In part 1 of this 3 part series I spoke to you about how as entrepreneurs we’ve become completely brainwashed by Facebook and we haven’t even realised it.
I walked you through how you could find your tribe over on Instagram (using some of your Facebook mindset) now that you’ve found them the next stage is to learn the skills needed to engage with them.
Mastering the art of Instagram engagement will do several things for your account. It will bring in those future customers that we all need to keep our business growing. It’ll bring in some extra traffic to your website and of course grow your following.
How to ENGAGE with them once you’ve found them
Once you’ve found that Facebook group containing those potential future customers one of the methods of getting yourself seen is by dropping in those values posts within the group. You write up something that’s relevant to the group and/or what you have going on right now, align it with a pretty image and click post then walk away waiting for the likes and comments to start flooding your notifications tab.
Instagram does not work that way, in fact if you use that same strategy on Instagram you’ll get nothing but crickets on every single post.
Proactive networking is the way forward here and this is what it looks like:
Go and spend time amongst those accounts you’ve identified as your ideal clients hang out locations. Spend some time going through the most recent posts (at least in the beginning) like and commenting on them where you feel called to.
Take the opportunity to comment not just on the owners post but also to the others commenting on the post. Perhaps one of them has asked a question and you have the answer? Just like in Facebook you now have the opportunity to reply directly to a comment or individual. It is essential you reply in this way to ensure that the person receives a notification from Instagram that you’ve replied. Unlike Facebook you’re notifications aren’t flagged whenever someone comments on the same post as you, only when you are tagged with your notifications pop up.
If someone catches your eye take action by clicking to view their account. If that person looks like a potential future client then look through their photos and like and comment accordingly. By liking and commenting authentically you are doing 2 things, first showing up right in front of a potential future customer but also giving them a taste of your personality without looking spammy.
Once you get a handle on the networking side of Instagram you’ll soon see that it’s a highly engaging platform that has massive potential.
In part 3 of this series I’ll be covering the final piece of the puzzle which is all around time management and how to network effectively without getting lost in your phone for hours one end.
If you’re looking to learn more about Instagram and online visibility you can find me each day within my community Making Visibility Effortless.