5 Tips For Instagram Supremacy
Instagram boasts more than two billion monthly users all over the world. This means that there are billions of potential followers for individuals and brands. If you’ve been struggling to boost your presence on this popular social media platform, you may not be going about it the right way.
Read on for a roundup of 5 tips for getting more followers, boosting engagement, and reigning supreme on Instagram.
1. Be consistent
If you’re using Instagram to share photos with friends and family at whim, garnering more followers may not be your primary agenda. However, if you’re looking to build an audience, conquering Instagram is about much more than merely posting a photo when you feel inspired.
In order to gain people’s interest, trust, and loyalty—not to mention their likes and follows—consistency is key. Setting (and sticking to) a posting schedule lets people know exactly what to expect from you.
2. Don’t buy followers
On the surface, purchasing followers looks like a quick and easy way to boost your profile. However, this tactic is likely to do more harm than good.
Market research tells us over and over again that today’s consumers value authenticity over all else. Illegitimate followers hurt your account’s credibility by misrepresenting your audience. They also don’t generate ROI or buzz.
Look at it this way. If you have 100,000 fake followers but you don’t have the comments, likes, and shares that would be generated by real followers, this lack of engagement will make your account look dead. (Or worse, fake.)
3. Promote, promote, promote
If you want people to find and follow your Instagram account, you have to get the word out. Make sure to include your account across all of your social networks as well as on your website and blog entries.
However, one of the best ways to promote your Instagram is by interacting with other people’s content. When you do so, they’re likely to interact with your content in return.
Speaking of other people interacting with your content, be sure to respond to all comments on your posts. This is one of the easiest and more effective ways to nurture engagement.
4. Post the right content (at the right time)
Anyone with any social media experience knows that some posts generate tons of engagement, while others hardly make a splash. While post performance may seem random, there’s usually some rhyme or reason to it.
From filters and emojis in captions to post times and content types, seemingly small details can make a huge difference when it comes to post performance. Investing in Instagram analytics tools can help you drill down to understand what’s working and what’s not.
This does take some degree of trial and error. The more content strategies you experiment with, the better data you’ll have to work with and learn from.
Not sure where to begin when it comes to new content strategies? Keep up with the latest Instagram trends for ideas and inspiration.
5. Use hashtags wisely
Hashtags can be an excellent tool for finding followers. However, not all hashtags are created equally. Using the right ones can make or break a post.
For starters, seek out hashtags that aren’t overpopulated to avoid your post getting lost in a sea of posts with the #love hashtag. Instead, utilize hashtags that relate to you, the post, your brand, and your target audience. The more relevant the connection, the more likely a user is to like and follow.
While mastering hashtag use can seem overwhelming, there are many hashtag resources out there offering everything from best practices to tracking tools.