Instagram is a hot topic in social media marketing at the moment.
Why?
Instagram has seen massive growth over the years.
It now boasts over 500 million users, putting it ahead of its parent company Facebook. The interactions on Instagram are also stronger than those on Twitter, with 2 times higher engagement rates for brands compared to other platforms. This leads to high conversion rates when you have a well-managed Instagram account.
Over 80 million posts are shared on Instagram every day! Okay, that’s pretty insane… And it’s not slowing down anytime soon either.
So if you’re thinking about building an Instagram following, let me show you 10 tips to help get started with your account today!
1. Be Consistent.
You can’t just open an Instagram account and expect it to grow organically overnight. It takes time, so be patient! Post images regularly, but don’t go overboard with the posting schedule. I recommend 3-5 times per week on average.
2. Focus on Quality Content First.
This is especially true if you’re starting out with no followers or a low number of them – your content is what will draw them in at first! Once you have an active following, you can experiment with timing and frequency to see what works best for your brand.
3. Build Your Audience Using Relevant Hashtags.
Hashtags are one of the most important aspects of Instagram! Hashtags are used by Instagram to group your photos with other images that have the same hashtags. Hashtags on Instagram are actually so popular that they even have their very own trending page. You can also use hashtags to search for new people on the platform, but you need to follow them before they can follow you back.
4. Use High-Quality Pictures.
Don’t forget that great content deserves high-quality imagery! The better your pictures look, the more attention it will grab from users reading through their feed or searching for related terms in Instagram’s search bar. Just make sure to be tasteful with what you post – no one wants an overabundance of selfies in their selfie game.
5. Use Nice Filters.
I’m sure that you’ve noticed that Instagram has built-in filters for every post, but did you know how powerful they can be? Play around with the different filters to find out which ones look best on the photos you want to share! You might even consider testing them out before sharing anything – just open up your phone’s camera app and take a few sample shots so you can pick the right filter later.
6. Take Advantage of Right-Sized Images.
Instagram only displays images that are 640px wide by 640px tall or smaller, so it’s important that your image is fitting this size requirement or else it will be cropped into an unrecognizable shape. The worst thing you can do is upload an image that’s too big or even worse – upload one with a landscape orientation instead of a portrait!
7. Interact With Other Users.
Instagram is all about community at this point, so it only makes sense to interact with other users on the platform! You can comment on photos or offer up your own text-based replies for images that are tagged with certain hashtags. This also means that you should always look through the comments section before sharing anything. If there are any rude or spammy comments there, it might be best to either ignore them or delete them altogether if necessary.
8. Use Hashtags Effectively.
As I mentioned earlier, using relevant hashtags is one of the best ways to get people to look at your content on Instagram. Using them right will help users find your photos, and using too many of them will bog down your text with nothing but random words for followers to search through. You can use up to 30 tags in each post!
9. Help Your Followers Find Your Business Page.
If you have a business page on Instagram, make sure that new users know how they can follow it! This is done by including the name of your account within your bio or even just letting people know that they can find more of what you’re posting on Instagram by following you there. Best case scenario – display both options so that no matter where someone finds your profile, they know how to get more of what you’re offering!
10. Get Creative With Your Hashtags.
As I mentioned earlier, other users will be able to find your photos if the right tags are used. This means that you can get creative with them and use something that’s related to your brand but isn’t explicitly obvious at first glance.
Conclusion:
With these simple fixes, I’m sure your brand’s Instagram marketing can become much more effective. It might take a bit of time to learn how to use the platform properly, but it’ll be worth it when you start seeing results in your engagement and follower count!
