Kassaundra 0:00

I'm already posting content showing up in stories and optimizing my profile page. Why do I need to be engaging on Instagram, too? Let's dive into it today in our first episode of Social September.

Kassaundra 0:15

Welcome back to Schooled in Socials. I love me a good theme. And don't even get me started on a title that has alliteration. So I'm officially deeming this month, Social September, where we're going to chat about topics specific to engaging on social media, aka being social. And like any good teacher, I always try to start off with the why behind what we're learning and discussing. So today is all about why you should even bother engaging on Instagram in the first place.

Kassaundra 1:00

If you follow other social media experts, or read social media based blogs, or even listen to other social media based podcasts, you've probably noticed that each person has a different take on engagement. Some experts say you don't really need to engage with your audience. Others say you actively have to spend time seeking out new people to engage with, and some are kind of in the middle. And I think the reason for these differing viewpoints are their experiences with their own accounts and the niche of clients they serve. Because it's true that some people out there can have great success selling their products without doing a lot of engagement. While other people are finding they need to do some legwork in the engagement department. What I believe is it comes down to is your audience - Do you need to create strong connections with your audience to get them to move further down your funnel? For someone selling earrings, it might not be as crucial to chat in someone's DMS as it is to create visually stunning pieces and content that get people to click through and buy. I could totally be wrong about this. But this is the first example that kind of came to my mind. Now, for someone selling real estate, it probably is going to take a little bit more of a personal touch, to get that person who saw them on a reel to commit to listing their home with them. Right? There's just a bigger level of trust and connection needed there to move down that funnel, then it might be with someone who is maybe selling a smaller product like earrings, or something that is really just about the visual that gets people to purchase.

Kassaundra 2:58

And since I serve teacher sellers, just like you and I work to create social media strategies that get results in this niche. Here is my stance on the engagement debate. You can forgo engaging with your audience and still probably sell some resources. But creating connections with your followers is going to help them feel more comfortable using your resources in their classroom, versus maybe a random store they found on TPT as well as get them to come back and be a repeat customer. And this is me talking from experience with my own clients. I cannot tell you the amount of times I've been doing community management for a client and I respond to someone's comment on one of their posts and they come back and they're so grateful for the response. And usually they gush about the resources that they've already purchased. Or I'll respond to someone in the comments and all of a sudden, they're popping up in the DMS to talk about what I responded to them in the comments about and talk about the resources they're interested in or that they've already purchased. And so what I'm seeing is that taking that little time, having that small touchpoint with a teacher, who like might be struggling or like really needs to be heard can make all the difference in the world for your business. Plus, I just inherently believe that teachers are community focused people, they want to make connections with others. They want to be social, they want to talk shop. I mean, there's a reason that they stand in front of a classroom of 25 or more kids every single day, right? And by opening up space for them to do that on our social media platforms, and engaging in those conversations with them. We build trust and position ourselves as experts in our teaching niches.

Kassaundra 4:56

Now sure, engaging on Instagram it can be a strategic part of your social media plan. But we don't have to make it complicated. We just need to think about bringing back the social part of social media. That's all. Just respond to comments and DMS from your followers, get curious, ask them questions, learn more about who they are and what their teaching experience looks like. If you set out to do that, I can guarantee you're going to be doing a lot more than most people or businesses who are just out there trying to sell them something. Later in the month, we're also going to chat about how to engage when you don't have a lot of time. So if you're feeling the time constraint right now, don't throw engagement completely out of the window. I've got a strategy that will work for you.

Kassaundra 5:47

So even though some social media experts say yes, and some say not so much, when it comes down to serving teachers, I believe it is integral that we work to make connections with them, if we want them to invest in our resources for their classrooms. And sometimes I get a little worried that social media has lost the social aspect. So I would love to hear about a time where someone engaged with you on social media, and it helped you build a genuine relationship. Just hop right into my DMs with all of those social stories.