Getting to grips with Instagram with Grace Scott

 

DEFINING INSTAGRAM

‘Instagram is a free social media platform for sharing photos and videos.
The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filtersand organized by hashtags and geographical tagging.
Posts can be shared publicly or with pre-approved followers.
Users can browse other users’ content by tags and locations and view trending content. Users can like photos and follow other users to add their content to a personal feed.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram

WHY DO BUSINESS’ USE INSTAGRAM?

A part of the marketing funnel. The marketing funnel filters customers from no idea to loyal customer and brand advocate. The funnel is as follows:

Awareness
Consideration
Conversion
Loyalty
Advocacy

Many businesses use Instagram to generate awareness through hashtags. They may also filter their target market through the funnel by developing relationships and doing exclusive social media promotions to encourage sales.

WHAT DO PEOPLE DO ON INSTAGRAM?

Follow – ‘Follow’ accounts you like so that their content comes up in your feed. You can also be notified when they post.

Engage – ‘Like’, comment, and save posts you want to interact with or come back to later, e.g. useful information.

Visit a website – Click on a link in people’s bios (profile) to find out more about their business and be directed to their website.

Buy something – Instagram Shopping allows people to make purchases without leaving the App. Good for retail.

WHAT SHOULD MY INSTAGRAM PROFILE INCLUDE?

Your Instagram profile (pic + bio + highlights + grid overview) is so important because:

● First impressions matter.
● There’s mere seconds between people deciding if they want to invite your profile into their valuable feed scroll time.
● It’s your ultimate – and arguably only – way to cue to your target market that you’re there to serve them.

Your Profile Pic should be three things: eye catching, consistent, and recognizable.

Eye catching – The Instagram profile is surrounded by white space, so a white circle with a tiny dot in the middle is unlikely to resonate in anyone’s mind. If you’re a solopreneur, coach, or face of your brand, your face is a great way to add a face to the biz name (enhance resonance) and build on the human side of social (enhance relationships). If you’re a brand brand and not a person brand (y’all know what I mean), a clear brand logo is what you need. You could also use your highlights to give the first cue of your brand colours and make it an easy way to access info about your biz (think “Services”/ “About”/ “Reviews/Results” etc).

Consistent – There’s no point having a different photo/logo style across your Instagram, website, and other social media platforms because how would people know they’re in the right place when they take action, e.g. clicking on your website from your profile (we’ll talk about your funnel tomorrow)? Consistency across the board will also help when it comes to people remembering you – it’s much easier to remember something that’s been reinforced continuously than it is to remember something that’s higgledy piggledy.

Recognizable – As above, if it’s not consistent it won’t be recognizable and this is a real problem when people who’ve visited your website/shop love your brand so much they want to follow you on social too. If they can’t find you easily, the likelihood is that people will give up. A golden rule to remember across the board is: if it’s not easy to do, people simply won’t do it (we’re all lazier than we think).

Your bio should clearly explain what you do and who you do it for.

Once you’ve got someone’s attention with your wonderful pic, they’re going to want to read your bio to reinforce they have/are about to make the right decision when pressing that follow button.

Your username and name field are what counts towards Instagram SEO. Your username is likely to be your business name, so utilise your name field to its full advantage by not only including your name but also adding in your industry, location, or specialist area.

For example: “Grace – Social Media Manager” is 28/30 characters allowed for the name field and prioritises my job title.

Luckily, you can get more info into your bio with a total of 150 characters.

Here’s what you need to include in your Bio:
● What you do
● Who you do it for
● A CTA

Here’s an example:

“Virtual Assistant for female coaches in the North West.
Click below to book a free discovery call.”

That’s 98/150 characters so you could either add in some emojis or go further and say:

“I’m a VA for female coaches in the NorthWest that want to skyrocket their client list. Book a free call below.” That’s 110/150 – still space for emojis!

THE DIFFERENT FEATURES ON INSTAGRAM

Grid/Feed Posts – Photos or videos shared by accounts you follow that you can scroll through and are odered based on the algorithm. Your grid is what you see below your Bio on your profile page.

Stories – Share videos and photos to your Instagram ‘Story’ which is visible for 24 hours, unless put in Highlights.

Lives – Lives are what they sound like! They do notify your followers of going live.

Reels – Instagram feature for users to create 15-second video clips set to music or your own audio, e.g. talking. A rip off of TikTok but has massively taken off on Instagram.

IGTV – Share videos up to an hour in length, similar to a TV show.

ALL ABOUT HASHTAGS

What are hashtags? An indexing tool that allows you to categorise your posts and maximise awareness within your target market.

How to use hashtags? A strategy for your content and business profile to be found organically by those searching through those hashtags.

Tips on finding hashtags? Research what your competitors are doing, or pay for a Hashtag Bank from meaningfulmarketing at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/DIYMarketingStudio

CONTENT IDEAS FOR INSTAGRAM THAT ALWAYS WORK FOR BUSINESSES

Introduce yourself – Share your story on how you got to where you are today.

Give a shoutout – To local businesses and customers to boost awareness.

Share a review – We trust each other more than we trust a business.

HOW TO ENGAGE WITH OTHER ACCOUNTS

Comment on posts your target market are likely to engage with. If you’re a small stationary business, you might want to engage with Paperchase or Papier. Write a thoughtful comment that other people can engage with you and can have a conversation.
REMEMBER: Use Instagram to build your email list. Social media is a ‘rented’ space. Your email list is yours, no matter what happens.

HOW MEANINGFULMARKETING CAN HELP YOU – 10% DISCOUNT FOR LBN MEMBERS ON INSTAGRAM UPGRADES AND CONTENT STRATEGIES

meaningfulmarketing, run by Grace Scott, is a full stack social media marketing agency that values authentic connections and building meaningful relationships for businesses of every size. Based in the Lake District, we serve clients across the UK, including B2C, B2B, charities, solopreneurs and more.

We are offering 10% off on our Instagram Upgrades and Content Strategies for LBN Members.

Instagram Upgrade – We’ll optimize your profile and bio, give you 5 x highlight covers, a grid theme idea, and 30 hashtags to get you started. £36 inclusive of 10% discount.

Content Strategy – We’ll research your competitors, create a SWOT, and tell you what and when to post including 3 example posts with hashtags to get you started. £67.50 inclusive of 10% discount.

Visit: www.meaningfulmarketing.org
Contact: grace@meaningfulmarketing.org