Instagram marketing best practices are not set in stone, according to experts who work at Instagram. There is no one magic potion for getting more followers and sales from the platform.
My favorite tried-and-true method, though, is attraction marketing. This alternative marketing perspective will help you do something different and stand out from the crowd.
What is attraction marketing on Instagram?
Attraction marketing: When customers are drawn in by what you are offering and decide to purchase your goods and services on their own. Bonus points if interaction is involved, where the customer is seen and heard in the process.
Attraction marketing is a way to give people a preview of what it’s like to work with you, the ins and outs of how you operate and what you’re about, so they can decide if your business is the right fit for them.
Principles of attraction marketing for Instagram
Attraction marketing is not so much a strategy as it is a mindset. It’s a way of being that leads to you showing up differently on Instagram. Here are the top three principles of success for Instagram attraction marketing.
1. Lead with empathy, seek to understand
No one likes being told what to do. Suppose you drove action by telling people what to do. Those people are probably operating out of fear rather than from a feeling of being understood, supported, and appreciated.
The first principle of Instagram attraction marketing is to seek to understand. You want to understand who your customers are and how they’re struggling.
Check out Olivia Ashton Nutrition’s Instagram post (below). It’s a quiz designed to help people find which nutrition habits are holding them back from making progress with their fitness goals.
Her quiz shows a desire to truly understand the customer. Instead of saying, “Do this one thing to lose weight!” making people feel like they’ll fail by not taking her advice, she instead asks people to discover which area of nutrition they are most likely struggling with.
Olivia bridges a connection with her customers. Rather than telling customers what to do, Olivia proposes how they can work together to achieve their goals.
2. Solve problems for your followers
As people, we think about ourselves and our problems A LOT. Reflect on the last hour of your life: what was going through your mind? Probably a lot of discussion with yourself about the problems you’re trying to solve.
So, if you want to attract people to your brand when they’re scrolling through social media and distracted by Instagram and their own thoughts, the best way is to align with their existing thoughts.
In other words, solve a problem they’re already thinking about. In the example below from Instagram marketing expert Morgan Gillis, her quiz/post asks people if they’d like to discover their biggest Instagram marketing mistake.
And, of course, this is not for charity. The best kind of marketing is a setup in which both sides benefit equally through a connection. Here’s what Morgan had to say about the results of her quiz.
(For reference, Morgan is talking about the Interact community/coaching. You can start a trial with us to access it.)
3. Remember everything is about connection
A great litmus test for your Instagram posts is to ask yourself how it would feel to see the person who is interacting with your post in real life. What would it be like to be on the phone/zoom call/sitting in a coffee shop with them, making your offer in-person?
If it would be disconnecting in person, it would be disconnecting on the internet. The example below from a sister-run Real Estate team in NYC is a perfect rendition of this. They ask which NYC suburb best fits a potential client’s personality, which would come up in casual conversation.
This post invites people into a conversation with the agents. It’s like a friendly sit-down conversation, where the experts can connect with the person looking for a home (a big deal), listen, understand what they’re going through, and finally, recommend a home that matches their interests. Think about how different that is from just posting another home for sale with no context.
By connecting, you can make recommendations that will truly help your followers.
Conclusion:
Attraction marketing is an exemplified way of showing up on Instagram by seeking to understand, solving problems for your followers, and connecting with the people who choose to give you their time by engaging with your post.
One of the primary methods for achieving attraction marketing is through quizzes, as highlighted in this post, but you can also offer polls, allow people to respond to your stories, and engage through reels with similar types of attraction marketing posts.
When in doubt, go back to the basics.
- Seek to understand your followers. Ask them questions about their needs and preferences.
- Solve problems for your followers. Gather information about what they’re struggling with and present personalized solutions.
- Remember everything is about connection, even if it feels cumbersome or tiring to connect constantly. Connection benefits both sides, because when we connect, we understand; when we understand our followers/customers, we’re better able to serve them genuinely.
Give it a try today. Apply one of these principles to your next post: invite your followers to participate, show up with empathy, problem-solve, and connect. See how it goes for you. I promise you won’t be disappointed!