Do you want to make 2025 the year your business thrives on Instagram? Then you need to have a solid Instagram strategy to make that happen and reach your goals, and your Instagram strategy is the roadmap to help you get there.

Imagine Harry Potter trying to take down old Voldy without knowing about the horcruxes, it’s the same idea. If you have no idea what you’re working towards, or where to find a horcrux, then you’re going in blind. When it comes to your Instagram strategy there are 3 key pieces that you need to have in place; know your goals, who you’re trying to attract, and have a set of content pillars to guide you.

Have no idea where to start? Let’s break it down.

Your Goals

Anytime I’m working with a new client the first thing we talk about are their goals. What are they trying to work towards in the next year. I want to know it all, and you should too. Having these things written down in a place where you can see them at all times to know what you’re working towards is essential and always keeps it top of mind. What I always recommend, and how I lay it out for my clients in the Instagram Strategy document I create for them, is to write down all of the ideas and goals you have for the next year and then break them up into quarters so you can have a clear focus.

Within each of these goals it’s also important to understand how you are going to reach that goal. Let’s say you want to launch a new course in the fall. Work backwards and think about all of the things you need to do until then and how social media will play a part in reaching that goal. It might look something like this:

May:

• Do market research about course topic using Instagram stories
  
  

June:

• Build the course
  
  

July:

• Make sure course is ready to go by end of the month
• Get at least 3 beta testers
  • Pitch in email, Instagram stories, and Close Friends list on Instagram
• Start to nurture audience in stories and posts about course main topic
• Send at least 1 email to subscribers about course that’s coming
  
  

August:

• Continue to nurture audience in stories and posts about course
• Send at least 2 emails to subscribers about course
  
  

September:

• Send at least 1 email/week about course
• Post in stories at least 3x/week about course
• Post on feed at least 2x/week about course
  
  
  

While this is a pretty simplified schedule you can see how each month plays a different part in working towards your main goal of launching the course in September. A key part of this will be nurturing your audience months prior and of course promoting it consistently to your audience once officially launched. And while I can’t give it all away, this gives you a pretty good idea of what your monthly or quarterly goals could look like if you have this specific goal in mind.

Your Audience

When it comes to your audience you want to know exactly who you are talking to and who you’re wanting to attract with your content. It’s all about being able to understand their pain points and why you are the person they need to help them.

A good place to start to figure out who you are speaking to is by looking at your current or past clients. What are some similarities you see pop up from client to client? Maybe it’s that they just need someone to tell them what to do, or that they don’t understand how a specific thing works and this is where you come in with your expertise. While these may seem like simple ideas they are the basis for your audience. They are what helps you speak directly to them in your content so that they can see you and think “Hey, she gets it! That’s exactly what I need!”

Your Content Pillars

Now your content pillars help to break up your content into categories so that you aren’t always saying the same thing and giving people a little bit of everything when it comes to promoting, giving value, and connecting with your audience. A good rule of thumb that I like to use when creating content pillars for my clients is to have 4 main pillars. One that promotes your services and shares your expertise, one that is a bit more educational and value driven, another that speaks to your business values and your story, and then one that is used for sharing lifestyle pieces and connecting with your audience on a personal level.

Within each of these pillars you can also have sub topics to help you better understand what you want to talk about in each. And don’t stress about it too much when deciding if a post is more value or service based, there can be overlap. Using your content pillars to help categorize your content is just a good way to make sure that you’re mixing it up and not always selling on every post.

Now that you know the fundamentals, get out there and create your custom Instagram strategy! And if you’re looking for extra support the 90 Day Intensive can be a great option to not only help you nail down your Instagram strategy, but also help you build a habit for creating content consistently. Happy creating!