How to Engage with Your Audience on Instagram
One of the most intimidating things about social media is putting content out into the world for everyone to see.
There are a lot of things we can do to control whether our content is well-received or not, but we can’t control everything.
The best way to guarantee your content is sticking with your current audience and reaching + resonating with a bigger audience is to make connections with people.
I’ve found that engaging with followers is one of the biggest places for opportunity growth for most small business owners.
So how do we engage with our followers? How do we make them like us? Make them want to continue to come back to learn or buy more?
What Does Engaging with your Audience Look Like?
Just like if you were posting and interacting with your friends on your personal social media account, you need to engage with people on your business account.
While this includes responding to comments and DMs you receive on your own content, it also means OUTREACH! Here are just a few of the ways I engage with my own audience as well as my client’s audiences.
Comments: One of the simplest ways to start interacting with your audience and building connections is in the comment section. Yes, respond to all of the comments on your own posts, but also comment on other people’s posts! You know how good it feels when someone likes or comments on your own post, so share the love!
Comments are best when they are personalized. Start a conversation. Ask open ended questions. Don’t just say “love this” or “this is cool”. Make it meaningful!
DMs: This one can be intimidating for some but it’s such a fantastic way to build meaningful connections. But first and foremost… WE ARE NOT SELLING IN THE DMs. Everyone is sick and tired of the DM sales pitches. What you can message in the DMs is introducing yourself, asking questions to other business owners or potential clients, or starting a conversation about one of their most recent posts.
Studies say that your consumer needs to be exposed to your business or product seven times before making a purchase. Creeping up on someone in the DMs is normally only the first time… slow your roll people.
Shares: This is one of my favorites! I love sharing other people’s content when it is valuable to me and I feel like it would be valuable to my clients. Sometimes I share posts from businesses that I’m loving lately, sometimes I share inspiration from other business owners. Spreading the love goes a long ways!
At the end of the day, think about how you would like people to engage with your posts and put that type of love and energy out into the social media space.
Your Challenge: Spread the Love!
On average, I spend 1-2 hours a week per account interacting with mine or my client’s audiences.
When you’re first starting out, I recommend 30 minutes a week. Just start a timer and start spreading the love! So that is our challenge today!
Set a timer anywhere between 10 - 30 minutes and spread the love.
Happy engaging! 😆
