Apr 21, 2020
The Instagram Game is ever-changing, but the number one thing you
can do is to conquer engagement! How do you engage on social media?
Is it more than just posting a photo? It sure is. Instagram expert,
Melissa McClure of Melissa McClure Coaching, shares with the Fab
Fempreneurs community on how to uplevel your Instagram skills to
create authentic relationships and gain more exposure.
Melissa spent 15 years as a wedding and portrait photographer and
uses her photo and social media skills to help women entrepreneurs
put themselves in front of their brand. Although photography and
being behind the camera is her first love, over the past year she
has discovered that she loves being in front of the camera and has
experienced growing more comfortable with her body confidence and
self-image. She is launching a new program to help women
entrepreneurs find their passion while being more comfortable and
self-confident. Her best tip to get started on Instagram is to put
your whole self out there: from your sweaty workout self to your
sophisticated business self.
Interact for more than 20 mins a day
The more you interact on Instagram, the more Instagram will share
your content. This does take time, so it is good to time block
about 20 minutes a day to engage with other users and followers.
The more time you allot to this, the more growth you will see on
Instagram. Melissa suggests you interact for 10 minutes, then share
your post, and then engage for another 10 minutes after. This will
help boost your algorithmic exposure and will help make sure you
respond to each comment on your post. Then go to their page and
comment. This process helps build relationships, rapport and trust.
One engagement SECRET to know is: Only comments with at least 4
words will count as a comment, and even sending a direct message
(aka a DM!) counts as engagement according to the Instagram
algorithm. Also, don’t bombard other users for requests. It's about
posting and engaging, which will help in building your online
community.
Follow Hashtags
You can have up to 30 hashtags, but 11 hashtags are ideal and is
all you need for engagement. The thing about hashtags is, you don’t
want to reuse the same ones over and over because you can get
marked as spam (yikes!). On Melissa’s phone, she has a note with 10
sets of hashtags she uses and she rotates them depending on the
post. Just like the following accounts, you can follow hashtags,
which is a good way to find new accounts and have them find you.
Find out what hashtags work for you and your ideal client. Give
your hashtags a niche. For example instead of #weddings try
#outdoorweddings
Join Giveaways
Collaborate with other like -minded entrepreneurs and participate
in Instagram giveaways. A fast way to get followers with these
requirements: Have them follow all accounts, and comment and tag
friends for more engagement.
Melissa McClure will be a speaker at this year's Fab Fempreneur
Fest 2020 and will be discussing more in-depth tips on how to
attract the right followers on Instagram and turn them into paying
clients. To connect with Melissa further, please visit her website
http://www.melissamcclurecoaching.com/. To register for Fab
Fempreneur Fest and more info, please visit our website.
https://fabfempreneurs.com/fest