Instagram Followers to Loyal Customers and Income

Building a successful brand on Instagram isn't just about the numbers—it's about cultivating a community that genuinely connects with your content. Imagine turning a modest follower base into a six-figure income. That's precisely what I did by focusing intently on my target audience. In this episode, I share my personal journey and the critical steps to nurturing a quality following that is eager to engage and invest in your offerings. Learn how you too can convert your followers into loyal customers, elevating your income and impact.

Follow Dr. Sheena Howards' socials:
@drsheenahoward | Power Your Research

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

People were there that wanted to buy my stuff and work with me. They were my target audience and because of that because I was laser focused in speaking to writers and people who wanted books written that small follower count that was quality got me to six figures Now, of course, not just Instagram on its own, but that small follower count was a big part of me getting to six figures in my brand. I don't want my work to be stuck behind an academic paywall. I want to leave a legacy, I want to reach my potential and I want to change lives. This podcast, power your Research, is my attempt to help the smartest people in the world do that very thing. My hope is that you use the lessons I share to make more money than what your higher ed job can ever pay you. I've done it, my clients have done it, and so can you. My hope is that you'll apply what you learn here and one day join the Power your Research program where you can work with me one-on-one Follower count does matter, but there's two parts to what I am going to talk about Quality of your followers and quantity of your followers. Now, I've invested a lot into trying to understand particularly how to grow my followers on Instagram particularly. But one of the things that seemed to be consistent in the advice that I got for all of the programs I paid for, all of the coaches that I've paid for, the one thing that I would hear rather consistently is that the number of your followers does not matter. But I do not agree with that and I had never agreed with that even when I was coming up. But now that I'm on the other side of having 10 times more followers than I had a couple of months ago, I'm here to tell you that follower count does matter, but there's some nuance to this. There's some nuance to this. So when I had 5,000 followers on Instagram and I guess like 7,000 on LinkedIn and Twitter but let's just stick with Instagram for a second, because that's the platform that I work the hardest at when I had 5,000 or below followers on Instagram, I had what we call quality followers. People were there that wanted to buy my stuff and work with me. They were my target audience and because of that because I was laser focused in speaking to writers and people who wanted books written that small follower count that was quality got me to six figures. Now, of course, not just Instagram on its own, but that small follower count was a big part of me getting to six figures in my brand. So quality of your followers does matter. So if I were teaching someone how to grow their Instagram, I would tell them in part one of this process be laser focused on the content you're creating for a target audience that cares about the thing you care about and wants to exchange money with you to pay you for your services or the thing that you're selling. But the second step to what I would teach is that, after you have successfully proven that you can take your followers and turn them into customers and make six figures doing that, now I need you to focus on the second part, which is your follower count, which is the quantity of followers, because the quantity of followers, more so than anything else, is a perception thing.

Speaker 1: 3:49

Hey, everyone, real quick. I don't run any ads on this podcast, so I have to rely on word of mouth. If this podcast has helped you in any way, please share it with a friend and follow me, dr Sheena Howard, on LinkedIn, where I give more free content on building your brand as an academic. If you tell me you came to my LinkedIn from the podcast. I'll make sure I accept your request. Nobody's going to give you thousands of dollars if you only got 4,000 followers and a few people are engaging. They're just not going to do it most of the time. Now, if somebody comes to your page and you now have 50,000 followers and some engagement, people will pay you thousands of dollars for you to promote their thing, wear their shirt, whatever. Give you a brand deal.

Speaker 1: 4:37

And so for the second part of an Instagram strategy or a social media strategy, if you want to increase your income and attract more opportunities, follower count absolutely does matter, because it's common sense. The more people that can see your stuff, the more people you reach, the more opportunity you have to sell stuff to people. Now, when your follower count is high, it's not going to be all people in your target market. So you got to move, adjust your strategy a little bit, because your strategy when you have 5,000 followers ain't going to be the same strategy when you got 50,000. So that is the nuance that I have learned on this side of things.

Speaker 1: 5:19

I think that this is important because I do think if I had a ton of followers first and didn't understand how to activate them to make money, I would be broke. I would have a broke brand, okay, and so I do think the sequence of things matters. Focus on quality, focus on being able to sell and love up on the smaller followers that you have. Be grateful for the small number, so that you know what to do when you 10X your following. Everything is a process, everything takes time, and you have a master's degree or PhD. I would love to talk to you and hear your story, so jump on a call with me. I hope somebody out there found this useful. You.