Highly Visual entrepreneurs - this one is for you! Check out the 5-5-5 INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT FORMULA
/Exciting news on my blog!
I'm going to feature guest experts once every few weeks, to talk about systems in areas outside my immediate expertise. This first guest is especially delicious, because...
a) she talks about a system for some of my favorite people - the highly visual entrepreneurs,
and b) she talks about marketing, a topic, let's face it, is very much not my forte.
Robin Smith started in Network Marketing back in 2007 with absolutely no experience at marketing. Her background was in biology. She tried everything, cold calling people who have never heard of her, buying leads, thinking that they would all sign up, posting fliers about her local event, even flooding Facebook and Twitter with her opportunities. She found successes, but it just never felt right. That was until last year when Robin started marketing on Instagram. Suddenly her introverted and creative sides felt in harmony. So now, just a year later, 90% of Robin's daily leads and sales come from Instagram. She can be found @RobinSmith2007 on Instagram, and on her blog at MarketYourBusinessBlog.com
Enter Robin:
What do you think when you hear you should be on Instagram?
Do you think it’s full of high school or college students taking selfies? I’ll admit, when I first thought about marketing my network marketing business on Instagram…that was my first thought.
Boy was I wrong!!!
It is so much more!!!
Check out these Instagram stats… and you’ll quickly see the power of Instagram. There are 400 million active accounts. There is an average of 70 million pictures shared a day. It gets some of the highest engagement of all social media platforms with about 2.5 billion likes a day. 59% of users’ log on at least once a day and spend on average 25 minutes a day.
So why am I spouting off these numbers? Yes, my geeky side is coming out a bit, I do apologize. But here is the point. Instagram is where your clients are. It is where your customers are. They are just waiting for your picture to pop up in the feed so they can buy from you. So they can work with you. So they can get your product or service. They are just waiting for you to solve their pains and problems.
This is WHY you should be on Instagram.
Now, I know you’re probably thinking "I just don’t have the time". Give me just a couple more minutes, and keep on reading. You’ll see why I make 90% of my sales now from Instagram in about 30 minutes a day.
There are 2 parts to Instagram:
First up... CONTENT CREATION
Instagram is all about images and short 15 sec videos. It’s very visual. As I said, if you are creative this is a gold-mine for you. If you aren’t creative, I got some tips and tricks that will help.
Believe it or not, a lot of Instagrammers actually use their computer to create an images. I do! Have you heard of Canva.com? I love Canva! And the reason is - the predefined templates. I simply click on the Instagram template; it pops up already formatted correctly. I can add a background and quote. And a beautiful image has been created in just about a minute.
There are TONS of apps out there that will allow you to creative images right on your smartphone. I am just going to go over a few of my favorites to get you started. You might be thinking "she just said she loves Canva, why would she use her smart phone". Here’s why… last week I was at the grocery store, picking up milk before a storm…me and everyone else in town. At the checkout line, I was able to spend a couple of minutes creating an inspirational post (more for myself than anyone else at that moment) and post it to Instagram. It was that simple.
Remember I said 30 minutes a day? I didn’t say 30 consecutive minutes.
Ok, let’s make a pic. First up we need a quote, there is an app for that called Daily Quote that works great. Now, I have an iPhone, but there are same or similar apps on the Google Plus store for Android.
Then we need a background, I love the WallPapers HD app. Remember, Instagram is a visual platform, so your pictures need to be visually appealing. Grainy unfocused images won’t do as well!!!
Then I go to the Studio app. This is where the magic happens! Simply upload the background from your camera roll, add some text. Then save the image. Open Instagram. Upload the picture, and I’m done!
Do this 3-5 times a day. Give your target audience what they want.
Here’s my posting formula:
- 80% of your posts should be value based pictures such as motivation, inspiration, tips, etc.
- 10% of your posts should be fun. Either you, having fun (we don’t see at our desks all day do we?), or funny pictures, especially animals. (These are HUGE!)
- 10% of your posts should be promotional to make the sell.
The Second part is ENGAGING ON INSTAGRAM
Now I’m going to share with you my “secret” formula for what I do.
I call it the 5-5-5 INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT FORMULA
Here’s what you need: your smartphone and a timer. There is even a timer on your phone LOL!
Here’s what you do: set the timer for 5 minutes. Go to your current followers. Simply like 3 of their pics and leave a relevant comment on one picture. Also be sure to tag them by using the @ symbol and their username. This way they get a notification that ‘hey, RobinSmith2007 left me a comment’.
This works for 2 reasons: One, it is a warm up for yourself. You know, before a big workout, you do your warm up. Get the juices flowing. So I think of it as warming up my fingers. And two, your followers will be thankful you are interacting on their page, so they will come back and interact on yours. Win-Win! Do this for 5 minutes.
Once the time is up, reset the timer for 5 minutes. This time pick a hashtag that your ideal target market would use in one of their posts. Search for it. Simply like all the images that come up under that hashtag. You will be surprised how many you can like in 5 minutes.
Once that time is up, reset for 5 minutes for the 3rd time. Now, this time we get a little more personal. Pick a new hashtag your ideal target market, client, or customer would use. Something different. Search for it. This time when the images come up, click on the username, like 3 of their pictures and leave 1 relevant comment. I also like to tag them by using the @ symbol and their username. This way they get a notification that ‘hey, RobinSmith2007 left me a comment’. They know I physically left them this comment, I’m not some spammy bot. Do this for 5 minutes.
Bam, you are done! Now, if you want or you have time…rinse and repeat :)
So all of that took less than 30 minutes. Create 3-5 pictures a day and spend 15 minutes interacting. That is the beauty of Instagram…it is so simple it can be added to what you are already doing. And most importantly will get you in front of more customers and clients.
If you haven’t started on Instagram yet, hopefully this will encourage and inspire you to. My advice - go take action immediately with these tips and get results with Instagram.
Come stop by my Instagram page @RobinSmith2007 http://www.Instagram.com/RobinSmith2007 and say HI! I’d love to see what you create!
Have an awesome day!
Robin Smith
