News flash: you don’t need MORE Instagram followers. You need BETTER followers.
A common misconception when it comes to Instagram followers is that more = better. The more followers you have, the more engagement you will get, the more leads you can generate, the more sales you can make, the more partnerships you can score, and so on.
But here’s the cold hard truth: if you have thousands or even MILLIONS of followers who don’t interact with you or aren't invested in your brand, then it won't matter either way.
Hence why when you’re building your Instagram strategy, you should focus more on attracting the RIGHT followers, not the MOST followers.
Wondering how exactly you can do that? Let me show you!
Buyer Persona
Before you even publish your first Instagram post, you should have an idea of WHO you are talking to. You need to know their demographics, such as their gender, age, location, and psychographics (behaviors, likes, dislikes, etc.).
This is the first step to making sure that you are speaking and communicating with your ideal audience in the right way, so they will listen to you, connect with you, engage with your content, sign-up for your email list, and maybe even buy from you!
Branding
While there are SO MANY aspects to building a brand (which we will get into shortly), it’s important to remember this…
Your brand is the relationship between your audience and your business.
Your brand is the relationship that consumers think, feel, and have with your product or service. As you build that relationship, your brand will become more human to customers and obtain meaning and value, creating loyal and dedicated customers. As your social media presence is a continuity of your brand’s relationship with their customers/potential customers, it’s important to make sure that your brand is consistent here as well.
Here are a few important things you should consider when building your brand:
Mission Statement and Values
Clearly identify what you stand for as a brand. While you may only state your mission statement and values on a dedicated section on your website, this message will be communicated either directly or indirectly through ALL of your communications.
Visual Identity
Want people to stop scrolling on Instagram whenever they see your post? Make it recognizable.
In this case, you want to choose a color palette and fonts that you will use consistently throughout all of your marketing channels. This way, people can recognize your business as they scroll through social media, separating you from everyone else’s posts that are fighting for that same attention.
Tone of Voice
The last big part of your brand is your voice. How do you speak to people? What tone do you take? Are you witty, or are you super serious? Do you curse once in a while, or do you keep things clean? Find out HOW you want to sound to your customers and whatever that tone of voice is...and stick to it.
Pro Tip: Choose a tone of voice that resonates with that buyer persona of yours. When you speak to them, you want them to engage with you, not be turned off by the way you speak and dash off.
Content Strategy
Here’s where things start to get interesting...
Your content marketing strategy that you develop for your biz on social media should revolve around the goal you have.
Once you’re clear on what are the goals you want to reach, it’s time to create content that is in line with that goal. You can do this by establishing content pillars, a content distribution strategy, a video marketing strategy, and much more.
Engagement
These days, Instagram doesn't make it as easy to get in front of your audience. With an ever-changing algorithm, relying on content and hashtags alone will not cut it.
The solution? Create a targeted engagement strategy to get your brand in front of your target audience of choice to introduce them to your brand, foster relationships with them, and get them to visit your page.
Hashtags
Wondering how to get your posts in front of a certain audience? Hashtags are your best bet.
Conduct some hashtag research in your niche or industry to find out what hashtags are available to you, what your competitors are using, which ones your audience follows, and those that are related to the content you are posting.
This will help you get your content in front of the eyes of those who REALLY value your content and will most likely engage with your brand, like/comment/share/save your content, and follow your brand. This is because you are using the same hashtags, therefore having the same interests.
Copywriting
Instagram captions are often overlooked.
But here’s the thing…
Your graphics and photos are what will get people to stop scrolling, but it is the CAPTION that gets people to engage with your content on social media.
Those one-liner captions can work in certain instances, but not all the time. A good social media caption starts with a hook, followed by some solid valuable content, and ends with the CTA (call-to-action) you want your audience to take.
So there you have it! All of the different things you need to consider in order to create a strong social media presence and content strategy that will bring in the RIGHT followers.
Still have some questions? Shoot me an email by clicking here!