What is up, everyone?
Welcome back to my channel.
In today's video, we are going to talk about what to do if you want to switch niches on
Instagram.
Now, the reason why I'm doing this video is because I get this question often in my DMs.
I always have people who say, "Hey Vanessa, I have niche number one, and I want to switch
to niche number two.
What do I do?"
Now, I really wanted to answer this question, because I myself have gone through a lot of
rebrands, even in my own Instagram account.
My account first started off as a personal account when I would post lots of selfies
about myself.
The second evolution was when I was in the makeup category, and I would post a lot of
makeup photos, makeup tutorials, all of that.
And then today, it is now more of a business/inspirational page.
Even through these multiple rebrands on the same Instagram page, I've managed to date
to grow my following to over 20,000 followers.
That's why, in today's video, I'm going to spend my time breaking down how exactly I
was able to change my direction on Instagram three times and still come out on top.
Now, before I start talking about all of my tips and tricks, what I want to also say is
that I know that a handful of you might be saying to yourselves, "Okay Vanessa, thanks
for teaching us how to switch a niche, but I don't even have a niche to start off with."
That's fine, because I have a free masterclass that I hosted all about niches and niche validation,
so if you don't have a niche, definitely check out the link that's in the comment section
below in order to access my free masterclass on how to fine tune your niche, and really
understand the fundamentals of finding not only a niche that you love, but also a niche
that is profitable.
With that out of the way, this is what you need to do first.
If you've already identified with niche you want to switch to, you first want to ask yourself,
"Do you or do you not want to start a brand new account?"
This is a very common question that I get all the time.
I have two very different answers to this question.
The first answer is that if you are a product-based business, and you are creating an entirely
new brand that has no relation to the current brand that you have, then I highly suggest
that you just start a brand new account.
However, if you are a personal brand, which means that the product is you, then I highly
recommend that you just keep the same account.
The reason why I say that is because most times, starting from scratch or starting back
to zero is kind of a ....
Now, even though switching directions on an existing account might really confuse your
audience, and you might lose some followers, just know that this is a part of the transition
process, and over time, if you are consistent with your new brand and your new niche, eventually
the followers that you want to attract will come and fill the gaps.
Let me give you a personal example.
When I was starting out my Instagram account, I posted a lot of provocative selfies of myself,
and therefore, I had an audience of 70% men and 30% women.
However, months and months later of me staying consistent, staying the course, and sticking
to my new brand, which is all about business, mindset, and motivation, I started to attract
my ideal audience over time.
And now, when you look at my analytics, I have about 60% women and 40% men, and the
men that are existing in my audience aren't creepy anymore, which is a good sign.
What I'm trying to say here is that yes, it is so normal to lose followers, but at the
end of the day, are you surprised?
When you are switching your niche, people who were originally following you for the
specific content that you were doing are obviously going to leave, especially if they don't resonate
with your new content.
But just know in your mind, when they leave, they aren't meant to be in your audience anyways.
And they're actually making more room and more space for the new audience that's going
to be coming in with your new branding.
And just know that this is a good thing.
If you have ghost followers or dead followers on your account, your engagement rate is going
to be a lot lower versus if you have a new audience who's actually interested in your
new content.
Your engagement rates are going to go up.
Now heading over to the next step.
If you've decided to keep the same account just like me, this is what I did.
What I did was that, instead of deleting my existing posts, I simply just archived them.
I feel like there's a small population of people who don't realize that they can do
this.
Before you go on a deleting spree, just simply use the Archive feature on Instagram so that
you can always keep those photos as memories.
Or in the future, if you ever want to bring back that post up, you have the option to.
The reason why I am suggesting you to archive your posts is because, if some posts do not
match your new direction or your new brand or your new niche, you're probably better
off deleting those posts, so that when you relaunch, at least everything is consistent.
For me, I felt that my existing posts didn't match my new direction anymore.
In my case, I archived everything.
However, for you, if there are still a couple of photos that you feel match your new brand,
then definitely consider keeping them.
After I archived my posts, I didn't really start posting right away.
Instead, I took a month or two as a break, and during this break, I spent a lot of time
planning my feed.
In my case, I used apps like Preview, Planoly, or Later, in order to plan the first 12 posts
of my feed.
The reason why I chose 12 is because usually, it takes about 12 photos in order to have
a full page feed.
I really wanted to understand what exactly was the direction that I wanted to go into.
Not only this, I wanted to make sure that if I did relaunch, that I knew exactly what
I was posting in order for me to stay consistent with my new direction.
Because the issue is is that, if you change your niche and you aren't consistent with
posting about your new branding, then your audience is definitely going to get confused,
and you are going to increase the chances of people unfollowing you if you are not crystal
clear and consistent about what you offer.
And being consistent when you are rebranding is the most important thing.
Now, if you want to learn how to batch create content and how to plan your feed, I highly
suggest that you watch this video here, where I teach you, step by step, how to do it.
All right, so while I was taking that one to two months planning my feed and batching
my content, what I was also doing was leveraging Instagram Stories in order to tease the behind-the-scenes
of what I was up to.
The reason for this is because, since my feed was absolutely blank, I still wanted to stay
relevant to my audience, and that's why I leveraged Instagram stories to show the behind-the-scenes,
to explain my new direction, and what exactly I was up to, and what they should expect from
me in the future.
By doing this and by leveraging Instagram Stories to show these intimate pieces of you
during your rebrand or you during your transition is because you are trying to prime your audience
to expect the new content when you release it.
What that means is that you are literally using Instagram Story to set the stage and
to let your audience know and give them a heads-up like, "Hey guys, I'm changing my
direction.
Here's a behind-the-scenes," so that when you do post your first post within your new
niche or your new brand, they aren't going to be as confused, and they are going to look
at it and say, "Ah, I was expecting this."
That is the reaction that you want in order to retain as many followers as possible.
Next up, after you've planned your feed, you know the direction that you're headed, and
you're also teasing your journey and sharing that content behind-the-scenes with your audience,
it is now time to post your coming out post.
Even when I work with my own clients and they're switching niches or they're switching directions
on their account, I always recommend that they post something that's about the fact
that they are changing.
For example, when I switched from the beauty category to now doing more business-related
content, my coming out post was about that, and I was telling my audience how excited
I was about the new direction that I was headed, but at the same time, in that post ... I'll
put it up here, I was also delivering value and sharing lessons that I've learned throughout
this transition, in order to still inspire and give value back to my audience.
The reason for this is because every time you are posting content, regardless if you're
switching a niche or not, is that you always want to ask yourself, "What is the value that
I'm providing to my audience?
Why would someone care about this post?
What can someone learn from in this post?
Why does this matter?"
Because oftentimes, a lot of people make their post about them, and obviously, on Instagram,
you want to share your personal story, but at the same time, if you want your audience
to truly connect and resonate, you always want to think, "What's in it for them?
Why should they pay attention to this post?"
Trust me when I say, when you think about it in that mindset when you are creating content,
you are going to boost your engagement levels, because now you're increasing the relevancy
that you have with your audience.
And last but not least, what I highly advise when you are switching niches or when you
are rebranding yourself is to just be patient.
I know that, especially in the beginning, when you are switching up your content and
you're doing something new, it seems like you're talking to a wall, because your ideal
audience isn't there yet.
However, what you need to realize is that you just need to be consistent and patient,
and keep being very clear on what your new direction is, because over time, even if it
takes months and months and months of being patient, you will eventually attract your
target audience, because of your consistency and your firmness of your brand.
A mistake that I see a lot of people making when they are switching niches is that they
crumble under the pressure, and they get upset that no one is liking their content or engaging
with their content, so they don't actually commit to the new direction, and what ends
up happening is that they're half foot into the old niche and half foot into the new niche,
and they're stuck.
That's when you cause problems, because then you plateau, and you stay stagnant, because
no one is clear about what you actually offer.
Which means that your current audience is leaving you, because you're doing something
different, but the new audience that you want to attract isn't following you, because sometimes
you're doing the old content.
You're just basically in a limbo, and you don't want that to happen to yourself.
That's why you really need to be patient and be firm and really commit to your new direction,
even if you lose followers, because trust me, over time, you will grow and you will
reap the benefits.
Now, regardless, if you are someone that's switching a niche or you don't know a niche,
make sure that you watch my free masterclass that I've already done, the link is in the
comments section, for you to understand how to validate your niche and how you communicate
your niche clearly to your audience.
This masterclass is fire, and I wouldn't want you to miss it.
Make sure that you click the link in the comments section below to access it.
Not only this, if you're watching this video on the day that I've published it, there are
other masterclasses that are happening this first week of April, so check out the comments
section below, look at the second link, and sign up for the other free masterclasses that
I'm hosting this week.
That being said, guys, if you want to learn more about social media, business, and just
optimizing your life in general, then make sure you check out these two videos that I
have right here.
As always, I hope you guys have a great day, a great week, and a great life, and I'll see
you in the next one.
Bye, guys.