Crucial Steps to Growing your Instagram Account

Let me introduce you to Jarrah from SBJ Studios. Jarrah is a marketing expert and helps brands stand out amongst the noise. She is a go-to expert on anything to do with social media strategy and that’s exactly what she talks about in this podcast episode. We discuss how to get engagement on social media, why instagram is an effective marketing tool, how to use Facebook groups to build relationships and increase engagement, how to use hashtags and much more. Jarrah is a wealth of knowledge and has gained huge success for both her own business & her clients.

Highlights from the episode:

• Instagram is a relationship building platforms. Its provides an avenue for us, as brands, to connect with our target audience on a human level, educate them on our industry, brand culture, and in-turn, raise awareness and hype around the products and services we offer. All of this ultimately meaning more sales, more customers, more client.
• It is not about the numbers, it's about engagement. The number of followers does not determine your success on instagram, it's the relationships you build with you followers that's important and that will lead to conversions.
• Quality over Quantity - when it comes to content you put out there, it needs to be thoughtful, planned and exactly what your ideal customer is looking for. Jarrah talks against just posting content for the sake of posting. It's one of the biggest mistakes she sees on instagram. A pretty picture attracts, but in the end that want more than just a pretty picture. They want to be educated, inspired or entertained.
• It's important to promote your instagram outside of instagram for growth. You can put your instagram account in your email signature, a flyer, poster, your personal social media pages, pins on Pinterest, blogs, website etc.
• It's important to socialise! Essentially, this means liking, commenting, Dming other profiles that share the same values as you. Don't expect people to engage with what you put out there if you're not engaging with other people. That's not how friendship works!
• Facebook Groups - there are many ways that you can use Facebook groups to grow your audience. You can engage with other Facebook groups or create your own. The key here is to actively engage in Facebook groups, not just passively like posts. Inside these Facebook groups, provide value, and you'll receive new followers in return.
• Digital story telling - tell a story, this is a great way to engage your audience. People love stories. Make your captions into stories and give your audience a reason to engage. Ask them questions and respond to their answers.
• Differentiate yourself - Jarrah says, "In the absence of any other differentiator, your potential client/customer will always decide on PRICE. If you’re like me, and don’t want to have to compete with every other person within your industry on something as frustrating as price, it is crucial to create a personal brand for yourself that puts you on a pedestal as a thought leader within your industry/niche. That “differentiator”? It’s providing value to your audience and allowing them to connect with you on a personal level. Think about it, if your potential client/customer already knows, likes and trusts you? You’ll be the *obvious* choice between you & your competitors".
• Maintain authenticity - Jarrah says, "For me? Authenticity comes back to that overused, white girl saying… “your vibe attracts your tribe”. My transparency on Instagram has been KEY in not only the growth of my following, but it’s also been the catalyst for finding my voice as a brand and attracting the kind of clients i want to do business with".
• Hashtags - they work! According to Jarrah you can get more impressions on your posts by using 30 hashtags. She suggests using hashtags that are relevant to your post and industry. You can read more about what she says about hashtags here.

Where can you find Jarrah/SBJ studios?

Instagram | Website | Facebook