In this Instagram case study, I’m showing you an account that isn’t quite as business focused as most of the accounts I feature. But, before you run away, I really like how she uses Instagram and think there are valuable business lessons in her approach which can help you better connect with your audience on Instagram.

So, today, I want to introduce you to Katie Dillon, aka La Jolla Mom. Katie defines herself as a lifestyle and luxury travel writer. And her Instagram account definitely reflects this! Not only is her content beautiful, but it all serves a purpose.

You know it’s coming – my obligatory disclaimer… I am in no way affiliated with Katie Dillon. I haven’t discussed with her how she uses her Instagram account or what results she gets from Instagram. I am not being rewarded, compensated, or paid in any way to write this post. This post is based entirely upon my opinions of her Instagram content from what I’ve seen shared publicly.

True To Her Brand

As I just mentioned, one of the things I love most about the @lajollamom Instagram account, is that she absolutely stays true to her brand on each and every post. Every photo is consistent with her style, message, and branding. Every post is true to her position as a lifestyle and luxury travel writer. And, as a writer, her content captions are well written, descriptive, and evocative of the writer she is.

Even when she is incorporating her family and personal experiences into her content (which she does frequently), it still resonates as a part of her brand and doesn’t seem awkwardly mixed in.

The ability to keep each and every piece of content true to your brand is not an easy feat. I encourage you to look through Katie’s posts and see how she takes each situation and ties it to her brand. Whether it’s describing something unique about the place they’re visiting, sharing an anecdote about their travels, recounting a happy moment as a family, or talking about her favorite brand or product, each post image – and its caption – is branded, consistent, evocative, and authentic.

Gorgeous Photos

Well, let’s face it. If you even glance at this account, you’ll instantly appreciate all the gorgeous photos in her feed. I mean, seriously. There are stunning shots from all around the world. But even a simple table scape or hotel room shot is made beautiful with careful positioning, lighting, staging, and preparation. I have no idea how many photos she takes or how much time she spends getting the “right” shot or how much post edit work she does but I can assume that she takes some serious time and effort to produce these photos.

Why is this important? Because look at the results! Her photos are full of color – vibrant and life-like. They stand out immediately in the Instagram feed and make you stop and look. This is vital in an Instagram strategy!

With people scrolling fast and furiously through their feeds, if you really want to get eyes on your Instagram content, you need to stand out in the feed. Your photos need to pop out at your viewers and connect with them instantaneously. So, no more crappy photos. No more slap-em-in-there posts “just for the sake of posting”. Take time to create valuable, quality, and unique content that your audience will actually appreciate.

Great Captions

One of the reasons I love and follow this account is because she teaches me something regularly. And I like to learn! I love to read. I enjoy finding out about new things or places. And Katie does this on a regular basis.

Never do you see a post with a one sentence caption, lacking in detail or description. Nope. You get details, stories, and value in each of her captions! Whether she’s teaching us something about a place around the world or sharing a story about her journey or sharing her latest meal, every post has a caption that describes in detail what is happening in that post.

This is awesome because if you’re interested in travel, food, or Katie as a person, you are guaranteed to learn something regularly. She is providing VALUE to her audience. Everywhere she travels, she shares anecdotes and suggestions so that others visiting there can experience the same things. And it’s educational in learning more about places around the world.

Even if your business isn’t something like travel or food, you can still provide value and education to your audience. Find valuable ways that you can share information about your industry, niche, products, service, or related content that will actually benefit your audience.

Good Use of Hashtags

You know how I feel about hashtags on Instagram – use them, but use them well! And Katie does this very well on her account.

She doesn’t overuse hashtags, averaging 10 or so per post. Which, in my opinion, is perfect. But most importantly, she uses the hashtags related to her content!

Whatever city or location she is in, she uses those geographic hashtags. If she mentions a brand or product, she uses their hashtags (and @mentions them too). Whatever is in the post (flowers, food, beach, or whatever) is also included as a hashtag. And she also includes all of her regular hashtags related to traveling and luxury travel.

This ensures that the people that find her content are her ideal target audience. And this is so important in a well-formatted hashtag strategy. You need to be using the hashtags that your target customer is searching for – not just what gets the most likes.

I would like to note that I would like to see Katie incorporate more personal/branded hashtags. I think she should have at least one, if not two, hashtags branded for her (#lajollamom or other similar branding) which she should include on each post. And I always recommend you do the same for your business.

Engaged With Her Audience

Finally, I really appreciate that Katie takes the time to engage with her audience. She asks questions in some of her posts, inviting conversation and comments from her audience.

But beyond that, she actually takes the time to respond to her audience. If you really want to build your brand successfully on Instagram, this is what you need to do. Respond to comments. Be actively engaged with your audience.

There’s no short cut. There’s no “easy” way around it. Take the time to actually talk to your audience, and you’ll see success above and beyond any of your competitors.

So, even if you aren’t into travel or luxury escapes, I hope you can take a minute to see the value and success of this Instagram account. There are a lot of things that all business owners can learn from a well-crafted account like this one.