We are beyond the point where we can deny the immense influence of Instagram. Though people originally believed that Instagram was mostly for individual accounts, we’ve come to learn the marketing opportunities it holds for businesses and companies.
Using the platform for your business can boost growth, awareness, engagement, and interaction with your target audience, presuming you are successful at creating a well-rounded audience of Instagram followers.
Whether you just created your business account or you want to take your influence on Instagram to the next level, here are some useful ways to get more Instagram Followers:
Instagram Followers: Tips for Beginners
Posts accompanied by hashtags have a better likelihood to be viewed. Hashtags serve as a search tool, and in order to be ‘found’, you need to use the right, relevant hashtags for your brand.
If you aren’t sure which hashtags will be relevant within your niche, use tools such as RiteTag and Display Purposes to find the right tags.
Instagram posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without.
-
Quality Before Quantity
Think of your Instagram page as a curation of art. What does the body of work look like?
Instagram is focused on aesthetics. The visual component is what will make or break your following. Only post images and photos that are high quality.
It also helps with engagement and exposure to tag people in your images. Try to keep this as relevant as possible so that it won’t come across as spam.
If you have design experience or an in-house designer, create customized posts, quotes and images that showcase your brand.
Apart from the images being high quality. it needs to be memorable as well.
For those just starting out, Canva is a brilliant tool to create your own customized designs for posting on social media.
Regarding the filters when posting on Instagram, Mayfair is one of the best options to use on the platform.
-
Promote Your Page on Other Social Platforms
Do you already have a steady following on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.? Use these channels to promote your Instagram account.
Your loyal followers might not know that you have a presence on Instagram as well.
Post a link to your Instagram page on the other social platforms and add a ‘hook’ as a part of your copy to inspire them to follow you on Instagram as well.
For instance, you’ll be sharing promotion codes that are only accessible via your Instagram feed.
Intermediate Techniques for Instagram
-
Make use of Scheduling Tools
Post photos at 2:00 AM or 5:00 PM. Research shows that these are the most effective times to post.
As a business owner, you’re probably aware that you can’t manage everything yourself. Social Media is very much about engaging on the right time and staying connected.
Luckily, there are scheduling tools to help keep your message current while focusing on other work.
The popular social management tools include Buffer, Hootsuite, PostPlanner and Grum (for Instagram). Grum is one of the few tools that allows you to schedule your Instagram posts in advance.
-
Give Fans All Access
Instagram is a brilliant platform to take your followers behind the scenes.
They want to see what your employees are up to, how you’re developing the next product and maybe even what you’re having for lunch.
Get your entire team of employees involved by planning ‘takeover’ days.
During that day, one employee will document their activities and give their view on working at your company.
-
Make Use of Killer Copy
To inspire engagement, make use of the right language, tone and style.
Direct response copywriting works well, especially if you can manage to probe and ask questions to which your followers will respond.
If you don’t have the capacity to create the content yourself, consider hiring a freelance content and copywriter.
They’ll be responsible for keyword research, as well as advertorial and call to action content.
In March 2017, over 120 million Instagrammers visited a website, got directions, called, emailed, or direct messaged to learn about a business based on an Instagram ad. – WordStream
Make sure that your Instagram page includes all of the information needed for the follower to take action. Clearly explain the industry and niche. Link to your website or e-commerce site in the description.
-
Search for the #likeforlike and #followback Users
This is a valuable trick that you can implement without having to use those desperation hashtags on your personal posts. If you follow those promoting follow-back, chances are they’ll give you a follow without pause.
Those with successful profiles also ‘poach’ Instagram followers from their competitors by using this tactic:
- Follow the User
- Comment on a Photo
- Like a Photo
- Direct Message
For the Advanced Instagram Users
-
Make use of Trends and Analytics
Recently, Instagram made an analytics available to those running business pages. You’ll see the most growth with your Instagram page if you invest time into understanding the trends and analytics.
Review your previous posts and see which ones are performing the best. Assess what makes them different and why the inspired more interaction.
Make use of additional Instagram Analytic tools such as Simply Measured and Union Metrics.
Followers interact with social media platforms differently.
You will be well served to start with a concrete idea of what you’re offering on Instagram that can be informative, entertaining or inspiring.
Research your competition and have a look at their strategy. It’s okay to mimic what’s trending within your industry.
-
Sponsored Posts and Product Reviews
An advanced approach to getting more Instagram followers is to get featured on bigger accounts within your industry. This will expose your brand to a larger audience.
Start by making a list of the most influential accounts within your industry.
You can track these pages down by using Webstagram to search for similar hashtags in your field.
Look for accounts with more than 20k followers that feature key contact details in their profile.
Contact these companies, and ask if they’re open to collaborating with your brand.
You could suggest reviewing their products in return for a sponsored post from their side.
Remember to explain how this collaboration would benefit both companies.
-
Run an Influencer Campaign
To get more Instagram followers, you can run an influencer campaign.
Although it’s similar to requesting collaboration with other brands, this tactic is more focused on individual influencers.
For instance, if you sell health and wellness products, it would be ideal to connect with popular fitness accounts and wellness individuals.
Depending on your relationship with the influencer, you might have to pay a mention fee or sponsored post fee. Try to negotiate the price by offering an incentive to the influencer.
Make sure that you have a landing page in place to drive traffic to your business.
Getting more Instagram followers is beneficial, but ultimately you need website traffic and conversions to justify any new strategy you opt to test out on the platform.
Featured Image Credit: CC 0; Public Domain. View original image on Flickr.com.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
Nabeena Mali
Latest posts by Nabeena Mali (see all)
- 10 Ways to Get More Instagram Followers - August 15, 2017
