Have a New Years Resolution to grow your Instagram following? Whether you’re a business, blogger or just live to gain an audience, the amount of followers you have on social media is thoroughly important to you. The truth about gaining an audience is that you want to have people who follow you who are genuinely interested in your product, persona or vision. These followers will support you and stick with you if you are resourceful on how they find you. I want you to gain a following on Instagram that will help spread the word about your brand, whether it be personal or corporate. Looking at social media from afar it can seem cold and impersonal. But closeup the influencers that succeed and make a living from it are those who are relatable and engaging.
Something you should know is that any platform of social media promotes the users who engage the most on the site. Those influencers keep their business going, increase user activity and screen time for other followers. You’ll be found more often by using all of the tools the app has to offer, but you also have to realize it takes some grit and monotonous work to be found. For the most part it does not, I repeat does not happen over night.
After numerous research from youtube videos, various apps, lengthy articles and trial and error I have found 10 simple tips to improve your Instagram following. Now, lets go ahead and start with the basics.
- POST PLEASING CONTENT
- This may seem like a naturally given tip, but you’d be surprised with the photography people post and still not understanding why they haven’t gotten over 100 likes or any new followers.
- You need to provide aesthetically appealing content to add to your gallery. Use apps like Adobe Light Room, Colorstory, VSCO, Afterl
ight, A Design Kit, Huji, Facetune and more. - Purchase a filter from your favorite influencer to make it easy for yourself.
- THEME/COLOR SCHEME
- This tip is one of the most important tips I’ve learned from my Instagram research. I want to make it clear to you on one of the major reasons why people follow you. So clear that I’ll list it in the bullet point below, in all caps.
- USERS FOLLOW YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR GALLERY, NOT BECAUSE OF ONE PHOTO.
- Does that make sense? When someone sees a photo of yours, yes it still has to be pretty and intriguing but once they click on your username they follow and sign up to your posts if they clearly can see a vision of someone and want to see what’s next.
- Provide your followers with a story, imagery, specific coloring, and curiosity all within a matter of seconds. It’s the layout you provide that will help you do this. Use apps like Colorstory to help arrange your layout in advance.
- Play around with filters, stick to one or a couple that can be intertwined within each other. In the captions stick to your theme by incorporating either a narrative that’s clearly from a specific perspective or quotes and facts that enhance the photo itself.
- This also goes along with your username as well. Pick a username that can give someone an idea of what to expect from you. Ex: traveltheworld, foodiegalore, londonismyhometown, pigsandparrots etc. I believe you can always update and change your username through the settings Instagram provides if you’re currently unhappy with your present one.
- HASHTAG YOUR A## OFF
- But really though. Don’t look like #spam #and #do #this #with #every #word #in #your #sentence. Type a few sentences going a long with your post and choose a word or two that is relevant or part of the sentence like “My #mondaymotivation is…” “Today I went to @regentspark and saw the amazing canals, hills and pretty landscapes that London parks have to offer. Always a reminder to #getoutdoors and see the world.”
- Additionally add some hashtags below your post to have more chances to be found. Type anywhere from 10-20 hashtags that are relevant to your specific post and brand. Hashtags are just another way to be found by someone who doesn’t know of you yet. You can have the best brand, best photos but if you’re not interacting or being proactive with users it doesn’t matter, and no one will find you.
- TAG THEM ALL
- Some influencers don’t understand the importance of tagging other accounts in your photos. Tag your Instagram idols, relevant businesses or users that will likely comment or like your photo too.
- Tag accounts similar to yours, so that Instagram users can possibly find your profile too.
- Make sure you tag companies of the products or places in your post, so they can see the photo and either repost it to their large following or comment on your photo (which will provide engagement and likelihood to be seen more on other feeds)
- On top of that the more you tag a company the more they’ll become familiar with your page, and they might even follow you. (Yes, this has happened to me)
- LIKE EVERYTHING
- Just do it. Honestly.
- Liking everything in the first hour of your most recent post is very, very important. I want to say that they push very active users to the top. So, liking and commenting on everything will naturally increase your engagement with others. In return the engagement will push your photo up in the feeds and top posts.
- ENGAGEMENT IS EVERYTHING
- I notice a difference in a influx of likes, new followers or comments the more I am engaging on Instagram.
- Comment genuine reactions to the photo, or something you noticed that will make the photographer/model smile.
- Do not comment things like “check out my profile” I find those comments very annoying.
- People just want to be appreciated for their work. Hold a conversation with them on their comment section, they’ll enjoy and usually reciprocate.
- CHANGE TO BUSINESS ACCOUNT
- Being able to see your analytics is very important to know to gain a following. You can view such categories as age, gender, location, impressions, likes, best times to post, most viewed stories etc.
- CAPTIONS
- Potential followers like to get an idea of your personality not just through your photos but also through your words.
- Write a caption that captures the photo, or of your current state, mood or something relevant that the user can relate to.
- Some of my favorite captions are not of those that seem out of a novel, rather those that make me laugh and feel like I have something in common with the instagrammer. (Ex: “feeling anything but bikini ready today after eating a whole pizza pie by myself #oppsie #bikinidiets #ilovepizzatoomuch”) as a picture of the person is of themselves in a bikini from a while ago.
- USE INSTASTORY
- This is the new version of “reality t.v.”
- It’s like watching mini youtube videos of those you follow without having to leave the app.
- Use your instastory to keep your following updated on your every move.
- Additionally, post days where things are not so perfect. Let your following understand how real you are. Sometimes with all of the perfect content they can forget, and they’ll love you more for it.
- TOOLS TOOLS TOOLS
- In any social media platform, the first users experience the most success. This is a formula that drives the company to pat those users on the back.
- When it comes to new updates such as polls, questions, IGTV, countdowns, etc., use them right away. Now there is no solid proof that Instagram will appreciate you more, but I have a feeling they will.
- Example: when youtube first came out, the creators who started actively using it first blew up. I think Instagram or any social media is the same.
In conclusion, don’t take yourself too seriously, genuinely enjoy sharing your content, be incredibly active on the platform, stay relevant, engage with other users and be yourself. The first todo things, the ones who take a risk, usually get the reward.
Follow me on Instagram @peoniesandplaces
