So many social media platforms and don’t know where to invest your time?

 

With so many social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn, it can be hard to choose where to spend your time.  My general rule of thumb has always been to chose a maximum of two social media platforms to focus on.  Chose the two that make the most sense for YOU.  The ones you love and are finding success and customers.  You want to see results for your efforts… right?

 

Let’s focus on Instagram, and why it is a great  platform to utilize

 

• For starters, it is user friendly and easy to quickly respond and engage.
• In June of 2018, Instagram had reached 1 billion monthly active users.  You read that right… ONE… BILLION!!!
• 6 in 10 online adults have Instagram accounts AND 2 out of every 3 adults ages 18-29 use Instagram.  You are able to reach over half the online population on one platform!

 

 

7 Tips To Follow When Embarking On The Instagram Journey

 

1. Find your flow.

• Feed Consistency – Pay attention to what your feed looks like together. For example, is it clustered, organized, and easy to follow?
• Feed Style – Finding the style that works for you is important.  Figure out what that right ratio of pictures of yourself, quotes, scenery, and other things will be.   
• Color Scheme – Take a look at the color of your pictures and how it makes the page look. Choose a style and color scheme that is aesthetically appealing to you and your audience. You can manipulate photos with filtering apps, such as VSCO, Snapseed, Afterlight, and many more.

 

 

 

 

2. Join the Instagram community.

• Leave smart comments that create interaction, not just one or two word responses.  Find common ground with your community.
• Start a dialogue and engage people who are interacting with your photos.
• Interact & Inspire. Make friends with the community.
• Add location to help engage with people in the area.  Research shows that doing this gets 79% more feedback.
• Socialize and reciprocate as much as possible. You will attract a lot more people by just making it a point to comment and like others’ pictures or videos on Instagram. Once you start doing this, you will become a top contributor to the Instagram community.

 

3. Find your voice / Craft a killer caption.

• Your caption should inspire and document what it felt like or what the emotion and experience was like to be there. For instance, give imagery that gets people interacting and engaging with you.
• Tell a story!  People can always relate better to stories.  It helps stimulate feeling as though they are with you. 

Note: Though I say find your voice, don’t overdo the selfies.  Too many selfies can come across as vain and annoy your followers.  Once you lose a follower, the probability of getting them back is next to none.

 

4. Aspire to Inspire on Instagram.

• Look at things differently than other people have if you are doing the same thing as others. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but give a different viewpoint.  You know… give it your own feel. 
• Set up your Instagram with the intention to brand yourself as a leader by leading with value driven content.
• Don’t set up an Instagram account branding yourself as a MLM business, even if you are, or turn it into one big advertisement. If you’re doing this… STOP. RIGHT. NOW! Instagram is a social site and doing this is a total TURN OFF to your followers!
• Follow the 80/20 rule (80% value and 20% promo).  I like to think of it as peppering in some business posts, for instance, behind the scenes posts that look at what you do in your business, giving your followers a feel of that desirable lifestyle it allows you to live.
• DON’T post all the time about your business trying to sell, sell, sell.  It’s kind of like putting mosquito repellent on and repelling your followers.
• DO post things of value, like marketing tips, quotes, videos etc.

 

5. Proper use of hashtags.

• Using hashtags that are RELEVANT to your content is extremely useful.  You will lose followers if you are posting about food and then hashtaging #life4like.  Not relevant and spammy!
• The maximum hashtags you can use on Instagram is 30.  I recommend using 8-11, otherwise, you can come across as spammy.
• Make sure you aren’t using any of the blocked hashtags on Instagram.  Check out the list on the link!

 

6. Don’t Get Distracted.

• Posting consistently good content every single day creates growth.  It’s about being social… “social media”.  
• Don’t flip flop and be an every once in a while person.  If you want people to follow you give them a reason to… you will only get desirable results if you post consistently on Instagram.
• Stay consistent with what you’re representing and what your target market wants.
• Study business account analytics to stay current with the demand.

 

7. Use Instagram Stories, IGTV, and videos!

• Save your Instagram Live and you will be the first in the algorithm. 
• Videos receive 38% more engagement than image posts and 2.1x the amount of comments.

 

 

 

 

 

The Down And Dirty Of Social Media

You have to stay up to date with the changes that are constantly taking place on Instagram, as well as all social media platforms.  My moto… adapt or DIE!  Above all, social media platforms are constantly evolving.  Tell us, what platform are you finding the best results on?  Oh…and one more thing… if you are already on Instagram, come over and visit us @msamybell.com!  

 

Send Amy Bell A Message