Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. In today's video, I'm going to be talking about community building on Instagram, which is a very big and very important topic. Why is it so big and important? Because I personally believe that building a community of loyal, strong advocates is far more powerful than just having an Instagram page with a bunch of people who just passively consume your content.
Okay, so the first tip that I want to give you is to build in authenticity as a layer of your messaging strategy. God, two seconds in and I'm already literally speaking in marketing language, sorry. Basically, what my advice is here is to ensure that your messaging plan – so the type of captions that you write, what you say in your stories, all of that stuff – has a layer of authenticity built in. Now, this doesn't have to be in every single piece of copy that you produce. If you are a sales-based business, some of your captions or your copy might just be focused on doing a hard sell. However, what this does mean is that at least a portion of your messaging should be super authentic.
Another way to be really authentic in your messaging is to provide long and personal communication. So, on your captions for your Instagram stories, making them a little bit longer, telling a bit of a story, and getting really deep with your audience is always really super effective. And a key way to do that in not just your captions, but on any of your other content is to talk in first person, right? Speaking in first person just basically breaks down the barrier between your community and yourselves so they're not going to see you as this big corporate company or as this kind of influencer who is more of a brand than a person. When you start using those pronouns, they're going to start feeling like you are speaking directly to them. And it's going to really help you with that community building objective.
When you are trying to be more authentic in your content, always remember that being authentic shouldn't feel difficult, right? Being authentic is literally you just relaxing and being yourself. A lot of the time, it's a lot harder for people to not be authentic and be kind of disingenuous than it is for people just to be relaxed and to really let their true personality and their true self shine through. If you are completely authentic to yourself, you'll never need to compete with another person a day in your life because no one else is like you. So be yourself, relax, and you'll find it so much easier to build a connection with your audience and build a community.
My next tip for community building on Instagram is to create opportunities for one-to-one communications. Now, there are a bunch of different ways that you can do this. One of my personal favorites is to go live. This is a personal favorite for a few reasons. I haven't actually had a chance to do this on my current channel, but it is something that I want to...
Q: What is the importance of building a community on Instagram?
A: Building a community on Instagram is important because having a loyal group of advocates is more powerful than just having passive followers. It helps in creating engagement, fostering relationships, and driving brand loyalty.
Q: How can authenticity be integrated into a messaging strategy?
A: Authenticity in messaging can be achieved by incorporating personal stories, using first person language, and providing genuine and relatable content. It helps in building connections with the audience and fostering trust.
Q: Why is personal authenticity important for effective community building?
A: Being personally authentic in communication helps in breaking barriers between brands/influencers and their audience. It creates a sense of direct connection and humanizes the brand, making the community building process more effective.
Q: How can one be genuine in content creation and building connections?
A: Being genuine in content creation involves being yourself and letting your true personality shine through. It is about being relaxed and authentic, which ultimately helps in building a strong connection with the audience and forming a genuine community.
Q: What are some tips for creating opportunities for direct communication on Instagram?
A: Creating opportunities for one-to-one communications can include going live, hosting Q&A sessions, responding to direct messages, and engaging with followers in comments. These direct interactions help in building a closer relationship with the audience.