For the beauty industry, there is no doubt that Instagram is the leading platform for social media marketing. Everything about it lends itself to a perfect fit with us – it’s visual, it’s a great search engine, and clients are already there. There’s a low barrier to entry to join the platform, and social norms are changing to ask for Instagram before a business card or a brochure.
Those beauty pros who are already on Instagram have seen the platform change dramatically in the past 18 months.
Gone is the chronological timeline and the need for #latergram. Now, the best content wins, and it’s the photos and videos that receive the most likes and comments that reach a wide audience. Social gurus and influencers harp on engagement and making sure you are getting it. But they rarely show you how to create engaging content. They can explain up and down why their content is engaging, but it’s usually because they are conventionally attractive people with photographers and editors on staff.
For the rest of the population, it isn’t that simple. We have to be more strategic about what we post, and let’s be honest; it’s not usually going to be a ton of selfies or a documentation of the latest brand trip we were invited on in the Bahamas. I’m here to tell you that this is completely OK. Engaging content is not a brag reel. Engaging content is about opening up and sharing where you are both physically and mentally, right now with your audience. People like people they can relate to, so let’s start getting real.
The way Instagram is moving now with every little tweak and adjustment to the algorithm is that we must create the world we want to see on Instagram. This doesn’t just mean great photos and the right filters, but actual real conversations and putting ourselves out there to interact with the audience we have and the people we want to reach. The Instagram Engagement Problem
In my class Forget the Following, the Business of Instagram, (which was standing room only in Orlando, thankyouverymuch,) and in this post, I explain that you can move outside of the limitations of the algorithm by engaging with your desired audience first. Nothing can limit you if you shrug off the artificial boundaries that Instagram places by giving you a feed to scroll through. Find your potential client and make them happy before they are ever in your chair. The Instagram Engagement Problem
I’ve found that the number one way to receive engagement on Instagram is to create it yourself.
Don’t pay another dime to a social media specialist that is still telling you to create better content. We can all create more compelling content, but the engagement piece is something you can absolutely control. Instead of clicking to see who has liked your photos in the past ten minutes, instead click on your list of followers and send ten minutes leaving positive comments on their feed. Be the conversation starter and begin reaching out to people who are likely to book with you, instead of waiting to be discovered.
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The Instagram Engagement Problem
