I guess if you are a visual person, then you will love Instagram. I find that I scroll WAY more on Instagram than I ever did on Facebook. I’m a visual person and I’m always drawn to pictures and colours. But that is just me. It might be very different for you. I’m starting to see some pretty exciting results coming from Instagram right now so I felt compelled to share with you what’s been happening for me and how I’ve been doing it. Similar to last week’s post on Linked In, there are 7 ways I use Instagram to build my following, reach and ultimately convert. So let’s get straight into it:
- Text/picture posts
These are your ordinary, every day posts you see in your feed. You don’t need a lot of text, really allow the image to do most of the talking. Most people on Insta are there for the pics – they don’t want to read “War and Peace” so keep it snappy.
- Story posts
These can be pictures or short videos where you can get really creative and add text and effects such as “Boomerang”. Again, as it only lasts for a short time, make it punchy.
- Reels
These are videos which you can add more effects to as well as music. They are super fun to create, quick and are a fantastic way to really demonstrate lifestyle. Insta LOVES Reels and will reward you with massive reach. A recent Reel I did about some shoes I bought got nearly 5,000 views!
- Messaging
Don’t hold back in sending a very innocuous message to your followers thanking them for following you. Start a conversation with them. Find out what made them follow you and when you uncover a need, introduce your product/service/opportunity.
- Linktr.ee
This is a fabulous service that you can add to your Bio where you get to showcase in greater detail what you do. Check out mine here: www.linktr.ee/fionajlindsay You can check your conversions in the back end also to see how each link you add is performing. It’s totally free! I’m achieving a phenomenal 52% click through just from this platform – WAY better than from my standard landing pages. I include links to my You Tube channel, Linked In profile, my Linked In Group, my Reddit and Pinterest profiles, a free Bootcamp, my blog and the products and services that I offer. You can now link PayPal so people can purchase directly from the platform. How cool is that?!
- Highlights
You can categorize your posts to what is called Highlights which show just underneath your profile. People will gain a great understanding of who you are and what you do at a quick glance.
- Bio and Hashtags
This is one of the most important ways to gain followers and increase your reach and subsequent engagement. Make sure you use emojis in your bio to break it up and make it look easier on the eye and interesting. Make it short and straight to the point on what you specialize in – you only get a certain amount of characters. Make sure your profile picture is the same across all social media platforms and it’s a head and shoulders shot of you smiling and looking straight at the camera. People want to see you! With hashtags, just Google the most popular current Instagram hashtags. What I do is make a note of any that relate to me and my brand, copy them to a Word document and then when I post, I refer to it and use the maximum amount of hashtags in a post – which is 30. The more you use, the greater your reach, meaning your followers will increase and the more people will engage with you. You can also search for tags in your niche by using the search box, type in your niche and then click the “Tags” tab. This will throw up the most used hashtags for that word.
As with any platform, you won’t see immediate results. The key is consistency. Post daily and get used to posting frequently, using as many hashtags as you possibly can, use good quality images – especially of yourself – use little text, use as much functionality as you can and have fun with it! I personally love the platform. No negativity. Loads of fun when you use the effects tool in Reels and Stories. Be mindful of your brand and what you are portraying. If you are involved in wellness, then don’t post pictures of you and your kids’ at McDonalds – obviously it will harm your brand. Stay true to who you are and what your brand is saying and just do it! It’s a super simple platform and just requires around 15 minutes’ a day to make it really work for you.