Instagram — One of the Best Sites for Small Creators to Increase Traffic in 2017
Before we start, I have to make it clear that Ratafire means #RiseofSmallCreators. We aim for helping small creators getting off the ground. Currently, Ratafire is a free to use fan funding site for creators with less than 50k followers but to make fan funding work, growing a fan base is the most crucial part.
We have built many mechanics into Ratafire to increase the possibility for small creators to get more traffic, and on our blog, we will both talk about them and about other trends small creators can use to get more traffic. This is the reason why we are mentioning Instagram, which is another brand in this article. We will only tell you what works. We don’t care about mentioning another brand or not, for all we care is whether small creators can get as much help as it needs.
In our previous article, I have written about why it was hard for small creators to get traffic nowadays. The best small creators can do to increase traffic is to catch a one-time historical trend.
We hope that Ratafire is the trend of this year for you all, so we are asking you to join. The trend this year is Instagram and private messages in general.
Until March 2017 Instagram currently has more than 700 million users, and most importantly the platform still feels young and people talk to each other on it. It could be the fact that Instagram is very deeply associated with the communication buff of the phone and tapped into people’s phone social need elegantly.
The Private Message Route
Remember to follow the private message route in your growth effects in 2017. Emails are still working, of course, if you have a solid email list, you are in luck with your community building. However, for small creators who didn’t have a decent email list yet, the private message route can also go a long way.
Basically, on the sites you wish to grow your audience on, do more private messaging with people who you know will be interested in your creations. You need to be somewhat sure that you are asking people who will be interested. For example, if you are a gamer who are uploading gaming videos, people who are uploading videos on the same game you play can be considered to be “will be interested in your creations”.
This should not be limited to Instagram, but do avoid using on YouTube for hardly anyone check the private messages on YouTube. On YouTube, a better way will be to comment on videos.
How to Get Started on Instagram
In 2017, Instagram is somewhere you need to get onto (also Ratafire :D). On Instagram, you can start by looking for accounts in your niche with more than 70k followers. You can look at what they are posting and figure out something for yourself.
In this case, you either post something like what they are doing or find a unique style. For example some concept artists on Instagram don’t post their main work on their accounts, instead, they will post tiny sketchbooks and make it a style. If you have decided to create a unique style, remember to make it consistent.
After this, you can start by posting 4 images every day and start talking to people. Comment on people’s images, like do some private messages here and there.
You can also look into the influencers in your niche and interact with their most active fans, for there is a high chance that they will follow you as well.
You should also only post when your images get most likes. You can test out every hour of the day and find 4 best hours.
In 2017, Instagram is a place where you can still get to talk to people. So it is a great place to do some one on one talking, for that is something larger accounts and companies can’t do while you may enjoy yourself doing so.
