10 ways to grow your
Instagram followers
Are you currently looking to grow your Instagram followers and take your engagement up a notch?
If so, this post is for YOU! (Hi-Fi veIf you are on Instagram you probably know it’s one of the top ways to connect with the public on social media. In just 5 years Instagram has reached over 400 million monthly users! Can you say, “Wow!!” So, there is no surprise that this platform is definitely one that bloggers + biz Owners should consider being active on.
I recently changed up my Instagram game and starting implementing a strategy that focused on building an organic following and to my surprise, IT WORKED! Within’ 3 months I was able to build my following from 2k to 10k by focusing on the new strategies and my engagement also went up.
In this post, I share how I more than double my following + engagement on Instagram and how you can TOO!.
1. Complete Your Profile
I know this one may sound like the easiest thing to do but a lot of people fail to complete their Instagram profile. I have seen a ton of pages without contact information, links to a personal website and more. Make sure to complete your profile with a small bio so people will know who you are and what you do. Also, put a call to action at the end of your bio because it will help with generating traffic back to your website!
You can make the call to action incentive a freebie that leads back to your site. Examples of a “Call To Action” at the end of your bio would be: “Click here to gain access to my resource library” or “Click below to get your free Facebook checklist“.
Below is an example of my profile bio that has a call to action at the end of it. Formatting my bio like this has done great wonders for my site traffic.
2. Put up Great Visuals
Since Instagram is a visual platform it’s super important to share relevant photos focusing on your niche and high-quality photos. Instagram is really huge for feeds with great visuals and color themes. There are a ton of places online you get high-quality photos to create great visuals. Check out this post to find 25+ places online to find FREE high-quality photos.
Also, if you use any other artists or photographers pictures on Instagram make sure to give them full credit when you post the picture by tagging their handle (Instagram name) on the photo and/or you can give them credit by tagging their handle at the end of your caption.
For my Instagram account, I try to stick to a certain color theme and put up high-quality pictures with my brand colors. I do a mix of using my own photos and other amazing photos with credit.
See example below:
3. Use Other Apps to Enhance Your Photos
Speaking of capturing top-notch photos, you can use different smartphone apps to enhance your photos for Instagram. Check out these apps on your iPhone or Andriod phone: VSCOCam, Enlight, Afterlight, Adobe Photoshop Express, PicsArts Photo Studio, and Fliagram.
4. Get a Posting Strategy
Find out what times YOUR audience is mostly online and focus your posting strategy around those times. If you have a business Instagram account you can find out when your followers are most active online in the analytics feature at the top of your account to the right of your Instagram account name. Focusing on a specific time to post has really helped boost my engagement.
.5. Hashtags! Hashtags! Hashtags
This one IS HUGE! After you post a picture, make sure to put hashtags in the comment section under the picture right after you post the picture. It might take some time to find which hashtags work best for you but it’s totally worth the time. Using Hashtags totally work to boost your engagement and following But NOT JUST ANY hashtags will work.
If you put up hashtags such as #Like4Like #FollowMe then you might get a ton of spammers sent to your account. So, pick your hashtags wisely and focus on picking hashtags that fit in with your niche and the theme of your account.
Also, when you first start out it’s key is to find hashtags that fit in with your niche that aren’t super popular with over 1 million posts. Normally, hashtags with over 1 million posts will have a ton of posts therefore when you post it might get buried and not seen.
In the example below I used the hashtag #MomBoss which had over 600,000 posts at the time that I used it and my post actually made the “Top Post” section for that hashtag the day I posted. Since using hashtag research, I normally make the Top Post Section for the hashtags that I used. Being in the top post section bring TONS of traffic to your page.
6. Be Consistent
I know a lot of people who start out great and then stop posting for weeks. The problem with not having a posting schedule is that most people on Instagram might forget about your brand. So it’s super important to post at least once a day or once every other day to keep your content fresh. Being consistent also helps with bringing new followers to your account and also boost engagement. The key is to keep people engaged with your brand and or product(s).
7. Participate in Facebook Groups
Anyone that knows me knows I am a BIG fan of Facebook Groups! To increase engagement on our page participates in social media promo threads in Facebook groups. One of my favorite Facebook groups that I participate in to boost engagement on my Instagram page is Grow Your Blog on Facebook! This group ROCKS.
8. Show your personality
People love to get to see the REAL YOU because they get of sense of realness! So, showcase your personality and be fun with your posts! Post pictures of you writing blog posts, heading to an audition, out with friends & more! Below are great examples of color theme profiles that show a ton of personality that are consistent.
@Splendid_Rags and @BellaBucchiotti both do a great job creating color theme profiles with personality!
9. Follow People in Your Niche
Yes! Most of the time if you follow people in your niche they will follow you back. It’s a great idea to follow people who you would like to connect and network with. For example, if you are a painter, follow other successful painters! I often follow other bloggers + biz owners in my niche and I have totally built new friendships from it.
10. Engage! Engage! Engage!
Spread the LOVE & make yourself known. People are more likely to connect with you if they know who you are first. Commenting on other bloggers + biz owners photos in your niche is a great way to network and build a community. I would say do this DAILY!
I absolutely love connecting with fellow biz owners, bloggers, and creatives so I will go to their pages to support their Instagram posts as well. A ton of my engagement on my page comes right from commenting on other accounts in my niche daily.
So there you have it! I hope some of the tips I listed help you reach your Instagram goals!
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