Today it’s no secret that Instagram is a powerful tool in marketing your brand and attracting potential customers. The number of people using Instagram only continues to grow, with approximately 37% of Americans actively engaging with the platform according to a 2019 Pew Research study.

With so much information telling you how to market yourself, gain followers, or increase your business through Instagram, it can feel overwhelming with where to begin. That’s why we’ve called in the experts, who have tried and true strategies for successfully building your brand on the platform.

Tatum Neill is the founder of Elevate Hair and Elevate TV, who is also the Artistic Director of Social Media for Aveda in North America. With a number of years under his belt in social media strategy, he knows his way around successfully engaging an audience and attracting guests to your brand.

Andi Eaton, creative director, author, entrepreneur, and founder of the brand Oui We, knows a thing or two about maximizing the potential of Instagram. She even has created a number of course guides on how to hack and uplevel your Instagram strategy.

Together, they share a wealth of knowledge and expertise on social media strategizing. Here are 5 hot tips from Tatum and Andi on how to best attract guests through Instagram.

Define Your Purpose And Mission And Express It Clearly

Getting clear on the purpose and mission of your brand is essential to attracting the right people to your brand. Before people want to know about you, they want to know about how you can help them.

Ask yourself what type of experience you want to create for others, how you want to authentically achieve that, and who is the target demographic of your brand. You should then be able to succinctly put this into one sentence, which can go in your Instagram bio.

Lead With Authenticity

Authenticity may be a buzzword, but for good reason. Approximately 90% of consumers said authenticity is important when deciding which brands they want to support. What makes you authentic? What is your unique voice, style, and selling point? Your authenticity should shine through not only in the type of visual content you post but in the storytelling and captions you create.

Create mood boards and source accounts that inspire you to get an idea of how you want to present your brand. Then infuse it with your own unique spin.

Nurture Your Community

You are not building a following—you are building a community. And a community must be actively engaged with and nurtured. Make sure to know your own audience inside and out, what type of content they are looking for, and how to best support them. Engage with them in the comments and be real and personal.

In addition, follow other people and brands within your field and engage with their content. This will build your customer base, network, and develop trusting relationships.

More Is Not More: You Only Need 500-1000 Followers To Thrive

The idea that you need hundreds and thousands of followers to have a successful business is a myth. Active engagement with your brand is infinitely more important, regardless of the following you have. Having an active audience of 500-1000 followers is more than enough to be successful on social media.

This is reflected in the increasing use of micro-influencers by brands and businesses, who have higher click rates engagement with their audience. It also goes back to tip number #3 of nurturing your community—focus on actively engaging with your community, rather than obsessing over follower counts.

Be Consistent And Plan Your Content

You have probably heard it a thousand times, but consistency really is everything. That doesn’t mean you have to post 5 times a day every day, but that you do regularly post content throughout each week. Consistency also applies to your brand message and visual style, tying into tip #2 to lead with your authenticity.

Content planning is important and will save you from those days that you have absolutely no idea of what to post. Keep a bank of ideas and separate them into ‘buckets’ of the type of content you post, such as inspiration, behind-the-scenes, tips, or educational tutorials. Intersperse them throughout your feed to keep content exciting and engaging for your community.

For more tips on how to leverage Instagram, you won’t want to miss Tatum and Andi’s talk at SB 2021. Grab your virtual ticket here.