Are you feeling frustrated with your Instagram growth?
In this episode, I share the surprising reason your account isn’t growing (even though you’re posting consistently, using relevant hashtags and/or spending time engaging on other peoples’ accounts). And show you how to fix it.
If you’re struggling to attract new followers to your Instagram content, you may think it’s because you haven’t nailed your strategy. You need to post more often/consistently. You need to find the right time of day to post. You need to find the right hashtags to attract your ideal/clients.
But while honing these strategies can help, there is one fundamental thing you have to be able to do to grow your following. If you can’t do this, you’ll struggle to grow your audience - regardless of any strategies you try.
So what is this magic thing you must be able to do?
You have to be able to connect emotionally with your audience.
Your content needs to make people stop in their feed,
And it needs to make them feel something. For example:
If you want people to take the time to stop and read your post. If you want people to hit ‘save’ or ‘share’ - or leave you a comment - it has to hit them right in the heart.
It if doesn’t, they’ll just keep on scrolling.
So how do you know your content is hitting the spot? More people will be liking, commenting on and sharing your content for sure. But what will really show your content is hitting the spot is when people leave comments like:
‘This really resonates with me.’
‘I feel like you’re inside my head.’
‘I was just thinking this earlier.
So how do you create this kind of content? Keep reading and you’ll find out.
Take a look at the account of some key competitors that are getting good engagement and growth on their account.
How are they engaging their audience emotionally?
Natalie Lue - everything we do is about making us feel better. So if we can make our audience feel better about themselves they’ll love us for it.
Lifestyle envy (personal/work) - Hannah Otto, The Annaedit, Brand Stylist
Humour: Alyssa Limperis, Simon Holland, Glitterbeards, Paul Flaart
Empathy: Matt Haig, Jamie Tworkowski (Jamie T), Helen Marie
Reassurance/encouragement: Boss Babe, me
Challenge: polarising content - don’t see so much on Instagram
People need to SEE themselves in your story - even if they haven’t had that exact experience.
For example, I have a recent post: Don’t take criticism from people you wouldn’t take advice from.
In the caption I talked about how people email me with ‘advice’ on email marketing - even though they don’t have
1,333 likes
1086 shares
640 saves
I’ve just been looking at my top ten performing Instagram posts of the past year.
My best performing post got:
PLUS it’s been saved 2,495 times, landed me 912 new followers and 90% of people who saw the post weren’t even following me in the first place.
Pretty mind-blowing, right?
Well here’s the interesting thing.
Only ONE of my ten best-performing Instagram posts was actually created by ME (number 10 as it happens). The rest of the posts (including this one) were originally created by other people. I was simply resharing them.
In the last six months I’ve more than doubled my Instagram following from 6.5k to over 15k and content curation (sharing other peoples’ content) has been a big part of my strategy.
The way I see it, there is so much great content out there already - created by people who are more eloquent, funny and/or talented than I could ever be.
So instead of dishing up my rather mediocre content, why not introduce my audience to the best of the best?
That way I can focus on giving them exactly what they need: funny, inspiring, poignant, polarising...whatever it is they need to hear at any given time.
Without having to come up with a single idea myself.
And in doing so, I’m not just growing my own Instagram account. I’m helping to grow other peoples’ too.
Which is a win-win all round, right?
Of course there is an art to content curation (including how to credit those whose content you share). Which is why I’ve devoted a whole section to it in my new Instagram course, which starts in May.
But not only can content curation save you tons of time...it can also help you improve the quality of your content.
Which is why I’d love you to give it a try (tip: it doesn’t just work on Instagram)
Join my Instagram Academy Course here
Janetmurray.co.uk/podcastfinder
Join my Build Your Online Audience Programme
Masterclass - How to generate passive income in your business
Masterclass - How to plan sell and launch an online Webinar or Masterclass for your business
Masterclass - How to turn your in-person services into online offerings
Masterclass - How to launch a playbook for your business
[343] The three audiences you must build to create a successful online business (podcast)
[362] How to grow your Instagram following to 27K fast (podcast)
[374] How to create a year's worth of content in one morning (podcast)
[378] How to use hashtags to build your online audience (podcast)
[379] How to grow your Instagram posts by 1K in 30 days (podcast)
[386] The four types of content to create that will help you make more sales in 2020 (podcast)
[390] How to stop overthinking your content (podcast)
[391] How to write better social media captions (podcast)
[392] How to get more engagement on Instagram (podcast)
[398] What sort of content should you create during a global crisis (podcast)
[399] How to build your online audience during a global crisis (podcast)
[400] How to build a large audience for your blog, vlog or podcast (podcast)
[Bonus] How to turn your in person services into online offerings (podcast)
[Bonus] How to generate income fast by creating a power hour for your business (podcast)
How to create an editorial calendar for your business (blog post)
How to write social media posts that sell (online masterclass)
Join the Media Diary Owners Club
Order your 2020 Media Diary here
Join my Build Your Audience Programme
How to add closed captions to your video using Rev and Kapwing
Join my get your podcast live in 60 days course
How to create a high-converting lead magnet course
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