Guest: Tyler McCall, Instagram whiz, Founder of the Follower to Fan Society and the Instagram Stories Workshop
Tyler cracked the code and shared:
His go-to resources for staying up to date with Instagram
Why he’s on Instagram stories every day
How he spent 3 minutes and got 2 new members in his program
Insider tip about finding a profile vs a story when you are checking out someone you don’t know
What it means to take ownership of your messaging and your marketing
How you can get closer to your desired audience, so they are eager to connect
Why he started using captions and how they’ve helped his stories gain traction
How to avoid being asked “why is that nun on a bicycle?”
His two cents on third party IG apps
Why now is the perfect time to get on IG Stories
Why using hashtags to find followers is more effective than using them for being found by others
RESOURCES
Connect with Tyler
@TylerJMccall on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tylerjmccall/
Iconosquare https://pro.iconosquare.com/
THE TRANSCRIPT
Minute 1:45 Why Instagram? Why are you all in with this platform? Instagram continues to be the most engaging when compared to other types of social media. The other reason which is talked about less is the way that you can find your ideal customer, student etc. and engage with them directly.
Minute 3:40 Explain how this DM stuff works. I don’t use DM’s because it’s so time intensive. What I prefer to do is to engage with others by liking and commenting on their content. It’s a way to get to know people by sharing what we have in common or what we may both find interesting.
The key is making sure you have a rock-solid profile, because when someone comes to check it out you want to make sure they get a great feel for who you are, what you do and how you can help them.
Minute 6:11 “Engaging more than you post is what helps you be successful.”
That’s what attracts people back to you and your brand, it’s how you get them to engage with your content and that opens the door to a sales conversation or a deeper connection outside of Instagram.
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Minute 10:30 Taking ownership of your marketing means it’s not enough to passively post a few times a week and hope people find you. It’s about engaging in the content others are creating and commenting and getting to know them as well.
Minute 11:08 Stories. What’s a good step one? Get crystal clear about who you are trying to attract. Who are they and what are they looking for in life. What is their problem and what is the solution we are providing?
Two key questions to always ask: What do I want my audience to take away from this story? What do I want them to do after they see the story? What is the next logical step you want them to take?
Minute 16:01 What do you see that’s not a good idea or things we should avoid when we are creating our stories?
Lack of consistency in feed and in stories. This applies to brand voice, and the visuals as well. People won’t understand who you are, what you are sharing and why. They’ll stick around when things are consistent.
Minute 19:55 What’s your take on 3rd party apps for planning and posting?
I use Iconosquare and I teach my students to use that as well. It provides analytics and insights. There are a ton of options that work well, and it depends on what you want and need.
Minute 23:40 Can you have a successful feed without long captions and blog type comments? Yes. There is no right or wrong way to do it. It all goes back to who you want to connect with and how you want to communicate. What are your core values and how can you share that with them? It can be in long-ish posts, but it can also be in shorter more concise messages.
Minute 26:15 Start showing up. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you can be awkward – just go with it and be there. You just have to get started. It’s the BEST place to start using video in your marketing. It’s a great way to test things too because they only last 24 hours.
Minute 27:33 The hashtag conversation. This has changed a lot in the past 6 months or so. They aren’t leading to new followers like they used to so hashtags serve a different function. You can use up to 30 but I find that 15 or so is a good number.
The best strategy around hashtags is to be very specific. That means specific to your product, your audience and how you serve them. It doesn’t matter where you put them in the comments area.
Minute 29:48 A business account is really important if you are on Instagram for marketing purposes. You can get insights that will help you understand how your followers are finding you. You can see impressions, reach and traffic sources so you can better plan your content and your strategy around hashtags.
Minute 33:26 Linktree. I think it’s a great tool, but it’s being mis-used. Make sure you are only giving people 2-3 options otherwise it’s too overwhelming. If you have the ability to use a specific Instagram landing page on your site, that works just as well so people will click on your link and go to the page.
Keep it up to date so it’s relevant and don’t over do it with 7 or 8 options because you aren’t likely to get results doing that. I just change the link in my bio when I have a specific offer or page I want people to see.
Do what works for you – just be mindful that it’s relevant and fresh so your followers don’t feel like you sent them somewhere that’s not helpful to them.
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