Initially, Instagram was a platform used by young people to share snaps of their everyday lives with their friends and followers; but now it has become an extremely valuable platform (with over 1 billion users) for businesses to sell their services and products and gain the attention of potential customers.
Small businesses can get very lost in the vast amount of competition online when up against similar brands. This is especially relevant if you’re struggling to get a follower base that actively engages in your posts and decides to make their way to your company website. If you need some help on how to build on your Instagram follower base, here are some top tips for improvement:
1. Pay attention to how your feed looks
If you’re new to Instagram, it’s unlikely you’ve thought about what your feed looks like on the whole. It’s not just about your choice of logo or brand name; but more about the appearance of your entire aesthetic. Your feed is the very first opportunity to make a great impression, so make sure it gives an authentic taste of your brand’s message.
Select high-quality images, stick to a vague color scheme, and ensure each post has some connection to your brand. The Preview App offers some useful advice on how to improve your Instagram feed with the intention of enticing users to follow you.
2. Use the right hashtags
Your goal on Instagram is to engage your audience on a regular basis, but you also need to think about how you can grow your following to a worldwide audience. One way to do this is through the use of hashtags. Hashtagging makes it far easier for people to find your business’ posts if they have searched for that particular hashtag, before making their way to your profile.
Do be aware that it’s not just about using the most popular general Instagram hashtags within your posts. You should select hashtags carefully to match your branding and ensure long-term interest from the user, rather than just a one-off interaction.
3. Post at the right times
You may have never thought of this concept, but posting when you’re awake may not be a suitable time to gain the attention of the majority of your follower’s. If you’re looking to gain worldwide custom, then you need to be sure that you’re posting regularly to suit time differences, so your posts are seen by a wider number of people.
In order to get to grips with what’s working and what isn’t, look back on your previous posts to get an understanding of when interaction was high, or better still – download an app such as IconoSquare which has its own optimization section and informs you of when your posts have either performed well and poorly.
4. Think about your brand’s personality
Although it’s important to promote your company’s products and services as much as possible, it’s just as vital to give your brand a sense of personality, so followers can get an understanding who is actually behind the brand name. Although it wouldn’t be wise to share every piece of your personal life, revealing some personal information regarding your hobbies, interests, and lifestyle will make you much more relatable to your follower base.
It would also be a good idea to share more varied posts onto your Instagram stories so that it won’t damage the look of your feed. You could show support for other brands that are of interest to you, where you like to shop, or what you get up to in your spare time. Do you like to spend your weekends playing on gaming sites such as Unibet for example? You could then take a screenshot of your win, write a caption and see what interactions you get from followers and non-followers who have viewed your story. You may also get your story reposted on the company’s website, which is a clever way of achieving brand promotion via their follower base.
5. Steal your competition’s followers
It seems like a rather bold move to make, but you should be taking the opportunity to steal your competition’s followers. When you think about it, they are ultimately a ready-made group of people who would certainly be interested in your products or services without having to search hard for them. This doesn’t mean going on a huge following spree, but you could simply:
- Like a photo
- Comment on a photo
Both of these actions show interest in the user without having to follow them. A large following over follower ratio can negatively impact the credibility of a brand, as it gives the impression that your posts aren’t appealing enough to secure long-term interest.
A shortcut technique you can try is to buy your competitors’ Instagram accounts. You can contact them and enquire or you could go to a website where you can buy Instagram accounts. You could also try using an Instagram follower app. This will cost much less.
6. Pay for influencers
While Instagram is predominantly free to use, there are times when you may want to put more money into your marketing strategy, by paying for influencers to promote your products and services on your behalf.
Influencers are individuals who are gifted items by a brand. Their job is to promote them naturally on their social media account, with the intention of boosting traffic to the company website. It’s crucial to pick individuals who naturally fit into your brand aesthetic rather than just anyone with a large following, or it’s unlikely that this method will deliver any results.
Make a list of accounts you’d be interested in working within your niche and send messages to them to ask if they would be keen to work with you. For example, if you’re a vintage clothing business, target individuals who wear vintage clothing regularly and would be a typical customer of your company. Here are some useful tips by Later.com on finding the right influencer for your business.
7. Run a giveaway
One of the best types of comments you can receive on your posts is the tag of another Instagram user. Not only do these type of comments bring steady engagement to your post, but Instagram also views this as positive algorithm; making your post more viewable on other user’s accounts.
When you run a giveaway, one of the entry conditions should ideally be for the user to tag a friend and to follow your account. This simple act could bring a whole new audience to your profile without having to do much. However, do be sure to check out the rules and regulations from Instagram to find out how these promotional posts can be legally conducted.
If you have just recently joined Instagram, we hope the points above have given you some useful techniques on building your following – best of luck!