How do you use an Organic Growth Strategy on Instagram?
Could you just talk a little bit about yourself and how you got started?
Yeah, absolutely. So I think the best term that Iāve coined myself is a Social Media Strategist. On YouTube, I release weekly videos to help people better leverage social media, to enhance their brand, their business and their presence online. So everything from tutorials to strategy, and then my Instagram is an extension of that.
And how did you get into that?
Thatās a great question. Itās kind of a weird story because I always had this mindset that āI was going to be somethingā ā I think everyone has that mindset, but I thought about it from a tactical perspective.
I was looking at entrepreneurs from a very young age. Iāve been following Gary Veeās content for a long time. And some other people like that, like Mark Cuban, Iām a huge fan of his.
And then I thought about it. The
only logical destination was to go through social media. I realized pretty quickly that even while leveraging social, you need to have some sort of unique reason for being there. And more importantly, a reason for people to follow you.
So through doing that, I realized that I didnāt really have that yet, but I became obsessed with social media platforms. And then organically figured out that my natural aptitude toward social media became my unique value. And it just kind of happened again organically from there where I started sharing that stuff, all this came very, very easy to me and not to others.
When you first started, for example, posting videos, what was that like? What kind of content was that? Was it just experimental?
Yeah, very much. I always am a huge believer in doing a little bit of thought and planning before any action. I think not too much, obviously, because the over-analysis process can definitely set in, but I would say I probably at the beginning had too many influences coming in.
I saw that as you make content, certain things will resonate with people. And I found it very quickly. I actually started off in the fitness niche, because that was one of my passions in my life.
And it honestly didnāt pop off the way that I was hoping for it to. And looking back in retrospect, it makes a lot of sense because while Iām passionate in that field, I would consider myself like a six or seven out of ten within that. And when youāre competing against a sea of people who are ten out of ten, or those who are willing to become a ten out of ten, I never really stood a chance.
Whereas social, I would say naturally Iām about an eight or nine out of ten, and I am willing to get to that ten out of ten every single day. So it really formed that direction from there. It was because the market dictated that that was where I had value and I continued to have value.
And what changed your mind about Instagram?
I changed my mind pretty shortly after I had made an account. I think itās because Iām a huge believer in education and positive consumption. So, I saw that you dictate what you consume on any social platform and thatās including Instagram.
I was surrounding myself with awesome people. And I think the big āahaā moment for me was the true one-to-one aspect of Instagram that I think is unmatched on any other platform. That interaction you can have with a real human being that is like-minded and could potentially become one of your friends or a future colleague or customer.
āThe Big āahaā moment was the true one-to-one aspect of Instagram that is unmatched by any platform.ā
I donāt think that exists anywhere else. So I saw the real opportunity there from a business perspective, as well as a networking one very early on. And that was the big sell for me ā how many relationships can be cultivated through Instagram.
You made a YouTube video where you showed the process of using an organic growth strategy to get an Instagram account from 0-10,000 followers. Could you talk a little bit about whatās essential for people when theyāre starting to grow an account from scratch?
So people had said before that you need lots of time or effort or countless growth hacks or tactics to grow. So for that Instagram account, I utilized organic growth strictly by posting content and then leveraging tags. That was all I did for that page, but I started by knowing my exact niche.
I knew exactly who I was targeting for that specific example. For anyone who hasnāt watched the video, the account was a theme page of The Office. Iām a massive fan of the show, so I have a good eye for what would be interesting to other fans. And then I just started posting content. When it comes to a theme page, thereās no such thing as too much content.
So I was literally posting like four or five times a day. Iād schedule them all at the beginning of the week and just let it run. And it eventually grew and snowballed. Iād say that the principles that you want to apply when youāre starting from brand new are to get started and get posting because thatās going to bring you an opportunity to bring people into your world.
From there, you really want to ensure that you actually take the time to truly connect with anybody who connects with you. So I was replying to every single comment and every single DM, all that good stuff. Another thing I would definitely recommend doing is supporting yourself with more like-minded people. So going out and seeking people that are doing what youāre doing that are similar in size and scope to you.
Youāre going to want some of those people within your audience or within your following, so you can actually interact with their stuff and then connect with people who are interested in that. I would definitely say do this ā I call it building your tribe.
A consistent posting schedule is also very, very key. Hashtags are also very, very key. A lot of people, are too confused by them that they donāt even try them or they try to use them like their Mom or Grandma would, where itās like, they just describe exactly whatās in the photo.
So,
definitely become comfortable with hashtags because as a small account, that is one of the biggest tools that you have to grow. And then right now at the time of recording this, Reels is also a huge feature simply because of the priority that theyāre putting on the content. So for anybody whoās unaware, whenever a social media platform ā especially Instagram ā rolls out a new feature, they put it in front of everybodyās face as much as possible to normalize it and to get more people using it.
So right now, if you go onto your Explore page and look at a tag, theyāre giving a huge chunk of
real estate on your screen to Reels. So, that means that youāre competing in a smaller, less competitive pool of people and youāre getting favorable treatment. That would be kind of the broad-stroke advice that Iād give to someone starting from zero today.
Are there any specific mistakes that you could pick out or see that a lot of people are making on Instagram?
Yeah, for sure. One of the most serious mistakes that I see so often is people creating solely for themselves. So often Iāll hear someone say that something is great content just because itās a high-quality photo ā literally a high-resolution photo. Thatās not whatās quality, thatās not what value is, I donāt care what platform youāre on.
Youāre creating for other people. You can love it, but if your goal is to grow, it matters more about what your audience thinks about it. Create for someone else, not for yourself. I think thatās the biggest mistake that I see and not focusing on value, especially for businesses.
They donāt see the importance of value. And instead, itās like a big online ad, and who wants to follow that? Like I always ask them that question. Itās like, would you follow this? And the answer is often, no.
And if that is the case, thatās a problem. So you need to try to get into that mind frame of, okay, how can I shift this and actually make this a valuable place to be for our ideal client? And you do that by providing them with resources. There are so many different kinds of content ideas that you can create, but when you shift your mind frame from just the sake of posting to actually posting valuable content for a specific group of people that changes everything.
When it comes to your personal content strategy, do you have certain rules that you always follow when youāre posting or planning out your posting? I think a good thing is to, have a few pillars that go along with your personal brand. That means you are never going against the grain of who you are as a person, but are also targeting like-minded people that you would want in your world and could derive value from your content.
Writing ideas down is actually a very, very important thing too. One is you wonāt lose them, but two, it also creates a sense of accountability to try to bring that idea to actual life and to a piece of content. And if you think it can bring value to someone it, probably can. Even if youāre starting out from zero, if it can help even one person, itās definitely worthwhile. They will be your best word-of-mouth advertising ever, even on social, because itās so easy, they can share your content, share your profile, etc.
Considering that you make content across multiple platforms like YouTube and Instagram, how do you convert users between the two platforms?
Thatās a great question. And one that so often people are like, Oh, āWhy donāt they come over?ā Itās very difficult to convert one to the other. Those who come from YouTube to my Instagram are my most loyal YouTube followers, and they come for that more intimate relationship. They come over to Instagram because they know they are somewhat separate, but you have the ability to convert. Both are going to have a proper alignment with what you offer, and I think that is going to be your best advice.
Knowing that you are on both platforms and that itās not going to be the exact same experience, just simply regurgitating content isnāt going to work. People want to consume different types of content on different platforms. So, if youāre not creating or at least repurposing specifically to that platform, youāre not going to have a high-value proposition for a potential follower.
āItās all about relationships when it comes to converting and then also maximizing your exposure on each channel.ā
Itās all about relationships when it comes to converting and then also maximizing your exposure on each, by doing things the right way, specific to each platform so that you do have the opportunity to grow on both. Thatās why the benefit of being across multiple platforms is awesome. Because if you make a deep connection with someone say on YouTube, they could become also an Instagram follower, and then it helps to feed both of them.
When it comes to analytics and metrics, what do you suggest?
Obviously, it pays to be creative and posting out really amazing content, but also checking in on whatās working from an analytical perspective to understand if it resonates with your audience. I call it social listening. I think that it is so important. See what resonates more with people, but then also externally within your niche find out the that things that work ā they work for a reason on social and theyāll work for you if it makes sense.
You donāt have to reinvent the wheel every time. Honestly, if thereās a reason why something worked for someone else, itāll probably work for you. I think the real skill thatās had from that is obviously looking at your analytics. That stuffās very important. But also going deeper than that and understanding why something worked.
So of course they got X amount of likes, X amount of comments, etc. but getting down to the root of why and the human element of a postās success, and why someone may have resonated with that, thatās going to make you a way better creator.
And then in terms of which analytics to cover, I look at all, Iād say Iām fairly like an analytics junkie when it comes to social. Just because I think information and knowledge is power and theyāre giving it to you for free. So theyāre literally giving you an opportunity or a report to then better yourself.
But what I would say to throw on top of that, is donāt become too consumed by performance post over post because a lot of people can get very easily discouraged and there is a major discrepancy, especially on Instagram and even YouTube of performance.
I have posts on my account that will get around 250 likes and some that will get close to 1000. So a lot of people will get one that has the 250 and theyāll be like, āOh, I suck and theyāll just stop.ā
I would say, take the opposite approach and say, okay, this didnāt resonate. Why? How can we refine, move forward, and then do it better next time?
Weāve noticed that a lot of people on Instagram will get in these content ruts and they just wonāt know what to post. So theyāll stop posting. What do you suggest to help with this sort of scenario?
Thatās very, very common. I think everyoneās dealt with that at some point or another, or theyāre bound to eventually.
I think it comes down to stepping away from all that a little bit and understanding that this stuffās going to happen. There are ebbs and flows to it. So donāt get so attached to the numbers. Like it doesnāt have anything to do with who you are, the value you provide, or what you are as a person.
So donāt get too, too attached to it. And then I think to go back to the basics, like start posting about stuff that you think would help you, or make you feel better. Chances are itās going to help other people as well. I would say stop overthinking it.
If youāre in that position, just post stuff that you think is valuable. And as long as you get back to that, chances are other people are going to as well. Itās important that you understand who youāre targeting. I think thatās very, very important. And typically if youāre in the right niche, youāre going to understand and have an eye for that.
There are so many other variables at play, so instead, say, okay, yeah, that didnāt do well, but I have an opportunity every single day to post something that may resonate with people. So just donāt stop trying is another one that I would say too.
Iāve had this on both Instagram and YouTube posts that didnāt perform well. But then later down the road, thereāll be like a customer that really, really resonated with that singular post. And I always ask, whenever people find me, Iām like, where did you find me from? And so often sometimes the deepest level of connection that Iāll have with people came from stuff that I almost debated deleting because it wasnāt doing well, but it really resonated with that one person.
So I think thatās really what itās about, is understanding that what resonates with some people may not resonate with others. And another thing is what resonates with the masses typically, isnāt going to result in that really deep level of connection.
And on that as well, would you separate your content into these different buckets? Like some types that will resonate, some that will generate awareness, and some that might convert?
Yes, that definitely plays a role. And even when I post some things, I think understanding that and coming into that with that kind of approach can really allow you to step away from the numbers a little bit and not be so attached to it. So like Iāll go into something, posting it and be like, okay, this probably doesnāt have a viral appeal, but I think this could really help even a small subset of my audience and thatās enough.
Naturally not everythingās going to go viral, even on some of these huge pages, like thereās still a big discrepancy in the performance of things. So understanding that they all play a role and serve a purpose, makes it so that youāre not so attached to every single post. If I could stress patience and the long-term perspective on social, I would stress that to every single person, because it definitely is a long game, especially if you want sustainable results.
Where can people find you and your content?
Sure! Iām just
Ben Leavitt over on YouTube, and then over on Instagram itās just
benleavitt_ ā you can find me there and if you want to connect with me, the best place to reach me is via Instagram DM.
If you have any questions or anything, I get back to everyone so Iāll definitely be in touch. We hope you enjoyed this episode of mastering the feed. If you want to learn more about organic Instagram growth strategies, how to use the right hashtags and more you can
visit our blog.