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Published April 24th, 2017 by

Tips and Tricks to Attract New Followers on Instagram

Hosting your business on Instagram should serve the basic purpose of attracting people to it. Unless you have good following on Instagram how you can expect your sales to grow? The platform has literally translated into a hub for business seekers who can gain considerable mileage from it. The powers of social media in making business grow had already been established and Instagram has literally blown the lid off with its enormous abilities of engagement. Staying connected with customers is now a delight – thanks to Instagram that is now the focal point of attraction in the social media. Such is the high impact of Instagram that many people have dubbed it as the King of engagement. With more than 500 million active users, the sobriquet that Instagram has earned seems quite justified.

Numbers are impressive

The statistics of engagement rates on Instagram is also quite startling. Some of the top brands on Instagram enjoy an interaction rate of 2.3% for every follower. What they experience on Facebook is only 0.2 percent and the figure is even dismal on Twitter that records interaction rate per follower at 0.02 percent. It will be wrong to assume that by merely opening an Instagram account, you would be in the league of the big ones.  In order to generate engagement numbers that could be close to the leading brands on Instagram, you need to work diligently to develop new Instagram followers in a methodical manner. Improving and fine tuning your Instagram strategy is the only way to do it, as discussed in this article.

Lay the foundation stone- have a strategy

Your Instagram strategy is like your ambition in life. Not having a strategy in place can make you drift aimlessly and you can get lost in the vast expanse of the social media. The strategy provides the guiding light that would drive the Instagram campaign. What you want to achieve for business by using the platform is spelt out in the strategy that is based on the following.

  • Goal setting – Begin by setting goals for Instagram that have to be aligned to the business goals and strategy of marketing that you have already. From creating brand awareness and driving quality traffic to your website, everything will be covered by it.
  • Learn from competitors – This would need some research as you have to see how your competitors are making use of Instagram. You will know about what kind of content is being served and what is being liked by viewers. This would give an indication about the workability of that type of content for you. You can also gauge the level of following that the content is able to generate and lean about the techniques of engagement.  How much of following you should expect can also be understood by analyzing the trend of Instagram followers of the competitors.
  • Tell a story – What story you will tell is a part of the strategy you make. The visuals have to narrate a story that would reveal its purpose. This would make the audience curious about it and facilitate engagement. Share the inside story of making the products, demonstrate the humane side of your business by showcasing employee welfare and include customers’ achievements too.

Make it more visible

The easier it will be for people to find out your entity on Instagram, the better will be the prospects of increasing the number of followers. Take pro-active measures to show up to people instead of waiting for them to find you. Start following people and comment on their visuals to tell them about your existence. Use relevant hashtags to draw the attention of search engines towards your content. Link your Instagram account with all other online accounts that you may have and even embed the visuals in blogs. The idea is to point out to your Instagram account from every possible direction where the audience treads on the social media.

Develop compelling content

The strength of your content contributes to enhanced following. Make the content interesting and attractive so that viewers are compelled to remain engaged with it. In addition, you have to be consistent in providing content so that the growing expectations of followers can be met. Know when it is the best time to post content and use the most relevant hashtags for captions that would attract new followers. Pay attention to the captions that have considerable powers in driving new followers to your account. Make good use of videos as tutorials, tips and to delve into product details that the audience is likely to lap up.

Become a follower first to get new followers

Identify potential new followers and build relationship with them by following them, sharing their content after liking it and commenting about it. In a way, become a follower first to attract new followers. These actions can result in favors being returned – something that you are looking for. The path of collaboration with other successful businesses on Instagram can help both parties to gain new followers and expand the market.

Contests can drive new followers to you

Organizing contests on Instagram can attract new followers.  Making it mandatory to like, comment and repost any photos and also advise the use of a specific hashtag to enter the contest. This will drive more traffic to your website comprising of new followers. The reach can be expanded further by including user-generated content within the scope of the contest. New followers who were unaware about you on Instagram will be drawn to such content posted by someone they already follow and in turn they will discover you at the end of the tunnel.

There is still more that you can do to attract new followers.  Having a budget for advertising and spending it for advertising on Instagram can draw the attention of new followers. Sponsored ads can put you in the fast track of reaching out to new followers.

Whatever you do need to be reviewed to understand the kind of results you are getting. This would help to identify the weak areas and point to the adjustments in strategy that are necessary to give better results.

trudy-seeger

Trudy Seeger is a freelance writer and has been writing articles for different publications and sites for the past 5 years.

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