As a business owner and wedding planner, you already know Instagram is a powerful tool for growing your brand. There are a myriad of benefits to using the platform. These include exposing your services to new clients, educating your audience on your business and topics related to weddings, narrowing the funnel to get followers to purchase from you, connecting with other professionals in the field, and so much more — all for $0!

As useful as the platform is, though, it can also be confusing to use. With all the Instagram algorithm changes, supposed shadow banning, and saturation of users, I don’t blame any of you for wanting to throw in the towel and focus on other areas of your business. The good news is: there are ways you can reduce the overwhelm!

After years of research, failures, and almost giving up, I’ve figured out the best techniques on how to optimize your time on Instagram. And now, I’m teaching other wedding and creative entrepreneurs how to successfully reach new clients and turn followers into leads so they don’t make the same mistakes I did — and that’s what we’ll talk about today in this blog post! Let’s dive into the three best Instagram tips to follow in 2021 as a wedding planner.

Use hashtags.

Using hashtags is a tip I honestly wish I had learned sooner! Many people fear that because of the seemingly constant Instagram algorithm changes, hashtags aren’t as important as they once were. That is far from the truth! Hashtags are still one of the most effective ways to get your Instagram content in front of new audiences (aka potential clients).

But before you tag a bunch of hashtags on your posts, here are some best practices to use:

1. Don’t use the same hashtags on every post. Assuming not every single one of your posts covers the same topic, you’ll want to create several groups of hashtags for certain posts. For example, since I talk about business tips, business inspiration, wedding planning, and business education, I’ve written a group of hashtags specific to each of those topics so that my content stays relevant.
2. Spend an hour researching hashtags to use on your post each month. Trends change! The best way to keep up with those trends is to dedicate a bit of time each month to ensure the hashtags you’re using are still getting attention. If they’re not, simply swap out the old hashtags with some fresh ones that will bring in traffic to your page.
3. Use a mix of popular and niche hashtags. Using only popular hashtags will get your content in front of many people. But it also can get buried quickly because of the sheer volume of images posted every second. Using only niche hashtags means your content won’t get pushed down as quickly. But you’ll be limiting yourself. That’s why it’s best to use a mix of both!

If you don’t know where to begin, look on other wedding professionals’ pages to get some ideas on what hashtags they’re using!

Make Reels part of your weekly content.

I should change my tagline to The Reels Gal because I’m such a huge fan. People crave visual content more than ever these days, and they also want information quickly because no one has the time to sit around and watch a 10-minute video anymore. So Reels has become super successful because it marries these two desires perfectly — it’s a simple yet effective way for us entrepreneurs to educate our audience and potential clients in a very engaging, quick, and visual way.

And the good news? You don’t have to dance or even create new content. You can simply take the content you create now and repurpose it in a new way. Not to mention, Reels is Instagram’s newest feature, so the algorithm is more likely to push your Reels content to the Discovery Page and get your business in front of fresh eyes!

If you’re feeling motivated to get started but need some direction, check out my Reel Traffic Toolkit that includes over 150 simple Reels prompts to help you grow your business as a wedding pro, a Reels creation course, a content hacking guide, batch training, how to repurpose your videos for other platforms, and so much more.

Be social.

It’s not enough to publish a story or post and call it a day on Instagram. You’ll also want to keep up the engagement with your followers! Replying to comments, creating polls or questions in your Instagram Stories, responding to DMs every morning, or even asking questions in your posts’ comments are just a few of the most effective ways you can engage with your audience.

The more you entice people to engage with your content, the more likely Instagram will interpret your content as valuable. And this means a higher chance of getting your content up to the Discovery Page as well!

Pro-tip: Every time someone slips into your DMs, it’s a chance for you to sell and turn those leads into paying clients. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out my  Followers to Sales Blueprint where I teach you exactly how to do this.

Focus on content that will get shares and saves.

Ok, so we got the strategy down, but what about the actual content? Coming up with ideas can seem like a daunting task, especially if you’re not the most creative person. But don’t worry — coming up with content isn’t as hard as you may think when you have categories you can focus on. And for 2021, I want you to concentrate on educational and inspirational content. (I explain more about what this type of content looks like in this blog post about how to make Instagram Reels for your wedding business.)

The reason I recommend focusing on these two pillars is because your followers are more inclined to share and save those types of content. This not only means that you’re establishing your credibility in the field and building that rapport with potential clients, but the Instagram algorithm is also going to notice that people are engaging with your content and push it to get in front of more (clients’) eyes.

Now you’re ready to take Instagram by storm!

I’ll be the first to admit that Instagram can be a tiring and confusing platform to use. But once you use these four tips, I guarantee you’ll feel less overwhelmed and even excited to be there to connect with others!

Ok, now I want to hand the mic over to you all. What tip resonates with you the most? Are there any you can implement in your business today to take your social media to the next level? Or are there any tips I left out that have helped you grow your business online? Let me know in the comments?