You guys know I love Instagram. It has been such an incredible tool for connecting with you all! Some of my best friends have come about because of this little app.
The biggest question people ask (myself included) is, “how do I grow my following?” It’s really easy to get into the mindset of “more, more, more” when it comes to followers. It’s even easier to get super impatient about it. We want to grow a bigger following and we want to do it fast.
Before we get too much further, please let me remind you: slow and steady wins the race.
With Instagram especially, I personally believe that it’s so much more valuable to make sure you’re creating genuine connections with your audience. Let’s say you want to get to 10k because you think that will bring more sales. More followers = more sales, right? Not necessarily. How many sales are you getting through Instagram right now? Even if you have 500 followers, you should be getting sales from them. If you’re not, then that’s the first thing we need to work on. Which leads me to my first point…
Focus on your current audience
Instagram is all about relationships. People are watching you, even if you think they’re not. Make sure you’re putting out quality content for them. Engage with them – respond to their stories, comment on their posts, respond to their comments on your posts.
Serve them good content. What can you offer them? What are you an expert in? I strongly suggest sharing weekly tips or insight about one particular topic that you love. Your audience will be so grateful to you, and will be more likely to book you in other areas.
Don’t Neglect Your Stories
And please, treat your stories with as much care as you do your feed. Stories are an amazing way of bringing your audience behind the scenes, sharing a bit of your personal life, or sharing links to your most recent posts. Too often I see accounts spending a long time making sure their feed content is curated, but when it comes to their stories, they just slap something up and call it a day. There are lots of apps that will help make your stories look just as good as your feed:
- VSCOx is what I use to edit my story photos & videos
- Momento is what I use to create stop-motion clips
- Apps like Unfold, Storyluxe, or Canva have many designs you can customize!
More than ever, people view stories more than they scroll through their feed. If you want more engagement on Instagram, your stories is where it’s at.
What are your go-to topics?
Have 2-3 stories or topics that you can come back to when you’re creating your posts. This will position you as an expert in those areas and your audience will be more likely to come to you for more. That could be wedding tips, design advice, or self-care. What do you love talking about? If you need some help, ask your friends and family what they would come to you for advice/help on, and then go from there!
15 touches a day
I heard recently that posting on Instagram 15 times a day, in some capacity, is good for your engagement. It’s hard for me to say if this is 100% accurate or not, because I tend to naturally do this. But I can say that my following consistently grows, so there may be some truth to it!
15 touches a day can mean posting once to your feed, 7 times to your stories, 4 comments, and dm’ing 3 people. It doesn’t mean you have to post 15 posts in one day, ha. You can split it up however you need too!
That’s all for today! Make sure you’re following me on Instagram @joelleelizabethphoto for more marketing tips & tutorials. And check out the “marketing tips” highlight while you’re there – I share a bunch of tutorials on how to use your Instagram stories and more!
Happy Instagramming!
Comments +