500 to 55K: How I Grew The Salsa Beat's Social Media

Yes, this blog post is about how I grew a San Diego-based dance company's online presence...but the tips here can be used for any brand in ANY field!

The Salsa Beat (TSB) now is one of the BIGGEST social media SALSA accounts in the United States. Salsa dancing videos may not be as popular as cute kittens or the latest TikTok dances or voiceovers. And, they lack the trendiness & oddly satisfying qualities of ASMR and Mukbang videos. But, there is still a MARKET out there! TSB now has followers all over the world and a steady stream of students who find them from social media.

Three years ago, I asked to take over The Salsa Beat's Instagram when they only had 500 followers. I saw untapped potential. I enjoyed watching Juan & Erica (owners of The Salsa Beat) dance and love learning from them. They have a magnetic connection, smooth dance moves, and are a super cute couple! I KNEW others would enjoy watching them too! We did a month trial-run where they gave me complete control of their Instagram. As an avid Instagram user with a background in marketing and salsa dancing, I had some general ideas on how to start. Still, I watched hours of YouTube videos to come up with a solid strategy to grow their social media and ultimately grow their customer base. After a lot of research and mild arthritis (kidding), the month trial was successful and they hired me to be their social media manager. They saw immediate growth and measurable results. 3 years later and we are now at 55,000 followers! Their social media and business continue to grow. 

Here are 5 THINGS I did to quickly grow their social media:

1. I Identified their niche! 

I asked myself, "Who are their potential customers? Who is going to be viewing this content?" and, "What should the theme be for their page?" 

2. I came up with a strategy.

Based on the theme of the page, I began brainstorming about content. I wanted to keep things simple so I listed out 4-5 types of posts I wanted. Eg. Social dancing videos, Tutorials, Q&A's, etc. 

I began following dancers and potential customers--who we identified in step 1-- in hopes of them following back. I also began engaging (commenting, liking, sharing, etc.) with those both the local and international salsa community. 

3. I gathered content.

Now let's talk content. I decided to keep the page simple and centered around the theme of salsa dancing. Initially, I gathered a lot of the video content myself or used older content that was readily available. Eventually, we added to the team and had others record dance content from classes. 

(I actually wrote a guide for gathering dance video content which I'll post later!)

4. I learned how to edit videos.

There are so many tutorials on YouTube and other social media platforms on video editing! Find an editing app that you like and start simple. I like InShot and CapCut. I stick to simple tools for simple editing like keyframes, fade outs, and logo additions. I usually save the text for IG in-app editing. Occasionally I'll do something fancier with the use of templates or go to Canva to add some graphic design elements. 

5. Post, Post, Post!

I decided to post daily. I stuck mostly to reels (at the time the IG algorithm favored them) at first and have since introduced some carousel posts.  I would recommend researching times your viewers are online. Are you going for local or international viewers? Remember to share your posts to your stories too. And, you can set up automatic cross-posting for Facebook and other platforms too. 

Adjust your strategy as needed. Check in on those analytics! What type of posts are performing the best? Remember that performance can be defined in a variety of ways. What goes viral is not always what gains you the most followers or the most money. 

Not only has TSB's Instagram grown tremendously, but so has their other social media platforms. I PASSIVELY (for the most part) grew their Facebook account. Stay tuned for the blog post! 

Interested in working directly with me? Email me at five6sevenmedia@gmail.com or check out my website at www.five6seven.com. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog for more marketing tips!

Let's grow your business together!