Five tips to help you grow a healthy Instagram following
Love to give your Instagram account a boost? Here are five tips to help you build a healthy following.
Instagram is one of the most powerful social networking platforms today. With tens of millions of active monthly users, this is the place to go if you want to build your brand and establish yourself in your industry.
However, building your brand on a social networking site is easier said than done by using paid services.
To help you, here are five things you need to know about positioning your brand so that Instagram followers see your business as follow-worthy.
1) Optimise your profile
Your business profile is one of the first things that people will see, so you want to take full advantage of the traffic. When setting up your business profile, make sure you add a photo. The photo you choose should reflect your brand and give some sense of what your company is about.
The next piece of your profile to optimise is your bio. This is a small area located underneath your Instagram username where you’ll want to share information about your brand. The catch? You only get 150 characters to say everything you want to say. So creating line breaks is a must to use this space effectively.
Bios can include hashtags, emojis, business slogans, hashtags, contact information, and any other details that you want to include. You may also want to consider putting a link to your business website in your bio, as this is a great way to drive traffic. For a shortcut, you can buy an account from a site like Fameswap instead of setting up one from scratch.
2) Develop a content strategy
Marketing on social media involves a great deal of trial and error. You’ll want to test various types of content to see what drives the most engagement and conversions.
Aside from testing the type of content you post, it’s important to consider other details such as timing and the number of posts you publish each day.
For example, if your content gets the most engagement on weekends between 3-6pm, you’ll want to set up a content calendar that follows these preferences. There are several tools you can use to schedule posts so that they’re published during prime time for your followers.
Whichever content strategy you decide on, it’s important to establish a tone, personality, and unique style for your brand. This way, you can stand out from your competition while also getting your message across.
3) Identify and learn about your target audience
Now that you’ve got a profile and a strategy for what kind of content you post, the next thing you’ll want to do is to identify your target audience.
What good is having an account on Instagram if you don’t have a social following? While you could choose to buy Instagram followers, this may not be an option if you’re on a small budget.
If you’re unsure where to find your target audience, one of the best places to look is on your competitor’s feeds. The chances are that the same people you want to target are already following your competition.
How do you get these people to be interested in your brand? Follow them first and hope that they follow you back.
4) Use hashtags properly
If you want to get noticed on Instagram, using hashtags is a must. There are nuances to using hashtags that you’ll want to be aware of so that you can maximise visibility and build a solid brand on the platform.
For each piece of content you post, you’ll want to include 11-15 relevant hashtags. While this may seem like a lot, Instagram allows up to 30. In order to identify the best hashtags to use for your content, you’ll want to:
- Look at which hashtags influencers are using.
- Use a hashtag tool.
- Look at trending topics.
- Use specific and targeted tags.
Also, don’t be afraid to brand your own tag. Creating a hashtag that includes your business’ name or slogan is unique and memorable.
5) Embrace interaction
While posting content is important, you also need to engage if you want to grow a following.
To make the most out of your presence on Instagram, it’s crucial that you spend time interacting and engaging with followers, influencers, and top names in your industry.
Take the time to respond to comments and questions on your posts. Host a live stream and offer interactive Q&A sessions so that your followers can connect and learn about your brand.
The more you interact with your followers, the better. By participating in the conversation, not only does your brand become more personable, followers will find it much easier to trust and become loyal to your business.
Ready to grow your Instagram following?
With these tips, you’ll be able to define your business’s brand on Instagram while also building an ever-growing list of followers, leads, and customers.
Photo by Kate Torline
