This blog is inspired by a conversation I had the other day with a past client who is, frankly, over Instagram.  Over the lack of engagement, lack of lead generation ease, over the constant need for content.  And although, I am kinda in the same place, I am not saying “get off Instagram”, but I am saying “let’s look at what you can do if you are over it”.

Or perhaps you are so over it, you never really got into it and you have a business Instagram account over there looking very alone and lonely!

As some background, the conversation that sparked this episode was a past client who said “hey Jenn, I came across your Small Business Made Simple Podcast Instagram profile the other day, what’s the sorcery magic you’ve done with your grid and why have you done that?”.  Now, I have to admit I wasn’t even sure what she meant – so we dialled it up and had a look.

Here’s the thing, my account – my Instagram account for Jenn Donovan used to be called Small Business Made Simple but about 2 years ago I renamed it into my own name rather than the podcast name BUT I wanted that handle still – I didn’t want anyone else to have the handle @smallbusinessmadesimple – so I claimed it.

Originally, I was posting to it and also across to my account which got old really really quickly.  So I decided to make my @smallbusinessmadesimple Instagram account a stagnant account.

It meant I no longer posted to it and only purpose of the account was to hold the handle so no one could have it.  But I was also very aware that people might find it (not many as it only has 271 followers – which proves really that if you want to grow you need to be consistent and you need to show up – but not my point here, I digress!).  And if people did find it, it had to represent my brand and drive traffic to my podcast, website and/or me.  And so, if you go there, you will see that I have a grid set up that all works in together to provide what I think is the Instagram equivalent of a landing page of what I am about, what my podcast is about and so forth.  Almost a stagnant website if you will.

The bio points to my Jenn Donovan Instagram account, and the link takes people to all the goodness that my proper Jenn Donovan account has.

Of course, if I was to redo this “landing page” affect, I would probably do it slightly differently these days with the ability to “pin” posts to the top and so forth – perhaps changing out “pinned” posts 2 or 3 times a year, but it does just fine for me right now.  I might up my game at some other time, which is the whole point of owning the handle, but for now “it’ll do pig” (a line from Babe and said by Farmer Hoggett!).

So, what’s my point in all this?

Well, I know a few of my community are over Instagram and are concentrating on other platforms, but have Instagram accounts.  And, remember that “everything you say and do is saying something about your business or you, regardless of whether you want it to or not” – so your neglected Instagram handle might need some love, if not just 2 or 3 hours of love now and never be touched again.

Does that sound like you? Has it been a while since you posted? Have you given up on Instagram to concentrate on LinkedIn or TikTok? Have you opened an Instagram account in your name or your business name and never posted anything?  What’s that telling your audience if and when they find it?

If any of the above is true, I would highly recommend you take that neglected Instagram account and as a bare minimum make it into a landing page/webpage feel. It should be highlighting you and your services and with the bio updated to point them in the direction of how they can to go deeper into your world.

HOW TO DO IT!

So, I’ll give you the inside info on exactly how I did this with my @smallbusinessmadesimple Instagram account.

Firstly, I archived (NOT deleted) all the previous posts that we against the account to create a blank canvas.

Then I purchased an Instagram grid template from Creative Market – although you might find some templates on Canva these days for free. Or, you might be genius enough to create your own!

I hope this blog will help you think outside the square when it comes to your neglected Instagram accounts.  That’s all I hope for you when reading, and remember, everything you say and do says something about you regardless of whether or not you want it too – and that includes your sad and lonely Instagram account!

This is also a great idea if you just want to claim some handles for your business but aren’t ready to create content or if you have a business idea in the future coming and need to secure some handles!

Think outside the Instagram square my sweet sweet reader!

Hope that helped if you are thinking bigger Instagram …..and, if you would like to chat some more, then please come and join me and join in the fun in my Facebook group Like Minded Business Owners https://www.facebook.com/groups/LikeMindedBusinessOwners – I would love to hear from you over there.

If you want to chat to me about customising a social media strategy to your audience, go to https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery and you can make an appointment to chat with me.

Or if you want to chat, get in touch.  Email me jenn@jenndonovan.com.au or DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn – I would love to hear from you.

CONTACT JENN:

I would love for you to book a free discovery call with me to talk about how I can help your nail your business goals, planning, strategy, marketing and social media! Simply click the link and grab a spot!

My Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group is also a great community to join – full of awesome people in small business!

Or you can DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn, or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.

About the Author:

Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia.  Jenn’s an expert marketing coach and mentor from rural NSW. She is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world.  Not only is she a sought after expert on all things marketing for Small Business, she is a keynote speaker, author, was the Founder of Buy From a Bush Business and a Co-Founder of Spend With Us e-commerce marketplace, and is the host of the very popular podcast Small Business Made Simple and Stories from the Bush. Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans!  H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk!

Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au

On Instagram – @jenndonovan_

On Facebook – Jenn Donovan

Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan