Between creating a beautiful Instagram feed, crafting interesting captions, and engaging with your community, there’s a lot you need to do to be successful on Instagram. That’s why we believe in working smart instead of working hard, and sharing content that you know will resonate with Instagram audiences.
That’s why you should be sharing content that is known to be successful. For example, there’s one thing you can share on Instagram that is 38% more likely to receive likes and 32% more likely to receive comments – photos with faces in them!
More than just being a high-performing type of content, showing your face on Instagram can do a lot for you and your business. Read on to find out why you should show your face on Instagram, and discover a few different ways you can do it.
Words: Catherine Falalis and Adriana Thani
Why you should show your face on Instagram
It’s great for brand recognition
Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Rihanna – just by reading those names, you were able to picture their faces. Why is that?
Answer: it’s because you have seen their faces so many times, your brain has built that connection between their faces, names, and brands. That’s what showing your face on Instagram can do!
Visuals are a powerful way for humans to remember things. Strong brand recognition is priceless in today’s world, and an excellent way for your brand to stand out and be memorable.
It humanises your brand
As human beings, we tend to work on emotive responses – and this is fundamental when understanding how your prospective customer or client will choose to buy from you.
Seeing a face behind the brand shows your community that you are in fact human – just like them. You’re not a big corporate conglomerate with lots of minions doing the work. Nor are you a robot who automates everything. You and your brand are Raw. Real. Relatable.
It sparks conversations
Engagement is the key to success on Instagram, and is the most important thing you need to do on the platform every single day.
You need to make your content spark those moments for you so that those conversations are happening right on your profile! Our brains are naturally drawn towards faces. It’s so important to us, it lights up a really specific part of our brain! So sharing a friendly face is a great way to stop the scroll and get those conversations flowing.
It builds trust
When you continue to engage with your community and show how relatable you are, this turns into trust. Brand trust is vital if you want to continue to turn your followers into a primed and warmed up lead, which could ultimately become a new client sign up or customer sale.
If nothing else, you may even get some awesome referrals from those in your community who just love you and what you stand for – even if they have never used your services or bought from you before!
It creates more diversity on the platform
The past couple of years has seen more discussion about diversity and inclusion in social media than ever before. And we say it’s about time!
When you show your face on Instagram, you’re helping create a more diverse and realistic representation of our global community. We can all play a part in creating a social media experience that shows how beautifully different we all are.
How to show your face on Instagram
So now you know all the benefits of showing your face on Instagram, but how will you actually do it? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! There are so many ways you can show up on Instagram, even for the introverts among us.
1. Show the action behind the scenes
Are you visiting your production warehouse today or a certain supplier? Take some snaps and video of these processes so your audience can get a better understanding of how you operate.
You can even show sneak peeks of certain product launches, to build anticipation and excitement. You can definitely share this content using image posts, but this type of content does particularly well on Stories and Reels. Remember to keep things candid, fun, and personal!
2. Speak to camera on Stories at least once a week
Facing the camera and speaking directly to your audience is a powerful way to communicate with them. It allows people to have an intimate look at you, and learn about your brand or business in your own words.
We understand, however, that it can be hard to overcome the fear of being on camera. In fact, even those who do it all the time will attest to the fact that it can feel really awkward! So start small by speaking to the camera on your Stories once a week to begin with.
Here are some tips to help you be prepared for this:
- Pre-record your video instead of recording directly on Instagram Stories
- Look directly into the camera, not your own face!
- Make sure you have a bullet point list of the things you want to say, and have it visible next to your camera
- Forget perfection – you’re not auditioning for a news anchor role here, so don’t worry about stumbling over words or saying “um” too often!
There are so many different topics you can share on these Stories, so be sure you’ve got a list of the topics you’ll be chatting about. You can share both the highs and lows of your business journey, ask for advice, share some exciting news, or offer some tips about topics which are relevant to your industry and demographic.
3. Do a Live video
Once you get used to sharing pre-recorded video of you on camera, you can start doing Live videos! The beauty of Live videos is that you can interact with your audience in real time! It’s a brilliant way to develop a direct connection to your action, and make them feel like they’re part of your world.
You could do a live Q&A with your audience and answer some of their burning questions, or announce product launches and show some sneak peeks with a live video. There’s no retakes available here – what you see is what you get, and your community will love it! People will definitely connect more with you if you’re keeping it real.
If you’re nervous about doing this alone, you should consider doing it with your team members or even another business owner. Having that back and forth conversation is also fun for your audience to watch, and will likely make you feel a lot more comfortable and confident to boot.
4. Invest in a professional branding photoshoot
We’ve mentioned how important it is to have attractive product photography on your social media, but personal branding photos are also really important. Beautifully shot images of you don’t just enhance the aesthetics of your Instagram grid, but they’ll also show you in the very best light! Whether it’s just you, or you and your team, round yourselves up, get glammed up, and let a pro take some happy snaps.
These don’t just have to be posed shots, have fun with it and get your photographer to take some candid images as well. However, we do encourage you to have a list of the types of shots you’d like to get if you have something specific in mind.
We highly recommend investing in at least two professional branding shoots per year. Yes, it’s definitely going to be relatively expensive, but remember that you can use this for other things too, such as your website, business cards, or corporate brochures.
If you’re on a really tight budget, there are a lot of start-up photographers and videographers with amazing rates as they build their portfolio and become more established. Another option is to get a photography university student to take some images for a smaller fee. Offer to also write up a testimonial for them that they can later use on their website and portfolio. If you know where to look, your budget shouldn’t be an excuse!
5. Participate in trending Reels
Reels is new to Instagram, but is already one of the most-used features on the platform. The best party of Reels is that every user has the opportunity to provide their own take on an audio or video concept. So why not try it out?
There are so many ways to use Reels as a way to connect with other Instagram users. Take some time to scroll through the videos every day, and save the ones that resonate with you. Maybe they made you laugh, maybe they made you cry – the important thing is that somehow they’ve made an impact on you, which means they could make an impact on your audience too!
Once you’ve collected a few of your favourite Reels, try and come up with unique ideas to make them relevant to you or your business. This is the time to think outside the box and get creative!
Let them get to know you, so they can learn to love you!
We hope the tips we’ve offered will inspire you to share more of you on your Instagram. Building a connection with your audience is the best way to develop a loyal and engaged community around your brand. Showing your face is one of the most effective ways to encourage your audience members – AKA potential customers – to get to know you and your brand a little bit more!
If you want your Instagram to shine, but simply don’t have the time to commit to the work, our Instagram Management Packages is a great option for you. We can help you develop an impeccable Instagram aesthetic, craft engaging captions, and connect with your audience. Contact us now to find out how we can help you develop your Instagram and give you more time to focus on growing your business!
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