5 Mistakes You’re Making on Instagram in 2021.

Michelle Whiting
3 min readJan 21, 2021

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If you’ve spent enough time on Instagram, you’ll know that the algorithm works in many mysterious ways.

You may be wondering why you’re not getting anywhere when you post? Why am I not getting new followers? Why are people not engaging with my posts? It can be very frustrating.

We spoke to Instagram guru Ela Duys, founder and CEO of Ela Mazur Creative, who fills us in on the top mistakes that people make on Instagram.

1. YOUR INSTAGRAM BIO

Your bio needs to be CLEAR and be speaking to your ideal client! NO FLUFF, NO BS! Think of it like your DIGITAL BUSINESS CARD.

HOW?

NAME: Make sure your name is clear, it says what you do using words your ideal client would use to find you. Your name section is SEO friendly so don’t waste that space. You have 30 characters and right now you can only change it twice before having to wait 14 days.

BIO: What do you do, what do you offer, how can you help your ideal client — make it CLEAR and to the point so there is no guessing. No cute fluffy words — simple and clear is best!

LINK: You want to add a trackable link, also keeping this simple and easy for your audience to follow.

LOCATION: Add your location to your ‘contact options’ if you are on a biz account, rather than having it in your actual bio. This makes it more searchable and you will attract people in that location.

CONTACT: Add your contact information such as email and phone number. If there is a specific way you want clients to contact you, let them know.

2. ENGAGE WITH OTHERS

Don’t be a silent scroller. You want everyone to engage with your content, BUT YOU’RE NOT ENGAGING WITH OTHERS? ENGAGEMENT = ENGAGEMENT, if you want love you need to give it.⠀

HOW?

All too often in my coaching session people are always hungry for MORE engagement when they:

A) Don’t reply to any of their comments and DM’s

B) Don’t engage with others themselves

Think of this like the law of attraction. Put out into the universe or Instagram what it is you would like to receive. Remember Instagram is a networking app after all. If you are not social on it then don’t expect it from others.

3. FOCUS ON SAVES AND SHARES⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⁣STOP focusing on the likes and START focusing on the saves and shares! This means your content is of VALUE!! Shares = free word of mouth marketing.⠀

WHY?

When you start looking at the SAVE + SHARES you’ll start to notice what your audience wants more of from you. It shows that your content is of value and that they either want to share it with their audience (which is free marketing and helps you gain more exposure) or save it! AKA they will come back and read it again.

4. SHOW YOUR FACE⠀

Don’t be shy! Are you showing your face? Or do you have a faceless feed? Showing your face BUILDS TRUST! TRUST = SALES.

WHY?

This could be most people’s biggest fear! Showing their face and talking to the gram. Eeek! But this is the fastest way to build trust with your audience. Why? Because they can see and hear you and what better way to get to know you and the business then through video?

5. EDUCATIONAL CONTENT THAT GIVES VALUE⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Start to create content that is solution focused. You need to get inside your audience’s head and be the solution they’re looking for. You will then see the engagement FLY in.

WHY?⠀

If you are posting just for the sake of posting or making your content too much about YOU and not enough about your audience then you aren’t going to get the results you’re looking for. Next time try swapping your I’s and ME’s, to YOU and YOUR. Something else you should be doing is really understanding what is going on inside the head of your audience. Instagram is very psychological and if your content is not solving their problem then they’ll go to your competitor who is! ⠀⠀

Are you still struggling? Head over to Ela’s Insta where she gives you all of her top tips.

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Michelle Whiting
Michelle Whiting

Written by Michelle Whiting

Copywriter, publicist & entrepreneur. Passionate about sharing empowering and informative stories from thought leaders across the globe.

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