Ever since Facebook changed their policy for businesses, Instagram is the new hub for gaining visibility in the virtual world. With 80% of its (more than) one billion users following businesses, Instagram is a key platform for marketers.
In order to get the most out of your Instagram, you have to form a strong community of followers - this means earning more views and interactions. In order to make this happen, you need to grow your following. How?
We’ve provided 6 steps to help you start growing your business’s following on Instagram.
Brands that post 2-6 times per week garner double the followers as brands who only post once per week. This number doubles again if your brand posts once or more per day. Meaning, the more you post, the more followers you will obtain.
Keep in mind that along with posting consistently, you also need to post at the correct times. Learn when your target audience is most prominent on Instagram and post most frequently during those times. If they fall outside of business hours, try using a scheduling tool to help.
When you go live, Instagram will notify your followers. This is a great way to get them more involved with your content. In addition, if your followers like the live video, they are more likely to share (@tag) with their friends or colleagues.
If the information is specific, you have the ability to choose who will and will not be notified, as well as who can and cannot view the live story. In addition, you can control whether or not viewers can comment while the story is occurring. Remember, once the story is over, the video and all commentary will be deleted.
In the past, Instagram was associated with still photography, but video content is giving still shots a run for their money.
Instagram Stories, IGTV, and Instagram Live help you show off behind-the-scenes content or real-time customer testimonials. They are also great ways to showcase an event.
Stories will help develop your reputation, build brand recognition and showcase your brand’s personality. The more your audience feels they understand your brand and enjoys the content you share, the more likely you are to earn more followers.
Hashtags are an excellent tool for achieving organic growth and engagement.
Since Instagram added the ability to follow hashtags, it’s easy to expand your reach quickly if you use them correctly. Simply using the same few hashtags in every post will not earn you the results you desire. Instead, vary the hashtags in each post by selecting a few from the below:
Only sharing content that your team has created can get stale and leave you unable to post at the desired frequency.
As easy way to combat this issue is to get your existing audience involved by inviting them to create content on your behalf. Reward individuals who create photos, GIFs or videos by sharing them on your Instagram account.
Not only will this increase your brand’s reach, but it will help to encourage more user generated content to be shared in the future.
It’s great when your customers share organic content on their profile, but what is even better is obtaining key influencers who will endorse you.
Influencers instantly add visibility to your brand. Allow them to try out your products for free in exchange for an Instagram post. You can also provide them with exclusive promo codes and coupons to share. This tactic will lead customers to your page, helping your number of followers climb.
With these 6 simple steps, you’ll be on your way to obtaining more Instagram followers for your business. They will also be targeted, and not spam, which is a prevalent issues on Instagram.
Have any tips to add? Let us know via @glue on Twitter.