Jacksonville, Florida
If you have followed me for any length of time then you know I love showing up on Instagram. My ‘good morning friends!’ has become one of my favorite starts to my day. Since I show up so regularly I’m often asked by other business owners tips on how to do it themselves. I am stoked to be giving you all some of my best tips for Instagram. I hope you’re able to take lots of nuggets away from this and grow your own account!
Setting Up Your Account
The first thing you want to do is ensure you have optimized your account. This begins with your name. The easier your name is the better. @pompyportraits is better than @pompy_portraits or some other variation. If your IG handle is the name of your business then the name on your profile does not need to be the name of your business. That field is actually searchable within Instagram so you’re going to want to make that what you do. When you go to my profile you will see that it says ‘Jacksonville Photographer.’ Be sure to take advantage of this real estate.
You will want to ensure your bio is crystal clear too. It needs to include who you are, what you do, who you do it for, and where you do it from. One of my biggest pet peeves is not being able to find a location for a business when I visit their Instagram profile.
Keep your profile photo updated. It should be a photo that is in color, looking directly at the camera, or your logo if you’re product or service-based.
Tips to Utilize Your Stories
Instagram stories are prime real estate for letting your audience get to know the person behind the brand. They allow you to give your audience a peek at the behind-the-scenes and your life. You can also use Instagram polls, question boxes, and other interactive tools to increase engagement in your stories.
Keep your stories branded
Stories should still be on brand and focusing on 3-5 categories within your stories is a great way to accomplish that goal. Some potential categories for your stories:
- Educate: Show you are the expert in your field.
- Entertain: Show those behind the scenes and day to day life.
- Inspire: Cheer your audienceone, share your “why”, show your gratitude, share client reviews.
I make sure that my stories are physically branded too with these apps to help:
- KD Pro
- Unfold
- UNUM
- Storyluxe
- RNI Films
- VSCO
- Tezza
- Lightroom CC
- InShot
Show Up Authentically
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy who you are.” – Simon Sinek
One of the best tips for Instagram I can give you is to show your face. Your audience wants to see and get to know you. You need to post a photo of yourself at least every 9 posts. This helps boost your engagement, which will increase your reach, and build your authority in the space. All of which boosts your ‘know, like, and trust”
factor which is what people need in order to buy from you.
Did you know it takes an average of 6-8 times of someone seeing your brand to move forward with possibly working with you? If you’re not showing up then your audience isn’t seeing you and your brand ends up forgotten.
Invest in your community
It does not matter if you have 1 follower or 100,000 followers. You have a community, an influence, and an audience who wants to hear from you. Be sure you’re responding to every comment, answering every DM, and supporting those in your audience. Building relationships is 80% of what it takes to have a successful business. You cannot expect to have a thriving Instagram if you’re not spending time loving on your audience.
Are you ready to implement my tips for Instagram?
Whether you’re new to Instagram or have been using it since those awful foodie pictures with grainy filter days, these tips will help you optimize your profile so you can start using Instagram as a solid lead source. What tips for Instagram will you be implementing ASAP?
Be sure you’re following me and hanging out with me over at my Instagram and my DMs are always open for questions.
If you are interested in a one-on-one mentorship opportunity with me, click here for more details!
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