The ‘gram. Do we all have a love/hate relationship with this thing or what? It’s almost 2020 and the truth is, for better or for worse, Instagram is still THE best way to gain traction in your business (*cough* especially if you offer remote services or you sell anything online *cough*). Pretty much everyone is hanging out on the platform including your potential clients and customers, so you should be doing the same.
Has the platform changed? Yes.
But can you still see amazing results for your business? You absolutely can.
As someone who has been able to roll with the punches to keep my (mostly Instagram based) art business growing, I can tell you that there is tons of potential left in this platform.
But knowing how to use it to your business’s advantage is KEY.
Here are my best five tips for success on Instagram going into the New Year.
It’s about quality, not quantity
Stop worrying about growth. Seriously.
Your success is equivalent to your engagement rate, NOT to how many followers you have.
Here’s the thing: engagement comes from those who are ALREADY following you.
The better you can serve those who are already sitting at the table, the better your business will do (hello, conversions) AND the more your account will organically grow due to your high engagement rate (engagement = more visibility on the discover page and within hashtags).
Get to know your community so you can best serve them. Who’s already in your fan club? What drew them to your page? Why do they stick around?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions-- ask! The polls and questions you can run in your stories are a great way to do this.
Another way to strengthen the relationship with your current following is to show that you care by thoughtfully responding to comments and DM’s. This is also how you can get to know them even better.
*Fun fact: Almost 50% of my clients and customers are people who have been in my DM’s at one point or another.
2. Provide Value
This is an expansion on tip #1, but these days it’s all about QUALITY content.
The days of posting once or twice a day as your best strategy are over. In fact, a large quantity of posts that aren’t properly engaged with can work against you, knocking your posts down in the algorithm.
Quality = the level value it provides to your followers.
Even though Instagram can be a fun place to show off your fancy meals and favorite cat (guilty), you should aim to keep at least 80% of your content high value.
To get an idea of what valuable content is made of, think about who YOU follow and the value you get from the posts of your favorite accounts.
Before sharing something, ask yourself, “What am I hoping that my ideal client will get out of seeing this?”
It might be something simple like, “Joy from the beauty of this photo,” or, “A laugh.” Or it might run a bit deeper like education on a certain topic.
No matter how simple or nuanced the value though, it should always tie back to the value of YOU and YOUR SERVICE in some way.
‘Cause we’re here for business, remember?
*Pro tip: Pay attention to what gets the best engagement via your analytics and then double down on that type of content.
3. Create Shareable Content
If you ARE looking for growth (aka more new followers to your page) one of the best tactics is creating shareable content. Sorry to say, but hashtags alone just aren’t going to cut it anymore.
This is why meme accounts can blow up overnight and why therapists with deeply resonate quotes are having their hay day on the platform: their content is easily shared.
People typically share things that they identify with, want to be associated with, deeply resonate with, that was helpful to them, or that made them laugh.
If you’re funny, lean into that.
If that’s unnatural for you or not your brand, sharing from the heart, calling out a truth or something a little taboo, or writing something that solves a problem can get a ton of traction.
4. Engaging Stories
Stories are a fabulous way to connect with your following, but their visibility also runs on an algorithm.
A great way to spark engagement is to encourage DM’s, and use the stickers like polls, questions and the emoji slider.
Similar to monitoring which of your posts get the most engagement, you can look in your archive to see which stories had the most views. This is an indicator of which stories got bumped up in the alorigithm due their popularity with your following. Again, double down on that kind of content!
5. Emphasize what makes you and your business different
While you may have heard the advice “be yourself” a few times before, this is actually really important in a time when everyone and their mom is trying to run an online business.
If you find yourself trying to make your posts more generic or vanilla for fear of being disliked, or wanting to be liked by everyone...don’t.
You’ll have much more success if you connect with a specific group of people, so start looking for what sets you apart.
Are you multi-passionate?
Is your background slightly different than others in your field?
What perspective are you bringing to the table that might be even just the tiniest bit different than your competitors?
What, from outside of your field of expertise, do you bring to the mix?
These are answers worth fleshing out. Once you land on a couple things, find ways to work it into your brand and into your content!
I hope you enjoyed these tips! Tons of businesses are making their debut with great results on this platform every, single day. If they can do it, so can you. I promise.
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Written by Devon Walz. In addition to being a content creator for Sourced, Devon is mixed media fine artist and art educator. When she isn’t dreaming up new topics for the Sourced blog or chatting away with her co-workers, you can probably find her covered in paint and jamming out in her Santa Ana art studio. Find her on Instagram @devonwalzart and online at www.devonwalz.com.