How To Reach More People On Instagram
We have a few new readers after last week’s release of The Halving’s Effect On Bitcoin’s Price. Thank you for following along with the interests of this 26-year-old Midwesterner for the second week in a row.
For those joining us for the first time and those who are here each week, you’ll see on the (newly redesigned) homepage that there are many different topics this newsletter covers.
By design, this newsletter covers whatever I find interesting each week. With the coming of the new year, I’ve been thinking about who exactly this newsletter is for. Nailing that down and consistently providing value will transform the trajectory of the newsletter in 2024. As you open this email each week, see if you can notice the progression of the newsletter over the coming months. 🙂
As for what topic we’ll cover today, a poll on my Instagram shows most people want some advice on creating content on Instagram. After all, that is my day job and my calling card… “Contributing to GaryVee’s VeeFriends, on Instagram.”
Help Me Understand This Audience By Answering The Poll Below
For my information (and to your benefit in the future), how experienced are you with creating on social media? I will use this information to tailor how advanced I get with creator tips in the future. Don’t be embarrassed, nobody (me included) will know who is answering.
How To Reach More People On Instagram
I believe that as time goes on, it will only get more difficult to start a personal or business brand. With the advent of AI creation (I wrote about this last year), Storytelling Becomes Everything When The Barrier To Entry Becomes Zero. In short, when anyone can bring their idea to life with the help of AI, there will be exponentially more videos hitting social media. Not to mention those who are excellent at making them will automate the process, resulting in exponentially more excellent videos.
In a world where the rich get richer, you must scratch and claw your way into becoming rich. NOW is the best chance you’ll ever get to grow your audience online.
That’s why it’s important to start now. Make the mistakes now. Make progress now.
Before Posting
First, you need to figure out WHAT you’re talking about. It’s easiest to start by talking about what you already know.
You might think you don’t know much, but that is not true.
If you aren’t sure what you want to talk about, there’s a way to discover it on your own.
It’s called the THREE Method. I created and used it on January 2nd, 2023 to discover I wanted to write a weekly newsletter. THIS newsletter.
If you can dedicate an hour of uninterrupted writing time, the THREE Method is an effective tool.
If you can’t dedicate an hour to writing your interests to find your brand, you better discover a way to travel through time and apologize to your future self for leaving your potential behind.
Sorry, not sorry.
What To Post
Once you know what you want to talk about, you must start talking about it.
Your first video will suck. Post it anyway. Your hundredth video will suck. Post it anyway.
If you do it right, you’ll look back on the first few years of videos and be embarrassed by what you posted. That’s good. That means you’re making progress. That means you’re trying.
Once you start posting and getting the reps in, your next mission is to learn something from each video.
You should learn what gives you energy. Learn what works to grow your audience. Learn what does NOT work. Learn what people resonate with. Learn who your regulars are, and treat them well in comments and DMs.
It’s tough to break out in today’s Instagram. There are so many people posting pictures and videos that you have to fight your way to a viewer’s Instagram feed.
It’s imperative to understand the difference between going viral and growing an audience because they care what you have to say.
You must garner an audience that cares what you have to say and then continue to care what you have to say. Otherwise, you’ll find it difficult to form a living from your online brand.
Great brands generate a reason for followers to keep coming back with consistent series. You’ll notice on the VeeFriends Instagram that there are a handful of different series, or formats, of content.
Daily Comics
Definition Posts
Storytimes
Self-Aware Hare
It took us a while to nail down these four series, and it will likely take you a while as well. Keep trying. Keep testing.
How To Post
The most important thing about your video/post is the first 5 seconds. Be honest with yourself in answering this question every time you post a video: “If the viewer doesn’t know me, would they know what this video is about and would they care to watch the first 5 seconds, based on the first second?”
The first second is the most important, then the second, then the third, and so on. Then, if you’re not getting to the main point by 10-15 seconds you’ll lose the attention of most people and the video will flop.
Platform Strategy
Let’s talk about organic and non-follower reach.
Organic reach is when somebody sees your video and you don’t pay for the view.
Non-follower reach is when someone doesn’t follow you and they don’t follow you.
I think every video you post should make sense to someone who has never seen your videos before. Do this, and every video you post has a chance to grow your audience.
Non-follower reach is like striking gold, and if your video is structured in a way that makes people care what you have to say throughout, you might convert them into long-term fans of yours. That’s what a brand is all about. You should be showing something useful to people who already know you while maximizing your chance of relating to those who have never heard of you.
With followers comes attention, connections, and opportunity.
And when it comes to non-follower reach, there’s something special going on with Instagram at this very moment.
Something came across my desk from Bobby, the person who runs the ONE37pm Instagram.
He mentioned that when uploading an Instagram Reel, there’s a setting to “Recommend on Facebook.” Doing this puts your Instagram Reel on Facebook, and all likes, comments, and shares from Facebook show up on your Instagram post.
Bobby was seeing a TON of non-follower reach on these posts. He was also gaining followers.
Why would Facebook do this?
Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company. It’s beneficial for them to have Facebook users use Instagram too. The more time a user spends on the app, the more ads they can serve, making the company more money.
As for why an Instagram post would also go to Facebook, picture it like this.
The company owns both Facebook and Instagram, and they need users to make content that keeps people on the app. They’ll always find new ways to give people organic reach, which is good for the user’s brand/business, and good for the platform.
The incentive structure benefits those who use the feature first. It’s supply and demand, just like the Bitcoin post from last week. Content is the same way.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to set your Instagram profile to a business account. It helps categorize your profile to reach the right audience, plus gives you better statistics to analyze how your posts perform.
If you don’t have the setting when uploading your Reel, unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do. Features are rolled out to different people at different times, and it’s nearly impossible to get a representative on the line at any of these social media companies unless you have a direct connection via email through your business.
I certainly have more to say about creator tips, but I need to get more information about how experienced you are with creating on social media, so I know how advanced I can get.
Please answer the poll at the very top of the newsletter to help me understand the audience I’m speaking to. Knowing your experience level will help me write better advice for you.
See you next Monday at 7 am EST!
Housekeeping
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