WHAT SHOULD YOUR FIRST NINE PHOTOS OF YOUR INSTAGRAM FEED INCLUDE?

I get asked this a lot in my Instagram 101 workshops. So I thought I'd do a blog post on what I think every entrepreneur and business should have in the first 9 photos of their Instagram feed (sometimes I push this to 12 photos). 

1. A selfie

2. Lifestyle Image

3. Product Image or Service Image

4. Behind The Scenes Image

5. Something Your Target Market Enjoys

1.  A SELFIE

I know, I know. I always hear groans when I say this in my workshop. BUT it's so true. Every time I ask in the course what gets the most likes on your Instagram feed, everyone always says photos of themselves. 

WHY DOES A SELFIE GET THE MOST LIKES?

Humans are curious by nature. We want to see the person behind the lens. We want to see the person behind the creations or the person behind the service. I'm not going to book a photographer for my wedding if I don't know what they look like, or if I can't get a feeling for who they are. With so many different competitors out there for EVERY industry we all need to find our unique voice and we need to make sure our customers can hear it and visualize who is talking. This will make them want to buy from us, or book our services. This is our sales platform. So make sure to give your sales platform a face. If you have a team in your business, instead of a solopreneur, give your team a face. Introduce them to the Instagram world. After all, Instagram by definition is "a fun and quirky way to share our lives through a series of photos with our friends". What does this mean? You want to show yourself to your "friends", your followers on your Instagram. You want to build that trust and let them hear your voice. Having a photo of yourself in your top 9 images is one of the most important aspects.

2. LIFESTYLE IMAGE

Give your audience a peek into your life. Again humans are curious by nature. Let them into what book you're reading in your down time, what your cat looks like, or what your cooking for dinner that night. I know, I know people often think well who cares about that? But again, you are building a relationship with your friends and followers. You are building trust and showing them you're a real person and you'd be a great person to work with. These lifestyle images also help spark conversation. Again this builds trust, shows your personality and helps beat the new algorithm. We talk about the algorithm in the workshop and even set up Instagram pods for those interested.  

3. PRODUCT IMAGE OR SERVICE IMAGE

Of course you have to have a few product images sprinkled within your top 9 photos. If you're a hair dresser, make sure you have some up dos, a florist, make sure you have a bouquet, wedding photographer make sure you have a professional photograph of a wedding, jewellery maker, make sure you show your latest jewellery product. Sometimes I would get so carried away with building trust and showing behind the scenes I would forget to post products! So this is HUGE. Don't forget to post what you're trying to sell! 

4. BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGE

This is so important. A lot of entrepreneurs forget to show their grass roots. I can't stress this enough, humans are super curious by nature. We love knowing how things are made, or done, or little tricks. Humans love the inner workings of knowing how something happened. Again the whole curious by nature thing. Showing behind the scenes (Instagram stories is a great resource for this, and yes we go over Insta stories and how to use them properly for your business in the workshop) is a great way to get people invested in your product or service. 

5. SOMETHING YOUR TARGET MARKET ENJOYS

This is something that's a little more hard to always keep in your top 9 photos. Find something that your target market (who you're specifically trying to sell to) also enjoys doing. This keeps them interested and makes your feed not all "sell sell sell". One of the biggest mistakes I think entrepreneurs and businesses make is trying to sell ALL the time on Instagram. You need to woo people, show them your brand, your style, your voice. Build a relationship and trust with your customers and then start to sell to them. Let them know you're not always trying to sell them to. Offer to give them advice, tell them interesting things you think they would enjoy. Don't always be that business or company who is sell, sell, sell. 

ASK ME ANYTHING

Have some questions about marketing effectively on Instagram? Or want me to take a look over your Instagram feed and branding and give ya some tips? 

I'd love to help! Send me an email below

DOWNLOAD MY FREE GUIDE ON THE BIGGEST MISTAKES ENTREPRENEURS MAKE ON INSTAGRAM 

To view more of our unique, handcrafted & one of a kind jewellery handmade in Toronto Canada click here. http://www.hattitudejewels.com/collections/all

P.S. ARE YOU A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR AND WANT TO UP YOUR INSTA GAME? 

My next in person Instagram 101 workshop and my online (live) video Instagram workshop are an awesome way to up your game and really effectively market on Instagram. We talk all about making your Instagram a party to sell more products or services, branding, the first 9 photos of your feed, how to make engaging captions, how to research and use local hashtags for your industry, create a cohesive and beautiful feed and a styling session at the end! Check it out here INSTAGRAM 101 for more information or you can quickly purchase it below.