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BEST STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM

Heidi McIvor-Allen - Owner of McIvor Marketing LLC

BY HEIDI MCIVOR ALLEN

Everyone wants to grow their followers on Instagram and other social media platforms, but it is easier said than done. If you want to drive more traffic to your website, expand your brand, and grow your presence in the community, increasing your social media presence is the way to go. Here are some of the best strategies recommended by digital marketing companies for increasing your followers on Instagram.

“When you change one thing, you have the ability to change EVERYTHING.”

WRITE A COMPELLING BIO

Apart from the basics like adding your contact details and website link, you should also tell your brand’s story in an engaging way. Simply saying what kind of business you have won’t make you stand out. You need to give people a reason to connect with your brand and follow you.
Example of a good Instagram bio

DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A UNIQUE INSTAGRAM BRAND PERSONALITY

Maintain consistency in colors, types of posts, tone of voice, etc. as these are what determine your brand’s personality. And, it should be such that if anyone sees your post, they should immediately associate it with your brand.

OPTIMISE YOUR INSTAGRAM CAPTIONS

There’s a lot that you can do with your Instagram captions like tag people, ask questions, start conversations, etc. The more you encourage your audience to comment, the more likely it is that they will invite their friends to join in on the discussion. You can also provide discounts or offers and ask your followers to tag their friends and promote that offer. Also, remember to tell the story behind the picture or video that you’re sharing as that will get more engagement.

PARTICIPATE IN POPULAR CONVERSATION

If there’s a discussion started by someone in your niche that people are taking an interest in, it would be good for you to comment and join in. Who knows? Some people might be impressed and decide to check out your profile and follow you.

LEVERAGE INFLUENCERS ON INSTAGRAM

You can leverage influencers to get access to their loyal followers and convert them into your own followers. The one important thing to keep in mind is that the influencers should be from your niche and relevant to your brand. As long as those criteria are met, you’re good to go as influencer marketing is a sure-shot way of getting more Instagram followers.

RUN AN INSTAGRAM CONTEST

All you need to do is run a contest and ask people to follow you and tag their friends to participate. And, write your caption in a way that encourages people to tag only relevant people who might be genuinely interested in your brand.
Example of an Instagram contest

RUN INSTAGRAM ADS

Unlike your posts and Stories, which are visible only to your current audience, Instagram ads are shown to a much broader, relevant audience. You can reach a large number of people of a certain demographic or target segment by investing in ads. Here at McIvor Marketing we have the tools and resources to run multiple campaigns for your business and measure the results to ensure success. You can’t manage what you don’t measure!

INSTAGRAM REELS

With Instagram choosing to put Instagram Reels at the forefront of Instagram, there is a significant push to have users browse and share Reels more often in 2021. Sharing your Reel to both your feed and the Explore Page is an incredible way to increase your reach way beyond your followers — and possibly go viral doing so!

INSTAGRAM SEO FRIENDLY CONTENT

  • Use Alternative Text With Keywords
  • Descriptive Instagram Captions
  • Treat Hashtags Like Keywords
  • Drive Organic Content

CREATE AN IGTV SERIES

Think about what longer-form video your audience would be interested in and begin creating content around that! Plus, video content tends to get more traction on your feed — more engagement and eyes on your videos could result in more followers.

PROMOTE INSTAGRAM ON OTHER PLATFORMS

Cross-promotion allows you to target a wider audience. Instagram makes it easy to post the same content directly to Facebook. You can also post the same content on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google My Business linking back to the Instagram post or to your website to further your follower base.

WRITE LONGER INSTAGRAM CAPTIONS

Instagram used to be all about the visuals — a cohesive aesthetic, high-quality photography, and on-brand images were a must. But now, audiences are looking to learn more about you, your brand, and your mission. When you share more with your audience through your Instagram posts, you build a stronger and larger community. And since Instagram is allowing users to search for specific keywords like “healthy recipes” and “gold jewelry” for example, including keywords in your longer captions may help you get more organic eyes on your content.
Graph of Instagram caption lengths

GO LIVE ON INSTAGRAM

Instagram Live is an entirely unedited video stream for your followers to tune in and engage with — meaning your audience can submit comments and questions in real-time. A ton of brands have hopped on the Instagram Live train, especially with the shift of at-home work in 2020. The content options are endless for Instagram Lives. You can host weekly shows, games and tournaments, online webinars, tutorials, and so much more. And now, you can even showcase your products to help drive sales. ICYMI: Instagram released Instagram Live Shopping — a new way for brands and creators to sell products during an Instagram Live broadcast. This means accounts with access to Instagram Checkout can tag products from their Facebook Shop or catalog, and let their audience shop on the spot.

CREATE A VIRAL INSTAGRAM CHALLENGE OR GAME

Take Bailey Stanworth, PLAY Digital founder, for example. With inspiration from @hunterrae, Bailey kicked off the #BathtubChallenge where she encouraged her followers to dress up, take a selfie in the bathtub, and tag 3 friends. Suddenly, her followers were posting and tagging friends, and the hashtag grew to over 2,000 posts! Another way to increase your following? Be creative and host your very own Instagram game! Bailey cultivated a second highly interactive Instagram moment with her PLAY Pong tournament — an online version of a beer pong tournament. The weekly event, which was hosted on Instagram Live, was in support of the COVID-19 relief fund.
Example of viral Instagram game

CREATE INSTAGRAM MEMES THAT RESONATE WITH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Memes have become one of the major methods of online communication, with a reported 55% of 13-35-year-olds sending them every single week.
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We are so glad you asked! From setups to start-ups to businesses in growth and transformation, McIvor Marketing has services to meet your needs. Not ready to dive into hiring a full-time marketing director? Are you just curious about how your marketing is performing? We can help you set up trackable ways to measure your marketing ROI with a project-based digital audit to help you find out what vendors are performing. We can also help you get your social media advertising portals set up. In addition to that, we also offer training on Google Analytics, Facebook Business Manager, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Canva, as well as how to plan content and brainstorm ideas to help you grow through research.

Our phoenix based digital marketing agency can help with website design & development, logo design, branding items, off-line marketing design and strategy, paid search management, social media ad management, email marketing, display advertising and more! Check out our full list of services and reach out with any questions. 

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Want to Read 5 Marketing Tips for Small Businesses?

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