Instagram Tips for Creative Businesses: Part Three

Editor’s Note: We’re super happy to welcome Caitlin Bacher of Little Farm Media to Dear Handmade Life for her three-part series on how creative entrepreneurs can use Instagram to grow their businesses. Caitlin is breaking it down into three categories: community, style and voice. Check out her posts about community and style from the last two weeks. Be sure to check out Part One and Part Two of Caitlin’s series. -Nicole S.

INSTAGRAM FOR CREATIVES :: PART THREE

Welcome to LITTLE FARM MEDIA’s three part series on using Instagram to successfully grow your creative business. In order to use Instagram to increase sales, there are three things that you must consider: Community, Style, and Voice.

VOICE

Do all of your posts include at least two exclamation points…per sentence? Does your caption primarily consist of hashtags? Do you wonder why nobody is commenting on your posts?

GET YOUR VOICE BACK.

The reason your brand is on social media is to increase sales. Period. We can talk about increasing followers, engagement, blah, blah, blah. You just want more sales. Don’t get me wrong, the size of your audience and their rate of engagement IS important. The reason they are important is because they lead to more sales.  Follow these tips and figure out what to say.

1. Be relatable. :: Maybe you like to pepper your conversations with $3 words, but does your customer? You need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes when you write a caption and leave comments. Research the way your target market communicates. Read the blogs, books, and magazines that they do. Don’t copy what others say because it will come across as fake. Get their vocabulary and pattern of speech in your head, then make it your own. If you cannot figure out how to relate to your customer in an authentic way, then you need find a new product to sell.

2. Be consistent. :: Once you find your voice on Instagram, stick with it. You will lose your audience if you seem like someone with multiple personalities.

3. Reign in the exclamation points. :: Exclamation points are fun, but use your words. If anyone follows @littlefarmmedia on Instagram, you already know my personal stance on exclamation points. Too many of them are a big no-no, so please proceed with caution. If your brand is bubbly and cheerful, there are other ways to convey this. Before you post, re-read your caption and get rid of excessive exclamation points.

4. Dust off your thesaurus. :: Remember when your third-grade teacher told you to stop using the word, “good”? She was right. Brainstorm a list of words that express your brand and USE THEM. Repeatedly. Do you want people to associate nostalgia with your product? Then sprinkle it in your posts to hypnotize your audience. “Hey, I always feel nostalgic when I look at XX’s Instagram. That is so weird. I like feeling nostalgic and I think I WILL buy all their things today.”

-Caitlin Bacher

About Caitlin Bacher and Little Farm Media:

Little Farm Media is a social media agency for makers, artists, and designers. Join our private Facebook group: Social Media for Creatives to get real about your social media strategy in private setting. Follow us on Instagram and Pinterest for more social media tips and inspiration.

This three part series is inspired by Susannah Brinkley’s series on building a personal Instagram following.