This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Why do some Instagram accounts take off? Like what makes an Instagram account soar while others plateau? And of course this could be more than just Instagram. We can see that on TikTok and lots of other social channels as well, YouTube, even some older platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn. Sometimes some accounts just really kind of skyrocket and we're like, why?
Like why that one? Was it just a lucky post? Was it a meme? Was it one viral thread or again, a post, a story, something that really just kind of took off or was there a strategy? Was it just luck?
Join us today to learn how niche content engagement and the right kind of branding can improve your Instagram presence or again, your online presence. Welcome to another episode of Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Today's question comes from Aaron in San Francisco. As noted, he is wondering about Instagram.
Specifically the factors that catapult some accounts to fame while leaving others in the shadows. He's looking for insights into some key strategies. All right, let's talk about it. Why do some Instagram accounts take off? That's the question.
You'll hear Aaron's more detailed version and my answer in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Chris, it's Aaron from San Francisco. I've been following your podcast and I'm curious about Instagram's dynamics. Why do some accounts get incredibly famous while others struggle to gain traction? What are the key factors or strategies that lead to significant success on Instagram?
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Well, Aaron is definitely right, absolutely right. In fact, that alongside strategy, there's also a degree of unpredictability in some of these success stories. And I just see this all the time. I'm like, who is this person? Who is this account?
Why did they seemingly come out of nowhere? And it's not all strategy, it's not all brilliance. And we tend to attribute like a really big account to some sort of brilliance. And there could be that, but also it could just be luck and circumstance. I'm gonna break it down a little bit here, but just to kind of note that, if your account really takes off, that's great.
Congratulations. But it doesn't mean that everyone is a genius when that happens. And similarly, if you struggle in growing your Instagram or anything else, it doesn't mean that you're totally doing something wrong necessarily. I mean, you might be, but it could just be like, this is how it works, right? So all we can do is identify some factors.
And once we have some factors, we can work on those factors while also accepting that sometimes some things will be random or elusive. But just to break down a few of the factors that can make a big difference. Number one, engagement within the first hour of a post. Engagement within the first hour of a post. You want most of your comments and likes to come right away, preferably within 10 minutes.
You can tell within the first hour of a post how that post is going to do over the next 24 hours, over the next week. And it's very difficult if it doesn't achieve high engagement in that first hour to actually break out in the algorithm and go wide after that. Sometimes it happens, but those are the exceptions. So you wanna figure out when are the most active hours to post? When is my audience online?
And Instagram will actually show you that over time as you post, you can go and look at the analytics and it will say, here's when your audience is most online. So definitely post during those times, encourage comments, respond to your commenters, like try to keep it going, ask questions. A lot of marketers these days are doing things like post this word in the comments and then I'll send you something or that will make you eligible for a giveaway or something. And they do that because they want high engagement within the first hour. Next factor, consistent posts on a consistent schedule.
So two things here, consistent posts, you have to be posting about a consistent theme. You need to have clarity in what you are trying to share and not just a bunch of random stuff. Doesn't mean you can't share your life as well, but if you have a business goal, your business goal needs to be clear and consistent and then post it on a consistent schedule. So two parts of the consistency, one message consistency to schedule consistency. Number three, you want to share some strong opinions.
That's so important. Like don't just be provocative for the sake of being provocative, but share your strong opinion. That matters so much. If you're not doing that, it's just difficult. It's difficult to get people to care.
You want something that people, some people will really hold onto and agree with strongly and others will not. Like that's what you have to think about. And then as part of that, you want a mix of information and entertainment with pretty high degree of entertainment, let's say. Like entertainment is actually going to get more views and information will get more loyalty, more follows, more people who want to buy your products if that's what you're trying to do or convert to your service, if that's what you're trying to offer. So information is better for that, but entertainment is better for reaching more people.
So, you know, as you go forward, you want to have a mix of those things. Now that doesn't mean that your account is going to blow up, but I think if you look at most of the accounts that have done so, they tend to have at least three of these four qualities. So that's my take for that, but don't forget as well to diversify your online presence. Don't put all of your dependency on any social media platform or on Google for that matter, you know, in terms of your website and your organic search results. Basically, you don't want to depend on any of these companies.
You want to depend on yourself. So use the companies and the platforms, you know, to advance your goals and reach your audience, but depend mostly on yourself. I could say more about that, but I want to keep it brief. Thank you again for the question. Listeners, thank you for listening.
This is sidehustleschool.com new episode every day, seven days a week. That's all for now. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
