177. How do you grow on Instagram? (f. Juan Galán)
How do you *really* grow on Instagram? 📈 Many people have their theories, but on today's episode of Brand Therapy, our guest has living proof! Hosts Phil and Lauren meet with Juan Galán, founder of the IG Creator Academy, to divulge the secrets of hitting 100k followers. We'd tell you the details of what's discussed, but we don't want any surprises spoiled. Listen to the ep to find out Juan's recommendations!
Episode transcription
Phil
Well, hello there. Welcome to brand therapy. I'm Phil.
Lauren
And I'm Lauren.
Phil
And this is the podcast where we help you position, build and promote your brand. My god, does it feel good to say that? I realize we've already had an episode since we've come back after our little hiatus, but I'm telling you, it still feels delicious to be back at it. Brand new year.
Lauren
I was wondering if you were going to get a little creative with these new episodes with the intro, but I guess you like that opening little jingle.
Phil
So you know what I'm like, it's all or nothing. And it's either we change everything, or we change nothing. And so I'm constantly in this just this conundrum. How many times have I asked you if we should change the podcast artwork? Should we change the format? What's the format? What are we doing? Are we doing video? Are we not doing video? And every time I turn into a hyper Chihuahua, asking you those questions, I say to myself, it doesn't have to be all at once. It doesn't have to be all at once. For today's interview, which by the way is so good. You're gonna love this listener. Even Lauren, you were like at 7am Your time last year, like do it. Do I need a ring light because I've been yammering on about how we need to incorporate video. And so I'm just I'm of this mindset now, right new year of this mindset that like will gradually incorporate some of these new things. So the intro might change when I feel so inspired. For now. I'm just like an old dog. All dog old tricks. What's that thing? honeys? Yeah,
Lauren
No, in this case, you are an old dog with an old track.
Phil
No new tricks. Well, we'll incorporate new tricks gradually.
Lauren
I mean, I for one, I'm excited that you don't want to do all or nothing quite yet for the podcast because I've been hearing we gotta get you a new camera. We got to get your new lighting. We need to do video blah, blah, blah. And I'm just trying get through the day in one piece without making this like a Ryan Seacrest level production. So I think chipping chipping away at this is like much preferred.
Phil
You know what else chipping away at? It's a good idea for?
Lauren
What is a good thing we're chipping away for Phil?
Phil
Instagram. January's the month of new diets, new workouts, and let's try to grow on Instagram, shall we? I feel like that sentiment is shared. And that's why we thought our dear friend Juan, a photographer and an incredible Instagram creator who's grown honestly faster than anyone I know in the last year. This guy has over 125,000 followers. When I first met him, he was solely focused on photography. Now he's got such a vibrant, engaged audience. He is incredible.
Lauren
Let's get to it. Let's get right to it. Here's our conversation with Juan.
Phil
Well, we're here with one of my favorite people on the planet. Has never been on our podcast before is someone that I keep my eye on on Instagram. And Lauren when you and I were like, okay, we're coming back strong better than ever with the podcast, one of the first people I thought of that we needed to have on here was my dear friend one. When I discovered you Juan or maybe Juan you discovered me. I don't know, when we discovered each other, let's go with that compromise. You were set up and branded and positioned as a photographer on Instagram kind of kept in touch. You know what had some friends in common internet friends in common. Some of those people have been on our podcast, and I kept my eye on you. And it felt I don't know this was an instant for you, but it was like a few months past I saw that you had repositioned kind of rebranded, refocused your effort on Instagram, and oh my freaking god, it was like I turn away and I looked back at you, and you have literally 1000s of followers. Now more than 125,000 followers on Instagram. And that's not it. That's not the full story. When I open any of your posts, and see the engagement, the excitement, the consistency of what you're doing on Instagram, you, my friend are in the high ranks of people that I think are just doing this platform nearly perfectly. And that's why you're here today because what you've created in such a short amount of time is so impressive. Welcome to Brand Therapy.
Juan
Thank you very much for that super warm introduction. I'm really happy to be here. I've done a few podcasts already, but I'm super, super excited about this one. And yeah, we're the best. You're the best. Absolutely. There's no doubt about that. And I love that you mentioned the fact that I started as a photographer and it's been a whole journey of transformation and evolution and a lot of failures because actually, my training goes back 10 years. So I've been doing Instagram for 10 years since pretty much the app was released. And I've been trying different things, different niches, different styles. And I finally found my thing, which was basically Instagram coaching, Instagram growth. And that's what I've been doing for the past year. And it's been really, really amazing.
Lauren
We have tons of clients and listeners who are really, really determined to grow on Instagram. They spend tons of time making the perfect carousel, they show up three times a week posting, they're going through all the actions, but month over month, their following stays the exact same. So I want to know from you as someone who does steadily grow, and who has built a community, what sets apart the accounts that grow on Instagram from the ones that do not?
Juan
That's a great question. And it's actually funny, because I posted about it today. So obviously, there's a number of things that I've been doing that I see other successful creators or entrepreneurs do on Instagram to be able to grow their brand. But one of the main things are, the main mistake that I see is that people don't show their personality enough. And they try to copy others because they see, okay, so this person is succeeding, this person is growing fast, I'm just going to be doing exactly what they're doing. And that is absolutely wrong, you need to really find, first, obviously, your style. You need us to find your voice, and you need to be your most authentic self. And that show that to people because the space is so oversaturated nowadays, anyone can really give tips, anyone could get triggered, anyone can share hacks. But when it comes to building a sustainable Instagram presence, you really need to be yourself in order to stand out and share your story.
No one has your same story, no one has the same journey that you've had. So sharing all these things, is what really attracts and makes people stay. Because again, you might share some tips and people might follow you for that. But after a while everyone shares the same tip, regardless of the industry you're in, everyone is sharing the same tips, tricks, advice, etc. But when it comes to that, your story, your journey, your personality, it's only you who has it, right. So that's what makes an account or personal brand grow sustainably on Instagram these days.
And that's what I've been doing. I'm really open about everything. I always talk about my experience, my failures, my successes, my journey. And I think that that makes people resonate a lot with my personal brand. And that's why they follow and that's why they stay connected to my Instagram account.
Phil
That's good advice. We're big, big believers in the power of personality and branding. And by the way, when clients hire us and even into a project, we sometimes have to continue fighting the good fight to say we really need photos of you, we really need to sprinkle in, in not just a headshot of you and a boring white background. But I want to see you in your environment. I mean, I know you're obviously as a background and photographer, you totally you get this Juan and you touched on it. But I want to dive even deeper. In 2023, and we see a lot of people complaining about the algorithm and complaining about slow growth all the time and all the time, right? What does it take in 2023 for someone to hit that follow button on your profile? Let's say they find you through a reel or they find you in a comment on another creators account? What does it take nowadays, for someone to hit that follow button.
Juan
So number one, I would say a lot of relatability. It's the way also how you as a content creator or as someone, an entrepreneur, or even a small business owner, how you make people feel about themselves. And that's extremely important because I think there's this huge growth in emotional marketing these days, especially through social media, because we are driven by emotions as human beings. And that's really what makes us take decisions, whether it is to follow someone, whether it's to buy a program or a product from someone, we are driven by emotions. So really, we have to tap into this storytelling for example, which is essential for creating evoking emotions. So it's the way that you as a creator make people feel. It's not enough just to share some tips, hacks or advice, you really need to know your audience extremely well know what they're struggling with, what are their goals, their desires, and create content that make them feel understood that make them feel as part of something as part of a community as well. So it's really about making your audience feel special or as part of something and that would really make them hit that follow button.
Or if we dive in even more, buy something from you to stick to your account because again, as I said before, a lot of people might follow you because they find you on the explore page because you share some really interesting tip or information. But at the end of the day, they don't stick around, you're losing a lot of time, you're losing a lot of effort. And you're, you're wasting time on your content creation, because you're not retaining your followers. And that's something that a lot of people struggle with, because they do get a lot of followers, especially with reels nowadays, when you get a viral reel. And I've seen this with a lot of creators that have experienced this myself as well. When you get a viral reel, you have a massive growth, exponential growth for a couple of months. But if you don't find a way of retaining them, they'll start unfollowing. And you see a lot of stories that go viral, grow a lot, and then start losing followers and followers and followers.
Phil
Oh, that's interesting. You don't just have followers, you also have consistent engagement. And obviously, that varies based on the type of post and I want to dive into that. But how do you also get the kind of engagement, you know, literally more than 100 comments, sometimes 2,3,400 comments on a post? For a lot of people, small business owners or people that are not at that level yet, that’s mind blowing? How do you get that? How do you also maintain it to like, how do you get back to everyone.
Juan
So I do have to clarify that depending on the type of content, you will get more or less engagement. There are posts that are more conversational. So obviously, they open up for more people asking questions, or giving their opinion. And you can have a conversation within the comments, which obviously increases the number of comments, but it really comes down to getting the engagement that you want to receive. Especially when you are getting started, you need to spend a lot of your efforts on building those relationships. But I always differentiate your audience between your tribe and you are my tribe Phil, and you're never going to be my client or you never gonna get my products, but you are my tribe, you will comment on my posts, because you support me because we are in the same industry. Like I tell people don't think of people as competitors they are your tribe. And they are the first people that will start commenting on your posts, which then will push your content to your actual clients in the future is to have people that will actually be interested in buying your products or services, etc. So it's very important to start building your core tribe, which again, is people within your same niche and industry people that do the same as you. And that's great also, because you can learn from them, you get positive feedback from them, or negative feedback, which is also acceptable, you know, and you grow with that.
So at the beginning, I did spend a lot of time building those relationships with other people in my same industry, my competitors, which are not competitors, they're just my tribe. And as you said at the beginning, insta of friends, like virtual friends, some of them have become really good friends, some of them I've met in real life. And with some of them, I've even done like business partnerships, launching things together. So it's a great first step, even if you're a business owner, don't be afraid to build relationships with who seems to be your competition. And that's what will bring them more eyeballs into your content of potential customers.
So the type of content does influence the number of comments or engagement that you get. Some content might not get a lot of comments, but you do get a lot of shares or sales, which, as a user, you don't get to see that, right. But some other posts some other type of content, do get more comments and conversational content, personal content actually gets a lot of comments, when you share something that's a little bit more personal and maybe a little bit more upfront, by you know, sharing something personal or something about your journey, or, you know, sharing your failures, your successes, those type of posts that are also inspirational, motivational do get more comments. So it really depends on the type of posts, but also on the tribe that you build and the engagement that you gave on a daily basis.
Lauren
When you share your authentic self on Instagram, how important is it to do that through video?
Juan
It's actually the rise video on social media or in digital marketing actually has been amazing for people that want to show their personality, their authentic selves because with a static post, your personality can only be seen through maybe the text or the captions, you know, but it's not enough. Whereas with video, you are using your own voice and that's the main differentiator with anything else because with your own voice your people can already see how you speak how you this what I'm doing right now what is it exactly? I forgot the word in English when you're moving and when you're like, while you're speaking?
Lauren
Your physicality.
Juan
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So you build a deeper and stronger connection with people because of that because you're showing your personality also, for example, in my case, and this is something that I do mention a lot is that I started wearing, you know, like shirts with patterns, funky shirts, jazzy shirts, and people started recognizing me for that and many people call me the funky orange, because that's part of my personal brand now, which would have not been possible maybe if I would have just been sharing static posts. So there are many different ways in which video helps in bringing out your personality. And that makes a huge difference and creates a bigger impact in people in terms of connecting with them. And also, if someone wants to work with you, they know how you speak they know how you how you think already, they know a lot more about you from a video than from a static post.
Phil
To follow up on that, and I'm gonna bring it back to 2023 Since it's a new year, and we're all jazzed about it. Jazzy shirts and we're jazzed about a new year. Do you need to post reels in 2023 to grow?
Juan
Absolutely, yes. But you should not focus just on reels and my prediction for 2023 that actually carousel and static posts will start growing again in popularity, because there is so much competition reels like when reels first came out. Not everyone was doing reels, it was so easy for people to go viral with reels and grow with reels because not everyone was doing it. So you weren't standing out from the rest. But now everyone does reels and it's becoming oversaturated. And everyone's doing the same types of real estate trends. And it's just becoming like The Walking Dead because it's literally you see the exact same content and no one's standing out anymore. So people are starting to go back to static posts. And funny fact here my static posts, my carousels started to outperform my reels. Whereas six months ago, it was completely the opposite.
So yes, you do have to create reels you do, you should braid reels that are authentic and original. So trends, yes, trends are good and trends help you get region trends might help you grow. But it really in order to stand out, you need to create original content original reels, use your voice, share your journey, document your process, so many different ways in which you can create origin reels, but at the same time, don't neglect the other formats. Do carousels. Do single posts go live. Do stories, do collaborate? So there are many, many different ways in which you can grow that don't rely on one rails and you should not do all the reels.
Phil
Good advice.
Lauren
How important is it to post to Instagram stories through video, like you the creator talking to the camera as part of your Instagram Stories?
Juan
That's a great question. And this is something that I've been seeing a lot that the views on video stories are decreasing in comparison to static stories. I believe that this is because what you do on stories when you tell them stories, when you show like the behind the scenes or like you know what you do, people are starting to do that and more in reels than on users are spending way more time on the real stuff now scrolling down the real stuff, rather than stories. So that's been a shift in stories as well from just doing video stories, as you know, like selfie talk and selfie, to just like straight to the point stories and static stories with polls with interactive stickers. But I do see that a lot of the things that words on in stories can now be done in reels. And reels are way more engaging, that you reach more people. So I think there's a shift right now, in comparison to what it used to be on stories,
Lauren
Right, because when a user wants a video, they're gonna go to reels to find it. They won't necessarily go to story.
Juan
Exactly, exactly, however, in stories, since you can be way more personal, you can go more of brand as well. So it really depends, you do have to have a strategy in stories. And stories are also great for conversions. So as intrapreneurs that are selling something, stories are really one of the best place to convert those followers that already know, nurture the followers that you have, and then convert them into customers. So I'm not saying that you should neglect stories do stories as well. They'll do video stories, but don't don't do the exact same story that you were doing previously. Because now you can do that in real time. As I said people are consuming way more reels than the stories. That's why overall, everyone has seen a massive decrease in story views.
Phil
Yep, that makes sense. How long does it take you to make an Instagram post give us like on the low end and on the high end? Because I know it varies.
Juan
So yeah, again, it depends on what type of post but for example, I'm talking reel. I can write the script and the caption in maybe like 30 minutes and then recorded in like 10 minutes more or less. So an average, like 40 minutes. And then if it's a carousel post, it used to take me a little bit now I have an assistant that helps him with that. I don't have to do it. But on average, let's say that one post is like 40 minutes in total, like create writing script, writing captions and creating it.
Phil
Okay, I just like to ask that because it's good reference for people, a lot of times people to will give advice like, oh, this should take 10,15 minutes. Honestly, it does not take me 10,15 minutes. Plus, I'm absolutely in a crunch and I'm duplicating something that had been done previously. Like for me to think through it, you know, I need, I need a little bit of time. And I also like to remind myself that I need to give myself permission to spend the time that it takes to do this, right, it's
Juan
Totally okay to take the time that you need. And if you're doing a trend, for example, where you just, you know, like have to do a lip sync, or it's just like an audio in the background with a text on top, then that might take you maybe 10,15 minutes. I also like I do a lot of transitions as part of my content. And sometimes I can do a transition, super seamless in like, again, 10,15 minutes. But sometimes my perfectionism kicks in. And I think the maximum I’ve spent on a reel trying to do a perfect transition has been like an hour and a half just in one reel. And that was very, very frustrated. Because obviously, you know, I have a lot of things to do. And I should not be spending more time on but I just couldn't get it right. And I was like trying it and trying and trying and trying. I didn't get it right into you. And I had to change it, which was really frustrating. But yeah, it really depends on your energy that day, it really depends on what type of content it is.
And that's what you should diversify. Don't do the exact same type of content. The posts are the exact same reels all the time, you should diversify and make some that are more like that you work through them more. For example, you're doing the tutorial, but you need to like record the screen, make sure to plan it out, like the structure and everything. So you should do different types of reels or different types of content throughout your whole content plan to make sure that you're also tackling different gifts. Not everyone consumes the content the same way. And not everyone likes to see video, and not everyone likes to read. So make sure that you're like tackling what everyone wants.
Phil
Mm hmm. I want to point something else out too, that I just thought of. And so even if it takes you 45 minutes to create an Instagram reel, I have seen you start to pop up at least on my radar on YouTube, specifically YouTube shorts. So if we're frustrated, audience listener, if we're frustrated about how long it's taking us, especially in the beginning to create something on this platform, you're like, I don't have time. Think about how all the work that you put into that one piece of content could quickly be repurposed for another platform, another platform another audience, I think that's just something important to highlight and something that came to mind because you have been popping up in my shorts, which I am loving.
Juan
Thank you. I'm glad to hear that. So yes, I launched my youtube channel three weeks ago, and I've been loving it. To be honest, I really enjoy creating long form video. And it's amazing, because as you said, you can repurpose that into shorts and reels. That's what I've been doing. I'm working with an agency that's helping with that, because I do not have the time to edit. But I've been loving creating. And all those YouTube videos that I have right now are blog posts that I have on my web. So I'm actually repurposing my blogs into YouTube's and my YouTube into short sticks and reels. And that's really one of my main goals for next year is to reduce the time I spend on content creation, and spend more time on growing my business and my brand. So what I want to do is literally, like do one macro piece of content per week, which would be a blog, use that as a script for YouTube. Then from the blog, get, you know, quotes for static posts, some carousels, and then from the YouTube get realistic tips and, and shorts. So that way, I only create one piece of content per week.
Lauren
Super smart. And it's a cool way of thinking about it too. Because if it takes you say 45 minutes to record or reel, really if you're posting that reel on shorts as well as tick tock, then really, it's technically taking you like 15 minutes per post, because you're posting it in three different places. And that makes it seem really worthwhile.
Juan
Exactly. And then you're reaching a broader audience, different audiences as well. And you're like, increasing your brand awareness.
Lauren
So how often should people post on Instagram? And I mean, I want to know the static posts, the single posts, the carousels, the reels and stories, like really, how many times do you think is necessary per week stories?
Juan
If you can do it daily, because you have all these new followers coming every day. And the best way to nurture them and to, for them to get to know you is through stories. So I would say stories every day.
Lauren
And how many frames how many story frames?
Juan
Between 3 to 10. More than 10 would be a lot but 10 is already a lot. So let's say five is enough.
Lauren
I'm really going to grill you in this segment.
Juan
And In terms of feed posts, so this is carousels, photos or infographics or static posts and reels, obviously, it depends on your capacities. If you can post every single day without burning out, because it's not only about posting, it's about creating it, then engaging, spending some time engaging with people that have commented on your post engaging with other people. So the engagement part is really important. So it's not only that you have the capacity to do all those things every single day, then absolutely go for it. I don't have the capacity for that, I know that the majority of people don't, if you don't have a team, it's really hard to be able to post every single day or more than once per day. I know, I know some people that do it, but because they do have a team behind them. But let's talk about you know, your solopreneur small business owner entrepreneur with just getting started the minimum I would say three times per week. And I would make two of those posts, reels and one static and maybe would vary like one week, I would do like a single and then the other week, a carousel and the other two reels. And then take it from there. I am posting right now five times per week. So from Monday to Friday, I like to take my weekends off because I do see a job and I don't want to be working over the weekends unless I am launching something or working on a special campaign. Then I do posts on the weekends. But I post from Monday to Friday. And I make sure that three to four are reels and then one static post. Although ideally, you could do one reel, one study one reel one sided, so every other post should be a reel and then every other post should be a static, either single or carousel,
Phil
I need to post more reels.
Juan
Well, you have your YouTube videos that you can repurpose easily.
Phil
No, I just have this weird mental block with reels. There's so it's just like the dancing the lip syncing, I absolutely can't stand it. And I know I don't need to do it. I know I don't need to do it.
Juan
Exactly. There are so many different types of real like when real estate came out, yes, there was a law about the dancing, the pointing the lip sing, but never dance, or maybe have done a little dance every now and then. But now like a proper dance dance, it's been just more like a reaction of something, then I've never lipsync because lipsync reals don't do well on my talents and my audience don't like them and pointing sometimes, but you know, now I do focus a lot on talking reels. And even though talking reels might not have the highest reach, and they don't go viral talking reels. They do help build more trust credibility, and you know, positioning your brand and your business is ideal. And my goal for next year is to use my videos and repurpose them as reels. And you know, so they're mostly going to be talking reels. So you should do the same.
Phil
I should. And even on YouTube, it's like it's so effortless for me to make a YouTube long form YouTube video with a rundown of my favorite tips. I'm like such a geek, a nerd when it comes to like AI and it comes to, you know, just handy tools for content and for marketing. It's like effortless, and then I just had this little mental block on Instagram. But we're gonna work through that this year. You've given us so many great tips and questions. Lauren, do you have any final questions you want to ask? I just want to give you that chance.
Lauren
How important are hashtags for growth?
Juan
Oh, that hashtag question. Of course, it had to come out.
Phil
I almost wrapped it up. But then I threw the ball back to her watch out.
Hashtags are not important for growth, to summarize it. Okay, my last few posts, I haven't been using any hashtags at all. I said test hashtags to really bring grow with maybe before COVID. In my photography account, I used to get a lot of hashtag reach and a lot of growth through hashtags. Whereas on this account, never gotten any hashtag reach that is quite relevant, or maybe a few 1000 views from hashtags for my posts.
But the great thing is that now Instagram is evolving and is going more towards keyword and SEO, and the SEO, the keywords go in the caption also in the alt text, also in the text that you put on your videos also in the book if you're doing the talking real, what you speak can use that SEO as well. But in captions, if you write SEO, rich caption, you know, making sure that you're repeating the specific keywords that describe what your post is about. So let's say that I'm talking about Instagram growth. So as long as I repeat Instagram growth multiple times on my hashtag this will help the algorithm categorize my content and show it to people that are interested in Instagram growth. If I do use hashtags that have Instagram growth, so hashtag get some growth hashtag gets your expert hashtag gauge, they're gonna grow tips. That also helps us keywords to help the algorithm even more categorize content. However, I don't I feel like people search hashtags that much anymore because now it's more like a recommendation fee and suggestions and all that which comes from basically these keywords and the way that the algorithm categorizes your content. So yeah, basically, hashtags won't help with growth. You can use them and they're not going to hurt your content if you use them, right. If you use them as keywords as targeted keywords, they can make your post more discoverable or more recommendable. You know what I mean?
Phil
I know what you mean. Yeah, that was actually really well described. Lauren, I'm glad you asked that question. Juan, how can people get more of your genius? Where can people find you? Where should they subscribe, tell us where we need to go.
Juan
So of course, Instagram, you can find me @ig.creatoracademy. You'll see me there with a blue background on shared profile photo, I currently have two programs that are open for enrollment right now, which is my reels course which is called Explode with Reels, which is where I teach you how to grow with reels, basically, and my Reels Membership, which is a membership where I give creators, entrepreneurs and business owners, reels, content ideas, reels, trending audio, private community edits and tutorials, transition tutorials on a weekly basis.
And I'm going to be opening doors for my signature program called Side Hustler to Full Time Creator at the end of February, beginning of March. So very, very soon. And this is a much bigger program to not only teach you how to build your personal brand, grow it on Instagram, but also how to get paid for it with different monetization strategies, working with brands launching your products affiliate income. So it's a super super complete program for anyone that wants to make of Instagram their full time career.
Phil
I love it. I'm so impressed with you by the way, I'm so impressed with what you've built. I just I love everything that you're doing all of those programs sound juicy, and amazing and incredible and valuable. And we so appreciate you. I've wanted you on here for a long time. We so appreciate you spending your valuable minutes with us here on Brand Therapy.
Juan
And thanks for having me and for inviting me. I really really enjoyed chatting with you guys chatting about Instagram about business about entrepreneurship. So yeah, thank you for having me. And it's an honor to be your first guest after a while.
Lauren
Perfect, thank you.
Phil
A huge thank you to Juan for such an awesome interview. Make sure you check him out on Instagram and all this socials. Remember now that we're back with Brand Therapy you can check us out weekly. And if you enjoy our episodes it always helps if you take a few extra seconds to leave us a review five star five stars that helps other people discover these podcasts which we work hard to create for you. It feels so good to be back. We will see you back here next week on Brand Therapy. See you then.
