It is no secret that social media marketing can be tricky. That’s why one of the best ways to learn how to use social media to market your brand successfully is to look at who else has been able to do the same thing.
Our interviewee this month is one of those unique people setting an example of how to make the most of using social media to grow her audience without compromising on her one-of-a-kind brand.
Meet Tracy Lynn, founder of Tracy Lynn Movement. Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Tracy is a yoga and movement teacher who brought her practice online, using social media and livestreams to reach an ever-growing audience. In her own words, “I move my body and move people’s bodies for a living. As for who I serve, my cat fully expects service from morning to night, with no holidays off.”
We had the incredible opportunity to talk with her about some of the details that made social media a powerful tool for her brand.
Talking Social Media Marketing With Tracy Lynn
Q. What are some of the things you love most about yoga/movement and teaching it to others? What makes anatomy-based movement so unique?
A. I don’t like doing work that isn’t making an immediate positive impact on people’s lives. I like watching people figure themselves out over time, bit by bit, putting together things that they once said or thought were impossible. I say “anatomy-based” because a lot of movement methods pigeonhole all people into one body mold but we are all so incredibly different.
Through working with special populations, I had to learn to really make my teaching inclusive. I have worked with cancer survivors, people in treatment for addiction, and veterans. When you’re teaching people that are missing limbs, people that are working through emotional and physical trauma, you have to teach for THEIR body. Not just A body. A lot of my go-to cues went out the window when I started to do that work.
Q. How did you get started with marketing your yoga practice in the digital space? How has your social media strategy evolved and changed since you started promoting your business to where it is now?
A. I would just post myself moving in my living room. No fancy lights or cameras and also no editing whatsoever. It really looked like shit, but that’s where I started. What I share now is definitely more curated and edited on Instagram(@tracylynnwithlove), but I share more of my day-to-day training and tips on TikTok(@tracylynnwithlove / @tracylynnmovement).
Utilizing and repeating content across multiple platforms has been a helpful strategy. I have had things flop on TikTok but take off on IG, and vice versa.
Q. Was there a particular moment when you knew that your social media was really going to take off and explode? Was it a viral moment? Was it Dave Navarro commenting on one of your videos that helped you gain more online momentum?
A. Hah! Sorry to say that Dave didn’t move the needle, but he is an old friend and is supportive of what I am creating. Things changed for me when I started to post to TikTok, but I will say that going viral can be a double-edged sword depending on who sees your content. I have had things go extremely viral but most of the engagement being from people commenting negatively on my body or my hair, or I’ve had content go viral and it’s mainly thirsty dudes. My content that made a difference were the ones that reached Queer/Alt people that wanted to find an inclusive space to move their bodies.
Q. What helped you bring the darker, “alt” elements into your social media imagery when so many other yogis trend toward the “light?” What kind of difference has this made for your presence across platforms?
A. I have always had some darker imagery interwoven with my work. I don’t vibe with the “love and light” stuff even though I am a very effervescent and loving person IRL. I do believe that spiritual work requires venturing into both your darkness and your light – thinking that we don’t have those sides to ourselves is disingenuous in my opinion.
When I was a baby teacher, I had someone tell me to only share certain things on social media as a yoga/movement professional. This is total bullshit! We are human beings and elevating ourselves as being not flawed is misleading to students. The more I’ve been myself the more successful my work has been.
Q. With regular classes and everything else that you’re handling, what are some of the tools that have been the most helpful for creating content consistently to promote your business?
A. Scheduling my time and sticking to it. I wake up every morning around 5:30/6am and start working on social media and class promotion. It helps to get it out of my way so I can teach, create video content throughout the day without feeling behind.
Q: Do you have help or have you ever had help with managing your social media presence? What did that look like?
A. I haven’t hired out because I like to have complete control over my social media presence, and I also post by feel. I try to be as authentic as possible and have always felt that hiring out may dilute that authenticity.
Q. What tactics have you found that have yielded some of the best results for your social media engagement?
A. Play the hits. Social media is both complicated and very simple. Once you find the thing that works or has virility, people want to see the same thing again and again.
Q. Tell us about the biggest hurdle that you’ve overcome in regard to promoting your practice on social media?
A. Realizing that forcing myself to post is not the best for myself and my brand. I have also done many pivots in my imagery, my copy, and what I share. If you feel like what you’re doing isn’t really your vibe, don’t be afraid to burn it down and start new. I also stopped sharing my super intimate day-to-day things. I have a much more intimate and transparent version of myself in my Discord where I foster my community of students from all over the world.
Q. Which social media platform is your personal favorite to post and interact on? Similarly, which is your LEAST favorite, and why?
A. This answer changes for me.
For a couple years my favorite was TikTok because it was so rewarding, while my least favorite was Instagram for many reasons. I have had issues on IG with my content being reported. So lately I have been focusing on developing a new TikTok as well as Twitter for class alerts and stream-of-thought posts.
Q. Lifestyle and wellness is one of the biggest industries on social media. What advice would you give to other yoga instructors or alt wellness professionals for growing their presence and business online?
A. Just be consistent and authentic. I think it’s impossible to not emulate someone you admire somewhat, and model your initial presence off of their work. As long as that eventually guides you to create your own work. I do have an issue with people that copy and paste my work, and I have watched them all eventually burn out because it’s not their authentic voice.
Be yourself, people will be attracted to that.
Q: How important would you say your collaborations with other businesses, brands, and artists have been in the growth of your brand and online presence? How have you leveraged these to add additional revenue streams or opportunities?
A. Pretty important, especially now with the way social media is about collaborative posts and tagging. I have been fortunate to model for amazing artists like Soey Milk, Kent Williams, Stefanie Inagaki, and MM Fabrications. I have also worked with brands and been an ambassador for Lululemon, Melodia Designs, MDNT:45. Work with brands that work with your image. I turn down more things than I accept for this reason.
Q: Often people see the growth that is happening from the outside, but was/is there a downside to growing so quickly on social media? Did you have to alter certain operations within your business to meet more demand? Did it become too difficult to respond to inquiries in a timely manner? What was happening “behind the curtain” that you want more people to realize?
A. Absolutely. Many of my processes were adapted after getting an influx of clients to streamline communication. I didn’t struggle with responding but struggled with having boundaries with my work. I had some issues with my partner when I was too connected with my phone or laptop to answer inquiries or put out fires.
Interested in seeing more of Tracy Lynn? You can follow her on Instagram (@tracylynnwithlove), TikTok (@tracylynnwithlove) and Twitter (@TLAdenijiAdele), or become a supporter on her Patreon too!
Our biggest thanks go out to Tracy for taking the time to talk with us so we could share her hard-won lessons with you. For more tips, tricks, and discussions or the many topics that go into a brand’s marketing strategy, make sure to bookmark our page or sign up for our monthly newsletter so you never miss a blog post.
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Written by Brianna Fries, a California-based writer, editor, bookworm, and mother of two. You can contact her at brianna@rmcsofficial.com and discover more of her work at briwritesthings.com.