We’ve been talking lately about how to boost your organization marketing with Instagram. Contrary to what many people still believe, Instagram isn’t just a fun app where you can post food, holiday and family pics.
Instagram has become 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 per day.
A note of caution: there are many people out there who promise to cultivate your Instagram followers by the thousands, but beware. Most of them use fake accounts created by bots to inflate your numbers.
These kinds of followers have zero value. Actually, they are able to 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 per cent of bots on Instagram.
Instagram likes to build your Instagram followers is by being authentic to your brand and your audience.
Here are 3 tips to help you to get real Instagram followers:
Tell a Story with Hashtags
It’s great to use your business name as a hashtag, but you have to think beyond that.
If you want to use your Instagram posts to get followers, use other hashtags that tell the story of the image you’re sharing. You wish to start a conversation if you are sharing posts for things like:
Events
Promotions
Contests
Product launches
A good example of a brandname who does this well is @Tostitos. They use the hashtag #GetTogetherAlready to encourage visitors to get together and share their chips, and to use the hashtag if they share photos of their meetups.
Through the use of engaging, relevant hashtags, you can be discovered in Instagram searches and hopefully build-up followers on Instagram.
Get Creative
Instagram is focused on photos, so many people think about the caption as an afterthought.
Don’t neglect the image caption! You can generate engagement and promote sharing by using descriptive words which will engage, inspire and entertain your followers.
Here are some ideas to help you build up followers on Instagram with your posts:
Use questions in your caption. Write your question at the beginning of the post in order that people see it first.
Get personal together with your post. Tell a story about yourself, or how your product helped or inspired another person.
Ask people to tag others. Asking people to tag three of their close 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 the user on the plight of animals all over the world.
Remember with regards to using Instagram posts to get followers, it’s all about being authentic. Avoid questions atlanta divorce attorneys single post or tell a personal story that isn’t genuine.
Go Local
One of the best ways 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 particular area, you can see what’s happening near you by going to the search page and simply clicking the Places tab.
Type in the location to start 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 or even an emoji and follow the individual 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 searching for more work and life balance or help with life goals or career challenges.
Similarly, should you have a physical location that people have checked into on Instagram, touch upon those posters’ pictures to ensure they’re aware of your Instagram presence, and then follow them.
These are among the best ways to build Instagram followers the proper way: no bots, no shortcuts, just old ways to build relationships 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 had a need to create their online business presence.