Hundreds of millions of people are active on Instagram. That fact has made the burgeoning social platform a must for businesses looking to connect with audiences online.
If your business has an Instagram account set up but is not sure how it can build a loyal following, you’re not alone. Thousands of businesses have tried and failed to gain any traction on the platform which has lead to a less than positive outlook on corporate social media plays.
Don’t let your failed Instagram presence turn you off just yet!
There are tried and true methods you can exercise to skyrocket your online popularity, five of which we outline below.
Instagram is perhaps the most visually-driven social media platform among the mainstream. Because of that, if you’re trying to plus out your Instagram presence, you’re going to need to take the time to produce stunning photos.
The more eye-catching the pictures you share on the platform are, the more likely people are to stop scrolling and start paying attention to what you’re doing.
Very few people put up one post, see it go viral, and suddenly amass hordes of free Instagram followers. To amass a following more predictably, you’ll have to post with regularity.
Each post you put up means a new chance that something you say will get shared, earn you a follow and ultimately push your brand a little further. Imagine posting great content twice per day for a year? You’d have well over 700 brand deposits on Instagram which can translate into the earning of a loyal fan base.
One of the cardinal rules of business success on social media is to not just talk at your audience. Social media is successful because conversations on the platform are two-way.
To validate your customer’s voices in conversations, take the time to reply to what they’re saying, wish them a happy birthday, follow their accounts, etc. Anything you can do to act less as a salesperson and more as a friend will go a long way in proving your authenticity.
Hashtags are a useful tool that helps extend your post’s footprint. By adding hashtags to your post, users that search a particular term can better find content like yours.
For example, if you were to post a picture of a pie and hashtagged “dinner” in your description, people searching for “dinner” ideas would see your pie pop up in their results.
Instagram allows you to add a description to the photos you post. Do it.
The more detail you can give Instagram on what you’re posting, the more likely it’ll be to pop up in relevant feeds.
Having social media followers as a business is good but if that base doesn’t translate into sales, how good is it really? The positive news is that we’ve seen loyalty built through Instagram translate into purchases that can move the needle for organizations.
All of that to say that it’s worth your time to invest in growing your Instagram presence!
If you’d like more social tips and insight, consider browsing more of the content we have featured in our blog.