With all of the changes to the Facebook news feed algorithm, there has been a large shift towards businesses focusing in on building their Instagram followers and engagement. As you can see below, Instagram is easily the second most used smartphone app in the highly sought after 18-34 demographic.
#1 Post On A Regular Basis To Establish A Well Known Presence
In order to gain a true following on Instagram, it is absolutely vital that you post on a normal basis. Try to post at least once a day, but more than this is always good too. I post five times everyday. Overtime this creates a building base of residual engagement and new followers.
#2 Know What Times The Majority Of Your Followers Are Active And Take Advantage
The time that you post your content is crucial. You need to know when the majority of your followers are online and active, because if you post while no one is there, then no one will see it. Identify the 3-5 peaks during the day to create your posting schedule around.
If you want to take this a step further, then you can have time specific images and quotes. For example, I often post a quote in the morning about seizing the day. It hits them at the right moment with exactly what they need.
#3 Interact With Your Followers And Other Users To Inspire More Engagement
It is important to regularly interact and communicate with your followers for many reasons. By responding to comments and mentions you inspire even more people to chime in and interact. It let’s your followers and potential followers see a personality behind your account.
#4 Create Branded Hashtags And Monitor Their Use
Hashtags rule the Instagram world. Instead of just using popular hashtags in your posts, create your own for your brand. You will then be able to monitor how many other people use this hashtag. Although you do not have to be a big brand like Starbucks, we can all learn from how they use custom branded hashtags below.
#5 Know What Type Of Posts Your Followers Enjoy And Use Them
Be sure to do your research about the industry you are targeting and the types of posts that are the most popular. You will likely see a pattern of layouts and content subjects. Use these to up the interest for your account.
My target audience is entrepreneurs, and I knew that Foundr Magazine was killing it on Instagram. After studying their most shared posts, it was clear that lifestyle and powerful animal images paired with a quote received the most engagement.
Keep Up With Trending Hashtags In Order To Stay Relevant
On Instagram you have the ability to see which hashtags are trending and growing the fastest. You can then use these hashtags in your posts to keep them up to date and relevant.
Integrate A Call To Action With Each Photo For Better Conversion Rates
Use short links to create custom URL’s that link directly to your website or blog. You can then use these links in your captions to create very strong and direct call to actions.
Only Post High Quality Images To Build A Professional Look
The main goal of Instagram is the create good quality and interesting content. In order to really gain some attention the pictures and video that you post should be the highest quality possible.
Incorporate Photo And Video Posts To Keep It Interesting
Instagram gives you the ability to post both pictures and videos, and you should! By mixing up the types of things you post, your page will be much more interesting. Videos also inspire more engagement than other types of content normally do.
Following Other Users Shows That You Aren’t Just Here To Market
As you begin to watch your followers flow in, be sure to follow some people yourself. If you have a huge amount of followers, but aren’t following anybody, it makes your profile lack legitimacy and seem like it isn’t genuine. When you are following a decent amount of people it shows that you aren’t just there to promote your business but to connect as well.
Sponsored Ads Are Rapidly Becoming More Common, Use Them!
Instagram has recently given the option for paid advertisements. These are some what similar to Facebook ads because it allows you to target specific people. Sponsored ads are ones that will show up on users feeds, even if they aren’t following you.
Make Your Posts Relatable To Boost The Amount Of Shares
Do your best to make the content that you post relatable to your audience. When people can relate to the post, they are much more likely to share it with their own followers.
Have Fun And Your Followers Will Notice
Social media sites aren’t all about marketing, it’s important to have fun too! Comment and like on other users photos, follow people you like, and post things that you find entertaining. Your followers will take notice and enjoy your presence even more.
Save Time And Energy By Using Curating Posts From Other Sources
It can save you quite a bit of precious time by curating content from other places. You can easily do this with Instagram. Find a collection of free images that you can use and make simple text quote posts onto them. This can be done quickly and easily and still have a large impact.
Organize A Contest To Boost Followers Quickly
Contests are wildly popular on social media sites, especially Instagram. The way that these are typically done is by instructing your followers to post a certain photo and tag you in it to enter. This will then cause a chain reaction of people following you and posting the photo, which is a powerful form of promotion.
Connect Instagram To Your Other Social Media Accounts To Intrigue Other Followers
It isn’t uncommon for the people that follow you on Facebook or Twitter to not be following you on Instagram. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested in what you are posting, in fact they are probably very interested! Keep them in the loop, and possibly even bring them over to Instagram, by linking up your Instagram posts to your other social media accounts.
Examine What Posts Are Doing The Best And Why
It is important to keep a watchful eye on all of your posts. Examine how well they are doing, how many likes and comments they receive, and then determine why. Once you figure out what works best, implement it into the rest of your postings.
Adapt Instagram Exclusives To Provide Incentives
You can offer up some great deals that are only available to your Instagram followers. This will have multiple affects for both your account and your business. It can drive business and purchases, as well as give people a great incentive to follow you.
Team Up With Other Users To Gain More Promotion
Shout outs are a great way to build a relationship with another business or person, while simultaneously promoting your own. This works by posting a promotion for the other person to your followers, while the other person does the same for you.
Engage Your Followers By Spotlighting Their Participation
Show your appreciation to your following and customers by regularly showcasing them on your profile. Share picture of people with your products, or people that have submitted their own reviews of your business. This will encourage people to stay active with your brand.
Explore Networking Tactics To Extend The Reach Of Your Posts
Networking is a powerful way to make connections with people who can give you a wider spectrum of viewers. On Instagram, there are many groups available that are dedicated only to cross promoting one another. Utilize these to their full advantage.
Use The Tools Available To Better Manage Your Account
There are many tools that are great for monitoring your Instagram account. Some of these include things like post schedulers and unfollow lists. You can easily see who you follow that doesn’t also follow you and weed out any person who is uninterested in what you are doing.
Put Your Most Valuable Content On The Front Burner
When determining what your call to actions will be, keep in mind what the ultimate goal is. You want to make a profit, right? A great way to help do this is by only creating call to actions to your most valuable content. This will draw focus to the content that you are ultimately trying to sell or provide.
Take The Time To Make Great Content For Better Engagement
There is a simple formula that works nearly every time. Great content and information equals more followers and more success. Take the extra time to curate wonderful content that people will actually want to see and enjoy, this will help you gain followers as well as keep them followers for longer.
Use Emojis To Catch People’s Attention
Emojis are those cute little pictures of smiley faces with hearts for eyes, food, animals, and many other things. People love these, especially when it comes to social media sites. Use them! They help to draw attention to your posts and engage your followers even more.
Don’t Over Due The Hashtags To Avoid Looking Like Spam
Hashtags are useful, especially on Instagram. However, they can quickly make or break you depending on how you use them. Make sure you only include tags that are relevant to the content you are posting and your brand. Avoid cluttering up the post with countless hashtags, this will come off very unprofessional and gimmicky to people. One study found that posts with 11 hashtags perform the best.
Avoid Posting Only Sales Focused Content
You want to promote your products and your business, but don’t over due it. If people feel like your posts are all one big commercial they will lose interest very quickly. Keep things interesting and genuine. This doesn’t mean don’t promote at all, just do your best to make it organic promotion.
Direct Followers Into Your Funnel By Using Call To Action
Getting a follow on a social media account is important for a business, but it is only one small step in the overall goal. You are trying to get people to be customers or clients for your business, which is what you truly need to focus on. You can do this by obtaining further information about your audience, such as email address. Include a link in the description that directs them to sign up for a newsletter. The people that do follow through with this give you a valuable lead.
Put Your Best Foot Forward By Using An Appealing Profile Picture
The first thing people will see is your profile photo. This will also appear next to each and every post that you publish. Be sure to use something that catches attention, is clear and easy to understand, and relevant. One great option for this is to simply use your company’s logo.
Use Captions To Inspire Conversations And Increase Engagement
Each post has a caption underneath it, which you can use to provoke interaction in the comments. Ask a question, such as “what do you think about this…?”, or you can even request that your followers tag their friends who may like the post as well.
Monitor Location Tags When You Are At Events To Connect With People
Instagram allows you to add a location in each of your posts. If you are at big event for your industry, hosting a conference, or any other type of thing where people in the area may be interested, be sure to include the location. You can also see what is happening around the area, and who else may be in attendance at the event.
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