Do you feel like Instagram isn’t working for your business? That you’re putting in effort and generating nothing in return? You’re not alone. Here, I’m going to give you five reasons Instagram isn’t working for your business, (and therefore five ways to fix it)… and a link to a podcast too, where you can find out more. Are you ready?
You’re focusing in the wrong thing
How do you judge your account’s success? How do you know Instagram isn’t working for your business? The number of people who like it? STOP… followers are great for the ego but you can’t base your success/failure assessment purely on this. Look at engagement. The people who comment on and like your content. The DMs you receive. The conversions to your website. If you’re basing ‘success’ on the number of followers, by that rationale you could just buy more (it’s a thing – don’t do it!) and you’d be winning at life – right? See, you don’t just want followers, you want the *right* followers who are interested in what you do and want to engage.
You’re not being consistent
You know how magazines publish in a regular pattern, not just when they fancy it? You know how TV programmes come out each week/day in a pattern? It’s not just for kicks. Being consistent with your social media is REALLY important… how can you expect loyalty and engagement if people aren’t even sure when you’re going to show up? You don’t have to burn yourself out over this – use scheduling tools to make sure you post consistently as you can schedule a load of content in one hit. But do. If you want your Instagram account to work for your business, you HAVE to be consistent.
Your images are a bit rubbish
Sorry – it had to be said. You don’t need to be a professional photographer to ‘win’ on Instagram, but you do need to take good images. And by good images I mean in focus, accurate, and representative of your brand. Of course, if you can get some professional shots, do, please, but it’s a really good idea to up skill yourself. Take lessons, take a course, Google and watch YouTube videos about it. You don’t need a fancy camera, your phone will be fine, but you need to learn how to use it and how to take pictures that are going to inspire your fans or followers.
You’re not thinking about your captions
Don’t just post a picture and leave your audience hanging – talk to them – include a question or other call to action. On Instagram, you can have pretty long captions that can be used to talk about whatever you want… use them. Separate out paragraphs, use emojis, add value…use that space to engage your fans and followers. If the image you post makes people stop scrolling, a strong caption is the next thing you need to encourage them to comment and engage with what you’re saying or doing.
You’re not USING the app properly
Do you post and run? Do you schedule and never check in? Have you tried any of the functions beyond the grid? I’m a HUGE fan of scheduling, but I still spend a HUGE amount of time on the app after a scheduled post goes like. I comment, answer DMs, add to Stories, look at hashtags and comment on the feeds of others and more. I try out new features, I do a lot of hashtag research. I try new things. If you want it to work for you, use it.
For me Instagram is an essential marketing tool for my business. In addition to my own account, I manage a range of other accounts for clients of all shapes and sizes – into the many tens of thousands, all of who have seen consistent, quality, engaged and genuine growth by following the above. The five reasons your Instagram isn’t working for your business detailed above is all logical – it’s not rocket science at all- and if you take these and change your ways, you’ll be amazed at the difference you see.
If you’d like to learn more about how to use social media to grow your equestrian business, following on from the five points about, have a look at the Small & Supercharged Podcast episode – how to use social media to grow your equestrian business. Enjoy!
