If you're jumping on Instagram, posting your content and then... closing the app, YOU'RE
DOING IT WRONG!
Today, I'm talking about what to do after you post on Instagram and doing even one of
the 5 things I mention here is going to help you do better on IG so you may want to stick
around for this one!
Ready?
Let's do this!
Hi my lovely people, it's Natalia, welcome back to my channel where I share super actionable
ideas on content creation for entrepreneurs and creatives.
I'm sooo excited today because we're talking about what you should do EVERY TIME right
after you post on Instagram and I know from performing audits or simply looking at different
profiles that not everyone does this and it's definitely a missed opportunity.
I believe that if you set up a small routine for yourself every time you post, you're going
to see how much better your posts can do and how engaged your audience becomes.
Each and every one of those activities is going to maximize your chances of success
on Instagram, provide you with some valuable information that's going to improve your content
in the long run and as a result, improve your overall strategy.
I love getting straight to the point on this channel so let's jump right on in!
The very first thing you want to do is to share your new post to your Story.
Most importantly, this increases the chances of getting more eyes on your new piece of
content.
Both Stories and the Feed have different algorithm and even though your post will be shown in
the Feed to people who are most likely to enjoy it and interact with it, if you choose
to add it to your Stories as well, there will potentially be a different set of people who
may see it this way.
There's a wide variety of people on Instagram, some of them will prefer to consume content
on the Feed, some jump in and mainly watch Stories, some will be scrolling through Explore
page to discover new creators.
The point is, if you utilize both with your new post, you can potentially cater to more
people and catch them where they like to spend their time on the app.
Another thing I'd like to mention here is that Stories give you another chance to add
to the post itself.
Whether it's sharing a more personal perspective or adding a sentence or two to talk more about
what inspired you to create such a post, Stories are an opportunity to slightly expand on the
subject.
Plus, when you share a post to Stories with a strong call to action or a reason for your
tribe to really dive into that post, you're increasing your chances of your followers
actually interacting with it.
This, in turn, is going to really help the post do better in the eyes of the algorithm.
I talked a bit about the algorithm (or I should say algorithms) in this video on how to grow
organically on Instagram so make sure to watch it next!
Getting those initial comments is always a great boost your overall engagement and signals
to the algorithm that people are interested in your content.
It's great if you respond to those first comments within the hour but I believe you should try
to respond within the first few minutes and I'll explain why in a second.
Even if you get just a comment or two at the beginning, it's still absolutely crucial to
respond to each and every one of them because that's precious currency on Instagram, and,
more importantly, these are actual people that chose to engage with you that day and
they sure as heck deserve your attention.
Now, I want you to not only reply to comments but to naturally fuel the conversation a little
bit.
That's exactly why trying to reply within the first 15 minutes of receiving the comment
is so good because that person is still very likely to be in the app and ready to engage
with you more.
Of course, if you get a comment with a few emojis and that's it, don't try to turn in
into something it simply isn't, but if you actually get a more meaningful comment, use
this opportunity to spark a little chat.
Not only is it beneficial to your post's performance, but it also builds stronger connections and
you get an opportunity to get to know your people a little bit better.
After all, those who choose to engage with your content are more likely to be the audience
you want to target because the post resonated with them on some level.
So try digging a little bit deeper and find out what your people are thinking.
The next thing you should do after you post on Instagram is to actively engage with other
people on the platform.
I always say that social media is in fact social and you have to give what you want
to receive.
One of the biggest complaints people make on Instagram is that they have no engagement
and one of the main drivers apart from creating valuable content is to actually ENGAGE with
others yourself.
To do this, start with your own profile!
Take your time to reply to any outstanding DMs that you may have in your inbox.
After all, if they see you're posting and they're still waiting for your response, they
may feel a little neglected.
Apart from that, reply to any outstanding comments from the previous posts that you
might have missed.
You can even pin some of them that you really like.
Then, move on to your own followers, people who interact with you the most and support
your content.
Have any of them added a story?
Check it out, vote on their polls, ask a question in their Q&A sticker or even drop a DM if
what they talked about really resonated with you.
Same goes for their posts.
If you really like a post they've recently shared, leave a genuine comment there as well.
This is creating that reciprocal relationship and building an engaged community.
And apart from that, that's your chance to really get to know your tribe better.
Next, make new connections with other people in your niche.
You can simply scroll through your feed and check what people you follow are up to and
again, leave meaningful comments.
Another great way to discover new people is through following niche-specific hashtags.
What happens then is that you see posts from creators you don't follow who used that hashtag.
It's a great way to find new people and interact with them.
I talked a little bit about distribution in my content marketing strategy video which
I highly suggest you watch if you're serious about growing on social media.
But of course, that's a perfect chance to chat about this because I've noticed not many
people use it, be it beginner creators or even those who've established themselves to
some extent.
Leaving content just on the platform it was meant for is a bit of a missed opportunity
because you're only relying on the traction you can get there.
With Instagram, it's especially important because the lifespan of a single post there
is fairly short and you're in constant need to produce more, as opposed to more evergreen
platforms like YouTube for example.
So what do I mean by distribution?
I mean spreading the content around to your target audience through different channels.
How you distribute your IG content will depend a bit on what the format is, meaning whether
it's a single image post, a carousel, a video or a Reel so let me give you an example or
two here.
Imagine you post an inspirational quote about business mindset on Instagram.
On its own, it reaches a certain audience on IG, gets some engagement and after around
48 hours, it naturally withers a little and there's no more action around it.
What you want to do is to hopefully add a second boost to that initial interest to get
Instagram to show it to more people and maybe even revive the post a little later on.
To do this, you can add this quote post to a newsletter you're sending the week of posting,
especially if you talk about something related to it.
Most email marketing tools like Mailchimp allow you to include your social media posts
so they lead straight to your profile if someone clicks on them.
You could also write a blog post, say, on mindset and embed that IG quote post there
so that it supports the points you make in your article.
Do you see what I mean here?
The life of an Instagram post doesn't need to start and end on the app itself and there
are creative ways to promote it a bit on other platforms.
Reels are another perfect example of a format that works well on different channels.
Other than including it in your newsletter as with the previous example, you can repurpose
your Reel easily on platforms like TikTok, Pinterest or even as a YouTube short.
You don't necessarily have to have a massive presence on all of those platforms, but spreading
your content a bit further can definitely help, especially if you can repurpose it in
its entirety like in this case.
Repurposing content is definitely a tactic of smart creators so I highly recommend you
try it out with your Reels too.
And remember, you can schedule these types of posts so you don't spend hours trying to
distribute all of the posts manually.
Now, this one is absolutely crucial but often overlooked by people who are not that into
marketing.
But knowledge is power and really analyzing your content can give you some powerful cues
as to what content works and what doesn't for your audience.
My advice is to really take the time to check your Insights with each post up to 48 hours
after posting.
This will give you some important information as to reach, interactions, likes, comments,
shares, saves - basically, it will give you a clear indication as to which posts perform
best for you.
Based on this, you'll see which formats resonate with your audience more and what you need
to create more of.
A word of caution here, please remember that each post format has different goals.
One type may bring you more likes, while another can make your followers want to save it more.
That's why it's good to mix these formats up to bring a variety of different interactions
to your profile.
So each time you post, analyze what worked, rinse and repeat.
I promise you that if you really take the time to look at your insights regularly, you'll
be able to improve your content more.
Tell me, have you been doing all of these things after you post?
Let me know in the comments below which one you'll start doing (or do more of!) in the
coming week.
I personally love to distribute my content in different ways so I'm curious which one
of these points resonated with you the most.
Oh, and if you'd like to find out what to do BEFORE you post on Instagram, let me know
too so that I know if you want to see it!
Make sure to check out this video next which will help you grow organically on Instagram
and I'm confident it's going to be very useful to you!
If you're serious about your social media presence, you should definitely have a strong
strategy and that's exactly what I cover in depth in this video.
Thank you so much for watching, be sure to subscribe for more actionable content marketing
videos, hit that thumb button if you enjoyed this one and I'll see you...
next time!