3. Instagram 2024 Trends: Takeaways From My Call With Meta
Instagram reached out to me, and I couldn't believe it!
Yes, you heard it right! I had the honor of chatting with Meta, and they generously shared some invaluable strategies to help you thrive as a creator, entrepreneur, and small business owner on Instagram.
Get ready to uncover the changing dynamics of Instagram marketing, including the optimal use of hashtags, posting frequency, and leveraging insights to maximize your reach and engagement.
In this episode, you’ll learn…
[2:38] How my call with Meta unfolded, from initial skepticism to valuable insights.
[4:05] The evolving role of hashtags in Instagram Marketing and Meta's recommendation How To Use Instagram Hashtags In 2024
[6:54] Meta's surprising advice on posting frequency and how many reels to post per week
[9:41] Insights into determining the best time to post on Instagram
[12:30] The significance of consistency in content creation and its impact on audience engagement and reach.
[15:20] How my strategy for creating compelling content has brought me sustainable growth and meaningful interactions on Instagram.
Links mentioned in this episode…
Free guide to Monetize Your IG: Seven Simple and Proven Ways to Finally Make Money on Instagram
Apply for your FREE Instagram Breakthrough Call with Elizabeth
Quotes
"If you want new results, you must take new action." [00:21:00]
"Keep going, keep doing the work. While the insights can be super helpful, remember to always come from that place of service in creating your content." [00:19:00]
TRANSCRIPT
S3 Ep03 Instagram 2024 Trends: Takeaways From My Call With Meta
**Elizabeth Marberry 0:00**
If you can believe it, Instagram called me. That's right. I was so honored to have a call with Meta where they shared some valuable insights to help me grow as a creator, social media mentor, and small business owner on Instagram. And today I'm sharing those secrets with you. Let's dive in. Welcome to Strut It, a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies. I'm Elizabeth Marberry, your host and Instagram marketing coach. I help small business owners get seen on Instagram and monetize their offers so they can make more money doing their soul-led work. If you're tired of spinning your wheels on Instagram, and you're seeking simple, proven Instagram marketing strategies that actually work, you're in the right place. Let's dive in.
Welcome back to the show. I'm super pumped to be unveiling some insider tips that Meta shared with me. I could not believe it when they reached out to me. It was kind of a pinch-me moment. And I have a really funny story to share about how it actually came about. But before I tell you, I have to let you know that I am doing a new thing today. And that is I am recording this podcast on video as well as audio. So in the past couple of seasons, I always did my podcast, audio only. And today I'm stepping out of my comfort zone. And I'm recording. And I can see myself on camera. And it's totally crazy. But I am doing this thing. And I'm not afraid to try new things and get out of my comfort zone. And it's really funny because if you follow me on Instagram, you know I'm not shy. I love to be on camera, I love being on stage, being in the spotlight. But there's something about sitting down at a microphone and then seeing yourself on the screen. It's just a totally different experience than me recording in my pajamas with no makeup on. So I'm trying it out. I'm not afraid to try new things, I can do this. And I hope it inspires you to step out of your comfort zone this week.
Okay, so I want to share with you how this call came about. I am in an invite-only Meta creators Facebook group, that's a lot of words. And basically what that is, is creators on Facebook and Instagram who have built a larger following, and are actively creating content for Instagram and Facebook because let's face it, Meta makes money by people hanging out and consuming content on their apps. So it makes sense for them to invest in the creators who are spending the time creating the content to keep people on their app. I hope that makes sense. So I'm in this invite-only Facebook group. And I'm not sure if that's how this came about. But there was a day a few weeks ago, where I was actually volunteering at my child's school that day. And I got this text message. Okay, are you ready for this? Hi, Elizabeth. This is Jay. I'm a Meta media expert. I'll be calling you soon to talk about your Meta content strategy from the same number. Our calls are roughly 15 minutes and they're on a first-come-first-serve basis. So I can try to answer your questions, you know, be ready and okay.
So when I got this text message, the first thing I thought was spam, this is totally like this is not real. This is clearly someone trying to like scan me, spam me all those things. So Jay from Meta called me and I sent him straight to voicemail. I'm not falling for that. Okay, so funny story. So then I go into the Meta creators Facebook group, because I know that that group is run by another. And I send them a message and I send them the screenshot of the text and I say, hey, is this something that you guys actually do? Like? Is this you?
Or is this someone, you know, impersonating Meta, and they responded to me and said, Oh, yes, that's us. You know, we have Meta media experts that consult with creators and help them to grow on Instagram. And I was like, Oh, my God, Instagram called me and I sent them straight to voicemail. So that is hilarious. So I thought I missed my one chance like this do text me and says, you have 15 minutes of my time answered the phone. And of course I didn't. And I couldn't get that time anyways, because I was I was with my my kiddo at her school. So Anyways, long story short, somehow I got on their email list and I was able to respond and say, Hey, Jay, I would love to book a call with you. I don't know if that's still available. And so then that day, he hopped on the phone with me. So all right. I got my opportunity to talk to Meta talk to Jay at Meta, and ask him my questions. And what was so cool about this call, is that it really confirmed that a lot of things, in terms of the things that I'm doing for my own business and brand on Instagram, as well as the advice and strategy and mentorship that I give my private and group clients is so spot on. So it really kind of reinforced that I know what I'm doing. And that personally just felt so good. It made me feel even more confident in what I was doing, no matter how far you are, in your business, a lot of us deal with that imposter syndrome. Like do we know enough?
What if someone knows more than us? What if I'm not doing the best job for my clients, or whatever it is. And it just felt so good to have Meta reinforced that I actually really know what I'm talking about. And that was really cool. So you, my friend are so brilliant to be listening to this podcast, because I am going to be sharing with you all of the things that Meta shared with me in that call, because there was some new things. I'm so excited to share with you some takeaways from that call, because, well, a lot of the things I already knew some of the strategies and recommendations were updates, and they were different recommendations that I had learned in the past. And so I'm excited to share with you today what is working on Instagram right now and 2024. Now before I dive into these takeaways, I want to have a disclaimer, which is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to social media marketing, you absolutely must always have a mindset of experimenting and testing, and getting curious about what's working for your business and what's not. So I want you to take all of the advice I'm sharing in this episode, I want you to put on the lens in which you see your business and really see what's working for you. And if I tell you to post a certain number of hashtags, and you've been posting more than those, and it's working for you, then don't stop doing what's working. Okay, I just want to kind of put that out there.
Okay, so let's get into some key takeaways from my call with Jay at Meta takeaway. Number one is hashtags, Meta recommends that you only use three to eight hashtags to increase the reach of your content. Now, this is new,
okay. years ago, the recommendation was to use as many hashtags, I think Instagram allows you up to like 30, hashtags, or something like that. And I would try to use all of them. And there was also a time in Instagram's history where hashtags could make or break your content, it was really important for SEO and for the algorithm to sort through your content and show it to the right people hashtags. I remember there was like courses you could buy on, like, researching the best hashtags, and all of that, like it was so important. And I will tell you that hashtags are way less important today and 2024, than they were even a couple of years ago. Now, with that being said, I do still really recommend that you use hashtags. And what Jay shared with me, and what I already knew, is that your hashtags have to be as specific as possible. Okay?
So you want to avoid general hashtags with millions of views, as your content will totally get lost in the mix. So for example, you wouldn't want to do hashtag wedding. If you're in the wedding industry, or hashtag real estate. If you're in the real estate industry, you need to be much more specific with your hashtags. Now, here's the thing, your hashtag must be directly related to the content that you are posting. And that seems to make sense. But sometimes I see people do really weird things, where they post something about their business and then be like hashtag fall leaves hashtag I love fall. And it's like, and their post is like not about fall, it's about, you know, them teaching a workout routine outside or something like that. So make sure your hashtags make sense with the content that you're putting out there. And you can still my strategy, I focus on using hashtags that are under 1 million views. And even I prefer to use ones under 500k views, because that way, you're competing with less content with that hashtag. I also recommend and this is super easy to do. You can go do this today. Okay. I recommend you start using or creating a company-branded hashtag. So for example, for my dance studio, our hashtag is hashtag wedding dance coach for my personal brand is hashtag Elizabeth Marberry and you want to start doing that. So create your own company branded Hashtag UT. And what you can do before you start claiming that hashtag as your own, is just put that hashtag in Instagram, put it in Tik Tok, and see if it's already in use. If you go in and you see that there's like five other posts with that hashtag, then then take it, like start using it and claim it as your own, and start creating a ton of content with that hashtag. Now, if you go in, and you see that there's hundreds or 1000s of other posts with that same hashtag, then that's not a great idea to use as a company branded hashtag. I hope that that makes sense.
Okay, the second takeaway from my call with Meta is to post consistently now, we all know this. I know I talked about it last week. But what I didn't know is that Meta recommends posting three to five reels per week. So this was mind blowing to me, because I was always posting seven reels a week, and I had a good like six to 12 months where I saw my reach drop. And so their recommendation to me was I post less if you can even believe it. So now my strategy is I'm posting four to five reels a week, instead of seven reels a week to see how that impacts my reach. And I was so relieved, because yay, less content for me to create. And that means that I can focus more on quality of content versus quantity of content, which is what I definitely coach you to do, instead of just spitting out content and having it be kind of mediocre, take your time, and be really strategic in the content that you create, make sure it's really high quality, great lighting, super clear image, you're using that vertical view, and you have a hook your value, your call to action is really compelling.
And if you're doing that three to five times a week, with your reels, you're doing great. Now, one thing he did say to me is, if you're a company like me, who is posting seven times a week, or 14 times a week, some companies that I know are doing a lot more than that, you wouldn't want to go from seven times a week to three times a week, that would be a big drop off. And it might kind of tip the algorithm off in a negative way, like, okay, this person is less engaged. So take this advice, and look at your business, look at how you're showing up and kind of see what makes the most sense for you. And as always, there's no one size fits all approach. So you absolutely need to test this and see what works best for your brand and your audience. And I also just want to say like I, I don't love following rules, like I make my own rules. i That's why I'm my own boss, right? There might be a week where I'm just super motivated. I'm having so much fun creating content. And I'll post seven reels in a week. And I don't stress that much about it. So like I said, take it with a grain of salt. But know that if you're just feeling so stressed Meta says, Hey, three to five reels a week you're doing great.
Okay, and the last insight that I'm going to share with you today is the answer to one of the most commonly asked questions I get asked, which is, what is the best time to post on Instagram? Okay, so this question always gets me going, because I've seen so many reels where people are like, you know, putting times on the screen like 9am 11am 8pm, like whatever it is. And I'm just going to call BS on all of that. So and Meta reinforced that for me, so here's how you discover, when is the best time to post, you want to use your insights. Okay, so you go to your professional dashboard, on Instagram, and you can see your Analytics, you can see your insights, you can see your engagement rate, your reach your followers, all of those metrics. And if you click on followers and scroll down, you can actually see what days and times your followers are most active. So if you're trying to post around the time that most of your followers are active, you can just go into your account and see when that is like hello. It's so exciting. It's so easy. Now, one thing I want to point out is if you are a new account, or if you are still in the really beginning stages of growing your audience and or you are pivoting your brand. So like for me, I've gone through several brand pivots where I'm changing kind of my audience, I'm changing the content that I'm delivering, here's where your insights are not going to be as helpful because your insights don't give an accurate reflection of your audience and their habits because you haven't built your audience yet. Okay. So what I want you to think about is you need to be posting consistently for at least six months in your niche with your one focus, you know,
calling in that one ideal perspective client into your content for six months. And as you start to see those people actually following you like so for me, I can click on your profile, and I can see oh my gosh, this person is a small business owner, that's exactly who I'm trying to call in. And I can see that my content and starting to reach the right people, that's when I can go in six months later and look at my insights, and they will actually be helpful, they will actually be an accurate representation of my audience. Because if you're looking at those insights, and it was for a totally different brand, or a totally different niche that you're promoting, obviously, that's not going to help your current situation. So I hope that makes sense. But I encourage you to use the Insight function on your Instagram page.
Now, side note, don't stress too much about the insights. Like if you are a KPI person, and you love the stats, and you want to track your progress, go for it. For me, I rarely look at that maybe like once or twice a month, I'll go in and look, because sometimes, let's say my stats are down, that makes me feel bad, it doesn't motivate me to go want to create more content, like it kind of is just like, so I actually don't create for my staff I create for my audience. So take that in. If you're like me, maybe you just look at your insights once in a while to get curious about how your content is performing, and seeing what time your followers are most active and what days they're most active. But otherwise, don't attach too much meaning to those insights. Remember, Instagram is a long game, okay, you have to be in it for the long run. And it takes time to find your ideal clients, nurture them, and then eventually convert them hopefully into your ideal clients, right.
And it takes time to convert your followers into paying clients. It just does. I wish it just happened overnight. And it was really quick. But it just doesn't work that way. So keep going. Keep doing the work. And while the insights can be super helpful, remember to always come from that place of service and creating your content, then you'll be setting yourself up for sustainable growth, and a marketing practice that's actually fun for you, which is one of the keys to creating a sustainable social media strategy for your business. I hope today was super insightful for you. If you want my eyes on your Instagram content, and you want my feedback on exactly your next three to five action steps that you need to take to grow your brand on Instagram, I have a really special opportunity for you. I have a complimentary Instagram breakthrough call where we will meet on Zoom, it's a private call. And you'll share with me kind of where you are, where you want to go. And I will help you uncover the next three to five action steps that you need to get there. And then if I am the right person to mentor you and support you, I may invite you into one of my coaching containers. These calls are super fun, and they're free.
And if you want to grab an Instagram breakthrough session with me, the next step is to go and apply. That's right, you have to fill out an application. Not everybody gets this call. So you're gonna go to Elizabeth marbury.com/application. Fill that out. I will learn a little bit more about your business, your goals. And if I know I can help you, we'll hop on a free call. I'm so excited. So go to Elizabethmarburry.com/application. And I cannot wait to support you there. Thank you so much for joining me today. I can't wait to see you take these strategies and implement them into your business so you can get better results from your efforts on Instagram. And if you love today's episode, send me a DM on Instagram. I check those I would love to know like what was one thing you learned today? Like did you learn anything new? And what are you going to do differently moving forward because remember, if you want new results, you must take new action. I cannot wait to dive into more content with you next week. And I will see you again real soon. Thank you for listening to strut it. If you're ready to start leveraging Instagram to grow your business. Then you're gonna want to grab my free monetize your IG guide where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram. You can grab your guide at Elizabethmarberry.com/freebies That's Elizabethmarberry.com/freebies To get my monetize your IG guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platforms and I cannot wait to Start with you again next week.