In an earlier post I shared a few ideas about How to Gain Instagram Followers, but did you know that you can use Instagram to build your list?
When it comes to Instagram, it helps to have a strategy. You need to develop a plan and you’ll want to work that plan if you hope to see results from your Instagram account. Here’s what to do…
Determine your Goals
The first task on your to do list is deciding why you’re on Instagram. Are you looking to connect with influencers? Hoping to grow your email list? Trying to get more followers?
Choose just one or two goals for the next four months. After that, you can stop and re-evaluate. If your goals aren’t working for you or you’re not seeing the results you’d hoped for, you can switch up your efforts then.
Define your Audience
With your goal in mind, think about who you’re trying to reach. Is your product or brand geared toward new mothers between the ages of 20-35? Are your customers young males into gaming in the 18-25 demographic?
The more you know about your ideal customer, the easier it is to stand out in their feed. If you don’t already have a customer avatar filled out for your business, now is the time to do so. If you already have one, dust it off. Is it still current? Does it need to be updated or tweaked based on new information you’ve learned about your community?
Create a Goodie for your Followers
Now that you know who your audience is, design an offer that’s sure to appeal to them. This item should be related to your services or products in some way.
If you’re a web design agency, offer a checklist of questions to ask your web designer or ten ways to make sure your website is mobile responsive. Remember, if your opt-in gift isn’t related to your industry, it’s going to confuse your followers.
Some brands find that sharing a coupon code or discount works best for getting new subscribers on their list. You may want to experiment with this technique, especially if you’re in the business of selling tangible items such as clothing or makeup.
Create a landing page
How do you get your free gift to your instagram followers? Offer the gift in exchange for their email address on a web page called a landing page. If you’re not familiar with them, a landing page is a single page on your website that’s designed to feature your offer (such as an opt-in gift).
A landing page has no sidebars, menus, headers, or extraneous links on the landing page. The idea behind this design is that visitors are faced with only two choices: sign up for your free gift or click away to another website. This makes landing pages a great way to convert casual visitors into mailing list subscribers.
You can use video on your landing page or an image of the gift and 1-2 short paragraphs describing your offer, a few bullet points, which highlight the benefits of the item or offer, and a sign-up box. Don’t make your landing page too long. A section with 100-word paragraph or less will do nicely.
Add your Landing Page to your Bio
Now that you have your landing page setup, put the link to it in your bio. This is the only place on Instagram that you’ll be allowed to place your link. So, make sure it’s the page where you really want to direct traffic.
Some brands use a service called LinkTree that creates a page with multiple links for you. This appears useful at first—you can link to your shopping cart, your free offer, and your website all at once.
However, too many choices may overwhelm your instagram followers and they won’t act. It may be smarter to link to a single opt-in page if you’re serious about growing your email list.
Design Visual Content
Now that you have all of the pieces set up, you can begin promoting your new offer on Instagram. A simple way to do that is to design 3-5 images that tease followers about it, get them interested.
Post these images on Instagram and invite them to click on the link in your bio. When they click, they’ll be taken to your landing page, where they may join your mailing list.
That’s it. Put some thought into this and implement. See what happens!
