Instagram Stories is a fantastic tool you can use to attract your ideal customers/clients.
But if you’re not familiar with how it works, it can all feel a bit confusing.
In this podcast episode I explain how to use Instagram Stories to make more sales in your business, including what kind of content you should be sharing (and how often) and how to use quizzes/polls and other interaction functions to find people who are interested in your products/services. PLUS how to get your Instagram followers buying from your stories.
Instagram has three main parts.
You can share your content between your grid, Stories and IGTV to get it in front of a wider audience.
Instagram Stories appear in a bar at the top of your feed. When there’s something new to see on an account of someone you follow, you’ll notice their profile photo will have a colourful ring around it.
To view someone’s story, you simply need to tap on their profile photo, and their story will appear full-screen, showing you all of the content they’ve posted in the last 24hrs. The content will play in chronological order from oldest to newest.
Once you’re viewing a story, you can tap to go back and forward or swipe to jump to another person’s story. Unlike regular posts, there are no likes or public comments. Anyone who comments go straight into your DMs (direct messages). This can be a great way to build relationships with prospective customers/clients.
The great thing about Instagram Stories is that your content only lasts for 24 hours. This can be great if you’re nervous about putting yourself out there. But you can save your best content as ‘highlights’ (more on that later).
As with any social media, there is really no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do it, but my account is probably ‘typical’ of what most Instagram users do. The content on my grid is more ‘curated’ than my Instagram Stories and has a consistent aesthetic (i.e. I used the same brand fonts and colours). My Instagram Stories is a bit more ‘rough and ready’ - and often features ‘behind-the-scenes’ content that relates to my life and business.
The clue is in the name: Story. And a story generally needs a beginning, a middle and an end. Or at least some kind of ‘narrative’ you can follow.
One of the most confusing things about Instagram Stories is that you’ll often hear people talking about each individual image/15 second video clips as a ‘story’. So for the purpose of this post, I’m going to refer to them as ‘chapters’ which make up a whole Story.
While there are no hard and fast rules on how long your Instagram Stories, should be, it’s worth remembering that most people are scrolling through. So if your Story is too long and/or doesn’t grab their attention in the first few moments, they’ll scroll past and start looking at someone else’s story. For this reason, I’d generally recommend creating putting together no more than about seven to ten individual ‘chapters’ to make longer Stories). However, with some Stories e.g. if you are talking to camera, you may need to make them a little longer.
Here are my tips for making them engaging.
1.Start with a question that introduces the theme of your Story and invites viewers to get in a conversation with you e.g. ‘Are you thinking of launching a podcast in 2020?’ ‘Have you done all your Christmas shopping yet?’ or ‘Here’s my to-do list for today. What’s the ONE thing you absolutely have to get done today?’
You can use the question, polls or quiz function but keep it really simple. If people have to think too hard, they’ll be far less likely to respond.
So, for example, with my podcasting course How To Get Your Podcast Live in 60 Days, I might start my Story with a poll: ‘are you interested in launching a podcast in 2020?’. Then I might share some information about the course before finishing up with a single call-to-action: ‘Interested in finding out more? DM me for a link to the waitlist.’
This gives me two opportunities to identify the key element that is needed for someone to make a purchase: desire. Then I can simply reach out to them and give them more information. And they’re not going to feel uncomfortable about it - because they expressed their desire to start a podcast and/or their desire to find out more about my course.
Similarly with my 2020 Social Media Diary & Planner, I’ll often start by asking a question e.g. ‘Do you sometimes find it difficult to stick to a content plan?’ Then I’ll share some pictures/video of the diary - along with some text that summarises what’s included. Then I’ll give a single call-to-action e.g. ’DM me for the link to order’.
AsI have over 10k followers on Instagram, you might be wondering why I invite people to DM me, rather than just give them the link. This is because it initiates a conversation. If we’re already chatting in the DMS, it’s much easier for someone to raise a question/objection about the diary - which is far more likely to result in a sale. If I simply send them off to a link, I may never hear from them again.
Another powerful way to sell in your Instagram Stories is to share client/customer testimonials - ideally ones that address your most common objections. For example, if the most common objection you get for signing up for your online course/membership is ‘I can’t afford it’ - share screenshots from clients telling you how much money they’ve made from implementing your strategies.
And do remember that you can use Stories to ‘sell’ anything - and not just your products/services. For example, you can use exactly the same process to get people involved in a conversation about your latest blog/podcast and create the desire for them to listen to it.
Dealing with objections in your Instagram Stories
It’s one thing creating a story about your product service with a call-to-action at the end. But if you really want to boost your sales, you need to create a series of Stories that address your ideal customers/clients objections. For example, one question I kept getting asked about my podcasting course was: ‘how will having a podcast actually help me in my business?’ So I polled my clients to find out how they found me. Most said they found me via my podcast, so I shared the result of that poll in my Stories.
I also asked some fellow podcasters how having a podcast had helped them in their business - and shared screenshots of their responses in my Stories. Their answers - which ranged from ‘it's helped me make more money’ to ‘it's helped me get booked for more speaking gigs’ are a powerful way to tackle that objection.
Even when you are tackling objections, it’s still important to keep your Stories interactive. So when I was tackling that particular objection, I opened my story by asking viewers if they ever wondered what was the point of starting a podcast.
Using highlights to sell on Instagram Stories
Although Stories disappear in 24 hours, you can save them in the highlights section (just about your grid) and continue to make sales. For example, I have a highlight for my 2020 Social Media Diary & Planner, which features dozens of pictures of people using their diary, along with a video of me giving a tour of the diary. People often respond to this highlight and ask me questions e.g. ‘Do you deliver to x country?’ or ‘what’s the delivery time for y?” Because their responses go straight into my DMs, we are straight into a sales conversation.
For this reason, I’d recommend having a highlight section for your key products/services.
Podcast shownotes
Want to start your own podcast? Sign up for my podcasting course.
[343] The three audiences you must build to create a successful online business (podcast)
[348] How to write social media posts that sell (podcast)
[358] 13 ideas for engaging social media posts (podcast)
[362] How to grow your Instagram to 27K- fast (podcast)
[373] How to get more followers on any social media platform (podcast)
[376] Lessons learned from 1 million downloads of my podcast (podcast)
[379] How to grow your Instagram followers by 1K in 30 days (podcast)
[381] How to use awareness days to create engaging content for your business (podcast)
Join the Media Diary Owners Club
Order your 2020 Media Diary here
How to create a high-converting lead magnet course
How to write social media posts that sell (online masterclass)
Buy my book Your press release is breaking my heart
Social Media Video Engagement Playbook
Social Media Engagement Playbook
LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook
Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn
Have you ever agonised over a social media post, or felt nervous and then deleted it or over-thought your post to the point where you don’t post anything at all? Or maybe you've worried that it was a bit too personal? If you’ve ever struggled with overthinking what you post or worried about being judged for what you post then you need to listen to this episode.
Natalie Lue a recovering people pleaser, perfectionist and over-thinker explains how to bring more of yourself and your personality into your social media content without worrying about it. She explains how to find the essence of 'you' and what makes ‘you-you’. She also explains how we can lose our personality in the content we create by over thinking and worrying too much about 'the rules'.
So if you’d love to have a potential client or customer say to you "Did you just read my mind?" And you want to know how to bring more of yourself AND your personality into your social media content and discover your ‘secret sauce’ then have a listen to this podcast episode.
This episode was recorded live at my content planning masterclass 2020Sorted. I’d love to know what you think…
Resources
Want to start your own podcast? Sign up for my podcasting course.
[049] How to turn your blog into a business with Natalie Lue (podcast)
[161] How to work with bloggers and influencers with Kat Molesworth (podcast)
[343] The three audiences you must build to create a successful online business (podcast)
[348] How to write social media posts that sell (podcast)
[358] 13 ideas for engaging social media posts (podcast)
[362] How to grow your Instagram to 27K- fast (podcast)
[373] How to get more followers on any social media platform (podcast)
[376] Lessons learned from 1 million downloads of my podcast (podcast)
[379] How to grow your Instagram followers by 1K in 30 days (podcast)
[381] How to use awareness days to create engaging content for your business (podcast)
Join the Media Diary Owners Club
Order your 2020 Media Diary here
How to create a high-converting lead magnet course
How to write social media posts that sell (online masterclass)
Buy my book Your press release is breaking my heart
Social Media Video Engagement Playbook
Social Media Engagement Playbook
LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook
Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn
If it's a dream or ambition of yours to start a podcast or launch a podcast in 2020 this podcast episode is for you. In this episode, I answer the many questions that I get asked all the time about launching a podcast.
So if you'd love to start a podcast but you're unsure of what equipment you need or how to host it and get it online or even get people to listen to it then this is a must-listen.
In this podcast episode, I share my practical actionable tips including how to choose a topic and why you should choose a niche to reach a larger audience.
Even if you're not planning a podcast and just a regular piece of consistent content then you'll still find this episode useful.
I'd love to know what you think.
Launching a podcast can be a big investment of your time, energy and money. Which is why it’s important to get clear on why you’re doing it. A podcast can be a great way to attract leads and sales for your business. For example, many of my clients start listening to my podcast way before they become a client.
However, you may have other aims - such as connecting with other influencers in your industry or raising your profile so you can land more speaking gigs or a book deal. If you’re clear on why you want to start a podcast, it will be much easier to measure the potential return on investment for your business.
Regardless of the topic, your podcast should solve a problem for your listeners. Solving a problem for people can simply be about entertaining people and/or making them laugh.
But for most business owners, this is generally about providing valuable information/discussion around a specific topic. For example, my podcast 'The Janet Murray Show' provides actionable tips and business/marketing advice - on topics ranging from Instagram marketing to creating a content calendar for your business to how to start a podcast for your business.
As with many things in your business, the more ‘niche’ and/or specific you can be, the better. Spend some time searching through the podcasts Apple and/or other podcasting platforms and you will be amazed what people have podcasts on.
For example:
Once you’ve decided on a topic, it’s time to choose a name for your podcast. I’d suggest picking a title that describes what your podcast is about.
For example, Employment Law Matters, the Smart Passive Income Podcast, the Property Development Podcast.
While it might be tempting to come up with something creative, this will make it easier for new listeners to find you. Ditto for individual episode titles.
There are no hard and fast rules about which is best: solo, interview or a mix of both. It really is down to you. It’s also something you may need to test over time i.e. do your solo shows perform better than your interview shows. For example, I started off with a weekly interview but found my solo shows often performed better, so I gradually started to do fewer interviews and more solo shows.
Again there are no hard and fast rules about how often you should put out your podcast i.e. weekly, daily, monthly. This is really down to you.
If you’re new to podcasting, creating a season of 6-8 episodes can be a much less daunting than launching a weekly or daily show. If your first season does well, you can always create another on a related topic and/or move to a regular show.
Your podcast can be as short or as long as you want. But if you’re new to podcasting, starting with a 15-20 minute show might be easier.
If you listen to podcasts, you’ll probably know that when you find a podcast you like, you often want to binge listen to other episodes. This is why it’s a good idea to launch with more than one episode. But again, this will be dependent on a number of factors e.g. whether you’re launching a weekly or daily show or a season.
Once you’ve decided on the topic, frequency and length of your podcast episode, it’s a good idea to make a content plan, setting out what you’re planning to publish and when with draft titles.
If you’re new to podcasting, it’s best to keep it simple. And, as you don’t know whether you’re going to enjoy podcasting, I wouldn’t recommend investing tons. I would recommend a simple set up. I would recommend a USB microphone like the Blue Snowball or Blue Yeti you can plug straight into your computer and a pop shield. These start at around £65. If you are recording solo shows, you can use Audacity - free software and Zoom/Skype to record interviews.
You will also need to choose a place to host your podcast on the web (most podcast files are too big for websites). You will need to pay for hosting. This can vary depending on how much content you have, but I started off paying around $5 a month. Now it’s around $25. Popular choices include: Buzzsprout, Spreaker, Blubrry and Libsyn.
Find out more about how to host your podcast: The Podcast Host
You can edit your podcast yourself using free software like Audacity or you can outsource. Expect to pay at least £15-20 an hour for podcasting editing, but if you think about the value of a potential lead/enquiry, getting a professional to do this for you can be a much better ROI (return on investment) in the long run. You could also use a podcast maker like Alitu which helps you clean you your audio, add your intro and outro, edit out mistakes, edit and publish your podcast.
Depending on the format of your show, you may also need to source a voiceover artist for the intro/outro and/or copyright-free music. I found my voiceover artist on Fiverr. You might also want to try People Per Hour or Upwork. There are tons of sites you can use to source copyright free music but my favourite is Audiojungle.
Introducing your listeners to interesting guests - people who are experts in a specific topic - can be a great way to add value.
The mistake many new podcasters make is thinking that having ‘big name’ guests is a great way to promote your podcasts. Actually the opposite is often true. Someone who already has a large audience is less likely to have the time or inclination to promote your podcast. A guest with a small but engaged audience may be much more inclined to tell the world about it.
When it comes to inviting guests onto your podcasts, the key thing to remember is that you are asking them to give up their time. So it’s important to demonstrate what might be in it for them e.g. the chance to get in front of your listeners, social media followers, email list. If you have a small audience or you haven’t started your podcast yet, it’s best to be upfront about that but show how you will promote the podcast.
As with anything in your business, it’s all in the preparation. The more you can prepare your guest for the interview - by sending over detailed instructions on how to prepare or join the call PLUS the questions you are likely to ask - the better the interview is likely to go.
It’s generally better to use open questions e.g. ‘can you tell us more about’ or ‘what did it feel like when…?’. This will encourage your guests to talk more freely and make your interview feel like a conversation rather than a question and answer session (which is exactly how it should be).
Preparing a list of questions is a good idea, but don’t stick slavishly to your question list. If you let the conversation flow naturally, your interviews will sound a lot better.
Unfortunately getting your podcast listed on Apple Podcasts (and other podcasting directories like Spotify, Acast, Google Podcasts and Stitcher) is not enough to build an audience for your podcast. You will also need to actively promote your podcasts via social media, your email list, Facebook messenger, Pinterest and any other marketing channels. There are also many things you can do to encourage your guests or listeners to share your podcast (such as creating branded, shareable artwork).
Most people vastly under promote their podcast because they’re worried people will get sick of hearing about it. In reality, most people are far too busy getting on with their lives to notice you’ve already posted multiple times about your podcast - and appreciate the reminder.
Want to start your own podcast? Sign up to my podcast course with The Podcast host - Colin Gray
How to pitch yourself as a podcast guest (blog)
[080] Three must-do tips for pitching yourself as a podcast guest (podcast)
[094] Seven steps to starting your podcast (podcast)
[190] How to pitch yourself as a podcast guest (and why you must do) (podcast)
[253] How to land guest appearances on podcasts with Nicola Holland (podcast)
[263] Why I changed the name of my podcast (podcast)
[331] What it really takes to build an audience with John Lee Dumas (podcast)
[348] How to write social media posts that sell (podcast episode)
[343] The three audiences you must build to create a successful online business (podcast)
[357] How to transform your Facebook page from ghost town to garden party with Bella Vasta (podcast)
[376] Lessons learned from 1 million downloads of my podcast (podcast)
Join the Media Diary Owners Club
Order your 2020 Media Diary here
How to create a high-converting lead magnet course
How to write social media posts that sell (online masterclass)
Buy my book Your press release is breaking my heart
Social Media Video Engagement Playbook
Social Media Engagement Playbook
LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook
Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn
Want to know how to create content that really sells and how to ask the right questions that lead to sales and follow up with people in a non salesy way?
I interviewed business and marketing experts Andrew Pickering and Peter Gartland - aka Andrew and Pete at my recent live annual content planning masterclass 2020 Sorted. Andrew and Pete have spoken all over the world about content marketing, including Social Media Marketing World, Content Marketing World and the Youpreneur Summit and are ranked as one of the top 100 digital marketers in the world.
It's a great interview where they explain how to understand who your high intent customers or clients (hand raisers) are and how to create handraiser content that gets them to raise their hand. They share their strategies, tactics and tools that they've personally used to make sales in their business.
PLUS why thinking that sales are icky is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your business. If you'd love to know how to create content to make sales in your business then listen to this episode.
Andrew and Pete’s YouTube channel
[179] How to get more eyes on your content with Andrew & Pete (podcast)
[333] 39 Surprisingly easy ways to get people to open your emails (podcast)
[335] How to create a highly converting lead magnet (podcast)
[339] How to build an audience for an online course or membership (podcast)
[348] How to write social media posts that sell (podcast episode)
[343] The three audiences you must build to create a successful online business (podcast)
[374] How to create a year's worth of content in one morning (podcast)
[380] How to set goals for audience growth in 2020 and why you should (podcast)
How to create a high-converting lead magnet course
How to write social media posts that sell (online masterclass)
Join the Media Diary Owners Club
Order your 2020 Media Diary here
Buy my book Your press release is breaking my heart
Social Media Video Engagement Playbook
Social Media Engagement Playbook
LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook
Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn