What I'd Do If I Started a New Instagram Account Today

I’ve been reflecting a lot on when I first started my Instagram account for my business lately. I started it thinking it would be just like managing the accounts for my previous company, but I was dead wrong. The two biggest things I didn’t consider were that I really hadn’t fully fleshed out my brand, so it was hard for my audience to understand and hard for me to create an effective social media strategy. The other thing I hadn’t considered was how much more difficult it was going to be, to be objective with my content. When creating content and posting for someone else, it was simple to focus on the goals and the metrics. When it came to Essence, however, it was not so easy. Reels I really liked flopped, and posts I wasn’t the biggest fan of did super well. 

Long story short, this is what I would do differently if I was going to start a new Instagram account today. 

Define My Brand, Research & Plan

It all starts with a strong brand and good products or services. Before you even think about diving into the social media world, make sure these things are fine tuned. You should be able to rattle off what your brand is, what you do and who you do it for. In addition, you should have branding guidelines, including: fonts, colors, tone of voice, visual direction, etc. On top of your brand, you need to make sure your products and/or services are well thought out. I’ve run into brands that weren’t willing to change products or services that clearly were not appealing to customers/clients, and the truth is even a good social media presence will not sustain your brand if your product or service sucks. I went through so many different iterations of my services before I landed on what I’m currently offering, and there are still things I want to tweak about them. It’s not a bad thing to admit that a product or service you offer could be better. 

My next point I cannot talk about enough. Research and plan as much as you can before you begin posting on social media. It’s enticing to just start posting at random, but it will not help you gain an engaged audience. Furthermore, it will not help you increase your sales from social media. So, what should you be researching? Your market (location specifics, gaps that need filling, consumer behavior), others in your industry (their offers, their branding, what they’re doing on socials) and social media platforms (where the people who will be interested in your offers are likely to be, the latest features of each platform you’re considering, what types of content produce the best results). Once you’ve researched all of this, you can begin planning how to approach social media and where you want to position your brand. Think about things like how your brand different than similar brands, what your target audience is likely to react to and how much content you can realistically produce and post every week. Also, think critically about what your goals are. “I want to make X amount of money by X,” shouldn’t be your goal by the way. Instead, keep in mind the things that drive people to buy. For some it will be numbers and information, and for others it will be an emotional connection to your brand. Sell the destination to your audience, not the journey. What might their life be like if they bought your offer? On top of that, find ways to include your story and your personality into your content. People connect to people, so make sure there’s a little bit of you in there. 

Make Intentional Decisions, Pay Attention, Pivot & Repeat

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your social media following won’t be either. Start off with some intentional decisions, based on the research and planning you did, and then don’t be afraid to pivot when it’s clear something isn’t working. 

It all begins with your Instagram bio. It should be very clear who you are as a brand, what you do and who you do it for. Some dos and don’ts for your Instagram bio are:

• Do have a photo of your face or your brand logo as your profile picture.

• Do have your location, your niche and your name in your name plate (if it all fits).

• Do talk about your offers and who they’re for. 

• Do list your website or other important links. 

• Do direct people to these links. 

• Do list your address (if you have one for your biz).

• Do have highlights (ideally with some branded covers).  

• Don’t put hashtags in your bio. 

• Don’t only have a slogan or catch phrase as your bio.

• Don’t make it confusing what your brand is. 

• Don’t go too crazy with the emojis.   

Then, start to think about how you can optimize your content. Again, the research and planning you did should’ve helped you to create a killer social media strategy, but sometimes stuff just doesn’t work. There are lots of reasons why, so don’t take it personally. Pay attention to what your audience engages with most and, also, what is helping you reach new people. Then, change things up based on those findings. Do that over and over again, and you will start to see progress. Pinky promise. 

Try to Look at Your Content Objectively & From the Lens of a First-Time Customer

As I mentioned, remaining objective when it came to the content for my business was difficult at first. Building a business is a very personal thing, so it makes sense that creating your digital presence is as well. However, one thing you can do to help make the switch is to keep in mind the content you’re creating should serve your audience. So, the things they react to the most are the ones that should be prioritized, and I’m not referring to just likes with this. Saves, shares and comments are also very important metrics to pay attention to. 

That all being said, you also have to keep in mind the people who have never heard of your brand. I’ve found this is a tough thing for small business owners to do, because they’re so ingrained in their business that it makes it difficult to think of big picture concepts for content, versus very specific things. For instance, instead of talking about a specific product, try something like, “The {insert your general business category or niche} you have to check out if you like {insert a related topic or interest}.” Keeping it more general will help potential customers/clients to connect with and understand your brand more easily. 

That is all for now! As always, I hope you found this helpful. Stay tuned for more posts