How to do branding for your business on Instagram

How to do branding for your business on Instagram

How To Branding For Your Business On Instagram: The Ultimate Guide.

I recently managed to make my personal Instagram account, organically reach 5 million people (+25620%), get more than 900k interactions (+50326%) and gain a new 8665 followers (+558%) in a total of 46 days.

Now how can you manage to do this too?

Instagram is a competitive social network like any other.

However, that should NOT stop you from creating and positioning your brand.

In this article I am going to show you how you can do branding for your business to grow on Instagram.

How To Do Branding For Your Business On Instagram - Reach
These are the results I had with my instagram account (@oliver.branding) between November 8, 2022 and February 5, 2023

Table of Contents

Define content pillars

Many businesses are not familiar with the term “Content Pillars”

Content pillars are categories or subtopics that revolve around an account

These subtopics are the things that we are going to create pieces of content around.

For example, an MMA gym may have 2 major pillars of content.

Grappling and Striking.

A great example of this is the account of the "Supersaiyachamp" an expert in Brazilian jiu jitsu who owns a gym who in his videos conducts grappling tutorials and in others he narrates the stories behind his encounters.

How to brand your business on Instagram - Alberto Serrano supersaiyachamp

To define your content pillars you have to define a niche, that is:

Choose an area, in which users focus their interest and then divide it into 1 to 3 subtopics at most, we do this so that those subtopics work as your content pillars.

In my case.

I work in the graphic design niche. Which is a topic of interest.

And my content pillars are branding, UI/UX and digital illustration.

What makes, consequently, create content about these topics that attract people interested in them. As designers, entrepreneurs and artists.

Some seek services, others seek to learn. 

And for each one, I have something to offer.

How to brand your business on Instagram - example content pillars
You can see how in Sayachamp's account everything revolves around his niche

Go where the attention is

The people who complain about the algorithm are the ones who understand it the least.

The algorithm revolves around the most valuable currency of the 21st century, attention.

This means that the algorithm will always promote what retains and attracts the attention of users.

Therefore, there are formats that are being born and others that are ending little by little.

What does not change are the people.

It may change the algorithms, but NOT the people.

Taking this into account, to intelligently use the algorithm to grow on any social network, you have to identify the format that is currently having the most reach and USE IT; because it is the place where most of the users' attention is located.

I experienced it myself, seeing how my image carousels went from having a great organic reach to attracting people who did not follow me.

To have a miserable and exclusive reach to only those who follow me.

To have a miserable and exclusive reach to only those who follow me.

Unlike the “Reels” which had HUGE organic reach in audiences that don't follow me, and it allows me to gain followers more easily than ever before.

But before you run off to make Reels, hear me out.

Reels will eventually die or evolve and be replaced by a new format.

This cycle will simply repeat itself.

How To Do Branding For Your Business On Instagram - Reach
Difference Between Normal Range and Reel Range

So it makes no sense to waste time trying to satisfy the Instagram SEO algorithm because it constantly evolves towards where the users' attention is.

Do not complicate yourself.

It is enough to know which format has the most reach in each social network and make the most of it.

Also, try to focus on creating content for this format and use the others in a complementary way (Because they do work, but for other things).

This way we stay competitive by satisfying human nature to collect “information” in your preferred format.

I realized this, in my opinion, too late.

So I decided to stop being stubborn about making image carousels as the only method to attract new followers, and I focused on making Reels.

The best possible decision.

Because after posting a couple of videos I reached my first million views (At the time of writing this 5.8 million)

Ironically, what started as a joke or an experiment turned into a great revelation.

How to brand your business on Instagram - My best reel
What started as a joke ended up being one of my most successful reels, with 13.5 million views.

Create interesting and differentiable content.

After getting my first million views on a video I made as a joke, I sat down to ponder why this video went viral and the others didn't.

And what I discovered surprised me.

It was as if the secret formula had been under my nose all this time.

I started replicating this secret formula over and over again and was able to consistently get thousands of views.

It was amazing.

My friends were joking that I would be some kind of “influencer” at this rate.

And the truth is, they weren't wrong.

You may be wondering “what is this man in a suit doing to consistently get thousands of views on every video he uploads?”

I give you a hint. It was neither dancing nor pointing to texts with my fingers.

How to brand your business on Instagram - content
Interesting content is and always will be king. In this graph you can see how a piece of content changed my path as a content creator on instagram

The key in simple.

I religiously followed these 12 rules on every piece of content I created:

  1. The video can NOT feel or be perceived in the slightest as something corporate.
  2. There always has to be something going on visually (attention span is very short)
  3. The videos should be as short as possible (for long videos better go to YouTube)
  4. The videos have to make the user feel “something”. Whether it's fear, motivation, lust, curiosity, anger, surprise, sadness, or happiness; otherwise don't waste your time.
  5. The video has to make the user say "literally, me" In other words, they must feel identified.
  6. You have to decide early: either educate him (“Make me feel like I learned something new”), entertain him (“Surprise me with something funny and interesting”), or make him emotional (“Show me something sad, kind, or romantic that warms my heart.”)
  7. Viral videos give people talk, encourage conversation, generate questions and debate in the comments. If you can add fuel to the fire, do it.
  8. Viral videos use interesting trendy music, not burnt music.
  9. Jump on trends at the start of the wave, not the end. Avoid cringing for outdated.
  10. If you're good at telling stories, tell them, otherwise DON'T.
  11. The most important part of the video is the first 3-5 seconds. If you lose it there, you lost it forever.
  12. Post often enough that you are not forgotten or hated for being pushy.
How to do branding for your business on Instagram
If you don't believe me, you can see my results with reels recently. Just look at the reach below each video. These "rules" that I propose are genuine and very useful.

Post consistently (Rule 5-6)

It takes approximately 5-6 videos to see a relevant improvement in your results.

That is my belief.

I noticed that every 5 or 6 videos, ONE of those 6 videos goes genuinely viral and gets AWESOME results over the others, in terms of views, comments and likes.

Of course, your first few pieces of content won't be that great. Because at the beginning you have to give yourself the opportunity to be BAD and experiment without shame or shame.

This exponential improvement can only be achieved if you are constant in your publication frequency.

Keep in mind that even if you reach a million views, don't expect it to change your life.

Remember, you don't win the game by hitting a single dart in the center of the board. You win the game by accumulating all the points during the match.

The same is with Instagram.

It is not worth publishing one month yes and the other month no. And then moving on to giving up on not having boats and Ferraris in your house after 2 hard days of creating content.

No friend, it's not that easy.

It is necessary to endure feeling useless for a while and make the effort.

Plus, with practice, you'll get better and better at creating content.

How to brand your business on Instagram - organic content
Organic content can help you greatly improve your reach.

Create community

Building community is the most underrated part of being a content creator.

Taking 100 faithful soldiers to war is not the same as taking a thousand mercenaries.

You have to be clever in social media.

And to be clever, we are going to take advantage of all the traffic that we have managed to attract to proceed to hook them to our brand.

We're going to hook them the same way a bodybuilder gets stuck for years to one brand of protein and one gym.

You want people to come back again and again to your community for their harmless “drug” they get through your precious content.

Perhaps, they are emotional individuals who love to see posts that warm their heart and release dopamine.

As is the case of the "happy.trollo" community, which is a group of people who come together to see highly emotional and healthy posts that make them regain their faith in humanity.

How to brand your business on Instagram - Example Happytrollo

Or perhaps, they are crueler individuals who love to read humorous comments about a recent topic.

As is the case of the "Comment.god" community that shares posts with very funny and even cruel comments or responses.

No matter what you think, your ultimate goal is always to create a community.

That is, a group of individuals who connect through specific social networks, potentially crossing geographic and political boundaries to pursue mutual interests or goals.

To do it you have to do these 10 things

  1. Post frequently (No content, no community)
  2. Define a distinctive visual element (Not "quality" or feel "corporate" please)
  3. Reply to comments, prompt conversation.
  4. Publish more personal stories, share stories of value.
  5. Give them a name, give them a clear differential.
  6. Take them to a more private space (Like a Discord channel, or a WhatsApp group)
  7. Post images and image carousels with things that interest them.
  8. Talk to them via DM or even thank them when they share your posts in their stories (Don't be cold with this type of action)
  9. Accept that there will be people who will NOT like you. Do not delete them, they are “free engagement”, even if you are good at insulting back online, you can always take advantage of their comments by giving them clever answers (Not answers from someone who has just been offended)
  10. Post frequently and be dynamic (It is literally the most important thing so that your community does not die)
How to do branding for your business on Instagram
Each small "peak" in the graph is a piece of content. You have to be consistent with your posting frequency if you want to grow on instagram

Generate conversion (The formula of the 1000 true fans)

To be a successful creator you don't need millions of followers.

You only need 1,000 true fans who are willing to travel to the other side of the country to see you.

You do not believe me?

Just think about the world cup.

Thousands of fans from all over the world gathered to watch their favorite soccer team compete.

The idea of traveling to the other side of the world to see 30 men play with a ball seems absurd.

Until, of course, it ceases to be.

More than 3 million entrance tickets were sold in the world cup 2022

The 1,000 true fan theory explains that you only need 1,000 people to be willing to give you $100 each, which would come to a comfortable $100,000.

If you can only earn $50 per fan, each year, then you would need 2,000 true fans.

Likewise, if you can make $200 in profit for each fan, then you only need 500 true fans.

Or if you are from Latin America like me.

Maybe 1000 fans of 5 dollars each is more than enough to give an interesting twist to your life.

That is why it is important to take those fans that we gain and generate conversions.

Generating conversions is the ultimate goal of every business.

Are those actions that we want them to take

Whether it's buying a product, subscribing to a service, or simply downloading a video.

Conversion at the end of the day is everything.

To put it in perspective, if the fan is the ball, the conversion is the goal.

How to do branding for your business on Instagram
If we do the calculation, having a 1% follower-to-fan conversion rate, you would need approximately 10,000 followers to generate 100 true fans.

To generate conversions and monetize our community we must do these 10 things:

  1. Define a custom product with the content of the account (An account that does makeup tutorials, should NOT sell products like a hair dryer, but a makeup set)
  2. Place in descriptions of publications the call to buy said product ("Hey if you find this publication interesting, do not forget to check my "XYZ" I'm sure it can help you")
  3. Give something free and promote the product (Like giving away an ebook and when it is downloaded it redirects the user to a sales page)

Monetizing a community is very simple compared to the process of growing a community.

It's much easier to sell something to someone who already knows you, likes you, and trusts you.

Replicate the formula over and over again

We have already defined content pillars.

We went where the attention is

We create interesting content

We publish constantly

We create a community

And finally we monetize the community.

Now you simply have to replicate the formula from step 2 or 3 to brand your business on Instagram.

How to do branding for your business on Instagram

To brand your business on Instagram, it is necessary to understand how to create interesting and differentiable content and I am not going to tell you the typical "create something that users find cool" and that's it. It's not as simple as creating something and waiting for the magic, because everyone has a different perspective on what he considers worthy of her attention. Branding on Instagram is achieved by choosing an online niche and defining content pillars to later create content that revolves around the pillars that is interesting for users, motivates them to follow you and receive their favorite content with a constant frequency. . That will lead us to create a community that we can later monetize as a company or individual.

Do you want to grow your brand on Instagram?

Click the button below and find out how I can help you get your first thousand followers.

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