7 things designers do wrong on their Instagram page
Instagram remains the number one platform for designers to share ideas, show their work, generate leads, connect with clients and build brand.
But many designers are making mistakes on the platform that are hindering growth and likely putting some clients off.
Here are 7 of the top mistakes I see designers making…
1: Your profile description is confusing (and you don’t have your location included)
Your profile description is what will help people decide whether or not to follow you when they first land on your page. You need to convince someone within a few seconds to follow you (otherwise they will likely be gone forever).
Make sure to include your location in your description. I see so many designers who don’t have this on their page but how are potential clients and collaborators in your area meant to know you’re someone who can help them if they can’t quickly identify your location?
In addition to this, Instagram is SEO based now, so make sure to include keywords in your profile area that your clients might be searching (e.g. interior designer in Sydney). This will help your account appear when someone searches for this term.
In your profile be clear about the type of work you do, who you help and the area(s) your work in. This will help potential clients immediate see if you’re the right fit for them.
2: You’re sharing the work of other designers
STOP sharing the work of other designers’ to promote your own design business! I just don't get why people do this. All you're doing is sending potential paying clients to other designers. 🤦🏻♀️
Plus it’s misleading, unethical and probably a copyright infringement. Also, this type of content is just lazy (and boring!).
By doing this you’re promoting the work of another designer on your own marketing asset!!
If you want to share ideas or work that inspires you then use your Instagram stories for this - not your main feed.
You can read THIS POST for more reasons why this is a really bad idea.
3: You’re sharing too much personal content
While it can be interesting to your community to learn a bit more about you and see behind the scenes of how you work, they aren’t interest in pictures of your dog, what you had for breakfast or your child’s latest achievement.
Again, this can be something to share in your Instagram stories (sparingly!), but shouldn’t have a place on your main feed.
People are likely following you because they are interested in your content around design. If you want to share more about your personal life then I would suggest setting up a second personal brand account to do this.
4: You’re sharing content that isn’t relevant to your community
Here’s what I mean by non-relevant content:
Posts about personal beliefs or political ideals
Mundane details about your daily life that have no connection to your design work
Posts about cooking, sports, hobbies or DIY crafts
Promoting products or services that have no connection to your design work
Posting about industries or topics that are completely unrelated to design
Here’s why this is problematic:
Your followers expect design related content and non-relevant posts will likely confuse them and cause them to unfollow (again use a personal brand page if you want to share this sort of content)
it’s best to keep your page to one specific topic (i.e. design). This helps the algorithm understand what your page is about and put it in front of the right audience
posting unrelated content will likely lead to an engagement drop and Instagram prefers accounts with high engagement. Low engagement will mean your page isn’t recommended by the algorithm.
5: You’re copying what you see other designers doing instead of thinking for yourself
There are 500 million DAILY active users on Instagram and many of them create content.
In order to stand out on a heavily saturated platform you need to be creating content that people haven’t seen before. Your particular style, ideas and approach are what will attract clients to you. Without these you just blend into the sea of other designers and make it hard to capture attention.
Don’t worry about trying to go viral with posts or reels. Your goal should be to build a library of binge-able content so that when someone lands on your feed they want to go through all your content. This means they will spend a long time on your page and will indicate to the algorithm that your page is one that’s worth following (and therefore put it in front of more people).
Creating high value, original content is how you will build real connection with potential clients and is what will eventually lead to sales.
6: You’re sharing too many tips about how you run your business
Unless you’re a business coach stop sharing tips about how you’re running your business.
All you will do is attract other designers (your competitors!) who are there to learn from you and use your ideas to attract their own clients.
Remember, your page is there to attract your own clients who want to work with you on design projects. They aren’t interested in the ins and outs of how you run your business and sharing posts like this will make you appear more like a business coach then a designer (which will confuse your community and shift how your expertise is perceived).
Again, if you want to share ideas and tips about how you run your business then set up a different page for this.
7: You’re sharing too many ‘design on a budget’ tips
By sharing DIY or budget tips you will attract followers who are interested in doing design work themselves (rather than hiring a professional). These followers are not your target market if your goal is to attract paying clients.
People looking for budget friendly design solutions are generally not willing or able to pay for premium design services and if your brand is positioned as a high end or luxury then sharing budget tips can send mixed messages.
DIY enthusiasts and budget conscious followers have different needs and expectations compared to clients who seek professional design services. So instead focus on sharing your projects and professional insights and stay away from budget tips or DIY hacks.
One more bonus mistake….you’re getting AI to write your captions
It can be tempting to use AI to write your captions as it does save you a lot of time. But when AI has written captions it’s so obvious and so boring and is just hindering your account. So stop doing that and take the time to think about what you really want to say. This will take more time - but will end up having much better results in the long run as your community will feel like they are interacting with a real person, not an AI robot!
Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post :)
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
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