MKTG Principal: Instagram for Business: How to Get Quality Followers. Part 2- Increase Visibility
Instagram for Business: How to Get Quality Followers. Part 2- Make it easier for people to find you on Instagram & How to use Hashtag
If you’re struggling to attract new followers on Instagram, a few simple solutions can increase the number of ways that potential new followers can discover your Instagram account.
Try the following:
1. Announce your Instagram account to your followers on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or any other social network you’ve already built a following on. Consider boosting these posts with paid advertising to ensure that more of your followers make it to your Instagram account.
2. Create good Instagram content to grow your Instagram following. The better your Instagram content is, the more likely you are to get more Instagram followers. Posting photos that are blurry, branded inconsistently, or simply not interesting provides no incentive for people to follow you.
3. Find the best time to post. Use the insight you have about your customers to help determine the best time for posting on Instagram. For example, if your customers are typically people who work full-time jobs, chances are they won’t be checking Instagram between 9:00 and 11:00 am as often as they would be first thing in the morning, at lunch time, or after work. However, if the new followers you hope to gain are stay-at-home parents, then this time frame of peak Instagram use may change. The most effective way of determining the best time to post on Instagram is by testing how your photos perform at different times of day. If you notice that photos you post in the mornings are consistently earning you more likes, comments, or followers than those posted in the afternoon or evening, then adjust your content schedule accordingly.
4. Post consistently: There’s no magic number for how often you should be posting to Instagram, but since 75 percent of top brands publish at least once a week, doing the same doesn’t hurt. Keep in mind that the goal is to ensure your photos appear in the feeds of your followers so they can interact with them. That activity will then be visible to their followers, which increases your chances of getting new followers. Your followers want to see content from you, after all, that’s why they followed you in the first place. Don’t leave them hanging by posting on an inconsistent basis.
5. Use hashtags: Including relevant hashtags in your captions will help your posts appear to people who may not already be following you, but are searching for photos related to your brand on industry. Here are some #Hashtag #tricks
Trick #1: Find and use popular hashtag. Search for the most popular hashtags related to your product, service, or industry.
Trick #2: Create your own hashtag. Come up with your own hashtag that your audience will want to get on board with.
Trick #3: DON’T go overboard.
Although using hashtags are an effective way to getting new followers on Instagram, using too many of them can be distracting for your audience and dilute your message
Trick #4 DON’T use hashtag gimmicks.
Using hashtags such as #likeforlike, #tagsforlikes, or #followme may help you see a temporary increase in new followers, but they may be only be spammers or people only interested in being followed back, neither will help you build a meaningful, engaged community on Instagram. Instead, as Instagram recommends, focus on using hashtags specific to your photo, product, or business.
In Part 3, we will discuss how to drive engagement with your followers.
