As a marketing consultant, learning how to get clients ahead of the competition on Instagram is a constant battle. Not only does it require knowing how the latest and greatest in trends, but how to translate basic principles of social media to your client and have them execute those to a T.
Although this can seem like an uphill battle, with the right knowledgebase, you’ll not only be able to start building your client’s presence, but bring it to a point where other people are wondering what you did to get results. That’s why we’re bringing you some of our favorite strategies to consider and get started with. Check them out below:
Explore The Latest And Greatest Tools
Getting your client hip to the latest and greatest on Instagram can be a tough task. As it not only can require a learning curve, it also can be something that people don’t necessarily want to do or feel as though you should do as the person representing their Instagram.
Whether the latter is true or not, being able to deliver on a happy medium with tools is a smart call, giving them something they can be engaged with if they choose while also enabling you to do low maintenance without a complicated enterprise system. Finally, don’t be afraid to check out some of the new systems that enable you to buy Instagram story views, as these new services for engagement put your content in front of the right people organically and efficiently.
Conduct An Audit Of Their Brand
Branding is everything on Instagram. Even if you’re working on a coffee shop or hair studio, the type of reputation they have on a local level will be imperative to building a presence. Furthermore, small businesses like that can still gain a significant reputation within their community for being great at what they do, which you should help your client reach. However, the biggest way you’re going to be able to do that is by first conducting a brand audit.
For a brand audit, the most significant factor is looking at how their brand compares to the competition. Is their logo clean and crisp? Does their images and designs all look cohesive next to one another? What type of tone of voice are they using in their copy? All these details compile into a brand that hopefully others will resonate with. And if you feel like any are lacking, then it might be time to talk with them about doing a slight overall.
Also see: best site to buy instagram likes
When talking with your client about their brand, it’s important to be mindful of how much emotional investment could’ve gone into this. Even if every customer expressed that the brand’s not working, they still could have a strong emotional tie to the image they’ve created, which you need to respect.
If you can help it, avoid telling them anything that might come off as a personal attack or critical of aspects they might not be familiar with (for example, telling them their logo doesn’t make sense or looks corny). Instead, a much smarter strategy is showing them the numbers, highlighting the ROI they’ll see if they make these steady improvements because if there’s one thing a business owner understands, it’s how the money moves.
Assign Partnership Quotas
In working with your client, one of the basic requirements you should hold is that they have partnership quotas. Essentially, this means that you come up with a number of partners they need to reach out to once a week or month, fostering better relationships for their social network. A big part of being competent on Instagram is establishing partners that will not only share your content, but also run different campaigns with you as well. And if you’re trying to bolster your client’s presence, then getting them to partner with other brands is a must.
Sit down with your client and make a list of the different businesses that they would be willing to partner with, as well as what they see out of each brand. Depending on how much of a wordsmith they are, you might want to help them with their messaging and copy, honing in on the right tone that’ll not only impress who you’re reaching out but show them the symbiotic value of what you’re trying to bring to the table.
As partnership outreach can often come as one-sided (that is, the party asking sees value they want out of the other side, without offering them much in return), providing real value with numbers and previous case studies will be a big help in making a convincing case. With enough outreach, you’d be surprised at what you and your client could land, as well as how much it’ll expand your presence into new arenas.
Establish A Rubric For Organic Outreach
Beyond partnerships, another important factor of attracting more traffic to your client’s page is helping them with establishing a rubric for organic outreach. Essentially, this is a guide on what they should and shouldn’t comment on other people’s pages, as well as how frequently they should be reaching out.
While these aren’t hard and fast rules, there are some factors that should be must-haves in each plan, including an established list of quotas, as well as what you should be saying to push the conversation further.
The biggest thing in working with your clients on their rubric is understanding the types of pages they should be connecting with, as well as what they can genuinely say to those people that they’ll appreciate. Sit down and brainstorm some solutions on the types of verbiage they should be using, including tone, messaging, and brevity.
Although you’re ultimately going to have let them experience this on their own (and yes, there might be some mistakes), the most important aspect is that they’re being true to their brand, as well as understand the value of positive contributions. Finally, don’t forget to encourage a quota that makes sense for their industry, where a common solution is 3-5 comments of outreach per day.