How to Level-Up your Instagram Engagement

Instagram is a fabulous platform to showcase your interior design expertise and the services you can provide. However, a lot of businesses expect quick wins and overnight success. It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing on how well other interior designers are doing on the platform, stalling your own Instagram progress.

Follow this guide to help you make Instagram work for you, using it as a strategic marketing tool and up-level your engagement.

Start socialising

It’s called social media for a reason, so start using Instagram to start socialising like you would if you were at a networking event. You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger in a professional environment, hand them your business card the second you meet them and reel off all of the different ways you can help them and how great you are. It’s the same on Instagram, if you see something you relate to or find interesting, let them know and open up a conversation that is built on realness.

Be authentic

Realness leads us on to the next important topic of showing up with authenticity. Yes, Instagram can be a great place to find clients and make sales, but that doesn’t mean you need to don your salespersons hat every time you engage with someone on the platform. Instead, approach engaging with your followers/following as the chance for you to learn something, build a connection, prioritising what feels right when engaging. If you don’t feel like yourself, this will come across and repel connections rather than encouraging them. It’s also super important you read the room, if someone isn’t responding to you openly (or completely ignoring you), don’t push it. There are plenty more people who will want to have those conversations with you.

Show your face

People engage with people. As an interior designer, you are your brand and if you want to really use Instagram as a serious marketing channel to grow your business, it’s time to show that lovely face of yours.

Okay, let’s be honest. Most of us absolutely dreaded the first time we showed our face on Instagram Stories. It’s completely natural to feel awkward, cringey and our good friend imposter syndrome loves to show up to the party when we’re about to show our face. But, it’s so reassuring to know that most of us feel EXACTLY the same and the only way to make it easier is to just do it. It does get easier – I promise.

Start small, try a boomerang to begin with, then maybe ask a direct question using polls and stickers and then build it up from there.

Consistency is crucial

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Sorry for the cliché but it’s true. Your Instagram engagement will grow when your content grows and following grows. But this will only happen if you are consistent. And this doesn’t necessarily mean posting every single day, but it means showing up consistently every day. That could mean, consistently engaging on your audience’s posts, responding to their stories. Consistently posting high-value post a few times a week. Consistently researching hashtags and engaging with them. Consistently showing up on your own stories with a mix of different content. Whatever it is you need to do, make sure it’s part of your growth strategy, not just when you feel pulled to.

Create valuable content

Make your feed stand out with content that your audience is going to find super valuable. Shareable and saveable content on Instagram is what will drive your engagement, it will encourage a conversation that could lead to potential sales. When you’re planning and creating your content, you should always keep in mind the purpose of the post, what pain point are you answering with the content you’re sharing. If you can pin this down and ensure your posts are either inspiring, educational or entertaining your ideal clients, your engagement will sky-rocket.

Engage intelligently

This has nothing to do with having a high IQ. This means using your Instagram Insights to steer your content and engagement plans. You can view which posts have had the most interactions, including likes, saves and comments. This is crucial information that will make your engagement efforts so much easier. If you know what people are loving, then just do more of it. You can also use polls and questions on your stories to find out what people want and need to hear from you. By using these features on Instagram, you’ll become much more strategic with your engagement, whilst engaging! Win, win!

Mix it up!

Connect with your community in different ways to discover the most beneficial ways of engaging. A simple post is great, but did you know by posting a carousel, you’re doubling your chances of getting your post seen? The Instagram algorithm is loving short video content so this is the time to jump on the reel bandwagon if you really want to be seen by more, increasing your engagement chances. Stories, IGTV’s and Guides should all be utilised for maximum engagement chances.

Have a plan

An effective engagement strategy is built on strong foundations, which means you’ll need to have a plan that identifies what your goals are and how you’re going to reach them through your Instagram engagement. This will help you stay accountable, consistent and will identify what’s working and what needs improvement.

Ready to take on more social media?

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