Most people, brands, and businesses already know the importance of having their presence on social media platforms in 2022. However, when it comes to marketing and building a brand, Instagram is still a winner with its all-visual layout with its 1.1 billion+ massive user base (1).
All in all, it is a massive hub for anyone looking for marketing opportunities.
With the right strategies, you can effectively leverage Instagram and take your company’s and personal presence to a whole new level (2).
Therefore, today, we will talk about how you can adopt to increase your Instagram presence.
This article is adopted from a pdf named Five Keys for Instagram Growth and Monetization, shared by Instacoachmike. Click here to access the full pdf.
Keys to Increase Your Instagram Presence
Find Your Niche
We at TimesNext, have always encouraged founders to start their new businesses from a niche and then expand their offerings to a broader market. The same principle also applies to social media platforms.
Now, you may wonder why niche? It is because people find it much easier to follow you once they understand why they should be following you (3).
Therefore, you much first ensure two points below before you start working towards your social media goals:
What’s your Instagram account about? Is it related to your interest or passion?
In addition, having a niche is important also because uncertainty scares people away. Meaning you need to ensure your content is always consistent.
For instance, if you come to an Instagram account about art posts, they talk about relationships the next day. What would happen? You will be left confused, right? That’s why it is important to have the main topic you talk about to grow your presence on Instagram.
According to one of the top Instagram influencers with over one million+ follower, @instacoachmike, it is a best practice to:
- Cover your account topics with your key idea; about 60% to 70%
- Rest 30% to 40% with two to three side topics related to your main idea that also express your personality and character.
For instance, you have run an Instagram account about investment ideas; you also cover side topics like your own portfolio, your views on best/worst-performing companies, and how the investment market works. This way, you can share your personal opinions, build your brand, share your expertise, and allow people to get to you better.
Read Also: Advertising Conversion: 10 Tips for Writing High-Converting Ads
But, what would be your niche or key topic?
Well, if you are not sure about the main idea behind your Instagram page, there are two ways you can find your niche.
- Find your field of expertise, or
- Ask yourself about your goals and interests
You can determine your niche based on your passion or expertise (4).
For instance, consider asking yourself the below questions to find the main topic of your Instagram page.
Main topic (70% of your total content):
- What topics are you most expert in?
- How can you help others?
- What topics drive you the most?
- What do you want to learn the most and be successful in it?
Secondary topic (20% of your total content):
- Things you are passionate about
- What drives you in your leisure time?
- What are your long-term life goals?
- Where do you plan your future?
Tertiary topic (10% of your total content):
- What aspects of your personal life would you share with your audience? It can include things like your family, life values, principles, etc.
- Your hobbies and personal interests
As we mentioned, if you are interested in financial literacy and brokerages, you can decide to talk about it on your Instagram page. Since your niche is based on your passion, you don’t have real experience or earnings. However, it would be a plus if you could showcase your achievements!
You can also use your Instagram to talk about your experience, goals, and learning process. Most of us always find it interesting to watch how people overcome challenges (5).
Long story short, ask yourself about your interests and goals, find one area you are most passionate about, and make it the subject of your social media platform.
Read Also: Instagram Subscriptions For Creators to Make Recurring Monthly Income
Optimize Your Instagram Account
Once you select your niche, it is time to optimize your account and accept new followers. Your profile heading is the first thing your potential followers will see when they enter your profile. It includes your bio, action buttons, profile pictures, etc. (6).
According to Mike, below is the formula you need for a perfect Instagram bio:
- Your first line should be about yourself, your account, and how do you help your audience; I help you make the right investment choice, for instance.
- You can include your achievements or why people should follow you in your second line, 5+ years of experience in the stock market, investments, etc.
- Add your goals, professional achievements, or an unusual fact. My work is shown at Harvard University, for example.
- Add CTA, call to action, like DM me for a free consultation.
Read Also: Getting Started With Your Startup? Here is How You Can Find 1 Million+ Potential Users
Offer Quality Content
To increase your following, you will need a higher reach. You have no chance of growing on Instagram if your content is always reaching the same number of people all the time.
So, how would you get a higher reach?
First, you need to understand Instagram algorithms (7).
When you publish a new reel, Instagram will initially show it to, let’s say, 100 people. And if those 100 like it and engage with it, like share, save and comment, Instagram will show it to the next 200 people and then 1000, and so on.
In short, if more people interact with your posts, you will gain more exposure.
Often, people think that the total video they get depends on posting time, hashtags, etc. However, in reality, it only affects your views by 10 to 20%. The real game-changer is your content quality. Remember, better your content means better interactions.
Read Also: How Can Our Brands Leverage the Massive Indian Film Industry?
Converting Your Viewers into Followers
If you successfully want to run a business or build your brand on Instagram, building good quality content and gaining many views are insufficient (8). You will need to convert your viewers into followers.
But, how would you do it? One of the most effective ways to do it is through effective CTAs (9). It refers to you asking people to do something once they finish reading or watching your content. For instance, you can also ask your audience to follow you for more details, save this video for the future, or reach out for more details, etc.
You may think it is quite simple; however, they will do what you ask them if people like your content!
An average conversation rate is about 20%. And, if your conversion rate is less than 20%, you need to optimize your Instagram account. And if it is higher, you can focus on getting more traffic to your page (10, 11).
Here’s how you can calculate your conversation rate in percentage:
Conversation rate = follows/page views x 100
Read Also: These Conversion Killers are Driving Your Customers Away
Read Also: Conversion Optimization: Your Road Map to Build an Ideal Website
Different Ways to Monetize Your Instagram Account
Below are the top three ways to monetize your account on social media platforms.
- Directly selling your products or services: Whether you are selling tangible products or offering services like photography, social media management, etc., you can connect with people to sell your offerings directly.
- Work with Brands: Once you have enough followers, you can reach out to brands in your niche and offer to promote them on your Instagram account.
- Get Paid Directly from Instagram as an Influencer: While these bonuses are not available for everyone at the moment, it doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future (Suggested Reading: How Can Content Creators Make Most of the Subscription Model?).
Besides these four, you can also monetize your account by helping other creators sell their online products or increase their online reach for a %share or a fee (12).
And once you decide on your monetization channel, you can start building your sales funnel.
For those unversed, a sales funnel is a process your followers go through to become your paying customers. Each step of the funnel takes your prospects a step closer to becoming a buyer.
When you have a well-planned sales funnel, you will know which actions you need to take to push your potential customers to the next step.
For instance, if you want to work with brands, you don’t want to wait for them to come to you and promote them. Instead, you can choose to reach out to them and see how many brands agree to work with you.
In contrast, if you are starting a business on Instagram and want to sell your products services, ensure you have enough followers (at least about 1k), optimize your account, and announce your offerings in your Instagram stories.
Remember, the general stages of the sales funnel include attention, interest, desire, and action. So, make sure you plan your actions accordingly.
We hope that these tips from Mike help you boost your Instagram page to another level!
What are your thoughts? Have you made a viral reel? How did you achieve your Instagram success? Reach out to us or comment your thoughts below!
