When it comes to Instagram, I’m pretty sure that everyone has gone crazy, right?
Questions arise like:
How do I get more followers?
How do I get more likes?
Why am I not getting sales?
And no one asks a question like this: how can I continue to offer value?
Gone are the days where we could post about something in a flatlay and just know it’ll sell.
There is something I always find myself repeating over and over and that’s this: I would rather have 1,000 engaged followers than 30,000 non-engaged followers. I would rather have a community, than a follower base. I’d rather offer quality content than random, spur of the moment junk.
So how do you even get 1,000 engaged followers? It’s actually really simple.
1: Figure out who you’re even speaking to.
Grab a piece of paper & write the first name that you’d give your target market if they were just one person. List every detail about them from what they like to do for fun, to how much money they make, to what stage of business they’re in (ie: new business owner, seasoned business owner, retired). You can even consider what issues they face every day in their business and personal life. I created a free target market workbook so you could easily figure out who they are, you can download that here.
2: Create content they need and want.
By understanding your target market, you’re able to know their issues and frustrations. They want help with whatever issues they’re facing, so give them that help. For example, my community needs help with branding, their website, and general business advice for the digital space. I know that so I offer valuable content that helps them round out their branding, understand their website, answer questions they have about selling online, and growing their business.
Find what they want and share more of that. You can find this out through asking in Instagram stories with the help of quizzes + polls. You can even ask them to DM you or create content that asks them what their biggest pain points are.
If you’re wanting to build a community of moms, ask them what their biggest frustrations everyday are. If you want to build a community of business owners, ask them what part of business they struggle with the most.
All you have to do is ask.
3: Be consistent.
I know there are times you need a break, and I’m all for that. However, you need to ensure you aren’t disappearing entirely off the face of the earth for a month at a time. The internet grows fast, Instagram changes 10x faster. This is why it’s important to plan content and schedule it out in advance so that when you’re feeling that tug of disappearance, you’re able to have content that backs you up and allows you to leave for a bit without it being noticed.
And, if you’re feeling sick of posting on your feed, no worries. Give your feed a break for a bit and just utilize stories. Share your day, what you’re working on, different quotes that inspire you, polls, quizzes, and even your thoughts. Don’t be scared of giving your feed a break as long as you’re still showing up in some way.
PS: I created a guide that allows you automate your entire social media presence for the entire month. If you ever want to take the time to step back without it being noticed, it may be right for you. You can find that here.
4: Engage
To continue growing your community, you need to build relationships with those in the digital space. What I always suggest is finding 10-15 accounts per day that would love your content, who fit your idea of your ideal client or customer, and engaging with them authentically.
Don’t spam them. Don’t try and sell your products. ENGAGE by commenting in response to what they’ve posted. Comment and like three to four of their latest posts. If you really love what they’re sharing, send them a direct message or follow them (only if you truly do love their content!)
10-15 accounts per day. Everyday. Don’t stop!
Tip: When you post on Instagram, don’t run away from the app. In fact, you should stay there responding to as many comments as possible. Answer your direct messages, thank people for sharing your content. You’re never too much of anything to ignore those who appreciate you and show you some love.
Follow these four steps, one by one, for the next month and track your growth through the Instagram app. I also love to manually track what content did best for me in google sheets. Old fashioned, I know. But, I love google sheets because it allows me to write out the content and highlight which posts did really well and which ones flopped!
I’d love to hear if you have any tips or anything that has worked phenomenally for you!
