We’ve been talking lately about how to boost your business marketing with Instagram. Unlike what many people still believe, Instagram is not only a fun app where one 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 each day.
A note of caution: there are numerous people on the market who promise to cultivate your Instagram followers by the thousands, but beware. A lot of them use fake accounts created by bots to inflate your numbers.
These kind 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.
In line with the data security company Imperva, these bad bots account for 28.9 % of bots on Instagram.
The best way to build your Instagram followers is when you are authentic to your brand and your audience.
Here are 3 ideas to help you get real Instagram followers:
Tell a tale with Hashtags
It’s great to use your organization name as a hashtag, but you need to think beyond that.
To be able to use your Instagram posts to obtain followers, use other hashtags that tell the story of the image you’re sharing. You would like to start a conversation if you are sharing posts for things such as:
Events
Promotions
Contests
Product launches
A good example of a brand who does this well is @Tostitos. They utilize the hashtag #GetTogetherAlready to encourage people to get together and share their chips, and to use the hashtag when they share photos of their meetups.
By using engaging, relevant hashtags, you will be discovered in Instagram searches and hopefully build up followers on Instagram.
Get Creative
Instagram is centered on photos, so many people think of the caption being an afterthought.
Don’t neglect the image caption! You can generate engagement and promote sharing by using descriptive words that 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.
koupit followers Get personal with your post. Tell a tale about yourself, or how your product helped or inspired another person.
Ask people to tag others. Asking visitors to tag three of their close friends or tagging someone they are grateful for brings other potential followers in to 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 teach the user on the plight of animals all over the world.
Remember in terms of using Instagram posts to get followers, it’s about being authentic. Don’t use questions in every single post or tell an individual story that isn’t genuine.
Go Local
One of the best methods to build your Instagram followers would be to get to know your neighbours!
Whether you’re creating Instagram ads or want to promote your event in a specific area, you can see what’s going on near you by going to the search page and clicking on the Places tab.
Type in the positioning 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 and even an emoji and follow the person if you like everything you see. Hopefully, this is the start of a natural interaction.
For example, if you offer life coaching services, you could type in your location followed by “entrepreneurs.” Local entrepreneurs may be looking for more work and life balance or help with life goals or career challenges.
Similarly, if you have a physical location that folks have checked into on Instagram, comment on those posters’ pictures to make sure they’re aware of your Instagram presence, and then follow them.
These are among the best methods to build Instagram followers the right way: no bots, no shortcuts, just old ways to engage with 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 insufficient knowledge, skill and support had a need to create their web business presence.