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Instagram is naturally a great place for brands of all shapes and sizes to gain exposure. However, growing an engaged and loyal audience on the app is no easy task. Instagram was bought for a cool one billion dollars and ever since then, the company has hit its stride with just about everyone and their mother jumping onto the growing platform. With the increase of users on Instagram, many are seeking ways to use it as a marketing platform and grow their following.
With 1 billion people on Instagram today, offering 23% higher engagement than their Facebook counterparts, everyone wants #InstaFame just in time for 2019.
In this post, we’ll take you through the steps of how to set up an engaging profile, maximize the potency of each post, and interact with people in order to continually grow your following and gain exposure to your brand on Instagram.
WHAT IS INSTAGRAM?
Confused about Instagram? You’re not the only one. What exactly is this trendy thing called Instagram that all the cool kids seem to be into? Well, it’s been around for a few years, quietly picking up traction mostly thanks to everybody’s new obsession with mobile photography, so don’t feel embarrassed to ask if you have absolutely no clue what it’s all about.
Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone. Similar to Facebook or Twitter, everyone who creates an Instagram account has a profile and a news feed. When you post a photo or video on Instagram, it will be displayed on your profile. Other users who follow you will see your posts in their own feed. Likewise, you’ll see posts from other users whom you choose to follow.
WHAT CAN INSTAGRAM DO FOR YOU?
It’s no secret that your business needs to be active on Instagram — with more than 500 million daily active users, it has become a social network that provides a great marketing platform to reach potential customers from every corner of the world. With Instagram being one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the last year or two, more and more businesses, brands and entrepreneurs are looking there to reach a new, younger market.
And it makes sense if your brand has a strong visual component to it. Instagram is great for businesses that are more content focused. So, whether you are a freelancer, blogger, or small business, it’s time to start looking at new ways to get more followers on Instagram in 2019.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
Setting up your Instagram account is very easy, to get started, you will need to create your account and fill out additional information for your profile. This is how to do it.
INSTAGRAM & BUSINESS
With a profile on Instagram, you can include one clickable link back to your website. You cannot, on the other hand, link your images to a post or URL like you can with Twitter. That isn’t a bad thing per se, but it does clarify what your goal should be with the platform. While Instagram can drive traffic to your site, its main marketing power is its ability to help you establish your brand and increase awareness of that brand.
Is brand awareness important? The simple answer is yes. Data has revealed that sites with an established and trusted brand have a higher conversion rate. Using Instagram can help to increase trust and brand awareness that leads to the ultimate goal of conversion.
Posting pictures may leave some scratching their heads as to why or how this would ever help them with their business, but really, it’s not that hard to see why Instagram works.
In this post, we’re sharing new ways to reach your target audiences and get more Instagram followers in 2019:
1. POST CONTENT MORE OFTEN
Wondering how to get more Instagram followers? Start by giving them more content to browse through. Research suggests that posting twice a day instead of just once can help to boost your brand reach, improve your number of shares, and attract new followers too. Since every audience is different, you’ll need to do some testing to find out exactly how frequently you should post to delight your customers.
Start by sharing something new once a day then gradually work your way up, tracking the level of engagement you get for each post. If your engagement levels start to drop off after a certain point, you’ve found your magic number.
2. RUN INSTAGRAM CONTESTS
Before you dive into an Instagram marketing contest, it’s important to plan it out first. The key to running a successful contest is to have a purpose — one that aligns with the interests and behaviors of your target audience. There are few things more powerful for influencer marketing and brands in the modern landscape than word of mouth marketing. If you can convince people to talk about your brand or your social profile, then your customers can do most of the hard work for you. So, how do you leverage word of mouth? Easy! Set up some Instagram contests!
Research from 2017 found that accounts using Instagram contests increase their average follower count 70% faster than people who don’t. A few of the different kinds of competition you can run include:
- Follow to win
- Share to win
- Asking for user-generated content
Whatever you decide to do with your Instagram contests, just make sure that you’re following the official Insta rules, so you don’t end up in #Trouble.
3. TRY THE PAY-TO-PLAY ROUTE
If you’re wondering how to get more Instagram followers fast, one of the best things you can do is grab your checkbook. We’re not suggesting you should buy your fans – that rarely works out well – but you can improve your chances of success by paying for Instagram advertising.
Instagram ads are a fantastic way to connect with new followers quickly, by displaying tour content in front of the right people at the right times. Thanks to Instagram’s incredible targeting options, you can choose exactly what kind of customer you want to connect with, by segmenting users according to their interests, key behaviors and more.
Still, don’t believe that advertising works? Well, just take a look at these 8 brands in Nigeria using Instagram to showcase products the right way – they improved their reach to 70% of their target audience within months of using a paid strategy.
Remember, you don’t just have to advertise on your Instagram feed, you can also place your promotions within your Stories too.
4. FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE FILTERS
Filters are easily one of the most valuable tools you can use on Instagram – and let’s face it, they look great too!
According to some studies, filtered photos on Insta are 45% more likely to earn comments, and 21% more likely to be viewed. All you need to do is make sure that you’re using the right filters for your photos.
According to a pretty intense study from Hopper, the best filter you can use to get likes and comments is Gingham, followed quickly by Clarendon. If you look at the Instagram research, you’ll see that the right choice of filter can depend on your industry. For instance, the best filter for a nature photo is usually “Valencia,” while people love “Kelvin” for fashion pictures.
5. ENGAGE WITH OTHER PEOPLE
These days, Instagram users are so concerned with getting to the “Explore” page, or earning their Instagram verified badge that they forget about the most essential part of social media: being social. If you want to figure out how to get more followers on Instagram in 2019, then you need to be willing to devote more time to real, genuine engagement.
Leave a “like” on other people’s photos when you’re browsing through snaps that have something to do with your niche. While you’re at it, try coming up with meaningful, and valuable comments too. The more you interact with people, the more likely they are to appreciate you and follow your profile.
Pro tip? Avoid just asking people to follow you in their comment. This will make you look #desperate. Instead, find people who have similar audiences to you and leave carefully-constructed comments on their posts to drive attention back to your profile.
6. LEARN THE DOS AND DON’TS OF HASHTAGS
As Instagram continues to evolve with new updates and algorithms, one thing remains the same: hashtags will always be crucial to gaining followers.
Hashtags give you a way to help relevant people find your content. To make the most out of them, you’ll need to use a combination of popular and trending tags, along with unique branded hashtags that can begin to build a name for your company. For instance, just look at how powerful this hashtag #TrashtagChallenge became. This tag has inspired an outdoor cleaning movement all around the world. While you’re figuring out how to use your hashtags, remember:
- Don’t go overboard (30 hashtags in your Insta captions doesn’t look right)
- Don’t use gimmicks
Hashtags like #LikeforLike might give you a temporary boost in followers, to begin with, but they won’t give you the kind of dedicated fans you’re looking for – just people looking to earn their own attention. Use hashtags relevant to your community and company, and you’ll see far better results.
7. MAKE YOUR CAPTIONS MORE COMPELLING
As we head into 2019, don’t trick yourself into thinking that Instagram is all about the visuals.
Yes, the pictures you post are essential, and they have to be high-quality to earn attention. However, the words you use on your Instagram captions can be just as crucial to your success too! Captions are where you can show off your hashtags, increase engagement, and demonstrate a unique personality that attracts followers to your page. To make the most out of them, try:
- Saying the most important things first: Remember that captions get cut off on a feed after a few lines of text, so place the most critical information first.
- Using emojis: Emojis help to capture your audience’s attention and give your Instagram posts more heart.
- Asking questions: A question engages your audience and gets them thinking. If you choose the right questions, you’ll be more likely to gain comments, which lead eventually to more followers.
8. LEARN FROM YOUR INSTAGRAM ANALYTICS
Finally, remember that Instagram is continually evolving.
The platform we know and love today is bound to have plenty of new features and changes to consider by the end of next year. With that in mind, it makes sense to keep an eye on your strategy and make changes according to the preferences of your target audience. Instagram’s analytics tool is a great way to check on everything from your brand reach, to the best time of day for you to post your content.
Something as simple as tracking your results can completely change your Instagram strategy. For instance, Matchaeologist had no idea that their customers were mainly located in Taiwan and Hong Kong before they started using analytics. That revelation allowed the company to adjust the timing of their posts to suit their biggest audience and gain more followers as a result.
We hope these 8 tips will help guide you on how to get more Instagram followers in 2019, you can drop any question on the comment section below.
