Dear Alex
As a freelance graphic designer am I better off creating an Instagram account solely for my design work or does my personal Instagram account also need to show also.
Nicole
Thanks asking Nicole. It’s a great question which I’ve asked a few times by both those in the creative sector and non creative sectors as well.
The reason people often ask is that they already have an existing audience on their “personal” social media and feel that rather than starting from zero it might be a little easier to convert over your personal social to a business account and post to a ready made audience
I’ll talk you through a few things to think about
1. Remind yourself who your audience are on your personal account
I don’t have a personal Instagram or Twitter account to be honest.
My personal time is limited so the only social media platform I have time for strictly personal social media is a personal Facebook account. But the same thing applies to my personal Facebook account as your personal Instagram account. Individuals have connected with me on my personal Facebook account for very different reasons that they would follow me for business. Most of the people on my personal Facebook profile are not my customers and never will be. They’ll be friends I’ve known for years who work 9-5 and don’t own a business, they’ll be people I share personal interests with and the odd person who knows me from my previous business. I imagine your personal instagram account will be exactly the same – friends that share interests rather than your customers
2. Start from Perfection and Think Of Your Ideal Client Avatar
There are many things to think about in terms of Instagram
– Your Instagram Theme
– Your Content
– Your Ideal Customers
– Your Engagement Strategy
Starting a business Instagram the right way is key to making Instagram right. So often during our Instagram training sessions they often see how if they’d have done things right from the beginning they’d have started to get results a lot quicker
You need to think of your ideal client avatar from the outset as that is the backbone of what you’re going to do day to day
3. There are still ways to show off your personality on Instagram
Don’t think because you’re a graphic designer and you want to show off your work in the feed that you can’t show off your personality
There are 2 sides creatives can have to Instagram
– The glossy feed that shows off your design work
– Instagram stories which shows off you and your personality
We did some work with Selfridges on Influencer Workshops and what we found from influencers with hundreds of thousands / millions of followers was that it was the stories and personality that drew people in and built a closer relationship with the audience
You often have to get out of your comfort zone and put yourself on camera, but trust me when I say “If you use instagram stories and show off your personality, you will 100% get more results than someone who only shows off their design work in the feed”. Sure – your design work has to be spot on and better than the competition, but a personality is the differentiation
4. Don’t forget engagement
We’re not going to drill down on this too much as we’ve mentioned it so many times before
Instagram is not just posting. It’s engaging with others on the platform as well. And naturally that starts with your existing customers and your potential customers
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
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Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
