If selling your stuff on Instagram feels slower or more difficult lately, you are not imagining it. Things have changed both on Instagram online marketing in general, and how buyers are making decisions. It's kind of like when your kids hit a news stage and the routines you used to rely on don't quite work anymore, so you have to make some tweaks to fit where they're at now.
That is exactly what we're doing here and what I'm going to explain in this episode, the overall five steps to sales framework that I teach Is still applied, but how Instagram fits into that needs to be changed given the changes we're seeing. Because as always, I never want you to waste time and effort on any kind of strategy or tactic that is not gonna get you that return on your time and energy investment. 'cause you have so little of those two things.
We need to make sure it's going towards the things that are actually going to help your business without you losing your ever loving mind. Now, I don't know how long you have been in business, but I remember a time where you could post a couple of reels with trending audios. It would reach thousands and thousands, even if you only had a couple hundred followers and you could fill your one-on-one spots or fill your group program without a ton of effort. It was a magical time.
I'm not gonna lie to you now. Instagram is more selective about what it shows and who it shows it to. And there's also been a shift in buyer behavior. Buyers are taking more time. They wanna get to know you, understand your approach, and feel super, super confident before they say yes. And this can be contributed to a lot of things, you know, the economy. So many people having online businesses, the amount of marketing we see every day, all day, like so many things.
So it's not a bad thing, okay? When someone chooses to work with you after following your account, reading your emails, listening to your podcast, checking out your blog, all of these things, they're a better fit. They're more excited and they're more committed, which is great for both returning customers, for getting testimonials, for future customers, for getting referrals. We love this. This is great. This is not bad.
However, given the changes in buyer behavior and Instagram marketing, we're need to shift our marketing strategy to make sure we are still getting these top notch quality, like the best of the best dream clients. So, like I said, the five step to sales. It hasn't changed. Growth, engagement, connection, trust, and sales. Still the same.
But now, given what we know about Instagram, how it's not as reliable for consistent sales without a ton and a ton of time and effort and outbound engagement, that I'm pretty sure most of us just don't have time for. I'm switching it around. I'm not doing all five steps just on Instagram. Instagram is gonna be good for step one and two, growth and engagement, getting that visibility, getting in front of the right people, starting to foster relationships with those people through engagement.
And right now you might be thinking, I'm still getting sales on Instagram, or can I still sell directly from Instagram? Absolutely, yes. If you're still getting sales, I love that for you. Keep doing what you're doing. That's great. I am not saying I'm never gonna sell on Instagram.
I'm saying when I plan all of my marketing content you know, emails, blog posts, podcasts, all of these things, I am not going to have Instagram be its own thing for all five steps when I plan it, I'm going to make sure I am really. Utilizing Instagram, mostly for steps, one and two. Now, when I have a big launch, am I gonna mention sales on Instagram? Absolutely. Of course.
Um, it would be silly not to, but I'm not going to stress too much about getting sales from Instagram 'cause it's not the best use of our time. When you're building a business in the mom cracks of your day, you want the effort you put in to give you the biggest possible return. And asking one platform to carry all five steps is a lot. And right now it's not the most effective way. Knowing what we know about buyer behavior, um, and your lack of free time and brain space.
So like I said, now when I plan my marketing content and I am working through steps one through five, For Instagram specifically, I'm gonna use a lot of step one and two content there. With those goals in mind. Steps three, four, and five is going to not only be, but mostly be my long form content, my email marketing, things like that. So think of your email list, your podcast, your blog, anything like that. These are the spaces where you can tell deeper stories. Really foster that connection.
Share client wins, share case studies. Explain your process in a way that truly builds confidence. And it's the same idea that I've always shared for Instagram content, right? Every post should work together to leads to sales. Now, as I'm shifting my strategy, as I'm shifting my business with these changes, we're just zooming out a bit. We want every piece of your marketing to work together to lead to sales. And like I said before, owning a business is very much like parenting, as is marketing.
When your kids grow, you don't throw out every strategy that worked before, but you do need to be able to adapt. That's all that we're doing now. This is just like. When a bedtime routine needs to change because what worked before just no longer fits and you, you gotta adapt and move on so you can still get that end result that you need, which is hopefully. An easy bedtime where they stay in their own beds the whole night. That's, that's the goal anyway. And that's exactly what we're doing here.
The five steps to sales still applies. We're just letting Instagram play to its strengths right now and letting your other platforms do the rest. So we're not putting so much time and energy into one thing and expecting results that we're just ultimately not gonna get. And again, it's not that you're not going to get them, but if you are short on time, like I'm sure you are it's not as doable.
It takes a lot, a lot of engagement and a lot of posting, and I know that my audience being mostly mom business owners or just busy woman entrepreneurs, that's not super doable. And it doesn't make sense to continue to give you advice on solely using Instagram for sales. When we have very little time to work and for it to work, we need a lot of time. So when you have all of your marketing working together, you can stop feeling like you're starting from scratch.
Every time you post, every time you write an email, write a blog, whatever it is, Instagram can help get people in the door. It can start those conversations and then you can use your other platforms to continue the conversation, to build that trust, to build that confidence. And when you do make an offer, they're ready. And as we're making this shift, I really want to. Talk about the piece that makes everything work.
Like the big picture strategy is so important, but even that is not going to work if you don't have your messaging down pat. And this is more than just, you know, knowing these generic pain points or knowing who you help. It's digging in really, really deep.
So that you can turn these casual followers and email subscribers into someone who feels like you are in their head, describing exactly what they've been struggling with, and showing them that you can help them with the solution for their problems you could have the perfect mix of platforms and know exactly which steps in your strategy belong where, where to post what for those steps in the strategy.
But if your message isn't clear and concise and consistent, your audience won't be able to connect those dots. You're not gonna get those dream clients I talked about earlier, and they might see your posts, they might join your email list, but without the message that speaks directly to their needs, their experiences, their goals, it's. Not likely they're ever gonna be ready to buy for you, especially when there are so many people doing online businesses that could also help them.
And I'm not saying this to scare you or make you rethink anything. This is a real opportunity here to just dig deeper into why you do what you do, who you help, why you help them, why your offers are perfect for them. When your messaging is strong, creating your content feels a lot easier, and it stops feeling like you're throwing random pieces out into the void, and you have this overall strategy to guide people to being ready to work with you. So this is how it all fits together.
So Instagram, like I said, still plays a big role within the strategy. It's gonna be steps one and two. It's where you're most likely to get in front of new people and start the conversation. But now, instead of expecting it to carry the whole sales process because we just don't have time for all the engagement it takes to do that right now we're letting it do what it does best, and letting your other platforms handle the rest and messaging needs to be the constant throughout all of this.
It's what makes your growth and engagement content actually connect. So you're attracting the absolute dream clients that work with you, that give you referrals, that give you the great testimonials, all of that. It's what makes your connection, your trust, and your sales content feel like a natural next step, like a warm invitation instead of, you know, these hard sales pushes that just feel so icky. We hate that.
And it's also why your audience recognizes your voice no matter where they see you, whether it's on Instagram and a podcast, on a blog post and an email. All of that is what makes your marketing feel intentional instead of scattered. So when you combine a clear, consistent message with a marketing plan that spreads the five steps to sales across the right platforms, you get more out of every minute you spend creating content.
You're not starting from scratch every time you post and you're building on a story that your audience already knows and believes in, and that is how you work smarter and not harder. So you can still get results without spending a ton of time on Instagram where you might not be getting the most. Return on that time investment. So again, if Instagram sales have felt slower or harder lately, it's not because you're doing anything wrong, it's just because we're in a new stage. All right?
That's kind of online business in general. Our job now is to work with it, not against it. We're gonna use Instagram for what it's best for right now, and letting your other platforms carry the rest. Keep your messaging front and center so everything you share is pulling in the same direction. Marketing is gonna start to feel easier because you're not relying on one post or one platform to do all the heavy lifting. You are gonna have a connected strategy.
You're gonna have that clear, concise messaging that guides your audience towards buying, and that message is gonna be everywhere your audience sees you. If you want help mapping this out so you know exactly what to say, where to say it, and how it all fits together, I've created a new freebie. It is linked in the show notes. It's called the Buyer Journey Content Map.
This is the exact process I use to plan content across Instagram, email, and long form content platforms, think podcasts, blogs, things like that. So every piece is working together to guide your audience from. Oh, hey, I just found you too. I am so excited to work with you. So go ahead and grab the buyer journey content map in the show notes, and I am so excited to be back in your earbuds next week.