Put your Instagram content to work! 3 steps for growing your audience

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Creating content that resonates can feel like a daunting task to begin with, so let’s not make it any harder than it needs to be. The secret to solving this, what feels like a monumental problem, is repurposing content — but with a twist.

Many agents struggle to figure out how to cross-pollinate their email lists with their social presences and find themselves asking, “How do I get people to see what I am doing on social, but also get the ones on social to be on my email list?” Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your social media while adding to your email list. 

Step 1: Create a series that won’t fall on deaf ears

The content currently flooding your Instagram feed from real estate agents is mostly content that simply checks the “I posted on social media” box for the day. It lacks value and gets lost or passed over because viewers only have about an 8-second attention span. 

So how do we fix this? 

Shift your mindset. Start creating content with this simple thought in mind: “What questions does my ideal client have about X topic, and how can I put my coaching hat on to solve it?” If you are making a template, think question, not statement, and you’ll be better off right out of the gate.

Write out a list, call your past few clients, and really get into their brains on the roadblocks that exist for them. If you execute this, you will likely find that you just unlocked pandora’s box of ideas for new content.

The special sauce in this is creating content that is not for you or that strokes your ego, but instead is scroll-stopping because it poses a question that you can solve in the caption. 

Below you will see a series a lender created to get away from the standard conversations around VA loans, and instead create content specifically for her ideal client. Note: There are different types of veteran clients, so it is easy to generalize. The goal here is not to.

Step 2: Create a ‘follow me on the gram’ email

Email lists are often thought of as your “lead base,” so you know you need to nurture them, yet it ends up being the last place we put effort into when we try and focus on Instagram. How do we bridge this gap? 

Telling people you exist on Instagram is the first step to making sure you’re creating great content once and letting the presence you have do the talking in both places. 

The best way to cross-pollinate is to have three main things ready to go:

• A “follow me on the gram” Canva template made for you to share in the email and on your personal Facebook page.
• Two or three sentences describing your most recent “series” posted to your IG account (see Step 1!).
• An exciting and punchy header that gets people to open your email in the first place.“Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram,” will not cut it. The better alternative is, “Hey, have we connected on IG yet? I have a ton of exciting things happening and a new series on ____ (see Step 1 again!) that I can’t wait to share!”

This message is your way to tell your email list that they should be connected to you because you are active and accessible. Psychologically, people are more likely to engage if they know why they should because of a perceived outcome if they do so.

See below for a sample of what this email could look like for you. The idea is to be able to cross-pollinate your platforms.

Note: You will want to send this email once you have revamped your account (which includes branding!)

Step 3: Ditch your monthly newsletter for your ‘series’ email 

When is the last time your monthly newsletter generated a response, or better yet, an insightful conversation with a potential new client?

It may likely bring you one here and there, but if you want to create more conversation, which we know brings the opportunity for more conversion, you must give the people what they want, not what you want, because it can get the box checked quicker.

This is where Step 1 brings us full circle.

Create a new series, do it in video form, and share Part 1 in one email and Part 2 in another email later in the month.

Remember that your CTA in this email is to go view the rest of your series, and that is on Instagram. Every CTA you add will minimize your click-throughs and limit the number of people who make it to your Instagram. However, if you only have one, you will be rewarded with new eyeballs and more conversations. It’s a win-win all around.

Michelle Berman Mikel is a nationally sought-after Instagram Content Development coach, speaker, Owner of Berman Media PD and Creator of the Instagram Power Method Program. You can connect with her on Instagram and LinkedIn.