I don’t know if anyone else out there can relate to this, but being a business owner in an online space can often feel like we have to be a content creator in order to actually make money. But, I really believe there’s a difference in marketing your business and being a content creator. On today’s podcast episode, I want to debunk the myth that you have to be a content creator in order to make sales from social media. I also plan to share some thoughts on how marketing your business on Instagram is different from making money off of your content as an influencer or something similar. 

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Why I Want to Talk About This

Before we dive in, I want to share a bit of a story with you. I spent about a year and a half building what I’d consider an influencer brand. In other words, I was building an Instagram account and YouTube channel with the end goal of making money directly from that content – not selling my own offers. Instead, I focused on affiliate marketing or brand collaborations. That is VERY different from using social media to market a business.  Instead, marketing for your business is about gaining visibility and gaining a new audience to nurture. I hear so many small business owners say they feel they have to spend all their time creating new content that goes viral in order for it to be impactful for their business. They think they need a ton of followers to make an impact or make sales – and I’m here to say that’s not true. Let’s jump into it. 

#1: Your goal is NOT to go viral. 

When you’re creating content to market your business, your goal is not to go viral or get a thousand likes. Ignore those vanity metrics. Instead, you really want to focus on getting the right people to view your content that will lead to conversions. So, like many of the Reels that I’ve shared, the ones that get the most views have not landed me direct sales that I can track. The lower performing content honestly shows better conversions. Similarly, you don’t need a thousand followers to grow a business on Instagram, instead you need the right people in your community who are dedicated to your business with brand loyalty. 

It’s important that you think about the kind of offers you have too. If you have mid to high ticket offers, you probably don’t need 1000 people to buy it. If you have lower ticket items, you might need a higher volume of customers to be sustainable. But, it’s just important to keep in mind that 1000 followers doesn’t mean success. I just talked about this in a previous episode, too. If you’re just sharing content, trying to gain views and likes thinking it will grow your business, you’re doing it wrong. You need to be very strategic to gain sales from your posts. 

#2:  Share Your Offers

How you approach social media as a business owner is different from a content creator. Your goal is really about constantly talking about your paid offers so that your followers and audience are familiar with them. I went through this shift as I left photography and moved into selling digital products. I had to re-evaluate how we approached our social media. Having a cute Instagram feed isn’t going to convert followers to customers. Instead, I want visibility, connection, and conversation. Visibility means creating Reels and posts that are attracting business owners to my account (my ideal client). It requires reaching new people – which is why we focus our Reels on being a business owner. Even my more personal Reel about Disney World was shared through the eyes of being a business owner with flexibility. 

Feed posts and Stories reach your current audience, so that’s where I’ll lean into sharing more of my personal life – intertwined with our paid offer posts. I tend to share more personal things on my Stories, as it’s a great way to connect and nurture our audience. It keeps me visible with people and helps me build connections. I do also share and point them to my freebies or other offerings. These stories and posts do lead to conversions, which is the goal. Remember, it takes people at least 7 times of hearing something to remember it – so sharing about your offers in your posts and Stories really is a great way to reach them. I don’t want that to be discouraging – instead, it’s just important to mention things over and over again.  

#3: Use social media to build your email list. 

Using social media to connect with your community is important and so is sharing your paid offers. You should also use your social media accounts to drive people to your email list. Share about your freebies or even lower ticket offers so you can market your business. I think social media is actually a great complement to email marketing – and we need both of them. I’m sharing some cute personal photos but also sharing paid offers – like that I’m working on it, or sharing a win, or even just a direct link. I’ve noticed the more consistent I am with sharing about my paid offers, the more sales we typically see. This is one of the things that Reels helps us with. We talk about this in our free Reels class, and we’re building a new course for 2024 all about content and how to build a game plan for that – to build visibility for your brand. You can join the waitlist for that here! 

I hope that this blog helps you better understand the difference between being a content creator and marketing your business on Instagram to gain visibility. Social media is a great way to connect with your audience and build a loyal community. 

Other Instagram Resources

Are you struggling to keep up on Instagram? Are you seeing low engagement, not posting consistently, and not attracting the right followers? I want to help!! Join my free Instagram class: What to Post on Instagram for the Next 30 Days: How to Post Consistently, Grow Your Reach, & Gain Highly Engaged Followers. We’re going to chat about what you should post, how often to post, and how to make Instagram fun! Head to http://stephaniekase.com/instagramclass to watch now.

If you have questions or want some extra support, I’ve got a FREE Reels Growth Facebook Community that you can join. I absolutely love getting to chat with everyone and help them work through their questions about Reels!

Wondering what to make for your next Reel? Free quiz to find out what type of reel idea you should make next! 

Discover what your next step should be to gain your next 1,000 followers!