Whether for your personal brand, a small business, or a national corporation, an Instagram account can be a major part of you or your company’s identity. If you’ve struggled to establish yourself and increase your engagement on Instagram, this post is for you. Even complete beginners can strengthen their presence on Instagram with these tips and tricks.
1. Pay attention to your posts’ performance
This may seem like a given, but you’d be surprised by the number of people who don’t take this simple step. Looking at the data from your recent posts can help you immensely in crafting the future direction of your page. And you don’t need to be a professional statistician to look at the numbers and get a sense of what content is performing best for you.
Instagram’s basic insights (available for free with any business account) provide more than enough information for this basic analysis. Take a look at your engagement numbers, likes, comments, and changes in your following to figure out what types of posts people are responding to best on your page. Then, focus on creating the types of content that people are loving and scale back on the types that aren’t getting such a warm reception. This will help to fine-tune your Instagram marketing strategy and increase your page’s appeal to potential customers.
2. Vary your content
No one wants to see the same picture every week on your page. You are pretty much guaranteed to lose followers if your content becomes too repetitive. You want to keep things fresh and varied as much as possible. This doesn’t have to mean brand-new professional photographs every week. iPhone pictures and minor edits to existing content can help you vary the look on your grid so there isn’t too much repetition. When you’re planning your content calendar, try to mix up the photos you’re posting to include product close-ups, lifestyle photos, flatlays, and more.
You can take it a step further by mixing up the style of your posts as well: switching off between single photos, videos, and carousels. Any variety you can provide to your audience is valuable!
3. Look to your competitors for inspiration
Stay in tune with what other brands or individuals in your industry are doing for their social media marketing. You can see what is working in your niche and take a cue from inspired or creative ideas your competitors are trying out. Just like you want to pay attention to your own posts’ performance, you’ll want to pay attention to performance trends in your industry as a whole. This way, you can stay up to date on the latest trends and make sure you’re not missing out on any opportunities to connect with potential customers.
4. Post more stories
One of the best ways to increase your account’s engagement is also one of the easiest: Just post more stories. Stories tend to bring in higher engagement and more genuine communication with your followers than posts on your grid do. And the beauty of stories is that they can be quick and easy, without much editing or production going into them. Whether it’s a quick poll asking your fans’ opinions, a peek behind the scenes at something new you have in the works, or an opportunity for followers to ask you questions directly, stories can provide a great chance to interact with your followers in an authentic way.
5. Engage with Others and They Will Engage With You
Just as in life, the rule of reciprocity tends to hold true on Instagram as well. By engaging with others on their content, you are increasing the chance they’ll return the favor and engage with your content as well. To bring in new followers, new customers, and new fans, take the time to seek out people in your target demographic and engage with them. A positive interaction can encourage them to visit your page, learn about your brand, and eventually become a loyal fan of yours. Your Instagram presence can grow substantially based on the interactions and engagements you make with others.
With just these 5 tips above, you can take your social media marketing up a notch and help to grow your presence.