We all know the importance of social media today. Whether you are a business or a brand there are a multitude of reasons for you to keep up with your social media accounts. But if you are starting from scratch it can be a daunting task. This article will give you the tips and tricks you need to know to boost your social media efforts on Instagram and have bigger success with your Instagram presence.
Plan Your Content
Starting off, you need to plan your content and choose your niche. In many cases it’s straightforward. If you are a sushi restaurant it would make sense to post high quality sushi photos. Then people who love sushi might want to follow you. Or if you are a high adventure camping brand you should post beautiful landscape photos and shots of your equipment in stunning destinations. Think about your ideal followers and what type of content to post that they will like. To maximize your conversion from viewers to followers try to make your content entertaining or educational. If your viewers crack a smile or learn something from one of your posts they are more likely to stick around and become a fan.
There are two main things you need to think about when planning your content. First, who is the audience you want to attract and what appeals to them visually. And second, what type of original photos and videos are you able to create consistently. Because in a few weeks or a few months you’ll have used all your good content and need more, make sure you can create new content easily and consistently.
When you create your account and add your first photo remember to add more than one initial post to your profile. For Instagram I recommend you add at least 9 posts initially when you first create the account. This will give any early viewers a better idea of your content so they can decide to follow you easier. If you only have one or two posts people are much less likely to follow you or stay on your page. When there is nothing to see they won’t stay. Start with at least 9 photos or videos to give yourself the best chance for growth early on.
Engage Your Community
The most important tactic to get awareness and earn followers is to engage with other people in your community. That means taking the time to search for people relevant to you. Look through their profiles, and like and comment on their posts. For best results when engaging with your community make sure to leave thoughtful comments. Then will be people more likely to take the time to respond or visit your page. One tool you can use to help automate your posting is Buffer. A platform that works for Instagram and can save you a lot of time when planning your posts. It will also help you optimize what times are best for posting.
Another tactic when you’re just starting off is to boost your numbers so that you appear to be more established. You will learn when your profile reaches a certain size you will start to grow organically, because your account has attention and followers other people see that as a sign that they should also be interested in and follow your page. Services like Vibbi allow you to boost your account in many ways for a very low cost. Having a good baseline will give you a better opportunity for growth with your social media.
Stay Consistent
The hardest part of managing your social media is to keep it consistent. That’s why it’s so important to set achievable goals. Specifically with posting frequency, make sure not to overextend yourself by trying to post three times a day and then suddenly dropping down to once a week. Sticking to a consistent posting schedule will retain the most followers. That goes for engaging with your community too, make sure to respond to all your comments and continue to engage with new people who are not following you yet.
Practice and remember these rules and you will be successful with your Instagram growth. The real key is consistency, make sure to keep your content and posting frequency consistent. Which means plan your posting schedule around a sustainable content creation plan, you don’t want to run out of content to post! And always engage with your community, especially your current followers. If you take care of them, they will take care of you.
