A Few Simple Steps on How To Build Your Instagram Following

Last year, I made a commitment to myself to work on my Instagram account. I have always been a Facebook kind of girl, but today, I find Facebook cluttered and a little overwhelming with the number of unwelcome posts, videos, and adverts that appear constantly in my newsfeed. Instagram, on the other hand, I find inspiring and filled with content that I want to view. I wonder how many of our customers feel the same way?


Like any social network out there, there are right ways to use it, wrong ways to use it, and clever ways to use it.

Let's begin with hashtags.

I have written about hashtags before, but this time I would like to be a little more specific. Using hashtags is one thing. Using the right tags is a completely different thing. 

If you want to tag your photos properly, you'll need to find and use the most relevant hashtags. This means doing the appropriate research to make sure you're using hashtags that not only describe what you do but are also being searched for on Instagram. So how do you do this?

Have you heard of Webstagram? Not only does it show you the most popular Instagram hashtags, but it also offers a free search tool that allows you to find all the top hashtags related to your post. 

There is also another free site called All Hashtag. It has a "hashtag generator." Be selective with your hashtags. Using the top-rated hashtags might mean that your posts get lost and never seen. 

The important thing is to build your own hashtag list. There are two types of hashtags: BRANDED and COMMUNITY.

Branded, is specific to your company - your company name, for example. It's amazing how many people don't hashtag their own company name, including me! 

Community, like branded hashtags, can connect like-minded users around a specific subject. But, unlike branded hashtags, community hashtags don’t need to be directly related to a business. They can be broader and much less focused. You might decide to do a #happymonday or #TBT (throw-back-Thursday) campaign. This is a great way to engage with a wider community.

A slightly sneaky but great way to discover new and trending hashtags is to check out the hashtags that your competitors and industry influencers use.

Using the right filters.

"Instagram filters can actually make or break your post. By choosing the perfect filter, and your picture can have huge success on Instagram. Choose the wrong filter, and your once beautiful photo with so much potential becomes a flop." - Quote by Olga Rado of Iconosquare

Listed below are the top ten filters according to Olga Rado's blog - The 10 Most Used Instagram Filters. Check out her full blog post for much more information on this fascinating subject! 

1. Normal - no filter
2. Clarendon 
3. Juno
4. Ludwig
5. Lark
6. Gingham
7. Lo-fi
8. Aden
9. Valencia
10. X-Pro II

Post on Instagram at the right times

Best Times to Post on Social Media: 2018 Industry Research by Alex York is a fabulous article from Sprout Social that gives in-depth details for posting best practices on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Alex suggests that:

• The best time to post on Instagram is Wednesday at 3 p.m., Thursday at 5 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 to 4 p.m., and Friday at 5 a.m.
• Thursday is the best day to post to Instagram.
• The safest times to post to Instagram are Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Sunday is the least engaging day for Instagram.

You could sign up to ICONOSQUARES (a paid for service), which is a leading analytics and tools to help you to grow your business on Instagram and Facebook. Or Hootsuite, which also offers comparable services plus the ability to manage multiple social media networks from one place. If this is something that you are interested in, I would recommend doing a comparison between the two to see which one works better for you - click HERE

You can also use Instagram Analytics, which is a free service for Instagram Business accounts.

Poach your competitor's followers on Instagram

This might not seem to be the right thing to do, but I assure you that it is very normal in the social media world. It's simple — follow your competitor's followers. To make an impact, you will need to engage with them. Like a photo that they post or, even better, make a comment on their photo. Hopefully, they will start to follow you back! 

There are many other things that you can do to build your Instagram following. Check out this fantastic Shopify Blog - How to Get More Followers on Instagram: 13 Reliable Ways to Grow Your Audience by Richard Lazazzera  Instagram Marketing - I have used many examples from Richard's post.

I really enjoyed researching and writing this blog post. I have read so many blogs and looked at many different sites and services that can really help you to develop your Instagram marketing success. 

For further reaching, check out some previous blog posts I wrote on the benefits of running a successful Instagram campaign.

Instagram — Are You Using It To Grow Your Balloon Business?

Free Photo Editing Apps That Make Your Snaps Instagram Worthy

The Power of the #Hashtag

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com

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