Instagram remains a mysterious creature for many businesses.
While SMBs like Sweet Pure Honey and Camp Brand Goods have acquired a healthy following with some old-fashion elbow grease, others are struggling to increase their follower count. The latter is also facing stiff competition from enterprise giants who are coughing up big bucks to attract Instagram followers.
Are you among the lot whose Instagram account is looking out of place when it comes to the follower count? Don’t sweat it. Here is a handful of actionable tips that’ll help you to quickly grow your Instagram following.
- Optimize Instagram Ads
You might already be running an ad campaign on Instagram, but there’s always the option to optimize it through social media management services that leverage all ad formats to tell your brand’s story and connect you with the right target audience. Companies that provide such services will utilize imagery and video to showcase your offerings through advertisements that appear just like organic Instagram posts. You may also get weekly analytics reports, which is convenient if an advertising specialist is running Facebook ads and Instagram ads simultaneously.
- Repost User Generated Content
It’s important to spot good content posted by your customers, business partners, and other stakeholders and repost them on your Instagram account. Doing this will ensure you don’t come off as brand-centric, an approach that often backfires. Reposting user-generated content will also spark interest in your account, and if you manage to do it well, with the use of a custom hashtag, you can build a massive following within a matter of weeks. An easy way to do this is by using the Repost app. This app includes attribution as you repost someone’s content, allowing you to reference the original account correctly.
- Utilize Quality Filters
The available Instagram filters are more than just fun – the right filters can actually result in more engagement and following. According to a research carried out by Yahoo Labs and Georgia Tech, which analyzed millions of images and relevant data on how many comments were given on them and the total views they received, it was found that filtered images were 45% more likely to receive comments and 21% more likely to be viewed than unfiltered images. Images with higher contrast, higher exposure, and warm temperatures will attract the most followers.
- Geotag Images
Does your business have a physical presence? Geotag the location as soon as possible. That way, the people within your locality who use the same geotag while posting content on Instagram can see your images. Also, they may follow your account as you’re in the same neighborhood as them. You can also make an attractive offer to people who are using the same geotag such as a free drink at your office or an opportunity to stop by and see a demo of the product/service you’re selling.
- Engage With People
Remember, Instagram is just another social media platform, so it works like any other platform. If you don’t engage with people by responding to their comments and asking questions to whoever engages with your content, your following won’t grow. That said, you should always try engage in a genuine and organic way. Instead of saying something like “I like your thought”, try to add value to the conversation. You can also encourage people to tag others on your post by being helpful. Another thing you can do is develop a particular voice when it comes to engaging with your audience. For instance, a fun and quirky tone would work if you’re in the business of selling geeky accessories.
With these tips, you’re likely to see good numbers on your Instagram account.
