So I’ve got some questions for you.

Are you:

Wondering how your favorite people to follow on Instagram always post things you love?
Curious about how they manage to connect without being sales-y?
Wishing you could come up with ideas for posts your clients will really resonate with?
Ready to turn your Instagram feed into a connection-and-conversion-creating-pathway from your customers to your business?

If you’re yelling “YASSSSS!” at your screen right now, then you’re going to love this post!

Today we’re tackling the five key ingredients that will help you build a social media feed your customers will swoon over and connect with every time you post.

But first, we have to get rid of the boogie man.

Don’t Fear The Algorithm

You’ve probably heard it a lot lately, “I’m missing out on customers because of that darn algorithm” or “The algorithm stinks!”.

Or maybe you’ve heard people promise “ 72 ways to beat the algorithm and get more customers.”

Well, I am sure this will shock no one, but I say, “Algorithms be damned!”.

And I say this because I know that you can create a social media feed that connects you to the right people. The posts you offer will have nothing to do with the algorithm and everything to do with you, the value you provide, and your purposeful content strategy.

The Purpose of a Purposeful Social Media Strategy

Let’s be honest with each other here.

The truth is that you don’t want “72 ways to beat the algorithm”, do you?

You know that the algorithm will change as search engines evolve and that even if you learned those 72 things, you’d probably have to learn another 72 in a month or two.

What you really want is algorithm-proof, connection potential. You want your customers to get to know you, your brand, your product/service, and how you can help.

When you focus on creating connections with your posts, helping your customers have certain thoughts, and allowing them to feel certain ways about what you’re sharing, then you don’t have to worry about the algorithm because you’re not at its mercy.

And that’s exactly what you’ll find in these five ingredients to creating a purposeful feed.

So let’s go!

Ingredient 1: Posts Your Customers Can Admire

Imagine that you hate your job.

Every day you head into an office with a disrespectful boss, a broken copier, and a workload that you dread. Your commute is long and your work is mundane.

As you hop onto your social media after work, you see a post from someone who quit their job and created a business based on their life’s passion. At first, it seemed too good to be true. But as you continue to read that person’s post you learn about their journey and you can see that they’re living life without that awful job. They must have figured out how to do it.

Admiration based posts allow your ideal clients to see that you have what they want and that you can remove whatever blocks they’re facing. They literally are able to see the potential life beyond their current struggle.

Examples of Purposeful Admiration Posts You Might Create

Your brand story
Your personal story
The origin story of your product or service
Sharing your qualifications (personal experience or professional training)
Sharing product accolades (awards, recognitions) when you share outcomes from customers

Admiration Posts Allow Your Ideal Clients To Say:

“You’re living without this problem so you must have figured it out.”
or
“Your product lets people live without this problem. You must have figured something out that I haven’t yet.”

Ingredient 2: Posts That Allow Customers to Aspire

Posts that create a sense of aspiration in customers allow them to see what life is really like for those without the pain point or problem.

Offering posts that leave customers aspiring to a certain outcome is actually a step toward action because these posts position you as a resource for removing the struggles, pains, or problems of their lives.

You’re living without that dead-end job, that chronic back pain, that irritated, acne-prone skin or whatever else. Or you’ve added something to your life that they aspire to add to their lives, like travel, a partner, or just more days off.

And if you have a product-based business, you can offer real-life examples of people who used your product to achieve results. (Notice that aspiration-focused storytelling is still the star here.)

Aspirational posts make you and your business a resource and trusted authority for your customers and position your product or service as something of value because of it.

Examples of Purposeful Aspirational Posts You Might Create

How a client used your product to change an aspect of their lives and how life is for them now
Vignettes or “behind the kimono” snippets about life without the pain point or problem and the journey to that place.
Sharing specific results or outcomes that are the biggest benefits of your products or services
The process you use, active ingredients that help, or the support you provide to your customers. (The more specific the better!)

Aspirational Posts Allow Your Ideal Client To Say:

“I want to live without this challenge or problem. You’re doing that. So, in this way, I want to be like you.”

Ingredient 3: Posts That Lead Customers to Relate to You Or Your Brand

When you create posts that allow customers to relate, you’re letting them know that you get it, you see the good in them and you’re helping them see it too. You’re allowing them the space to think about what you have to offer and how they trust you.

This type of post is the relationship builder. You’re crafting a relationship built on common ground, on understanding, and on the reality that you’re connected to your customers because of a shared journey.

Examples of Purposeful Relationship-Focused Posts You Might Create

Sharing a story where you describe the feelings, experiences, and thoughts that are common for people experiencing back pain
Sharing information that the customer will find useful or relevant as they move towards their goal.
Sharing an opinion or perspective you or your brand holds about resolving the key pain point or problem. (Ex: “You don’t need to quit your job today to change your life right now.”)
Disclaimer: This one only really works if you’re being authentic. Sharing something that is real, raw, and honest will help you make lasting connections based on the places where your brand values, your customers’ goals, and the “bigger picture” of your work together to get to those goals intersect.

Relatable Posts Allow Your Ideal Client to Say:

“You get where I’m at and you see the good in me so there’s common ground here.”
Or

“I relate to what you’re saying and that’s pretty damn cool to not be dealing with this alone.”

These posts help you find your true ideal customers because they’re where you share details that they’ll truly relate to and connect with each time.

This is a great “ideal client barometer” because if someone doesn’t connect to your “relate” posts, there’s a chance they aren’t your ideal client.

Step 4: Offer Posts That Truly Resonate

Posts that resonate make your product or service, a meaningful and relevant solution to your customer’s problem.

Posts that resonate may rely on storytelling or offering facts and helpful tips or steps toward a solution. At their core, though, they also rely on knowing your customer’s possible objections to making a buying decision and addressing them.

These are posts your customers can feel (in their heart or their gut) are true. These posts allow customers to feel seen, heard, and understood as they go through the buying process.

Examples of Purposeful Resonant Posts You Might Create

Sharing tips for quitting your 9-5,
A recipe for better gut health,
A guide to picking out flooring when you finally replace your shabby carpet
A client’s story with a before and after that hits on their initial worry or objections about a purchase and how they feel now

Resonant Posts Allow Your Ideal Clients to Say:

“What you’re sharing makes sense for me and I trust that you can help me solve my problem.”

And that’s a really powerful thing.

Now let’s get inspired!

Step 5: Posts That Inspire

The last ingredient is one that we as helpful, purposeful content creators can not forget: We need to inspire our customers to act.

If we go back to the “hating your job” example we can see this first hand. As a customer, you already know what it’s like to stay stuck. You see that person living without the dead-end job and of course, that’s awesome for them. But they’re not you.

So you keep reading their posts and, if all those posts do is create within you a sense that someone relates to you, you might stay stuck.

But if they’ve inspired you to act, you’re going to find your way to becoming “unstuck” because you trust that person to model for you, that product to help you, or that brand to light your way to a new reality that you now believe is possible.

You’re moving from trusting to taking action and you can do the same for your customers too.

I often hear that moving customers to action feels too sales-y.

But Imagine you had the cure for the common cold.

You figured it out and now no one else has to sniffle their way into oblivion.

Wouldn’t you share that with people?

My guess is that you wouldn’t worry about feeling “sales-y” as you shared your cure.

You’re not going to let the fear of being sales-y hold you back from sharing your cure because you’ve already created relationships founded on common ground, admiration, and resonance.

Examples of Purposeful Posts You Might Create To Inspire

Offer some words of encouragement and belief that their goals are possible
Details on an offering and its outcomes,
Real-life examples of outcomes that are a result of using your product or service
Offers you’re making and the results people have achieved with them.

Inspirational Posts Allow Your Ideal Clients To Say:

“I’m going to take the action that you suggest to get out of my struggle because I trust and connect with you.”

Inspiring customers to take action is a powerful tool in creating customer connections, in helping others, and in growing your business

The Purpose of Your Feed

So there you have them. Five ingredients you can use to create a purposeful feed. As you integrate these ideas into your content strategy, feel free to play within them, to create your voice and message using them, and to keep going and keep engaging with your customers along the way.

If you’re ready to take this process on and make it work for you, you’re in luck.
I’m offering 1,000 free marketing plan calls this year and I’d love to connect with you about your marketing strategy so you can have your best year yet.

You can click here to save your spot on one of these calls.
I can’t wait to connect with you!

5 Must-Have Ingredients For a Purposeful Feed