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There are a lot of people who believe that building a huge Instagram following is a core component to building businesses, especially in the fashion/fitness/lif

There are a lot of people who believe that building a huge Instagram following is a core component to building businesses, especially in the fashion/fitness/lifestyle arenas. So much so that there are people out there calling themselves "entrepreneurs" who haven't actually done anything other than build a modest following and maybe hock someone else's brand to their followers in exchange for (maybe) a couple bucks. I think part of this belief comes because a few people like @christianguzmanfitness have managed to build a following of over 1 million people which has enabled them to sell a lot of their clothing and travel and buy expensive cars and such. But that's very much the exception and not the rule. I do think Ig can be a great tool to grow a brand on a shoestring budget, but I also agree with this article which challenges the all-to-popular notion that if you get a lot of followers on Ig you'll be rich and important.

cooperadymas 8y ago
Which, when you put it this way, is not all that different than the current startup mentality of building an audience before you build your product.
omouse 8y ago
>There are a lot of people who believe that building a huge Instagram following is a core component to building businesses, especially in the fashion/fitness/lifestyle arenas Yep and they are the suckers in the game that are building up the network and network effects. If they sat down and tried to figure out the numbers, they would see that they need to aim for a decent-sized audience (10k followers? 100k followers?) that are actively interested in their Instagram posts and stories and will click through their profile to their website, links or email, or call or whatever. This is why it's so important to measure the full customer journey, not just the vanity metric of "1 follow = 1 win!". You aren't a winner till the money's in the bank.

cooperadymas 8y ago

Which, when you put it this way, is not all that different than the current startup mentality of building an audience before you build your product.

omouse 8y ago

>There are a lot of people who believe that building a huge Instagram following is a core component to building businesses, especially in the fashion/fitness/lifestyle arenas Yep and they are the suckers in the game that are building up the network and network effects. If they sat down and tried to figure out the numbers, they would see that they need to aim for a decent-sized audience (10k followers? 100k followers?) that are actively interested in their Instagram posts and stories and will click through their profile to their website, links or email, or call or whatever. This is why it's so important to measure the full customer journey, not just the vanity metric of "1 follow = 1 win!". You aren't a winner till the money's in the bank.