3 Community Building Strategies You Need to Start Using on Instagram

Building a community is more than growing your following - it’s about creating something powerful, something your audience wants to be a part of. But why bother? Investing time into building a strong, online community is all about creating a real, long-lasting bond between you and your audience.

You have heard of the “know, like, and trust factor” right? ” This concept is the journey that your audience makes when they are getting to know you and your brand.

Let’s dive into my three community-building strategies that can help you create long-term success for your business by building the “know, like, and trust factor”.

Know: Be unapologetically YOU.

Being unapologetically you is not an easy task, but an important one. Picture your favorite creators and ask yourself, why you like them so much? For me, all of my favorite online creators have one thing in common. They share raw, vulnerable, and real content. They share a piece of themselves that other creators would normally hide to create a facade of a “perfect” or “I have my sh*t together” lifestyle.

By simply being YOU, it can humanize you and your brand and help create a deeper, more emotional connection between you and your community. The creators who shy from being “real” might share an unattainable lifestyle with their audience, which probably leaves their audience feeling inadequate and ashamed. But, if you are willing to be real, share the truth behind the screen, the reliability will build community, versus a following.

One example of this is the ever-so-popular “morning routine” videos you see on Instagram and YouTube. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching the aesthetic nuggets of morning inspiration, but I am always very aware of the art behind some of those videos. They aren’t always realistic - it’s a fluffed-up, aesthetic version of their normal morning. But, I have personally made routine videos where I share a more realistic view of my day, even if it doesn’t always go as planned. There are many other creators that do the same. As a viewer, if you try to recreate that polished morning routine, it most likely won’t work out - but if you try taking tips from a more realistic routine and see that sometimes things don’t always go as planned, you will probably feel more capable of recreating a similar routine and won’t be so hard on yourself if it fails.

Like: Keep your ears open.

One of the most important things you can do to build a strong community is listen to your audience. We get so caught up in strategy and content creation, we sometimes forget to stop and listen. This might be your brand, but it’s important to remember that this is NOT all about you. It’s about being there for your audience and giving them a voice.

One way you can do that is by straight-up asking your audience questions. You can do this in your stories, in your caption call-to-actions, and more. Some of you might feel like you don’t have an audience yet, but even one voice is important to listen to - so ask anyway.

Another effective way to open the door to hear your audience is by sending them a thoughtful DM or comment. If you do a poll in your stories and someone responds, maybe reach out to ask them more about their opinion or response. Did you get a few followers today? Reach out and introduce yourself or check out their profile and engage on some of their posts. They took the first step in the relationship by following you or engaging on your content, but engagement is a two-way street and it’s your job to keep that conversation going.

Trust: Stay consistent.

I am sure you have heard of the general “consistency is key” tip from most social media marketing educators, but it’s more than just keeping a consistent posting schedule. Yes, consistency with your posting frequency is important - but so is staying consistent with your niche, branding, and your overall voice.

People follow you for a reason, and that’s usually because they saw something they enjoyed, right? If you suddenly stop posting the content that caused this person to hit that follow button, why would they want to stick around, and even more, why would they want to be part of your community?

It’s all about building trust with your audience and giving them what they came here for. If you want some tips about building a consistent brand, check out my podcast episode, **How to build a consistent brand on Instagram.

There are a lot of different ways to build an audience, which you can learn more about in my other podcast episodes and my YouTube channel, but this long-term strategy will take your audience and turn them into the loyal and engaged community you have always wanted.