In this episode we are going to talk about tools for growth on Instagram. Instagram is a very diverse and complicated platform and it really takes some time to learn all the tools and features. Honestly, looking at all the available social media platforms, I truly believe that Instagram has the best blend of tools for developing a community. Instagram has been accused of copying features from TikTok, but they are adding those to an already robust platform that allows the three pillars of creating a thriving fan base.  Outreach to bring in interested followers, development of your community of followers, and one on one relationship building. Today I will focus on the features and tools that help us present ourselves to potential new followers to grow the account.

This is Bill Strand and you are listening to the Reptile Entrepreneur Podcast. I am in the first of four parts of our year long plan to create a digital eCommerce business and we are starting out by building an Instagram account in an intelligent and strategic manner. Before the year is out we will have touched on creating a product, selling the product, podcasts, a YouTube channel, and putting together a substantial website. I have interviews starting next week and I will mix in subsequent steps in developing our Instagram account while also bringing you insights from reptile community entrepreneurs who have already walked the road you are starting!

Growth Strategy

The basic structure of Instagram is that you create a home base profile. The two main parts of this profile are your bio and your post grid. The bio tells people who you are and what your account is about. The grid is just the collection of posts you have made to Instagram. Once you have your bio made up, and I did an entire episode on optimizing your bio, then all that is left is to bring people there so they can notice what a great account you have. This episode focuses on how to get people to notice your account. And if your profile is inviting and content is engaging then you will have earned yourself a follower. Of course, that is only if the person you are bringing to your account is interested in your subject matter. So we are talking about bringing the right kind of person to your account. If I ever decided that I needed Instagram attention I would slam together a handful of reels featuring my adorable shiba inu dogs. I would get the views and follows – until they figured out my account was about starting a business in the reptile world! So, we are looking for long term solid growth, not short term spikes.

I am going to talk about the Instagram algorithm and features and how to use them effectively. But they are just tools. They can work no magic if you hand them garbage. In fact, they will do their job and show your garbage to no one. The algorithm’s job is to develop a profile of what each one of us likes to see, an analysis of what is in the content just posted, and then make the right matches that keep people happy. For example, I follow the hashtag Chameleon. There are many things posted that have the hashtag chameleon. A quick look this exact second at the hashtag chameleon by passing the filtering the algorithm does for me brings up pictures of a special kind of car paint, some cross dressers, a bicycle, a frickin bearded dragon, and a water color set. So it is the algorithm’s job to sort through a number of analysis to determine which of those I want to see. And I have to say, no one outside of Instagram knows the algorithm. But Instagram has done a good job of giving us insights into how it works. And it is one of the most amazing pieces of software designed to connect people and content. And it does this for between 1 and 2 billion accounts and between 1 and 2 thousand pieces of content each and every second. It is a marvel. And, you can use this algorithm to get in front of the right people. Being seen by 1 million people interested in chameleon car paint is useless to me. I’d rather be seen by 100 people obsessed by the chameleon lizard. So, use the tool properly by making each piece of content consistent with the purpose for your account. Describe it in the caption using popular keywords and carefully select hashtags. I’ll touch on each of these before getting into the tools available so we are in the right mindset to use the tools.

• Consistently post about one topic – Instagram is trying to figure out what your account is all about. Make it easy for them. And not only the algorithm that brings people to you, but for the people who arrive. Make it obvious what your account is about at first glance. And this is why, if you have an account about emerald tree boas you don’t put out posts celebrating the difference between arabica and robusta coffee beans. You will confuse your emerald tree boa followers and the people who find your profile through that post. Know what you are about and constantly send out posts that reflect that purpose. On my chameleon account I can guarantee you that you will get your fill of chameleons. Although, Yes, there was one affogato recipe – that is espresso with ice cream. Oh my goodness, it is good. You have to try it. But I tied it into chameleoning and it is an awesome recipe and sometimes we all have to act up. My audience forgave my dalliance. So, yes, sometimes we break the rules. It is okay just know what you are doing and that you will have a blip of confusion. One blip won’t hurt you.
• Describe your content with keywords – keywords are words that people use to search. One of the first things the algorithm does is match whatever people type into the search bar to words in your caption. So me saying this is a picture of Trioceros jacksonii xantholophus is going to limit my outreach if I don’t also use the words Jackson’s Chameleon. Now, keywords are just one weighing point so you could easily get put in front of people without keywords, but why are you making things hard on your algorithm friend. Be nice and make it easy.
• Carefully select hashtags – Hashtags are words with the pound sign, or “hash” symbol, in front of it to designate it as a descriptor word. Instagram started as a photo sharing app. And it was quite simple. You had people post a picture, use hashtags to tell Instagram what it was about, and then the algorithm would match up accounts interested in that topic with the picture. Although the algorithm has become immensely complicated since then, the basic idea is the same. So, you select hashtags based on what is in the content, or describe the people that would be interested. If I had a post about how a chameleon’s tongue works I could post #chameleon and #learningisfun.

By crafting your still image, collection of images, or video with all this in mind we arm the algorithm with a clear understanding of what we have created and it will do its job finding the right people to put the content on front of. And it is critical to help the algorithm get it right the first time. It makes the decision whether to show our post to more people based on the reaction of the first group of people it has selected. You can imagine that it is much harder to get reach if the algorithm can’t figure out who wants to see your content. If the first round of people give a poor response then the algorithm may or may not try again. So make sure it is successful the first time.

Solid growth consists of two parts – getting new followers and keeping new followers. Both are complex, deserve separate strategies, and have different tools. We are focusing on getting new followers today and will discuss keeping followers and nurturing them as your community in a later episode.

In addition, growth strategy depends on account size.

In the beginning you are trying to be found and are building up your Instagram street cred. It has to figure you out including your posting frequency, how diverse your content is, and how a wide range of people react to your content. So when you start out, you will not have much reach. Don’t let that discourage you. You are going through the necessary steps to building a presence on the platform. Yes, you hear stories of people who just blew up on Instagram. It happens. Often there is an underlying reason. They may have an account on another platform and there is a transfer of fans. Whatever it is, don’t let that discourage you. Keep your eye on your race. Give yourself six months to a year to work through this initial phase.

And I want to take a sidebar here. You may run into people offering services as to how to do Instagram and they tout how fast they got their followers as evidence of their skill. While there is no reason to doubt that they got those followers in the time frame they said they did, and they could very well have very good information to share, please do not expect that you should have the same results. Someone advertising on Instagram that they can help you with Instagram has literally over a billion people interested in their product. By default. If you have an account dealing with hermit crabs I can guarantee you will be speaking to a much smaller audience and if you have a niche topic that audience may have no idea what to look for and may not be even looking for your type of content. They first have to be told it exists! So, yes, a person teaching people on Instagram how to find success on Instagram will be able to grow very quickly. Your growth will be proportionate to the size of your niche audience and how much they are interested in the Instagram platform.

We will be going over strategies for the peak growth period of between 0 and 2k followers. These techniques are the foundation of good Instagram practice so pay attention regardless of what level you are, but the 0-2k stage is a critical stage. It is like an airplane taking off. You never are able to stop flying, but taking off is a much more complicated process and if you don’t do it right then the trip doesn’t work so well. So, I am going to focus, for this episode, on the people trying to get past the 2000 follower mark. But as I said, everyone can use these good practices.

How does growth work?

IG Algorithm puts your content in front of people. Think of it as a bunch of tiers. IG reads you hashtags and caption and decides to try your post out in front of your friends and people known to frequent your account. If IG gets the right signals and engagement then it goes to the next tier of people searching for a certain hashtag or having shown behaviors that indicate they are interested in that topic. And you can test this. Make it a point to start liking, or even spending more time viewing, a random topic. Maybe bulldogs in tutus. Before long you will start seeing all sorts of dogs in tutus come across your feed. If you interact with all of them then you will continue to see dogs in tutus. But we are much more discerning We only like bulldogs in tu-tus. And, sure enough, if we only like and watch bulldogs in tu-tus, the algorithm will start showing us more bulldogs in tutus and less of other breeds. Try things like this. It is amazing and maybe a little freaky how well it can learn and get to know us!

And, the algorithm is doing this with everyone else and trying to find the perfect posts to show everyone in their personal feed to keep the glued to the screen.

Growth Tools

So, we want to provide Instagram with awesome content and we are going to make it easy for Instagram to know who to show it to. When we submit something to the Instagram universe it is done as a post. A post can be a single image, a short video which is up to 60 seconds which is called a Reel, or long video which is anything longer than 60 seconds. There is also a feature called a carousel which is the combination of up to ten still images or Reels. When we create these they all are stored on our profile grid and they are submitted to the algorithm for consideration to show to the wide audience. So let’s get familiar with each of these.

Still Image Post. Still images are where Instagram began. It used to be a photo sharing app and that meant still images. Up to 2020 Instagram was still mostly a photo sharing app. It dabbled in long form video to compete with YouTube but that fizzled with a whimper. But then TikTok burst onto the scene and introduced the world to the addictive nature of short form video (meaning 60 seconds or less in today’s definition). Still images are now being pushed into the passenger seat and short form video is taking over. In 2021, the head of Instagram came right out and said they are no longer a photo sharing app. Still Images can still be a powerful tools for you, but you would do well to get used to them no longer being the default media on Instagram. My reels get twice the reach in one hour that my still images get in two days. So, I have to say to just get used to where things are going. The head of Instagram has promised that they will be doubling down on their Reels feature in 2022 so I am wondering if I am doing you a disservice by even introducing you to still images. But, I am here to provide information and commentary. There was the commentary. Here is the information. Still images are still widely traded at the beginning of 2022. I time stamp this because things change quickly in the Instagram world. I mean, literally, they change by the month. So a weekly podcast is actually the best source of up to date information because what you get is only a week old! But you can use still images and you describe it in the caption with keywords that are commonly searched. And you have to make it easy to read. This happen with website long ago where they would stuff the text with keywords to the point where it was annoying to read and you would give up. Algorithms developed readability scores to help with this so that shortcut was removed. Just remember, do not worry about the algorithm and what it is thinking. Concentrate on serving your followers consistent with your purpose. That is what the algorithm is designed to reward. And then add hashtags that are descriptive of the image. I feel like I am continually rehashing hashtag and keyword strategy so I’ll let it rest. Simply, don’t get tricky. Just describe what it is.

Reels.

Reels are Instagram’s new baby. They are videos that are 60 seconds or less and IG gives you all sorts of filters and transitions and music to create amazing video clips. If you have experience with TikTok then you know where the inspiration came from. If you are not on TikTok then I’ll catch you up. The newest thing to sweep the social media world is videos 60 seconds or less which are entertaining. As with everything, the tastes of the world evolve. Luckily for people like me who are having trouble getting into the TikTok video genre, this media is being accepted for also education. And that is starting to shift into my wheelhouse. How you create video up to 60 seconds to serve your followers is up to you. Right now things are moving so fast there is no one way to do things and anything different could easily take off and be the next trend. So, it is useful to see what other people are doing because that is what the audience expects, but do not let that stifle your creativity. Social media is the perfect place to do something different and those are the things that suddenly take off. So, figure out what serves your followers and do it. Do not look at the likes and let that discourage you. Expect that anything different takes a little time to be accepted as people try and process what you are doing. But if you like it, then do it for three months. Give it time to settle and be accepted.

You can do keywords and hashtags on Reels as well.

Carousels

A carousel is where you can combine ten images or reels in a post. And the viewer can scroll through them like a slide show. Carousels are a powerful tool with education and marketing. There is enough room in ten slides to identify a need, build up anticipation, and provide a solution so a lot of marketing people love reels. I, personally, make a great deal of use with reels for my educational outreach. I can give a complete high level care sheet in a carousel. Now, it is worth mentioning that being educational is all well and good, but that there is a true art to being able to provide good information in the social media attention span. I do not have answers for how this will play out. My strategy, like with the care summaries, is that I have a website which has an enormous amount of detail and so I am free to summarize in my reels and carousels as I refer to the website for more detailed information. This is how I have dealt with the challenge. As we go further and further I believe we will be having to figure out more and re ways of dealing with the shorter and shorter attention spans of our audience. It is a real problem because the people growing up in this era have started to expect that everything can be answered in a sound bite. And there are inexperienced people that are more than happy to provide that sound bite. So the experienced people are not being listened. It is like we are creating an informational dungeon where if you want to true wisdom you need to go on a quest and dig deep to find the sages on the mountaintop. Luckily, there are some experienced people trying to make headway into these new social media habits. Wish us all luck.

Interaction

Now these are the obvious features and tools to use for outreach. You can help with that outreach by interacting with accounts that are in your community and by answering any comments posted on your post. Remember that Instgram is watching your behavior and they are watching the engagement on the posts that they send out. If there are lively conversations going on the pst then Instagram likes that and it is. Sign that more people may want to be part of it. Don’t force conversation because you will then shut things down, but make it a point to interact on your posts.

And, interact on posts of other accounts in your community. Show Instagram the types of accounts that may want to see your information. If I comment on other chameleon accounts then Instagram is going to wonder if the followers of that account would be interested in your content and will try it out. It is almost like building community is being rewarded! So this is why we need to get out of the follower collection mentality and work hard on figuring out how we can best serve and grow our community. The algorithm will take it from there. Don’t worry about that. Your part is to create an account that people want to come to, hang around, and talk to you about it.

Going viral

And, finally, going viral. Don’t we love the sound of that. And don’t we wish we could crack the code of the human desire so we could create viral posts on demand. Sadly, this is not possible.

I remember the president of our company coming into a marketing meeting and explaining to the marketing team that they needed to produce something that would go viral. She was very excited that she had found a way to untold exposure for free. And she went on to explain to us what going viral was and why it was such a good thing. I am sure she took our looks of complete bewilderment as a sign that this concept was new to us and she should continue educating us on what going viral was and the benefits. There is an off chance the looks we were giving were because we did not know how to deal with someone so….um, innocent and confident in her marketing team that she believed that 1) going viral was something that we could pull out of our hat on a whim and 2)   the concept of going viral was new to us and something she should explain.

So, here’s the scope on going viral – it happens when groups of people like your post. Instagram, or any social media platform, will send your post to the people it thinks will like it. If they do then your post goes to the next tier. The higher and higher you go the more Instagram sends it. It may come as a surprise, but quality isn’t the biggest driver. It is surprise, wow factor, and funny that makes people want to engage with it and share to their friends. And this is why the hardest thing about going viral is trying to do it. Because it is the unexpected ones that make it. If we could control it and define it then there would be a formula and everyone would be doing it…which, of course, would make it common place and then no one would care any more.

I had a post go viral. There was nothing genius about it and it wasn’t even my best post. It was something I threw together and put up as part of my training myself to do reels. And it didn’t take off right away. It took a couple of days and then it just blew up. Now, you are welcome to find that post and dissect it for any clue as to why it was successful, but I am afraid it would just be spinning your wheels. Creating a viral post is like buying a lottery ticket. Sure, it can be fun to try it every now and then, but obsessing about creating something you have no control over will just have you running in circles and wasting time when you could be putting together amd executing a real strategy. Yes, when you hear of someone winning the lottery it is inspiring, but just remember that is something that happened to them. The only thing people with a viral video did to make it happen was showing up and making the post. Then then fates of the universe took over. It is a wonderful thing when it happens to you. It is incredible. But all you can do is make sure you are there and constantly submitting creative and impactful content. If it is going to happen it will happen. And it may or may not happen to the post you are most proud of or spent the most time on. Welcome to the chaos of social media.

So, where does all this leave us? Instagram is my choice for the social media platform to start off because of the diversity of tool available. With a professional account you get analytics which help you further refine your outreach. So you really can get immersed in Instagram as an addictive game with all the stats. Instagram devotees are often told they need a break and to make sure they limit their time on the platform. You could easily spend your day tracking the progress of your post. I won’t encourage this level. I have gotten so deep into Instagram I had to pull myself back out. It is only a tool. A powerful tool, yes, but when you slip from doing work to scrolling through endless very entertaining reels then you know you have been hooked and need to pull yourself back out or else you will be lost in the matrix for the entire weekend. How many of you go to bed at 9 but the Instagram doesn’t get turned off until 11 or 12? Nobody needs to answer. Just know that it is wise to tear yourself away when you are done with work.

Okay, we will soon be starting back with interviews. I will continue tutorial information on the podcast a bit, but more heavily on the Instagram account itself. YouTube video should play into there as well. But I recommend you make sure you are following the @reptileentrepreneur account on Instagram to get all the information being provided. Of course, I will continue to share the latest in Instagram news here on the podcast because podcasts are truly one of the best ways of staying on top of what is going on in social media!

There have been a number of people taking screenshots of their Instagram profile page in January for us to share in December to see how far we have gone. We will be continuing the Instagram growth discussion throughout the year so this will be a very active subject in 2022.

Thank you for joining me here. Take care of yourself, take care of our reptile community, and let’s see what we can build!