How My Client Increased her Instagram Growth 15% and her Engagement 586%

Are you tired of recording, editing, and sharing trending reels to not see a change in your follow account?

Or maybe your follower count is growing, but your engagement and sales stay stagnant? (womp womp)

These are signs you need to optimize your Instagram profile! 

I’m stoked to dive into today’s episode all about making your Instagram profile work smarter, not harder. Let’s cut through the noise and get real about followers—because guess what? A massive following doesn’t always translate to sales. Yep, you heard me right. I’m all about quality over quantity, folks!

You could have a bazillion followers, but if they’re not vibing with your content or—let’s be real—your offers, then what’s the point? 

Today, I’m spilling the beans on how to tweak your profile to attract those dreamy, engaged followers who actually convert into clients. 

00:00: Sydney introduces the importance of quality over quantity in Instagram followers, setting the stage for optimizing profiles for ideal engagement and sales.

02:00: Highlighting the pitfalls of untargeted growth, Sydney emphasizes the necessity of cultivating a follower base aligned with your business objectives.

04:00: Delving into the essential elements of an optimized profile, Sydney breaks down the significance of profile picture, bio, and username in making a lasting impression.

07:00: Expanding the optimization scope, Sydney discusses the pivotal role of highlights and the link in bio in fostering trust and guiding potential clients seamlessly through the conversion process.

10:00: Closing with a call to action, Sydney offers listeners a chance to streamline their Instagram strategy with a discounted profile audit, ensuring their profiles resonate with and attract their ideal audience.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Get A DFY Optimized Profile (discount expires 6/14/24)

Find And Fix The Gaps In Your Instagram Strategy Quiz

Join Post With Purpose and get weekly post prompts so you always have a strategized content plan. Price increases 11/8/24

Music courtesy of Pixabay

Transcript

ep 47

Sydney: [00:00:00] You can have a million Instagram followers and still not make sales. You can also have a strategic following of only a few hundred and be completely booked. It's all about the quality of follower that you have. And the way you ensure that they are a high quality follower is by making sure your profile is optimized for your ideal follower.

Sydney: So today I'm going to walk you through all the parts of your Instagram profile that should be optimized and how to optimize them so that you can attract your ideal followers who will engage with your content. , this is a strategy that helped one of my clients achieve incredible results. Jasmine was struggling with getting new followers and getting her followers to engage.

Sydney: And that was because the followers she had were not quality followers. They were not in her target audience. But after we worked on it, her follower growth skyrocketed 15 percent and after implementing these, , tips, because all of these new followers were in her target audience, her engagement went up [00:01:00] so, so much.

Sydney: Like, sit down for a minute because this is wild. It went up 586%. Yeah. So, it's really amazing because all of those followers engaging with her content are now so much more likely to convert into leads or clients, , depending on what she's offering in her content. So yes, Instagram growth is important, but it has to be the right kind of growth.

 [00:02:00] 

Sydney: So when you haven't strategized, optimized Instagram profile.

Sydney: you will grow your follower account with

Sydney: ideal followers

Sydney: that will engage with your content and convert into clients. 

Sydney: If you're wondering how do I know if this is something I need to work on? I have some some things for you to check to see. So the first thing you're going to go to your professional dashboard in Instagram and look at your follower growth for the last 30 days. If it is below 3%. Optimize your profile. If you search for your keywords, your targeted keywords in Instagram and your content, doesn't show up. Optimize your profile. If you have low engagement, this can be assigned that you need to optimize your profile [00:03:00] because it can be a sign that your current followers aren't in your target audience. 

Sydney: It could be a number of other things too. So this is with an asterisk 

Sydney: Think about it when a future potential client. He comes across your account. What do you want them to feel? Do you want them to be intrigued? Understood. Like they finally found someone who gets their plight and speaks their language. Your profile is such a crucial first impression, 

Sydney: especially on Instagram where everyone's attention spans are. 

Sydney: So, so super short, you have to have this great first impression that is super targeted toward your specific ideal client. 

Sydney: So, how do we do that? 

Sydney: First thing's first is your profile picture. If you have a logo as your profile picture right now, you're gonna want to change that. And I know like people try to do faceless accounts. If it's something you're super not comfortable with. I'm not going to ask you to do it, but people connect with people. 

Sydney: And the whole point of social media is connection. It's going to be [00:04:00] a lot harder to connect without showing yourself. So you need a high quality, like picture of yourself with a non-busy background, the focus should be you. Not anything else in the photo. 

Sydney: You don't want it to be blurry or busy or unrelated to your niche. Okay. 

Sydney: That is the first thing people see. So you want it to stand out and show you. 

Sydney: Now, the next part is the second thing that everyone thinks of when they think of an optimized profile, your bio. 

Sydney: Your bio is so, so important for so many different things. It helps your account be more searchable. It can help your account show up as like a suggested profile to people in your target audience. And again, coming back to that big, like first impression that you need to make, you really want to use your bio to show. Who you help and how you help them in a very specific way. It goes beyond just using the right keywords. 

Sydney: It's more messaging and understanding your specific ideal [00:05:00] client. It should really resonate with them and speak directly to their problems while still showing a glimpse of the solution that you provide them. So as an example, If you're a coach who helps busy moms find a work-life balance. Your profile

Sydney: should use. Language that connects with that specific audience. You want to say things like if you're feeling overwhelmed or like you're juggling it all. You can help busy moms finally find time for themselves and get really specific. It creates this feeling of, oh, they get it. 

Sydney: They understand me. I, this person can totally help me. I want their content in my feed. 

Sydney: And you really want to show off your unique selling proposition here. You want to make sure that you're using the keyword so that you can show up in searches, but also show up. 

Sydney: In a way that really connects with your ideal client. It's this weird balance 

Sydney: of showing bits about you and your work. [00:06:00] While really focusing on your ideal client. It should be more about them than you. 

Sydney: And of course you have to do it within the character limit, which can be a little tricky. But it's still definitely doable. 

Sydney: All right. So we talked about your photo and your bio. Now your username should be similar. And to be clear, this isn't your handle. 

Sydney: This is how your name shows up on Instagram. 

Sydney: And now Instagram lengthened the character limit for your username a while back. So you have a lot more room to play with. I think it's 35 characters. So you could do your first name so that people can connect with you on that level. And then use terms that talk about who you are. And who you help that is more searchable for SEO purposes. 

Sydney: As an example, I think mine right now is Sydney. And then Instagram strategist for mompreneurs. 

Sydney: So honing in on those keywords can really help make sure that you are showing up in searches when people are looking for help on Instagram. 

Sydney: And also showing up as a suggested account to [00:07:00] follow. When they're looking at similar profiles. 

Sydney: But an optimized profile goes beyond just like looking cute and keywords. It is also about fostering trust and 

Sydney:  Positioning yourself as the expert in the room for whatever your industry is. Right. 

Sydney: That's more than just your bio. It's more than your profile photo, more than your username. It's also your highlights and how you organize those as well as the links in your bio. So those also need to be optimized, not as cute, not as fun, still important because the fastest way to lose a potential lead or client is by confusing or overwhelming them. 

Sydney: So for these, you really want to focus more on organization and flow so that when people find your account or they go to your profile to get more information, it's easily accessible, not confusing, not overwhelming. 

Sydney: And they will know exactly what next steps to take.

Sydney: So let's talk about your highlights. First. Your highlights are basically like a [00:08:00] mini portfolio right there on your profile. So you really want to use these to highlight your expertise. 

Sydney: To show, you know, your stuff, you're good at what you do and what you do. Also getting specific in the types of services you offer here. The biggest mistake that I see with highlights is people having way too many people are not going to scroll forever on your highlights to get to super specific things. 

Sydney: You want it simple. You want it clean and organized. 

Sydney: Mia's once again, the fastest way to lose is , by making things overwhelming or confusing for them. 

Sydney: So think about what would be most helpful for your ideal audience? What will develop that trust and connection and show your expertise in your industry? 

Sydney: And there should be five, maybe six highlights, total.

Sydney: Now the stories you add to your highlights should do the same. They it [00:09:00] should be very specific with calls to action or links in them for next steps. Whether it's like services or testimonials or whatever it is you're sharing. Simple. Clear easy to follow. Calls to action. 

Sydney: And the next piece is your link in bio. 

Sydney: And I know Instagram had an update recently where you can now add, like five links in your bio. Going on the theme of simplicity. Don't. Just one, just one Lincoln bio is perfect. You don't want a whole bunch of links there. 

Sydney: And again, even in that Lincoln bio or whether you use like link tree or you have your own thing on your website, Simplicity. Is best. Here. You don't want it overwhelming. I would not do a whole bunch with your link and bio. You need a few very. Simple things 

Sydney: so that when you are posting with purpose and utilizing your Instagram [00:10:00] strategy, The. The strategy itself acts as a funnel, but your profile will help with that. Your next steps should be very simple for them. Whether it's go to a Lincoln blog, bio and click on XYZ link, it needs to be laid out. So, so clearly for them. And you don't want to have that confusion or overwhelm. So just a handful of links to help guide them through your funnel. This is where you would do four or five max. Like max, you want it to be clean and simple, easy to understand. Not overwhelming. I cannot stress that enough, even if you think it's very clear. I want you to take a minute and think about how, like, what mindset and you're in. When you go on Instagram, are you. Avoiding reality for a little bit hiding from your children and your pantry. 

Sydney: You know, doom scrolling. You're not really on there to spend lots of time thinking about things. So the more like direct and simpler, you can make [00:11:00] it. The better your profile, 

Sydney: the easier it will be for your newly targeted followers that have found you from optimizing your profile. Can go from follower to lead to client. 

Sydney: So those are all the things that you should be optimizing. In your Instagram profile to make sure that you are attracting the right followers so that you can get that engagement rate up so that you can connect with your followers and convert them into leads. This is such like a foundational part of your core Instagram strategy. So just a quick recap here. 

Sydney: If your engagement rate is less than 3%. If you are not showing up in searches, when you search for your targeted keywords. And if you have low engagement, remember 

Sydney: there's an asterisk on that one. Cause it could be because of non-ideal followers, but it could be messaging or something about your content as well. But it is something to look at and consider here. If most of your followers are like friends and family instead of potential leads and clients, [00:12:00] then yeah, definitely work on optimizing that profile. 

Sydney: But if any of those things are true, take some time to optimize your profile. 

Sydney: Look at your picture, your username, your bio. Your highlights, your Lincoln bio. All of these things to make sure everything is super optimized now. 

Sydney: By the time this is published, lots of kids are getting out of school. Schedules are getting crazy. 

Sydney: If you don't have the time or brain space to put into optimizing your profile while you're getting kids ready for camp or trying to keep them entertained and fed with all of those snacks, they're constantly requesting now that they're home for summer, you can ditch the guesswork and get a personalized roadmap to an optimized profile. When you buy a profile audit. 

Sydney: And because this is a new offer. 

Sydney: I am just launching it. 

Sydney: You can save $10 through June 14th, this Friday. 

Sydney: So you will get an optimized username, bio links, and bio highlights. All of that laid out for you. Basically when you buy it, you get an intake form, and [00:13:00] I do a deep dive into your answers on the intake, form your website, your profile, and assemble it. 

Sydney: So you can just copy and paste so that you can get. Ideal followers that connect with. With your content and convert into leads and clients, depending on what exactly you're promoting in your content. So go ahead and check out the link in the show notes. 

Sydney: To get a discounted profile audit before June 14th. 

Sydney: For just $47.

 [00:14:00]