Instagram is still the talk of the town even with all it’s changes and analytic fluctuations.
I highly recommend the platform to all my coaching clients who are seeking to grow an online business. It’s a market place within itself.
Social media is here. It’s not going away. It’s not a passing fad. Be where your customers are. They are on social media. ~Lori Ruff
There are so many opportunities in one space and many small business owners miss it. According to Social Sprout, Instagram has over a billion active monthly users.
And it’s not just teens and young adults. IG is maturing with more users in many different age brackets.
Influence is not popularity. ~ Brain Solis
So.. if you are a business owner, some of your clients are on Instagram too. What better way to get to know them and communicate within the platform.
Here’s how you can be successful on Instagram
1. Ask yourself would you follow you? This is a tough question because most people will say yes. The reality is people online are looking to connect with interesting people who peak their inner desires, wishes, aspirations and dreams. That’s why entertainers and celebrities typically have large followings. Let’s be clear.. it’s not all about followers or is it. Honestly speaking, you can have little following and still have more engagement than a larger followed page.
2. Do you engage and like or do you just watch and hate? Yes.. social media (Instagram) has a tendency to be cliquish. There are many who just watch and hate and never click the like or watch button for many reasons. Especially for normal people like you and I. Most people on social media who engage and like their followers post are everyday people. Communicating with them beyond a like builds rapport, respect, like and trust. If you are a business owner or seeking to start one, you should aim to do more engaging and liking with people you hope to connect with and that you want to connect with you. After all, people buy from people they know, like, trust and respect.
3. Do you deliver value and information or are all your post about you and what you did? If you want people to connect with you, being self centered is not the way to go. I personally get turned off by seeing people post selfies of themselves all day long with no significance or meaning towards the post. Yes.. IG is a visual platform. But brands who post share stories that are relatable to their audience. If you own a business or trying to start one, that’s not a good strategy. IG followers are looking for you to help them with something. Need more content ideas to share on your social media. Check out The Social Content Strategy here.
4. Is your page visually appealing or is it dull and monotone? A visually appealing page is one that gives variety with consistency. Not everything looks the same, but everything pretty much revolves around something similar. A monotone page looks the same with no diversity. How boring to the eyes. In order to be more appealing, give a visual presentation of life and relatability to your followers. Check out my IG page here. As you can see, I give my followers variety in each post.
5. Are you a “me too” page or do you have something different and interesting to offer? Yep.. there are a lot of people on IG doing the same thing. From business builders, to network marketers, to food chefs, to travel agents, to everything in between. What is it about you and your page that makes you stand out? As a business owner, you must be different otherwise you will get lost in an already crowded space. If you need help aligning your IG page with your business or goals, check out Instagram Hacking here.
6. Do your followers consider you an expert or a specialist at what you do? If not, why not? Again, with so many people proclaiming to be this and that, why should they think differently of you. Do you share knowledge? Do you give advice? Do you peak their interest?
Be the boss and show your followers why you are.
These 6 tips are essential to mastering an online presence anywhere, not just on IG. Online is not a place to be an introvert. In fact, it should give you the courage to get out of your comfort zone and network to build your networth.
Engage, enlighten, encourage and especially be yourself. Social media is a community effort and everyone is an asset. ~ Susan Cooper
If you need help being accountable in business and on your social plarforms, check out The Start Up CEO Business club here.
If these tips gave you more insight into online marketing, let me know in the comments. Which one stood out to you? I look forward to hearing from you.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to catch everything business, real estate, life, travel and food. I’m also on YouTube dropping nuggets. Check out my channel here.
Until next time, blessings and go dominate your social space.
I think it’s all about engaging with others and actually caring about the content you post – making sure it’s engaging (whether the picture you post is, or the caption is), because at the end of the day, people want to talk about themselves, so if the content is relatable, you’ll more than likely have people following you because they can talk about their experiences.
These are great tips for being successful on Instagram – its a tough platform to get it right on, that’s for sure!
Instagram is a powerful social media network! It offers so many awesome things to business.
That it is and does. 💯
Instagram is such a great tool for business! Thank you for sharing your tips!
You’re welcome! Yes.. it’s a great, profitable business tool.
Instagram can help scale your business in many ways. I loved the questions, I never have asked myself those things but I definitely will on my next planned post.
Great! When I’m assisting small business owners, we tackle struggles that keep them from growing. It’s always good to see things from a new pair of eyes.
Such perfect timing, Instagram is next on my list to really dig into and learn how to make it work better for my business. These are some great tips and definitely a few things I will put into action.
Instagram is great for business. Every client I work with we dive into struggles and find ways to make them strengths.
You brought up some good questions to ask yourself about your account. Woth your tips I think I can work on creating better captions. Thanks for sharing.
Yep.. when I’m working with new clients, we dive into everything social. There is so much opportunity that many miss.
Great post! Social media is a great tool to help market ones business! Once you learn the strategies and the algorithms you can do some great things with the platform
Yes.. I love helping my clients uncover things they perhaps missed. Strategy planning is awesome.
So many great tips!!! I swear every time I master IG and start to gain tons of followers, IG changes things on me and I have to restratigizea
Oh the would you follow you is a great question! My instagram is very niche so I would but I also won’t if I wasn’t into that.
Yep.. most people think they are doing it right. But a fresh pair of eyes spill the tea. I love helping my clients uncover new things.
This is a guide! I struggle with growing my Instagram, so this was something I really needed to read.
Great! This is a part of the training I offer to my clients. We dive deep into their business struggles.
You make SO many valid points in this post! Esp #3 and #4 – I think so many bloggers (at least) can so easily lose sight of these when posting content to IG…
Yes.. IG is nothing but a mini blog and your audience can be attracted to you their too.
I’m still trying to get it right on my personal page. Imagine trying to keep up on a business page. It’s a lot of hard work to keep up on social media! Let’s not forget the hashtags that can bring folks to your page as well. Like, it’s a lot to keep under control. I would have to hire someone for my business page b/c I just simply couldn’t do it all. Thanks for the great tips tho! Definitely helpful and overwhelming to think about, but necessary!
Oh yes.. if you are doing it all and if you want to be successful, strategy is important. Social media in itself is a job.