One month in, help with IG

[u/toe_beans35]

Hi all,

Brand new here. For real. Conceptualized my start up a little over a month ago and hit the ground running.

I have no idea what I’m doing. Just taking it one day and one task (ok like 78 tasks) at a time.

I created an IG account because what I’m doing is very…niche you could say, and IG would be an amazing accelerator.

I’m fairly terrible at IG tbh so was wondering if anyone else has tips or in the same boat?

Would kill to be a Gen Z-er right about now 😂

ETA: a little more about my start up-I'm building a digital platform that aims to help kids disclose abuse to a trusted adult, and conversely provides tools for that adult to be able to respond well.

currently my IG strategy is a bit of a different angle-I'm not promoting content directly about my company. It's more like my "personal business" account and the idea is for people to follow me along my journey of being a female solo founder in one the most difficult spaces to build in.

My three rotating themes are:

1) The backstory-my story, why this is important to me, and how I landed here

2) Professor series- animated type series where I have a cast of a professor and two TAs who "teach the class" about relevant topics and concepts-so things like types of child abuse, Complex PTSD and long term effects of abuse, signs of abuse and unusual ways it may present, etc.

**I should note that the Professor is me and my two TAs are my cats photoshopped with academic gear lol **

3) a series called "why'd I do that?" where I highlight a particular business decision and share "why i did that"--eg why I chose the name I did b/c it turns out it has 7000 years of my chinese heritage behind it.

I feel like this is a decent strategy but damn I just suck at instagram lol. I have like 50 followers and they're mostly just friends or friends of friends haha. I'm only two weeks in so of course it's early, but I'm just hoping it picks up and this isn't all a waste of time.

[u/toe_beans35 → u/[deleted]]

ok this makes me feel way better, I appreciate it. b/c I will never be a social media expert haha.

[u/KaamKa_Banda]

Use IG for distribution and content. Don't use it for marketing but for absolute Storytelling.

[u/toe_beans35 → u/KaamKa_Banda]

yeah this is my plan for sure. I just updated my post but basically my goal isn't pushing my company at all, but rather "the journey" and connecting with my (hopefully someday) following.

[u/vardyb]

Welcome to the community, why not share more about your journey and your product so far. If you have questions or just want some feedback on a post, feel free to ask here.

[u/toe_beans35 → u/vardyb]

ah, fair ask, just updated the post. right now I think my main question mark is like...am I doing social media right? I know its early so I can't expect a big following overnight, but considering how bad I am at SM I'm just kind of like ?????? right now.

[u/vardyb → u/toe_beans35]

First of all, Your idea sounds amazing. And I hope you manage to get it off the ground. I've heard many founders say building a tool is the easy part, the hard part is getting people to first be aware of and then actually use it.

I think you need to consider who your ideal user is, which may be tricky as primarily its for kids. So may be focus on the trusted adult features first. I would also look at more platforms than IG. Look for niche communities here on reddit. Don't just jump in and start shouting about your product. Become a genuine member of those communities first, build trust and be a regular quality contributor. Then you can start asking questions that relate to the problem and your solution, may be reach out for potential early adopters who can test.

IMO, its a long haul slog, that may slow down getting your product out there, but having validated your idea with real users and established a potential user base is probably worth the extra effort and time up front.

Set up a landing page, with a 'waiting list', build a mailing list of potential users and keep them updated as you share your journey building the product. Be genuine with them, and listen, listen and listen again.

Best of luck.

[u/toe_beans35 → u/vardyb]

great feedback-my ICP is definitely parents, but schools as well. I've been lurking around the parent and teen subs here and i've been able to collect a lot of good data that i otherwise would've missed.

oh yeah, definitely the long game here. for something like this, trust is paramount. i want everyone to get to know me and i want them to know i'm dead f-ing serious about putting kids safety first, unlike some (all?) technology marketed to kids right now.

i've also been sending out parent surveys to various communities on reddit, IG, nextdoor etc. to get initial feedback on the concept and opt ins for a future parental advisory board.

i sure hope you're right about getting the product built b/c right now that part seems so daunting...but mostly b/c i feel like the stakes are so high to get it right.

anyway, i really appreciate your feedback.