What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Sneha is a social media manager and personal branding strategist who has worked with over 400 clients, having started earning money in college during COVID. In this episode, she shares her content calendar and batching system, why engagement matters as much as posting, and her advice for starting from zero followers.
[00:00:00.27] – Speaker 1
Hi there, welcome to The Digital Jayasty Show, your go-to podcast for digital marketing insights that drive business growth and career success. I am Jayasty Anandan, your host, and this podcast is brought to you by Digital Jayasty. That’s my digital marketing consultancy, helping businesses worldwide. You can check it out at digitaljayasty.com. Whether you are a B2B business looking to expand your online presence or a professional in a full-time job or freelancing, this podcast is designed to help you learn from top marketing efforts and make smarter, more strategic decisions. If you are watching on YouTube, subscribe to my channel and hit the bell icon for updates. If you are listening on any podcast app, follow The Digital Jayasty Show, and if you like the show, leave a rating. All right, let’s jump right in.
[00:00:49.18] – Speaker 1
Hello everyone, welcome back to the show. Today we have with us Neha, a social media manager, content creator, and personal branding strategist who has worked with over 400 clients and built a community of 15,000+ followers on Instagram, all organically. What’s inspiring about Sneha’s story is that she started earning while she was still in college. In this episode, we will dive into her journey, content strategies, growth hacks, and the lessons she has learned from building a business from the ground up over the last 4 years. So if you are a freelancer, coach, business owner, or aspiring content creator looking to grow on Instagram and attract the right clients, you are going to love this conversation. Welcome Sneha. Glad to have you on the podcast. Thank you.
[00:01:33.04] – Speaker 2
Thank you so much for having me on this podcast.
[00:01:36.17] – Speaker 1
My pleasure. So let’s jump in. So you started earning during your college days itself. So can you share what that looked like and how it felt to make your first income while still studying?
[00:01:47.14] – Speaker 2
Earning in college, you know, everybody has a plan that they will do their college, and then they will go into a job. And that is a simple plan that everybody has in their mind. And also, I had the same plan, but you know what, COVID happened. And during COVID, we started exploring so many things because we were getting bored at home. And at that time, I started learning more about digital marketing, and I created my page. I used to create random content. I used to post random content. And slowly and steadily, I started making audience, and they started coming to me asking to work with me. And it was a great feeling that you are still in college and you are also making money, and you can invest in things that you want. You can do whatever you want.
[00:02:44.12] – Speaker 1
Yeah, because Instagram is a third-party platform and everyone has access to it. So I’m sure that there are many people who can still explore and make money. someday. So when we had our conversation earlier, you mentioned that you faced being blocked by Meta for sending too many DMs. Can you share your experience and how you adjusted your strategy after that?
[00:03:04.23] – Speaker 2
Yes, definitely. I was sending so many messages to different people, people I don’t know, just so that my blog could get some visitors and views. And after 2 weeks, Meta blocked my link- the link from Facebook and also from Instagram. And then I was very clueless about what I had to do now, because nothing was working. I’m not getting any views. But when I started my Instagram, I started engaging with different people. I started exploring different people who were into digital marketing, and they were creating content. At that time, carousels were booming, and people used to create carousels and graphics, and that was really fascinating for me. So I, I also started creating carousel content, and then I started a different page, Digital Sneha, where I shared more about digital marketing. And then I started with a footwear blog, but then it shifted to digital marketing. So this is how I changed things for me because the earlier things were not working.
[00:04:13.13] – Speaker 1
Okay. So you posted consistently for 2 years and grew to 21K followers initially. So what are the top 3 things that helped you stay consistent?
[00:04:22.24] – Speaker 2
Staying consistent is very important on social media. So if you want to be consistent, no, there are some— number one thing is you have, you should have a content calendar. You should plan everything that at what time you have to post, what content you have to post, and what format you should use. So I used to maintain a content calendar. Now it depends on how much you post. So if somebody is posting 4 times a week, then the strategy will be different. But I used to post 7 days a week, a week, because more the post you are doing, more reach you will get. So I was, I used to create the content calendar, and I was very strict that I have to stick to it. I can’t miss any content. And even if I missed some content, I used to adjust it in the future content. Number 2 is batch-creating content. Once your content calendar is ready, the next thing you have to do is batch-create your content. You don’t need to shoot content or edit content. Just decide 1 or 2 days in the week when you are available.
[00:05:32.03] – Speaker 2
And at that time, batch-create content- 4 pieces of content or 5 pieces of content, based on what frequency you post. So be consistent with that. And number 4, number 3 is repurposing the content. Repurpose your content. If you are creating a long-form video, then you can take snippets of it. So if you are creating repurposing— if you are repurposing your content, it will be very easy for you to stay consistent.
[00:05:59.24] – Speaker 1
Okay, so when you repurpose, like, when did— when do you post that repurposed content?
[00:06:05.25] – Speaker 2
So it was in the strategy only, in the content calendar. If I am creating 4 new reels, one will be repurposed content. One will be a carousel. So this is how I used to adjust it.
[00:06:20.15] – Speaker 1
So do you repurpose and publish it in the same month, or like the same week? How does it work? The gap between the repurposing?
[00:06:28.29] – Speaker 2
So, repurposing- what I meant by repurposing is you had a carousel. Okay. So that carousel performed really well where you talked about XYZ topic, right? So you can repurpose it into a reel, or you can repurpose it into a static post where you are giving all the value in the caption. This is how you can repurpose, and it depends on your content bucket.
[00:06:52.12] – Speaker 1
Okay. So can you just walk us through your content planning process, like how you plan your calendar, shoot, and engage with your audience?
[00:07:01.14] – Speaker 2
Yeah. So firstly, with the engagement part. You should engage for 1 hour a day. This is the minimum time that you should engage with different creators in your same niche, because I also see people making this mistake that they engage with anybody. They are engaging with celebrities. That engagement will not help you at all. So make a list of people who are in your niche, who are your competitors, inspiration, and engage with them or engage with your target audience later on, who become your followers, clients. Right? So engage with these kinds of people with the content calendar. So I set one day where I research all the content that is going viral, trending topics, audios, and then I create my calendar according to when I have to post a reel or a carousel. So my format is in 2 parts. My content is divided into 2 formats: reels and carousels. So either I do them alternatively, or if I’m doing 7 posts in a week, then I do majorly, I do reels because reels get more views, and then 2 will be carousels. Then I decide on any 1 or 2 days where I sit and create all the scripts, and then I shoot the content.
[00:08:17.06] – Speaker 2
It hardly takes me 2 to 3 hours to plan the 1-week content so that I’m not overwhelmed with everyday shooting and editing.
[00:08:25.21] – Speaker 1
Yeah, that’s true. All right. You mentioned that engagement strategies like daily comments earlier. So how important is engagement versus just posting content?
[00:08:37.22] – Speaker 2
A very good question, because I see this is a mistake people are doing, that they’re not engaging; they’re just posting, and they are thinking Keep posting is enough and they don’t need to do anything else. But the truth is, posting is also important, and engagement is also important. If I give you an example of a business, okay, so let’s suppose there is a business: a clothing business. They are creating T-shirts. Now they have the product. The product is the content. They have the product, they have the store, everything is done, but they are not inviting visitors to their store. So will their store run? Of course not. They will not; they will not be able to run their store because visitors are not there. So similarly, if we take the example of Instagram, when you engage with people, you are inviting people to see your account because if I am writing a comment and then that person sees my comment, there is a 90% chance that they are going to come to my profile; they are going to see my content. And other people who are engaging on their profile, they— that is also— there are— there is also a chance that they will come to my profile.
[00:09:49.14] – Speaker 2
So both are very important: creating content, posting content, and engaging people, engaging with different accounts so that you can invite visitors to your account. And if they like the content, obviously they will end up following you. Or working with you.
[00:10:05.11] – Speaker 1
Okay. So basically it’s 3 elements: you’re posting content, engaging with other handles, and also inviting through DMs. So that will help to get more traction. Okay. So why do you recommend posting natively on Instagram instead of using scheduling tools?
[00:10:24.10] – Speaker 2
So why I suggest that you should post live rather than scheduling is because when you schedule content. You are not active on the platform. Let’s suppose you are posting at 4 PM. You have scheduled the content, and the post will go live at 4 PM. You will not have the responsibility that you have to engage, or you have to be on the platform. Whereas when you are posting live, you are spending some time to see content, the content that is coming on the homepage or some of the notifications, and then you are spending more time on the platform. Now, what Instagram wants is for you to spend maximum time on the platform. You also spend maximum time, and you are also making other people spend more time on the platform. So when you post live, you are doing a little activity that will give you a little boost to the reach of the content. The reach basically gets affected whether you are posting live or if you schedule. Okay.
[00:11:24.28] – Speaker 1
So for businesses, why is social media so important today? And what are the top 3 things businesses should focus on for their Instagram strategy?
[00:11:35.20] – Speaker 2
Okay. So, for businesses, it is really important to be on social media because you have seen over the past 3-4 years, people are coming to social media, right? They are having more reach. They are connecting with more people. If I take an example of a clothing brand, you have a store. You have a store in Delhi, for example, and then only the people who are coming to that area or from Delhi can explore your store. They can know— only those are the people can know about your business. But if you’re on social media, you are not just attracting local customers, the local people, but you are also attracting and reaching people worldwide. There is no limit to connecting with people on social media. So it’s very important for every business. In today’s world, for every business, it is very important that they are on social media so that they are reaching different people. Now, if I say the 3 things that businesses should do, number one is, of course, posting content. Post content regularly. If you can’t do 7 days a week, it’s fine, but be consistent with whatever frequency you can do— 3, 4 posts a week, but do it.
[00:12:54.21] – Speaker 2
It’s not just that you have created one or two posts because what I see is they are just posting the product pictures or reels, but they are not taking it in a, you know, growth-wise. They are just posting it so, so, so that their social media is running. There is no strategy behind that. So you have to be very consistent with the posting frequency. Number 2 is, of course, engaging so that you are inviting visitors to the business. And number 3, you can run ads as well, because ads will give you a massive boost, and you will be only reaching out to the specific people you want, your target audience basically.
[00:13:36.09] – Speaker 1
All right. What would you advise someone just starting with zero followers and no clients today? Like, if you’re at the 4-year stage.
[00:13:46.20] – Speaker 2
Okay. So if you’re starting today, you have nothing, then what I would recommend to those people is, number one, please don’t chase perfection, because if you chase perfection, my content should be perfect, my profile should be perfect. Don’t chase perfection. Start with whatever resources you have. Start with whatever things you know. Because when I started, I used to create very randomly. There was no niche, no specific strategy or direction for what I was doing. I was just creating content because I liked creating content. And within the journey, I learned so many things. I have seen the changes in me. Everything became better and better. If you see me 4 years ago versus now, there is a huge difference because I was consistent. I was never perfect, and I don’t think that I’m still perfect, but I’m learning. I’m growing, right? So you don’t need a niche. Whatever things you know, just post them, put them out on social media. Engage with people, connect with people, build relationships. If you want clients, if you want leads, still have a mindset of connecting with people, making relationships with people, because when they connect with you, they will connect with your story; there are high chances that they will convert.
[00:15:08.14] – Speaker 2
You don’t need to be a stubborn person or a person that you are not. Be real and just post.
[00:15:16.05] – Speaker 1
Okay, so basically don’t look for perfection, start taking action and keep on improving yourself, uh, over the—
[00:15:23.22] – Speaker 2
Yes, you don’t need a niche. You don’t— if you, even if you want to start with reels, okay, you are not confident, start with faceless reels. The starting point is important because once you start, things will go very easily.
[00:15:42.20] – Speaker 1
So where do you see Instagram and personal branding going in the next 2 to 3 years?
[00:15:48.10] – Speaker 2
There is a massive potential on Instagram and for personal brands, because if you see right now, more than brands, personal brands are growing. There are so many budding creators who, in the past few years, you have seen that they have grown massively. So there is a very high potential and everybody, and it is so easy to start. You don’t need to invest anything. The platform is absolutely free. You just need to invest your time. So there is a massive potential, and everybody should, I would suggest that everybody should start content creation.
[00:16:26.00] – Speaker 1
So thank you so much, Sneha, for joining us today and sharing your journey from earning your first income in college to building a thriving personal brand and helping hundreds of clients grow on Instagram. Your insights on consistency, engagement, and strategy are going to help so many listeners take action. For everyone tuning in, if you want to follow Sneha and learn from her, I’ll drop her Instagram handle in the description below and make sure you check her out and follow her for more tips. Thanks again for being here, Sneha, and thanks to all of you for listening and watching. I’ll see you in the next episode. Thank you, Sneha.
[00:17:01.04] – Speaker 1
This podcast is brought to you by Digital Jayasty. If you want more tips, strategies, and interviews with top marketing experts from around the world, make sure to subscribe and follow The Digital Jayasty Show. Thank you for tuning in, and I’ll catch you next time.