How To Create Your Own Instagram Strategy

How To Create Your Own Instagram Strategy

Whether your business is brand new or you’ve got a little skin in the game, there’s one thing I know for sure–– social media is constantly changing. What’s trending this quarter may not even be relevant the next (heck, even sometimes weekly), so how do you manage all of this and still run your business? You create an Instagram strategy that has a strong foundation but still allows for you to create trending content. That’s what we’re going to walk through today, so let’s get started! 

1. Define Your Audience & Brand Voice

 Chances are that when you were figuring out your business plan, you already had a specific audience in mind, which is great because that pours over into your social media strategy. You need to know who you’re serving. It’s also really important to determine what your brand voice is going to sound like. For example, is it more professional/no emoji use OR is it more personable, with lots of personality? I would even go so far as to say that you need to determine a set of branded emojis!

2. Determine Your Content Buckets 

Content buckets are so important (and helpful!) when it comes to creating your social calendar. Have you ever stared at your phone, perhaps scrolling through your camera roll trying to figure out what you should publish today? Maybe you even got frustrated and decided to “post tomorrow”? Creating content buckets that can be repeated for your brand is what’s going to help you create a solid content calendar on a regular basis. Here are a few of my favorite types of categories to get you started:

• Behind The Scenes

• Product Tutorial

• Life Outside Work

• Testimonial/Social Proof

• Values (What Makes Your Business Tick/Why Did You Start)

• Poll Your Audience

3. Identify Which Platforms You Need To Be On 

You don’t need to be on every single social media platform. Did you just mutter “WHEW! Thank the Lord”? I thought so! Even if your target audience is on multiple platforms, your products and/or services may not be suited to every platform. For example product-based businesses do really well on platforms like Instagram because Instagram is a very visual platform. If you like to tell stories with your content, to connect with your customers on a deeper level, a platform like Twitter with 280 character count wouldn’t serve you well. 

4. Identify Which Types Of Content You’ll Be Using

There are three types of content you could potentially work with: owned, earned, and paid. Owned content is content you produce, like photos and videos you create, edit, and publish. Earned content is typically user-generated content. For example, if a customer used your branded hashtag and posted a review of your product, that’s considered earned content and you could potentially repost this content to your account (with their permission). If you work with influencers on a contract basis to create content for your brand, that’s paid media. 

5. Determine How You’ll Handle Customer Service & Routine Engagement

Here’s the skinny… As consumers, we expect the brands we buy from to “meet us where we are”, and that includes social media accounts. It’s important to have a customer service plan in place to handle common questions, concerns, and other types of inquiries. You’ll also want to set aside 10-15 minutes daily to engage with your audience. This looks like responding to all comments/DMs, and actively leaving thoughtful comments on accounts you follow (and don’t follow yet). Remember, you have to give the type of engagement you want to get.

 6. Track Your Analytics Like Your Business Depends On It… Because It Does

Analytics hold a lot of power, and answers to your questions on what’s resonating with your audience, and what isn’t performing as well. Once you understand how they work, you’ll be able to make future content (and business) decisions based on your monthly, quarterly, and yearly analytics. PS: Please don’t just use the “Insights” tab on the Instagram app. This doesn’t go near enough in depth for your instagram strategy. You need info such as: best posting times down to the hour, specifically where your customers are located, how one piece of content is performing over the other, and so much more! My favorite place to track analytics is by using Later OR the “Analytics” from Buffer.

7. Adjust Your Instagram Strategy As Needed

There could be multiple reasons why your instagram strategy would need to change. As I mentioned earlier, the landscape of social media is constantly changing and if you don’t keep up with the pace, you’ll get left behind. You’ll also want to adjust it as you create new products/offers, if you start working with influencers on a regular basis, and based on how well your content is performing over time. One thing to remember is that you shouldn’t change your entire strategy just because one or two posts aren’t performing well. You have to give your instagram strategy time to work, so don’t make adjustments too quickly.