This is a rough transcription/the written version of my Instagram Live, if you want to watch the live in it’s entirety, click here.
I’m going to start this by holding my hands up and say, I’ve done ALL of these mistakes myself. That’s what lead to my Story views plummeting and me needing to put in the work to rebuild my viewership. The blog post & link to that live is riiiiight here.
I also want to add a caveat that it’s your business, your instagram and you can do it your way. Who am I honestly to tell you it’s wrong? No-one. If you find that you do any, a mixture or ALL of the below and it works – crack on and continue! But these are the things that I think contributed to my downfall, and things I see which will make me swipe past a story without reading or interacting.
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You’re posting too much. If I’m seeing dots rather than dashes, then I’m swiping left and getting the hell outta there. If you genuinely have that much to say, start a YouTube channel. Remember that your content is being consumed amongst the rest of their feed, so it has to be super catchy and engaging to get someone to press pause. Audience fatigue is a huge thing, especially at this time of year and I think it’s ever increasing. Try and limit the number of stories you post. if you’ve got loads of ideas, park some of them for a later day to avoid overwhelming your audience. Quality over quantity people.
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You’re not open for interaction. Use the stickers, ask questions, go further than just documenting your day or directly selling. Use stories as a relationship building tool, so ensure you’re posing content that people can easily reply to, and quickly engage with using the stickers Instagram provides.
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Too much selling. I know that you’re a business and you have stuff to sell, and I also believe that there’s a 100% need for asking for the sale. As before though, Audience fatigue is real and the percentage of your audience who are ready to buy is tiny (apparently the average is 1% at any given moment). By only ever, or primarily, posting Sales Content, you’re effectively ignoring the rest of your audience, which will make them switch off and decrease your views. Post valuable content, be engaging and interact.
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Everything is too designed. People buy from people, they’re also super nosy. They want to see your actual messy office, not a stock photo of one. Again, it all has its place and you know what you’re comfortable sharing – but try and ensure that any pre-designed Canva type content is balanced with in the moment content. Of course if you’re having a launch or posting sales content, you may want to make it on Canva and schedule it in advance but I’ll say it again – balance!
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You’re not interacting yourself. My secondary school motto was literally ‘Must give else never can receive’ and it must have imprinted on me because it’s one of my biggest mantras when it comes to social media. If you’re craving interaction, then you need to give it too! Remember that you’re not just building an audience, you’re building a community. Think of it like this, You reply to their story (genuinely people) > they respond > Instagram knows you interact > they should your content to them > they’re more inclined to reply > Instagram notes people are engaging with your content > Instagram shows it to more people. If your DMs are ghostly silent, go out and start some conversations yourself! Show people first hand that you’re a real person and they’re far more likely to pay attention to your content.
Are you making any of these mistakes? As I said in the beginning, I totally have!