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Some Instagram tips

by Ignacio Jose Muruaga
6 replies
Ive been working on my Instagram strategy for a while now, Instagram is becoming quite a big ecosystem and every marketer should really consider it for their strategy. In fact, Ive just read a study that claimed Instagram is on its way to be bigger than Twitter, quite a huge thing.

I only had 200 followers when I started to take Instagram seriously, now Im about to get to 1000, and I believe I still have a long way to go there, I wont stop until im at least at 10k followers.

Here are some interesting tips Ive been using in my Instagram approach, I hope you find them useful:
  • Cross-promote to Gain Followers
If you have a blog or are on Twitter, Facebook, or Snapchat, you will want to broadcast and amplify the fact that you're also on Instagram.

For example, take a screenshot of your Instagram account and share it on Facebook along with a link to your Instagram page. Or simply share your Instagram username in the post and ask your followers to follow you.
  • Add Emojis to Boost Discoverability
Emojis are the universal language on Instagram. In fact, Instagram reports that nearly 50% of all captions and comments on Instagram now have an emoji or two.
Because emojis are searchable on Instagram as both a hashtag or in your user name, people can find you based on which emoji you use.

Create a Photo Theme to Reinforce Familiarity
Instagram is akin to a digital magazine, so curate content that shares a similar theme or vibe. For example, crop all of your images the same way, post pictures of the same subject matter, or use the same filter on all of your photos.

Add Hashtags to Gain Traction
The right hashtags can expose your images to a large targeted audience. You can add up to 30 hashtags, and interactions are highest on Instagram posts with 11+ hashtags.

Looking for supplemental hashtags? You can use Hashtagify to find hashtags that are relevant and related to your business. Simply type in a major hashtag from an already-popular post and see which of the resulting related hashtags you can add to your post to bring in new traffic.

Use Audience Preferences to Inform Your Content Strategy
It's important to go back through your photos periodically to see which posts got the most likes and comments. This helps you serve up more of what your followers are interested in and weed out the types of posts that dont perform well.

What other tactics have you been using in your Instagram strategy? How big are the accounts you run?

I would really love if we could exchange tips and tactics, im sure many of you have a lot of ideas and experiences that you can share.
#instagram #tips
  • Profile picture of the author mattsuth
    That's a great thread, thanks for sharing Ignacio. I love how generous everyone is with their knowledge in this place!
    I didn't know that Emojis were searchable by hashtag so that's really interesting, thanks for the tip. You're right that they definitely do make copy more appealing and it is a universal language so that's a good point.
    I have a few tips that you might find useful:


    1) Post regularly.
    If you post only once every so often, people won't get used to your presence. Making a conscious effort to post once or twice a day, or once a twice a week will help build your relationship with your followers and help you gain new ones. It's important to be consistent when you're building up followers. If posting is the thing that always gets pushed to the bottom of the list then make a content calendar and make sure you stick to it.


    2) Interact with other people.
    This doesn't just extend to influencers in your niche, but all the people who comment on your posts and send you direct messages. Always write back and use their @name so they get the notification that you've responded. Making friends in social media is like making friends face to face and you have to talk back to people and put effort into building relationships otherwise people will just go elsewhere. I also message any new followers just a generic direct message to say thanks for following and we look forward to interacting with them and they hope they find my content useful.


    3) Stay on brand.
    So many people just post random content which isn't necessarily related to the brand. It's really important that you have a logo on all your pictures and use the same font and your messaging is consistent. If you're a family company who suddenly starts putting sweary posts throughout your page you'll confuse your audience and cause them to unfollow you.


    4) Put out really good content!
    This is something that is often overlooked while you're trying to get everything else right (it's a minefield, it really is!) but content is king. It needs to be engaging, informative, funny and related to your product which means that you'll have to post many times to get a good balance.


    5) Use video.
    Instagram now has a video facility and also Instagram Stories where you can upload live video for your followers to see, it's good to have a mix of content mediums to show your audience so they don't get bored.


    6) Don't buy followers.
    Building up an Instagram following is slow going but if you're consistent and stick to a plan, it will work slowly but surely. If you give in ad buy followers you put your existing followers at risk of being spammed and you just end up with people on your page who aren't' interested in your product or any of your content. If you have hundreds of thousands of followers but only a couple of likes and comments on each post, that's frowned upon in the industry. Your post to interaction ratio needs to be really high.


    Just a few tips that I've picked up along the way and I hope they help you!
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  • Profile picture of the author tonic112
    didn't you try to use some automation bot? like instagress or noworriesbot for instance.
    I tried and it worked for me.
    All else applies - good content, emojis etc. These bots just attract people to have a look. If content is bad, they will not follow.
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    • Profile picture of the author KosenIvra
      Originally Posted by tonic112 View Post

      didn't you try to use some automation bot? like instagress or noworriesbot for instance.
      I tried and it worked for me.
      All else applies - good content, emojis etc. These bots just attract people to have a look. If content is bad, they will not follow.
      Have you really been getting some good results from automation bots? Ive been thinking to use them for a while now, but im not quite sure they work, it kind of sounds like buying followers to me, just something that can bring you followers but not neccesarely good and real followers.

      Could you show us some of the results you got with these bots? It would be great if you do so, so we can see them working and the kind of results they bring.

      It would also be great if you could share some information on the bots you are using, their features and costs.
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  • Profile picture of the author HenryWNeville
    The following tips will help you out for easily marketing on Instagram:
    Make proper use of hashtags.
    Make your followers famous in order to gain their attention.
    Show your products and services authentically.
    Use Instagram contests for boosting the engagement of people towards your website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Junaid khawaja
    OP, these are some nice suggestion. Just want to add a recent trend I have been noticing.

    Long captions

    It's like a short blog post. A picture followed by longer-than-usual story that relates with the message depicted in the photo.
    This sky rocket engagement and makes your brand more recognizable.

    Thanks
    -J
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    I am conducting 5 FREE copy consultations till New Year...Jump onto my bandwagon while you still can..

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  • Profile picture of the author prakashmalhotra
    Instagram is one of the best social networking sites that helps to share interesting images to let others drag towards it to know what they feel after viewing it. This platform helps to connect with the people who loves to share their pics or the images they click somewhere while traveling. Now, some of the businesses also using Instagram to promote their products by presenting it in a different manner. This helps to build a huge customer base for their business within a limited time.
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