Engaging on Instagram as an Introvert Without Draining Your Energy

Instagram. Instagram Reels. InstagramTV. Instagram Stories… so many ways to show up. So many ways to STRESS out as an introvert. It can be hard to engage on Instagram as an introvert without constantly draining your energy.

I’m not sure if you know, but most introverts find that putting themselves out there is often a taxing and exhausting process for social media. The ability to show up in those ways, much like networking and socializing in everyday environments, typically uses up a lot of energy and means that you need to allocate time to recover. Instagram is one of those platforms that make extroverts shine, and introverts hide… but not anymore!

As an introvert, I’m finding that Instagram is a tool that speaks for you – not just because of you. You need to remember a few things when it comes to Instagram… much like Facebook, it relies on images and videos to convey messages, but that isn’t all it is useful for.

With their hashtag use results, it is an easier way to get you, your business, and your content out there in front of different readers, all by the power of using the right Hashtag. Much like Pinterest, if you use the tools effectively, you don’t have to push yourself into something you are entirely uncomfortable about – at the same time, prevents you from consistency on that platform.

 

Here are a few things to remember when it comes to engaging on Instagram:

When it comes to content, think about how you want to feel when you hit publish on your post.

Do you want to feel like you have conveyed value or an experience that your audience can relate to? Do you want the engagement to reflect that?

Ensure that the first of your goals will help you keep genuine when interacting and engaging on Instagram. There are so many filters that we use; let’s take one out of the equation.

 

Be Genuine and Meaningful in Engaging with your followers.

What this means is, taking the time to have genuine conversations with those you interact with. Start by growing your confidence with your followers that you know and trust, then from there – find 1 to 2 followers that are new and engage them in the topic on your IG that day. This will help you grow your confidence, not make one-sided conversation obvious and allow you a chance to stretch your reach each day slowly.

That could mean setting a timer for how long you spend on IG. As well know, we can go down the rabbit hole too when on the platform, but if you set goals of commenting on 1-2 that you know, 1-2 that are new, and spending about 15-20 mins each day liking/sharing and saving posts that have meaning for you. This process will help you in your organic growth as well, for these platforms like to see active engagement to help share your content as well within the algorithm.

 

 

Taking time away from ALL social media as well will help.

By taking those breaks or “offline times,” will help with social media fatigue. There is so much going on in the world (especially over the last year or so) that sometimes, it’s hard to show up and be genuine when you are fatigued with what you are reading.

Taking offline days to be with your family, read a good book, or a day focus on other parts of your business will only help in your perspective as well.

Like in any part of our business, taking the time and thought into social media can significantly impact your organic growth as well. There are a couple of other “honorable” mentions when it comes to being engaging online:

• Pre-record your lives and then parse them out into chunks to your audience – this will help in any backlinks to areas of your business plus gets your face out there in a lower-stress sort of way.

• Reaching out to profiles that impact you is another way to engage online, keeps with the genuine part of the conversation when it comes to great connections. Who knows – this could lead to other opportunities that you didn’t think of!

Just remember, the highest growth influencers and social media gurus all have one thing in common – be yourself. This is what draws your audience to you – this, no matter if you are introverted or extroverted – is the superpower you need to engage.

 

 

Share Your Thoughts

What other engagement tips have you found as an introvert that help you? If you like these tips, please follow me on Instagram (@IntrovertCoach) for more ideas and ways to grow your business in different ways, all while staying true to your introverted nature.