Are you trying to grow your Instagram account but just aren’t sure if your content is actually working? It can be tricky to know, especially if you are just starting out. If you feel this way, it’s probably time to audit your Instagram. This is where you look at your bio, content, name, etc. and see if they truly represent your brand in a cohesive and professional way. In this post, I’m going to walk you through how to audit your Instagram the right way. Let’s get started!

 

 

Besides having your Instagram account look beautiful and well-designed, you want to make sure it attracts your target audience and will lead them into loyal buyers. This post will only brush the surface on this part, so if you want a deeper dive on this topic you can check out my post HERE. Otherwise, let’s start auditing your account! 

 

 

How to Audit Your Instagram the Right Way

My team and I just completed an audit for a creator who has a substantial amount of followers and has used the same strategy for a couple of years now. She hit a plateau and she wanted to figure out what was up. If you’re using the same strategy you started using years ago, it is not going to help you grow anymore. Instagram has changed and it will keep changing, which means you need to switch up your strategy in order to keep up. 

If by the end of this post, you feel like you want a little bit more help on the auditing, reach out to my team HERE. We offer Instagram audits where you’ll get a personal, detailed 14-page PDF of what you can do to fix or change in order to grow your Instagram account. 

 

Audit Your Instagram Bio

When new people visit your Instagram, they should be able to automatically understand what type of content you create and how you serve them. You do this by having a really clear and concise Instagram bio. Your bio should include who you serve, how you serve them, and what you want them to do.

The temptation here is to be cute and clever in your bio, but you only have 150 characters, so you need to be clear. Always choose clarity over cute and clever. As Donald Miller says, if you confuse then you lose. So be clear by simply stating who you serve, how you serve them, and what you want them to do. 

Remember your bio is not set in stone. I am constantly updating my bio because my business and goals are changing. So, pick a bio and then tweak it as needed. You can choose if you want to start from scratch here or edit the bio you already have. If you choose the latter option, look at it unemotionally and identify anything in there that is distracting people from understanding what exactly you do for them.

 

 

Audit Your Instagram Content

Once people read your bio, they are going to skim over your content and see if it backs up what you promise them. If you promise your people in your bio that you help them grow on Instagram but then all of your content is pictures of you, your family, and vacationing, they aren’t going to follow you.

Make sure your content serves your audience AND your potential audience. That is the most important. Your content cannot be selfish. Your content is not about you. It’s about the people you serve. You are already all in on your business, so your content doesn’t need to convince yourself to be there. The trick is to convince others to show up and you do that by making all of your content about them and what they need.

You also want to make sure your content is searchable, saveable, and shareable. You do this by posting valuable content that either entertains, educates, or empowers–and by including keywords and SEO! Check out my post HERE to learn more about all the places to include keywords on your Instagram. Using them will help you pop up in more searches and help more of your ideal people find you and give you a follow. 

 

Audit Your Instagram Brand

Do you have a few fonts, colors, and templates you use for your Instagram content? This can make a huge difference in showing up professionally on Instagram. When you have content that is cohesive, easy to read, and pleasing to the eye you automatically take your brand up a notch. You can easily create those brand items on Canva for free and start using them on Instagram. It is so easy to do and definitely worth the time to set up! 

 

 

Audit Your Instagram Content Strategy

I know we already talked about creating valuable content centered on serving your audience, but we are going to take it a step further here. Does your content attract, nurture, and sell? I’ve talked about this concept a few times on my blog now, but I’m touching on it again because it is one of the driving strategies that exploded my following. 

We can often get stuck in creating content in just one or two of these three areas, but it’s key to create for all three. Creating content for all three areas is what will grow your audience AND your business. You can check out my post HERE which goes into detail about what this content looks like. 

One thing I will say here is that implementing this attract, nurture, and sell content strategy will not bring immediate results. It will take a few weeks or even a month before you notice a difference. But keep with it because when I did (and my clients did) that’s when the followers and engagement exploded. 

 

Audit Your Instagram Content Consistency

If you want to be considered a reliable business that people trust then your message needs to be clear and consistent. I’m giving you permission here to keep saying the same messages over and over again. And when I say messages, I mean the messages that support your overall goal of how you’re helping your audience. 

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, it’s time to commit to creating content. Creating and posting content needs to be a part of your daily schedule because this is probably your biggest marketing arm. And do not post content just to post. Let it be meaningful and add value to your business. You do that by creating a content plan and planning ahead. Stop posting on a whim and instead, sit down and plan out the content you want to post. Block out time to create the content and then schedule it out. 

Then you can look back at the content after a month or so and see how it performed. Your analytics will show you what content performed well, what your audience is interested in, and what you should create more/less of. Be strategic about your growth because you don’t have time to waste. This strategy is the fastest way to grow!

 

 

How to Audit Your Instagram the Right Way

Alright, friend, I hope this post acted as a good guide on how to audit your Instagram the right way. Remember, you can reach out to my team HERE if you want some extra support with this process! I also have a master class you can check out HERE that takes a deep dive into the attract, nurture, and sell content funnel. You can find me on Instagram @iammichellegifford so come give me a follow because I’d love to connect!