Increase Engagement and Grow on Instagram in 2020 with Joelle Elizabeth
Episode 375: Show Notes
Today we are so lucky to host Joelle Elizabeth on the show! Joelle is a boudoir photographer and marketing strategist for other ambitious photographers and she is here to talk about growing a following and creating engagement on Instagram!
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Remember when we almost deleted out Instagram account? Well, Joelle was one of the amazing people who reached out to us and offered some great alternative ideas and we are eternally thankful to Joelle for the great value she has provided to us! Join us today as we get into how to double down on what you have going on and boost your status on the 'gram to get that business pumping!
The Time Joelle Reached Out to Us
Joelle admits that before she reached out to us she had to pump her self up a bit first! She had been following us for a while and had noticed she was seeing less and less of our content on Instagram. It could have been the algorithm, it could have been us posting less but when she saw our post about deleting our account she loved the transparency and thought she had some solutions to our issue. We have all started to notice this shift towards more vulnerability on social media and although it is still in the awkward, early stages it is no coincidence that we got much more engagement on that open and honest post than anything else prior to it. Opening up and sharing something relatable and authentic makes people engage and share and this is one of Joelle's firs tips. Be a real person and share real things going on in your life. You can choose 3 or 4 stories you return to and this makes you more of a person and draws an audience in. One of Joelle's stories that she uses is the fork in the road that happened to her in college when she decided to go all-in on photography over other ambitions she had. She has never looked back and telling this story and unpacking it slowly is a definite way her audience relates to her!
Creating Relatable and Sharable Content
If you can create content people naturally relate to they will tend to share it and you will get organic engagement and growth. Joelle even suggests making memes out of your work, which is particularly appropriate for photographers but can be applied in different ways no matter your field. When you make people laugh and feel connected to a post, they will often repost or send it to their friends. Also, remember people love posting quotes, so do not neglect the textual side of your posts. If you want to check your analytics you can do this through the 'insights' function and this can show you what is really working. Joelle also recommends taking excerpts from your blog to post on Twitter and even screenshots from IG for your tweets too! Another great tip from our guest is to create a story template for people to fill in, this creates immediate engagement and gets your content out there. For this reason, it is better to create original content for this purpose. When your audience saves your posts it tells Instagram that people are really interested in you and they will push your content out further. Joelle identifies education, encouragement and making people laugh as the three things that make people save posts the most. So when you are about to post, think of those three categories as a way to filter what you are doing.
How to Grow an Instagram Account from The Ground Up
Making shareable content can take you a certain distance but there is also the grinding that you have to go out and do. Looking at geotags and appropriate people for you to connect with is a great way to build your account. Engaging these individuals and contacting them directly is a simple and effective way to get yourself out there. Tell people that you liked their post, reach out authentically and create a real connection with your audience and other accounts that you follow. Asking questions and holding a conversation in the comments section also does great things for self-promotion and you will stand out when you show you care. When you link these tactics to client experience your audience can easily become brand ambassadors for you and this is one of the best ways to build a reputation! One of the advantages of a small audience is that engagement is almost always of a higher percentage. If you can slowly build from a strong base you can avoid the lack of engagement many accounts that grow too fast experience. While it is small, you can learn from your audience and build your reputation and connection to them, that way as you grow you will be improving in the right way.
Using Stories in the Best Way Possible
Statistics show you should be sharing on Instagram about 12 times a day and stories provide the easiest and best way to do this. Don't forget to add text to your stories. about 80% of users watch stories with the sound off, so you will be losing a huge amount of people if you do not add text! There are a bunch of apps that can help with this too, so get that all-important message into a readable format! Think about the flow of your stories, you do not want each piece to look exactly the same so swap between videos of your face, pics of your environment, quotes and so on. The reposting possibilities of stories should never be ignored, share things you like and tag the creators and people who appreciate it. The other thing to always keep in mind is of course hashtags! They are essential in building continuity and community!
Starting a Movement, Building a Community and Creating Viral Content
Before you go out there and try to start something big, think about what you want to as your uniting idea and hashtag. What speaks to your heart and brand? Create a hashtag and build around that! You can connect challenges and templates to this that allow people to be a part of what you are doing. Joelle is starting a movement called #thatswhaticallconfident, because an integral part of her brand is about confidence and celebrating it. We do not always feel confident and she is trying to fill that space with this hashtag. She is giving out little challenges to engage her audience and she gets them to post from the challenges she sets. For Joelle, it is all about asking questions and pushing people to get out there. If they tag her in their posts, everyone who follows that hashtag will then begin to connect. If you do this you can be at the center of some important connections! There are so many great opportunities to get your brand out there but you have to find the right one for you, treat it all like a big beautiful experiment and have fun with it!
Quote This
A lot of successful marketers, who get a ton of engagement on their posts, have 3 to 4 go-to stories that tie in with journey as an entrepreneur.
—Joelle Elizabeth
Highlights
The Time That Joelle Reached Out to Us Recently. [0:03:48.3]
Creating Relatable and Then Sharable Content. [0:11:45.7]
How to Grow an Instagram Account from The Ground Up. [0:21:39.2]
Using Stories in the Best Way Possible. [0:31:37.6]
Starting a Movement, Building a Community and Creating Viral Content. [0:41:50.5]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:49:25.9]
Focus on your bio.
Respond promptly.
Choose a really good profile photo.
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Joelle Elizabeth
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Joelle has been known to eat an entire pizza by herself (#noshame). Taylor Swift is her favorite, but if she's not yours it's okay - you can still be friends! Most days you'll find Joelle working away in her office cove with worship music blasting in the background and coffee close by. When you meet Joelle, you are guaranteed a hug because that's just who she is. Life is short & hugs will be given!
KEY TOPICS
Engagement, Audience, Authenticity, Journey, Stories
