent and focused on social. You need to come up with a content plan for a specific platform and try it out. If it turns out it’s too much work or you don’t enjoy it, don’t embark on that one platform, because you won’t keep it up.

Kate has been able to grow the number of followers on her firm’s Instagram by 20,000 in just a year, thanks to being really thoughtful about how she does it. So, like on Facebook she tries to make the posts more engaging for followers, but also she ensures that what’s posted has a consistent palette. So that means using the same filters, making the images have the same feel. That way, people recognize your work right away.

Also, listen to your followers. See what people are liking and give them more of that. If you have followers you could tag on a photo, tag them. And don’t forget about hashtags.

• www.WingnutSocial.com