Share QUALITY content
- By this I mean really taking a look at what others view as quality content. Yes you love what you sell but if 150,000 others are selling the same thing, how are you standing out? Quality content means that you have true strategy and intention behind what you are posting. Answer these questions. Is this post going to entertain, educate or inspire my audience? The big mistake most people are making is that they are not putting the research behind the creation and the actual posting of your content on your feed and guess what it shows. It is very easy to see when someone slaps a post up “just to post” compared to those that paid attention to the logistics, time of year and look of their feed. When you’re filming an IG reel for example, make sure the lighting is good and that you get the best take where the audio lines up. Don’t just put content out to put it out, but take the time to create GOOD photos/videos that your audience will connect with and share. I personally have skipped many days feeling uncreative instead of posting content that just isn’t good. It’s a choice and tells your audience how you feel about your business.
Show up consistently
- Consistency is everything! Period! I know you have heard it a million times! If you are serious about really growing your business online, you have got to get specific and CONSISTENT! You can not expect to slim down and get that perfect peach booty you’ve been wanting without focusing on legs/glutes 2-3 days per week and changing your diet correct? Same thing goes for social media. You cannot expect to grow to 10,000 followers by showing up and posting whenever you feel like it about anything and everything or just your family or just things you sell. We all have bad days, but we still have to show up and go after our goals. Make it a non-negotiable and it will become a habit.
Target your niche audience
- Who is your audience? And NO! It is not everyone. Who are you talking to? Dive into your Instagram insights and check out your demographics, locations and what posts have done the best? Why is this content doing so well? Once you start to build that list, you can target down into your niche. Are these people into Amazon? Health? Home Decor? Books? What catches their attention and aligns with your interests? If you drill down into this and you become the organization girl who review Crumble Cookie every week, so be it. But do it and stay consistent.
Build relationships with your followers
- You gotta show up!! Seriously! When you make it a point to jump on IG stories every single day, post a photo, ask for feedback and talk to them, this is your girl time. This type of conversations builds trust and by seeing you, they will feel like they know you and you know them too. Pay attention to who is watching. Go to to their pages, comment on their posts, answer DMs, ask them questions on your stories get feedback on what they prefer. This give & take helps build that relationship and their loyalty towards supporting your business and page. This takes time and needs to be a daily priority!!
Use tags
- Use hashtags, location tags & Alt text strategically. Do not tag your photos with #instalikes or anything spammy – you want to use these hashtags to target your audience & specific post. For example, if you post you & your family and you live in South Florida, you can use hashtags like #momlife #yorkiemom #momof3 #Soflomom #floridablogger #girlmom #familyphotography #delrayphotography etc. You get the jist? Get more specific on location and subject. I also recommend hashtags on photo posts go in the first comment & not in the caption and that you only use 1-2 hashtags for reels (10-12 hashtags recommended for photos). Also, you can add descriptive words to the alt text and make sure you’re tagging your location whether it’s the city or a specific place where the photo was taken. That’ll help target your local audience!
Listen to what your audience wants
- Take a look at what posts/stories have had the most engagement. Does your audience prefer when you talk about organization tips, when you show your daily morning routine, are they super into seeing you make your smoothies in the morning? Narrow down what photos and videos have caught the most attention and start to build out a list. You also want to make sure you’re posting when your followers are on Instagram & you can checkout the most active times by going into your IG insights. You don’t want to post while they’re busy at work or getting their kids ready for school in the morning – maybe they are most active at lunch or at night after dinner. So many in our space are simply blindly posting and just hoping their posts do something. Change that mindset ladies.
Create an aesthetic
- Instagram aesthetics aren’t like they used to be anymore. We are moving away from the perfectly curated feed to more of a “voice” aesthetic. What content can your followers expect from you? Do your reel cover photos align well color-wise with the rest of your feed? Is it bright & cheerful, whimsical, rustic? You want to somewhat align with a theme when posting, so that when your followers see your content, they know it’s yours. Plus when brands check out your profile, you want to show consistency and a personal aesthetic that could line up with their product.
Instagram stories every day
- This is a non-negotiable in order to grow your account. I can honestly tell you by not doing it, you have no chance of growing. I have witnessed that first hand during my health issues. Instagram stories is your daily vlog – what are you having for breakfast that day, what’s on your mind, are you meeting up with friends, what products are you using? What did you find? What are you struggling with? What are you winning ata? What are you reading? Keep them engaged and expecting to see your face in the morning (made up or not) & allow them to follow you through your day. The great thing is that you can make this what you want. Either it’s random and different based on how you’re feeling or you schedule it out – Tip Tuesday’s (give life hacks, beauty tricks, etc.), Wellness Wednesday’s (give your weekly wellness tip)… it can be whatever you prefer.
Use the tools Instagram gives you
- We’re all just out here trying to figure out the ever-changing Instagram algorithm, but what it really comes down to is Instagram just wants you to use the tools they give you. For example, on IG stories: tag locations, use hashtags, add gifs, polls, question boxes. This will create engagement with your audience & increase the number of story views. There is also a BIG push for Instagram reels, so if you’re not consistently creating videos… you NEED to. Creators are getting more views/engagement on reels over photos, so try and stick to a 2:1 ratio (2 reels to every 1 photo). BIG KEY: IG is paying attention to what accounts you spend time on, sooooooooo if you want more engagement on potential customers, spend time on those accounts instead of people that do the same thing as you.
Update your storefront
- Whenever someone asks for help on growing their following, the first thing I do is check out their “storefront” AKA their feed. This is the first impression that potential followers and brands get when they click onto your page, so you want to grab their attention (in a good way). Make sure that you have a bright, inviting profile photo of your face, you have a clean but engaging bio, a URL with links (your shop link, website, discount codes…), IG highlights with a certain theme and a feed that quickly shows who you are and what your target is. If they come to your page and are confused and it feels messy, they’ll just click off and not hit the follow button. Clean up the stories. You shouldn’t have 100 stories from 168 weeks ago. Keep things current and updated. Clean it up girl!
