We’ve talked before about how to get more engagement, leads and sales out of your Instagram, but what about followers? Followers matter on social media, and this is an unavoidable truth. Your followers are how you build strong relationships, build brand loyalty and get the opportunity to engage and communicate with. This only happens, however, when you build quality followers that are already active themselves on social media.
Some Instagram brands think that they’ll have a better chance at brand recognition by buying followers, or harvesting followers from another channel. Your Instagram profile may look better with thousands followers, but it’s important to keep in mind what these fake followers actually doing for you?
While it’s great to have 10 thousand plus followers, they need to be genuine and engage with your brand regularly to make using Instagram worth your time and energy. In this article we are going to outline 25 ways to actually get real, engaging people to follow you on Instagram.
1. Post regularly.
The first ingredient to this recipe is one that’s pretty common sense, and yet it’s one that many Instagram users don’t understand. Business and brand accounts should have a more structured quality than personal accounts, and this matters most when it comes to scheduled and consistent posting.
Your Instagram page should update at least once a day, but this doesn’t mean posting more than that is abnormal. Find a content scheduling system that works for you, as well as a schedule that appeals to your audience. Some brands post one a day, some post twice a day and others even go for five times a day. Look at your audience, the times they’re awake using Instagram analytics. We typically post one time per day for all of our clients unless they request more for any reason. We find that one time per day is manageable at scale, and is a perfect amount to keep the page active.
2. Time tables matter.
Continuing from the first piece of advice, posting on a time table is crucial. What’s the point in posting content during times when no one is awake? Depending on your business brand purpose, audience and location, you may not be posting during the critical times you should be.
Most posts on Instagram are published during the day at around 3-4 PM EST. Use this time zone converter to look at what this translates to in your area. If you truly want to connect with any and all followers, try to use the six hour rule as a guide. This means posting at 12 AM/PM and 6 AM/PM through scheduling, ensuring that at least one of your posts shows up on every user’s timeline while they’re awake.
3. Keep interacting with users.
It is known that if you want engagement from others, you’ll have to engage with others first. You have to put the “social” in “social media.” You do this by interacting and communicating with other Instagram users every day. It’s important that you respond to comments and mentions that your own images receive, but you also need to focus on looking for content that you can organically engage with.
This is also a way that you improve your brand image. It gives your brand or business a personality through interaction.
4. Create your own hashtags.
While it’s all fine and good to use generic, general hashtags that other people have created, you also need to start making your own branded hashtags that are specific to your brand. These should be somewhat short, snappy sayings that are easy to remember; alternatively they can be a powerful brand mission phrase. These hashtags become aligned with your brand, giving you a stronger brand identity.
It’s also important to remember analytics when it comes to any hashtags you create for yourself. These hashtags have to be monitored – how successful are they? How can you improve their usage? How can you promote their usage?
5. Monitor popular posts.
Another aspect of your created content you need to monitor is how successful which posts you publish are. One Instagram post might perform better than others. If you want to recreate the success of the one Instagram post, there’s something you need to understand – why was it so successful in the first place?
Analytics and visual research can tell you what it is that users love so much about some Instagram posts as compared to others, but it’s also good to know who your audience is. How are these two things related? Your audience knows what they’re interested in, and knowing your audience gives you access to this information. For instance, entrepreneurs have different interests than stay-at-home moms. Use your demographics to decipher what kind of posts you should focus on.
6. Align yourself with trending hashtags.
When hashtags start trending on Instagram, you have a perfect opportunity to use them for your own business interests. The only caveat is to be careful which hashtags you use when thinking about this – for instance, it’s in bad taste to use something like #BlackLivesMatter for business opportunities.
Instead, look at what hashtags are currently blowing up on social media. Think about which ones could easily blend in with your business. Use these hashtags in some posts and monitor how they do through analytics.
7. Integrate more calls to action.
You should be promoting more than just images and brand loyalty on Instagram. The image-based social network is one that can be utilized for CTA purposes as well. Along with an image, post a link to a current promotion or blog you want your followers to read, along with a CTA lead in. “We want our followers to be successful on Facebook, so we’re having a promotional discount on our consultation services. Click here before it’s too late!”
This sort of advertising utilizes both a consumer’s love of discounts and deals, as well as promotes a sense of urgency. Think about psychology tricks like this when crafting your CTAs.
8. Don’t only post photos.
Instagram introduced a video feature a while ago, but as of August 2016, Instagram is now promoting Instagram Stories. Through text, video and drawing tools, you can now share short videos with your Instagram followers for 24 hours. This Snapchat-like service is currently trending, and the hype is something you can use in your favor.
Why? Video content helps give your Instagram content variety. Posting regular videos on Instagram is perfect for sharing promotions or informative videos, while Instagram Stories can be used for more humorous, personality-infused content.
9. Make your brand a fun brand.
Followers pay attention to interesting, positive content. There is some success to be found in powerful, moving content that illicit a fearful, eye-opening emotion, but the majority of your Instagram posts should be valuable in a positive sense. Advice, tips, humor, creative images – these are what people look for in their Instagram content.
10. Content creation is a valid option.
Instagram marketing is much like other forms of social marketing in how you need to vary the content you post to these channels for optimum success. One example is how we’ve suggested you add video posts to your account. Another way to vary your content is through curation – this isn’t about medium variety, but instead is about source variety.
Utilize content posted by other accounts that still identify and align with your brand. Mention these accounts by name if the image is taken from another Instagram user, or credit other sources in the image blurb. Also, remember to always give credit where credit is due, whether it’s mentioning a person featured in a video you create or a user who has provided you with UGC.
11. Organize a contest.
Instagram is the perfect social vehicle for contests and user-generated content, and you can use this to boost engagement AND get more content to post on your account. Common contest themes include using a business’ products in a video or photo, or creatively coming up with an Instagram video that works as an advertisement. These contests also utilize branded hashtags that you create, promoting visibility and shareability.
What your contest actually looks like is all up to you. If you want inspiration, look to these 10 past Instagram contests and see what they’re doing right.
12. Keep your social media accounts connected.
If someone follows you on Twitter but not on Instagram, you have a problem. Someone should be intrigued enough to follow you on all platforms, and not just one. This is where cross-promotion comes in handy. Run an Instagram contest, but also remind Twitter followers that it’s on-going and to check out entries on Instagram or follow your own account for some special stand-outs.
Do the reverse, as well. Keep your other social media account links in your bios and mention your other social media accounts in posts often.
13. Ask the question: why?
Whether a post is doing phenomenally well or it’s not getting any likes at all, there’s always a question to be asked – why is this happening? When you understand what you’re doing right, you can duplicate the situation and further your engagement. When you understand what you’re doing wrong, you can more easily fix the underlying problem.
14. Make exclusive promotions.
Someone on Twitter may not follow you on Instagram. We’ve discussed cross-promotion, but that’s not always what it takes to get them to fully convert to all of your social media accounts. However, if a Twitter follower hears that they can get an exclusive coupon by following your Instagram posts, they’re much more likely to follow your account in order to take advantage of the great deals.
15. Team up and affiliate.
What’s better than having one Instagram account? Having two! However, it may not be feasible and isn’t always useful in the long run. If you want to gain access to more followers and audience members via more accounts, the key isn’t to recreate your own – it’s to attach yourself to someone else’s.
This is how you gain followers and audience members through affiliation. Find other brands you can promote and align with on Instagram and team up. You help promote theirs, and they’ll promote yours through cross promotion, which puts you in each other’s feeds.
16. Promote users that promote you.
Say you’re a clothing company using Instagram as a visual brand representative. A consumer that has recently purchased shoes your store sells posts them on Instagram and mentions you to show them off. You can like this post, of course, but go above and beyond.
Followers love it when they think they have a chance to be directly involved with a brand. When you share their content on your own account, they delight in having their photos seen by thousands of other people. It makes them feel special, increases photo engagement and you also get some great UGC out of the deal.
17. Promote quality content.
Instagram users love high-quality content, and this is no more evident in how they’re not too fond of low-quality posts. Photos that are grainy, have improper filters or that don’t offer them any real value aren’t what they’re interested in and who can blame them when there are millions of great Instagram accounts.
To avoid diminishing your brand image, it’s crucial to only post high-quality, valuable content. HQ content includes sharp, crisp images a great content piece to go with it, and maybe “blog of the week” promotions, schedules and other event or brand related promotions.
18. Emojis are a-okay.
Many business brands feel like they have to put on a digital suit and tie before they come to work. This isn’t true. Online branding is something that’s become much more casual in recent years. Consumers don’t want entirely straight-laced businesses on their social media feeds– they want relatable content that they can identify with as a real person.
Emojis are a way you can say “we’re human too.” Don’t get excessive with them, but the occasional properly-placed emoji can work wonders for both your bio and your content.
19. Know how to use the right amount of hashtags.
One hashtag on an Instagram post doesn’t do a lot for you. Hashtags are how you grow your Instagram reach, but how many hashtags is too many? How many is just enough?
According to Piqora, seven hashtags is the magic number, but you fall into a decent range at about six to eight. More than this can be seen as spam and desperate, killing your engagement chances.
20. Always pay attention to hashtag popularity among peers.
It’s important to pay attention to what your competition is doing. What kind of posts are they using on Instagram? What hashtags are they using?
Focus on hashtags for a second. Their general, generic hashtags can be a clue to how they’re getting more engagement. What hashtags are you using that they aren’t? What hashtags are they using that you aren’t? A good, workable hashtag is one that has over 50,000 posts assigned to it, so pay special attention to these.
21. Make your captions work for you.
Do you want more Instagram comments? Sometimes you have to ask for them in order to receive them. Of course, you can’t just come out and say “comment to this post” and leave it at that. Give your audience members a legitimate reason to say something.
You can do this by inciting a conversation, like asking what they think about a product or opinion. Ask what they feel and think about other subjects that are still brand relevant, or ask them to share an experience.
Your captions can also encourage other forms of engagement. “Double tap for yes, comment for no!” or “Follow our sister account for a new promotional code” will both work wonders for you.
22. Don’t neglect your profile photo.
It’s easy to forget that your profile photo needs to look good. This is one of the first things people see when finding you on Instagram, and this is akin to a first impression. Also remember that your profile photo isn’t just on your profile page – it also comes attached to any post you publish. Use a brand image or (preferably) a facial photo in order to get the best results.
23. Utilize location tags.
If you’re at a specific convention or location, look for others that are there with you via Instagram and interact with them. You have something obviously in common and you can use this to further engagement. You can also reverse this idea and always include a location in your own posts. This allows others to find you easily.
24. Use your bio as a lead magnet.
Don’t neglect your Instagram bio. Much like you would add information to your LinkedIn profile or Twitter bio, your Instagram blurb can be used to both tell people who you are and also act as a lead magnet. If you have a new promotion or a certain area of your business or brand you want to heavily promote, link to it in your blurb. This is the most consistently viewed page when it comes to your Instagram, so promoting here increase your chances of lead engagement.
25. Rock Instagram with helper apps.
Do you want to create images and videos for Instagram? Schedule and plan content for free? Or how about analyze your content for optimum results? You can’t do all of this on your own, so start looking for apps and other resources that can help you accomplish this.
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Getting plenty of good quality Instagram followers isn’t science, but if you can follow some of the tips outlined in this article they will come much quicker and be more engaged. I would be happy to carry on the conversation and share some more thoughts and ideas if you need further assitance with your accounts. You can reach me or our team here.
Jason Gordon, Founder – Strong Social
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