It has become increasingly challenging for businesses to gain what we call “traction” on Instagram. So, is the algorithm the problem always? Maybe not. The core challenge lies in engaging with your target audience. Most times this starts in the formative years of a brand on Instagram. When brands are launching, they often lack the bandwidth either due to constraints on time or resources. We often forget the communication we ought to put out. Communication is the key tool that will not only reach, nurture and engage with your product’s target audience. Also, the kind of communication you choose or the mediums of communication play an imperative role. So, we reached out to Ria Bajaj, Founder and Head Creative Technologist at Ria Bajaj, and asked her to share ways we can build traction on our social media pages. Read on to know all that she shared!
1. Create A Personification Of Your Audience
Almost like a mind map of their personality, this gives you great insight into how your product’s potential user behaves, reacts, chooses and thinks. This will also help you think of content they consume while the language is best understood by them. Having a couple of mind maps always helps to create various shades and styles of mediums of content. This not only will cater to the various target audiences but will also tell you which is most active. It is time-consuming but one of the most helpful pieces you will create.
2. Make A Laundry List Of What Your Brand Is Not
Yes, we all are “stalkers” as much as we dislike the word, but competition gets to us all, and we often forget who we are and become who we are not. This is the stage where brands cease to reach their potential audience and size to create value that appeals to a consumer’s fundamentals needs.
3. Maintain The Bridge Between Projection And Value
While we all project and exaggerate, be sure to communicate value through your social media communication. Be not only empathetic, but also emotional and assertive. This helps establish the pathway between aspiration and value being created on consumption. People often buy when their emotions and logic are met, and this is a great tool to not only nurture their needs, but also engage with them consistently.
4. Engage With Your Peers
Use your platform to engage with your peers in the same industry, this can be a great way to build a community. It can be in simple ways like commenting on their posts, and reacting or sharing their work as well their achievements and stories. It helps to create a relationship with your peers as much as your audience, as it creates more trust.
5. Appeal To Your Customer’s Fundamental Needs
Love, connection, growth and contribution are the key pillars. Show more involvement than your competitors. Growth is helping them grow emotionally, mentally and physically directly via your product, service or content. Lastly, in the long run, your consumers need to be aware of the contributions you are making to society as a responsible brand. This helps in building “stickiness” with them.
The best way to often communicate these is via your content, pictures and videos but also through picking the right collaborations with brands, influencers and celebrities who align with your basic ethos and communication style. This greatly helps to reach new pockets of consumers and interact with existing ones with ease.
While this might seem like a long and rather complicated journey, it is never too late to start and rehash old patterns out of your branding manual and adopt healthier ones to reach your ideal audience.
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