When influencers get it wrong

Often times we look at Instagram accounts that have many, many followers and think, well they must be doing something right. But that's not always the case.

Hey there gorgeous,

I came across a really interesting Instagram case study a few days ago.

I think it’s one we can all learn a valuable lesson from, no matter what size our account may be.

An Instagram influencer (one who many Quiet Creatives follow and historically have loved) posted about their recent experience of growing their follower count rapidly in the last six months or so, but that this growth (they have almost a million followers now) has led to almost zero net positive affect on their business, web traffic or bottom line.

And as far as they were concerned this was Instagram’s fault.

Except I have been watching them on this rapid growth trajectory, and as far as I am concerned, there’s another explanation. And in this case, Instagram is not to blame.

One of the most important things you can do when you are creating marketing content is to know your ideal client inside out and back to front. A well-defined ideal client (or target market) enables you to make sure that the content you are creating speaks to the right person. The person who is going to love your product and know without question that what you have on offer is made for them.

When you create content on Instagram for your perfect client, they are likely to follow you, share your posts, comment and engage with you which will further drive your reach and growth. This will ultimately lead to more mailing list sign ups and, most importantly, sales.

If, however, you have been chugging along making good content for your ideal clients and then at some point decide to switch up and make something just for fun (read - not for your ideal clients at all) and then happen to go viral with your new content type, it will be tempting to keep making that new content type.

Because it went viral didn’t it?

And if this new content type brought a whole heap of new followers to your account, well maybe that should be the content you are making after all? It would be tempting, right?

But actually, if that content is not speaking directly to your ideal clients, then no. You shouldn’t. To do so will result in damaging your brand and what people associate you with.

Because at this point you are making content for the algorithm. And turning off the people who used to love you. And worst of all, you have now accidentally painted yourself into a corner where people are flocking to your account for the content itself, not the products (and lifestyle) you are trying to sell.

Now I am being deliberately opaque here because I don’t want to publicly rag on an account that has taken this path.

But I really wanted to share that sometimes when people are complaining about the algorithm, it is not Instagram at fault. It is the strategy being used, or lack thereof that is causing the issue.

If you grow an audience that is not aligned with your business goals at best you will be wasting your time. At worst you will damage your brand.

Here we have a huge account that has not only grown a whole new audience that is not interested in their businesses offerings, but they have also alienated the people who originally were. And in the process they taught the IG algorithm that this new ‘alienating’ content is what they are all about.

It will be interesting to watch how this account untangles itself from the predicament it has found itself in, but it really does go to show the value of making sure that whenever we show up online to talk to our people, we keep their desires at the forefront of our mind before we hit post. Every piece of content should have a purpose and be in servitude, to those we wish to court.

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At this point I should mention that if you are after some help with your Instagram strategy, I have a small number of spots left for next quarter’s coaching.

Instagram can be a wildly powerful platform when you have all the parts of the puzzle in place. Let me help you harness that power and make sure that the second half of this year brings you the results you’re after for your creative practice.

And, let’s make sure that you are always attracting the right audience, so that the effort you put in to grow your account is actually worthwhile.

X Ilona

PS Don’t forget to come and join me @quietcreativesacademy for weekly trending audio for quiet creatives and tips and tricks to help get the most out of your Instagram efforts. I’d love to see you there! Xx