How to Not Hate Your Life On Instagram
Tips for making Instagram fun for you AND your community.
I’ve recently begun injecting life back into my Instagram feed. For a while there, I posted maybe once a month because I tend to prefer the unhinged shenanigans I get up to in my stories. But the feed is the place to reach a wider audience.
I tell myself that I don't care so much about reaching a wider audience because I really do prefer engaging in the DMs with the community I already have. I tell myself I'm too busy to take on new work anyway, so what's the point? I tell myself that I need to save all my energy to post on my clients' feeds, so I don't have the time to post on my own.
I tell myself, I tell myself, I tell myself.
And while all that I've told myself might be true, I realized that they are all just excuses. Beyond that, I seem to have forgotten why I started doing this work in the first place: It's FUN.
My job is to share pretty photos and talk about wine on social media. Why the actual fuck am I taking it so seriously?!
You see, it's very easy with social media to get caught up in the comparison game. To only post what your audience wants to see instead of the things that you actually give a shit about.
And that's not necessarily a bad excuse! It is important to pay attention to what your community is telling you they want to see. AND YET! We also need to find a way to combine what our people want with what we actually want to post.
The quickest way to burn yourself out on social media is to post just for the sake of posting, and I can tell you, your audience can smell your ho-humedry (new word, I just made it up) from a mile away.
To map it out for you: You stop giving a shit→your audience stops giving a shit→they stop engaging→you fall into a bottomless pit of social media despair.
So, how do we avoid all this?
Respond to every comment you receive on your posts:
I can't believe I still have to say this because it feels so insanely obvious, but it's called SOCIAL media for a reason. The first mistake I see people making on any social media platform is that they aren't actually using it socially. They are posting and then disappearing from the platform until they post again. But even if you have the best content in the world, you will only have limited success as a small brand if you aren't responding to most, if not all, of your comments in a timely manner.
Admittedly, there comes a point when you get so many comments that this becomes impractical, but my guess is that if you're reading this, you aren't there yet.
Our goal is to get you to that point. But even then, you should still respond to the important comments, especially the ones that ask questions or have the potential to turn into meaningful conversations.
Use your Instagram stories
Stories are my favorite part of Instagram. They are a great place to test out content in a raw way and strengthen your community. Stories are where people go to step away from the perfectly curated (and often incredibly cheesy) content and step into the behind-the-scenes of someone's life. And even better, they make engaging with your community SO much easier and more fun than most other places on Instagram.
You can add polls, question boxes, and quiz stickers to your stories as an easy and low-hanging fruit kind of way to encourage engagement, but it's also such an easy way to get people to slide into your DMs. Speaking of which…
Encourage people to drop into your DMs
I love the DMs. They harken back to the days of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), and my gawd, they make my Millennial heart very happy. I've had some pretty profound conversations with my clients' fans in their DMs. I've also provided amazing customer service there (which is the whole point of the hospitality industry, isn't it?)
Research shows that users want to exchange Instagram messages with brands.
Users message a business over 400 million times per day.
Around 50% of user-to-business messaging starts from Instagram stories, 40% from the profile, and 10% from posts.
Customer support is listed as one of the top reasons users message a business on Instagram.
Showcase your community
Highlighting your followers, customers, or anyone engaging with your brand will give them a sense of belonging and appreciation. Share user-generated content, feature customer stories, or thank your community members publicly (bonus points if you find their name on their profile and use it in your communications with them!) It’s a powerful way to show you value their participation and support.
Post what YOU care about
Yes, there are times when you’re going to have to post about very unsexy things like new wine releases, but the vast majority of the time, you should post about the things YOU are passionate about. If you’re willing to get nerdy and weird about something, chances are your community is willing to get nerdy and weird right alongside you.
I also find that things are most fun when I’m confident in what I’m doing. If your strength lies in writing, then consider writing longer, educational captions for your posts. If your strength lies in talking to guests directly, offer Q&A stories and Reels to get your community engaged. And the big thing is when you’re confident, your community will notice and will respond to that.
The TL;DR
Shift Your Focus: It's not about gaining followers; it's about growing a community. The wine industry thrives on its people. From vineyard workers to wine enthusiasts, it's the community that pours life into our passion for wine. This subtle shift in perspective can transform how you engage on social media.
Aim for Meaningful Engagement: Building a strong community on social media transcends mere numbers. It's rooted in fostering genuine connections, offering valuable insights, and cultivating an environment where everyone feels seen and appreciated.
Work Within Your Strengths: Share what you care about and use your strengths when creating and posting content on social media.