3 Reasons Why Consistency is Key to Your Success on Instagram

By Jake Adam Davey.

One of the biggest things that people struggle with and which holds them back from getting results on Instagram, and one of the problems we’ve faced personally - from all the accounts that we've run ourselves, to when we're working with clients, is this …

Consistency.

In this article, I’m going to share the three major reasons why being consistent and why approaching Instagram consistently is going to get you SIGNIFICANT results.

First off … Do you trust me?

The first reason to be consistent is for your AUDIENCE.

We need to think about our audience and the journey we want to take our audience through.

Never forget that our audience are the reason we are building our business and brand. But the reason that we're trying to build credibility on Instagram, the reason to be seen as the go-to expert, and the reason to become and be seen as the go-to authority in our niche is this … to build trust with our audience.

The faster that we can move people towards trust and the feeling of trust, the more likely we are to be able to convert them into leads, clients, and customers for our business.

Know, Like and TRUST

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase ‘Know, like and trust’.

The first one is kind of obvious. People cannot do business with us if they don’t know we’re there, and we know that people tend to do business with people that they like, but they also do business with people that they trust.

They want to do business with people who they can trust to help them deliver an outcome, or the end result they are expecting. If they don't get the outcome or end result that they are expecting, then chances are, they're not going to be satisfied and rapidly the trust is lost. 

Over the past 12-18 months, building relationships and building trust without the ability to interact with people in person, has become increasingly difficult. So how, in an ever more online world, do we get from cold to customer or client fast?

How do we build trust and warm relationships quickly?

Consistency.

Consistency in our social media posts, consistency in our content, and consistency in our message.

These are all vital, because if we are consistent on Instagram - by sharing consistently, showing up consistently and being authentic consistently - this consistency will show our reliability. 

Reliability

If we are the type of business that posts regularly and shares regularly - whether daily or three to five times a week - we are seen as reliable.

If you can be trusted to share posts on your social media consistently, then it shows that you are reliable.

It sounds very small, but the little things matter. If we show up consistently, we're going to be perceived as more reliable, and we're going to be seen as being more trustworthy.

Reason Number 1: Be consistent for your AUDIENCE because consistency leads to reliability, which leads to trust.

Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You.

The second reason to be consistent is for INSTAGRAM.

When I started out on Insta, I understood the importance of consistency for our audience, but the second reason why consistency is key on Instagram is for the platform itself. We need to play the Instagram ‘game’ the right way. 

FACT: Instagram wants us to be consistent.

Being consistent on and for Instagram means doing all the right things and ticking the right boxes for the Instagram algorithm.  

Yes, I said the ‘a’ word!

You can’t talk about Instagram for more than a few minutes without mentioning the algorithm, but it shouldn’t be something that scares us, or we shy away from.

When using Instagram for business, your mindset should be ‘I need to be posting consistently to build my brand, to build my audience’, and that's absolutely right, but there are hidden benefits too. 

One of the biggest mistakes people make when using Instagram socially is that they post sporadically …

• ‘I'm going to post 15 of my best holiday photos this weekend and then I have to work, so I'm not going to post all week.’
• ‘Next weekend I'm going to meet up with my friends - I'm going to post more pictures, but then it’s back to work, and I forget to post for the week.’

And on it goes, around and around, and up and down.

The Algorithm Hates Inconsistency!

For Instagram, there's no consistency and the algorithm hates that, and when you upset the algorithm, it demotes your content! Yep, demoted!

Our content isn’t going to be seen as often, and it’s going to be seen by fewer people.

But, if we show up consistently and post consistently, it is not just great for building trust and reliability with our audience, but we will also be rewarded by Instagram.

Reason Number 2: Be consistent for INSTAGRAM by showing Instagram we are great users. By ticking the IG boxes and using the platform regularly, we will be rewarded as more people will see our posts more frequently. 

So, let’s just get those first two reasons really, really clear. The first reason that we focus on consistency is for our AUDIENCE. The second reason we focus on consistency is for the platform that we are playing this game on, which is INSTAGRAM.

WIFM?

The third reason to be consistent is for ME (not actually me, although I’d love for you to be consistent, but for YOU).

If you’ve been following me on Insta or have read any of my posts, then you’ll already recognise the acronym WIFM meaning What’s In It For Me? I usually refer to this when I’m talking about content, but the third reason for consistency is for ourselves.

You have to prove to yourself that you are committed and serious; this isn’t just a hobby - this is your business and your brand, and you’re going to make it happen. You’re serious about getting results, and when you commit to that you will start to see progress.

I have been reading a book recently called Atomic Habits by James Clear. He says something very poignant which is this: ‘Many people have the same goal. Many people want to lose that weight or find that perfect relationship or make a million dollars, whatever it might be, but not everybody gets it.’

There are multiple reasons why that is, but ultimately the people that have a plan and that implement on a consistent basis are far more likely to reach their goals because they are taking small but consistent actions every single day to make sure that they're getting there.

So, if you show up consistently online no matter what business, what product or what niche you are in, you're going to improve, and it's going to lead to a massive improvement in how you communicate and connect with your audience, and how you get your message heard.

You will increase your understanding of the needs, wants, pains, problems and challenges of your audience and you will be able to see immediately what's working and what your audience is wanting to see. 

Reason Number 3: Be consistent for YOU - by showing up regularly you’ll prove to yourself you can do it; you’ll improve and be able to serve your audience even more effectively. 

To summarise, there are three reasons why consistency is so important, and all of them ultimately get us to what we really want - RESULTS.

The most effective way to get results is by being consistent.

1.  Be consistent for your AUDIENCE
2.  Be consistent for INSTAGRAM
3.  Be consistent for YOU

You will start to see marginal gains on a consistent basis, and you will continue to grow and improve.

If you are looking to grow and improve and further your results with Instagram, be that through consistency or any other area, I want to help you. Instagram is always the best place to find me @jakeadamdavey. I'm very excited about chatting with you. 

 Jake Davey is the UK’s leading Instagram expert. Former high school French and Spanish teacher turned online entrepreneur, Jake shows business owners and entrepreneurs how to build an authentic audience on Instagram and be seen as the go-to authority in their industry.
 
His Flagship program, InstaGalactic follows the proven, 6-Step ROCKET system and shows people how to explode their brand on Instagram so they can impact on a global scale. 
He is passionate about helping business owners to scale by leveraging the power of Instagram via his online course, 1:1 and group coaching, hosting the INfluence podcast, and international speaking engagements.
 
Jake currently has an audience of over 65K followers on Instagram, and has helped hundreds of large and small businesses to influence more people, and build authentic, engaged audiences that convert.