BLOG 11: SIX SIMPLE TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR INSTAGRAM MORE SUCCESSFUL FROM @FACEYOGAEXPERT

If you’re curious as to how you can make the most of your quarantine time by starting or growing, your own online business using Instagram––or, if you are interested in improving your personal page––it starts by delivering the best possible content to your audience. However, getting there is the biggest challenge.

If you are reading this you may be one of our teachers of The Danielle Collins Face Yoga Method, be thinking of doing our teacher training or just be intrigued about how Instagram works and can work for you. Here are six helpful tips for making your Instagram more successful:

BE CONSISTENT

This is the hallmark of just about every successful account on Instagram––to gain followers, you need to provide regular content. When we say consistency, we’re talking about posting content every, single day––without exception. Get into a routine and try your best to stick with it. If you forget to share a photo one day (it happens––we’re humans), try to make up for it the next day with a second or third post (depending on your rhythm).Or, if you know ahead of time that you’ll be unable to upload, prepare by pre-arranging your posts and saving them in your drafts. Maintaining a sense of self-care is important, so don’t run yourself ragged trying to keep up with the demand. Once you’ve mastered the technique, it will become that much easier.

AESTHETICS: KNOW WHAT TO POST

Instagram is a visual medium. If your aesthetics aren’t up to par, you likely won’t attract many new followers. Everything about your page should be pleasing to the eye: from your main avatar photo––always use a clear, head-on image of yourself; to your overall colour theme––pick a handful of shades to incorporate throughout your feed and stick with just them. As for the type of content you actually post, this can be tricky. If you’re stuck coming up with ideas for posts, consider the most mundane daily activity and make it fun. For example, preparing a healthy, on-the-go breakfast. Take a photo of your morning meal, toss it up on your feed and caption it with something helpful and inspirational like: “Quick and easy breakfast idea”. Something so simple can add great value to your audience and, chances are, they might share it with their friends, resulting in more followers.

Another tip: photos that include YOURSELF tend to be more effective and engaging than a static shot of your breakfast. So, with the above breakfast example in mind, include yourself in your breakfast post. Have somebody take the photo of you holding your breakfast for an EXTRA dose of value and personality.

LISTEN TO YOUR INSIGHTS

On the main page of your Instagram, on the top right-hand corner, you’ll see three horizontal lines. Once you click that, you’ll see a tab for Insights. Insights gives users a greater understanding of what works well on their site––and, where users can improve. It is a necessary tool for learning the habits of your viewing audience: what they like, what they don’t, how often you should be sharing, peak engagement hours, etc. Insights allows you to better engage with your followers when creating content.Find out which type of posts receive the most likes, the most views, the most comments––and keep doing those types of posts. A good frame of reference when studying your insights is to consider the following: How does this help my audience? How does it give value to my audience? Is this content relevant? Is it “me”? These questions are vital when considering the type of posts, you want to create.

BE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF

People follow different accounts for different reasons, so growing your Instagram page is not often as simple as copying the captions and mimicking the content of other more successful feeds. You will earn dedicated followers of your own as long as you remain consistently yourself. Remember: people don’t buy from a business; they buy from a person. If people are visiting your page hoping to learn more about you, it’s best to show your authentic self. That being said, some days you just might not feel like posting. But that doesn’t mean you have to fake it. On the contrary, be honest: take a selfie and post it with a caption that is authentic to you and your situation. Something like: “I didn’t feel like posting today, but I did it for you, my audience, to share some tips or tricks with you so that YOU can have a better day than I’m having…” Something like that shows your fallibility, it proves that you are human, and also demonstrates your dedication to your followers. If you want to make money with your Instagram business, be human. Humans buy products from other humans. Just prove that you’re human, and you’re already ahead of the game.

TELL PLENTY OF STORIES

As much as your followers might enjoy your curated main feed content, a lot of them also love to see what goes on behind the scenes of your day-to-day life. Stories is the perfect platform for sharing just that. Stories captures the more rough-cut content that you want to share, but maybe don’t want to include as a permanent fixture on your page. Stories works great with the “know yourself” ethos from the previous tip because it allows you to be a little less reserved while still engaging with your audience. Don’t worry if the camera shakes while capturing your video content, or if your colour palette is not necessarily on-brand––Stories is still an extension of your authenticity. Start with with about 5 Stories a day and go from there.

ENGAGEMENT

Again, if you are trying to sell yourself as a brand or a business on Instagram, you must learn to engage with your audience. And that often means direct engagement. If somebody leaves a comment on your post, answer them (and as quickly as possible––the Instagram algorithm loves that). Provide as much information as possible––better yet, encourage them to send you a DM if they are looking to learn more about you. Engaging with a follower is the online equivalent of in-store shopping: you’re the store owner and the follower is the customer. If you are approachable and helpful when they are looking for assistance, you’re that much more likely to close the sale if you strike up a natural conversation.