7 Mistakes Businesses Are Making On Instagram

Today you’ll learn the seven common mistakes that creators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners often make on Instagram, and most importantly, learn how to avoid them to accelerate your journey to Instagram success.

If you're tired of feeling stuck on Instagram, constantly spinning your wheels without seeing tangible results, you're in the right place. As someone who has traversed the highs and lows of Instagram, making these mistakes firsthand, I'm here to share my insights, experiences, and strategies to help you sidestep these pitfalls and transform your Instagram presence into a powerful tool for attracting your dream clients and growing your business. 

So, grab your notebook and get ready to take notes because we're dropping truth bombs to unlock your Instagram potential.

In this episode, you’ll learn…

• [10:01] How to pivot towards client-centric content that resonates and converts.

• [13:44] The pitfalls of having an unfocused content strategy and the power of honing in on a clear direction to attract and retain your target audience.

• [16:04] The importance of defining your target audience and how narrowing your focus can streamline your content creation process for maximum impact.

• [18:00] Overlooking the importance of mapping out a clear customer journey and the role it plays in driving conversions and building a loyal customer base.

• [18:57] The significance of engagement on Instagram, including its impact on algorithm visibility, audience connection, and market research insights.

• [22:28]The value of incorporating text or closed captions in your content to enhance accessibility, engagement, and audience retention.

• [23:57] The detrimental effects of inconsistency in posting and how maintaining a regular schedule can foster trust, credibility, and a dedicated following 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

[10:30] "Your Instagram content should be positioned for your ideal client. Speak directly to them, addressing their needs and desires."

[14:40] "Be disciplined about the content you post. Your feed should reflect the promise of your bio, ensuring clarity for your audience."

[18:28] "Know your customer journey. Guide your followers from engagement to conversion, ensuring the sustainability of your business."

TRANSCRIPT

S3 Ep05  7 Mistakes Businesses Are Making On Instagram

**Elizabeth Marberry 0:00**

00:00

Grab your notebook because today I'm dropping some truth bombs. That's right. I'm sharing seven mistakes. I see creators, entrepreneurs and small business owners make on Instagram and full transparency. I've made all these mistakes myself at one point or another on my content creation journey. And my goal is for this episode to help shortcut the IG learning curve for you.

00:25

so you can stop making these mistakes and start attracting your dreamboat client. 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.

00:54

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.

01:11

Welcome back to the show as always. Thank you for being here with me today. I'm super excited to be unveiling these super common mistakes I see businesses make on Instagram all the time. And believe it when I say that I used to make these mistakes and when I stopped doing these things and started doing the strategies that I'm gonna teach you today, my account grew and I found more of my ideal people. So.

01:38

Super excited to dive into this content with you today. And before I do, I want to share with you two major wins that I have going on. And side note, today is snow day for my kids. This is snow day number two, actually. They are both home right now. So if you hear any children in the background, just hang with me. But you know, they've been instructed to stay in their rooms with the doors closed. So let's say a prayer. All right, so.

02:06

Two wins to share. One is about this time last year, I had a very clear vision of seeing myself speaking on stage. And I mean, keynote speaking in front of hundreds and hundreds of people. And at that time, I still wasn't exactly sure like what I would be speaking on, but I just had a vision. And if you're a visionary and you kind of see pictures in your mind,

02:33

You know what I'm talking about. If you don't, that's totally okay. Some of us operate in a different way, but I had this very clear vision of myself and I just knew in my heart that that was meant for me, that I was meant to be on a stage. I love to perform. I absolutely love to teach. I love to use my voice. And I knew that keynote speaking was going to be a really important part of my business. So last year I got some really awesome.

02:59

keynote speeches booked. I got to speak for the Wedding International Professionals Association in Vail, Colorado. It was the most incredible setting. There was over a hundred people in the audience. It went so well and I absolutely loved it. It just lit me up from the inside out and I thought to myself, I gotta do more of this. I've got to speak more. And my passion for speaking is definitely part of the reason that this podcast exists. I love to free my voice. I love to inspire.

03:28

and motivate and teach others how to dream bigger and really go after their bold business dreams and not just their business dreams, but their life dreams. Like how they wanna show up at work, how they wanna show up at home. To me, it's all connected. How you show up one place is often how you show up in other places and I love to help and inspire and teach. So speaking is just a no brainer. I'm getting to my win here. So in the last month or two,

03:56

I applied to be a speaker at the wedding MBA. So the wedding MBA has over 5,000 participants. It's one of the biggest wedding industry conferences. It happens in Las Vegas every year. It's such a major event. It's an awesome networking experience, but there's also tons of incredible educational sessions that you can attend. And I applied to be a speaker.

04:19

with zero connections. Like no one in this industry really knows me that well. Yes, I spoke at one wedding event, but even though I've been a wedding industry leader for 14 years, I'm really new in the speaking space. And so I thought, okay, what do I have to lose? I'm gonna go for it. So I applied and I got an email from them and they said, you made it into the speak-off. And I just was like, wait, what? But basically I made it past round one.

04:48

And for me to earn my spot on that stage, I had to do a speak off. And what that was is I had to speak on one topic for five minutes. That's right, not 50 minutes, five minutes. So I put together my slide deck, I practiced, I rehearsed as a former professional dancer. I am no stranger to auditioning and falling flat on my face. So let's go, let's bring it on. I'm ready to do this. So.

05:15

I did my speak off a couple of weeks ago. I was feeling so lit up after my five minute speech and it further reinforced again, like whether they hired me or not, like I am meant to do this. Like this just feels so right in my soul. The very next day, the director of the wedding MBA emailed me and they said, "'Congrats, we would love for you to speak "'about social media marketing "'at the wedding MBA in Vegas this year.'"

05:43

And I about fell out of my chair. There was over 40 speakers and she said I was one of her favorites. And it was just such an honor because there were so many incredible speakers. So many people brought so much value and energy. Everyone was so special in their own right. So for her to tell me that I was one of her favorite speakers, it was just the biggest like pinch me like what is happening right now? And I was so thrilled. So why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because I want you

06:13

to put your hat in the ring, even if you're like, it's a long shot, Elizabeth. Like the people in this industry like don't even know me or I have no experience with this. So why would I ever try to sell this product or like whatever imposter syndrome stories you're telling yourself of you don't have enough experience or you have to take 10 more courses before you can do that thing that you actually wanna do. And I just wanna say, stop doing that and start.

06:41

taking new actions that will get you those new results. I love that quote. You miss 100% of the chances you don't take. So please, I invite you to step out of your comfort zone and take a chance on you. Take a chance on your vision and how you wanna impact others in this world. Because if you're in my circle, you care deeply about how you're showing up for your clients and you believe in your work. You believe that you can make a real difference.

07:08

in the lives of your clients and your customers, and that's why you're doing what you're doing. So put yourself out there, stretch your limits, who knows what might happen. The second win I have to share with you today is a win of my private client. So this week, my private client posted a reel that really spooked her. Like it put her way out of her comfort zone. She sent me a voice memo on Instagram and she said,

07:38

Elizabeth, I almost deleted this video like four times in the last week. I kind of like, I almost deleted it. I wasn't going to post it, but I finally posted it. And the reason why she didn't want to post this particular video was she felt like, well, it was totally her and it was totally her personality and it was her point of view on a certain subject. She was scared. It felt really vulnerable. It felt really raw.

08:04

It showed her playful side. It showed her kind of silly side. And she had a story going in her mind about, is that professional to show that side of myself? And as so many of us do when we're creating content, without even knowing it, we start to really edit ourselves. We edit our energy and our unique essence out of our content. And that's often why it falls flat. That's often why it's mediocre, is it doesn't stand out. It doesn't have.

08:33

that it factor because you know what? Your it factor is you. Your it factor is your vibrancy, your personality, your unique stance on things. And so she posted this reel, almost didn't do it, she almost deleted it, but she posted it, and you will never believe what happened. This reel went viral. As I'm recording this, she has almost 12,000 views on this video in her niche. So those people,

09:02

who are seeing it are in her niche. She's getting some new follows from this reel. And her previous videos were stuck around 800 to 1000 views. So this is a huge bump and it's such a win, not only because of the views, but it's such a win because she got out of her comfort zone. So again, it's another win story of, I want you this week to post that reel that maybe pushes your edges a little. Maybe that reel that you're just like,

09:31

ooh, this feels a little vulnerable. It feels like a little too much or maybe unprofessional or whatever story you have about it and post it. I invite you to use Instagram as an opportunity for you to step out of your comfort zone because that's where you're gonna grow and that is where you are gonna maximize your potential. Let's get into the seven mistakes that I see businesses make on Instagram. All right, so.

10:01

Mistake number one is making it about you instead of your ideal client. And this is one of the most common mistakes I see. And a lot of times we do this and we don't even realize we are doing it. So there is no guilt if this is you. It is a massive learning curve to switch your brain from the old school marketing techniques to really playing the game of social media.

10:30

An example of you making your content all about you and less about your client could be as simple as the words you are choosing. So I want you to do a little audit of your content and see if you're using my and our and I like where you're talking about it from your perspective and see if you can flip the script and have it be more about you or your. So I'm speaking to you.

11:00

I think this and I think that. Instead, I want you to speak directly to that one client avatar and say the word you or your. So an example would be five ways you can grow your Instagram following versus if I said, five ways I grew my Instagram following. It's much more compelling to the viewer if I'm speaking directly to them versus I'm making it all about me.

11:30

The other way that this can show up is in your bio. So if your bio reads like a resume, where you're like, I got my master's degree at Stanford, and then I worked 20 years at blah, blah, blah, and it's all about you, right? So remember, this is all about your ideal client. What's in it for them? Why should they care about your product or your service? Everything should be positioned.

11:57

for them speaking directly to them. So I made this mistake when I first started my wedding dance coach Instagram and how this mistake looked for us is all of my content was just photos of our past clients. And I thought, well, of course that's great. Like client, you know, testimonials and, you know, client proof, like social proof of everything that we've done. Yes, client testimonials can definitely be.

12:25

one of the strategies you leverage on Instagram. There's nothing wrong with that. But the problem was how I positioned the content. It was all like in the past, like congrats to Brad and Jim on your wedding day. We loved working with you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And well, that's great for Brad and Jim. If you're a prospective couple coming to our page, like what's in it for you? Like you're not getting any value out of that. Like maybe you'll be a little inspired by the photo, but it's not really helping you.

12:53

So now our strategy is we take our graduates photos and videos and of course it's in our contracts. They sign off on it, they share the content with us. They know we're gonna share it on our socials. And of course we tag them in it. But we use their content to give value to those prospective clients. So five mistakes you're making with your first dance song or

13:18

of first dance entrance you can use for your wedding day. So we're using the same kind of content, but we're positioning it for the client we're trying to get versus the client we've had. So that was one example of how you might be making your feed unintentionally all about you and your company versus what's in it for your prospective client. Mistake number two, you are all over the place and you're totally lacking focus.

13:44

So you're posting inspiring videos one day, and then the next day you have pictures of your family, and the next day there's a video of a squirrel like climbing up a tree, and then the next day you're at the gym working out and you're talking about your favorite foods, and then the next day you are doing your yoga class, and then it's just like all over the place, and people have zero clue what you actually do, and

14:12

Here's the truth, the odds of them following you or hiring you are slim to none. People can't hire you or buy your products and services if they don't know what you offer, okay? And this seems really obvious, but I think this happens to a lot of us when we fail to be really intentional about our account. And I find that this happens a lot when you kind of haven't made that transition from using social media for personal use.

14:40

versus using social media with intention to grow your business. And those are two very different things. So you really need to be focused on what is the whole point of your Instagram? What is the content that you are going to be strategically creating that will be magnetizing your ideal customer to your feed? And you need to be disciplined about what you are posting on your feed because here's the truth. If you tell me that you teach fly fishing tips,

15:10

and I come to your page and I look at your content and there's like dog videos, I'm not gonna follow you. I would be like, what? I thought you taught fly fishing and now you're just showing me random dog and kid videos. Okay, there's a total disconnect. So you have to absolutely be focused and be disciplined about the content that you're putting on your feed. So that way, when I come to your account, I know exactly what you do. I can see that your content in your feed

15:38

delivers on the promise of your bio. And if it's what I'm looking for, I will give you the follow. Mistake number three is, you have not clarified your audience. You don't know who your target market is. You don't know who your ideal dreamboat customer is. Here's the truth. If you're feeling overwhelmed about content creation or you're just like, oh, what do I post? Or I'm not really sure what to do. It's...

16:04

probably because you have not narrowed down your audience enough and you're feeling unclear. Because when you take the time to really clarify that target audience and exactly how you can help them, content creation becomes so much easier. And I'll give you that example that I've shared in previous episodes, which is that I used to make this mistake. I used to talk about how I recovered from disordered eating as a former professional dancer.

16:33

I would talk about intuitive eating practices. I would talk about how to make peace with your body through food. I would talk about movement practices and how to make peace with exercise. I would talk about nature and how I loved like hiking in nature. And while there's some commonality between all those topics, it's way too broad. There's just too many different things. I was so all over the place with my content. And when I made the decision to focus all of my content on dance related,

17:02

content and I would only dance and I had a very clear idea of who I was creating content for the audience I wanted to attract and I got super disciplined about only creating dance content. That's when my account blew up so I'm telling you the more you can niche down and really focus on who you're here to serve and Being as specific as possible that will help you not only in your content creation journey, but that will help you to

17:31

attract more aligned followers to your feed. Mistake number four is you have no clear customer journey. So here's the truth. When we build our businesses on social media, we are building our businesses on borrowed land. You don't own your followers, you don't own their contact info. So let's say your Instagram gets taken down tomorrow, are you just like freaking out because you have no one's information, right? You have no way of contacting them. You have no way.

18:00

of emailing them and that's why it's so imperative that you have a clear customer journey. And what that really means is, okay, I'm on your Instagram, I gave you a follow, I'm engaging with your content, now what? What is my next step? Maybe my next step is to grab your freebie so I can get on your email list. Maybe my next step is to DM you a certain word and then I get to book a free call with you. There's lots of different options for customer journey, but if you don't know your customer journey,

18:28

You're not gonna be making sales on Instagram. This piece is so imperative. You have to have it dialed in to actually impact the bottom line of your business and make those sales. Like that's why we're all here is yes, we love creating content, but ultimately we wanna make money. We wanna grow our businesses. And if you haven't gotten this step nailed down, then you're just leaving money on the table. The fifth mistake I see is when you forget to engage with your audience,

18:57

or you just plain have no engagement strategy. And this happens way more than you think, but essentially you could post the most high value, high quality content with the best hooks and all of that. But if no one sees your posts, if no one sees your content, you will continue to have no results for your efforts, right? This is why engagement is so important. Every time someone likes your video, every time someone comments,

19:27

or they share your video, or they interact with it in any way, it tells the algorithm that this person is interested in your content. And so next time they log in to Instagram, guess what? Instagram is gonna show them more of your content because remember, Instagram makes money by people staying on their app. It's all a business model.

19:50

If I am following you, John, and I am consuming your video and I'm liking it and I'm commenting on it, the next time I log in, the algorithm is like, oh my gosh, Elizabeth loves John's content. I'm gonna show the next video that John makes to Elizabeth because she's most likely going to consume it and then she's staying on our app longer, okay? So that's why engagement is so important from the algorithm standpoint. Now,

20:16

from the person to person standpoint, it's important because you gotta bring the social back into social media, okay? You have to be in conversation with your people to be successful, okay? You have to be a person, be a person. Stop making this all so formal. Like your social media can be your least formal of all your marketing activities, right? Like that's where you can show more of your personality.

20:40

And that's, that's how you get that like it factor of why would I, you know, I could hire anyone in HR, why do I want to hire you? Oh, I like your personality, right? I like your sense of humor. I like your perspective on things. I like how much knowledge you have. And so with your engagement strategy, you need to be replying to comments. And I don't just mean like an emoji. I mean, actually getting in conversation with people. If people ask you questions in the DMS, please get back to them. You would be amazed at how many people.

21:09

don't do this. They just post and ghost. They just go and they leave and there's no interaction and they're not interacting with other accounts. So that's another pro tip for you is be a person, interact with other accounts within your niche, write really interesting comments because other people can find you that way as well. The other reason why engagement is so fun is it's like target market research. So you can do polls in your story.

21:35

You can ask questions. A lot of times all these stickers like ask me anything about how to grow your business on Instagram. And that's great target market research for me because then I know exactly the questions, the things that are keeping my people up at night, the people who I can help and I can serve, right? So you can really leverage this platform in your market research and then that will inform all the content you create and your content will be better.

22:00

because you will really be offering value and solutions and helping people in a really real way. You'll be offering things that they actually need right now. So do not forget to engage with your people. Mistake number six is no text or closed captions on the screens. I've done a lot of research on this and the stat is always changing, but this is a recent stat I found. Reels with text on the screen get 71% more plays

22:28

and 56% more comments, okay? So adding text makes your content more accessible to all people, and it prevents people from really guessing what your real is all about. Because if you're too general with your content, they actually don't even know what your real is about unless you're putting text on the screen that tells people what is about to happen or the value that you're about to drop for them.

22:58

They're just gonna keep scrolling right on by. The other reason why adding text is so important on Instagram is that somewhere around 80%, I've read anywhere from 60 to 80% of people who consume content on Instagram do so with the sound off. So if the sound is off and they're scrolling and you have no text on the screen, they're gonna keep on scrolling, right? So you need to have text or closed captioning. Again, it makes it more accessible to people of all abilities.

23:27

but it also will help you to be found by all of those people who are consuming content right now with the sound off. And I see you, Jim, you're in the bathroom at the office and you were scrolling and you better believe Jim's sound is off. He doesn't want anyone to know he's sitting on the toilet, binging on his Instagram, okay? His sound is off. So make sure you put on those closed captions and the text on the screen. And finally, mistake number seven is ghosting your followers. You've heard it a million times.

23:57

but consistency is key. So whether that's posting every day like I do or three times a week, be regular so your people can count on you. Don't be flaky. Put it in your schedule and make it a priority. If you really wanna grow on this platform and make real money, you're gonna get out of this what you put into it. And remember,

24:20

This gets to be fun. So if you are like, Oh, I hate social media. It's just like such a time suck and energy suck. There is another way of doing social media. And I would love to mentor you and help you get out of that funk. So you can start leveraging this free platform to grow your business without spending a dime on paid ads. So if you want my eyes on your Instagram account, then I want to give you a very special gift today.

24:49

A free Instagram breakthrough call. That's right, a private call with me where I will look at your account and I will tell you your next three to five action steps that you need to take to explode your IG. And if I think that I am the right person to support you in implementation and that we drive and we vibe together, then I may invite you into one of my customized private coaching containers or my group of membership. And if not,

25:16

I will point you in the right direction and share some free resources with you. Now to get that complimentary Instagram breakthrough call, you have to apply. That's right, these calls are not for anyone. You absolutely must apply if you wanna get a private call with me on Zoom for free. So if you wanna get that complimentary call, you're gonna go to elizabethmarbury.com slash application. That's elizabethmarberrry.com backslash.

25:46

application, fill out the application so I can learn more about you, your business, and your big dreams, and then you'll hear from me or my team and we'll get you booked on a call. I cannot wait to support you and hear more about what really landed.

26:02

In this episode, are you making any of these mistakes right now? And what are you going to do differently moving forward? Because if you want new results, you've got to take new action. So send me a DM on Instagram, say, Hey, Elizabeth, I listened. This is one of my takeaways from the episode. I love hearing from you. My DMS have been lighting up lately with my podcast listeners. I so appreciate you just giving me your feedback that really keeps me going. That keeps me amped up and wanting to serve you this free content.

26:30

And if you haven't already, please be sure that you have subscribed to the show and left a rating and a review that really helps us to reach more incredible entrepreneurs and small business owners like yourself. So we can spread the love about Instagram and help everyone.

26:48

maximize this free platform for their business. I really appreciate you being here with me today. Go out there, go get them, and I will see you back here 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 wanna grab my free Monetize Your IG Guide, where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram.

27:15

You can grab your guide at elizabethmarbury.com slash freebies. That's elizabethmarberry.com slash freebies to get my monetize your IG guide. If you've got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And I cannot wait to start it with you again next week.