Do you ever open Instagram, stare at your screen and think, what am I even doing here? You've got a product or a service that helps people and you wanna get it out there and you wanna make the sales, but Instagram just feels like a time suck and you're not even sure if it's doing anything. Today I am answering real questions, the ones that have been floating around in your head and have been sent to me on Facebook and Instagram. But the ones you have been too burned out to even Google.
Let's fix that. Hello and welcome back to Mompreneur Mastery, where we don't just talk Instagram, we talk about how to actually use it when you're juggling a million other things. Half a cup of cold coffee and a kid who refuses to eat anything but Dino nuggets. That is literally my youngest.
Today I am answering real questions I've gotten from you, questions that come up when Instagram stops feeling like a tool for your business and starts feeling like an energy sucking black hole that gives nothing back. So I put out a request onto the internet inside my membership, and I asked people what Instagram questions they had that I could answer in this podcast.
And if you have more, feel free to DM them to me on Instagram at socially dot your strategist and I'll answer them in an upcoming episode. So today we're gonna go over reels versus carousels. Faceless marketing on Instagram, doing a nine grid. And why you're not getting any leads or sales from Instagram, and what the heck to post when you're not actually selling something.
And as always, I am digging into the strategy side of things so we're not wasting time on fluff that doesn't actually help our business. And let's get into it. So the first question was reels or carousels. What should I focus on? If you're asking this, you're being strategic. So great work, you're not overthinking or anything. You want to use your limited time on what actually works. But here's the thing. This question assumes that the format is what makes a post work and it's not.
What makes a post work is having a clear goal, a message that fits that goal, and a structure to the post that gets people to see, read, and take action from that post. So while certain formats can help with certain posts, depending on what the goal of that post is, like how a couple episodes back, I was talking about trial reels and strategizing those specifically for growth. You absolutely can do that. But that's not to say you can't share a carousel and get followers from that, you know?
But yes, if growth is your goal, trial reels are a really great starting point. Because when I talk about growth, growth being the first step in the five steps to sales on Instagram strategy that I teach, I don't mean just having a whole bunch of followers. I mean, having targeted followers and because we know trial reels are shown. To people that already follow accounts like yours.
So they're already in your target audience, but it specifically targets people that don't already follow you is a great way to strategize your growth. But again, if you don't have the structure to the real, if you don't have the strong hook, if you don't have the messaging you're still not gonna reach that goal of growth in getting those targeted followers that actually turn into buyers. So that growth only matters if there's something to grow into.
If those new people land on your account and there's nothing else there for them to engage with, connect, build, trust, all that stuff, they're not gonna stick around. You're not gonna get the engagement you're not gonna get the sales. And that is where I really love using carousels because. You can put so much information in them. I think reels are great for trial. Reels are great for growth. They're great for engagement, which is step two of the five step to sales.
And then for the more in-depth steps of the strategy, I teach, I love care sales because you can put more information in there and break it down in a way people are more likely to actually read. Like a paragraph of text on a reel or in a caption is not as consumable as a longer carousel with curiosity gaps, so people keep swiping and a limited amount of text on each slide.
But again, having that structure behind the post really helps knowing you have a strong hook or a strong double hook for your carousels. Since Instagram shows the second slide in people's feeds as well, if they missed it the first time. Or if there's no visual hook in your reel, people might not stop and watch it, and then Instagram won't show it to other people. So having that kind of structure behind it while knowing the purpose is really powerful.
I actually created a whole training on this inside of my membership last month that walks the members through how to structure those posts as well as their captions. So their posts actually get seen and read or watched and people follow through on whatever call to action you are using because format is only part of the puzzle. The formula is behind your content and the purpose behind your content is what help it convert.
But as a general rule of thumb, I mean, you can do any that you are most comfortable with. If you are constantly rocking the mom goblin, look like me. Reels might not be something you film all the time, or maybe you just use more B roll. If you just don't like making carousels, use more reels.
Just make sure that you have the purpose behind it and the structure so that people are actually going to consume the content and take action afterwards so you can reach all of those five steps you need before you get sales on Instagram. The second question I got was. Can I keep my business faceless? Sure you can have a faceless business. Who am I to tell you? You can't? But you cannot have a connectionless business. Instagram is all about being social.
The best way to do that is by having connections and being a more personal brand. Those are the ones that are gonna have a lot of success on like any social media platform. So. The strategy that leads to sales isn't about visuals. It's more emotional. That connection and trust piece inside my five step framework I mentioned, connection and trust are the middle steps that move people from this looks interesting to I am ready to buy. Give me that.
So when you take your face outta your content, you're removing one of the fastest ways that people connect with you. So because of that, it just means you need to lean a little harder on your brand voice. Consistency and those connection things like storytelling and emotion. So you can build that connection and foster that trust in your brand and your offers.
So people feel compelled to engage with you and you get more touch points with them and they will eventually convert into buyers or clients depending on what it is that you're selling. So yes, you can absolutely go faceless. Just make sure you know, you're gonna have to lean more into the connection building and trust building phase. 'cause it's just a little harder for our brains to do that. When we don't have a face to a brand.
And question three was, can I leave my grid alone and just use reels in stories? Yes. I have seen people do this, have a nine grid or a 12 grade and like, yes, you can. But only if your grid is already doing its job. The question is really more about like automation and wanting to simplify and streamline and reduce how often you have to create new content. And I'm all for that absolutely. All day, every day. I love doing less without sacrificing results. That's my whole life, honestly.
But the thing is, you gotta have the strategy behind it. So you wanna think of your grid as like your website at that point. If someone lands there from a reel that you're sharing and just not having it upload to your grid or a story they need to instantly understand what you do, who you help, how you can help them in particular.
So if your last few posts are outdated or vague or the messaging isn't right there or if they're just for engagement, people aren't gonna stick around enough to figure it out. So you need to make sure your grid has trust and clarity. You need to make sure your stories and reels are building connection and getting that growth and doing all the other work that the other five steps you need for sales on Instagram.
Utilizing the highlights feature of Instagram here would also be really helpful to be able to share more information without adding more to your grid. Another thing to consider here with the updated grid sizes on Instagram and how Instagram is cropping the posts. Only on your grid creating that kind of seamless nine grid or 12 grid look is. Going to be a little tricky. I'm actually working on recording, a training to show you how I manage to set it up on my account.
I don't have a full ninth grid, but just the top three pinned posts for me are a seamless, like banner type of post that have a similar effect while still updating the rest of my grid. But yes, so stay tuned and I will be sharing that soon. Question four is one I get all the time. All the time. And that is why is my Instagram not getting sales or leads?
And this question normally comes with like a big heavy sigh because you're showing up, you're posting at least somewhat consistently, but like honestly, life happens and that's fine. You're doing some reels, you're sharing stories, and still nothing. No comments, no dms, no sales. It feels like Instagram is just a box you check because you're supposed to. And here is what happens. Most people are stuck creating content that lives only in one part of the strategy.
It's usually growth or engagement. Maybe sometimes just sales and those alone don't get people to buy. Okay? So you need all five steps to work together, and I really want you to think of these steps as a staircase. 'cause having them in the right order. Helps people have to hit each of these steps before they can get to The last one, which is ultimately sales, right? So you have to have the right followers, you have to have engagement.
So they're, you get those touch points you need to get to the next step, which is connection. Helping them feel like you get them. And you probably, I mean, you should considering your work, but also it's a lot easier. When you are them, which I feel like most of the people I talk to are, we are our own ideal clients in a lot of cases. Maybe like a couple steps ahead of them in whatever struggles. But usually we have been where they are, so we do get it.
After that you need to build trust in your offers. Show them how you can help and why you are the person to help them. And then. Is the sale part where you're inviting them to buy. If you skip steps three and four people might be engaging, but they're still not buying. It's because they don't quite trust you yet, or they don't fully understand the value of your offer. So you would need to create content that works on those two things.
It could also be, you know, messaging that's just missing the mark. Maybe your content is good, but it's not getting into the specifics. It is just a little too generic for them to really think, oh, yes, I need this. Maybe there's no real clear content path leading to your offer. When you're getting ready to sell something, you need to make sure the posts leading up to that sale are around topics that relate to your offer, so they're already informed and ready to buy.
Maybe you're using call to actions that are too soft or too soon. And this is why just post something doesn't really work for long term. It can help, like it can work, it can absolutely get you sales, but if you want consistent sales and be able to have a sale or a launch or something and know you're going to get money from it, having this clear content path with the strategy behind it is the key.
So if you're stuck in that spot, I actually have a free quiz to help you figure out exactly which part of your Instagram strategy is missing and what to fix first. It gives you very actionable things to work on to make sure you're reaching each of those five steps. I'll put the link in the show notes. It takes about two minutes. Honestly, it's super helpful. It is called the find and fix the gaps in your Instagram strategy quiz. And again, I'll put it in the show notes. It's a long name.
But definitely check it out. It's super helpful. Now question five is, what should I post when I'm not launching? What of the five steps should I be working on? And this is such a good question because honestly, we're not launching all of the time. Most of your time on Instagram is not spent in launch mode. A lot of it is in that in-between space and how do you use that time so you're still posting with purpose and not wasting it on stuff that isn't helping.
That is what determines whether your next launch feels smooth or like you're just shouting into the void. 'cause we definitely don't want that. When I am not actively selling something or like leading up to a sale, I'm not on that launch runway at all. I'm not just coasting either. I'm just shifting my content focus. Okay? So that means when I look at those five steps to sales that I teach, that means I'm rotating through posts from steps one through three in my strategy.
So growth, bringing new people into my world, people that are actually in my target audience. I'm working on engagement, so I'm keeping visible, keeping relevance high. I am keeping top of mind and I'm still having conversations with people in my audience and I'm building connection. But instead of focusing it on my actual offers, it's gonna be more personal story, tell.
Personal brand related, like storytelling, building that emotional trust there in my brand as a whole instead of specific offers. So these posts might not lead directly to a sale today. But they're laying the foundation for someone to say yes later. And they also help get market research, which is always helpful. Because people don't just buy when you post a reel or write a good call to action, they buy because your content over time made them feel seen or understood and supported.
So if you skip this and you only show up when you're selling, what happens is your audience isn't primed yet to hear your pitch they're not a warm lead. So they might not know what your offer is, what you're offering, how it helps them. And they just, they won't have that trust needed to buy and invest in your services or your products. It's not that your offer is bad, it's just that there's no context for it, right? It's like showing up to a first day asking someone to marry you. That's weird.
No, we're not doing it. You gotta build the relationship first. But when you do use your non launch content intentionally, you can build a warm audience that's engaged and responsive. So even when you do have like a flash sale, you know those things with very little planning. You can still get sales then because your audience is warm and engaged and responsive. And when you're not selling, you can collect data on what's resonating so you can sharpen your messaging.
You don't have to start from zero every time you promote something. It's also the perfect time to test content topics or new formats. Shift beliefs. Listen to what people are responding to. I'll often use these posts to collect market research, what dms people said, and what comments they're leaving, what topics, get more comments on them what they're saving. All of that information shapes future promos and even offer positioning. So if you are not launching anything right now, that's great.
It means you've got some time to build. Build that trust, build that awareness, build that connection, build that clarity that makes it a very easy yes later because the sale doesn't start when the cart opens. It starts with every post you share between now and then. Now remember, you don't have to post daily. I'm not trying to make this harder for you. You don't have to be on camera 24 7. You don't have to reinvent your strategy every month.
But if Instagram isn't working for your business right now, I really want you to know it's not because you're lazy. It's not because you're behind. It's probably just because no one ever showed you the strategy behind your posts, and that is what really makes the difference. So if this episode helped, I would love to keep this conversation going and I really want this podcast to be helpful. So DM me any other Instagram questions you have and I'll do another FAQ episode.
I would love to make this a more recurring series and I wanna answer your specific struggles so we can untangle Instagram together. Alright, so find me on Instagram. I am at socially do yours strategist, and let me know what other Instagram questions I can help with. Until then, I hope your coffee is stronger than your kids' tantrums.