My 100th Blog Post! Do you use Instagram?
First of all, this is my 100th blog post, which as an average comes out at approximately 20 blog posts per year, on the basis that I have been at Wealthy Affiliate for almost 5 years!
I've been listening to Jay's last four webinars regarding Instagram. I've actually been listening to them rather than watching as this is something I can do when I am working my off-line business.
Instagram is a platform that I haven't really used or particularly understand. I use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but overall Twitter is my preferred platform as it seems really quick to use. I will sit down and watch Jay's comprehensive Instagram training in full very soon.
My question is does Instagram really work for you as listening to Jay's webinar it sounds like quite a bit of work although potentially good? Maybe you receive traffic to your website through Instagram but does it actually convert into a sale?
A few months ago I read a couple of quotes from a successful Twitter expert:
"Social media for many businesses has made you lazy & stopped you doing what you needed to be doing."
And:
"For most of you in business. Social media is not the answer. For most of you it will simply be a costly distraction."
I must admit that I agree with this Twitter expert, what are your thoughts please?
Just recently I heard of a successful Internet marketer who had around 650,000 likes on his Facebook page, he spent around 25% of his time on Facebook. However, after checking his analytics he realised that less than 1% of its traffic was coming from Facebook! He now uses his 25% extra time to populate his website.
On another note I was talking to a business owner who does not have a website, but simply uses Facebook and Instagram to promote his business.
It seems that different things work for different people, personally, I would prefer to focus on website content.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Thank you for reading.
Roy
Recent Comments
44
I am building content but in the meantime use twitter, Linked In, Instagram and Pinterest. I have stuff automated to go through my FB business page but FB has limited small businesses so much that I don't find it worth the effort to do much more.
Twitter and Pinterest seem to be my main ones, thought Pinterest only has about 3,200 followers but 17K visitors per month, not sure why.
Twitter has 26.5K folllowers and is the best one especially as I have quite a few big account followers, 100K upwards. It all helps as it widens the pool a lot.
Social media can be a time waster if you let it but as a business tool it is brilliant. No point just ambling around looking at stuff you have to have a purpose.
Whip through, speed read, comment, like and move on for Instagram.
Just retweet for those who have tweeted your products on Twitter, no point in wasting more time than that. I prefer people to do retweets rather than waste their time thanking me. When I began on there the general consensus was that you either said thank you for a retweet or you retweeted something of theirs. More followers does mean a bit more time but just retweet from the notifications tab. While on each account, move fast, if they do 2 of yours, then do the same but flick through and RT others you don't know, it produces new followers.
Pinterest I don't really 'get' how people waste so much time but it is a useful tool so I try to remember to go on and save a few pins, here and there and follow back any accounts that look okay.
Just don't feel you have to follow back on any account, go and look and if you are happy with what they put on and share then follow, if anything looks dodgy don't.
I always think that the more social media platforms you have the better your online presence and the more you are seen. Not having a website is a choice but I know people who look to see what the website is like before they buy, if they don't have one they don't bother.
Personally I check a company's twitter feed before buying. If it hasn't been touched in a while I don't bother. If it has lot's of complaints ditto.
Hope this helps, apologies for the essay.
Hello Linda,
Thank you for taking the time to reply and your very comprehensive answer, it looks like you have experimented a lot!
It is extremely interesting how people run their social media campaigns and it looks like it is working for you which is fantastic.
I think most of us have to be extremely careful that social media doesn't distract us too much, which is why limit myself on social media.
Enjoy your day.
Roy
I suppose I am fortunate that until I started a business I didn't have any social media pages considering them time wasters. I only do now for business.
For me Pinterest interests me more
but I think it depends on our blog
in relation to the products we promote.
Ingrid
Hello Ingrid,
I hope you're doing well, thank you for taking the time to reply to my blog post.
I hear what you are saying, at the moment Pinterest makes more sense to me, although I obviously have a lot to learn about Instagram. It's an interesting thread!
As you mention, I think different platforms work better for a particular niche.
Enjoy your day.
Roy
I read Neil Patel's report also but he generates over 1,600,000 monthly page views so 1% is 16,000 monthly visitors. He chose to spend too much time there but it can be done in half an hour a day and an hour a day on the weekends just fine.
I do better with Pinterest which links each image back to the related blog post. It at least builds media and deep links for my blog even when traffic is slow.
Hello Andy,
Thank you for your reply.
I hear you regarding Pinterest, to me, this seems quite powerful as people click on the images and are taken to a blog post. Whereas, with Instagram, you cannot use links in the same way. I need to learn more about Instagram!
Enjoy your day.
Roy
I tend to agree Roy. However, I find that I can get a lot more completed ,and far quicker, on Pinterest and Instagram then on twitter and Facebook and with better results. Jim
Hi Jim,
Thank you for taking the time to comment. It's interesting that you find Pinterest and Instagram quicker than Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest is something that I am trying to use more often. However, I need to sit down and study Jay's latest four webinars on using Instagram.
Have a great day.
Roy
Hi Roy, I agree, different things seems to work for different people, and like Jon said below, it probably depends on the niche.
However I also agree with the quotes you mentioned above, I believe that social media can just be a distraction, and I find that I dont get much traffic from social media , and even if I do, they rarely convert into sales. So for now , I'm continuing to focus on seo, as this traffic is what's converting for me.
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post.
I very much agree indeed that different platforms work better for different people depending on their particular niche.
It's good that you're focusing on content and seeing the results, I think for many of us, as you mention, social media is more of a distraction rather than a help.
Wishing you a very good day.
Roy
I agree with you Roy, I also prefer to focus on content. For some people it might work but I just can't put all of my focus on social media. And with the way it all changes, you just can't depend on it.
You can't go wrong with consistent content writing.
My daughters boyfriend has a Nascar website, has thousands of social media followers but has yet to make a dime. I'll stick to what's proven to be most effective which is content. Just my opinion! Great post Roy!
Hello Florencio,
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.
I hear you big time Florencio, my Webmaster who I have worked with for nine years now always said focus on website content, nothing else! Or maybe youtube, how correct he has been!
What a wonderful example of your daughter's boyfriend Florencio, to me this is a classic example of social media! It doesn't surprise me at all, I am with you!
Have a great day.
Roy
Hi Roy
I am with you when it comes to Instagram and in fact all social media. I don’t personally get a lot of traffic from any of it. However I think it depends on the niche you are working in.
I am in the local business and also the make money online niche which from personal experience don’t gain much traction in terms of good targeted traffic from social media.
For me it is organic and paid traffic where the results come from.
Just my twopenneth!
Jon
Hello Jon,
I hope that you are both doing well and that business is good.
I hear you regarding Instagram, different platforms work well for different businesses.
I also hear you regarding paid traffic and organic traffic, this works for me too.
Thank you for taking the time to comment, it's appreciated.
Enjoy your day.
Roy
Hello Roy,
I'd have to agree with you on Instagram, that it is the one social media platform I just don't get. At some level it makes no sense to me and as a result I've put it on the back burner. There's a chance that like most things I'm overthinking it. Maybe I'll revisit it at some point again.
As far as Facebook for me it's a great way to get and share valuable information.
Twitter is a great one for business owners.
One platform that most overlook is LinkedIn. Depending on your niche it could be a goldmine.
Cheers,
Mike
Hello Mike,
Thank you take the time to read my blog post and comment, it is appreciated.
It seems like we are thinking on exactly the same lines. I do have an Instagram account but I really don't understand it, however, with the help of Jay's webinars, I hope I will have a better understanding as they certainly are very informative.
One thing that I don't want to be doing is to spend time on a platform that won't bring me any benefits. The problem with all the social networks is that they can be time-consuming.
I don't actually spend much time on Facebook now, but I do try and Facebook, Tweet, LinkedIn and Pinterest my posts.
I like the fact that Twitter is quick to use, in fact, I use Twitter a lot for my off-line business.
I couldn't agree with you more Mike, as to regard LinkedIn, I find LinkedIn to be the most professional platform out of all the social media platforms. And yet it doesn't seem to get the publicity that it deserves. I would take a LinkedIn user much more seriously than a Facebook user.
Wishing you a great day.
Roy
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Hi Roy,
I have also been following Jay's Instagram series. I missed the last one and need to catch up.
My take away is Instagram is a great place to brand oneself using pictures not only business related but also about ones daily life. In other words it is a great place to how ones human self.
I liked how he used automation to make posts for special occasions using those external sources.
Overall, Instagram can be very helpful in becoming adding followers who eventually may check out ones external website posted in ones profile at the top.
All the best to you.
Edwin
Hello Edwin,
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post.
I find Twitter good for brand building and maybe Instagram can do the same for me. I definitely need to watch Jay's training again and take some action!
I hear you regarding that potentially people may come to our website, it's a case of creating website content versus social media, who wins!?
Enjoy your day.
Roy