Part 3: Convert Your Instagram Followers – Instagram Content Relatability

You’ve designed your customer journey and attracted your ideal Instagram followers, now it’s time to relate to your followers. You want them to know you’re both on the same page. You need to provide Instagram content for your followers that will keep them engaged with your brand. If you have a million followers, but no site traffic from Instagram, you have issues. When creating content, consider things like feed posts, stories and highlights, and videos to keep your followers intrigued. Build out a plan for your content, production, and caption flow so that you’re not winging it. Then keep track of your content’s reliability so you can adjust your plan as necessary. Don’t worry! We’ll explain.

Instagram Content Type 1: Feed Posts 

There are many different options for posting. The type of business you have and followers you wish to attract may help you decide which you prefer to use in your content plan. They include: 

• High quality, branded photos (Photos of your product/service tagged with your username or website)
• Quotes that are branded and show your brand personality
• Unbranded, inspirational quotes that are easy to share 
• Comparison charts – Pros/Cons, Before/After, etc…
• “Cheat sheet” posts (Easy way to do XYZ, How to…., etc)
• Vlog-style videos 
• Boomerang gifs 
• Graphic art 
• Memes and gifs 
• Reels 

 Always be sure to include captions for your posts. These are one of the most important things in your post!

• First, you will need an inviting headline that draws the viewer’s attention.
• Then, add an incentive for sharing your post so that it gets more views.
• Lastly, include a CTA on your feed post.

The CTA can be inviting your followers to contact you to discuss the services you provide, it could be “click here for this discount code”, or it can be requesting a response to your survey question. There are endless options for your CTA, so you can’t go wrong, just make sure you’re including them in your feed posts.  

Instagram Content Type 2: Stories and Highlights 

According to WordStream, one of the popular features Instagram offers—which gained a great deal of attention from its initial release and is now used by 500 million accounts every day—is Instagram Story Highlights.   Instagram Story Highlights are collections of pictures, videos, and posts that you’ve posted to your Instagram Story in the past. Unlike Instagram Stories that vanish after 24 hours, Instagram Story Highlights live permanently on your profile, allowing you to add or delete content from them at any time. They are found right below your bio information, making them front and center on your profile and perfect for showing users what your brand is all about.   Instagram Story Highlights are a great tool for promoting your brand due to their placement and permanency, and therefore should be carefully planned out. How do you create Instagram Story Highlights, you may ask? Take a look at these guides from WordStream and Embed Social.  You can also create Instagram Story Highlight icons using things like Canva. Check out the Bisoxual Instagram account for some examples of highlight buttons.

Instagram Content Type 3: Videos 

Although photos are still the more common format on Instagram, video is gaining a lot of traction. Along with the growing engagement, there are multiple other reasons to invest your efforts into Instagram videos. Videos are able to tell a story with more depth than a photo; therefore, you’re able to better educate your followers on your products and services. You’re also more likely to keep your audience engaged and promote your business with Instagram video story-telling. Take a look at this informative video from Elise Darma which explains the importance of Instagram video and how to create Instagram video. 

Measure Your Content’s Success 

Now that you’ve got a content plan and schedule, it’s time to track your content feedback. You want to look for real comments from your followers. These will include meaningful, long-form comments on your posts. It will also include questions from your followers to obtain more information on your product or service. Responses to your CTA are also great feedback and proof that people are engaging with your content.   You also want to look for story reshares. If someone is resharing your content, then you know it’s something they’re interested in and wants to tell their own friends, family, and followers about.   It’s always a great sign that your messaging is working if you’re receiving direct messages from your followers. They want to hear from you and learn more about your products or services being offered. Don’t forget to respond immediately to these DMs so that you build trust with your followers.   In my opinion, this is the most crucial part of converting your Instagram followers. If you’re able to relate to your potential customers and provide them with intriguing, inviting, and meaningful content, you’re very likely to convert them to paying customers.