If you are reading this article today I’m betting that you are 1) getting ready to set up an Instagram account and use it to promote your handmade products, or 2) you’ve been using Instagram for your handmade shop but you aren’t quite getting the results that you hoped for.
Either way, I’m so glad you’re here because today we are going to talk about how to set up your Instagram account so that you connect with new followers, maintain and grow relationships with your current followers, and generate more interest in your handmade products!
Let’s dive in.
If you are new to Instagram, the first thing on your list will be to get your account set up, which means setting up your username and your bio.
Let’s do a quick walkthrough of each step of that process:
If you’re feeling a little bit stuck as you’re doing these steps and you need help picking what to put in your description, what kind of picture you should use, and what your link in bio should be, you will want to read my article about how to create the perfect handmade Instagram bio.
It gives you lots of different examples so you can see what would work better for you, as well as giving you more in-depth information about each step.
So, technically, once you complete the steps above you are officially live on Instagram—which is great!
I could just stop the article here, but obviously that would be pretty annoying because you’re probably feeling like “well . . . now what?”
So instead of just helping you set up your Instagram account, I actually want to go a few steps further with you and help you set up your Instagram account strategy. . . because I don’t want you to just set up your Instagram account and then never use it successfully, I want you to make sales and be successful with it!
THIS FREE PLANNER WILL HELP YOU CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN FOR YOUR HANDMADE SHOP. KNOW WHAT TO POST, WHEN TO POST IT, AND WHAT TOOLS TO USE!
If you’re just getting started, the most important thing here is to understand what content the people that you want to sell your products to come to Instagram to see. . . and remember, no one comes to Instagram to be sold to.
People come to Instagram to
So you want to think about the intersection of your brand and your ideal customer.
For example, if you’re a brand that sells products for new moms, babies, or toddlers, you know that mostly new moms are going to be buying your products.
So you want to ask yourself 3 questions:
Creating new content really is that simple—just ask yourself these three questions about your ideal customer to start creating content that’s going to get engagement and actually help you grow on Instagram.
Let’s go through this process with our new mom customer as an example.
For inspiring content, you could create posts with inspiring quotes or beautiful notes about motherhood, share stories from other mothers, or maybe a story from your own experience.
To entertain a new mom, you could post funny memes with babies or tired moms in them, funny pictures of toddlers getting into mischief, or funny posts of “what mom says out loud” vs. “what mom is thinking” that your new moms would relate to.
And then the valuable information aspect, some posts with valuable tips, like “top 10 ways to distract a toddler,” “5 ways to soothe a baby in the middle of the night,” or perhaps “self-care ideas for new moms.”
Now, you might be saying “but Deb, if all my content is to inspire, learn, or entertain, when do I promote my products and make sales?”
Great question!
To answer this I want to talk about the 80/20 rule.
When you are creating content, aim to have 80% of your content fall into the “inspire, learn, entertain” categories.
Even though those aren’t “selling” your product . . . when you post content that your audience values and appreciates you are still promoting your products or your brand, just in an indirect way.
Let me explain.
First of all, when you are posting content that your followers appreciate, you are selling your brand and products indirectly because your followers start to value your expertise, your information, and therefore your products as well!
Another way to indirectly generate awareness and value of your products is by mentioning them in a post (but not promoting them). For example, if you create a post that gives them tips about motherhood, you could mention one of your products to help with an issue they are having.
Then, you can use the other 20% of your content to actually sell and say, “Hey, here’s my product, go and buy it!”
Using this 80/20 rule is MUCH more effective than a 100% pure sell approach, which will not work on Instagram, because it’s a social platform, not a marketplace.
Next let’s talk about how and when to post in order to be successful on Instagram.
One important thing to keep in mind is that success on Instagram doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult – success starts with showing up consistently.
You will see a lot of advice online in blogs and other videos about complicated Instagram details like what your grid looks like, alternating photo types, and other stuff like that.
Those may be great details to think about down the road and yes to an extent they do matter, but if I had to give you only ONE tip and if you take anything away from this article…. I think the most important thing you can do when you’re just getting started is to just go and post and see what works and what resonates with your followers and do so consistently.
At first your posts won’t be great and that’s OK—
I want you to remember that even if
. . . you have to DO IT anyway because this is how you will get better and figure out what works for you and your audience
Now I know that saying you should be consistent and post stuff doesn’t make it easy to do. So . . .
How can you set yourself up for success?
What kind of plan helps make it easy to stay on top of your content so that you post and engage consistently without falling behind?
First you need to decide when you are going to do what— so just ask yourself these 4 questions:
Planning these details will help you keep yourself accountable and show up consistently— because if you don’t keep yourself accountable you will postpone posting anytime something else shows up in your business or life which is !!always!! OR you will postpone posting if you don’t have the perfect post.
I know it might sound obvious but planning to be consistent and to post and engage consistently is MUCH more important than planning the perfect color palette your feed should ideally be made of.
Once you decide those details, jump in and get started!
Don’t wait to have the perfect caption or the perfect picture before you post it to Instagram, just post!
Remember that it’s OK to start where you are. When you first get started, it’s not going to be your best work, it’s not going to be your best caption, it’s not going to be the best photo—and that is absolutely OK!
The worst thing you can do when you’re getting started is to filter out your unperfect posts or your not-quite-perfect captions . . . it’s more important to get over the hump by posting consistently so that you get better at it.
When you are posting consistently you will start to see what captions work best, and what pictures are resonating or grabbing your viewer’s attention. Then you can start doing more of what works.
Trust me— you’ll get better results with consistent average posts than with brilliant posts but only once every 3 months . . .
Just START and DON’T STOP!
If you are super excited to get started on Instagram after reading this article and want to learn more, you will want to read my article about 3 Keys To Grow Your Shop’s Instagram From Scratch.
And if you want step by step help as you set up your account and start creating captions, check out the Tizzit HQ Instagram for Makers course – our step-by-step course to turn strangers to followers to customers using Instagram.
GET THE Instagram for makers CoURSE
GROW YOUR AUDIENCE AND START MAKING SALES for your shop USING INSTAGRAM
Thanks for reading, and until next time, aurevoir!
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