For your brand and an online business to build, Instagram is a highly-targeted and visual marketing channel for a loyal audience that grows with your business.
Every day, there are 500+ million active users on Instagram. And from that, about 80% of Instagram accounts follow at least one brand or business account. So it’s only logical that a businessman wants to make money from their Instagram accounts.
And for that, you first need to build a strong community of followers. You need more likes, comments, and views on your posts, and you need to get your audience engaged. So here are six little steps to grow your Instagram account from zero to a million:
1. Post Creative Content:
Instagram is all about great visuals. So, if your content is excellent, users will like and comment on your posts, so there is no substitute for creative content.
There are various kinds of content that you can create on the platform. These types include photos, Instagram Stories, video posts, and even IGTV videos. So have vivid colors and frame your pictures nicely.
You could create stories around your products and promote them instead of just posting them.
- The average engagement for videos is rising faster than that for images.
- You will appear right at the Stories feed when you go live on Instagram.
- More than 50% of brands believe that stories have been “Slightly effective” or “Very effective” as a part of their social media strategy.
2. Have a thoughtful Instagram strategy:
You must have a straightforward strategy and plan to use any social network effectively. Getting followers needs to be part of your primary plan that connects to your social marketing objectives and business plan. Getting Instagram followers is a great goal to start with anything online. But having only followers won’t give you a successful Instagram account.
The reasons you want to increase your followers‘ count is to:
- Increase brand awareness
- Drive traffic to your website
- Boost product sales
Stay focused on these business-oriented goals, and these will help you keep your Instagram account consistent. It will hold a compelling brand story that interests new profile visitors and helps build a loyal following.
3. Use the Right Hashtags:
If you want to get seen by the right audience, it’s essential to use the right and suitable hashtags. You should try to go for trending hashtags relevant to your upcoming content like, if you want to create posts and content about an event or festival, search for hashtags relevant to it. The primary use of hashtags is to reach out to a suitable audience that isn’t following you. During those events, every user is browsing for posts related to the trending hashtags. So, you have an excellent opportunity to reach out to the maximum audience.
Also, check out the search volume before using a hashtag. If the selected hashtags have search volumes that go into the millions, you risk getting lost in lots of posts. Also, examine and try to use those hashtags that are giving your posts more engagement.
4. Create an attractive bio and profile:
About two-third of Instagram business account visits are from new visitors. But only if your bio and profile convince them to click the follow button those new visitors are all potential new free Instagram followers. If your Instagram profile is incomplete, unclear, or unappealing, they won’t hit the follow button.
In addition to the username and name fields, your profile includes your website and your bio, which are most important.
Write most of the 150 characters in your bio to carry your brand status and show new visitors why they should follow you. As we know, the first impression is the last; indeed, it applies in this case.
5. Create a consistent brand narrative and aesthetic feed:
Your posts and feed should be easily attractive at a look. See your Instagram grid as one unit. You can use Instagram Stories to share content that doesn’t fit your main feed’s appearance.
Maybe you want to meet curiosity by showing off how your brand is made. Or share an employee’s perspective to refine your brand. You could try showcasing your customers’ lifestyle or achievements if you’re going to position your brand in an aspirational way.
It’s essential to maintain a consistent brand personality and look no matter what you want to achieve.
6. Collaborate with Influencers:
You should get the right social media influencers to endorse your brand if you want to grow your Instagram account quickly. Reach out to influencers who have a massive fan following in your niche. You will reach all of their followers at once if you can get featured on their page.
Get Instagram influencers to try out your products and encourage them to post about them. Getting tagged in their posts can work miracles for you. Plus, you could also give them promo codes or discount coupons to feature in their caption. With this help, influencers can direct their followers to your website or Instagram account.
You can reach out to a maximum audience even if your Instagram account doesn’t have many following. Instagram influencers can connect you with their loyal fanbase.
7. Post Content at the Optimal Time:
Posting your content on Instagram at various times during the day can impact your engagement levels with your followers. Following a schedule will help you build a consistent experience for your followers and keep them in your brand’s know.
Schedule your Instagram posts to accommodate the optimal timings recommended. Your entire followers’ team can see events and plans more efficiently by scheduling content in advance. It’s always wise to build out content in advance, and with various Instagram scheduling tools, you can maintain a consistent flow of content and reach your audience at the same time.
The various studies you can post on Thursdays, 5 am to 11 am, and 3 pm to 4 pm are suitable timings to post content on your Instagram account. The recommended posting time was from 2 to 3 pm on Wednesdays, while on Friday, it was at 5 am.
8. Advertise on Instagram:
Advertisements on Instagram don’t look much different from usual Instagram posts. So your followers won’t feel like you are barraging them with promotions.
You can choose from four basic advertising formats: video ads, photo ads, slideshow ads, and carousel ads.
Photo and video ads are exactly like your regular Instagram posts. The only difference is the addition of the “Sponsored” label mentioned above the Instagram post.
Still, make sure that you’re not just asking for a follow. Instead, it would be best to promote unique content on your Instagram, so users have a reason to follow you there.
Luckily, you have an excellent chance to build followers by creative content with Instagram adding lots of new content and video features like IGTV, Stories, and Reels.
Final Words
Instagram is an excellent place for marketers. It would be best to have a straight plan to grow your Instagram account and get more followers. As just setting up a business account and posting content isn’t enough.
It’s crucial to post creative content with the right hashtags consistently. This way, you can get more engagement. Also, organize contests and collaborate with influencers for your followers to increase engagement.
Increasing your Instagram reach will require a lot of patience and effort. Results will take time, but in the meantime, keep up the excellent work consistently.
