With the social media landscape constantly changing it can feel overwhelming trying to keep up with the latest trends and ever-changing algorithms, particularly when it comes to Instagram. That’s why I like to focus my Instagram strategy on core marketing fundamentals that will always be relevant in any environment. With that being said, today I thought I’d give you a peek behind the curtains per se, at my very own Instagram business strategy for 2023 so that you can take inspiration for your own Instagram strategy. 

 1. Set SMART goals

Firstly, any solid strategy starts with a clearly defined goal and your Instagram strategy should be no different. Keep in mind that my goal is likely to look different from your goal because we are all running different types of businesses and are at different stages in our business. I’m sharing this so that you can take inspiration and use my strategy as an example of what you can implement for your business. It’s important that your goal is SMART that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. You want to avoid setting vague goals because it will be difficult for you to measure your success and the effectiveness of your overall strategy.

With that in mind, my goal in 2023 is to drive more leads for my coaching program from Instagram. Specifically, I’d like at least 30% of my overall leads to come via Instagram within the next 3 months. You can see how I’ve clearly defined this goal in terms that are very specific and easy for me to measure.

 2. Define your ideal customer

The next step you’ll want to take when crafting your Instagram strategy is to have a really clear understanding of who your ideal client or customer is. Instead of simply focusing on surface-level details like age, gender, and interests, you need to go deeper into the psychology of this person. What makes them tick? What are their biggest struggles and challenges as well as hopes and desires? 

For me, my ideal client is a woman in her 30’s who is kind, empowered, determined, and action-driven. She desires to build a business that gives her both financial and time freedom. She is motivated by more than money and wants to make a real difference in the lives of the people she serves while also providing for her family. She loves to travel, eat well, exercise, and spend quality time with her friends and family. She knows she needs to be on Instagram because that’s where her customers are but she feels overwhelmed by the platform and isn’t sure what type of content to create to generate results for her business. 

I can go on and on about this person because I know my ideal client like the back of my hand but this is just an example of how detailed I want you to get when creating your own ideal customer avatar. The more you know this person, the more you can create content that resonates deeply with them. 

3. Develop your content strategy

Once you have a good understanding of your key goals and ideal customer, you’ll want to map out the content strategy you’ll implement in order to achieve your goals. 

You’ll need to determine your posting frequency as well as the types of content you’ll create and the topics you’ll focus on. With my goal in mind, my posting frequency will actually be less than what I’ve done in the past and that’s because my key goal for this quarter isn’t centered around growth but around lead generation. Now, if growth happens, that’s amazing but it’s not my primary focus. I want to focus on building trust and authority with my audience so I will aim to share around 3-4 high-quality, engaging posts per week. 

With regards to the type of content I’ll share, I plan on placing more emphasis on reels and carousel posts as these types of posts get the most engagement for my account. I’ll also continue to post regular stories, specifically showing my face and the behind-the-scenes of my business because this helps to build a more personal relationship which is really important for lead generation.

I’m also going to prioritise going live more often. My aim is to do at least one live content event each month because going live and sharing value is a highly effective way of building credibility, trust, and a deeper connection with your audience which are all essential for warming people up and converting them from cold leads into warm leads and eventually hot buyers. What I recommend you do when deciding on the content you’ll focus on is to look at your Instagram insights. Insights are your best friend because this data will tell you what your audience loves consuming from you so that you can create more of the content they like and engage with. 

Once you’ve outlined your posting frequency and the types of content you’ll share you’ll want to brainstorm the content pillars you’ll focus on. You may have heard of these referred to as content buckets or content topics, essentially they all mean the same thing. They’re just categories for organising the content you’ll create. 

With the aim of generating more leads, I want to increase trust and authority so the main pillars I plan to focus on are education, connection, and inspiration. Educational content is essential to showcase my knowledge and expertise, connection content will help build stronger relationships and trust and inspirational content will help motivate my audience to take action. 

4. Monitor and track your results

The final step in any strategy is to monitor and track your progress. Again, this is where insights and data will be your best friend! I plan to regularly check my insights on Instagram, as well as my other lead generation tools, to track my results and make any tweaks to my strategy if necessary. Creating an effective Instagram strategy requires a lot of trial and error. Every business is different so don’t be afraid to try different things, see what works best for you, and modify your strategy as you go!

To summarise, your Instagram strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. By focusing on these key marketing principles you can ensure you’re actually moving the needle in your business. Instead of worrying about going viral and being popular, focus on being strategic, and intentional and meeting the needs and desires of your ideal clients and customers because, at the end of the day, this is what’s going to be profitable!

Click here to How to get featured on the Instagram Explore page.