I just completed my 30 day Instagram challenge aimed at small businesses and freelancers and I am buzzing! It went so much better than I possibly could have hoped. Read on to find out why I created it, what it was like to take part and my results. It’s not too late to join in either. Head over to my Instagram profile @hazelbrowncreative and you’ll find all 30 challenges saved in my story highlights.
What is my 30 day Instagram challenge and why did I create it?
Back at the end of March I came up with the idea to run a 30 day Instagram challenge. After launching two of my own magazines and setting up my own freelance business over the last few years, and with a background in the media and creative industries, I have spent an awful lot of time building up my knowledge in social media and marketing. I have spent hours and hours completing online courses and reading up on the topics. After applying what I learnt from them to my own business, I started to work with other freelancers and small businesses to support with theirs.
I decided to create the challenge in order to help small businesses to implement key marketing tactics and tips to Instagram in an easy way.
On 12th April 2021, I launched the 30 day challenge and posted a story with a new challenge every day for 30 days. I took part in the challenge too! It has taken a bit of time and commitment but I am more than pleased with the results.
Tips and hints I shared
On day 1 I ask challengers to think about their ideal customer and set their goals for the month. The next challenge is asking challengers to introduce themselves, explain why they started, what they enjoy and what they do – this was the first time I had properly posted about myself and why I started my business, which really connected it to me and put my face to it. It had a brilliant engagement rate. This is also a great way to get to know who else is taking part in the challenge as they are asked to use the hashtag #hb30dayinstachallenge and tag my profile @hazelbrowncreative
I encourage engagement with other profiles just as much as creating your own content and experimenting with different formats when posting to the platform – this is really key to being successful on Instagram.
Other challenges included everything from identifying hashtags relevant to your content and audience, solving client pain points and encouraging challengers to ask their current customers and followers to engage with them in a different way to how they would usually.
How it went
My goals were:
- Reach more small businesses and freelancers and grow my following
- Increase traffic to my blog and podcast
Obviously, it’s really crucial to remember that your content should be aligned with your goals. If your goal is to drive more traffic to your website, a decent number of your posts should direct people to it.
What I saw happen:
- Reach increased by 125%
- Engagement increased by nearly 95%
- Followers increased by 14%
- Most popular post formats: Photos or videos with a person in them, branded posts with quotes (these are both very relatable)
- Reels, IGTV – video content performed very well and is still returning results
- Podcast got more listens this month than any month prior to the challenge
- Visitors to my website nearly doubled during the challenge, not just to my blog
During the challenge I’ve received some great feedback too:
“I’ve been taking this challenge by @hazelbrowncreative, I’m only on day 8 and it’s going great. Give it a go, it might just do wonders for your Instagram.”
In response to a story: “I’m lovin these! So helpful! Keep up the great work! 👍👍”
I was also told that my posts on Instagram over the last month have shown lots of different sides to me that they would never have known existed otherwise – what a lovely comment!
My favourite parts of the challenge
- Creating it
- Producing video content (the more you do it, the easier it becomes)
- The feedback and response from my audience
- Feeling more connected to my audience
What I will be taking away and carrying on with
- Showing up regularly for your audience is important
- Making it personal so people can relate to it. You are asking people to trust your service or product – give them a reason to
- Engagement is just as important as posting
- Hashtags are important to increase reach
- Make your content eye catching and fun (if that fits with your identity) or match it with the style of your business and work
Why committing to a 30 day challenge is worth it
As well as helping me to get closer to my goals, my showing up regularly has resulted in people contacting me about potential projects which is brilliant – I even gained a new client! The challenges really get you to understand all the features of Instagram and really can help small businesses to reach more potential customers givng them the opportunity to make more sales!
Join the challenge by following me on Instagram – you can find all 30 challenges in my story highlights. @hazelbrowncreative
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