Did you know that there are 1 billion active users on Instagram? Undoubtedly, it is the most preferred social-media outlet. Various business owners and bloggers build their brand and community through Instagram. It is a vast base to grow your business, if you follow the right tips and understand how exactly the algorithm works, you too can build up your brand and grow your account.
1. Optimize your Instagram Bio
The first impression is important and your bio is the first thing someone notices when they visit your page. It is important that your bio reflects your brand and niche. Your followers should get a clear idea of what your brand represents as it brings more organic traffic to your page. Instagram provides with an opportunity to link up your website on your account, make the most of it as it will allow users to reach your website easily.
How to write a killer Instagram bio –
- Name your page that connects with your brand. It could be either your name or the name of the business.
- Give an introduction about what you do and what your business is about.
- Don’t hold yourself back from putting in emojis and symbols to make it interesting and fun!
- Include your website link in your bio to encourage more people to interact with your business.
2. Post unique and engaging content
Now, we all know Instagram is a visual platform, so your key to viewer’s attention is unique and attention-grabbing content.
You don’t have to travel the world to get eye-catching pictures (but we all love those), all you need is a little effort in creating high-quality photos that are well edited and curated.
We all struggle with editing our pictures and content, but there are some easy and user-friendly tools you can use to get beautiful content without the hassle.
Tools like – Afterlight, Lightroom, Snapseed and VSCO are some of the best photo editing apps you need to download.
Some of these tools have templates that you can choose from to create a look for your brand that sets you apart from your competition.
3. Be Consistent With Your Social Media Posts
In order to show that you are serious about your business and build the trust of your followers or potential customers, you have to create a posting schedule.
Undoubtedly, it takes time to come up with a schedule but it is vital for your brand.
Now the question is, how can you come up with new content? Here are some things you can do –
- Get to know your followers and what sort of content they would love to see more of.
- Niche down your content so that your audience knows your brand better.
- Make a list of things you can post like a “content bucket list” to always have ideas about what to post.
- Use planning apps like Later or Planoly to plan out your feed and know what to post beforehand.
- A very effective tip is to use a content calendar to plan out your content topics and experiment with different content strategies.
Another important thing to do is, set realistic goals that can be achieved in a set time. There’s no point in burdening yourself with goals that give you stress. Experiment with different strategies and find out what suits you the best.
4. Play with Instagram Reels
Instagram introduced Reels which is a new way to create interactive and fun video content. You can record a short video and add audio, effects and use other innovative tools. By navigating through the Reels tab, you can not only see reels from the accounts you follow but also discover on the global level.
You can use Reels to create content related to your brand and business and give more insight to your audience. You can use Reels to connect with your audience and grow your business.
Whether you want to share and educate people about your business or want to share behind the scenes to be more personal with your followers, Reels is a fun and quick way to do that!
5. Use the right hashtags
How can you get more people to know about your brand? The answer is: Hashtags. When used correctly, hashtags can direct potential traffic to your page and help you grow your brand.
They might seem irrelevant but hashtags are vital in promoting your business on Instagram.
There are various types of hashtags you can use like –
- Product or service hashtags
- Special events hashtags
- Location hashtags
- Niche based hashtags
Research is important as some hashtags have huge search volume while others have almost no search volume and some on the other hand are shadow banned. So, it is important to know whether or not your hashtag is verified by Instagram.
The best hashtag strategy includes diversifying your hashtags. Each hashtag should be set up in a set of 10. You can add in a mix of small, medium, and large hashtags but the focus should be on small hashtags. Avoid using more than 2 large hashtags in order to attract organic traffic.
6. Track your Analytics
Instagram has more than 25 million business profiles and over 200 million Instagram visits at least one of these every day. Therefore, we can say that businesses are finding value in this advertising platform. Even if you aren’t aware of who is viewing your profile and ads, how engaging your posts and stories are, and what sort of content is getting more recognized, then you’re just wasting time.
It is important to track your analytics as it helps you know–
- That you’re targeting the right audience.
- Your frequency of posting.
- About brands that you can have potential partnerships with.
- What type of content is more engaging for the audience.
- What is the optimal time to post.
Instagram provides with a broad range of insights that you can access and compare your growth. Instagram provides you with insights like – impressions, interactions, reach, profile visits, website clicks, email clicks, mentions that helps you understand the algorithm in depth.
7. Host a giveaway
It’s no secret that everyone loves free stuff and it’s an added advantage when it’s from your favourite business owner. A giveaway is not limited to products, it could be a service that you offer that can help people. You can reach out to business owners in your niche and team up with them to host a giveaway for your audience. Hosting a giveaway helps bring a new audience and grow your business.
8. Engage with your followers
Just posting the content alone will not help you increase the audience. It is important that you engage with your followers. Engagement helps to create a positive side for your brand. It lets your audience know that you’re serious about the brand and enables you to have meaningful relationships with your followers.
You can engage with your followers in a lot of ways –
- Comments
- Likes
- Mentions
- Q/A about brand and business
- “Ask me anything” sessions through story
- Polls
- Click-throughs
9. Use Geotags
A geotag is a location tag that can be added to an Instagram post. Geotags helps in increasing engagement. It allows your audience to know where you’re located and helps gain new followers in the same region. It increases your visibility as your post comes up in a specific location.
You can easily add location by tapping on “Add Location” from the new post screen. Instagram automatically provides a list of possible locations near you. You can either select the suggested location or type in any other of your choice.
10. Hop on Trends
When you come up with a content strategy, there are times you don’t know what to post, that is the good time to see what trend is popular in your niche and just give it a go!
How to know what is trending?
Just search through hashtags. Hashtags are a great way to find out what sort of content is trending. Hashtags with a high number of posts are popular.
It is a great way to show your consistency and dedication to your audience. It helps you create a personal connection with them and helps to grow your business. So, don’t shy away and just hop on the latest trend!
We hope that you found these Instagram growth tips helpful to use in growing your audience in 2021.
At The Strategy House, we are experts at helping female entrepreneurs grow their business on Instagram. If you want to know more about how to grow your business on Instagram, contact us!
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