Nowadays, social media is a key component of any successful business's marketing strategy. However, with almost everyone having a personal Instagram and Twitter account, one question remains: why are your brand's Instagram accounts not performing?
Well, let me tell you- it's not because your brand's Instagram account isn't following other brands, or you're not engaging enough with your customers. In fact, it's because you're spending too much time publishing the wrong type of content.
As a business, it may seem easy to constantly create promotional material & constantly show off your current deal; but that's just not what your audience wants to see.
Currently, it's reported that nearly 70% of all Instagram accounts are held by someone in the Gen-Z to Millennial age category (13-39 years old), and as a Gen-Z person myself, let me tell you what this age range is looking for.
Gen-Z and Millennials crave true, authentic experiences from brands. There's a reason why brands like Wendys, Mcdonald's, Urban Outfitters and more do so incredibly well online; if you take a close look at their social media (more, in particular, Instagram and TikTok) you'll see that they post funny, relatable content that their audience can resonate with.
Wendys is an example I use for my clients and prospected clients quite often, simply because they're the best at social media! Playing the "bored, underpaid intern" role, they're able to produce hilarious content that no other brand can compete with. Wendys was also the original brand that brought this to life with their roasts and clapbacks on Twitter. And, if you take a look at their socials, you'll see that there is very little direct promotional material, yet, they're one of the most successful fast-food franchises in North America.
Let me be real here for a second, I hate brands that post nothing but promotional material all day, as someone who spends a lot of their day on social media for both myself and clients, I can tell you that your audience is already bombarded by paid ads on their feed 24/7, so with that being said, do you really think they want to directly follow yet another source for ads? No.
If you want to be one of those big brands that have 1000's of followers, you have to be unique, and you have to be relatable, there really isn't any way around that. Now, do you have to be like Wendys and post "stupid funny" content to attract this younger audience? No. What you do have to do is create content that users like & that they can truly enjoy.
A perfect example of content that people enjoy is Urban Outfitters. With 9.2 million followers, UO posts outfit inspiration, space inspiration & just overall fun lifestyle content; they promote a lifestyle, one that includes their products.
You can also see this approach with major celebrities like Kylie Jenner who has over 336 million followers and a 1.31% engagement rate (that's over 4 million likes per post). Kylie promotes her lifestyle, she shows the glitz and the glamour, all while conveniently positioning Kylie Cosmetics products all over.
Now, most brands aren't after millions of followers, but if you're a brand that's looking to grow to 10, 20, or even 30k+ followers, take a step back and really reevaluate your content, chances are if you take a step back and analyze what you're doing alongside what I said, you'll see why followers drop off and don't engage.