HOW TO START AN INSTAGRAM POD

Transcription

1 HOW TO START AN INSTAGRAM POD Marketing growth hacks for creative entrepreneurs 1

2 HOW TO START AN INSTAGRAM POD Engagement groups like Instagram Pods are changing the face of online marketing for entrepreneurs. My hope is that this downloadable guide gives you the tools you need to cultivate your own tribe of likeminded professionals who will support one another as you strive for success. Support one another. Build one another up. Create a community of empowerment. Community over competition isn t an entirely new concept unions and guilds have created avenues to advocate for the betterment of industries for hundreds of years. Taking this idea, however, and applying it to the modern marketplace with actionable tools (like Instagram pods) is what makes it revolutionary. 2

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4 THE GOAL OF THIS DOWNLOADABLE GUIDE IS TO: explain the purpose of pods provide you with the steps to build your own Instagram boost group and share my personal templates to help you jumpstart your way to beating the Instagram Algorithm. The Main Attraction: Instagram Pods I encourage people to think of Instagram pods like a group of core cheerleaders who authentically engage with one another on Instagram through meaningful comments. Similar to a blogging boost group, pods serve to benefit each member of the group through creating a system for recurring engagement. The members of a pod become a small online family, working to support one another as they expand their platforms. The members of the pod engage with the content of others in their pod as soon as the post goes live in order to communicate to Instagram that a particular piece of content is generating engagement. It s an algorithm hack that is something we can truly get behind in the spirit of community! 4

5 WHAT IS THE POINT OF A POD? A pod is one way to equip an online community with an avenue to actively support one another. It creates structure and a framework around engaging with others that can easily fit into your daily routine.

6 HOW TO START A POD Choose between 5-8 people who you would like to invite into your pod. We encourage looking for creatives who do something in the same industry and post to Instagram consistently. Send them a direct message on Instagram or an and invite them to join your pod. Feel free to use the template text provided in this guide if you get stuck Once your members have agreed to join the pod, add everyone to a single group message on Instagram and give the thread a name. The name will name it easy to find the pod when you share your latest post! Start by outlining the goals of the group with a welcome message that clarifies the expectations, rules, and purpose. 05 Have each member post in the pod shortly after sharing content on IG. After posting in the message thread, go through & like + comment on the posts above yours to help your group beat the limitations of the Instagram algorithm. 6

7 Please don t be a robot, there are enough of those already. Engage with intention and authenticity. ENGAGEMENT FOR ENGAGEMENT S SAKE IS NOT THE POINT OF AN INSTAGRAM POD. (Cue the occasional gasp and many praise hand emojis from my like-minded friends!) Will you get a boost of engagement through comments and likes each day? Yes. Will it help you to overcome the algorithm and reach more of your followers? Absolutely! Will you have a greater chance to land on the top grid for your hashtags? You betcha! However, the real goal of building an Instagram pod is to cultivate relationships with other business professionals who are walking a similar path in life. Give more than you receive. Use your pod as an avenue to discover incredible content within your community and encourage others on a daily basis. In a world of robots posting thoughtless comments with strings of emojis and love it! repeatedly (even when it doesn t make sense), you want to ensure that you always engage with content in a meaningful way. Get invested in the posts your pod-members are sharing. Be their cheerleader and encourager as often as possible. Find ways to go above and beyond to ensure that everyone feels supported. 7

8 do: THE DO S & DON TS Choose members who are in your industry or marketing to a similar demographic. Research members in advance to ensure they are already posting to Instagram consistently. (You don t want to add someone to a pod who won t benefit due to a lack of frequency.) don t: Aim for a smaller group of five to ten members in order to reduce commenting fatigue. Find ways to support your pod outside of Instagram remember that relationship building is the goal! You can even schedule a Skype date to get to know them personally offline, as well! Consider putting a time limit to the pod it can be common for participation to slow after a few months. Giving a finite time for the pod will increase dedication. Post asking for people to join your pod in a Facebook forum. You ll get more hand raises than you need and feelings will be hurt when you can t choose everyone. Fail to set expectations Using a welcome message to outline the rules will ensure that everyone is on the same page. Start a pod simply to get more comments on your content; you must be committed to building relationships and intentionally engaging with others.

9 - NATALIE FRANKE 9

10 TEMPLATES Ask Members to Join Your Pod via ! SUBJECT: WANT TO JOIN MY INSTAGRAM POD? Hey [Name]! I recently learned about Instagram Pods as a way to gather a group of likeminded entrepreneurs to support one another on the platform and boost one another s posts in the Instagram algorithm through meaningful engagement. I am in the process of gathering a few friends to start our own group and was wondering if you would be interested in joining! I love the content you share and think you would be a great fit for our Pod. Would you be interested in being a part? Let me know! Thanks, Name 10

11 Your Welcome Message: TEMPLATES Hey Friends! In order to support one another and fight the limitations of the Instagram algorithm, I have created this Instagram pod so that we can stay easily connected! Think of this pod as a collective group of cheerleaders + engagement boosters who want to see you succeed! This is how the pod works: whenever someone in our pod posts to Instagram, we all go like and leave a genuine comment on their latest post as soon as we can. Comments should be at least 4 words and not just emojis to boost the post in the algorithm as much as possible! A few minutes after posting to Instagram, come here into the group and comment with your favorite emoticon (or give us a few details about the latest post and explain how we can best encourage you). Then, the pod will get to work! As a note, always make sure you have liked and commented on the other posts in the pod when you share your most recent post. I m excited to begin and can t wait to follow along on your posts! 11