We’ve been talking lately about how to boost your business marketing with Instagram. Unlike what lots of people still believe, Instagram isn’t just a fun app where you can post food, holiday and family pics.
Instagram has turned into a powerful brand-building, audience-building and content-marketing tool for businesses. It has over 200 million active monthly members sharing 60 million images and 1.6 billion likes each day.
A note of caution: there are numerous people out there who promise to cultivate your Instagram followers by the thousands, but beware. Most of them use fake accounts developed by bots to inflate your numbers.
These types of followers have zero value. Actually, they can even be dangerous, wanting to steal your password or photos or infect you with a virus.
According to the data security company Imperva, these bad bots take into account 28.9 % of bots on Instagram.
The easiest way to build your Instagram followers is when you are authentic to your brand and your audience.
Here are 3 tips to help you to get real Instagram followers:
Tell a tale with Hashtags
It’s great to use your business name as a hashtag, nevertheless, you have to think beyond that.
In order to use your Instagram posts to obtain followers, use other hashtags that tell the story of the image you’re sharing. You want to start a conversation when you’re sharing posts for things such as:
Events
Promotions
Contests
Product launches
A good example of a brand who does this well is @Tostitos. They use the hashtag #GetTogetherAlready to encourage people to gather and share their chips, and to use the hashtag when they share photos of these meetups.
By using engaging, relevant hashtags, you may be discovered in Instagram searches and hopefully build-up followers on Instagram.
Get Creative
Instagram is centered on photos, so many people think about the caption as an afterthought.
Don’t neglect the image caption! You will generate engagement and promote sharing through the use of descriptive words that will engage, inspire and entertain your followers.
Here are some suggestions to help you build-up followers on Instagram together with your posts:
Use questions in your caption. Write your question at the start of the post in order that people see it first.
Get personal together with your post. Tell a tale about yourself, or how your product helped or inspired someone else.
Ask visitors to tag others. Asking visitors to tag three of their best friends or tagging someone they are grateful for brings other potential followers into the equation.
A great example of a brandname that does personal posts well is the @NatGeo Instagram account.
They create breathtaking Instagram Stories with informative captions to educate an individual on the plight of animals around the globe.
Remember with regards to using Instagram posts to get followers, it’s about being authentic. Avoid questions atlanta divorce attorneys single post or tell an individual story that isn’t genuine.
insta like Go Local
One of the best methods to build your Instagram followers would be to become familiar with your neighbours!
Whether you’re creating Instagram ads or want to promote your event in a specific area, you can see what’s going on near you by going to the search page and clicking on the Places tab.
Type in the location to see the geotagged posts for that area. Then visit relevant and recent tagged posts – not those of competing businesses, obviously – and leave a comment as well as an emoji and follow the person if you like what you see. Hopefully, this will be the start of an organic interaction.
For example, if you offer life coaching services, you could type in your location accompanied by “entrepreneurs.” Local entrepreneurs could be looking for more work and life balance or help with life goals or career challenges.
Similarly, when you have a physical location that people have checked into on Instagram, touch upon those posters’ pictures to make sure they’re alert to your Instagram presence, and then follow them.
These are among the best methods to build Instagram followers the right way: no bots, no shortcuts, just tried and true ways to engage with your audience and turn them into followers!
Susan Friesen, founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant, and Social Media Advisor. She works together with entrepreneurs who struggle with getting the lack of knowledge, skill and support needed to create their web business presence.