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The 'Power Of 9' Model: Attracting The Clients You Want On Instagram

Shaz Memon is Founder of Digimax Dental | World's Highest Rated Dental Marketing Agency | His Charity: Wells on Wheels | Best-Selling Author


Instagram has more than 1 billion accounts active every month, and it reports 90% of those accounts follow at least one business account. The "Power of 9" model, my Instagram business marketing model, is tied to the power of effective instant Instagram marketing for businesses. Using this model, you can design your Instagram feed to appeal to the right clientele to boost engagement and sales. 

First Impression Formation

Research on first impressions has taken place in various contexts, including psychology, medicine, usability, marketing and others. Marketing defines first impressions as quick evaluations made by customers during their first few minutes of encounters with products or objects. These impressions usually remain stable and have long-term effects.

Between people, impressions are defined as perceivers’ cognitive representations of others. Focusing on cognitive processes, researchers have tracked how people developed cognitive representations from stimulus information available to perceivers. In 2006, Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov extended these findings, concluding that even an exposure of 100 milliseconds, or 0.1 seconds, is adequate for someone to make specific trait inferences — such as trustworthiness, attractiveness, competence, likeability or aggressiveness — based solely on facial appearance.

Internet-Based Impression Formation

To understand more about the underlying mechanisms of exploding social media growth, we turn to research on websites. Websites are well diffused and provide a useful body of research from which to draw upon to explain our idea. Web users typically make instantaneous judgments concerning websites based on first impressions. Users also typically decide to stay on a particular site or bypass it all together during an initial website interaction. Therefore, it is essential to understand users’ first impressions when deciding on your Instagram business marketing strategy. 

Prior research has examined users’ eye movements when studying first impressions of websites. Eye-tracking is used to provide fixation points, such that users can focus their attention on a particular stimulus. Using this methodology, it was discovered that users will generally fixate their eyes on a specific website element following an initial period of at least 2.66 seconds in which they scan the website. Following the initial scan, users only fixate on an area for 180 milliseconds (0.18 seconds); during this time, the brain processes visual information received from the eyes, organizes the information and forms the first impression of that particular website. 

First impressions are generally powerful, and they typically have long-term effects on users’ perceptions and attitudes toward organizational platforms. Organizations must understand this process of how users form their first impressions of social media platforms to understand the Power of 9 Instagram model.

The 'Power of 9' Instagram Framework

When you first encounter an organization or individual, you form a first impression that is consistent with others in all the previous contexts discussed here. You first set sight on the nine squares of the Instagram account.

If you have 2.66 seconds, or 0.18 seconds, to form your first impression, how many pictures can you (or your potential client) view? One screen? Maybe nine images? Hence, the “power of 9.” To convert the largest number of your visitors, or at least to convince them to stay and engage, at least 78%, or seven, of your first nine photos should be representative of your core mission, values and services and/or products. Scrolling and clicking have become a currency, and users will only scroll if they are highly captivated by the first nine squares of your profile. 

Consider your first nine Instagram squares at any point in time, and evaluate using the following five questions:

1. Do seven of the nine demonstrate content that is important to your business?

2. Are one or more of your nine squares representative of your primary services or products?

3. Will your ideal clients find a "hook" from at least two of these nine squares, encouraging them to scroll further or follow?

4. Are your nine squares clear, or do they have to be clicked or enlarged to be understood?

5. Do the first nine squares say most of the things your ideal target audience wants to see?

Example: Dental Practice

Do the following squares demonstrate content that will appeal to your target audience?

• Four pictures show gifts from patients.

• Two pictures show smile close-ups.

• Three pictures show dental facts.

No, they don't meet the criteria. On the other hand, the square examples below can demonstrate content that will appeal to your target audience. 

• Two pictures show full-face smile transformations.

• Two pictures show people photos or team photos (posts with a face can get 38% more likes).

• One picture shows a behind-the-scenes sneak peek into an exciting development.

• One picture shows a brand you use within the practice.

• One picture shows advice, such as interesting top tips.

• One picture shows the premises to help patients feel like they have already visited the practice.

• One picture shows on-site/off-site team training to showcase a commitment to excellence.

It is not unusual to see an Instagram feed that has key messages deeply buried in old posts or posts that are too imbalanced overall in the first nine squares. Making your audience work for the information or hiding your ideal clients' "purchase beacons" will reduce the chances of gaining the right followers and ultimately building engagement, leading to new business. 

Stay focused on your “power of 9” on your Instagram account, and your ideal clients will want to follow and engage with your account.


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