Unleash Your Instagram Potential: 5 Powerful Strategies for Results

Instagram is a great place to grow your audience, generate leads, increase brand awareness and promote your affiliate links. However, to maximize your profits, you’ll need to create engaging Instagram posts.

However, many small business owners are having difficulty monetizing their Instagram or making much of an impact at all. 

If you’re an entrepreneur with an Instagram account and it feels like you’re getting ignored every time you post, it’s time to unlock and unleash your Instagram potential. In order to do that, you’ll need to follow these steps.

1. Convert an Instagram Business Account 

Chances are when you created your Instagram account you made a personal account.

However, Instagram allows you to convert to a business account as well as a creator account.

You may be wondering what’s the point of switching over to a business account.

Well, according to Business.com, you’ll have access to more features, such as:

• Instagram Insights
• Contact button
• Use of ads and boosted posts
• Ability to schedule posts 

These features are vital for a small business owner. For example, boosted posts and ads can get you in front of more people, the contact button makes it easier for potential customers to reach out to you and Instagram Insights can help you figure out what’s working and what isn’t.  

In addition to that, you’ll have more credibility if people see that you’re using a business account instead of a personal one.

Ready to make the switch? You can do this in a minute.

All you have to do is go to “Settings” and select “Account”. Then select, “Switch to professional account” and select your category. If you’re having difficulty, check out Instagram’s handy guide. 

2. Create Goals

Don’t just publish content Instagram content for the sake of it. 

You need to create clear goals if you want to unleash your Instagram potential and get remarkable results. 

For example, let’s say you want to increase your engagement. 

You have to be crystal clear about how much you want to increase your engagement, how to track this, and the steps you need to take to achieve it.

Remember, your goal has to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Therefore your goal can be, “I want to increase engagement by 25% over the 30 days.”

Next, you need to be able to calculate your engagement rate now and then again in 30 days to see if you achieved your goal. 

Sprout Social says engagement rate = (Total interactions/Impressions) x 100.

You’ll be able to find your interactions and impressions in the analytics section of your Instagram profile. 

Finally, you have to come up with a plan of action. Sprout Social says if you want to increase your engagement rate you can:

• Engage with your audience first by responding to comments.
• Utilizing your Instagram Stories by posting questions and polls.
• Create more short-form videos
• Write compelling captions that encourage engagement

3. Use a Content Calendar

You won’t be able to reap the full benefits of any social media platform, including Instagram until you post consistently.

However, creating content and posting it can be time-consuming and often gets overwhelming. 

That’s why a content calendar is a game changer for any small business owner or entrepreneur who wants to show up on social media consistently. 

According to Facebook, your content calendar should have the following headings:

• Date (to be published)
• Theme (what your post is about)
• Visual description
• Format
• Social media platform

You can use a simple Excel sheet to accomplish this.

We also recommend batching your content, which means creating multiple pieces of content at once. After you have created the content, use a scheduling platform like Hootsuite or Later to schedule the posts with a caption. You’ll still have to hop on the platform for a couple of minutes to respond to comments but it is still less time-consuming than trying to create and publish content daily. 

4. Vary Your Instagram Content

All of your Instagram posts cannot be sales posts or promotional. The majority of your Instagram posts should not be sales posts. 

That may seem counterproductive especially if you want to use your Instagram to drive sales in your business. 

However, people are more likely to engage and become paying customers if you post helpful and valuable information. 

If you’re not sure how to find a balance between your sales content and non-sales content, you can follow the 80/20 rule.

Brand Muscle states, “The 80/20 rule indicates that 80% of social media posts should be useful to your audience — meaning, it educates, entertains, or offers a solution to their problems — and only 20% should explicitly promote your business.”

For example, here is a breakdown of what you could post during the week:

• Monday- Motivational content
• Tuesday- Customer highlight
• Wednesday- Promotional post
• Thursday-Provide a solution to a problem
• Friday- Educate your audience on a topic

Type of Content

In addition to that, you should also mix up the type of content that you post. 

On Instagram, you’re allowed to post Stories, single posts, carousels, ads, and Reels.

Mixing up the type of content can help you appeal to your audience. 

In addition to mixing up your content, make sure you take the time to create great captions. Your captions should have a hook and a call to action.

5. Check Your Instagram Insights

It’s time to pay attention to your insights. 

According to Facebook, “Insights can show you who your audience is, what types of content they’re looking at and what actions they’re taking on your account. This can help you decide which of your marketing efforts are working best, so you can do more of what your customers like.”

If you want to view your insights go to your profile on Instagram and you’ll see “Professional Dashboard”. Once you tap on that you’ll have an idea of how your content is doing and so much more.

Remember, you’ll only have access to these important insights with a professional Instagram account.

Once you’ve viewed your insights, use the information to improve your marketing strategy and measure your Instagram goals.   

Next Steps 

If you need help with marketing and reap results from your social media platform, download our Attraction Marketing Masterclass. 

Led by expert marketer Shanté R. Roddy, this video training will show you step-by-step how to leverage social media platforms to find and connect with your ideal customers. 

You’ll learn how to create valuable content that engages your audience, as well as strategies for targeting the right people on social media