Lessons from starting my new Instagram account

I’ve been thinking of you with your new Instagram account this week. I started a brand-new Instagram account of my own. It reminded me all the doubts that can come with it.

It also has given me a nudge to share some simple strategies when you are wanting your new account to gain momentum.

So, for a bit of context I’ve started a bit of a hobby Instagram account to share my musings on SEN parenting since my children have been diagnosed autistic. I also wanted a space to share my rekindled love for vintage interiors and country living. My new account Foxglove Family is all about this.

Making the decision to set up this account and start posting came with a lot of fear.

Who am I to talk about this? What if I get the language wrong? What if people think it’s nonsense?

Sound familiar? I know from the women I train to teach Hypnobirthing; these fears can be very real when starting a Hypnobirthing social media account too.

The thing that has helped me and I hope helps you too is remembering how much reading other people’s experiences with autistic children has helped me.

So, when I freak myself out by thinking “what will my mother-in-law think of this?” I remind myself of that one person that takes some comfort from what I’m sharing.

I want you to do that too. Think about that pregnant woman that needs to know she’s not alone in worrying about giving birth. The one that feels silly not knowing what her midwife is talking about when she discusses induction.

My number of followers is small. Of course it is, I’ve just started out. What I’m NOT doing is holding off from posting decent content until I have more followers. I’m creating good content now so that when people stumble upon my account, they know they should stick around, that’s how I’ll attract the right people.

I also remember that 100 followers equals 100 beating hearts, 100 lovely humans who have decided they are interested what I have to say.

Now, this isn’t my first Instagram account so I know a thing or two about growing on social media.

So, there are the simple things I’ve been doing to help the right people find my account. These strategies would be benefit your Hypnobirthing account too…

• I’m making it super clear in my bio (i.e. the written bit of your profile) what the account is about. I’ve also included my full name so that if people search me that way, I’m likely to come up. It also helps the personal connection too.

• I’ve done a bit of hashtag research and saved a few banks of hashtags in my phone, ready to copy and paste to use in posts/reels. To research, I thought about the key words relevant to the nature of my account. I also had a look at similar accounts and what hashtags they were using. Ones that I choose I typed into the search bar on Instagram. You want to go for ones with a bit of traction but not with millions of posts or your will get lost. 12k+ is good.

• I’ve mostly posted reels and stories so far. Instagram Stories are great for building connection and encouraging interaction and reels are more likely to have a bigger reach than photo posts alone, meaning more of the right people will see my stuff.

• I’ve shown myself and my perspectives. As much as its scary, I know this is what people connect with most, seeing/hearing from a fellow human.

• I’ve let go of focusing on the likes and comments. I know that this can derail us and makes social media and unpleasant place to spend time. Instead, I’m keeping it fun, knowing that it’s all a learning process.

• Now, this is an important one so take note. I plan to actively engage with other posts/ accounts where followers that are likely to be interested in my account are engaging. For example, if I see a great reel about raising autistic children, I’m commenting with something valuable. The reason for this is that so many people read the comments of posts that they like, may then see my comment and if they resonate potentially come over to have a look at my account.

  

For you, this could be actively engaging with pregnant bloggers content, other accounts that work with expectant parents, businesses in your area. Consider that commenting “love this” is unlikely to make some click through to your account, but something more interesting just might.

I hope this was useful lovely one.

I’d love to hear your number one key takeaway, come over and share it with me on my Hypnobirthing Training Instagram account here

Abby x