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Having a solid content strategy is a big key to success or failure on social media. But there are also small tweaks you can make to increase your chances.

In this episode, I share 11 helpful tips for growing your pet business Instagram account. Each of these tips stands alone and any one of them can move the needle if you implement it effectively. 

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Episode Overview

  • Little tweaks can make a big difference
  • Optimize your bio
  • Research your hashtags
  • Research best performing posts
  • Being personal
  • Use video with a 3 second hook
  • Save what inspires you
  • Tell your story
  • Builds suspense
  • Follow and interact with others in your niche
  • Create valuable content
  • Be consistent

Optimize Your Bio

Your bio may seem insignificant, but it plays a major role in the growth of your page. Your bio should tell visitors who view your profile, what you do, who you help, and how you help them. If those who view your profile cannot decipher what you do or who you serve, they will be less likely to follow your account. View your bio as a valuable space to clearly state what you do and use it to your full advantage. Think of it as your elevator pitch to the world! Include a call to action instructing users to take the next step and couple it with the benefits of taking those steps for a winning bio.

Research Your Hashtags

To use hashtags effectively, you must research hashtags in your industry niche. The hashtags most suited for your pet business account are the hashtags you can rank in the top posts for. Try to use hashtags for which your account has more likes and comments on average than the posts that rank in the top 9 slots. You want to ensure you have better engagement than those top 9 posts, because it contributes towards getting your post into the top ranking area. 

Other factors that play a role in this are the popularity of your account and how quickly you reach accounts. Try to use hashtags that are big enough in your niche that people see them, around 10,000 in size ideally, but you must ensure that your post can rank when using these hashtags. If you can’t rank, then your post is competing with other accounts in the recent tab and your positioning will depend on how quickly the posts are moving. 

Size of hashtags matters because if you are going to rely on being seen in the recent tab, then how quickly new posts are being added is really important. In comparison, if you are trying to rank on the top tab, what matters most is making sure you keep a higher engagement on average than most of the accounts that are also on the page. 

Remember, the bigger the hashtag is, the faster posts will move positions and that does often mean that your post spends less time ranking because it is ever-changing – that’s why you should consider sticking to smaller hashtags. It can depend a lot on what your actual engagement is. If you’re trying to rank with an average of 50 likes and 5 comments, you may have to be a little bit more selective about which hashtags you can use and which you can rank in than if you have higher engagement numbers to work with.

Research Best-Performing Posts

You can view your best-performing Instagram posts in your insights, where you can discover which posts get more likes, more comments, and more reach. Knowing this information is valuable as you can repurpose or repost this content knowing that your audience enjoyed it. If you want to view the top performing posts of a page and you do not have access to their insights, look at their recent posts and decide which ones got significantly more engagement than others. If the page’s average engagement includes 1,000 likes and 50 comments, then you know that a post hitting upwards of 2,000 likes and 100+ comments is a top performer. From this analysis, you can decide what has performed better and save it for later as inspiration when you start creating content.

Be Personal

Try to be casual and friendly on your pet business Instagram account. Social media is about being social rather than treating it as a billboard. Get out there and make connections, show people that there is an actual person behind the account. 

Use Videos with a 3-Second Hook

When creating videos, make sure to include a 3-second hook. These can be you introducing the topic or saying or doing something interesting that grabs the viewer’s attention. You can include hooks in post content too, simply put the most important or interesting information at the top of the caption or even on the graphic itself. Doing this will ensure you have hooked the viewer’s attention and cause them to stop scrolling and view your content.

Save What Inspires You

If you see content that you admire or feel inspired by, save it for later when you are in creator mode. Use that save button! Other social media platforms like Facebook also have a save option you can use. When it is time to create content and you want to get inspired, you can go back and view the collection. This collection consists of content that stood out to you and will more than likely stand out to your audiences, too.

Tell Your Story

Personify your brand through your stories. This step differs from the “Be personal step” as you tell viewers the story of your brand or your product/service. Tell people your story in your marketing, in your captions, your content – the more stories you tell, especially ones about yourself, the deeper the connection you are going to make with people. People love to learn about the person behind the brand. They love to know your reason why. Why did you start your grooming business or why do you love animals so much? Let the audience know your story! When people think of your brand, they will mentally view it as more of a personality, taking up a different space in their mind rather than just a label on a product/service. 

Build Suspense

Give teasers to build suspense for new products/services you have in the pipeline or upcoming events. Tease the audience by speaking about the upcoming event or product/service, giving them little snippets to get them intrigued and interested. Doing this will also cause them to come back to visit your page to see what the big announcement is. Building suspense means your audience is ready for the new release and they will be excited to hear the news when it is announced. 

Follow and Interact with Others in Your Niche

As previously stated, you are supposed to be social on social media! Interact with those in your niche to build deeper and more genuine connections.The algorithm will see that your account is a real person interacting with others and this works to your benefit as it promotes your account more.

Create Valuable Content

The more valuable content you create, the more value people will expect when they use your product/service. For example, if you are a dog trainer but your content offers no real value to your audience, people will not be very likely to use your service. Whereas if you are a dog trainer who provides valuable and educational content on your Instagram account, you are more likely to attract clients who expect good quality work from you. The more you give, the more you get in return!

Be Consistent

Doing this is one of the most crucial steps. Being consistent doesn’t just relate to when and how often you show up online, but also what you post and your message. Be consistent in all aspects of your account, Have graphics that align and match and coherent captions that reflect a consistent brand voice. If your Instagram account is incoherent it makes it harder for people to connect with your brand. 

Take these 11 tips and use them consistently to boost your pet business Instagram account by fostering growth and engagement. Now you have your steps, what are you waiting for? Start growing your pet business account today and don’t forget to be awesome!

Where to Find Skarlet:

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