6 tips for a successful Instagram
Updated: 4 days ago
Author: Monika Zeminová
Date of Publication: 28/10/2022
One of the social networks with the quickest growth is Instagram. Compared to
Facebook, it works a little differently, focusing on
visuals and simplicity. With more than 1 billion people already active on the social network, companies love it as a marketing tool.
But why are companies so fond of it? The features and tools Instagram offers make it easy to grab the attention of your content and reach your future customers. At the same time, you can track all the necessary metrics related to your stories or promoted posts in real time. But to ensure your profile is gaining new fans, it's a good idea to follow a few rules that will make your profile successful.
Concept
The concept of a feed, or rather your wall, is one of the most important requirements for increasing followers organically. Users will come on their own, but if you can't attract them at first glance, they will leave without any interaction. So, here are two basic pieces of advice:
The first is the way the feed will look at a glance. You can focus only on certain colors or use only selected filters. However, the feed should reflect elements and colors from your website or e-store.
The second one is the grid and how the posts will stack up. This can be alternating different colors into formulas to create a cohesive element.
Planning, continuity, analytics
Just as you analyze your e-commerce store and its traffic, you need to analyze your Instagram. In the analytics that come with every business profile, you'll get a lot of information. For example, when your followers are most active and when to schedule your posts for publication. This is because just like Facebook posts, interactions and follower likes are important for Instagram. If you're getting the most interactions in the evening, it's inappropriate to publish posts in the morning. At the same time, you'll also find out which posts are interesting to your followers and which ones bring the best results. You'll be able to focus on the right things this way. Another important data point is the traffic and overall views of your posts.
Before you start publishing your first posts, plan ahead for some time. In order to increase your followers organically, you need to keep your posts published regularly. A proven method is telling a story that gives your followers an excuse to follow you. Also, don't forget to have a long-term plan with different events coming up and news.
Content and Stories
Yes, content is the king and that's true on Instagram too. There's no point in publishing posts without an idea, they have to be really interesting and entertaining for your followers.
Stories are also very popular and disappear in 24 hours. You can project all the happenings of your company or e-shop into them. What’s more, you can feature individual products, brands, events or campaigns, plus you can keep them on your profile with Stories highlights. With this feature, you can sort Stories into groups or archives based on their purpose or appearance. As a result, this keeps everything on your profile nicely sorted. If you collaborate with someone, Stories highlights will be a great place to promote them.
Hashtags
Hashtags are intrinsic to Instagram. Right after planning your concept, analyze the hashtags that belong to your posts or industry. Also see what hashtags your competitors are using and what hashtags your followers are using. At the same time, this will give you insight into what you should be focusing on.
Overall, hashtags can be divided into several categories:
● Image description (#mango #avocado)
● General names and categories (#food #vegetables #foodbloggers)
● Brand and brands (#adidas #nike)
● Places and locations (#prague #adidasstore)
Always try to use a mix of them but don't overdo it with the number of hashtags.
Organic traffic
Inform about your Instagram profile. Putting a link to your e-shop, to your Facebook, to your emails is a necessary foundation to be able to attract new followers. But of course, this alone is not enough.
For Instagram itself, create a separate page on your website or e-shop with all the information that will encourage users to follow you. For example, do you have a brand hashtag? Let us know about it! Do you have a nice profile? Post a sample feed. Is the profile special? Write it down!
Another proven way to gain new followers includes referrals from other Instagram users, especially influencers who trust a lot of people.
Functions
Don't forget to take advantage of the new features that Instagram is constantly adding. Some of the newest ones include IG TV. Compared to Stories, the video time can be up to 60 minutes and mobile phones are fully sufficient for its creation.
Filters are an integral part of Instagram. They were the first and only feature Instagram had in the beginning. They can get better your photo so much that you don't need additional post-production and the resulting photo looks great. Another well-established feature is definitely the live streaming that the user sees right at the beginning of Stories. The follower gets a notification that you're currently broadcasting, which is a great chance to get free visibility.
Be active, give a like, comment and tag. People read the comments and get really curious. When your great feed appeals to them at first glance, they'll be more interested in you. Without doubt, it's one of the cheapest and best ways to get new followers and success.