Building Community on Instagram
This all started because I was reading a blog post on Later's website about How to Build a Strong Community on Instagram, by Jillian Warren...it was pretty good too. But it made me wonder how can a community on Instagram quickly.
In the article, it gave 6 tips to help start heading in that direction of building a strong community on the Gram.
Let's be real we are all busy...
...working a 9 to 5 job...
...teaching many kids of many different ages...
...not to mention all the other things we are doing...
...running a business...
...growing a YouTube Channel...
...monetizing a blog...
...and the list goes on...
Soooo in a nutshell we really don't have time to do ALL the things ALL the time on the Gram.
Ya feel me???
Why do we need a community on the Gram?
Well, if you're a business then community helps you create a base of people that know, like, and trust you to eventually buy from you or subscribe to your YouTube Channel or buy from the brands that pay you if you're an influencer.
Pat Flynn, even states in his book, Superfans, that regardless if you're a "business owner, artist, musician, YouTuber, blogger, podcaster, or creative of any type, superfans...building a tribe of Superfans ..will allow you to succeed, no matter what the business or technological environment looks like."
Basically, he is saying that no matter what your interest is with using the internet if you build a community of people that are in love with what you're doing you will be able to stand the test of time, platform, and ALGORITHM!
They will share your blog posts, videos, content, Tshirts, mugs, buy tickets to your events, and scream your name to the rooftops!
To quote Jillian from the article: "Creating an Instagram community for your business is one of the best ways to gain brand loyalty, boost engagement, and stay connected to your customers."
And if you think about this it's true.
The communities you know
Ahheemmm...Nike, Lego, Harly Davidson, Share the Mic (movement on Instagram), the YouTubers: The Sharer Family, and there are tons of others not mentioned here. Ok, so there are LEGO conferences that extend beyond the age of small children. They are affectionately called Adult Fans of Lego. I had no idea! I read this in Pat's book.
Then there's Nike (and other shoe companies to be fair) that have helped create a new name for their followers: sneakerheads. These are people that LOVE sneakers. They talk about the sneakers on YouTube and Instagram channels showcasing their love of shoes new and old. They are always sharing new releases and LIVE streaming new releases online and in the store.
Can we talk about the Sharer family for a minute?
My kids used to LOVE to watch these people. And how clever was it to name their SUPERFAN community members SHARERS?! They are YouTubers and on YouTube people are always saying to share, like, and comment. They have merchandise to purchase too.
I really feel like Jillian and Pat are talking about the same things. A strong community of Superfans on Instagram can massively help you grow your business and brand. Ultimately leaving a lasting impact on the lives of others that will stand the test of time.
@sharethemic on Instagram pulled together tons of women to share their platforms with women of color to help amplify their voices for one day. Now this brand and Instagram account did not exist before the ladies decided to stand in solidarity, but to date, they have over 42k followers, but only 7 posts. The impact of their message that day was bananas. The women that shared the mics ranged from all types of brands including business owners, celebrities, bloggers, podcasters, etc.
Now let's take a peek into the 6 things Later gave for building a strong community.
Again you can take a peek at the article written by Jillian Warren here.
Here are the 6 Tips to Building a Strong Instagram Community
1. Make it personal
2. Champion Your Brand Values
3. Listen to Your Audience
4. Develop a Consistent UGC Strategy
5. Go Live on Instagram
6. Find Creative Ways to Give Back to Your Followers
This is the first in a series on how to quickly create a strong community on Instagram. In the rest of the series, I will be talking about how those 6 tips help you build a strong Instagram community and three ways to build the community quickly. Have you tried any of the steps above to build community?