We’ve been talking lately about how exactly to boost your organization marketing with Instagram. Contrary to what lots of people still believe, Instagram isn’t just a fun app where you 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 per day.
A note of caution: there are several people on the market who promise to grow your Instagram followers by the thousands, but beware. Many of them use fake accounts developed by bots to inflate your numbers.
These kinds 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.
According to the data security company Imperva, these bad bots take into account 28.9 per cent 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 tips to help you get real Instagram followers:
Tell a tale with Hashtags
It’s great to use your business name as a hashtag, but you need to think beyond that.
In order to use your Instagram posts to get followers, use other hashtags that tell the story of the image you’re sharing. You need to start a conversation if you are sharing posts for things like:
Events
Promotions
Contests
Product launches
A good example of a brandname who does this well is @Tostitos. They utilize the hashtag #GetTogetherAlready to encourage people to gather and share their chips, and to use the hashtag if they share photos of their meetups.
Through the use of engaging, relevant hashtags, you could be discovered in Instagram searches and hopefully build-up followers on Instagram.
Get Creative
Instagram is about photos, so many people think of the caption being an afterthought.
Don’t neglect the image caption! You can generate engagement and promote sharing through the use of descriptive words that will engage, inspire and entertain your followers.
Here are some suggestions to help you build up followers on Instagram with your posts:
Use questions in your caption. Write your question at the start of the post in order that people see it first.
Get personal with your post. Tell a story about yourself, or how your product helped or inspired another person.
Ask visitors to tag others. Asking people 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 an individual on the plight of animals around the globe.
Remember with regards to using Instagram posts to get followers, it’s all about being authentic. Avoid questions in every single post or tell a personal story that isn’t genuine.
Go Local
One of the best methods to build your Instagram followers is to become familiar with your neighbours!
Whether you’re creating Instagram ads or desire to promote your event in a particular area, you can see what’s happening near you by going to the search page and clicking on the Places tab.
Type in the location 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 what you see. koupit instagram followers Hopefully, this is the start of an organic interaction.
For example, if you offer life coaching services, you could type in your location followed by “entrepreneurs.” Local entrepreneurs could be looking for more work and life balance or help with life goals or career challenges.
Similarly, assuming you have a physical location that people have checked into on Instagram, touch upon those posters’ pictures to be sure they’re alert to your Instagram presence, and follow them.
These are some of the best ways to build Instagram followers the correct 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 with entrepreneurs who struggle with getting the insufficient knowledge, skill and support needed to create their web business presence.