Today’s post is all about STRATEGY. I already wrote a post regarding 2019 trends that has been well-received, so I won’t repeat myself with those tips, but you will notice some correlation. Out are the days of posting consistently and posting good, high-quality content in your feed, and coming in hot are DM’s and engagement! It’s time for you to either get a social media manager, or to spend the time investing in your social media community!

THE FEED

Have you encountered some of the most beautiful grids on Instagram that just leave you drooling? Yeah, me too, but that isn’t where most of the action is happening any longer. People want to see things less perfect and more REAL. People are less interested in the perfectly-curated feed of your portfolio and would rather see a story unfold. So how do you do this?

STOP OBSESSING WITH THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS UNDER YOUR NAME

If you are a business owner, I am guessing your goal isn’t to have a pretty Instagram feed. Just admit it, you want to make a profit! So how do you build a profitable community? Engage and interact – with every comment posted on your feed. With other people’s Instagram stories. With PEOPLE. Brands don’t care as much about the follower number, but they are quickly realizing their return happens with an engaged company – make that your goal.

MASTER INSTAGRAM STORIES

The action is happening for everyone on Instagram stories. This allows you to create incredible personal relationships within your community. Make it a goal to have people slide into your DM’s or share your stories because it is WORTH THEIR TIME. Instead of designing a perfect feed, spend time planning your Instagram story content. By spending time building a community on Instagram stories over DM’s, polls, sliders, etc., you will get more engagement on your feed and be more likely to make a profit.

A FEW MORE IDEAS…

If you are doing these 2 things (not obsessing over your number of followers, but rather engaging with who you have and using Instagram stories) here are a few more things to try that will help increase your following:

1. Spend 10 minutes doing this: Use hashtags that your target followers would use (don’t use hashtags with 300,000,000 followers). Use 11-30 hashtags and then interact with people who use those same target hashtags (make sure your leave high quality comments).
2. Get in the photos – set up a tripod and pose, or even do a selfie! Like I mentioned earlier, it isn’t about the perfectly curated image, but rather it is about YOU and the personality behind your business.
3. Focus on ideal followers who could turn into a customer or a fan who could support you rather than speaking to the masses. Each caption should be talking to your ideal client – no one else.
4. BE CONSISTENT with high quality content, captions, and tags. Consistency shows you are reliable.
5. Have a targeted profile – Use keywords in your username and name field and make sure your bio speaks to your ideal target follower!

Creating a community will be what is most valuable for you and the best marketing tactic. You don’t want to interrupt their day you want to add value. Once you have a great community you can always add more, but if you just spend time on numbers it will be empty and harder to make revenue. Get out there, show your face, post engaging stories, and have fun!