Not sure how to “work your Instagram” or feeling like you are not sure what to do when you login to your account. This week’s blog post outlines 5 daily tasks to do on your Instagram.
1. Check on Your Post’s Results
The first daily task on Instagram is to take a look at the last time you posted a photo and see the response. If you didn’t get a number of photo likes you typically see when you post, then there are a few things you should check. The first one is your hashtags. Did you include hashtags, did you research them, or spend time picking out relevant hashtags to your post? Need some help with hashtags? Check out this post
The second thing to look at is when you posted the image (Instagram analytics, called Insights are great for mining information about opportune times to post – you need a business account to view your Insights). You may have posted it during an inopportune time. Also, remember national and global events can affect your results as well. For example, launching a new product or sharing a photo of your work in progress on the weekend of the Superbowl won’t yield you great results.
2. Respond to All Comments
The second daily on Instagram is to respond to all of the comments that you received. Commenting keeps the conversation going – it builds your engagement rate and encourages digital relationships with potential customers. Always comment back even if it’s a simple “thank you!”
If you keep getting weird messages, comments from sales people or potential scammers, then this blog post will help you navigate those when you’re not quite sure how to respond.
3. Competitor Research
Spend some time going over your competitor’s recent posts. Scroll your news feed and look to other artists, makers, creatives, and brands for ideas on how you can build your marketing and business.
Remember that competitor research can often make you compare yourself to others. Don’t make the mistake of comparison and feeling down about a lower number of followers. Use competitor research to get ideas that you can apply to your own feed and strategy. This is also a good time to spot trends or relevant hashtags others are using.
4. Relationship Building
Engage with other accounts and digitally get to know customers, fans, and other businesses. This means commenting and liking other photos (especially if you expect people to comment on your account!). Believe it or not, you can create business-to-business relationships, find new creative colleagues, and reach new customers all on social media.
Just like building any friendship in real life, never lead with a sale. You wouldn’t walk up to someone and say, “Hi would you like to buy my product?” Approach relationship building as a balance between supporting others and sharing your passion & business.
5. Post Again
The last daily task on Instagram is to post. Ideally posting should happen every day! (Or perhaps every other day for those of you who are still learning Instagram). Instagram has so much content being posted that within hours, your newest piece of content is already buried underneath millions of other posts. Stay relevant and in the digital space by consistently posting.
And to help with the overwhelm of needing to consistently post, I am going to leave you with an offer….
Besides learning a new social media and marketing tool, the most difficult thing I hear from clients trying to build their business is the time it takes to post each day. Yes, it can easily take 30 minutes (or more) to really nail down a post. This is where a content calendar and batching comes in handy. Planning out multiple posts and planning ahead is very helpful in managing the speedy pace of social media.
Does building a content calendar sound good to you? I can help! Schedule a consultation today and we can build out your next 4-6 weeks of Instagram content so you are never stuck sitting and wondering, what should I post today?