Chapter 6: Posting On Instagram

GOING THE SOCIAL DISTANCE: HOW TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE AUDIENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram users who see the most engagement from their audience are people who post valuable content often. This can mean posting once a day, several times a day, or a few times a week. For my own social media use, one post a day feels reasonable. It keeps my content in my audience’s feed without inundating them. Frequency will depend on your business offering, your amount and quality of content available, and your availability. My general recommendation is to test varying frequencies to see whatyour audience responds to.

Creating effective and engaging posts

Offer a variety of social media post content that keeps telling a visual and interesting story. Make use ofkeywords and emotive, engaging and personable language that speaks to your audience. In other words, talk to them like you would your neighbor or your friend. Be okay including your

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Going the Social Distance: Building a Sustainable Audience on Social Media

passion about a cause your businesssupports, inspirational quotes and images, or a positive mindset you want to share.

Ben showcases some of his best work and again uses his free Instagram profile as an advertising platform.

Sprinkle in do-it-yourself tips, or concepts and simple practices you’ve learned. You’ve got knowhow that you don’t even remember you know—bits of information that younowtake for granted because you learned these tricks of the trade so long ago, they’ve become second nature to

Chapter 6: Posting On Instagram

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you. Your audience doesn’t have your experience or expertise, and mayfind your tips and insights incredibly useful.

Share wonderful or interesting places you’re going. If you filmed your trip to the dog park and your pooch did something unexpectedly funny or amazing, share that! Share the breathtaking sunrise you snapped a picture of and pop one of your favorite inspirational quotes into(or accompanying) theimage.

The idea is to share a wide variety of content. You’re not just selling products or services. You’re building engagement.

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Going the Social Distance: Building a Sustainable Audience on Social Media

Share inspirational quotes from famous teachers, philosophers, poets or your own guardian angel.

More varied and valuable content ideas

Offer a variety of product posts, interspersed by messages directly from you to your audience (Happy Mother’s Day is a great example), promotions when you have them, and a famous inspirational quote

Chapter 6: Posting On Instagram