Let me lay it to you straight. Success on Instagram is nothing to do with finding the right hashtags or posting at the right times or storying the right amount of times; don’t get me wrong though, those things are important to maintain a consistent presence but success on Instagram doesn’t come down to the practical things and the to do list, it comes down to showing up consistently and having a strong brand voice.
There are tips and tricks and things you can do on Instagram to make sure your posts and stories are being seen by the right people and are being seen regularly but if what people are seeing doesn’t interest them then they won’t become a customer. Your success and revenue is not resting on whether you have the right hashtag or tens of thousands of followers, your success comes down to whether you can sustain a consistent presence that tells people about your business in the clearest way possible.
So, what does success really look like on Instagram? Success looks like a business that posts and stories everyday because they can’t wait to share with the world what they want to say and success looks like a business that is so in touch with their customers that they can speak to them; success is a business that people are actively searching out because they can’t get enough of what they are saying and success is a business that others are regularly referring to because they understand what need that business serves.
So when you are next thinking about marketing your business with Instagram don’t neglect the practical needs, i.e. the right hashtags, the right followers, the right times but these become trivial once you get to the point of really understanding who you are talking and how you are talking to them and what they need to hear and how you are going to show up for the. Someone who is truly in love with their business and can sustain it for the long haul is someone who will still be consistent and still show up and post and story even if their likes drop, even if no one sees their posts, even if no money is coming into the business because they can keep going when the practical parts fail them and still be seen by the right people.
If this is something you would like to work towards I would suggest the first step is understanding who it is you are talking to and really understanding them beyond what your business serves. Once you can understand who someone is beyond your business and you can understand what they need and how your business fits into that then you will understand what to say and how to say in order to connect with them on a better level beyond any practical necessities. I have an ‘ideal client’ workshop in my freebies section of my website which you may find helpful to work to to help you understand your ideal client better and for understanding how to talk to and how to connect with your followers to grow a successful business.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, 10,000 followers means nothing if none of them are buying from you or connecting with you. The right hashtags won’t increase your revenue if the words and pictures that you are putting out to those people don’t connect with those people and the times that your posting won’t make any difference if no one is looking for your posts as they don’t need to hear what you have to say.
So success on Instagram looks like consistency and talking to your people.
Inge x