With over one billion users, Instagram is the most used social media app. Marketers around the world have recognized the benefits Instagram marketing can bring and is now the focal point of every marketing strategy. Instagram can help you promote and grow your business in no time by using the right tools.
Read below as we share some of the most effective strategies you can use to increase your engagement and grow your audience on Instagram.
Focus on organic growth
During the initial phases of your Instagram marketing strategy, you might feel tempted to buy Instagram followers. However, this might hinder your progress and impede you on the path to success.
To grow your Instagram following the right way, you need to focus on organic growth. Achieving organic growth is easier said than done, but with regular posts and quality content, you can eventually achieve it.
If you are not a content-creating specialist, you can always hire content creators that can help you with your social media marketing.
Post regularly
Instagram marketing is all about consistency. For that reason, it is important to ensure that your account doesn’t sit idle and your feed is empty. People are more likely to follow you if you post valuable content regularly.
Although there are no set times when you should post on Instagram, it is recommended that you post at least once a day to keep the audience engaged. On weekends, you can post twice since everyone is likely checking their feed more often.
You should also consider what is the best time to post different types of content. Find out what works better at night and what works during the day, so you can decide what is the best time to post your content.
Use the correct hashtags
To find the best hashtags for your content, you will need to do some research. You want them to be relevant as well as unique, so you can stand out and appear on popular pages.
Instagram is very liberal when it comes to hashtags. With the freedom to use 30 hashtags per post, it might feel tempting to capitalize on that. However, a post with many hashtags can overwhelm your readers, so it’s best to play it safe and stick to two to three hashtags per post.
To inspire yourself, you can take a look at what the competition is doing. Different brands employ different tactics. You can learn a lot from successful businesses but you can also learn from failing ones as you will find out what works and what doesn’t.
Conduct giveaways
Giveaways and contests are a great way to increase your social media engagement. You can host giveaways by inviting your followers to like or share your post, tag friends, or follow you by offering a prize.
Giveaway posts are the fourth most popular social media type of content on Instagram. Research has shown that giveaways with prizes have better engagement than regular posts.
Get to know your community
You should use Instagram to communicate with your audience on a personal level. This can be done by inducing an emotional response to the content that you share.
Many consumers today prefer to buy from small businesses. They often decide which business to buy based on their emotions. This is the main reason why invoking emotions can help build long-lasting relationships. No matter what content you decide to publish, it is important to be authentic and valuable to your Instagram followers.
Furthermore, if you want to establish a meaningful relationship with your followers, you can treat your social media as customer service. Rather than using emails or your website to send lengthy messages back and forth, you can utilize social media’s speed to provide impeccable service to your customers and followers.
Instagram shopping
Online shopping is a great way to grow your store. Instagram shopping is gaining significant popularity and some businesses consider it the best way to sell products.
To set up an Instagram store, you simply need to change your account to a business account.
Final thoughts
There are many ways to increase your Instagram audience. However, not all methods work. The methods we outlined in this post will likely help you achieve Instagram marketing success and drive more sales. Focus on organic growth, posting regularly, and getting to know your community if you want to succeed on this social media platform.