6 Reasons You Need an Instagram Strategy

If you’ve spent 0.2 seconds on my Instagram, you’ll see that I really love talking about social media strategies. What to include, how to create one, and obviously how I can make your life easier by creating an Instagram strategy for you.

But why the heck do you need one in the first place? 

Is an Instagram strategy the new business plan, where you put together a hundred page document outlining your plan, only to throw it in a drawer and never look at it again? 

Nope. 

Not at all. 

Please don’t do this. 

First of all, printing that much paper is expensive and unnecessary. 

Second of all, it’s true that an Instagram strategy only works as hard as you do. If you create it and forget it, it won’t get you very far. But when you create a strategy, follow it, and tweak it as your business evolves, you’ve got an actionable roadmap to growing your business on Instagram. 

If “actionable roadmap to success” doesn’t convince you, here’s six reasons why you need an Instagram strategy. From someone who’s run accounts with a strategy, and without. 

1. Get Clear on Your Goals

My #1 reason for encouraging you to get an Instagram strategy is so you can get crystal clear on your business goals and in turn, your Instagram goals. 

Without a strategy it can be challenging to figure out what kind of content to create, what’s working, and how to measure success. 

A strategy takes care of all that for you. You’ll outline your three most important business goals and use them to create your Instagram goals.

For example: if your business goal is to bring in new customers you’ll focus on brand awareness. If your business goal is to nurture existing customers and build more meaningful (and profitable) relationships with them, your Instagram goal will be to increase engagement. 

Those goals will guide what kind of content you should create and a way to measure success so you know what’s working.

2. Use Your Time & Ideas Efficiently

If you’re posting and crossing your fingers, you’re wasting time and ideas. 

You’re wasting time creating content that didn’t support your goals. 

You’re wasting ideas that weren’t set up for success. 

Just because the content flops doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea. Maybe it needed to be a reel instead of a graphic, or maybe it would have done better with a stronger hook, or maybe that platform just isn’t where your customers are. None of which you’ll know without an Instagram strategy. 

A strategy will give you the opportunity to use your time efficiently and it’ll ensure you’re getting the most value out of each post idea. 

3. Stay Organized and Consistent

One of the first pieces of feedback I get from new clients is how organized I am. And it’s true. I am the *queen* of beverages and organization. 

But I can’t take all the credit because having an Instagram strategy will 10000% help you stay organized. And it’ll help you stay consistent. 

Before creating a strategy, you’ve probably got all kinds of notes and screenshots about how you’re approaching your Instagram. Maybe a few google docs, notes files, a folder of screenshots of what’s done well. 

An Instagram strategy puts alllllll of that information (and so much more) in one easy-to-reference document to help you stay organized. 

And when you’ve got a document that outlines your goals, how you’ll achieve them, the kind of content you’ll post and what platforms you’ll post it to, a posting schedule, detailed notes about the look and feel of the content, and more – it’s hard NOT to stay consistent.

An Instagram strategy gives you everything you need in one easy-to-follow document. 

4. Ensure Measurable Growth

How can you measure growth if you’re not…measuring growth? 

Exactly. 

You can’t. 

When you create an Instagram strategy you’ll identify key performance indicators (or KPIs) for each goal. 

If your goal is to increase brand awareness, you’ll measure reach and impressions. If your goal is to increase your engagement, you’ll measure content interactions. 

Tracking KPIs on a weekly and monthly basis will allow you to measure your growth so you can decide if your strategy is working.

5. Verify That Your Instagram Efforts are *Actually* Growing Your Business

If you’re tracking your progress and ensuring measurable growth, you’ll be able to tell if your Instagram efforts are *actually* growing your business. 

An Instagram strategy will give you the opportunity to create a plan to ensure your content is aligned with your business goals. 

As fun as it can be to film reels and engage with your community and create memes that make your community lol, if the content isn’t growing your business then it’s time to do something different. 

6. Have Fun on Social Media Again

It is possible to have fun on social media! I promise.

While it’s hard work and takes a lot of skill, Instagram can be fun. It doesn’t have to be a stressful, soul-sucking, agonizing task you dread. 

Most entrepreneurs who hate Instagram hate it because they’re working hard, spending hours creating content, but it’s not getting them anywhere. An Instagram strategy takes care of that problem. 

You’ll have everything you need to create content that actually grows your business so you can focus on finding fun and joy in the process.

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Hiiii! 👋🏻 I’m Sarah, an online entrepreneur & marketer of over 10 years. I went from starting a clean beauty blog right out of high school to managing social media for Canada’s largest wellness retailer. Now I live in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina, helping high-growth entrepreneurs get SEEN so they can build a crazy fun life their business supports, and not the other way around.

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