One year ago, I decided to start over on Instagram after hitting 100,000 followers. I learned a lot about starting a new Instagram account. In this video, I’ll update you on the process, discuss if I regret it, and give you some things to think about at the end.

My Instagram Journey

I started my personal Instagram account as a teenager. Around 2015, I got serious about using it to grow my business. At the time, I was a photographer. I used Instagram strategically to book clients. Over six years as a photographer, I booked almost half of my clients through Instagram. Instagram had a huge impact on my business.

Five years later, in 2020, my account had grown to 5,000 followers (which was no small feat at that time)! Instagram then introduced Reels, and I decided to jump in. I love creating content, and I’m usually quick to try out new features or apps. Reels quickly generated a lot of traction for me. My Instagram account grew to about 30,000 followers. In the same way, my YouTube channel saw a lot of growth because I was creating videos that taught people how to use Reels. 

Shifting My Content

I’ve always shared the parts of my life that go beyond being a business owner, but, as 2021 came to a close, I started sharing a lot about my first pregnancy and journey into motherhood. Halfway through the pregnancy, I found out I was having twins, and my content going forward was viewed heavily. With rapid growth, I ran with it and leaned into a “lifestyle” brand. It was exciting to explore something new and see if content creation could be a big source of income for me.

In 2022, I gave birth to my twins and my Instagram account had grown to nearly 60,000 followers. I saw a lot of success & new offers in content creation. This led to my decision to start a SECOND account dedicated solely to my business. On my original account, half of my new followers were interested in lifestyle or motherhood content. They were not small business owners, and it was apparent that they weren’t interested in hearing about my business. 

Managing Two Accounts

The new account was originally titled Stephanie Kase Education. For the first eight months, I had my team member run that account and create much of the content. I was not super active on that account, and we did not see many conversions during that time.

2023 began, and my twins were almost 1 year old. We moved to a new state. My husband left his job, and I felt ready to pour myself into my business again (rather than finding time to work in the margins of my life). 

I came to a few realizations:

• First, I established that my passion was primarily in educating business owners rather than content creation. 
• Second, managing two accounts was too much on top of pouring most of my time and energy into business education. 
• Lastly, my original account was now built on motherhood, and I was not excited about that (even though I do love to talk about motherhood). 

Leaving My Original Account

My girls turned one, and I decided I didn’t want them in as much of my content anymore. I wanted followers who were interested in ME – not my kids. Most of my new followers wanted to see my girls grow up, and I did not feel good about that.

I felt like God was telling me to shut that door. Plus, it didn’t align with what I wanted for my family. Full-time content creation is a lot of work, and it’s draining to constantly have eyes on you. I didn’t want to be plugged into the mom community anymore. Instead, I’m thriving here, with those of you who are business owners! 

It wasn’t long before I stopped posting on my original account. Shifting all of my energy on my business account, it immediately became more profitable. Now, I can talk more freely about my paid offers, and Instagram has made big changes in the ability to go viral, send links, etc. 

How It’s Going

At the time of this recording, the business account is at 19,000 followers. Even with less followers, it is more profitable than my original account ever was for my business. I’m so glad that I created a business-focused account.

If I were to go back and do it again, I would not have pivoted my content from business to personal. I learned that Reels are your front-facing, cold audience content. They will reach people who don’t know you, and that’s how you will grow your audience. If you want to grow the RIGHT audience, your reels should align with your niche.

Where I Went Wrong

My motherhood and lifestyle content did not align with my primary focus, business education. Incidentally, my audience became full of people who were not interested in my paid offers. The account was no longer profitable for me. Even though I have some regrets about the times and ways that I changed my content, I am still so glad that I created an all-business account. It would have been easy to allow the vanity metrics or allusion of credibility to influence that decision.

Advice for Moving Accounts

Now, I want to share some tips about starting over on Instagram!

Engagement Rate

First, if you are discouraged by your engagement, I suggest looking at your engagement rates and comparing them to the industry average. 

Calculating Engagement

Go to a post, and tap on “insights.” Add together your likes, comments, saves, and shares. Divide that number by your total number of followers to determine your engagement rate. Hypothetically, if the industry average engagement rate is 5%, and your account has 1,000 followers, your total number of engagements (likes, comments, saves and shares) should be 50! If your engagement rate is extremely low, like less than 1%, you might need to start a new account. 

Story Views

I also suggest you compare your story views to the industry average. If they’re significantly below average, a new account will be beneficial. You might have less followers, but the RIGHT followers are better than a lot of followers and will probably be more profitable.

Track Conversions

Next, determine if your followers are converting into customers. Are you seeing sales? You will need to track that on the back end of your business. Find out who is coming in from Instagram and if they are making purchases. You’ll learn if you’re getting good leads or if your account simply looks good, but nothing is converting for you. 

Is Your Account Growing Your Business

Now, it’s important to ask two follow-up questions:

1. Did you grow your account in your niche? Did you grow your account speaking to the audience who will purchase your paid offers (without paying for followers or engagement)? If the answer is yes, move onto question number two.
2. Are you selling on your account daily? Ideally a minimum of once per day and with Manychat, on your feed or in stories, are you pitching a freebie or an offer?

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, and sales from Instagram are still not happening, it might be time to start a new account. 

Word of Caution

Keep in mind that starting a new account is a lot of work. Going viral and gaining 50,000 followers in the first month is likely not going to happen. Instead of focusing on vanity metrics, focus on nurturing an account that is actually profitable. Despite having way fewer followers now than I did before, my current is more profitable for my business than my original account ever was. 

Best Instagram Practices

I also encourage you to only have one account so that you aren’t spreading yourself too thin. If you move from one account to the other, make multiple announcements to your audience about it so that they are aware of what’s happening.

Lastly, I suggest that 95% of your feed content be related to your business. That’s the content that will reach cold audiences, so we want it to be targeted for the right people. Keep personal brand content on Instagram stories for your audience who is already familiar with you.

Free Reels Class

If you’re interested in starting a new Instagram account, drop a comment and share more about your situation! I’d love to give you my thoughts. If you’re in search of support on how to grow an audience of the right people, I encourage you to watch my free reels class! It’s a great place to get started with reels and how to find people who are interested in your paid offers.

I’ll see you in next week’s video on Tuesday at 8 AM!