For most small businesses and startups, getting to over 1,000 followers can be a daunting task. Often getting stuck in the cycle of not having enough followers to look cool enough for more to come along, breaching past and into building a solid base can take some patience. However, with the right strategy, you can not only bolster those numbers quickly but do so with organic, authentic traffic. That’s why we’re bringing you a few tips on how to get started. Check them out below:
It Starts With What You Represent
The biggest reason why anyone is going to follow you on Instagram is simply based upon what you represent. After all, what makes up your content is important, as well as one of the biggest deciding factors that people have when they look at not just your page, but your brand as a whole. As we often look at brands as these living, breathing creatures within our lives, we tend to form opinions about them just the same as we would with people; in fact, as noted by Brand Buddha, your average consumer forms an opinion on a brand within the first 10 seconds of seeing their logo. For your company to start gaining followers, reassessing your branding is going to be a primary step to building out your Instagram base.
When looking at your branding, take a deep dive into every aspect, including your logo, color schemes you might use, filters your brand is using for photos, the hashtags being included on posts, and even what your name might mean to others, as well as what type of loyalty or affection your audience has for it. Compiling all of this into one solid picture can be helpful in determining if anything needs any sprucing up, as well as what the general perception of your brand has been so far based on the numbers. While this isn’t to say your branding isn’t strong in other areas, bringing that to Instagram can sometimes take a little bit of extra attention, so brainstorm what it is about your process, story, or even product that you can showcase day-in and day-out on your page. Remember, the best Instagram accounts are the ones that provide quality content practically almost every day, which is something you should embrace as a fun activity to presenting yourself to others.
Keep Up With Your Engagement
While we’ve all heard the term, engagement is how often people interact or behave with your page or posts. This is the biggest reason why brands have become so involved with investing time and resources into Instagram, as it’s the primary hub for interacting with our companies or fans. As noted by Influencer Marketing Hub, even micro-influencers with less than 5,000 followers have an engagement rate of around 5.7 percent.
When it comes to assessing engagement, there are some Instagram analytics you should know. This includes the average rate of likes and comments you should get based on your follower count, as well as comparing internal interests, like if your page is getting bumps in engagement from strategies like a call-to-action. Additionally, make it a habit to keep a short list of accounts to keep up with, liking or commenting on their posts, as well as dedicating some time every day for engagement. As the perfect opportunity to get to know your audience, don’t be surprised if they start gravitating over towards your page simply for showing up on the scene.
Post Daily
As practical as it sounds, posting every single day is a surefire way to get yourself to 1,000 followers. Not only is it good practice, but practically the norm, because as noted by Social Buddy, major brands post an average of 1.5 times per day. And while you may not have the budget they do to spend on social ad campaigns and analytics, you certainly can compete with the quality, as well as engaging-nature of your content.
When looking at what you should post, your time will most likely be split between the campaigns you’re working on, as well as day-in-the-life posts, or even daily activities. Believe it or not, people love seeing the inside scoop of what’s going on in your life, even down to the places you like to go for lunch. Try to get somewhat strategic with curation, using Instagram as a pipeline to tag or shoutout different works that you like. In due time, you’ll not only compile a bunch of great content but have a better sense of dialogue amongst your community in the posts.
Create A Calendar and Campaigns (and stick with them!)
Finally, as you continue to work on building up your Instagram, it’s imperative to create and stick to a calendar of campaigns to compete against the big competitors of your industry. Unless you’re a creative mastermind behind doing ‘surprise’ releases (or, magically know how to go viral), you’re most likely going to need to present fresh, entertaining content every day; which, over time will mean more money as well. In fact, as noted in Inc, brands that consistently present themselves see increased revenues by 23 percent. And if you’re looking to see numbers like that, then having the discipline to take care of regular planning is imperative.
When planning out campaigns, first look at what type of capacity you have for content, including if your strength comes in photography, design, or writing. The overall goal is figuring out what you can produce consistently, as well as what type of content is going to receive the best response from your base. Additionally, don’t forget to keep track of analytics and compare results of multiple campaigns, highlighting what improvements you’ve made as well as what can be done better the next time. The core of campaign planning often comes from figuring out what type of narrative or story you want your audience to see, so don’t be afraid of putting your creative cap on to really drive home your brand’s social masterpiece.
What are some solid go-to tricks you use for boosting your engagement on Instagram? Comment with your insights below!
