Hey, there – welcome back to the Steven de Cuba Podcast. I’m happy you are here and excited to dive in the topic of today. Today, we’re talking about two of my favourite things: Instagram and Business.

Instagram has been one of my strongest marketing tools that have worked for my business. Instagram has helped me make my business more personal, attract the right type of audience and convert my followers into paying customers.

And that’s exactly what I want for you too.

In this episode, I’m going to give you 3 ways you can use Instagram for your business.

So if you’re not using Instagram for business or for your personal brand, you could definitely skip this episode. However, if you want to learn more about how you could use Instagram more strategically for your business, then you definitely need to stick around.

My first question when I first start a project is: “what’s the goal of this project”.

And that’s what I want you to ask yourself right now: “what’s the goal of you using Instagram for your business”.

Because, how many times have you heard people say you need to be on every social media platform. But being on a platform is one thing and using a platform strategically for business, is another thing

Using social media as a marketing tool to drive traffic to your website should be your main goal. Heck, that’s exactly my goal.

I only want to use social media to drive traffic to my website.

I don’t want to use only Instagram for business. I believe everyone should have a website. If you don’t have a website, go and make one. You don’t own your followers on Instagram, but you do own your own website. And if you know how to design a website to convert your followers into leads, then you don’t need to rely on Instagram.

Friends, this is important. In 2019, Instagram and WhatsApp went down for a couple of hours. What does that mean for your business? Does it mean that your business will also go down?

What if Instagram decides one day to close their doors. Are you also going to close your doors?

Friends, we need to be strategic on how we use social media for business.

Okay, so, you’re probably asking yourself: How can you be more strategic? How can you use Instagram to drive traffic on your website and convert those followers into customers?

Friends, grab your pen and paper because you’re about to take some notes! Now, if you’re driving, or cooking, or running errands with your AirPods in – no worries. I have written all of my tips in the show notes for you, so you can just screenshot it, copy and paste, or whatever you want to do! 

Alright, let’s dive into the: 3 ways you can use Instagram for your business

3 ways you can use Instagram for your business.

You can go live on Instagram and talk about your business.

There are times that you can sell on social media. Actually, you should do it. Every so often, you should have an offer ready for your audience. However, when you’re not selling – you should be talking about your business without having to sell it.

How can you talk about your business during a live Instagram session?

1. Share tips and tricks related to your business.
2. Share behind-the-scenes of your business.
3. Interview industry experts in your industry.

Bonus tip: The best thing about collaboration is that you can reach a completely new audience.

Use Instagram stories to connect with your audience on a personal level

Why is it important to have a personal connection with your audience?

How should you use Instagram stories? The difference between sharing too much and sharing enough.

3 ways you can use Instagram stories for your business:

1. Share a behind-the-scenes look about your business
   • As a photographer, I always take my audience on a behind-the-scenes journey during my shoots. I’ve even done it during proposal and weddings.
   • This is the best way to take your audience that are on the edge of booking with you on a deeper level with your content.
   • Here they can see how you work and get a feel of how it looks like working with you.
2. Share tips and tricks for your audience.
   • As a wedding photographer, I’m creating content for my bride-to-be. She’s my customer avatar.
3. Share an inside look of your personal life
   • You don’t have to get too personal.
   • You can share how you start your day, or how your day looks like (as a photographer, graphic designer, or a coach), people want to see more about you so give them things that you feel comfortable sharing online.
   • It can be as simple as a cup of coffee and use the poll feature “Do you like coffee with or without milk” or “coffee or tea”.
     • Speaking of polls. These features are designed to notify the algorithm that your content is interesting to your followers. 
     • Let’s say for example someone clicks on your poll, or used the slider, or clicked on an answer of your quiz, that’s a signal to the algorithm that they’re interested in your content. Next time they login into Instagram, there’s a pretty good chance that they will see your content first.
     • So make sure you use these Instagram features to engage your audience with your content.

Use Direct Message to go deeper with your audience.

I’m not going to lie, my direct message strategy is my favourite thing to do. It’s booked me branding sessions, engagement session and yes, even weddings. Direct messages are the best way to convert your followers into customers. Trust me on this one.

But here’s the punchline: direct message strategy takes time. A lot of time.

You have to build that trust with your followers first before you slide into their DM’s.

Jab Jab, Right hook by GaryVee. 

It’s a strategy for content marketing. The idea of “jab, jab, jab” means that you give a lot of content, teach, tell stories, engage, give content, give helpful content, educational, entertainment, all for free. Give without having any expectations. 

The right hook is the part where you ask for the user to do something: call to action. At any given point, you will ask for a call to action: download a freebie, sign up for your newsletter, follow you on another platform or even buy your product.

Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform right now. This is your chance to use a free platform to connect with your followers and convert them into paying customers. So here are the 3 things you should do: Go live and talk about your business, use stories to personalize your business and use Direct Message to convert your followers into paying customers.

All of this takes a lot of time. But I have no doubt that it will work.

My challenge for you today is: post a story on Instagram and give your audience an inside look of your business.