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Want to know how to market your business without Instagram? Whether you’ve never used Instagram before and want to avoid it, or you are currently marketing your business on Instagram but have had enough and want to be able to move away from the platform you are in the right place. Keep on reading to find out how to market your business without Instagram.
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HOW TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS WITHOUT INSTAGRAM
Other social media platforms
If you are still interested in using social media to market your business, but just specifically want to avoid Instagram then there are a range of other social media platforms that you can use. For example, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.
Each social media platform works differently, requires you to create different content and will have a different user base. Your job as a business owner is to work out what social media platform makes sense from three different angles: your business, your ideal client and you. You want to choose a social media platform that showcases your business in the best light possible, you want to choose a social media platform that your ideal client user and you want to choose a social media platform that you understand, and ideally, enjoy creating content for and using. Finding that sweet spot is important, especially if you are running your own marketing.
Content Marketing
Another way to market your business without Instagram is to use content marketing. If you are new to the idea of content marketing I go into this type of marketing in more detail in What is content marketing?. However, essentially content marketing is where you create and distribute content (visual, written, audio or graphic) with the purpose of attracting an audience to consume that content. Now you might argue that social media marketing is content marketing since you are creating and distributing content with the hope of attracting your ideal client, but in this instance content marketing is focusing on long-form content such as YouTube videos, podcast episodes and blog posts.
If you are a coach, consultant or online service provider and you aren’t currently creating long-form content (via a blog, YouTube channel or podcast) then it is definitely something you should seriously consider. You can find out more about the pros and cons of each type of long-form content in Blog vs Podcast vs YouTube: Where should you create content for your business.
One of the common reasons business owners want to learn how to market their business without Instagram is they are fed up with how much time they have to give to the platform. Instagram can require a lot of time between planning content, creating content, posting content, engaging with comments, responding to DMs and trying to keep up-to-date with the best practices on the platform. It can require a lot of time for not much reward. Unlike Instagram where you can get caught on the hamster wheel of having to continually create new content because the life-span of a post on Instagram is very short, long-form content is totally different. When you create long-form content you can create evergreen content that can be valuable to people for years in the future and when you combine that with good SEO and a funnel you can make one piece of content generate business for years to come.
If you don’t already have an online funnel in your business you can learn about how to create your first online funnel here .
Email Marketing
One of the major downsides of marketing your business on Instagram is you don’t own Instagram. At any point the platform could disappear (although it is pretty unlikely), but more likely is that you could be hacked or have your account blocked. Those years of work could disappear in the blink of an eye. As a business owner you should be looking to market your business in spaces that you own – your email list and your website.
Email marketing is a very powerful marketing tool and it is very rare I come across a business that has a legitimate reason to not be using email marketing. Unlike Instagram where you have to send out mass messaging because you are communicating on a one-to-many basis, email marketing gives you the opportunity to become sophisticated without your messaging as you are able to gather data on subscribers on your mailing list.
Once you delve into email marketing the options are endless. In the first instance you can send a regular newsletter to the whole of your mailing list. You can find out more about how to start an email newsletter.
Once you’ve done that you can look into other options such as automated email sequences. This is where you can send one, or a number of emails, automatically based on an action someone has taken. To get you started here are 3 automated email sequences every small business owner should try.
Then overtime you’ll be able to build up more data in your email service provider, which will help you to understand your subscribers more. This gives you the opportunity to be able to spend targeted emails with messaging that is based on the information you have about them, rather than blasting one message out to all of your followers on Instagram and hoping for the best.
WORK WITH ME 1-TO-1
If you are struggling to work out the best ways to market your business then I might be able to help you. I offer a range of 1-to-1 services aimed specifically at helping solopreneurs and small service-based business owners to improve their marketing and grow their business. Depending on your needs you can book a Strategy Day where I’ll help you put together your overall marketing strategy. And if you need accountability I offer a 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring programme where I’m by your side for 6-months with ongoing training, support and accountability. To find out more about my services click here.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Most business owners will use Instagram to market their business for two reasons: firstly, it is free and secondly, there is a ready-made audience there for them to try and put themselves in front of. When you are starting your business no one has heard of you and you’ll likely not have money for advertising so instead you look for free ways to market yourself. Whilst marketing on Instagram is free financially (if you do it all yourself) it can be costly from a time perspective, which is why many business owners later on decide they need to learn how to market their business without Instagram.
A major problem most business owners face is not getting enough traffic to their website. Your website should have been created to market your business 24/7, but it only works if people come to your website. As a result most business owners are constantly trying to market their business and drive more traffic to their website, but what if you could drive more traffic to your website without much more work. Well you can, when you focus on SEO.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is where you focus on building your websites with search engines in mind. Your focus is on creating web pages that will rank for certain keywords with the ultimate aim being that once you rank Google (and other search engines) will be driving people to your website. And since people are coming to your website as a result of a search you know they are actively looking for what you are providing.
Pinterest is often lumped together with other social media platforms, and whilst you have a profile on Pinterest it isn’t a social media platform it is a visual search engine. Pinterest is a great option if you want to drive traffic to your website. Unlike many social media platforms where the aim is to keep users on the platform, and as a result the platforms can make it difficult for users to leave and visit other websites, Pinterest is designed so that every Pin you create can have a link so it easy for people to get to your website. You can create pins for your long-form content, sales pages, lead magnets and so much more.
Have affiliates or create a referral scheme
Another option you have to market your business without Instagram is to have affiliates or create a referral scheme. You don’t have to be the only person who is marketing your business. By taking affiliates onboard or create a referral scheme you can be building a number of people who are out there marketing your business in addition to you. Affiliates or referrals usually receive a commission or kickback for recommending you so it will have an impact on your profit margin, but it can be a great option to increase the visibility of your business.
There you have it! You now know how to market your business without Instagram.
Instagram is definitely not essential when it comes to marketing your business. As you can see there are numerous other options and there are plenty more than I have mentioned in this blog post. I hope you can now see how easy it is to market your business without Instagram.
In the comments I would love to know what you are going to try as an alternative to marketing your business on Instagram.
WANT HELP TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS AND SIGN DREAM CLIENTS WITHOUT INSTAGRAM?
I’m a Chartered Marketer with a passion for help solopreneurs and small service-based business owners to improve their marketing and grow a business they love. I specialise in helping business owners to market their business in a way that feels right to them, whilst also attracting their dream client.
I offer 1-to-1 services so I can give personalised advice and ensure you are growing your business in your way. So whether you want to create a new strategy in a day or you want ongoing support and accountability to ensure you consistently take the right actions, I’m here to help! You can find out more about how we can work together here.
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