At the end of the day, we are all on social media for our businesses to make money. If you aren’t making sales on Instagram, what is the point of all that content and time spent engaging? Not much.
If you are consistent on Instagram but don’t have much to show for it, this is for you! There are some simple steps you can take to find your ideal clients on Instagram. Here’s what you need to know before you start though:
- You don’t need a huge following to get clients on Instagram
- You don’t need to spend all day on your phone to find clients on Instagram
- You don’t need to post complicated reels every day
- You don’t need to show up picture perfect every day
While it’s not as easy as dropping some great content and waiting for the sales to come in, I still believe Instagram is the best platform to build your business on and you can still do it for free – you just need time and a strategy. Then use that strategy to create a plan – and follow that plan consistently. This may seem like a lot of time involved but believe me – if you have a plan and a system in place, you’ll spend way less time on your phone on Instagram than you are now AND you’ll start making sales!
Now let’s get into the 3 things you DO need to start getting clients from Instagram:
1. Know Your Ideal Client
That is the first big step that so many business owners miss – getting to know their ideal client. I know, taking some time to think about it and learn all about them seems overwhelming to some but it is the basis of any good marketing strategy. You can’t attract your ideal audience on Instagram (or anywhere) until you know exactly who you are trying to attract.
Who is your ideal client? Where do they work? What stage of life are they in? What do they do for fun? What are their pain points? How do you solve them? The gold is in the details. Once you narrow this down you will find the next 2 things you need to do to start making sales on Instagram SO MUCH EASIER! Spend an hour doing this and you will see how powerful it is.
2. Create An Instagram Bio To Attract Your Ideal Client And Offer Them A Lead Magnet They Want
Now that you know your ideal client, what do they want? What do they need? How do you help them get that result? What transformation do they make when they use your product or service? How do you help them get from Point A to Point B?
Think about it and write out a statement of what transformation you help your ideal client make. Write it out in the words they would use. For example, if your ideal client is a 60 year old woman and you’re calling her queen in your marketing – it’s probably not going to resonate with her like it would a 30-35 year old woman. Think about the language your ideal client uses and use it in your bio statement. Want to see an example? Check out my Instagram bio.
Now you have this statement of the result/transformation you provide, written using the language your ideal client uses. Use a mini version of this statement in your Instagram bio. Make them want to click follow and think – yes I need that!
Now create a freebie/lead magnet helping them with one of their pain points and make sure it’s clear in the bio to click the link to get that. Of course, that link should require their email address to get the freebie. Nurturing through email is huge is you have a longer sales process and this is how I grow my email list the most.
Also, don’t be shy to send new followers a DM and let them know about the freebie in your link in bio. That’s an easy way to start a conversation without seeming salesy. If they followed you then they are likely interested in what you’ve got – starting with free value is a great way to show them what an expert you are in your field.
Now you know who you want to attract, your bio and freebie are resonating with those ideal clients, now what? Time to get social on social media! It’s time to engage strategically with your ideal clients on Instagram! How do you do that?
3. Engage With Your Ideal Clients
9 out of 10 times when I talk to my clients and students they are not doing this. And I don’t hear other Instagram experts talking about this either but it is powerful and time saving: Curate your newsfeed with your ideal clients so you can interact on their posts and stories. Who is your newsfeed filled with? Friends and family? Brands you like? Or people you want to work with or could collaborate with? It should be the latter!
Get rid of all the other junk – unfollow anyone that isn’t your ideal client (over time though, don’t do all at once or you could end up in Instagram jail!). If you’re on Instagram to make sales, create a newsfeed to help you do that. Go back to step one and review your ideal client, then start following them on Instagram and anyone else that could help you with your business or do collaborations with you. Now when you are scrolling, you are scrolling with intention. Drop authentic comments on any posts that resonate with you. Refer them to a piece of your content that may help them. Scroll through stories and DM when you have an authentic comment – answer their polls.
People tend to be ok with DMs on Instagram vs Facebook so start that online relationship. Don’t talk business at first though. DMs should be authentic comments about more personal stuff when you find something you can relate with. Build that know/like/trust factor first by bonding over a pet they did a story about or over their hilarious story about trying to potty train their toddler. Over time, those DMs often naturally turn into business – because remember you are doing this with your ideal client so they probably already have some level of interest!
Ok so that’s it! First, get to know who your ideal client is, then create your bio and freebie to attract them, and last get social by creating an intentional newsfeed so you can interact with them and build that relationship. Now you have a system you can do over and over to start making sales on Instagram!
Want more details on how this all works? Join my free Facebook group – Instagram Success Community For Female Entrepreneurs. I just posted a video going over this whole process and even have some freebies to help you get started!
If you need more social media and marketing tips – here are a few ways I can help:
Grab my free 2021 IG Guide – Explode Your Instagram …. It’s FIRE!
If you don’t want to wait each month to see the calendar, you can download the entire 2022 Social Media Holiday Calendar.
Want to learn to simplify Instagram and attract your ideal clients? Join my free group: Instagram Success Community