Instagram is a Social Network, so it goes without saying that being social on Instagram is good for business.
So How do you get social on this platform in a way that will help your business? Here is a guide to help you get social and use all the opportunities available to connect with your audience and grow your followers organically.
Remember, being social is about getting Instagram to share your content, but it’s also about building a community and connecting with your key audience. It’s an opportunity to build a relationship with your audience.
Post Regularly
Post 2 – 3 times a day during peak times, including on Instagram stories. This keeps you in your audiences feed and interacting with the platform.
Reply to all comments on your posts
When you reply to every comment on your posts, it show’s Instagram that you are engaged with your audience. And don’t worry about the bot comments, reply to them too, every comment counts.
Go check out people who liked your content
Especially important for accounts looking to grow, make sure you go on over to like and comment on the latest post of those who liked or commented on your post. This helps build your rapport with that follower and shows them that you’re interested in them too.
Like and comment on new followers content
Do the same for people who come and follow your page for the first time. Visit new followers feed and like and comment on a most recent post. Don’t feel obligated to follow the person back, unless you want to that is.
Follow relevant Hashtags
While Hashtags are a great tool to help get your content out to your ideal audience, they’re also used by your ideal audience in their posts.
Go ahead and follow Hashtags that are relevant to your ideal market so they appear in your news feed. Then you can like and comment on posts relating to Hashtags you use.
Don’t just like, comment!
Liking a post doesn’t get you far in the brownie points department. Instagram likes to see you commenting on posts. Why do you think all those bots do it? But unlike those pesky bot comments, be genuine and engaging.
Freshen up your Following List
Instagram understands that as a society, we’re regularly meeting new people and occasionally, unfriending others. So, for this reason, it’s good to regularly follow new accounts and occasionally, do a clean out of the accounts you’re following.
Unfollow accounts that don’t come up in your feed anymore, aren’t aligned with your brand or message or don’t interest you.
Follow whoever you like. But if they’re related to your key audience, or something that interests you, that’s great too.
Be social in Stories
I could do a whole other blog just on Instagram Stories. It’s a platform that’s just taken off! While it was a slow start, stories are where it’s at. To take advantage of the platform, or to really connect with your key audience, especially influencers, make sure you’re in there commenting and replying to stories. It’s a great way to connect and form a relationship with people.
If you’re a brand that is looking to use Influencer engagement
This is a big one for those that are looking at influencer engagement. Ready?
Write a list of 5-10 influencers you want to work with. Follow all of them. Then every day, visit their Instagram feed once or twice a day and like and comment on the most recent post or story. Start building a relationship with them, so when you do go to make contact about some influencer work, they already have a relationship with you and will be more approachable.
Check out Linktr.ee
Linktr.ee is an awesome tool that allows you to have multiple options in your bio link. No more constantly changing your bio link when you want to direct people to a product, blog, your Facebook page, a competition or somewhere else. Linktr.ee gives you options and has been shown to increase conversion rates. Check it out www.linktr.ee
Never, Ever, Ever
Never, Ever, Ever, use a bot or third party app to comment for you or follow and unfollow accounts for you. Doing this is just asking for trouble. While these programs have been around for a while, it’s becoming more and more unpopular. but most importantly, Instagram is constantly working on shutting these bots down. So stay away from all of these types of schemes.
And while we’re on it, don’t buy followers. Just don’t. Those fake followers aren’t your key audience, they won’t help you in the long run and you have no guarantee of how long they’ll last.
