For the love of Instagram

I’m not in the right target age bracket to like Instagram…..so how come I do?

I don’t really believe that Instagram is where my clients are but that doesn’t stop me loving it! It’s soooo creative, Which I don’t really think of myself as, even though it’s been pointed out to me many times that I am….

I’ve been hooked on the elements of how it all works for some time now and although I don’t use it enough for my business, I’ve had fun using it for my clients’ businesses. I think that’s the key. It’s fun to use and you see amazing graphics from various users who have created such beautiful images.

When did you start using Instagram?

Trying to trace back my original interest probably takes me to spring 2018, when I started creating for my friend’s page. I played with creating videos out of stills initially and using iMovie - what an amazingly simple yet effective piece of software that is to use! There were lots of frustrations along the way! I remember trying to convert my vertical videos into landscape ones - lots of errors but lots of discoveries too, like new apps to change your “canvas” like InShot and Clips.

If you know me, you know I’m not the most “techy” of people, but I have been known to surprise my grown-up boys with some of the tips I’ve picked up! Actually, I really should stop thinking that about myself - having just purchased a microphone, webcam and multi USB adapter to record some training videos, I’m way more confident in the tech than I used to be….. Out of my comfort zone, yes, but learning and moving forward never-the-less, which is all good! Thankfully all the tech is plug and play these days so you don’t have to be a tech wiz to get all this stuff to talk to each other. I’ll let you know how the filming goes! I’m still trying to ensure I have all the moving parts in order to make my online training course work and thanks to a lovely accountability partner, I feel like I’m making progress every day.

Which podcast do you get the most value from?

I digress, back to Instagram….for a few years now I’ve been an avid listener of the Social Media Marketing podcast - each day on my long dog walk, I generally absorb another podcast. Over the years there have been some amazing tips I’ve accumulated about using Instagram and I think it’s because it’s so versatile that it appeals to me so much.

There’s no doubt that if you are a business to consumer business, Instagram is the place to be. For the feed and Instagram TV (IGTV) you can even schedule your posts through facebook’s very own Creator Studio, but the real gems are in the interaction you can achieve. “Stories” is by far my favourite element because it’s so free-flowing and original.

Use the engagement stickers in Stories

So many of the stickers encourage engagement and give you the opportunity to speak directly to your audience in the DMs (direct messages). Did you know you can even send those people who message you a voice note? Such a valuable element to help build lasting connections with.

I’ve come across a lovely instructor on Instagram named Kat Coroy - if you haven’t heard of her yet, check her out. She comes from a branding and designing background and has so many inventive tips to make your stories, reels and posts so much more engaging.

I mentioned reels there, have you come across those yet? They are Instagram’s answer to tik tok and truthfully, if you don’t want to take on another platform, I think reels are brilliant.

I haven’t got time in my business for social media!

I know what you’re thinking…. who’s got all day to play on instagram? In reality none of us have but if you’re looking to pick a social media channel and you believe your ideal clients are on this one, there’s so much on offer and it’s such a great option.

Remember to get your bio in order - your top line is searchable so include a description of what you do (you haven’t got many characters to play with so you’ll have to be inventive) and if you want more tips to get started, download my 7 Instagram to Supercharge your Engagement here.

If you simply create an account and start to look around to see what others are doing, I’m sure you’ll be inspired by their ideas, and why not give them some love while you’re there by liking some of their posts? Top tip….if you like 3 posts on someone's feed, you’ll show up in their notifications 3 times, and who’s not going to be curious enough to come and check you out and see who you are and what you do?

Is your content relevant and consistent?

When you’re using Instagram for business, it’s important to show what is relevant to your business. We’re all guilty of sharing a few too many pictures of our pets or our meals, but if you’re finding more of your posts are like that rather than about your business, it may be wise to have two separate accounts, as you can find it distracts from the messaging you’re trying to portray. Think of using Instagram to let your ideal client get to know you and get to understand a bit about what motivates you and how you can help them. If you post predominantly lovely pictures about anything at all, you’re not giving your audience a reason to invest their valuable time with you. People follow others on social media to either learn something or be entertained so try to implement a bit of structure into your posts so that you have an idea of what you’re aiming to portray and, of course, be authentic with it. Show your potential clients enough of the real you to help them understand they want to work with you.

It’s not just about pretty pictures

This leads nicely onto appreciating that Instagram is so much more than pretty pictures and what you can achieve with it is significantly more than than most social media channels.

It’s slightly obtuse that I love it even though my potential clients probably aren't on it, but if I can enthuse others to use it for their business, if that’s where their audience is hanging out, then it’s all good.

If you’re already on Instagram and loving it, I’d really appreciate a follow so I can come and check you out, and if you’re not on Instagram, what’s holding you back? Don’t know where to start? Or you started an account and posted a few things and didn’t really know what to do next?

If you’d like some help come and talk to me or email me and let’s have a virtual coffee to talk through some solutions.

Prosper with Insta

Don’t forget that I have my forthcoming course on Instagram launching soon. If you’d like to be the first to know about it, or you know someone who would be interested, please sign up for my free download here and you’ll be sent some info as it comes out.

Thank you for reading and see you next week.