Author: Tommy Li
Content Creator | Social Media Expert
Law of Marketing
Starting an Instagram account isn’t a lot of work, but growing it can be difficult especially if you don’t know where to start. Whether you’re a business owner or an entrepreneur that is just getting started, follow these tips to help grow your account. With the correct strategy, you can grow your Instagram account from zero to thousands. Of course, there are also shortcuts to growing your Instagram account and that involves purchasing your followers.
Do we recommend purchasing followers?
Absolutely NOT. Our reason is that purchasing followers only make your Instagram account look bigger. They are not quality followers and when you post content on Instagram, you’re sharing content that is not relatable to the followers that you purchased. It’s just a waste of money.
Another reason to not purchase followers is that they do not engage with your content. Have you ever seen an Instagram account with tons of followers but barely any engagements such as comments or like? If so, congratulations, you spotted an account with fake followers.
There are other reasons to not purchase followers but that will be for a separate blog post. Let’s jump straight to the good stuff.
Here are the 10 tips you should follow:
1) Have at least 30 post
This is especially true if you just started an Instagram account. You might be asking “why post when I dont have anyone to see my content?” Ask yourself this, would you follow an Instagram account with barely any post? The answer is no. Have a decent amount of post starting out so when people check out your account, they know what type of content they’ll be receiving on their news feed.
2) Post consistently
If you want to grow your account, you need to make sure you are posting on a consistent basis. This doesn’t mean post several times a day because you’ll just be spamming their newsfeed. Aim to post at least once or twice a week as long as its quality content and not just for the sake of posting.
3) Post relatable content
Last year, I analyzed a small business’s (a microbrewery) Instagram account and provided consulting service to them on how to fix and grow their account. What was the one biggest thing I saw on their Instagram post? It was messy and they had a lot of posts that was not related to their business. They had posts of their dog, what they were eating, a bunch of selfies of herself, and other things that were not related to beer. Why would you want to see this if you were following a microbrewery? Imagined if you followed Tesla’s Instagram account and you saw a bunch of pictures of food, furniture, and other unrelatable content. Wouldn’t it be weird?
4) Use hashtags
It is good to use at least 10 hashtags in your Instagram post. Using a popular hashtags means that they are more common but also means that your post will be pushed down the newsfeed faster to make way for new post that were uploaded a minute after yours. Use a mix of both popular and less common hashtags. Make sure you don’t overdo your hashtags because it’ll start looking messy.
5) Vary the content you post
If you’re a restaurant owner, you shouldn’t just post pics of food all the time. You’ll want to post pictures of your restaurant, the new seasonal menu, the culinary staff, recipes, videos, and maybe even a selfie with Christian Ronaldo who ate at your restaurant last week.
6) Interact with your audience
If someone leaves a comment, make sure to reply back. An easy way to track comments made on your post is using 3rd party programs such as Iconosquare which allows you to reply back on your computer instead of your phone.
7) Create a post where you ask your followers to tag their friends.
For example, if you’re a restaurant owner, make a post saying ” Tag your friend who can devour this full rack of ribs and still be hungry”. The reason for this is that they are tagging their friends which helps expose your account and possibly increasing followers.
8) Time your post
If you’re a local business only trying to get local exposure, then time your post according to when people use social media. People won’t likely check their social media when they are working or eating dinner
(unless they are Gen Y and don’t live with their parents anymore)
9) Take your time to edit
It’s easy to just quickly upload something just to have something on people’s newsfeed. Spend a few extra minutes to make sure you have a good filter on, no spelling errors, and the right caption on. You are out there to put quality content not quantity.
10) Be original
This might be obvious but its best not to take pictures off somewhere online. Take your own pictures instead. If you don’t have a good phone camera, take pictures with another camera and transfer it to your phone so you can upload it.
Thanks for reading our blog! Reading about it is one thing, but applying them to your business is another. Make sure you take action today while all this information is still fresh in your head!
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