Instagram is a great tool for businesses to reach their target audience. Gaining real, authentic and engaged leads is very important. So, it’s necessary to point out that although there are shortcuts available (like buying followers), doing it the right way will prove helpful down the road.
Your goal should be to connect with real people who are passionate about your niche market. Real, passionate followers are so important to have because they will engage with the content you put out, develop an ongoing relationship with your business and become loyal to your brand. Below are a few tips to get you started!
Create a Strategy
First, you need to create a platform for your account that will help bring followers to you. Define your audience and define what you want to achieve through your posts so that you can attract followers that will align with your business goals.
Make it Discoverable
Cross-promote your Instagram on other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. You can also lead people to your Instagram account through your company blog by including Instagram content in your blog posts. Embedding this information in your blogs will allow people who found you through a search engine such as Google to find and ideally connect with you on Instagram.
Post Consistently
Stay relevant by posting to your Instagram account daily. Your followers are following you for a reason- they want to see your content, so share it with them! When they interact with your posts their followers will see and you’ll be exposed to a wider audience. Careful not to post too often, though, make sure that your posts follow the rule of quality over quantity.
Use Compelling Captions
Make your captions short, sweet and to the point. Engage your followers by asking a question, encouraging them to leave a comment with their answer. Depending on the post, you may require a longer caption, but just remember that Instagram is a picture based platform, so don’t overwhelm you users with too much written content.
Create an Intriguing Profile and Bio
Your Instagram profile and bio give your users a first impression of your business- make them inviting and informative. Use the 150 characters that you get for your bio to convey your brand identity and why users should follow your company. Additionally, make sure that your username is consistent across all of your social media channels so that followers on your other platforms can easily find you on Instagram.
Tag and Hashtag
When you post a picture with other Instagram users in it be sure to tag them- they will be notified of the tag and they might be inclined comment or share the photo on their own account. Be sure to tag your location as well, so that your followers can click on your location and see all of the photos posted from your business location. Using common hashtags that relate to your post and stay in consistency with your brand will not only engage your current audience, it will also help grow your following of like-minded Instagram users.
Engage with the Community
Once you identify some relevant accounts, get involved by liking, commenting on, and sharing their content. Many people will return the favor, or will head over to your profile to learn more about you—and potentially follow you if they like what they see.
Use Live Video
Stories appear at the top of the Instagram app, so they’re a quick way to get your content to your viewers quickly and efficiently. Additionally, you can live stream videos on your story- this function is great for engagement because it notifies users when an account they follow is livestreaming a video. Live videos are great for streaming conferences, events, gatherings and promotions.
Remember to stay true to your company’s brand, tell a story and keep your users engaged. There’s no substitute for regularly posting engaging, creative and relevant images that your audience enjoys seeing- so start implementing the tips above today, and watch your Instagram followers list grow!
By Leia Unger
