How to grow from ZERO: what I would do if I was starting a brand new Instagram

Starting from zero can be super overwhelming and discouraging - but what if it didn’t need to be? If I was starting from nothing - the biggest change I would make is actually taking my time to do the prep-work needed for success before diving into content creation. Let me explain!

Step One, I would build a foundation.

If I was starting from scratch, I would spend some time focusing on building a strong foundation for my brand. Before developing a strategy or creating content, you need to figure out what your even building a strategy for in the first place.

There are a few things you need to do when building this foundation.

➡️ First is figuring out your approach and really how you plan to deliver your content to the world. There are lots of different ways to approach representing your brand on Instagram, but for the most part, they can be distilled into two main categories: personal brands and business brands. A personal brand is built around you personally and so, your name and your business name will usually be the same whereas a business brand is built around an identity you create for your business and is independent of your personal name.

➡️ Next, developing your ideal audience, pillars and niche. Most people who educate on social media will tell you that you need to come up with a niche, and based on that - you will come up with your pillars. But I believe it all starts with your ideal audience. You will first focus on your ideal audience, based on that - you will come up with the 5 pillars that would be appealing to that audience type. Then based on the pillars, you can find a niche that encapsulates them well.

Step Two, Developing a Content Strategy & System

Now that you have solidified your brand as a whole - it’s time to develop a content strategy and system.

First, let’s talk about your content strategy and before diving in, I want to make sure you understand the difference before a content strategy and a content calendar.

A content calendar is essentially of a list of content ideas or concepts that are organized chronologically in a calendar, or a spreadsheet. These are the specific, fully formed ideas of exactly what you’re going to post on a given day.

Whereas a content strategy ****is your framework or the structure you put in place that will then guide what you put on your content calendar. Usually, it’s a repetitive structure that includes the formats that you know speak to your audience, and that work towards your goal as a brand.

There is no “one size fits all” with a content strategy. Your content strategy is going to be different depending on your different goals. Whether you want to focus on growth, increasing engagement, or making more sales - each of these goals would require a different content strategy to achieve them.

But it also goes beyond goals, you have to make sure this structure fits well with your lifestyle and creative style as well! This is something that I really stress because I don’t often find a lot of people who are giving this kind of advice talk about this aspect. At the end of the day, if you don’t have the time for your content strategy, or you don’t like your content strategy - it’s not going to be sustainable.

Now that you have a strategy in place, it’s type to create a system. A simple definition of a “content creation system” would be, “a habit or a routine that you can return to in order to stay consistent with your content creation.” So based on your strategy, you can choose how you can accomplish it - will you batch weekly, monthly, or will you be working on content day-by-day.

Step Three, Developing A Content Calendar & Creating Content

Now, it’s time to build up your content calendar and actually create your content. Doing all of the prep work is going to make this stage so much easier and beyond that, it’s going to keep my business, brand, and Instagram content consistent.

Now, if you really want to dive deeper into…

Develop the foundational strategy and branding necessary for real growth
Understand the Instagram algorithm and how it can help you reach new audiences
Craft a system and a strategy that works for you and your lifestyle, so you can see growth but not get burnt out
Recognize the most effective types of Instagram content that are growing accounts in 2022, and incorporate them into your own strategy
Implement the most effective methods for monetizing your content and audience to build a reliable income as a content creator

You will want to check out my new, signature course - The Instagram Roadmap. This was just released a week ago and people are already loving it. And, if you sign up before September 16th, you will also be given a few bonuses.

One of these bonuses is called the Founding Member Network. I hear again and again from creators just how hard it is to find collaborators and other creators who are in the same niche and at the same point in their journey. For the founding members of The Instagram Road Map - you’ll be added to, and have access to, this exclusive database of creators who are excited to connect and collab with other creators!

In addition to this bonus, you will also get my Notion Content Calendar - this is my Notion system for organizing your content ideas and plans across platforms. Whether you’re creating on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or a podcast (or any combination of them!) this content calendar will work for you. This is the system I use to stay organized and consistent with all of my content.

And, you will also get access to my Exclusive Live Q+A (and the recording) where I’ll answer any leftover questions you have about the course (which, if you submit them ahead of time via email, I'll check out your profile and give you personal advice + feedback!)

If you have any questions about the course, feel free to email me at hello@katiesteckly.com or shoot me a DM on Instagram. I hope to see you there!