How to Convert Your Instagram Followers Into Paying Clients

I see you, you’ve been working hard at growing your Instagram following. Your followers? They’re pretty great and you love serving them but are stuck on the next step: how to actually get them to work with you, click a link, or buy your products. Selling directly on Instagram can feel sleazy but what’s the point in spending all this time and energy creating content there if you’re not able to tie actually results to all that hard work? Converting Instagram followers into paying clients is what it’s all about and let me show you how to accomplish that!

INSTAGRAM ISN’T THE END GAME

Here’s the thing: Instagram isn’t the end game. Wait, what? Are you surprised to hear this from me? I want to set you up not just to be popular but to be profitable and a lot of Instagram education out there is ignoring the fact that Instagram isn’t and shouldn’t be our end game. It’s important to have a PLAN for your followers after they engage with you on social media. When we look at a number under our name as the “end game” we’re forgetting that unless that number is doing anything for us beyond boosting our ego, it’s not moving the needle in our businesses. 

Why create a plan for your followers outside of Instagram? Because we don’t actually own them, Mark Zuckerberg does (lucky guy!) We have to be mindful that while we love the fact that Instagram is a free platform to grow our followings and brands, we need to really think about what’s kind of journey we want to take our followers on and how we can engage with them on a deeper level. I know people with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram but they aren’t profitable, their following isn’t getting them results. I also know people who have a few hundred followers who are bringing in big profits using the app. Which would you rather be?

HOW TO CREATE A PLAN

When we talk about the fact that we don’t own our Instagram followers, it’s important to think about how we want to inspire them, where we want to take them, how we want to serve them and I highly encourage that final destination is an invite to a place that you have more control over. We can’t control the user experience when we rely solely on Instagram and our followers might be missing our best content or specific invitations for action and so we need to be thoughtful in considering: where do we want them to end up?

When you invite your followers off of the app, you’re extending a chance for them to experience your brand and business in a new way. Are you inviting them to come hang out with you off of Instagram? Where are you sending them? Is it your website? Blog? Opt-in page? Survey or poll? Affiliate page? Your Shop? A contact form? Answering this question clearly and with a set goal in mind will help you drive traffic to the right places to encourage action from your followers and ultimately drive profits.

HOW WILL INSTAGRAM BE PROFITABLE FOR YOU?

Did you know that Instagram can be an incredibly profitable piece of your business? There are many ways that Instagram can drive profits into your business whether it’s through direct sales or bookings made from the app, affiliate sales you make from recommending products, growing your email list for future launches, or influencer marketing.

While there are many ways to make profits directly from the app, we have to think about how it is that you will monetize and what that will look like for the type of business you are in or planning to get into. While some people can make money simply from posting photos onto the platform and sharing experiences as an influencer, most businesses require some sort of path to lead to purchases and profits from their followers, which means you have to get strategic about how you’re serving your followers and what kind of invitations you are extending that they can’t ignore! 

THE BEST WAY TO CREATE YOUR CONVERSION PLAN

I want you to brainstorm: where do you want your followers to end up with you and your brand? Is it booking you? Purchasing from you? Contacting you? Once you know the end goal: sell your course, your product, your service, your offer, it’s important to think of what steps someone will need to take in order to become a purchaser from you.

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