17 May Empowering an Online Community
Chief Executive Chair at Ann Summers and Knickerbox, Jacqueline Gold CBE is considered by many to be one of the most inspiring and successful executive women in the UK. In 1981, Gold wanted women to be able to purchase lingerie and sex toys in a high class environment. By 1987, Gold was appointed CEO of Ann Summers and turned a sex shop run by men into a multi-millon pound business run by women, for women.
On social media, Gold has created a women-centric and business-centric community by advocating for women’s autonomy and sharing her business advice throughout her content. Gold uses a comprehensive strategy across Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. In this article, we will be looking at how effective Gold’s influential presence is on Instagram in particular.
Authenticity and Inspiration on Instagram
At the time of this article’s publication, Jacqueline Gold’s Instagram account has 10,900 followers. Her account has a good range of professional, personal, and motivational content.
However, Gold’s main focus on her Instagram is empowering women and people in business. One way in which she incorporates this into her posts is by writing motivational captions on almost every photo. Her captions give advice to other business owners and executives, as well as encourage others to be true and authentic. By not only showing her own successes but supporting the success of others, Gold portrays herself as a supportive and trustworthy leader. Followers are more likely to engage with an executive who is approachable on social media and expresses their values openly. Gold certainly brands herself as an approachable executive, and expresses her gender equality values consistently to extend her connection with her followers.
A major way that Gold advocates for women empowerment with more than just words is through her hashtag campaign, #WOW (Women on Wednesday). As she explains in the video below, Gold encourages women to share their business with her using the hashtag #WOW on Twitter. Gold then promotes the business that she selects each week on her social media accounts. The winners are added to an exclusive Facebook group where they can interact with Gold and other winners to share advice and network. This campaign is very effective for Gold because it demonstrates that her support for other women in business goes beyond shallow words, and extends into actions that she is willing to take. Actions speak louder than words, and through her actions, Gold is not only gaining recognition for herself, but also creating exposure for others.
Showcasing your success is valuable to any executive’s social media because it shows your followers that you are someone they can look up to. Gold does this by adding a small, but not obtrusive, amount of business-related content that displays her success and expertise in the fashion industry. In the video below, Gold discusses the achievements of her company Ann Summers. By doing this, some of Gold’s followers that engage with her for motivational content can be directed back to her business, optimizing the chance for followers to be converted to customers. Although it is important not to become overly promotional on a personal profile, executives occasionally promote both themself and their business on social media to connect the person to the brand, and to drive critical business goals.
Anyone passing by Gold’s Instagram would be able to tell that she is active and engaged with her followers. She keeps her followers up to date with her ongoing projects by actively posting on her Story. She loves to use Stories to post about her family, company updates and uses Story features such as Polls and Questions to keep her followers engaged. Highlighted stories are pinned to her profile, this makes it easy for new followers to access any categorized content. Gold also posts Reels and videos which is encouraged for any executives social media because Instagram highly promotes video content. Lastly, her captions keep a consistent tone and a great use of niche-related hashtags. Gold has cultivated an inspiring social media presence by taking advantage of all features that Instagram has to offer and creating that content to fit her niche.
Areas for Improvement
Although Gold’s social media presence is strong, one area for improvement would be to implement high-quality images on her Story Highlights with better readability. Highlights are one of the first things seen when a visitor enters a profile. It is important to make these as clear and professional as possible to ensure the messaging of your account is getting noticed. Some of the titles of Gold’s Highlights may be unclear to a new follower. For example, in Gold’s Highlight titled, “IWD”, the cover image used is a photo of a paper that says “International Women’s Day” in small unclear writing. Alternatively, Gold’s team could add a graphic image with the title, “International Women’s Day” in large and clear writing to fill the cover bubble. This would categorize the Highlight more clearly. By adding themed and clear cover photos, users will be better able to understand each Highlight’s content and Gold’s first impression will appear more credible and professional.
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Conclusion
If you have something that you are passionate about and want to use your skills to help others on social media, Jacqueline Gold is someone to look to for inspiration. Her content authentically advocates for women in business and she has created a safe place for anyone to look for advice and start their own career journeys. Gold’s social media presence adds value to her company and proves her trustworthy leadership as Executive Chair at Ann Summers. She inspires others on a personal and professional level while also gaining awareness for her brand. Jacqueline Gold’s Instagram account is one that any executive would be proud of.
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