720: 5 Things That ARE Working On Instagram Right Now

0:01Okay, I have been on this ruthless pursuit to purge any clothes that I'm not actually wearing. Like if I haven't reached for it in months, it's got to go. I am trying to be really intentional about what I bring into my closet right now, which means I am only buying pieces that I know I will actually wear and use. Revolve just gets it though. I'm literally wearing my brown Autry sneakers from there right now and my new suede purse. It fits my laptop in it. So it's basically a fancy shoulder bag that works for everything. I love finding pieces like that. Things that look good, but also work hard for my actual life.

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1:15So happy shopping. People want to get back to that heart of like connectivity. And when I think about it, like a lot of times people are on the app because they want to feel less alone, more enough. And they want to be able to say me too. Hey, my name is Jenna Kutcher and I am obsessed with all things, business, marketing numbers, and helping you to navigate both the messy and the magical seasons of this thing called life. I'm a small town mama who took a$300 camera, grew a successful photo biz, and now I work from home and run a seven figure online business. I teach you the tried and true secrets to building a career you adore.

1:54Shy away from the real talk? No way. Money, hardship, growth, loss, and marketing are all topics we discuss here. Think of this as your one-stop shop for happy hour with a gal pal mixed with business school. Pull up a seat, make sure you're cozy, and get ready to be challenged and encouraged while you learn. This is the Gold Digger Podcast. Let's talk Instagram. Love it. Hate it. Love to hate it. Hate to love it. It is the social media platform that has been dominating the marketing world for years and still going into 2024 is going to be no different. As we all begin planning our marketing strategies for the next year and maybe test some things out before January 1st hits, it is important to take a good hard look at what has been working in 2023 and talk about it.

2:41Here is what I have noticed has been working on Instagram right now. I'm walking you through some of the experiments, the strategies, and the tried and true techniques that have never failed us all on Instagram. Let's dive on in. You know what time it is. Sweater weather, football season, Q4. It's the homestretch, gold diggers, and it's time to close out another year of growth and prep for the next year of revenue. To bring in more businesses, Q4 and beyond, you need sales software that helps you score. And the top tools are all inside the new HubSpot sales hub. With a customizable prospecting workspace, smart deal management suite, and AI-powered apps, you can take total control of your sales operation and manage your people and pipeline with ease.

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4:06Make the switch to HubSpot Sales Hub at hubspot.com slash sales. I was on a mastermind call a week ago and we were doing hot seats where we each take turns and go around and share something we're struggling with or working on or need a little bit of guidance on. And it got to me. And the only thing I could think to say in that moment was, dang it, Instagram is frustrating me, but it's also yielding some amazing results. You know, it's that tug, that push and pull in the marketing world that I think so many of us feel. A lot of us spend a lot of time on the platform, both as creators, but also as consumers.

4:42It's the place that we love to hate with the ever-changing algorithm that we all can't stop talking about or thinking about. And on this call, I was talking about how I have been trying to create more content now than ever. I have been getting some of the most unheard of results using Instagram. And I'm going to break some of those down for you today, like mind-blowing results using Instagram. But with that means a lot of experimenting, a lot of testing, a lot of trials and tribulations. And so on this call with some very high performing CEO and moms, I was just commiserating on the fact that dang it, it's working, but it's a lot of work.

5:23So I want to kind of break down five different strategies that have been working really well on the platform so you can take them and start applying them to your own content strategy. But before we dive in, I want to kind of demystify the algorithm. You know, it's kind of funny. I feel like I see posts all the time of like how to beat the algorithm. And it's like, we don't necessarily need to beat the algorithm. We need to work with it. So one of the things that I was doing when researching this episode for you, because honestly, the algorithm still feels like this big, scary mystery to most of us is I was trying to look at any stats, information, and data that will kind of tell us what is the algorithm favoring right now, as we start to plan out our content for the next month, for the end of the quarter and into next year.

6:07So the big thing to understand about the algorithm is that the more a user engages with your contents, likes, comments, shares, saves, the more likely your content will be shown to them and their followers. So high engagement signals to Instagram that your content is valuable. And the app, the main goal of the app to keep people on the app. And so in order to keep people on the app, they want to show valuable, engaging content. And so when we think about this, we really want our content to be focused on enlightening user engagement. So we want to get our user engagement high. This is the primary factor.

6:48Like this is the number one thing to understand about the algorithm. The more users engage with your content, the more likely it is to be shown. This is something that we have to focus on as we start to think about the type of content that we're showing and sharing and the way that we're asking people to engage and what happens after they do that. Now, Instagram's algorithm may prioritize different types of content, such as photos, videos, real stories, Instagram TV. It's all based on a single user's preferences and their usage patterns. So while we're talking about all these different types of content, the one thing that I often think about is that any new features or anything that Instagram is working on, that is likely going to be the favored type of content by the platform.

7:37Because think about it, when you're working so hard on developing something and it finally launches to the public, you are going to prioritize that. One, to get feedback, but two, to show off those new features. And so that's exactly what Instagram does. So anytime a new feature drops, you want to be an early adopter of it. Even if there is so much resistance, like I will never forget when Instagram stories dropped and everyone was like, I don't want to be on camera. Like I just want to show pretty polished photos. And those early adopters started to get more attention, to get more engagement, to get a bigger following.

8:10And so the big thing you want to know is that while some of this content might shift as Instagram shifts, the big thing to pay attention to is what is Instagram working on? That's likely what they're prioritizing and what the algorithm is going to prioritize. Okay. So let's dive into the things that have been working. So the first one is this reels. I know you guys, I hate making reels too. I hate it. It takes forever. Sometimes Instagram crashes when you're making a reel. Sometimes you publish it and all of your hard work is like not shown the way you thought it would. Like the text is gone or it picked the wrong part of the clip.

8:46I get it. I recently, like in the last four days, made 30 reels myself, not my team, me, Jenna made 30 reels. It takes a long time and a lot of footage and a lot of planning and a lot of concentration, but it works. So I had a recent launch and we had planned out content in advance. So I was like, I want to get into the launch. I want to know what the content is. I want to have a plan so that I'm not creating content every single day. We get into the launch and we had planned out basically one reel per day, but the reels were working. And I got motivated by that. And I said, all right, let's do two reels a day.

9:26So guess who is making extra reels every day? Me. But it was so worth it. It paid off. I have seen a lot of creators that have just found some massive success through reels, not just through their reach and engagement, but also through the results driven by the reels. And so now I'm moving into another launch and we are planning for two reels a day during the launch period. Now, outside of launch period, I am not posting two reels a day in a perfect world. I would be, but I don't have time for that. And so if this feels intimidating to you, what would it look like if you could commit to posting two reels a week or five reels a week, or if you could batch create reels so that you had them ready to go.

10:10I do have to tell you as much as I hate this because I'm not someone who loves being on video. I'm not someone who loves talking to the camera. They're working. They're stinking working. So here are some ways that we've kind of been refining our system. And what's so interesting is when I brought this up in the mastermind that I'm in, everyone had the same pain point. Like it is really hard to bring people in to create content for you. Like I'm talking about like accounts with millions of followers, the creator is still creating the reels. And I do think that there is some sort of level of importance here.

10:45Not saying that you can't effectively outsource it, but I feel more excited about and connected to content that I create. That is why I've never let go of the content creation piece. When it comes to my account, there aren't people logging in my account on my behalf, anyone who's commenting or DMing it's me because I want to stay connected to you and the people that are following me in this intimate way. And so the same way I want to stay connected to the creation process. Does it kind of suck that I'm the one that's literally creating these rules? Yes. But I do think that there is a vital piece in that, that like we are more connected to the content.

11:21We care about it more. It just feels more authentic. So how have we simplified this process while we're still figuring it out, but there are a few things that we found. So one, Instagram recently released this feature where you can save reels and you can share the saved folder with another Instagram user. This is awesome. We have someone on my team who is a part-time content manager and she helps oversee all the content the brand puts out. So blog posts, emails, podcasts, and Instagram posts. And so she kind of is helping guide the overall brand strategy so that we're kind of cohesively talking about one sort of message at a time.

11:59So I created a shared folder where if I was seeing reels that inspired me or that I wanted to do my own take on I created a folder and shared it with her so that she could help me organize these ideas In an easier way that would allow me to create them without having to like start from scratch every single time So what we did is we created a folder for our upcoming launch and anytime I saw a reel that I was like Oh, I want to make one like this. I would put it into the shared folder She took a document and started dropping in the audio for the reel, as well as any reels that had a template that would make the creation process faster.

12:35Now, another piece of this is that I'll often see reels that have like text on the actual reel of like point of view, like you married your college sweetheart or like whatever the text is on that. And so I've asked her to help me think through, okay, if this is the goal of the reel, what would that text be? That way, when I go to create, I am literally clicking on the audio using a template and creating these reels a lot faster than if I were starting from scratch with every single one. So pro tip, if you find an audio and a style of video that you really like, see if you can find a template that will make the clips of the video the right length based on that audio.

13:14And it'll speed up your creation process a ton. the second thing that I've been really focusing on is recording more b-roll so b-roll is like behind the scenes footage it can be footage of you literally making a salad brushing your teeth sipping your water recording a podcast episode all of this footage is super helpful when it comes to creating reels in fact as I'm recording this I want to hit pause so I can set up my camera for a minute so that I have that ready to go. So I'm going to quick pause as I'm recording this to set up my camera to catch some B roll of me recording this, because that is what is doing very well on Instagram.

13:53And it's actually not that hard to create B roll as you are just going through your life. So one thing that's been helpful for me, I got a little iPhone stand that I've been setting up my camera and then just thinking through different pieces of my day where I'm like, oh, I can quick set this up, take 30 seconds of footage. And I have a folder on my iPhone called B-roll where it's just all different footage of me doing all different things that I use for a ton of my reels. Okay. Another thing that you can do to help you plan out your content. This is actually a strategy that I learned from someone named Brock Johnson.

14:28Many chat had this amazing Instagram summit. I was a part of it. I was a speaker on it. And I attended this training from Brock Johnson and I thought it was brilliant. And so he shared the strategy for planning out 30 days of Instagram content in a little over an hour. So one of the first things he said to do is to look at what has worked for you in the past 90 days. So 90 days or older and figure out how you can reshare that content. He talked about the story where he literally reposted the same content he had posted 90 days ago, and it performed just as well or even better the second time he shared it.

15:03You could literally take content that you've already shared and reshare. I've actually seen the strategy being utilized a lot. And I think I've just been paying attention to it more, but it makes sense. If it did well once, it'll probably do well again. The second thing that Brock was teaching about is to recreate what's worked in the past, but with a new angle or spin, whether you use the same footage, but have different text on it, or you use new footage and have the same text on it. You can just think about different variations of things that have done well in the past. Because again, the past is going to guide your future.

15:35And so if you can just look at the content and really notice if there's any trends in the type of content, the audio, the footage, leverage that information to help guide your strategy forward. The next thing that he recommended was using chat GPT or AI to help generate ideas for what you want to create. So if you're sitting there and you're like, I have no idea what to talk about, what's different. You can literally go on to chat GPT, type in prompts and say, you know, I'm a creator who talks about X, Y, and Z. Pretend like you're the best content strategy coach in the world. What five pieces of content should I create that will hook in my audience who is X, Y, and Z?

16:12So again, the quality of the output of AI is based on the quality of the input of what you're telling it to create for you. But I loved that where he says that he'll go into ChatGPT and generate an output that will give him ideas for like 10 different posts. So he could talk about different topics. The last thing that he talked about in a way to fill in your content calendar is to repurpose content from other platforms and use it onto Instagram. So if you have a podcast, take footage from the recording and use it and break it up, slice it and dice it into many different reels. If you're a speaker, take some footage of you speaking on stage, use that for different reels.

16:49If you don't have another platform like that, where you have that content on the ready. He recommended literally sitting down with your phone, speaking directly at your phone for 20 minutes, like going on a rant or stepping on a soapbox or talking about something you're really passionate about for 20 minutes. And then he uses an AI software that will automatically detect what clips or sound bites will likely perform the best in the form of short form content. So there are a ton of different AI softwares out there that can take a long form video and splice it up and try to pull out the clips that will likely perform the best for you on social media.

17:25So I loved his strategy where he was talking about 30 days of content, leveraging old content that performed well and reposting it, taking old content, putting a new spin on it, taking content that you're creating for other platforms, and then using chat GPT or another form of AI to help brainstorm fresh and new content. And I liked that it was kind of a mix of like your brand pillars, stuff that's worked well in the past, stuff you want to try for the future and testing out new topics. I thought it was fantastic. If you love the Gold Digger podcast, you've probably heard me talk about my best friend, Amy Porterfield.

18:00Did you know that she has her own marketing podcast too? It's actually the first podcast I ever listened to. Online Marketing Made Easy is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Every episode focuses on giving you the best strategies for online business owners, including starting a digital course, growing your email list, social media content creation, and hosting webinars. Amy is the best at breaking down big ideas and strategies into actionable step-by-step processes. And her show is designed to get you more results with a whole lot less stress.

18:35Tune in to Online Marketing Made Easy wherever you get your podcasts. Does this sound like you? You're trying to dissect the algorithms and still no one is seeing your social media posts. Like, did you know that less than 6 % of social media followers actually see your content and even less than that engage? That's why I am obsessed with email lists and I won't stop talking about them. So my question for you is this, are you ready to finally start your email list? Like this week, join my absolutely free challenge today at listbuildchallenge.com. You can spend just five days with me and you'll be on your way from an empty email list to 250 plus people and growing.

19:18Each day, I'll teach you a short lesson on things like how to create a freebie that people actually want, how to send out your first email, how to set up your signup form and so much more. And yes, there are even tech tutorials to walk you through every single step of the process. Give me just five days and I will help you start and grow an email list that you can launch to. Join now. It's absolutely free at listbuildchallenge.com. That's listbuildchallenge.com for my free zero to 250 email list to launch challenge. I'll see you inside. When we were young, we dreamed of castles and fairy tales.

19:57And as we grow up, those dreams might shift into building something real, like starting a business. You need a website, payment systems, a logo, and a way to reach customers. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but thankfully that's where today's sponsor Shopify comes in. Shopify powers millions of businesses around the world and 10 % of all U.S. e-commerce from big brands to folks just getting started. They offer beautiful ready-to-go website templates so you don't need design skills to look professional. Their AI tools help with product images, descriptions, discount codes, and more. Shopify also makes it simple to run email and social campaigns so people can find you.

20:36And if you ever feel stuck, their award-winning 24-7 support is always available. Turn those dreams into... And give them the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash gold digger. Go to shopify.com slash gold digger. Shopify.com slash gold digger.

21:02Look, I've become kind of a systems nerd and anything that gives me more space in my day, I'm all in. And a reliable connection is a huge part of that because when the internet lags or cuts out, everything pauses and suddenly the simplest tasks take forever. I learned really early on that dependable internet, it's not a luxury, it is a must. Whether you're a content creator like me, a restaurant owner, or running a busy dry cleaning business, you need that steady connection to support your team and your clients. That's why I'm excited to share a solution for my fellow business owners. Spectrum Business keeps businesses of all types connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, and mobile services, all with connectivity solutions built for your budget.

21:45And they have a truly incredible offer. Business owners can get free business internet advantage forever when you add four or more mobile lines. It's simple with no contracts and no added fees. Visit spectrum.com forward slash free for life to learn how you can get business internet free forever. Restrictions apply services not available in all areas. The next thing that has been working so well on Instagram, and this shouldn't be a surprise when I bring it up, is chat bot integration. Now this is not new to the Gold Digger podcast. If you've listened to this show, you will know how deep my obsession runs for this marketing strategy.

22:26But if you're brand new, or this is a brand new concept to you, what chat bot integration is, is it's an automated message or chat funnel that is triggered by a keyword that you choose. So if you follow me on Instagram, you might've heard me say recently, comment the word chat, and I'll show you exactly how to do this, which by the way, you can test out this entire strategy and see what I'm actually talking about. If you go onto Instagram and comment on one of my posts or send me a DM with a word chat in it, you can literally see what it looks like to have an automated conversation and what this does.

22:59So what I love about this is that it's approved by Facebook and Instagram. So they are literally backing this ability, meaning it's not something that they're opposed to. It's actually something they're encouraging. And what it does is it allows you to build out these little funnels and sequences and create a more frictionless experience for your client. So instead of saying, okay, click out of this post, go to my bio, click the link in my bio, click the second link, then sign up for the time that you want in order to attend a free webinar. It is making everything happen where your consumers already are, which is in their DMs.

23:35I love this because not only is it a more frictionless experience for your consumers, it is also a way for you to boost engagement. Instagram is seeing that you are in the DMs with someone which shows a closer knit relationship, which means that your content is going to be prioritized in this person's feed. And so all around, it is a win, win, win. So we started using this strategy a little over a year ago, and I will tell you, it is the number one way that we have grown my business this year. And it is the number one thing I think you need to get in on. So in the last year, this strategy alone has added over$1.6 million in additional revenue for my business organically.

24:21So I am talking straight up from followers that were already sitting there following me, but maybe not taking action or following the instructions to take those next steps. $1.6 million in additional revenue. We have also collected over 43 ,000 new email subscribers, getting people off of the platform like Instagram and onto a place where I can serve them well and give them a true experience. My email list, which you know is the number one priority in my business. You can set up these chat triggers to get visitors to follow your page, to send people your latest podcast episode, to deliver a freebie, to sign up for a webinar, to get on your email list, to join your VIP list.

25:01You can do so many different things with them. The opportunity is truly endless. So if you want to learn more about how to do this and what this looks like, DM me the word chat, and you will learn from the people who are running this for us, who have taught me everything I know, who have gotten me these results. So again, just hop onto Instagram, DM me the word chat, and you can totally experience what this is like from a user perspective, and then learn how you can do this in your own brand. It has been a total game changer. And honestly, when I think about it, it's exactly why I was so excited to create so many reels for that last launch and why it was willing to spend so much time on content because in the past, I've talked about this.