An Optimized Instagram Funnel
An Instagram piece of content is a whole, and every element serves different purposes.
1. The Visual — Here to interrupt the vertical scroll
Instagram is a visual platform. That’s why you should pay attention to the visual quality of your posts.
The visual needs to interrupt the mindless vertical scroll of a user.
The user needs to stop and take a few seconds to consume your content.
Here are a few tips:
Post vertical 4:5 images or videos. They occupy more screen real estate, which increases the chances of a user to stop on your content.
If you are posting a video, make sure your thumbnail looks attractive. The thumbnail will appear for less than a second before the video starts auto-playing. Having a good-looking thumbnail can make a big difference, especially if your video’s introduction is rather slow.
Prefer bright pictures. They tend to perform better than highly contrasted, dark shots.
2. The Caption — Where the Value is
Posting only a visual won’t be enough.
The value that you had is in your caption. That’s where you explain the reason why you’re posting. That’s the information you want to share with the world.
Put your audience first.
This is your opportunity to give away free value, knowledge, information, method to your fans.
Suppose you want to post but can’t come up with a caption. The chances are you don’t have a lot to say, and you shouldn’t be posting.
While the visual made the user stop on your post, the caption will engage the user to trust you more.
3. The Call-to-Action — Where you get what you need
Now that you’ve given away value, you can ask for something in return.
At the end of your caption, explain clearly, in one sentence, what your reader can do to help you in return.
If you’re looking for followers, ask the reader to follow you. If you’re selling a product, tell them to check out your link in bio. If you want comments, ask them a question.
Without a call-to-action, your readers and viewers will likely leave your post without doing anything, not even liking it. The CTA step is crucial to get anything back from the content that you post online.
4. The Hashtag, location, tags — Your entry points
The more discoverable your content is, the more followers you will get.
That’s why I’m having trouble understanding why using six hashtags would be better than using 30. If you can come up with 30 highly targeted, relevant hashtags, then use them.Don’t limit yourself to using just a few.
The same thing goes for tagging accounts and the location that you use. If you can be specific on a location, then use it. Stay away from general Paris, France, or New York. Instead, use the precise location that you’re in. This isn’t crucial, but it might bring a few extra pairs of eyeballs to your content.
Regarding tagging, you can tag any account that makes sense. The gear that you used, brands that we can see and identify, related accounts, the people and brands you’re talking about. You name it.
Don’t overdo it, don’t be spammy. As long as it’s relevant, it can only be beneficial.
5. Your Profile — The closer
Your visual is on point, and you’re able to interrupt users’ vertical scroll. Your caption is well-written and brings a lot of value to your readers. Your call to action is clear, and most of your viewers convert. You used all 30 hashtags, and they’re driving thousands of views to your content.
The final step is to optimize your profile and bio.
If your account looks good and if people can tell within a couple of seconds what your content is about (through looking at your bio and seeing your grid), they are likely to subscribe.
Don’t neglect your profile, as it is the final piece of your funnel. If your account doesn’t look great and if it’s hard to understand what your content is about, you won’t get new followers, even if your posts are on point.
If you follow all of these steps and put this much care every time you post on Instagram, your results will increase significantly.
It’s essential to understand Instagram and content creation as a whole. Getting better in only one of these categories might slightly improve your Instagram. But understanding the whole process is what will drastically improve the way your content performs and converts.
Do you feel like you tried everything to grow on social media and especially Instagram? Hopefully, what follows will be the last thing you will have to do to reach your goals.
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