AI & Social Media: Instagram Tips for Interior Designers with Lezlie Swink
Hosted by Jenna Gaidusek. Lezlie Swink of Swink Social Co, who has run Jenna's Instagram for two years, came straight from a stack of client analytics reports to share what's working on Instagram right now, what isn't, and where AI fits in.
Lezlie shared the two things we talked about in this episode. Make a copy of each and they're yours to adapt.
Okay, so this was the big one for me. Social posts used to help you get found on Instagram, and that was about it. Then public posts started showing up in Google results. Now, Lezlie says, they're showing up in AI search tools too, which is where a lot of people go to ask their questions now.
So if Instagram feels quiet lately, keep posting. Your content is working harder for you than your analytics might show. One catch: your account has to be public. Business, creator, or personal all work, but private accounts aren't included.
Instagram long-form video is rolling out, too. Instagram is testing longer, horizontal videos (very YouTube of them). Neither of us had the feature on our accounts yet, but they're showing up in the Reels feed and at the top of the Explore page. Lezlie's advice: you do not have to start making long-form content. If you already have it, post it when the feature shows up, since early adopters usually get a boost. If it takes off and you have the capacity, then think about making more.
Alt text is the text that sits behind an image to describe it. It started as an accessibility feature, so screen readers can tell people with visual impairments what's in a picture, and it's also part of ADA compliance on your website. If you leave it blank on Instagram, it writes something generic for you. If you write it yourself, you get to add the words a client would actually search for.
Hashtags don't really do much anymore. Instagram is moving toward search, and that means keywords. Alt text is one more place to put them.
- Describe the image first. What room is it, what's in it, what does it look like? It's a description, not a sales pitch.
- Add your location. City and neighborhood, so you show up when people search locally.
- Add your service. Full-service design, kitchen renovation, eDesign, whatever you actually offer.
- Think like your client. What would they type into a search bar? Use those words.
- Let AI write it. I have Claude write mine whenever it builds a carousel. It doesn't need to be in your brand voice, it just needs the details, so tell it to always include location and service.
For years, Lezlie has introduced every newly photographed project with a reel. Going through this month's client reports, those reels are not doing well anymore. A big part of it is who sees what:
- Pushed to your followers first
- People who already know you, so they engage more
- Better engagement numbers
- Shown mostly to non-followers
- People scrolling fast with no reason to stop
- Need hooks and context to work
You can still share a project as a reel. It just can't be only a pretty room. Stack your hooks: a strong visual, on-screen text, and some context about the project. I know a lot of designers don't love text on their videos, but people need a reason to stay. And if you want to see what's working right now, go look at your Explore page.
About auto-captions and translation. I have auto-translation on for all my videos, and I always watch with the sound off, so captions matter to me. Translating can reach a broader audience, but if your clients are local, it might not be what you need. Picking your own caption style in Edits, like words that pop up when you want them to, is something the automatic transcript can't do. Lezlie's advice: experiment and see.
You know those posts that say "comment a word and I'll send you the link"? That's a DM automation. We used to use ManyChat for this. Lezlie switched my account to ReplyRush because it covers Facebook and Instagram in one place. For her own account, she's using Meta's built-in AI, which she calls Muse. It's the little blue scribble at the top of Instagram and Facebook.
Here's the part that sold me. Every time someone follows Lezlie, they get an automated welcome DM: happy you're here, here's who I am, here's what we do, and here's a freebie just for following. That one message put about 100 new people on her email list in two weeks. Amy on her team even had Muse make a pretty basic video about measurements for a client, and it went viral.
I'll be honest, I did not want to give Meta any more of my information, and I've been wary of their terms and conditions because some of the proposed changes were really hurting small businesses. Lezlie had just read that Meta is postponing those changes after a lot of pushback (and plenty of regulation coming out of Europe). I'd still read the current terms before you set anything up. Lezlie shared the exact prompt she uses so you can adapt it for your own account.
Lezlie's husband is an accountant who's just starting to use AI, and he's been getting reports from coworkers that he called garbage. That's the pattern: AI works when you already know what good looks like, and it goes sideways when people lean on it as a crutch. That's where the slop comes from, and those captions that could be written for any project.
Lezlie uses Claude to build monthly content plans. She drops in each client's analytics report, the strategy is already saved in the project, and it reconciles everything: what's working, what to post, what the framework is. It still takes her a while, because she's combing through all of it. And yes, she got into an argument with Claude, and it was right. (I argue with mine too, especially on Fridays.)
- Finding and following patterns
- Keeping you inside your strategy
- Telling you "you can't do that" (annoying, but useful)
- The creative, on-brand spin
- Knowing what's trending on Instagram this week
- Anything that hasn't been made yet
Same thing I've been saying about design for years. We're the trendsetters and the tastemakers. If we haven't made it yet, AI doesn't know it exists. Lezlie read a list of the most AI-proof jobs a few months ago, and social media strategist was on it.
Her two closing tips: have a marketing plan, the same way you'd never start a client project without one, and plug it into your AI so you aren't starting from scratch every month. And get on video, even twice a month. In a feed full of AI content, a real person showing up again and again is what people trust.
For the record, I use a filter called Natural on my videos. I gained weight during pregnancy and had terrible acne growing up, so it helps me show up with confidence, and now it's about consistency too. Lezlie went the other way. She's done videos with no makeup, and she swears the rougher you look, and if you can slip a typo in there, the better it does. People love to pick apart a typo. Great engagement.
Lezlie put together a list of project brief questions any designer can use. One project can give you hundreds of posts, depending on how deep you go, and the brief gives your AI the context to find them.
This is why I keep saying organization is the backbone of all of this. Set up a project folder in your AI tool and in your cloud or local storage (hopefully both), with subfolders, voice clips, and meeting transcripts that tell the project's story. The firms I work with that have it together adapt to AI the fastest. Lezlie has noticed AI doing a much better job pulling the right files from connected Google folders lately, too.
And please back it up. Google Drive synced to your computer is not a backup. It's the same files in two places. I use Google Takeout on a schedule. It zips up whatever Google files I choose and emails me a link, and I save that zip to an external hard drive. Now it's on my computer and on the hard drive, and I don't have to remember to do it.
Lezlie's free resources, plus where to follow both of us. If you need help with Instagram or Pinterest, Lezlie is your person. (We never got to Pinterest this time. That's a whole other episode, and my ten-year-old needs to listen to it.)
Jenna is the go-to educator for design professionals who want to use technology without losing their creative edge. A designer turned tech advocate, she is a nationally recognized speaker, podcast host, community builder, and custom app builder based in Charleston, SC.
She's also an analytics nerd, which is why she and Lezlie end up deep in Instagram data every time they talk.
Lezlie helps interior designers use Instagram and Pinterest to get found and generate leads. She has managed Jenna's Instagram for about two years, and the two have taught classes and spoken together, including the AI panel at Fall High Point Market.
She runs a social media membership for interior designers and shares free templates and guides on her site.
The Loft is the upstairs live stage inside the AI Social Club. Podcast recordings happen there on select Fridays at 11:00 AM ET, and every live date is posted in the Classroom calendar.
The edited episode publishes Saturday mornings to podcast platforms and YouTube.
Disclaimer: This blog was written using AI as a recap from the recording then edited by the author for accuracy and details.