Introduction
Instagram is a powerful marketing tool, but it’s not always easy to manage. Not only do you have to post quality content regularly, but you also have to engage with your audience and respond to comments and DMs in a timely fashion.
The good news is that having a virtual assistant can make this easier for you! Here are some ways that their help can be invaluable when it comes to managing your Instagram presence:
1. Create an editorial calendar
An editorial calendar is a tool that helps you organize your content by date, time, and type. It’s a way to plan your content strategy and ensure you share good posts at the right time.
For example, if you want to post about a new product on Instagram, it’s helpful to know when your audience will most likely see it.
That way, you can schedule that post for when there are more online—say, during the day on Wednesdays in the summertime.
Your goal is to end up with an organized list of ideas that covers all aspects of your marketing strategy (and some inspiration for future ones).
Once it’s created, keep this calendar updated as often as possible so that whenever someone asks what kinds of things they should be posting about or how often they should be posting them, there’s no guesswork involved—refer back here.
2. Increase Engagement
You can use Engagement to your advantage.
There are many ways to use Engagement to build your business and attract new followers.
If you want more likes, try reaching out to other users who have posted similar content and ask them if they’d be willing to share it with their audience.
For example, if you have a product perfect for summer picnics, try inviting local businesses or event planners and asking them if they’d be interested in featuring your product in their next picnic advertisement.
-This is one of the easiest ways to increase Engagement on Instagram. It involves encouraging others who already have engaged audiences (or larger ones) than yours will ever achieve on its own.
The same goes for getting more comments: reach out and comment on other posts by accounts similar to yours, but don’t make it seem like an advertisement or spam account–do so casually.
3. Manage your DMs and comments
So, let’s say you’re having a great day. The month is ending, and you’re feeling on top of the world. It’s Tuesday afternoon, and you decide to take some time at the park.
Your phone buzzes with an Instagram notification from one of your followers asking if they can buy your work online, so you open up the app and reply: “Hi there! Thanks for reaching out.
I’m sorry that my work isn’t available for purchase yet—I’m working on getting it up on Etsy!”
You feel pretty good about how that went down; it was polite, professional, and informative without being too stuffy or formal.
But what if they were being rude instead of being asked by someone who genuinely wants to buy something from you (or is interested in discovering more about what they could buy)?
Maybe they left a comment like “Nice photos” with no context other than their name or username in bold font below their words (which seems kinder than saying it outright).
-This means nothing to anyone but them—it doesn’t tell us anything about who this person is outside of their Instagram account—so why reward them with a response?
4. Post at the right time
You can use a virtual assistant’s ability to research the most effective times to post on Instagram. They can help you determine when your audience is most likely to see your content, increasing the Engagement and reach of each post.
A study by Sprout Social showed that posts published during prime time receive 21% more likes than those published at other times.
The same study found that posting at least six hours apart from other brands in your industry will help you build a following and establish yourself as an authority in your field.
5. Research for you
The other thing you can do with a VA is research; we all know how important that is.
Researching your competition, researching your audience, researching the best hashtags and times to post—it’s all part of the game.
To be successful on Instagram, you need to know what your target audience wants and when they want it. And this takes time—but not as much time if you have someone else doing it for you.
Virtual assistants are trained in strategic planning; they know how to research your topic thoroughly to develop ideas and strategies that are surefire winners.
They’ll look at all of the data on Instagram and make recommendations based on what’s worked for other brands like yours in the past (or within similar niches).
-This will help open up doors for building more Engagement with followers by giving them content that speaks directly to their interests or needs (which ultimately leads back around again: aren’t we just talking about understanding who these people are?).
A Virtual Assistant can help with your Instagram presence.
You’ve created a business and need to keep it running smoothly and professionally.
A Virtual Assistant can help keep your Instagram presence running smoothly and professionally.
-This is especially helpful if you’re new to Instagram or don’t have the time or expertise to manage all aspects of your feed yourself.
Conclusion
This article plans to give you a few thoughts about how to use a virtual assistant to help with the day-to-day operations of Instagram. With these tips in mind, you’ll be able to run your account more efficiently and effectively.
