If I was starting Instagram from 0 in 2024, this is what I would do

Summary

In this video, Elise shares a step-by-step guide for reviving or starting an Instagram account from scratch in 2024. She emphasizes the importance of choosing between a personal or business brand, crafting a compelling bio, and creating content that answers common niche questions. Elise advises not to chase virality at the expense of target audience engagement, and stresses the value of direct messaging and automation tools like ManyChat to scale engagement without becoming a bottleneck. She also highlights the significance of analyzing content performance and iterating strategies accordingly.

Takeaways

• 😀 Starting an Instagram account from scratch requires a clear decision on whether to build a personal or business brand, with personal brands often growing faster due to the trust people place in faces over faceless brands.
• 🎯 Defining your mission, audience, and unique offerings is crucial as it forms the foundation for all content creation on Instagram.
• 📝 Crafting an effective Instagram bio is essential, with the first line highlighting who you help and how, the second line building authority, and the third line providing a compelling reason to click the link in your bio.
• 📈 Posting content that is search-friendly and answers commonly Googled questions in your niche can increase the chances of appearing on the explore page and reaching new audiences.
• 🌊 Creating a B-roll Reel with text overlay is an easy way to start making content for your feed, capturing everyday activities without directly addressing the camera.
• 🚫 Avoid the temptation to chase virality at the expense of attracting your target audience; quality of engagement matters more than quantity.
• 🔍 Analyzing underperforming content and iterating on it can help improve future content and find what resonates with your audience.
• 🤝 Engaging with your audience through direct messages (DMs) is critical for building relationships and converting leads into sales.
• 📲 Utilizing automation tools like ManyChat can help scale your Instagram presence by managing DM conversations and delivering resources to your audience without manual effort.
• 🔗 Encouraging comments on your posts can trigger automated DMs, which is an effective way to engage with your audience and continue conversations.
• 🛠 Removing yourself as a bottleneck in your Instagram strategy by implementing automation and engaging content can significantly boost your business while saving time.

Q & A

What is the main challenge Elise faced with her Instagram account?

Elise felt her Instagram account was dying due to the changing Instagram algorithm and the need to adapt her strategy to revitalize her account.

How many followers did Elise have on her Instagram account before she started her revitalization efforts?

Elise had grown her Instagram account to over 185,000 followers before she started her revitalization efforts.

What is the first step Elise suggests when starting an Instagram account from scratch?

The first step is to decide whether to be a personal brand or a business brand, considering that personal brands typically grow faster and are more compelling.

Why are personal brands more effective on Instagram according to Elise?

Personal brands are more effective because people trust faces more than they do a faceless brand, as demonstrated by the followers of Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and Richard Branson exceeding those of their respective companies.

What should be the focus of your content creation on Instagram?

Content creation should stem from defining your mission, your audience, and your unique offers or ways, ensuring you are laser focused on who you help and how you help them.

How important is the Instagram bio in attracting followers?

The Instagram bio is crucial as it tells the target audience who you are, why they should care, and why they should follow you, within the 150-character limit.

What is the recommended structure for the first line of an Instagram bio according to Elise?

The first line should state 'I am for XYZ, and I help them do ABC,' calling out the target audience and how you assist them.

Why is it suggested not to delete videos that don't perform as expected on Instagram?

It's advised not to delete underperforming videos because the algorithm can continue to pick up a video long after it's posted, and they may still be seen by the right audience.

What is the significance of engaging with the audience on Instagram?

Engaging with the audience is critical for growth as it helps build relationships, generates leads, and can convert into sales, as demonstrated by Elise's student who had a $45,000 week after engaging with her followers.

How can Instagram be used as a search engine to increase visibility?

Instagram can be treated as a search engine by creating search-friendly reels that answer commonly Googled questions in your niche, increasing the chances of appearing on the explore page and reaching new people.

What is the importance of not being a bottleneck when growing an Instagram account?

Removing yourself as the bottleneck is crucial for scalability. Using automation tools like ManyChat can help manage DM conversations and deliver resources to followers without manual intervention, freeing up time to create more content.

What is the recommended approach to posting content on a new Instagram account?

It's recommended to post nine to twelve pieces of content right away to populate the feed and give future followers a taste of the content they can expect.

How can you generate DMs on a new Instagram account?

You can generate DMs by encouraging viewers to comment on your videos and then following up with them through DMs to continue the conversation.

What is the one thing most business owners forget to do in their Instagram strategy that could cost them?

Most business owners forget to remove themselves as the bottleneck in their Instagram strategy by not utilizing automation tools to manage DM conversations and deliver resources to followers.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Reviving an Instagram Account: Strategy and Personal Branding

Elise, the speaker, addresses her Instagram account's decline and shares a step-by-step plan for rejuvenating it or starting from scratch in 2024. She emphasizes the importance of personal branding over corporate branding, citing examples of Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and Richard Branson. She advises defining a mission, audience, and unique offerings before crafting an Instagram bio that succinctly communicates value to the target audience within the 150-character limit. The bio should include a call to action above the profile link, enticing followers with exclusive offers or content.

05:00

🚀 Content Creation and Audience Engagement on Instagram

The speaker provides actionable advice on creating content for a new or rebranded Instagram account. She suggests starting with B-roll Reels featuring daily activities without direct address to the camera, which can be saved for future use. She also recommends responding to commonly Googled questions in the niche to increase visibility on Instagram's search and explore pages. Elise warns against chasing virality at the expense of attracting the target audience and stresses the importance of quality over quantity in content creation. She advises against deleting underperforming videos, as the algorithm may still bring them to the attention of the right viewers over time.

10:01

🔗 Automating Engagement and Scaling Instagram Growth

Elise discusses the importance of audience engagement and the mistake of neglecting direct messages (DMs) on Instagram. She shares a success story of a student who leveraged conversations with followers to achieve significant sales. The speaker introduces the concept of using Instagram's partnership with ManyChat, a messaging automation software, to remove oneself as a bottleneck in the growth process. By setting up DM automations triggered by comments containing specific keywords, one can engage with the audience at scale without manual effort. Elise also mentions her program 'Message Magic,' which details how to effectively use ManyChat for business growth, and she shares her experience of scaling her business during maternity leave using this strategy.

Keywords

💡Instagram Algorithm

The Instagram Algorithm refers to the set of rules and processes that Instagram uses to determine which posts to show to each user on their feed. In the video, it's mentioned that the algorithm is always changing, which affects how content is discovered and engaged with. The speaker suggests adapting content strategies to align with these changes to grow an Instagram account effectively.

💡Personal Brand

A personal brand is the image and reputation that an individual projects, often more compelling than a corporate brand as people tend to trust faces more than faceless entities. In the script, the importance of establishing a personal brand over a corporate one is emphasized, as it typically grows faster and fosters a stronger connection with the audience.

💡Mission

A mission defines the purpose of an individual or organization, clarifying what they aim to achieve and for whom. In the context of the video, the speaker advises defining one's mission as part of building a personal brand on Instagram, which helps in creating content that resonates with the target audience.

💡Instagram Bio

An Instagram Bio is a short description that appears below a user's profile picture and name, limited to 150 characters. The video script highlights crafting an effective bio as a crucial step in establishing an Instagram presence, as it should succinctly communicate who the user is, why they matter, and what value they offer.

💡Content Creation

Content creation involves producing material such as videos, photos, or text to share on social media platforms. The speaker in the video underscores the importance of content creation for an Instagram account, suggesting creating search-friendly reels and B-roll reels to engage and attract followers.

💡Engagement

Engagement on Instagram refers to the interactions between users and content, such as likes, comments, and shares. The video emphasizes the significance of engagement in growing an Instagram account, advising viewers to interact with their audience through comments and direct messages to build relationships and foster community.

💡Direct Messages (DMs)

Direct Messages, or DMs, are private messages sent between Instagram users. The script mentions the importance of not ignoring DMs as they represent interested leads and potential customers. Engaging with these messages can lead to sales and strengthen the connection with the audience.

💡B-roll

B-roll refers to supplementary footage that is not the main subject of the video but adds context and depth. In the video, the speaker suggests creating B-roll reels without talking to the camera, which can be used to make engaging Instagram Reels content.

💡ManyChat

ManyChat is a messaging automation software that integrates with Instagram to facilitate direct messaging with followers. The video script discusses using ManyChat to automate DM conversations, making it easier to engage with followers at scale without being a bottleneck in the process.

💡Mini Viral

Going 'mini viral' on Instagram means achieving a high level of visibility among a specific target audience rather than the general public. The speaker advises aiming for mini virality to attract leads and sales, which is more beneficial than broad virality that may not align with one's business goals.

💡Message Magic

Message Magic appears to be a program or course mentioned in the video that teaches how to effectively create content and engage with the audience on Instagram. It is used as an example of a resource that can help viewers improve their Instagram strategy and content creation.

Highlights

Elise shares her personal experience of reviving her Instagram account from a stagnant state.

Provides a step-by-step guide for starting an Instagram account from scratch in 2024.

Emphasizes the importance of adapting to the changing Instagram algorithm.

Discusses the impact of personal branding over corporate branding on Instagram growth.

Suggests defining a mission, audience, and unique offerings as the foundation for content creation.

Advises on crafting an effective Instagram bio within the 150-character limit.

Recommends posting 9 to 12 pieces of content immediately to establish a feed.

Suggests treating Instagram posts as responses to commonly Googled questions in the niche.

Introduces the concept of B-roll Reels and how to create them for Instagram content.

Advises against the need to go viral and emphasizes quality over quantity of views.

Encourages analyzing underperforming content and iterating on it.

Stresses the importance of audience engagement and not ignoring direct messages.

Shares a student's success story of integrating Instagram into their sales strategy, resulting in a $45,000 week.

Recommends using Instagram's DM feature to continue conversations with followers.

Introduces the use of ManyChat for automating direct messages and removing the creator as a bottleneck.

Details how to set up ManyChat to trigger DM automations based on comments for lead generation.

Shares Elise's personal experience of using ManyChat during her maternity leave to maintain business operations.

Offers a program called Message Magic for learning effective Instagram messaging and content creation.

Encourages viewers to ask questions and engage with the content for further assistance.

Transcripts

My Instagram account is dying.

That is how I felt in the last year. And in today's video,

I'm gonna share the steps I would take if I had to start my Instagram account

totally from scratch,

which are actually the same steps I'm taking right now to change up my account

and bring it back to life. And yes, it's kind of working. If you're new here,

hi, my name is Elise,

and since starting my personal Instagram account back in 2012,

I've grown it to over 185,000 followers. But nowadays,

the Instagram algorithm is different and it's always changing.

So if you are just starting out or starting a new account from scratch,

stay tuned because in this video I'm gonna share a step-by-step,

swipeable plan of what I would do if I were to grow my own Instagram account

starting from zero today in 2024.

And be sure to stay until the end where I'm gonna share the one thing that most

business owners forget to do in their Instagram strategy that could be costing

you tens of thousands of dollars. Now, I know your time is precious, but listen,

one of my students named Abi had a $45,000 week after adding

Instagram to her sales strategy. And before that,

she had never made any money on Instagram. So with that said,

let's make Instagram work for you. Now, step one sounds simple,

but it's kind of deceptively hard and a lot of people get stuck on this.

The first step is to decide if you're gonna be a personal brand or a business

brand, a corporate brand. But before you decide, think about this.

Elon Musk has way more followers than Tesla,

and Tim Cook has way more followers than Apple,

and Richard Branson has way more followers than Virgin.

You see where I'm going with this, right?

Personal brands typically grow faster and are more compelling than company

brands because people trust faces more than they do a faceless brand as much as

they love their Apple and their Tesla products. So with that said,

with your personal brand,

the first thing you're gonna need to do is define your mission, your audience,

and your unique offers or ways. Now,

all of your content creation stems from these foundations,

so make sure you're laser focused on who you help and how you help 'em.

That's what's really key, especially for starting an Instagram account. Now,

once you have those things in place,

you are gonna first write your Instagram bio that tells your target audience who

you are, why they should care, and why they should follow you.

Because let's be honest, people are scrolling for themselves.

They're not there to boost your ego,

so you gotta appeal to what they care about, which is themselves. Now,

an Instagram bio only has 150 characters,

so you don't have a lot of time to waste. You gotta be succinct.

So that's why I recommend following this flow for the very first line of your

Instagram bio. Who you help and how. Literally.

You're gonna say in the first line, "I am for XYZ, and I help them do ABC."

You wanna call out your target audience so that they can see right when they

land on your profile, whether you're for them or not. And yes,

you're gonna repel some people, and that is A-okay. Now,

the second line of your business bio on Instagram is the perfect place to build

some authority and really make yourself stand out from your competition.

So you wanna get tangible and specific here.

From a human psychology perspective, we really like to know specifics,

and even better numbers. So try to get really,

really specific down to the dollar if you can. You can say things like,

"I'm the coach featured on Dancing With the Stars," or "I've worked with 312

clients and you're next!" Something along those lines. Now,

the third line of your bio on Instagram is really important because it will

provide a specific reason as to why your follower should click the link in your

bio. Let your followers know what's in it for them behind the link,

because no one wants to leave the coziness of Instagram,

so it's gotta be compelling. Maybe there's a 10% off code,

or maybe there's a brand new training with a specific title that jumps out at

them. Is there a good case study that would be really good for them to know?

Whatever link is in your profile, the last line of your bio,

which sits right above the link, needs to describe what's in it for them.

With that foundation in place,

it's time to move on to step two of creating an Instagram account from scratch,

and now it's time to start creating content.

I recommend jumping in with both feet here. Don't just dip a toe in, dive on in.

You wanna start posting as soon as your bio is done. Yes,

even if you have no followers,

because you gotta give your future followers a taste of what your content's

gonna be like.

So I actually recommend posting nine to 12 pieces of content right away to

populate your feed a little bit. Now,

if you're not sure where to start with your Instagram content,

treat your posts like you're making responses to commonly Googled questions that

people in your niche ask. So remember,

Instagram can be treated as a search engine, just like Google.

Even Google's senior VP said that something like 40% of young people when

they're looking for a place for lunch, don't go to Google Maps or Search,

they go to TikTok or Instagram.

So creating search friendly reels like Top Vegan Lunch Spots in LA,

or How to Curl Your Hair Without Damaging It will actually increase your chances

of popping up on the explore page,

and that's where you reach new people and non followers. And PS,

this tip is so good, literally,

you can go to Google right now and get free ideas on your next Reel topics.

Just type in your niche in Google,

scroll down to the "People Also Ask" section and keep clicking into the options

to see more and more options populate.

These are all questions that people in your niche are asking and their topics

that you can easily answer in your Reels. There is some serious gold there.

You're welcome. Now to make actual content for your feed,

start with something easy. I'm thinking a B-roll Reel with text on top.

So what's B-Roll? Well,

you're gonna film yourself doing anything except talking to camera.

So think about your day, film yourself having coffee while you're journaling,

taking your phone calls, getting your hair cut, writing coffee at your laptop,

whatever it is that you do.

Set your phone up on a tripod or prop it up against some books and film yourself

doing your thing. Remember anything but talking to camera.

These are all B-roll clips.

Then you're gonna save them in an album on your phone or put them in your Google

Drive and call it your B-roll bank because you're gonna pull from this every

time you need to make a new Reel.

Now I teach my students exactly how to do this quickly, easily,

and what to put on screen in your Reels inside of my program called Message

Magic. I'll pop the link right below this video so you can check it out.

Now that you're starting to create content for your brand new account,

let's move on to step three. And this is more of a mindset thing,

but I don't want you to stress about going viral,

meaning you don't have to hop on trends that don't align with you personally or

your business just to get views. I mean,

what good is it to go viral and not attract anyone who's interested in your

business or your offers? It might make you feel a little Insta-famous,

but if it's not bringing dollars to your door, I don't want it.

I did an Instagram experiment over the summer where we posted 12 reels and three

carousel posts over a period of five days. Normally in a week,

I would post like three times. Now,

while my Instagram accounts engagement did slightly go up from posting more

often, my team actually found that we didn't actually boost our leads or sales

significantly by posting way more.

So quality of your views matters a lot more than the quantity.

You wanna go mini viral in front of your target followers in order to get leads

and sales from your social media efforts. I know it sounds simple,

but when you're in a scroll hole on Instagram,

you are gonna be tempted to make videos or jump on trends that might not lead to

views directly back to your business. With all that said,

resist the urge to delete videos that are so-called flops,

especially as you're just starting to grow.

Trust that they are being seen by the right people and they will continue to be

seen by the right people because you never know.

The algorithm can continue to pick up a video long after its posted. Plus,

when you do make content that doesn't perform like you'd want it to,

just take it as data,

analyze that piece of content and understand what potentially didn't work for

it, and keep testing,

keep tweaking and iterating on that type of content until you see something

really take off in your niche.

Now that you've got content posted to your Instagram account,

the next step is to engage with your audience. This is so critical as you grow,

and this is one of the big mistakes I made when I first started my Instagram

account. I was obsessed with getting followers,

but I didn't engage with anyone outside of the comments and I didn't collect

email addresses.

Remember I mentioned my student who had a $45,000 week just after adding

Instagram to her sales strategy? Well,

she attributes a lot of her success to conversations that she had with her

followers. So prior to her launch,

she offered Angel Readings to members of her audience who were willing to chat

on the phone with her and answer a few questions. Now,

if you don't have the bandwidth to talk to your audience on the phone,

talk to them one-on-one on Instagram.

Because I always say the money is made in the DMs.

Whatever you do with your brand new account, do not ignore the DMs.

But these people who are messaging you in the DMs are interested.

They are warm leads and they are your future customers.

So how do you generate DMs on a brand new account?

Well start by encouraging your viewers to comment on your videos,

and then you can follow up with them with the DMs so that you can continue the

conversation further.

You can even use their comment to create a new Reel that features them and their

comment or question on screen, and people like that little shout out.

Creating content is like a snowball. Once it gets rolling,

it gets easier and easier. Step number five,

this is the thing I said that most business owners don't do in their Instagram

strategy, and it could be costing you tens of thousands of dollars.

You have to remove yourself as the bottleneck as you grow your Instagram.

One big difference between Instagram today and Instagram when I first started

back in 2012 is that Instagram has partnered with ManyChat,

which is a messaging automation software.

So it's a verified partner of Instagram, but with ManyChat,

you can create an automatic DM conversation that delivers your

resource, which could be like a freebie, a workshop link, a download,

a challenge,

anything that you have to offer to your audience without you needing to manually

actually send that message.

So remember those comments that you're asking people to leave in Step number

four? Here's where they come in,

because when you have ManyChat connected to your account,

those comments are the triggers to kick off your DM automations

that will send a follow up message to someone simply because they commented your

keyword on your post.

This exact strategy not only helped me grow my Instagram and get out of my

engagement funk because now my posts get hundreds,

sometimes thousands of comments on them,

but my time was freed up to create even more content because my

messaging software was taking care of tasks that normally I would do manually.

I took this software one step further,

and when I was pregnant last year and preparing for my maternity leave,

I set this software up so that my team could continue to post without me and

just make sure that these keywords that people were commenting were triggering

my DM automations and my business went on to generate 60 to $80,000

per month without me while I was off enjoying my newborn snuggles. Now,

I've pulled out my favorite DM automation flows from my ManyChat

experience because I've been using this tool for three years now,

and I wanna give you my best performing DM automations all inside

of Message Magic. So go ahead and check it out.

I'm gonna leave the link for it right below this video. Now,

what I just shared are the exact steps I would take if I was starting Instagram

from zero today. Does that feel doable to you?

What questions do you still have for me? Let me know in the comments.

And if you'd like even more tips on how to make your Instagram account work for

you,

check out this video next where I share 50 Instagram tips within 15 minutes.