3 Ways to Connect With Your Audience

Do you want to take the leap and build an actual business? You know, one with systems and processes, but don’t want to lose the connection piece that you have with your audience right now? It can be tricky to become a larger brand and still connect with your audience. This is something Happy Happy Houseplant has accomplished, so it is possible to do! And if they can make it work for their brand, it can work for yours too. Here are 3 ways to connect with your audience on Instagram and beyond.

 

 

Are you looking for the secret to growing faster on Instagram? Gaining tons of Instagram followers does not happen only by going viral, following easy hacks, or dancing on reels. It’s done by showing up every day, making it fun, and following a killer strategy. I’m on a mission to give you the truth of what it’s like to grow your business on Instagram. The best way to do this is to give you the inside scoop of real influencers having real success–and what they went through to have it.  

Happy Happy Houseplant went from having 256K Instagram followers to 609K in just one year. And they nailed that growth without losing that genuine connection to their audience. How did they do it? Mandi, the owner of the company, is a dear friend and client of mine and she shared all about the process in my podcast episode HERE and I’m breaking it down in this post. 

 

 

The Starting Point of Happy Happy Houseplant’s Success

After 12 years of doing home renovation projects for her business, Vintage Revival, Mandi made the switch to Happy Happy Houseplant in 2017. When she initially set up an Instagram account for her new business, she gained 80K followers right away. As of last year, the account had around 200K. She came to the point where she knew that if she had grown the account that much, she could grow it even more. 

However, the hard reality was she had to create content, manage customer service, and post consistently, or else their sales would noticeably dip. She had to show up so intensely and was hitting burnout. It was all on her shoulders and she didn’t know what to do. 

She decided to hire a consultant who helped turn things around. While it was scary to hire a consultant full-time, Mandi quickly realized how much it was worth it. She said it’s wild how finding the right people and implementing the right systems completely transformed her follower count, reach, sales, and even her personal and mental experience. 

What was stopping Mandi from making the leap was fear and even some past trauma when things didn’t work out in her business. But what helped her finally commit was hiring a professional marketing consultant who could understand where she was coming from and then know what steps she needed to take to have success in her business. 

Mandi needed that expert view of how to transform her business and she attributes the success of where she is now to hiring help and sharing that load. If Mandi’s experience resonates with you at all and you’re looking for clarity, reach out to my team. We’d love to give you that expert advice to get your business where you want it to be and the support to get it there!

 

 

3 Ways to Connect With Your Audience (Even if You’ve Hired a Marketing Team)

Happy Happy Houseplant has mastered the skill of creating a space for people that feels different than the noise of the internet. Being able to form connections and relationships and infusing that into a product and a business system is huge. Once you find a product that can produce that kind of success, you will be unstoppable. 

 

Audience Connection Tip #1: Think about how you want your audience to feel and let that inspire how you show up.

Happy Happy Houseplant has two happy’s in its name on purpose. Mandi wants people to feel absolute delight whenever they visit the business website or Instagram account. This feeling is what inspires Mandi how to show up and talk to her audience. 

Think about what feeling you want your audience to have. Whatever the feeling is, decide on it and then make a plan of how to show up to inspire that feeling. How can you promote that feeling through the music you choose for your reels, what you write in your captions, or the funny references you make? Be super intentional about how you show up and what you want your audience’s experience to be when they view your content.

 

Audience Connection Tip #2: Turn your Instagram stories into your secret weapon.

Your Instagram stories can easily become your secret weapon when it comes to building a connection with your audience. You have a little bit more free will in your stories than you do with reels or Instagram posts. The algorithm works differently with your stories so you can chat more about everyday things rather than just your niche using as many keywords as possible. 

The people who watch your stories are your favorite people. They are the people who know you, love you, and want to know more about you and your business. Showing up in your stories is the perfect way to deepen that connection to your audience and talk to them as if you were chatting with your best friend while out to lunch. 

If you want more tips on the best strategies for your Instagram stories, check out my blog post HERE. 

 

Audience Connection Tip #3: Know your target audience and gain their trust.

You gain your target audience’s trust by meeting them where they are and proving that you know how they feel. Use words they would use to describe their problem. Talk about things that they would talk about. For example, Mandi knows her audience does not care about the scientific method behind their magic plant fertilizer. But they do care about having a product that works and having plants in their home to make it more beautiful.

Think about what your audience wants to hear. You can figure this out by paying attention to the comments people leave in your stories, posts, and dms. This will tell you a lot about your audience, so use those clues to your advantage and include those same terms in your content. When you can show up in a way that connects you to your audience then they will start to trust you more. 

 

 

How to Create & Use Systems While Still Feeling Creative

Mandi is a super creative and spontaneous lady, so creating systems does not come naturally to her. This is something my team and I have coached her on and we’ve made some great progress. She now feels like she has systems in place that work in her life so that she can still feel creative. 

Mandi implemented several systems that allow her to be more efficient with her time and, so it doesn’t fall on her to remember and do everything. (Google Calendar works wonders.) She now has three work days and two creative days every week which allows her to stay on task for those work days and have something to look forward to for those creative days. 

If you are a fun and spontaneous person like Mandi, maybe this type of schedule would help you too. You can’t shut down your creative side, but you need routine and systems in place to help you make more money and move the needle in your business. Hire my team to help you get organized and make more money for your business–all while still filling your creative cup.

 

 

3 Ways to Connect With Your Audience

This post only covers the surface of what Mandi shared regarding the 3 ways to connect with your audience. If you want to dig deep with us, check out the episode HERE. Plus, if you want to know more tips and strategies for growing your business on Instagram, make sure you’re following me on Instagram! You can find me @iammichellegifford.