If you're a hand me business looking to level up your
Instagram marketing start growing your followers
and actually make sales watch this video.
I'm going to share with you why just posting photos after photos is only the tip of the iceberg
when it comes to Instagram and the secret strategies.
You should be using instead. Hi,
my name is Mei and I help makers artists
and designers make a consistent income from selling their handmade
products online Instagram is a really popular platform
for marketing or handmade business.
It's visually driven, which is great
for us handmade business owners because everything we do is visual,
right 52% of Instagram users are female
and the largest age category are 18 to 24 year olds
and three out of every four people aged 18
and 24 use Instagram and We one out of every two people ages 25 to 49 use it as well.
So it's not really true that only teenagers use the platform.
I've worked with a lot of business owners
and chances are your ideal customer is within this demographic
and if your customer is there it would be a good idea for you to be there too.
If you use it correctly Instagram can convert into some sales for your business.
I've gotten sales from there and so have my students who have taken my training.
But before we get into the details about how to make Instagram work for you,
I want to tell you why relying on Instagram 100% is not a great strategy for your business.
It is a great component of your marketing strategy,
but it shouldn't be all of it. First of all,
you don't control your list of followers Facebook who owns
Instagram does that means that if the service decides
your account has violated the terms of service it can shut down your account
and you Lose that audience or let's say in a few years Instagram is out of fashion.
Then you have absolutely no way to transfer that audience to the newest platform.
So this puts it in a category completely apart from traditional
digital marketing techniques like your website
and your email newsletter.
It is an inherent problem with all social media platforms.
I always tell business owners that if you are serious,
you need a website and an email list.
These are a of news that you control you can email customers on your email list anytime you want
for as long as you want and no one can take that away from you
because it's an asset you own and if you want to switch email Services,
you can export those users to the new service.
This is a serious difference that you should definitely keep in mind the second reason Instagram
and any other social media platform isn't all that is the algorithm the
algorithm is this Black Box computer program that Decides
what content you see and what content you don't now,
I don't think the algorithm is all that bad. But it is necessary.
I mean most users follow hundreds or thousands of accounts,
right? And what would your feed look like?
If you saw every post from every account you would be just be totally overwhelmed
even if you sat down for 24 hours straight scrolling through your news feed
and you just wouldn't be able to get ahead of all the content and post.
It's that people are publishing every second.
The algorithm is part of ensuring users get the best experience
and it shows them the best content that they think is all enjoy most
and that experience is also a personalized and unique to every user.
Well, okay, so that's great for the user.
However as a business this means that you're getting a very low Roi return on investment
for your energy,
you know, the average post is seen by about one to three percent of your followers.
But if you are strategic about how you encourage engagement with your followers,
you can increase that percent. So more of your followers see your posts,
but I want you to compare this with an open rate of say 30 to 40%
for an email which are normal Benchmark numbers
and you're talking about a really small reach
and visibility on Instagram when you compare those two thirdly,
and I promise I will make this one the last
because I could go on forever about why you shouldn't spend too much time on social media.
Is that the conversion percentages are pretty low on Instagram?
So conversion is how many people upon seeing your post take an action as shop owners.
We want people to buy our stuff, right?
So we're looking for purchase conversions Instagram was designed
for browsing looking at pretty pictures and chatting with friends.
That's what drives the algorithm it's not inherently or shopping platform,
but think about how a typical person would go about making a Purchase,
right? They see your post and unless you have Instagram shopping setup.
They need to go to your profile. Click on the link in your profile,
you know Lincoln bio leave the platform
and then get to your site find the item you were talking about add the item to their cart
and then check out like do you see how this buying process is super long.
There are so many steps involved
for just making one sale and this whole process doesn't get completed most of the time.
You could get 100 people coming to your site.
And if one person buys that's actually considered a really good
and healthy conversion rate of 1%
So you need a lot of traffic from Instagram to make meaningful sales,
which means you're not likely to get a ton of sales from the platform alone.
Unless you are very strategic. So let's talk about the strategy.
Okay, when you think about Instagram,
the first thing people think of is creating content usually about posting a pretty picture
and a caption.
And so let's make that the first place we start
even though as you'll find out that's a very small part of what it takes to be successful.
When you post good quality engaging content.
Then more people will like it which means that your content will be shown to more
people by the algorithm which increases your organic reach,
which is awesome. You want to check out this video
for Content ideas and what to post but I'll also give you some quick Basics right now.
I know it sounds obvious,
but you need to post content that your audience is interested in it may not be content.
You're most interested in and it may not even be content that is working for other businesses.
For example, if your audience follows
you for your nature-inspired pestle aesthetic then posting a vivid rainbow
Urban piece of artwork isn't going to be very popular.
Even if it's a trend going viral
for other artists the only way to know
what your audience connects with is to do a little bit of experimentation
and keep track of what's working by looking at your insights
which are available to any business account,
which you should set up if you haven't already you want to take note of
any post that gets more engagement than usual
whether it's likes comments
or reach and do more of that look
for a Common Thread and keep refining what's working
when you're posting you want to include hashtags on your post
so that you can be discovered by those interested in your Niche it takes
Bit of work to find a group of hashtags that work
for you,
but start by putting yourself in your ideal customers shoes
and think about what they're posting on Instagram and what hashtags they might be using for example,
if you make handmade bookmarks,
then your ideal customer is probably into reading books,
right? And what do Book Lovers like to do they like to
take and post pictures of their favorite books or the books?
They're currently reading.
So what kinds of Might they be using
once you find those hashtags also pay attention to the other hashtags.
Your ideal customers posts are using
and the hashtags that are recommended by Instagram in your search.
You want to find hashtags that aren't too popular
because otherwise there's too much competition to get seen
but you also don't want hashtags that are too small which means no one's using
them and no one's going to see your post when it shows up in that hashtags feed.
So after a bit of work you will Find a collection that's diverse
and hashtag sizes and most importantly that your ideal customers are actually using now.
I don't recommend using generic hashtag lists that
sites and bloggers out there give you
because it's most likely that you'll start attracting non-buyers
and other people who are makers like
you and most of the time those people aren't your customers now
Instagram has expanded its features over the years,
right? Not only is there the ability to post regular posts
but Now you can add stories which is content that's only visible
for 24 hours and then there's video
and direct messaging people use Instagram
for entertainment and content which means that as a small business.
This is your opportunity to give it to them.
You want to take a look at my Instagram stories video
for tips about how to use Instagram stories effectively,
but in short it is a great tool that allows you to connect in an authentic weight with your audience
and because stories appear outside side of the feed your content will
be seen by a different segment of your audience,
which means more reach for your account in short to be successful at content creation.
You need to pose great content that connects with your audience regularly it starts there.
But that's only a small part of the strategy the common mistake.
I see with people on Instagram is they spend 80% of their time creating and posting content.
You can just keep posting and posting but if that's all you do.
you're not going to get anywhere
and it shouldn't come as a surprise
when you don't see your followers engagement
and sales go up because the truth is that posting is only a small part of the story The reason it's
called social media is that you're supposed to be social engagement is
what sets social media apart from other kinds of marketing like your email newsletter
or media outreach and engagement is an umbrella
term for the actions of liking commenting tapping on your posts a Having
it or sending you a direct message.
I'm going to walk you through three important components of Engagement for a successful account,
which is likes or comments search and Outreach.
Let's start by talking about likes and comments which are a crucial part of your strategy.
The algorithm likes to see that your account is interacting with other accounts
and when you do so you do much better than if you just post and then leave the app,
so if someone comments on your post you want to reply
even if it's just A simple thank-you responds
or any Mogi which takes 3 seconds to do not only is that good customer service,
but it's the start of building relationships.
But if all you're doing is replying to comments on your own posts,
you're not doing enough to be truly successful you need to use likes
and comments as a form of Outreach.
That means that you should be liking
and commenting on post that show up in your feed
and for every five likes or three comments you leave you'll get about a follower in return
and how that works is the other person will get a notification that you just liked
or commented on your post.
So this person will be thinking hey someone commented on my photo.
Let me go look at their page and if they like what they see on your account,
they will follow you. So when you do this,
it not only grows you're following
but it also increases the likelihood of your audience seeing your posts
when someone interacts with you
or visits your profile and the algorithm will show them your content more often.
Which is totally the desired result, right?
Okay. So you're liking and commenting on posts in your feed now to take that one step further
for maximum efficacy.
You need to go beyond your own account
and your own feed and you need to search
for your potential ideal customers on Instagram
and like and comment on posts that aren't already in your feet.
You need to be actively seeking out those new accounts.
That might be your ideal customer.
So how do you do this start by searching the Hashtags that we talked
about earlier except instead of just using them
for your own posts.
You send us a way of finding new people follow the rabbit hole of recommended posts
and accounts for just a bit to find new accounts that fit your Niche
and then continue liking and commenting you can also think about larger
Brands than you who already attract your ideal customer,
but ideally who don't sell exactly the same thing as you like.
Maybe you sell Bohemian style art and wall decor so seek.
A larger brands that sell Bohemian clothing
and interact with their followers and the people who engage with their account.
It's like if you move to a new town, you're not going to meet anyone if you don't go outside
and start meeting people right?
Sure one or two. Nice people may come to your door,
but the real work is on you great.
So now you're planning on finding new accounts and regularly engaging by liking and commenting.
That's all great. But now I want you to go the final step.
And that's reaching out with intent.
Who do you want to follow you are there influencers
or Publishers that you would love to connect with?
Our their retail shops that you would love for them to carry your products.
Are there key Shoppers that you would love to be your customers Target them
and start engaging with them.
This can be anything from Simply following them liking
or commenting on their posts to sending them a direct message in an authentic way
and connecting that way you want it.
Interact with your ideal customers who don't already follow
you and introduce yourself with a few comments
and a percentage of those people you interact with will likely begin to follow you back.
And if they don't they may not be your ideal customer.
Anyway, Instagram is a great place to get started with influencer marketing
because the contact mechanism is already built in in the olden days.
You'd have to ask for an influencers marketing kit with their number of
followers and a portfolio of This work that they've done
but now right on Instagram you have their follower numbers and a portfolio of past work.
It's so transparent and you're just one button click away from sending them a message
or an email right consider reaching out to other Instagram influencer accounts,
if they're a really good fit and ask them to feature you in exchange for free product.
I have a whole other video that talks about doing that and I'll link that here.
So post great content that connects with your audience.
Engage via comments Active search
and purposeful Outreach and watch your accountant grow in your conversion rates improve over time.