Find out why your Instagram Stories and question boxes aren’t getting many (or any) responses and learn what to do to create more connections and increase engagement with your audience.
To say it’s frustrating when your content falls flat with your followers is a major understatement. Not only is it a blow to your confidence, but it also means you’re missing out on a ton of sales — so if your content isn’t landing with your audience and doesn’t inspire them to engage with you, there’s no doubt about it: You’re leaving money on the table.
In this episode, I’m sharing 5 tips to help you get more people to reply to your Instagram Stories and question boxes, which will likely lead to more sales and more success in your business. You’ll walk away prepared to create content that performs well, adds value, elicits engagement and shows your audience that they can trust you.
Tip 1: Create Content for Your Ideal Clients, Not Yourself
Are you creating content for your ego, or are you creating content for your clients and the people you want to attract? This is an important question to answer because, if you’re creating content for yourself and your own interests, chances are you’re not going to see the engagement you’re looking for.
It’s simple: People wake up thinking about themselves, and they go to bed thinking about themselves. As a result, your content needs to clearly and directly serve the people you want to work with. Whether the content is inspiring, intriguing, entertaining or amusing, it needs to benefit your audience in a concrete way — otherwise, they’re definitely not going to give you the time of day.
Even though it’s human to speak from your ego, you have to put that aside as a business owner. You won’t see the results you’re looking for if you’re simply creating the content you want to put out into the world; instead, focus on creating content that adds value to your ideal clients and speaks to their egos.
Tip 2: Give More Than You Ask For
If you’re not giving much to your audience, you should not expect much (or anything) in return. As a result, before you ask questions on your Stories or in your posts, make sure you are regularly creating highly valuable content that your audience benefits from.
People need a reason to give back to you — and, make no mistake, responding to you is a form of giving. It’s much easier for your followers to keep scrolling than it is for them to stop, type out a response and send it, so you must ensure your content is worthy of their time, energy and attention.
Once people feel as though you’ve showed up for them and given a great deal — not just during a launch or a sales pitch — they’re far more likely to give back to you, whether that’s responding to a question on your Story, leaving a comment or purchasing something from you. In other words, you want to generate reciprocity from your audience, and the best way to do that is to add as much value as possible.
Tip 3: Ask Simple Questions
Asking complicated, deep or highly personal questions is a great way to ensure no one responds to your Stories. Instead, keep it simple by:
- Asking easy yes or no questions
- Giving 2 options — this or that?
- Staying away from private matters
You’re essentially teaching people to interact with you by creating a safe space to connect and share. It’s perfectly appropriate to start with sharing things that aren’t necessarily related to your business or brand — for example, I got an incredible response from my audience when I asked if I should buy a pink or a blue ring. This simple Story poll got more responses than any other question I’ve posted because it was easy, fun, quick and didn’t require much of my followers’ time or energy. Had I asked a more open-ended question (like “What’s your favorite ring?”), I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the same response.
Keep in mind that you don’t want to dilute your brand by posting too many questions focused on you and your life, but it’s a good place to start. As your audience grows more comfortable interacting with you, you can shift your questions to focus more on them and their needs, and the questions can become more open-ended.
Tip 4: Add an Element of Privacy
When your audience knows their responses will not be shared publicly (or if they are, their identity will be kept anonymous), they’re probably going to be much more comfortable answering your questions.
This especially applies when you’re creating content for your Instagram Feed — if you’re asking a question that may be on the more personal side, chances are people aren’t going to go into the comment section and share their answers. However, if you invite people to send you a DM and let them know their responses will stay between the two of you, you will likely get responses (assuming you’ve been connecting with your audience regularly prior to the post — your audience needs to be warm for this to work).
You can also add an element of privacy to your website to elicit more engagement. A contact form may feel impersonal, so consider adding a phone number or a chat box so they can speak with someone directly.
Remember: Sales require trust, and creating a way for your audience to connect with you in a way that feels safe and comfortable is critical when it comes to establishing a working relationship.
Tip 5: Establish a Clear Call to Action
Make your call to action crystal clear when you’re asking your audience to do something — otherwise, they may get confused, and that’s a surefire way to lose out on a connection (and a sale).
When people understand your expectations, they will be more inclined to take the action you’re hoping for, so clearly and directly state what you’re looking for. For example: If you’re doing an “ask me anything” on Instagram, people may feel unsure about what to ask, so give them examples of questions you’d like to answer. This sets the tone and demonstrates what you want, which will help them feel more at ease and increase the likelihood that they’ll respond.
If you’re not sure if your call to action is clear, put on your consumer hat and look at your content from a different viewpoint. Pretend you’ve never interacted with your brand before. Is it obvious what you’re asking people to do? Is it easy for them to take that action? Could the instructions be stated in a more direct way?
Your goal is to be as clear as possible because it’s only when this happens that people can be clear with you.
Bonus: Put the Social Back in Social Media
No matter how big your audience is, you’re speaking to one other person — whomever is on their screen looking at your content — and that’s who you’re targeting, not your audience as a whole. Ask yourself: If you were your ideal client, would your content resonate? Would you feel invited to respond? Would you feel spoken to? If the answer is no, you need to focus on putting the social back in social media. Engage with one person at a time, form connections and have conversations.
To learn more about sales, increasing conversions and growing your business so you can live a freedom-based life, join my live webinar: 5 Sales Mistakes Causing Clients to Ghost You. In this training session, I’ll show you how to make easy tweaks and improvements so you can ensure you’re closing more deals (and getting the financial results you want). Follow the link fastforwardamy.com/5salesmistakes to register for my English training on June 28 or my Dutch training on July 1!
RECAP
Without audience engagement, building your business will be tough — and it won’t be nearly as profitable as it could be.
I’ve included a quick recap of all 5 tips and the bonus tip so you can screenshot this article and take it with you as you focus on increasing your responses on Instagram and, in turn, boosting your sales!
Tip 1: Create Content for Your Ideal Clients, Not Yourself
Tip 2: Give More Than You Ask For
Tip 3: Ask Simple Questions
Tip 4: Add an Element of Privacy
Tip 5: Establish a Clear Call to Action
Bonus: Put the Social Back in Social Media
Watch this episode on YouTube or listen via iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and search for episode 136 of The FastForwardAmy Show.
PS: If you want to work with me but aren’t sure where to begin, head to fastforwardamy.com/findyourfit and answer the questions — we’ll point you in the right direction!
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