5 Tips to Starting a Professional IG Account
A few days ago I posted an IG reel about why I chose to start a separate IG account and since then I’ve had some great discussions with many of you - including asking for advice on how to start a professional account!
This is actually what initially prompted the reel. I’d had quite a few people reach out asking if they should use their personal account or create a new one and I loved sharing my thoughts but wanted to hear from the community, too.
For some people, they choose to have one account and others choose to have two. My advice is that it depends on how you plan to create and consume content. Do you want everything in one place? Or do you prefer to have a more “quiet” account to go to when you need a break from educational content? Whether you want to create an entirely new IG account, or you simply want to shift the direction of your personal one, these tips will help you develop a sturdy plan as you get your footing in the social media world - specifically the healthcare professional community of IG!
Know Your Why: Why do you want to have a professional account? What is your story? Think about what you’re passionate about.This is the most important tip because it is going to guide you in everything else that you do.
Find a Niche: If you talk to any social media guru - you’ll hear this! I am by no means a social media guru but I agree that when you’re first starting out, it’s a good idea to have a niche. My niche was the NICU/early intervention when I first started out so it’s what I mostly talked about. Your niche can be a population you enjoy, or a setting you love. You can certainly include other topics but being “known” for your niche is a great way to start connecting with others - and for others looking for specific information to find you!
Determine your audience: This one is pretty straightforward! Who do you want to reach? Who are you going to be creating content for? Typically in the healthcare world it would be: other healthcare professionals, students, and families.
Choose your content: This goes hand in hand with determining your audience. What content will you be producing? Educational? Advocacy? Inspirational? Humor?
Engage: The social media world is all about engaging and connecting. Start by finding accounts to follow that you have a genuine interest in. I followed a handful of OT accounts (around 20-30) and started to build my community that way. I had so much fun interacting and meeting new people and before I knew it I had a whole new community there to support and encourage me in my journey as an OT.
Lastly, I want to add the importance of knowing that despite you having a “professional” account - this is still YOUR account and you can post anything you want. I believe there is beauty in showing all sides of ourselves. I post about OT - but I also post about my favorite hair products, major milestones in my life (like getting engaged!), and a ton about my faith. For me, having a personal account allows me to keep important boundaries with myself, and it also helps me with my own mental health. Social media can have a lot of “noise” so having a personal, private account becomes my little escape when I need it (my personal page feed consists of: puppies, babies, natural hair influencers, and scriptures haha)
So moral of the story: choose what works best for you! And if you’re thinking about starting and shifting into a professional page, I hope these tips help you along the way!