Beth Williams

• Owner of Travels in Translation. A blog that focuses on travel within Asia and Asian culture.

• Started Instagram in October 2014 (only 1 year ago!)

• Majority of income now made through Instagram trips and brand collaborations

Beth Williams

@travelsintranslationtravelsintranslation.com

• Social media advertising will make up 25% of the entire ad market in 2016 {Carat}

• Marketers will spend $8.3 billion on social media ads in 2015 {Marketing Land}

• 38% of marketers say they will allocate more money to social media marketing over the next few years {Gigaom}

• Budgets are projected to double within the next 5 years {Social Fresh}

SO WHY INSTAGRAM?

INSTAGRAM IS STILL THE FASTEST GROWING SOCIAL NETWORK IN THE WORLD

300 million+ users

•70% of users check it daily•70 million photos daily•2.5 billion likes per day

• SOCIAL > EMAILAccording to WSJ, people spend more time on social media platforms than they do reading their emails

• INSTAGRAM > TWITTERInc. says top 25 brands see only 500K hits on Twitter vs. 19M on Instagram

• INSTAGRAM > PINTERESTAudience is 3x larger with 58% more engagement

• INSTAGRAM > FACEBOOKCommunity is a fraction of the size, yet interaction is 15x higher

==> PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY SEE YOUR POSTS

Why Instagram Wins

• Far less time to reach thousands of people

• Blog traffic is down, micro-blogging is the new thing

• I’ve slowed way down in the number of blog posts I write. And now I make more money. #sorrynotsorry

Instagram vs. (>) Blogging

• Instagram develops intimacy with your clients and community more than any other platform

• That one daily picture helps them get to know you, like you, and most importantly trust you.

• They’ll be more likely to come to you for recommendations, be a part of your community or even buy from you, because they’ll feel like you’re friends.

Instagram is the Secret Sauce to ANY Blog or Business

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO START

!!!

Instagram has opened more doors of opportunity for me than any other platform…

• Started at the end of October 2014

• Developed a strategy• In June 2015, I hit 20,000

followers (a mere 8 months)

• For free (not buying followers, not hiring help)

…and now I’m going to teach you how you can as well!

Popular≠

Profitable(But you do need a following to show you have community and influence)

In Four Easy Steps…

1.Getting discovered on Instagram (on platform)

2.Getting discovered on Instagram (off platform)

3.Converting potential followers into actual followers

4.Maintain your following

HOW TO DOUBLE YOUR INSTAGRAM FOLLOWING

(on the platform)

Getting Discovered on Instagram

1. Geotagging

This is a must for travel planning!

2. Hashtags

• Use 3-9 hashtags to be the most effective• If using more than one, place them in the

comment section• Do not use the most popular!

• If thousands of people are already doing it - DON’T DO IT

• Find the most relevant hashtags• Look at tourism board accounts, airlines, be as local as

possible• emojis• Iconosquare

Again, Popular ≠ Profitable

• By Instagram• Easier than ever before• Curated weekly content

• By large accounts• Not worth it IMHO

• By other bloggers or brand partnerships• Their followers are probably closer to

who you want anyways• Reach out to brands you’ve worked with

or ones you want to work with

3. Getting featured

4. The biggest secret to getting followers is…

SAYING “HELLO”

• How you meet in the real world applies online as well• Say “hello” to potential followers

• Like, comment, interact with them• 350• 3:1

• DO NOT just follow to unfollow !!! (insert angry face here)• Doing this will actually hurt you because who you follow and

interact with matters in Instagram’s algorithm.

• DO NOT spam others

(off the platform)

Getting Discovered on Instagram

• Try to be featured on top Instagram lists• If they don’t exist, create them

• Far more effective than being featured by larger accounts ON Instagram itself

1. Getting featured

• You probably have followers elsewhere online, direct them to your Instagram ONLY.• Links, links everywhere!

• Promote, promote, promote• Any interviews• People you meet

• Instagram cards

2. Direct your current following

You can’t push all social platforms and expect to see growth on all

• Plain and simple, if you really want to grow fast, and I mean really, really… then you might want to consider paying for ads*

• Facebook ads• Instagram ads

3. Ads

So now that you have some strategy to start growing that

following…

How to convert potential followers into actual

followers

What makes people decide to hit follow?

1.Your profile2.Your content

• Structure your bio to include keywords that give people the information they need to make them want to follow you• Who, what, why, when, where

• Give them something in return through your one link space• Hint: it’s not always a link to

your blog

Revamp your profile

• Make it worthwhile for them— there are so many great accounts on Instagram and you can only follow 7,000 or so at any given time.

• It’s now shifting to more than just pretty pictures• Inspirational, educational,

marketing• Okay to delete

Post the best of your best

Maintain that following

• Give them something in return

• Keep in mind how your current followers view your feed versus your potential followers.• 9 v 1

#1 reason people leave is because you don’t keep

them engaged.

• Don’t forget to go through your feed each day and actually like photos.

• It’s easy to get sucked in and stop liking other’s work.• Obviously there’s the simple solution such as responding to

comments.Go another step further and if they comment on your photo,

make the effort to go and at least like one of theirs. Comment if you can, but if you’re getting tons of comments this can get

overwhelming.**Delegating this to a VA is okay with the help of a style guide.

Questions?

Contact me!Email: beth@travelsintranslation.comInsta: /travelsintranslationTwitter: /translatetravelFacebook: /travelsintranslation