10 Proven Techniques To Get Active Instagram Followers
While it is common for a lot of people to use social media, especially Instagram, to share their precious moments with their family and friends, some use Instagram for business and brand awareness. Many entrepreneurs, professionals, and influencers are putting a lot of time and effort into taking advantage of Instagram’s potential in reaching a lot of people and hoping to convert them to become active Instagram followers.
However, reaching out to over 200 million active monthly members is easier said than being done. Every digital marketing agencies and influencers alike need to learn the basics, best practices, and strategies for them to get ahead of their competitors and established a community of active Instagram followers.
According to the Forrester study, Instagram is king when it comes to social media engagement beating Facebook in the number one spot. Instagram engagement rates are 50 times higher than Facebook and other social media platforms.
If you are a startup or new to Instagram marketing, and you are aiming to get lots of active Instagram followers, then follow these ten proven techniques;
#1 Create a Clear Instagram Strategy
Creating a social media strategy is essential, but on Instagram, your plan needs to be clear and precise. Also, as the saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Without a clear plan, it only leads to wasted resources and low ROI (return on investment).
To gain active Instagram followers, you need to focus on how you will be able to get people’s attention to increase brand awareness. How your Instagram post makes them visit your website, check out your products or services, keep them as repeat customers and convince them to share your products or services to others as well. In other words, your Instagram strategy should be business and goal-oriented and avoid inconsistency when posting content as it hurts your marketing strategies.
#2 Identify Your Target Followers
Contrary to the belief of many, converting all types of people to become active Instagram followers won’t help your brand that much. It is essential to narrow down your target audience where your brand would be able to cater to. Select a specific age bracket, correct geolocations, gender, and interest. If you were able to identify your target audience, you would be able to craft custom content that can catch their attention and build trust compared to creating generic content that fits all audiences. Moreover, with this strategy, you can assure that all your active Instagram followers really love and want your brand.
#3 Create a Great Profile
What your Instagram profile will look like defines your brand. A well-crafted Instagram profile will most-likely gets more views, and more views mean higher chances of getting active Instagram followers.
Most Instagram users are basing their decision on whether they will trust a brand or not depending on the brand’s profile. Your profile should be convincing enough to hit the follow button. If you have a profile that is unclear, incomplete, or unappealing, then it will be difficult for you to establish a community of active Instagram followers.
To build a great profile, start by creating a screen name that is similar to all of your social media channels. In this way, you’ll make it easier for your followers to find you. Moreover, include also at least 30 character descriptions optimized by a keyword related to your niche so your IG page will be easier to find in Instagram search results. Finally, put at least 160 characters that highlight your brand identity and convince new visitors why they should follow you.
#4 Post Engaging Contents
Now that you have created a clear strategy, a target audience, and a great profile, it’s time to craft engaging content. When you post great content, people will most likely like, comment on, and share your posts. This will also activate the so-called “Instagram algorithm boost” that helps your brand to get more reach and new followers.
To make sure your Instagram post is sharable-worthy, it must get your audience’s interest. Your post must be informative, engaging, and at the same time, entertaining. In addition, your content visuals must be compelling, and your captions are eye-catching.
When you already have a community of active Instagram followers, it is essential to provide them with engaging and relevant content consistently. Remember that it is the very reason why they followed you in the first place. Posting engaging content will always give your followers something great to interact with. According to Tailwind, posting daily content can grow your Instagram followers up to four times faster compared to posting less than once a week.
Moreover, timing is essential. You need to analyze what is the best time to post on your Instagram based on your target audience. You can use social media tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule and publish a post on your Instagram account.
#5 Take Advantage of Other Social Media Platforms
While Instagram alone can reach many people to create brand awareness, using other social media platforms can also be a huge help in increasing your reach even further. It makes your Instagram profile easily discoverable.
If you have established a community on other social media channels like Facebook, then you can also direct them to your Instagram account to follow you. You can always share a link to your Instagram profile, but make sure to give your existing social followers an excellent reason to check it out.
#6 Only Use Relevant Hashtags
Another way of making your Instagram posts and stories discoverable is by using Hashtags. By using relevant Hashtags, people searching for content that is related to your brand will easily find your brand in the search list, and there is a high chance that these users will visit your profile and follow you. However, make sure that you are only using Hashtags that are popular and related to your brand.
It is also recommended to create your own hashtags to motivate your audience to share and tag you. However, you should also be careful in using too many hashtags since it can be distracting for your audience and will make your post looks spammy. Moreover, don’t forget to place hashtags on your stories to maximize your chances of reaching active Instagram followers.
#7 Don’t Forget to Tag Location
If there’s a location element in your post or story, then don’t forget to add a location tag. With this, people can easily find your content on Instagram, while others can easily relate. If your business or brand has a physical location, make sure to tag it, and encourage your active Instagram followers to do the same.
Your brand will be exposed even more to potential followers who can click on that location and see all the photos and stories posted from your business store or office. If you are having an event like a new product launch, tagging your location can help you easily connect with your guests, and expose your account to a highly targeted group of new potential active Instagram followers.
#8 Follow High Profile Influencers
Depending on how well crafted your Instagram profile is, there is a good chance that influencers will check out your feed when you follow them on Instagram. And if you follow our tips mentioned above when creating engaging content that’s relevant to their interests, then they’re likely to follow you in return.
Social listening is an excellent tool for finding conversations from high profile influencers that are relevant to your brand. However, it is also advisable that you shouldn’t follow too many influencers and only pick the right ones.
#9 Connect with Existing Instagram Communities
Like any other social media channel, Instagram also allows its users to create a community that is based on a specific brand. If you find communities that are highly relevant to your brand’s niche, then you might want to engage with those communities. However, avoid doing generic engagement like commenting, “Nice post!” since it will only make you look like a bot.
Get involved by commenting genuinely, liking posts that truly catch your attention, and share highly valuable content. If someone notices your likes and comments, they will most likely check out your profile to return and follow you. Again, when doing more Instagram engagements, it signals the Instagram algorithm, thus increasing your chance of making it to the Explore tab.
#10 Tag Families and Friends
Not only that, you tag your loved ones and friends, but also ask your active Instagram followers to do the same as well. Through this, it can help expose your Instagram account to a more extensive network. However, as mentioned earlier, make sure that you have the most compelling or engaging content for this strategy to succeed. Because in that way, your followers would feel like they’re doing their friends a favor by tagging them.
Conclusion
While there are more techniques and strategies that we haven’t mentioned, these ten methods mentioned above are the most useful. Consider using them whenever you plan to increase your brand awareness and get more active Instagram followers.
