Ever heard of Instagram stunting? To the uninitiated, it might seem really rather strange and that’s because it is! The basic idea here is that people on Instagram pose as being rich. To do this, they will post pictures of themselves doing things like eating dinner in front of large piles of money or holding a steering wheel with their hand in just the right angle to show off their Rolexes.
You know, just like real rich people would (hmm). Of course, the reality is that these people very often actually aren’t rich but their channel is all about promoting the ‘lifestyle’. Sound ostentatious and crass? Be that as it may, it is something that certain people enjoy and as such, these accounts have thousands of followers. Then there are the women who make most of their money from fashion sponsors.
These Instagram stars will post heavily Photoshopped images of themselves looking stunning and immaculate, with impossible proportions while laughing at the sunset. It’s again all very staged but it sells a lifestyle and allows their followers to live vicariously. At the same time, this also promotes the products they’re wearing and therefore it’s a perfect match between the product and the account.
Now, I’m not saying you should do either of these things. But understanding that key element of promoting a lifestyle with your posts really can help – especially for those personal brands. The key is to make everything look desirable and just perfectly poised, again it is to understand the wants of your audience (and persona) and it is to try and tell a story with your images. Try to inspire and create photos that are artistic and polished and you’ll find people can’t get enough of it.
There are legions of photos of people’s work setups in fact!
Respond and Engage
Just as you need to focus on the social element by encouraging people to feel like a part of a movement, it’s also important to emphasize two-way communication by actually talking with your visitors and engaging with them.
Don’t underestimate the value of a single fan. Because that one fan could end up being the person who promotes your post on a forum somewhere that leads to your big break.
Answer questions, respond to complements, and let your audience feel like they can talk directly to you. This will once again also inspire trust and give them the confidence to feel that they can buy from you and not worrying about their money disappearing and the product never appearing!
It can take a while to answer everything and once your influx of content gets too big you’ll, of course, be unable to answer everything. But in the meantime, responding regularly is a great way to get people behind you! Oh and don’t think that you always necessarily have to wait for them to make the ‘first move’ either.
There’s nothing wrong with occasionally reaching out to someone by liking one of their posts, or by commenting on something they’ve done. This is a great feeling for someone who is a fan and can create a feeling of gratitude. And it might interest you at this point to know that whenever we feel in debt, that feeling doesn’t go away unless we give something back of greater value.
So if you like someone’s post, it’s actually not out of the question that they might feel moved to repay your kindness by buying your product! You can also invite communication by asking questions – and remember that this is actually a whole secondary usage for your social media too: you can use your social media as a way to survey your audience and to get their advice and opinions on matters.
Trying to come up with a good name for your new product? Why not ask your audience? Want to know why no one is buying your ebook why not ask? You can even simply as: ‘what would you like to see from us next’? This is something of a fool-proof strategy, considering that you’re asking the very audience that you intend on selling to.
If they’re telling you they would buy a book on a given subject, then why wouldn’t you write it? And this goes even further because now they will feel like they had a hand in its creation – and that sense of ownership makes them even more likely to want to buy!
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