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Forget social media vanity metrics with Elise Darma, Ep 94

Apr 18, 2019

On today’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I get schooled completely in how to make social media work for small businesses. That’s because we have as a guest Elise Darma, an Instagram Jedi who runs the Canupy agency that has grown numerous 250,000-follower Instagram accounts, has brokered hundreds of deals between Instagram influencers and brands, and runs an Instagram Masterclass. Dean is still in Instagram pre-k, so this episode is full of amazing advice and counterintuitive insights that will help you get your social media on the right track.

Quality over quantity on Instagram

Sometimes social media can feel like a numbers game. You just want to get the most followers or the most likes on a post, etc. But as Elise tells us, those are just vanity metrics. And really what you want is even as low as 1,000 follower who really want your content, who are engaged with what you’re posting, and who share you content with others. When people buy followers or likes, you’re really just being “fake popular,” and you’re not growing your customer base. The number becomes meaningless.

You’re not an influencer if you’re not actually influencing anyone

Elise points out that for a lot of business owners, it’s an ego thing. They want to be seen as an influencer, so they buy a million followers and they can proclaim themselves an influencer. But really, if you’re not speaking to people who care about your content, are you really influencing anyone? Instead of trying to prove to the world how awesome you are, Elise says you should be using your Instagram to connect with your audience, to offer sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes content, things that are fun for your audience to see and are relatable.

Think of Instagram as another funnel

I have a couple thousand followers on Instagram and if I’m being honest, I don’t know how they found me and I don’t post all that often. Dean has never even downloaded the app before. So we asked Elise how she would help someone who is unfamiliar with Insta use it for their business. And she started speaking our language, showing us how we should treat Instagram like a funnel. She broke down what each line of the bio should say. You want to give people a reason to care, and a reason to click the link in your bio. So what sort of content you should post? Elias laid it all out.

What should you post on Instagram?

Elise says you should identify five themes for the type of content you publish on your Instagram that will appeal to your target audience. Now that doesn’t mean that those themes are all related exactly to what you’re selling, but they should at least attract your audience. So even though Instagram should be somewhat personal to connect with an audience, that doesn’t mean you should go off the deep end and go into your marriage trouble. Elise is a total pro about using Instagram, and she lays it all out in clear terms. If you’re looking to jumpstart your social media, this is the episode for you.

Outline of This Episode

  • [3:03] When did Elias know she was going to do something different?
  • [5:45] Elise explains what Contiki is
  • [11:04] Elise’s focus on Instagram
  • [13:25] Are you really an influencer?
  • [17:20] Sneak peeks are the way to go
  • [19:45] Instagram is a funnel
  • [22:15] What sort of content you should focus on
  • [29:15] Dean has to get over his Instagram fears
  • [35:20] Connecting with Elise

Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Resources Mentioned

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