When I was brainstorming new topics to write about, I didn’t start off thinking about writing an article on more Instagram leads. Instead, I did a quick search online to look at what regularly comes up as a popular topic on Instagram (because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re blogging isn’t it – go with the trending topics). So what did I find? Well, the most popular type of Instagram article was all about followers. How to get your first 1000 followers. How to get 10,000 followers. How to get 100,000 followers. I’ve even got a blog post like this myself, and no surprises that its one of my most popular posts.
So it seems, that’s what business owners most want to know. How to get more followers on Instagram. What does this tell us? Well, it shows that most business owners equate large numbers of followers with a large number of customers.
That makes sense I suppose. If you have a 100,000 followers you’re probably going to have an easier time making a sale than if you only have 10 followers.
Note: This post contains affiliate links and I may make a small commission off any sale when you use my referral link, at no cost to you. For more information, see my disclosure page.
More followers, more sales?
But here’s a question for you. What if you have followers, and your not making sales? Is that possible? Well, according to a recent survey I ran with my audience, not only is it possible – it’s actually a common problem.
So what I see from my own experience is this: there are lots of very smart, ambitious business owners searching for ways to grow their Instagram following, and lots of equally smart business owners who have done just that, and aren’t making sales.
That tells you one thing. Getting more followers isn’t the goal you should be aiming for. It’s not going to necessarily make your business more sales. It might improve your odds of success, but it’s not the magic answer that everyone thinks it is.
More instagram leads (without magic)
Is there a magic answer? Well, I wouldn’t call any online strategy a magic answer to anything, but what I can tell you is the very successful approach I take with my own customers, and that’s an approach that brings more sales, rather than more followers.
One of the great things about Instagram – when you approach it properly – is the quality of leads you get. I spend lots of time experimenting on different social media platforms, and Instagram is one of the best in terms of lead quality. It takes a lot of effort to click out of Instagram and go and explore someone’s business, so when someone does that on Instagram, you already know they’re pretty serious about getting to know you. So the trick to making sales on Instagram is really about taking advantage of that behaviour and doing what you can to attract and entice that person.
Here’s the approach I take with my own clients.
#1: Turn your focus from quantity to quality
This is all about changing your perspective. Change your goal. Instead of getting that buzz you feel from adding 100 new followers, stop looking at followers and start focusing on how many quality leads you are getting to sign up to your email list. If you only get 30 new followers, but 3 sign up to your email list and 1 becomes a customer, that’s far better than getting 1000 followers who don’t become customers.
#2: Drive followers to your profile link
You’re not going to get business leads unless you are regularly getting people to click on your profile link. So get yourself a business account, and monitor the metrics on the account. How many clicks are you getting to your link per week? What can you do to double it? Triple it? Often it’s not a case of “getting more followers”. A single high quality post can easily double the number of clicks you are getting, when it’s done right.
#3: Get your followers hooked on signing up to hear more
Getting followers clicking on your link is one thing. Getting them to sign up to something is quite another. This is where you really need to be smart about tailoring your sign up to your Instagram audience. Even if you have a sign up page on your website, it might not be the best offer for Instagram. Spend time with your Instagram followers and find out what they want. Chat to them in the comments. Survey them. You’ll be surprised at what you find, and it’s going to give you plenty of ideas about what they are eager to sign up for.
Top tip: This free tool has a great feature for adding multiple links to your profile, and it’s a very useful way to monitor your traffic to see which offers and promotions are getting the best response from your audience. |
#4: Focus on the type of leads you want
Here’s a step a lot of people miss. It’s good to focus on metrics – number of clicks, number of sign ups, but sometimes those numbers can miss the bigger picture. What would happen if you signed up 1000 subscribers on Instagram, presented an offer to that audience, and made no sales? It’d feel pretty soul destroying, right? But it’s common, and here’s why. It’s not enough to just sign people up; you need to sign up the right “type” of lead – and that’s the person who is most likely to buy from you. Think that through again and ask yourself if you are really doing that. Are you building your numbers, or are you building a quality “buying” audience? The two things are different, and the type of marketing that attracts those two types is different.
It’s vital that you have tools in place that allow you to properly track your metrics, so you know exactly how your business is performing, what your sign up conversion rate is, what your click through rates are, how many leads are booking calls, your sales page conversions, your checkout conversions. I’d strongly recommend investing in a proper sales funnel platform that will allow you to track every step of the process. This is the one I use, and it’s one of the most important and valuable investments I’ve made for my business.
#5: Test, refine, optimise
Lastly, always keep testing, and always keep refining your offer until it’s starting to work. If you are getting clicks, but not sign ups, test a different optin headline. If you are getting signups but no sales, test a different offer. If in doubt, survey your audience. Keep modifying, tweaking and refining. If you want to go further and master the art of converting leads, this is one of the best low-cost training series you can sign up to on building a profitable funnel for your business and if I was starting a business today it’s is the exact training I would start with.
#6: Set up a smart funnel
There are hundreds of funnel designs that you can use on Instagram, but there is one particular type of funnel (called a smart funnel) that works really well for growing quality leads via Instagram. It’s a bit long to put in this post so I’ve created a separate PDF on it. If you want a copy, complete your information in the form below.