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Navigating the Instagram Algorithm: Tips for Creators

ByJillian Leslie

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In my newest episode of The Blogger Genius Podcast, I welcome Sesil Ivanova, a talented artist and Instagram coach, to discuss effective strategies for growing an Instagram following.

The conversation delves into the nuances of content creation, audience engagement, and the importance of authenticity in a world increasingly dominated by AI-generated content. Here, we break down the key takeaways from the episode, with actionable advice to help you elevate your Instagram game.

Show Notes:

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Sesil Ivanova’s Background and Growth

Sesil shares her journey as an artist and Instagram creator, detailing how she has successfully built her following. She emphasizes that while many creators may aspire to produce perfect, viral content, the key to success lies in authenticity and connection with the audience.

Content Creation Strategies

Start with Visually Appealing Shots

Sesil suggests beginning with visually appealing shots from your life. These should be both authentic and aesthetically pleasing. By layering a voiceover or relatable text over these visuals, you can tell a compelling story that resonates with your audience.

Show Your Face and Share Personal Experiences

She stresses the importance of showing your face and sharing personal experiences. This fosters a deeper connection with viewers. In a landscape where AI-generated content is becoming more prevalent, genuine human connection is more crucial than ever.

Practical Tips for Content Creation

  • Quality Over Quantity: Invest time in creating fewer, high-quality videos that provide real value to viewers.
  • Understand Your Audience: Analyze your audience’s desires, pain points, and interests to craft content that speaks directly to them.
  • Storytelling and Authenticity: Focus on sharing personal experiences and insights to foster a genuine connection with your audience.

The Role of Reels and Stories

Reels for Broader Reach

Sesil strongly advocates using Reels to reach a broader audience. Reels are designed to attract new followers and can significantly boost your visibility on the platform.

Posts and Carousels for Deeper Connections

While Reels can attract new followers, posts and carousels serve to deepen connections with existing followers. These formats allow you to share more detailed content and engage your audience on a deeper level.

Instagram Stories for Daily Engagement

Instagram Stories are a tool for daily engagement, allowing creators to share their lives and build a sense of community with their audience. Stories provide a more intimate space for sharing personal insights and fostering a sense of familiarity.

Sales and Marketing on Instagram

Using Instagram as a Sales Funnel

While Reels can attract new viewers, Stories are more effective for nurturing relationships and ultimately driving sales. While subtle selling can occur in Reels, Stories provide a more intimate space for promoting products or services.

Authenticity in Marketing

Sesil emphasizes the importance of authenticity in marketing. She advises against overtly promotional content, suggesting that creators should focus on providing value and sharing their experiences. This approach builds trust and encourages followers to engage with the content and consider purchasing.

Content Length and Editing

Ideal Length for Reels

Sesil suggests keeping Reels under a minute, ideally around 50 seconds, to maintain viewer engagement. She recommends changing visuals every second or so to keep the content dynamic and interesting.

Using Your Voice

Sesil shares her preference for using her voice in videos, as it helps establish a personal connection with the audience. She encourages creators to experiment with different formats, including voiceovers, text, and music, to find what resonates best with their audience.

The Importance of Authenticity

Vulnerability and Rawness

Throughout the episode, Sesil reiterates the importance of authenticity in content creation. She believes that vulnerability and rawness can be powerful tools for connection. While polished content has its place, showing the real, unfiltered aspects of life can resonate deeply with viewers.

Tailoring Content for Different Platforms

Sesil contrasts the strategies for Instagram and TikTok, noting that TikTok tends to favor more raw and unpolished content. She suggests that while creators can repurpose content across platforms, they should tailor their approach to fit the unique culture and expectations of each platform.

Are There Shortcut to Instagram Growth?

Unfortunately no. There are no shortcuts or magic formulas for success on Instagram. Instead, it’s about being genuine, providing value, and connecting with the audience on a personal level. Sesil encourages listeners to embrace their unique qualities and share their stories, as this is what will ultimately attract and retain followers.

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Transcript #349: Navigating the Instagram Algorithm

Jillian Leslie 00:00:06 Hello and welcome back to the Blogger Genius podcast. I am very happy that you are here. I am excited to share that MiloTree is now your all in one solution for bloggers and creators. With MiloTree, you get the best tools to sell digital products, offer unlimited freebies to grow your email list, and effortlessly grow your social media followers. With our powerful pop ups, it has never been easier to both grow your audience and sell to them. We offer a 14 day free trial to use all our tools, so go give it a try. Go to milotree.com. For today’s episode, I want to introduce my guest, Sesil Ivanova. She is a talented artist, Instagram creator, and Instagram coach. In today’s episode, Sesil shares a new and robust framework for thinking about Instagram. And remember, there are no tricks. It’s all about creating content that truly resonates with people. Cecile offers so many actionable tips that you can start implementing right away. You’re going to love this! So without further delay, here is my interview with Cecile Ivanova.

Jillian Leslie 00:01:31 Sesil, welcome to the Blogger Genius podcast.

Sesil Ivanova 00:01:35 Thank you. Thank you for having me. So nice to talk to you.

Jillian Leslie 00:01:37 Now, I found you because I interviewed your friend Petra. And I will link to her episode talking about growing Instagram and what she said in the episode was, I have a friend named Sesil. You should talk to her because she’s kind of taught me everything I know. And I will say the response to Petra’s episode has been terrific. People have reached out to me say saying, oh my God, I learned more about Instagram from her. So I’m like, hey, let’s go to the source. So I’m super excited to have you on the show.

Sesil Ivanova 00:02:16 Yeah, I’m so happy to have like to have this conversation with you. I’m so passionate about Instagram and reaching people, so it’s really nice to have such conversation. When we help people, you know, share their wisdom with others and do it in a way that would reach people and truly connect. So thank you for having me.

Sesil Ivanova 00:02:33 Yeah, it’s a pleasure.

Jillian Leslie 00:02:34 And you’re also in Bulgaria, which I love about like being an online entrepreneur and having this podcast. I can have friends all over the world. So now you’re my second friend in Bulgaria.

Sesil Ivanova 00:02:45 Oh, now you can come. Now you can count.

Jillian Leslie 00:02:48 Yes. Yeah. So let’s start at the beginning. First you’re an artist and You draw. I mean, you kind of like it looks like lots of, like, pen and paper and those kinds of skills. And it looks like from your Instagram, you teach people how to draw, how to be creative. So could you talk about your background, like how you started to do this and and how you got into Instagram?

Sesil Ivanova 00:03:17 Yeah. Of course. So with the drawing part, it all started when I was in high school. Basically, I was very bored in high school, so that was my escape to just drawing my textbooks, you know, and I’m the type of person that is like super obsessed with learning something with all of the details.

Sesil Ivanova 00:03:34 So I started drawing eyes, and then I got into drawing a full head and I got obsessed with improving it. So it was like a constant improvement. And I realized that I have this sense of perfecting things. I’ve always been a perfectionist. So yeah, I just decided to create an art account that is separate from my personal one, and I started posting the things that I was doing, and they got progressively better. And a lot of people were asking me, you know, how do you do this? Can you help me with that? So I just naturally knew I need to start teaching and showing my ways of doing it, because I kind of progressed a lot faster than other people. So when I graduated high school, weight.

Jillian Leslie 00:04:12 Progressed as an artist, progressed on Instagram. Like, what are you talking about specifically? Yeah.

Sesil Ivanova 00:04:18 Well, both. But, at that point it was, just drawing as a skill. So once I graduated, I decided to focus on my Instagram and grow it as a, you know, with following because I’ve always been interested in personal growth and monetization.

Sesil Ivanova 00:04:33 So I just kind of knew how to create a strategy that would be winning. So I remember me posting my first video that I worked like so hard on and it didn’t get many views. And I’m like, why is that? You know, so so it was at that point that I got obsessed with it and I started analyzing my video and then analyzing the competitor’s videos and seeing what goes viral and how it goes viral. Like going to the source of it, basically. so from that point, I started improving my videos, like, tremendously. and I started posting a few, new ones. So I remember one of them got viral, and from that point it was just a spiral of viral video after viral video. so yeah.

Jillian Leslie 00:05:17 And when you when was when did you start leaning into Instagram and how big is your account right now?

Sesil Ivanova 00:05:25 So well, that’s the thing because I haven’t posted it in like a year now. because I hide it and I need I need it to stop. But it was, in 2020 that I posted a 2022 when I posted my first one, like in the winter time.

Sesil Ivanova 00:05:40 And then over the next year it blew. basically in 2 or 3 months, it went from 2000 followers to 150,000. And that’s the number that I am right now.

Jillian Leslie 00:05:53 Explain this to me. So you taught yourself how to draw, and you’ve also taught yourself then how to grow on Instagram?

Sesil Ivanova 00:06:08 Yes. Well, it’s I feel like it’s a personal trait. You know, you kind of get obsessed with something and you go into depth with it until you understand fundamentally how it works. And I’ve been like that with so many skills. So yeah, it’s just understanding. Like to be good at something, you need to be a good researcher. You need to know what corps, how things work and what they’re connected with. And when it comes to Instagram, they’re like a few layers that you need to understand for you to make great content. Because like there is the algorithm, there is the audience, and they are the creators, but they’re connected, like people don’t understand, like they feel like the algorithm is their enemy, but it’s actually their friend.

Jillian Leslie 00:06:51 Oh, okay. Let’s get into this. Let’s break these three down. So let’s start with what as you started to do this deep dive into Instagram, what did you discover about the algorithm?

Sesil Ivanova 00:07:07 Yeah. So I was thinking about why the initial thought was like, why would they put reels on Instagram? Because it wasn’t a thing before, you know, before TikTok. And I realized they put the videos there so they have more people on the platform, spend more time. And then I realized, well, Instagram or the algorithm is created by humans and their main goal is to make money, right? The way for them to make money is by having people stay on the platform for as long as possible, and that’s where the creators come in, because they’re like the connecting dot. So when we have creators that make content that is good enough for people to stay for as long as possible on the platform. Instagram makes money. So when you think of it as a such a relationship between Instagram and us as creators, it’s like a friend relationship.

Sesil Ivanova 00:07:59 They’re like, see, I want to help you reach as many people as possible, have as many eyes on you as possible. If you give me good content. So people watch it and I make money. It’s kind of like that relationship, because in that thing, like the audience is the king, because it’s always about what is the type of content that the audience wants to watch. And you as a creator, need to analyze that very, very deeply. you need to understand your audience at core. What are their desires? What are their needs? the dream life. They want to live their pain points. So you can get a language as well. So you can craft a message that would touch them at heart, make them stay on the app so Instagram can make money. And it’s like a win win situation. You just have to kind of twist the way you think about it. So. Okay. So it’s a positive.

Jillian Leslie 00:08:52 So let’s talk about when you discovered this for your niche.

Jillian Leslie 00:08:55 And can you take different niches and say well it’s working in this niche. So chances are it will work in this niche. Or are they so separate that you really just need to focus on studying your own niche?

Sesil Ivanova 00:09:10 That’s a good question. no. To me it’s not about different niches so much. It’s more about the type of audience you need to understand the audience, which would be watching your content. And sometimes it’s not because like a niche would be like a specific interest. And to me, audience is so much broader because we as humans have so many interests. Right? so when I started doing it like for my niche, but it will be for any niche, like the same research. I remember I went on TikTok in different platforms and saw all the content that other people were doing that was in the art industry And like, I remember seeing that video of how to draw a nose and it had like hot, like a million, like 1.5 million views, but it was the most basic video ever.

Sesil Ivanova 00:09:57 And I was like this. How did this video get so many views? Like, I can do it a million times better? So it was like a challenge for me, and I made from my own experience. I made the best video that I could, and he reached 3 million views. Wow. Okay. You better. Yeah.

Jillian Leslie 00:10:16 So wait. Okay, so you’re literally you put up your first video. It doesn’t do well because you’re just kind of pulling something from thin air. And then you notice there’s a video that’s how to draw a nose. And it’s super simple. Can you describe just very briefly what that video was and then how you thought to yourself, oh, there’s already an audience here wanting to know how to draw a nose of I can do a better version of this. Chances are I can get myself in front of this audience that already exists.

Sesil Ivanova 00:10:45 Yes. That’s so beautifully formulated. So the video that I saw was, basically just a close up view of someone drawing a nose very slowly so you can see all of the steps with, no audio, just some basic song.

Sesil Ivanova 00:11:02 But it showed, like, very visually, all of the steps because it was very simply done. And that’s the thing, like, people love simple things that they understand. So I was like, okay, I want to like, get all of my knowledge that I know about anatomy and noses and portraits everything, and synthesize it in a simple way that is also visual. So I went from anatomy in a very simple way. I made things very visual because it’s very important when you create a video, when you make a video, what you think of as a hook is just a promise you need to promise. Yeah, you need to promise the audience when they see your video that they are going to get something out of it. It’s not about getting their attention. It’s about signaling that they will finish watching your video and they’ll know better than they knew before. So yeah, so I kind of synthesized all of my knowledge. I made it into this video. I made it very visual. And then in the end of the video, I also provided a free template.

Sesil Ivanova 00:12:04 So from an algorithm standpoint, it’s a good video. It gives them a promise at the beginning what they will learn by the end of the video. Because I showed like, a list of so many noses from different perspectives, that was like my hook at the beginning. I show them the process, and in the end I give them a free template so they need to stop the video, they need to screenshot it, and then if they go into the comments and start commenting because it’s a lot of value, it will make them spend even more time on the platform. And that signals Instagram that there is so much value in this video. It needs to be pushed to more people because more people will spend more time watching it.

Jillian Leslie 00:12:43 Yeah. Interesting. Okay, so when you decide to make your own video, how complicated was your video? How long did it take? How many cuts? Like, like so this other video is super simple. So when you started to dissect this and create your first piece of content, what did that look like? Like you said, you’re showing noses from different angles and you’ve got a template.

Jillian Leslie 00:13:06 So explain that.

Sesil Ivanova 00:13:09 Yeah, it took me a lot of time. So my process has always been somewhat complicated because I spent a lot of time on research to make sure that what I provide in the end is very good because like my relationship with Instagram has always been about me valuing the time of people who will be watching it. So I want it to be perfect, which that perfectionistic approach isn’t the best thing always. But I have this notion template. That’s where I, do my videos, like script them and everything. So I knew the concept of what I wanted to do with the information I wanted to provide, how it would be structured. And once I have my script, I go and create a shot list, which basically is all of the sections of my script I dissect, and I give them like I assign them a visual. I visualize what I want to be playing at this section of the script while I’m doing the the video is playing basically. So once I have the script and the shot list, I start recording and recording all of those, together.

Sesil Ivanova 00:14:13 So we have I’m not sure I don’t remember this video exactly, because I know my video is improved over time, but I’m sure it had a lot of visuals changing all the time. I also remember, like, I learned motion graphics just to show like something showing on top of my nose. Like I really went above and beyond with this video for my skills. Then like, I was learning very quickly and then making the template and the initial visual for my hook took me a lot of time, but I knew it will pay off because other people wouldn’t do it. So it was, yeah, I don’t know how much time. Probably like a week. Yeah, probably a week.

Jillian Leslie 00:14:55 Okay. Now we’re then after this are like all your videos with this much kind of work and intention because I’m busy entrepreneur. I want to grow on Instagram. But like, I don’t have a week to work on one video. And how many seconds was this video?

Sesil Ivanova 00:15:13 It was like a minute. Okay, maybe less than a minute.

Sesil Ivanova 00:15:16 Yeah. So give me.

Jillian Leslie 00:15:17 The short cut version of this. Like, how could I? Maybe I’m not going to get 3 million views, but how do I think through this so that I can have success?

Sesil Ivanova 00:15:30 Okay, so basically for Instagram now it depends. What do you want? As a result, do you want followers? Do you want engagement? Because a lot of videos right now generate a lot of views and likes, but they won’t generate you followers if they’re entertaining, if they’re kind of relatable. But people can see what they can get from you beyond that one video that they see on reels. So the shortcut, if you want to generate a lot of followers, that would be through value. You need to provide value. But it also, it has to be quality. Right now I feel like on Instagram we have a pool of mediocre content, which just isn’t enough because people have this belief that they need to be posting every single day or three times a day. Like I remember hearing you need to be posting three times a day because that gives you 900 chances of going viral.

Sesil Ivanova 00:16:29 And I’m like, to me this makes no sense because the the 900 chances of going viral or that slim. But if you spend more time on one video, yes, you produce less videos with much higher chance of it going viral because.

Jillian Leslie 00:16:43 Tetris shared something very similar. She works very hard on her videos. She will do three a week instead of three a day, and has had much more success and much more follower growth. So your. But but what about this idea that Instagram wants you to feed the algorithm? Feed the algorithm?

Sesil Ivanova 00:17:04 Well, they want you to feed the algorithm. But when you think about it, if the video is isn’t good enough so people won’t watch it, they won’t push it to much more people. So you’re just creating content for the sake of creating content that stays on your platform and nobody sees it.

Jillian Leslie 00:17:20 So what you are saying is that if your quality is good, your content will rise.

Sesil Ivanova 00:17:29 There’s a higher chance for sure.

Jillian Leslie 00:17:31 Yeah. Even if I’m not making reals every day.

Sesil Ivanova 00:17:36 Oh, yeah. For sure. Like I haven’t posted in a year. A lot of my videos keep getting engagement after a year of no posting. So Instagram really pushes old videos. And sometimes when I scroll because I analyzed always when I’m scrolling, I would go into the comments and I see that most of the videos, the comments are from like eight weeks ago. So it’s not even a new video. It doesn’t matter.

Jillian Leslie 00:17:58 You’re seeing in your feed right now of stuff showing up to you. Other people created this a long time ago, but it’s still circulating because there’s also this this narrative that your Instagram post real whatever dies in like 24 hours. Yep. And that it will never come back. Like the thinking with Pinterest, for example, you can create a pin for years later, it’s still circulating for Halloween, let’s say. Whereas with Instagram there’s always this idea like no, no, no. Gone. Done. Like. Like cross it off your list. But you’re saying that’s not necessarily true.

Sesil Ivanova 00:18:38 That’s not necessarily true when the content is relevant. So if it’s good quality and people want to see it, it will be circulating for quite some time. Interesting.

Jillian Leslie 00:18:48 Now do. So let’s. Sorry. Keep going.

Sesil Ivanova 00:18:52 Yeah I just wanted to say that sometimes I’ve seen it with my content like it. Instagram gives you that wave of promoting your content to people, and then it stops for a while. And then for some reason they decide to push it again. So they give you like a second wave to see if people react better to it this time. And if they do, they keep pushing it. So you just have multiple chances. If the content is good, it’s going to reach more people, like 99% of the time.

Jillian Leslie 00:19:21 Yes, Instagram is important. It is top of your funnel. The goal is to take your Instagram followers and to get them to sign up for your email list. The best way to do this is by offering an awesome freebie. If you want help, I have a great resource.

Jillian Leslie 00:19:39 It is just three AI prompts you can use to create a compelling cheat sheet totally personalized for your niche. So to grab this, go to milotree.com. Slash freebie prompts again. milotree.com/freebie prompts. If you use this, you can have your freebie content written in about ten minutes. It’s like magic. And now back to the show. Let’s talk about then how to grow what your thoughts are on growing followers versus engagement and likes and comments and things like that. So talk to me about that strategy because you’ve grown your followers. Petra’s grown her followers. So how? Let’s talk about growing followers and what your recommendations are for that.

Sesil Ivanova 00:20:32 Yeah. Okay. So for followers, just thinking how what I started from the other. But yeah, for followers generally, the safest option would be to go for valuable content or controversial content or storytelling. You kind of need to be authentic in what you do, because we’re entering an era of Instagram where we’re shifting from perfectionism and perfect content, like packed with value to an era of storytelling and personal connection.

Sesil Ivanova 00:21:08 Because people truly like this, they want to connect with you on a personal level. So now I’ll start. I can just share my strategy, basically parts of it, of what I’m going to do. in the near future, I would focus on storytelling, being authentic, providing value in the language of your audience, while also doing it in an entertaining way, if that makes sense, because that’s the only way that them as audience would connect to you deeply and would want to come back to you. So that’s followers for likes. It’s just relatable content or funny content like a cat video, you know, or a quote. Right now, a lot of the videos that are circulating on Instagram are simple visual or a simple video and a bunch of texts on top of it, and some people stop and read it and they resonate with it. So they may like it, they may share it, but they have no idea who you are. They see a ton of such content online so they wouldn’t really follow you.

Sesil Ivanova 00:22:09 They don’t know what they can get. Then you have to think of the standpoint of the the person scrolling. What would make them stop? What would make them think, wow, that’s interesting. I want to know more. So yeah, making content that would make people want to know more.

Jillian Leslie 00:22:25 So what you’re saying is that the content that gets likes might be like a potato chip tastes good. It’s it’s kind of, you know, it’s like a little pop and I’m going to have another potato chip and eat it. And like, I like the potato chip, but I’m not going to invest, you know? So it’s just like popping all these potato chips in my mouth. And I like them because it tastes tasted good. Taste it good. Taste it good. Like like like. But I’m not going to go like, who made these potato chips? And I’m going to assume that, you know, this bag of potato chips is just like this other bag of potato chips. Like I’m not going to go like, who has these best potato chips? It’s like, I’m just getting these little pops.

Sesil Ivanova 00:23:06 Yeah. Yeah. Of course. That’s such a great way to put it. But yeah most of what we see on Instagram is random potato chips.

Jillian Leslie 00:23:14 Right. And I’m going to like it. Like will I share it. Am I going to share this kind of potato chip content. Would you say.

Sesil Ivanova 00:23:22 like. Well, it depends if it touches you, because some, some make it in a way that would resonate so deeply that they want to share it. But if it’s just random visual with some content, they might now want to, want to learn more just because there is no personal connection, like they don’t see the person, or it’s not really that deep for them to want to go. Yeah.

Jillian Leslie 00:23:45 Okay. So then what? From what you’re saying, I would want followers because I want people who are investing in me, not just I’m feeding you potato chips.

Sesil Ivanova 00:23:58 Exactly.

Jillian Leslie 00:24:00 So let’s talk about how do I do that. When you say storytelling, when you say engaging and useful content, what does that mean?

Sesil Ivanova 00:24:09 Oh, okay.

Sesil Ivanova 00:24:10 Well, for this you need I mean, it depends. On what? What is it you want to show people? To teach people? but and also understanding your audience. So, yeah, just crafting your content in a way that would teach like teach them something in an entertaining way, but also like show them their dream life, show them what is it that they like? where does it touch them on a personal basis? What triggers them? Because those are the type of things that would make them think. And once you’re invested to that point, you would want to learn more about that person. You know, I hope that.

Jillian Leslie 00:24:52 Makes. Yes. Yeah. Okay. So then let’s talk about strategy like like the for not you. Who’s going to spend a week on a video. Even Petra spends a ton of time on her videos. Do you have shortcuts for example? Okay, here’s what I recommend. You have your hook. You show your face, you do these clips, you add music.

Jillian Leslie 00:25:17 You don’t add music, you do a voiceover. What are your kind of go tos that you could teach me where maybe, let’s say I’m not going to make the most perfect, beautiful, awesome video that’s going to get 3 million views, but we’ll get me some followers, will help me put my name out there, will help me put my mission out there. What I stand for, what would you say to me.

Sesil Ivanova 00:25:40 Beautiful. For this I would say you need beautiful visuals that you’ve already taken. For example, usually with our brand, we we have something that our client doesn’t have, right? For example, we’re living their dream life. So you have visuals from your life that you’ve already taken and make sure that they’re, authentic and also aesthetic. So what I would do if I don’t have that much time to think so much of a storyboard and everything is, I would pile up quite a few of those aesthetic shots and I would have a voiceover or top on top of it that is telling a story or a text, even simple text that is relatable.

Sesil Ivanova 00:26:22 But what is the difference between this and the previous one that I said about generating likes is that here you’re showing your face, you’re showing your story, how you live your life, and you’re showing the person on the other side of the screen that you have something that they want, and you can give it to them. So they would want to come and learn more from you.

Jillian Leslie 00:26:44 Okay. So it’s interesting in this world now with AI content I feel like content becomes cheap because I could just go to ChatGPT and ChatGPT by the way. Like I feel like my ChatGPT has personality so weirdly like, you know, I talk to her, she’s really nice back to me. And so you’ve got to kind of compete with that. Like she is kind of nameless and faceless, but there’s like a little, like nice perch. She’s always nice, like, oh, I see what you’re trying to do or that’s a great idea. I’m like, thank you, ChatGPT. So you’ve got to. You’ve got to, like, raise your game beyond ChatGPT and stand for something.

Jillian Leslie 00:27:22 Be somebody so that people can almost, like, smell you.

Sesil Ivanova 00:27:28 Yeah. You just have to be a human. That’s what I was like. The core of everything is that we’re humans and we lack that connection. So when you’re just being yourself, it’s when people would actually connect. I mean, you can be fake. you can show, like, all of the good things, but to the core, people will know that it’s not how it looks. And once you’re authentic and, very vulnerable, people can feel it so they can truly connect to you. And I feel like that’s where we’re going now, because everything now is AI. Everything is just very fake. So we just desperately need change. We desperately need something that is unique, something that is personal. So yeah, that’s just what’s going to happen.

Speaker 3 00:28:13 Okay.

Jillian Leslie 00:28:13 Do you for example, let’s get like down into the nitty gritty. Do you recommend people mostly be posting reels to grow their followers on Instagram?

Sesil Ivanova 00:28:25 Oh for sure, for sure.

Sesil Ivanova 00:28:26 Like generally the reels is how you reach more people and then posts and carousels is how you connect to your audience. The people who.

Jillian Leslie 00:28:36 Already are, they’re.

Sesil Ivanova 00:28:37 Already there. Yeah, it gets kind of like stories. Yeah, yeah. And stories are just brilliant. Stories is what people need to be spending more time on, because that’s how you share your life. And people can actually connect, like on a deeper level, on a daily basis, because it’s how you build like commitment. When people see your story constantly and they know you on the back of their mind. So you’re like a person in their life, even just through a screen. And it’s how they get invested into your life or into your business, and they want to follow your journey. They’re one of those, you know, a thousand fans if you know the.

Speaker 3 00:29:14 Right. Right.

Jillian Leslie 00:29:15 Yeah, absolutely. What? Okay. I’m all about creating sales funnels. And the thing that I don’t think I’m doing in my own, in my own Instagram strategy is you can think about Instagram as a funnel, which is you create stories to, to attract people who are like cold to you.

Jillian Leslie 00:29:34 They don’t know you, but all of a sudden they see a real. They go, who is that? That’s interesting. They click over and decide to follow you. But what people say is, if you are at all wanting to sell on Instagram, which is hard to do, sell in your stories, not in your real, because in your real, like they don’t know you yet, but then it’s very much like selling in email. You’ve gotten somebody on your list. Now you build the relationship and they start to connect to you. They’re more apt to purchase from you. And I would argue that Instagram works similarly. It’s the tracks you top of your funnel, but the connection happens in your stories.

Sesil Ivanova 00:30:23 Yes, well, I would argue that through reels you can also sell, but it has to be subtle because people are so tired of others showing them how to live their lives or what they’re doing wrong is like now, even judging by my own experience and behavior on on Instagram, when you see a video that it’s like five ways to do that or you’re doing this wrong, I just scroll immediately.

Sesil Ivanova 00:30:46 I don’t want you to tell me how to live my life, but if you do it subtly, like you show value, but you also show that you can provide more value through this e-book or through this mascara.

Jillian Leslie 00:30:59 You know, like, yeah, mascara, like everything. You know, here’s my life and really, you know, and the best thing about it is I get to use this mascara.

Sesil Ivanova 00:31:08 Exactly. So you can still do it, or at least hook people on it so they know it exists. But definitely through stories is when you hook them more into kind of give them urgency and show them what is missing. Because in a in a real, they’re there to, to entertain themselves, to just kill some time. But on stories they tap purposefully on your face and they want to see what is it that you have to offer, you know, what is it that you’re showing them? And if you’ve already built the connection, you know so they know you, they trust you, and you show a product that will give them even more validation than what you’ve already provided.

Sesil Ivanova 00:31:47 Of course they want to know more. So definitely stories.

Speaker 3 00:31:51 Okay, I’m.

Jillian Leslie 00:31:52 Doing a real. Do you recommend I use the Instagram video editor? Do you recommend I use captured?

Sesil Ivanova 00:32:00 Oh capture? I’ve never done it on Instagram editor. Just practice my goal.

Jillian Leslie 00:32:06 Okay. How many? How many seconds should my reels be?

Sesil Ivanova 00:32:11 It depends on the type of reel. like, what is it that you’re posting? I would I would never go over a minute. If it’s valuable content like 50s. I think it’s great. Generally. Maybe 20. Depends on what it is you want to post.

Speaker 3 00:32:28 Do I want like clip.

Jillian Leslie 00:32:29 Cut cut cut cut.

Speaker 3 00:32:30 Cut?

Sesil Ivanova 00:32:32 Yes. It doesn’t have to be. Well it also depends because now that we are going into storytelling and into vulnerability, even if it’s a video of you, straightening your hair or something and telling a story, if you tell the story in a entertaining enough way, it’s good. But if it’s just providing value, I would say, yeah, change the the clips.

Sesil Ivanova 00:32:52 What I usually do is I have like a second and or a second and a half is where I change the visuals and I make sure that most of them are aesthetic. So yeah, okay. And also have a mixture of Bro and arrow. So arrow is me talking to the camera and bureau is recorded content.

Jillian Leslie 00:33:11 Okay. Do I want to people to hear my voice? Do I want to record voiceover or speak directly to the camera, or would I want text and music?

Sesil Ivanova 00:33:24 You can do. You can do both. You can experiment. I feel like there is no one right way. You can experiment and see what works for you. But if you want to build a relationship, I would always say it’s better to use your voice even. I’ve got a lot of comments about the way I sound, so the people always pay attention to it, even on a subconscious level, and they make comments about it. So when they know your voice, they kind of know you again on a deeper level.

Sesil Ivanova 00:33:53 So if you want to connect that, that must be better.

Jillian Leslie 00:33:56 Doing series or doing stand alone?

Sesil Ivanova 00:34:00 Well, series is a way to hook them, through series, you can truly provide a lot of, like, a lot of value. And I was talking at the beginning about promise, which is like the hook. But also, if you mention about you having that series through that promise, you already like, you’re you’re like, I’m here, I’m giving you evidence. I can provide so much to you. You can trust me. You can see the quality of content that I have for you. I truly value your time. So there is a series that you can learn so much from, and they would want to come on it. Basically, like on a subconscious level.

Speaker 3 00:34:40 What about.

Jillian Leslie 00:34:40 This idea? Like you are an aesthetic person because you’re an artist. But I’ve also heard this other thing which is kind of ugly. More raw stuff can perform really well. Like for you as an artist that probably, you know, no, you need it to look aesthetically pleasing, but is there a strategy where you go, no, you know what? This is it.

Jillian Leslie 00:34:59 This is my real truth. And it’s kind of raw and, you know, it’s a little grainy or a little dark or whatever should I post like, is that could that be part of my strategy?

Sesil Ivanova 00:35:10 Of course, you know, as I said, vulnerability. And now what I was saying about being authentic, it can be just straightening your hair. Like now, a lot of people on TikTok are just recording videos of them doing the most random thing and telling a story. So when you have a beautiful way of telling a story, or you’re funny naturally, or you just are very emotional, like emotions truly get to people. When you start a video with a bizarre emotion, they’re like, what is happening? I want to know. Yeah, so do you.

Jillian Leslie 00:35:40 So do you feel like the same strategies that help you grow on Instagram can help you grow on TikTok? Or are there differences?

Sesil Ivanova 00:35:50 So TikTok isn’t really my specialty. I’ve seen because people people on TikTok are more sassy. I would say you can be a lot more raw on TikTok, then you can be on Instagram.

Sesil Ivanova 00:36:04 People on Instagram really still like polished things. So I focus on Instagram because people there can truly turn into followers and into clients. Why on TikTok is mostly about entertaining and entertainment. but you can just repurpose your content. But if you truly want to focus on the platform, I would definitely have a different strategy or tweak the content slightly so it matches that the algorithm there, which is mostly for entertainment.

Jillian Leslie 00:36:33 Sesil, like you, help people with their Instagram strategy. How would you in a real communicate that.

Sesil Ivanova 00:36:41 You can start with you being the authority or you sharing your experience that would signal to people that you know what you’re talking about. It can be through results. It can be through achievements. because visually, when they see what you’ve been through, what you’ve achieved, or you can also say it through storytelling, they are more willing to to trust you. So you just have to be authentic. It’s it’s all about authenticity in the end.

Speaker 3 00:37:05 Now, where.

Jillian Leslie 00:37:06 Does music come in?

Sesil Ivanova 00:37:08 Oh, okay.

Sesil Ivanova 00:37:09 Well, if you’re not posting your voice over and you’re just relying on text, you can for sure put music or even search for viral songs that are going right now. But to me, like Viral Song one, drive it as far as to reaching that many people with the content isn’t good enough, but you can try. Or what I do sometimes is I have my voice over, and then I choose a nice song in the background and I just reduce the volume so it doesn’t interfere with my voice. But it’s not something I focus on.

Jillian Leslie 00:37:39 Like it’s not like the magic bullet. If I just pick the right trending song, my video will go viral.

Sesil Ivanova 00:37:47 Yeah, kind of like that. The surrounding belief around hashtags.

Jillian Leslie 00:37:52 And tell me, do you believe in hashtags or not?

Speaker 3 00:37:54 Or not know.

Sesil Ivanova 00:37:55 Even like the CEO of Instagram said they are not a thing.

Jillian Leslie 00:37:58 Okay, so no focusing on hashtags right now. So what you’re saying as we wrap up what you are communicating to me it’s all about quality, which doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of your actual video, but the quality of your content being authentic, sort of solving problems for people or showing them the transformation that they could have in their own lives.

Jillian Leslie 00:38:23 And there aren’t any magic bullets like secrets. Like if I just picked a trending sound, or if I just use the right hashtag, my videos are going to go viral. It’s it’s more basic than this, and it’s therefore more maybe a little bit harder because there aren’t these like magic levers, but it can be therefore more satisfying or more, I don’t know, you have to kind of dig deeper within yourself creating content.

Sesil Ivanova 00:38:57 Yeah, I like to think about it in a way that you are the magic bullet. You are the person.

Speaker 3 00:39:02 Yeah.

Sesil Ivanova 00:39:03 Because, like, there is nobody out there who is like you. So you just need to find that unique selling point in you that would make the audience want to connect with you, because there are so many people who would resonate with you on the internet. So you just need to find the right way to communicate who you are to them so they can truly connect to you. But that’s the most important thing to remember. Yeah.

Speaker 3 00:39:24 All right, Sesil, if people.

Jillian Leslie 00:39:26 Want to reach out to you, to work with you, to, like, ask you a question, what is the best way to do that?

Sesil Ivanova 00:39:34 So the best way to reach out to me is either through Instagram or email. So my Instagram is Sesil Ivanova and again Sesil Ivanova. And my email is hello at Cecilia vanover. Com.

Speaker 3 00:39:50 Now you have to spell that.

Jillian Leslie 00:39:51 You have to spell it.

Sesil Ivanova 00:39:53 Oh no that’s hard. So hello at CCL ivanova.com.

Jillian Leslie 00:40:02 Well I have to say I. You are such a delight. I’m so happy to have met you. And thank you so much for coming on the show.

Sesil Ivanova 00:40:10 Yeah, thank you very much for having me. And I would love to help as many people as I can. So, thank you for having me here and sharing all of the wisdom I can help people. And yeah, I wish you all the very best.

Jillian Leslie 00:40:23 I hope you guys like this episode for me. I love hearing that there are no tricks, that it is all about putting quality content out there, and that it’s simple.

Jillian Leslie 00:40:34 If you can do it, if you can show up authentically, if you can help people or teach people, and if you can show them their best lives with storytelling. Brilliant. And I’m going to show you your best life, especially if you want to tap into a new revenue stream and do it easily. This is where MiloTree comes in. My hunch is you are already solving problems for your people. Well, MiloTree enables you to sell those solutions as products and services. Plus, we help you grow your email list and your social media followers. It’s just all in one, so go check it out at milotree.com. Remember, we offer a 14 day free trial, and if you want to get on a free 20 minute call with me to talk about your digital product strategy, just go to milotree.com/meet, because I’d love to meet you. If you thought this episode was good, please subscribe to the show, share the episode with a friend, review it on iTunes. I would be so appreciative and I will see you here again next week.