Hello, and thank you for listening to episode 42 of momrenuer mastery simple Instagram strategies for busy moms. If you keep posting on Instagram, if you keep making the reels with the trending audios, if you continue to share and share and share. Something, anything to your feed, but you are not seeing sales or you're not getting leads, whether it's through a lead magnet or getting comments or DMS from people interested in what you do. You want to make sure that you were using each of these five strategies on Instagram, and that is what I'm going to talk about this week.
When most people think about Instagram marketing or Instagram strategy, they're thinking about content, right? They're thinking about what posts to share to sell their stuff. And yes, content strategy is super, super important. I always talk about it because it's so important. But this is a big, but there are actually five different strategies that you need to have in place.
If you want to be able to get clients and make sales. On your Instagram. And only one of them is your content. Like your feed content specifically. So I was recently chatting with a friend, um, on Instagram actually, who is a VA, a virtual assistant. And she was telling me that she is getting so discouraged and just feeling like on the brink of burnout from posting all the time and spending a lot of time scrolling. I to find those trending real audio so that she can actually get some leads, get some reach and get new clients from her Instagram marketing. And I totally get how frustrating that is, like putting your all into something and spending so much time on it and not getting any kind of return on that time investment.
And of all people, mom, business owners do not have time to waste on stuff that isn't helping our businesses stuff that isn't getting us leads or clients or sales. Posting content is great. But even that needs to be strategized to make sure it's getting you the end result that you want. But in reality, it is more than just posting to your feed. Like I said, there are five different strategies that you need to know and have in place on Instagram to get clients from your efforts. And I know it sounds like a lot, but these are things you're probably already doing.
You're just not strategizing them so that all of these pieces are working together to attract and nurture your ideal followers into leads and clients. So let's talk about what these five strategies are and how you should have them set up. So the first one I want to talk about. Is engagement. And I know you've heard this term before, especially on Instagram, especially when you're doing Instagram marketing.
Um, you hear it all all the time. But there are actually two kinds of engagement. And I want to talk about each separately because they each have their own purpose, and they each do different things for you and your business. Right? Cause it's not just about Instagram and getting the right vanity metrics.
You want to make sure that you're also getting actionable metrics so that your Instagram is actually supporting your business? So first there is inbound engagement, which is other people engaging with your content or account. And then there's also outbound engagement. Which is you engaging with other accounts?
I want to start with that one. I know you're probably engaging with other accounts, but it really should be strategized.
Because if you don't have an outbound engagement strategy, you're missing out on that essential connection piece with your audience. Which means you're leaving sales on the table. Social media is all about building relationships. That takes communication and communication is a two way street. You cannot expect your audience. Your dream clients to talk to you without also talking to them, right?
They're not gonna feel the need to comment or DMU things. If you are not also conversing with them on Instagram.
Now if you are a B2C business to consumer instead of B2B business to business. Like business selling to other businesses. Which is what I do. This is going to look a little different because people have private accounts, and it can come off a little creepy. If you show up commenting on personal photos or stories as a business.
so it really depends on your industry and your brand, but another aspect of outbound engagement. That you definitely want to have in place both of your B2B or B2C, but especially if you're B2C and you're not, engaging so much with
people in your target audience.
Is making sure you are engaging with accounts that your target audience would follow. So that you can get visibility and with thoughtful and valuable comments, you can also build trust and get new followers that are in your target audience. I actually just recorded a training for the membership I'm launching in a few weeks.
That goes over how to find the right accounts to do this for it can make such a difference.
This is one of the things I suggest to people when either their engagement rate is below average. And also if their follow rate is below average. , your follower rate over a 30 day period should be between one and 3%. And your engagement rate should be between one and 5%. Those are the averages for business, , accounts on Instagram.
It varies based on what industry you're in. Um, but if you are below those averages, work on your outbound engagement, for sure.
It can help with both of those things.
And the best part is it's not something you have to spend a ton of time doing. I do maybe 15 or 20 minutes a day, like when I'm already scrolling. The thing is you have to do it intentionally, and I say you, but this is really what I found for me, because if I don't do it, having the intention of strategic, outbound engagement, I will just scroll and scroll and scroll forever.
, and. If you're a parent. Would you probably are. If you're here. You know, that is exactly when your kids will get into something they're not supposed to, and it's just a huge time. Suck. So. Set a timer. Open the app, do some strategic outbound engagement. Making sure that is your goal. You're not just there to scroll and laugh at funny reels and like double-tap cute.
Puppy pictures. All right. Focus on outbound engagement.
The other kind of engagement strategy you need, like I said, is inbound engagement, which is getting other people to engage with your content and your account in general. So not only just the interactions with your posts, but also getting DMS because those DMs the comments.
Are all ways for you to talk to your people, take them from follower to lead.
It's also really great for getting market research information. You can find out what people need help with when it comes to whatever work you do. So you can make sure you are actually helping them, how they need it and align your content with that as well. Inbound engagement increases your reach. Meaning more attention from non followers. And the best part is it's not just from any old non followers on Instagram.
If the inbound engagement is coming from people that are in your target audience.
The non followers that you're reaching will also be in your target audience. Because what the heck is the point of more reach on your posts? If it's not by people that are likely to hire or buy from you? That would be a silly vanity metric, and we are not interested in that. We want actionable metrics.
So having a strategy for inbound engagement. From people in your target audience is what is going to actually help your business.
When you have that strategy in place and you are getting consistent inbound engagement, you're getting that new reach from non followers in your target audience. You're getting that data from your followers.
So you know how to best help them with your content, with your services. And you're nurturing followers, which is super, super key. You are having conversation with them and you are much more likely to convert them from follower into lead or client or customer. And now when it comes to nurturing followers, DMS are king.
Actually queen, we are moms and we run this shit.
So we are going to go with queen. DMS or queen that segway was so smooth. Now I'm going to talk about DM strategy. I know a lot of us have this fear or anxiety around reaching out to people via DMS. Which I totally get, because I know I personally have gotten so many that are so skeezy and just not good, like immediately cringe and give me the ick.
There are certainly some that are just in immediate, huge turnoff, but DMS are so, so important and there is a way to do it.
Right. And it's easier than you would think.
Because DMS. are where a ton of nurturing and even selling happens, you are so much more likely to convert someone from a follower into a lead or from a follower into a client or customer. If you're able to talk to them, one-on-one in DMS. As opposed to in like a comment on a piece of your content. So having a DM strategy for when you get new followers, when you have, , engaged followers, like when they're commenting on a bunch of your stuff, you can DM them.
You should have a DM strategy for that. , for following up with people that respond to your stories., like the engagement stickers on your stories. Have a DM strategy for that. All of this brings you closer to that. Oh, so very needed connection that helps you have a relationship with your followers so that you understand their needs and you can help them with your offers. Okay, keep it casual, keep it light, but do not be afraid to reach out and make sure DMS are a part of your Instagram strategy.
A really great place to start. DM convos is from your stories. And I mentioned the engagement stickers, if you're not sure what that is, it's those. Like features and your stories that you can add to your stories, where people can answer poll questions or answer another question. Like the question box, the sliding scale one, any of those, if people respond, you can reach out to them, and thank them. Or ask more questions about their response. And it doesn't have to be, business-related like, Not every DM should be a pitch.
Not every DM has to be business related. It's just a great way to start conversations about anything.
That's where a lot of that connection is going to happen. And there are a ton of options here. I'm actually working on making scripts for each of those different scenarios. I mentioned like the new followers, engaged followers, stories. Replies, all of that stuff.
so I'm working on making scripts for those for members in my new membership post with purpose. Because I know it can be really hard to do if you haven't done it before, it can feel really overwhelming. Like where do I even start?
So script's can help with knowing where to start and give you examples until you find your own groove and find what works for you.
And that brings us to number four. So we have covered inbound engagement. Outbound engagement DMS. Now let's talk about stories. Stories get the lowest reach of any kind of Instagram post. Right. But it is also where your most engaged audience is. So the people that interact with your content the most are the ones, seeing your stories.
These are your most targeted of target audience members. So stories are a great place to show more of your personality to help foster that connection. To get market research. To test out new content ideas and to sell your stuff. , whether it's a paid offer or lead magnets, it's a great place to do that. I'm working on scripts for all of these things as well for my membership. , because it can seem overwhelming, but stories are for a lot more than just showing pictures of your coffee and your to-do list and yes, you should absolutely show bits of your day and do those things.
Show what you're working on, but they're also great for all of those other things too. So do not skimp on strategizing the heck out of your stories so that you can start more conversations. Foster more collection. Foster more connection and get more leads and more sales.
And you can see how, , stories kind of tie in with that DM strategy. Right? All of these strategies should be working together to make sure that you are using Instagram to achieve your business goals.
And finally the one you have already heard about content strategy. Content strategy is aligning your post with your business goals.
And making sure that all of your posts are working together to help you reach these goals much. Like all of these strategies are gonna work together. Um, you want to make sure all of your content is doing that as well. Because not all of your followers. See all your posts. And no one is going to see just one post and immediately be like, yep, that's it.
I'm hiring this person. I am giving them my money, it takes more than that. So you want to make sure you have strategized content to lead people.
Down a sort of funnel. To get them to that point. Cause there are certain steps that have to happen between the initial follow. And the pitch for them to be ready to actually buy. And having a content strategy ensures that you have all of those steps in place.
Part of it is knowing your insights. So, you know, what kinds of posts to share to get more followers when you need them? Um, and make sure that those followers are in your target audience, because you have to have that very basic foundation before you can start selling, or none of the other strategies will work.
You have to know what to post, to get more engagement when your rate is below average so that your content gets seen by your followers and by non followers. , And you can get that data and foster that connection. You have to know what to share before launching a new offer or a sale or any kind of promotional content. so that your audience is excited to buy on launch day and they already have an idea of what's going on. So they're ready to whip out their credit cards and pay you.
And you also have to know what to post, to connect with your audience before you get to that point. All of these things, because like I said, no one is going to see one single post from you and be like, yeah, I need that person services or offers in my life. Please, please take my money. It would be really nice if they did, but it just doesn't work like that. So having a content strategy does two things. It makes sure that you're getting those actionable Instagram metrics that helps your business.
It helps you get followers and your target audience helps you get engagement for reach.
But it also, like I said, it helps you guide your followers down that funnel. a good content strategy, a solid content strategy where all of these pieces are working together. We'll attract your dream clients, nurture them, connect with them and convert them into leads or paying clients depending on. Like how you're using Instagram, right?
Whether you're promoting a actual offer or a lead magnet or a discovery call. So that just depends. But that is the end goal. So you need to have a strategy in place to get there random posts just as you think of them. It just doesn't cut it. I mean, it might, it might get you to that point, but having a mapped out strategy to make sure you are checking all of these boxes. Is going to get you more leads and get you more clients. And it also saves you a ton of time when it comes to creating content because you know exactly what to post and when you should be posting it, there's no stress about. You know, scrolling Instagram for inspiration or, you know, Googling what should XYZ business post on Instagram? you already know that's what a strategy does for you and allows you to save time on content creation.
So you know what to post and you can make sure your audience is going through all of these steps that they need to, to go from follower to client.
So you can see how all of these different strategies are really just pieces of a puzzle that work together. So your Instagram account is actually getting sales for your business.
And I know it sounds like a lot.
But you're probably doing these things anyway. Like you're probably leaving comments. You're probably replying to stories. You're probably DM-ing people and sharing content. The thing is just to making sure all of these pieces are strategized and making sure you are doing it with intention and with a plan in place.
So that all of these pieces are working together to attract, nurture, connect with your dream clients.
So they turn into paying clients.
And I get it. When you have a million other things to do, it still seems like a lot.
But the random posts and random stories, just to have something to share. So you can check Instagram off your to-do list is not going to be as effective as taking a little bit of time, just to plan things out and connect with your audience. So instead of doom scrolling, spend some time doing intentional outbound engagement and start some conversations. Instead of, you know, Endlessly looking for new trending reels to use in an attempt to get more reach. Check your insights.
See what got you. Lots of followers last time and do it again. , having a strategy answers a lot of your questions and saves you a ton of time when it comes to how you use the app itself. And how you create content. If this is something you want to learn more about, I would absolutely love it. If you would DM me on Instagram so I can give you some details about my new membership post with purpose. Because it has trainings about all of these things and scripts and templates for all of these things.
I just shared and even more. My goal for post with purpose is to have an affordable way to help mompreneurs create an Instagram strategy. That fosters genuine connection and turns followers into clients. It launches on May 22nd. And to celebrate the launch, there's going to be a pretty sweet discount and I would hate for you to miss out on that.
So send me a DM over on Instagram. I am at socially dot yours dot. Strategist, and I will send you some more information.