These days, Instagram is insanely popular. There are more than one billion daily active users who publish over 100 million posts a day. With this kind of volume, it can be quite difficult to cut through the noise.
Luckily, there are many Instagram growth strategies that you can use to distinguish yourself and build your brand. Check out these 5 tips to find out how to make your Instagram account stand out and reach your target audience.
Table of Contents
1. Use an Instagram Growth Service
Without help, growing your Instagram account can be a time-consuming process. Doing it manually means adding more tedious tasks to your already packed schedule. This is where an Instagram growth service enters the picture.
In the last few years, a great number of Instagram growth services have started popping up. And although these tools can be great when it comes to taking the burden of getting more followers off your shoulders, trying to determine which one is the best for your brand can be overwhelming.
If you are not sure where to start, check out this Path Social review to get an idea of what you should look for in an Instagram growth service. Finding a quality growth service will get you more real followers and more engagement on your account, while at the same time saving you hours you can dedicate to running your business.
2. Engage With Your Followers
When it comes to social media platforms, the most important thing is to be social and engage regularly. Many brands believe that it is enough to make one hit viral marketing campaign, but achieving this is very unlikely. Instead, you should get yourself involved in conversations, or better yet, start conversations.
The best way to engage is by commenting and interacting with your audience through hashtags. Instagram says you should add three to five relevant hashtags in order to reach your target audience.
3. Leverage Video Content
Did you know that nine out of ten users watch Instagram videos weekly? Over the years, there has been an 80% increase in the time spent watching video content on Instagram, and on top of this, research has shown that video gets over 20% more engagement than photos.
The good news is Instagram marketing tools make sure that everyone has enough resources to create original and fun videos. The platform provides different features and distribution channels, such as IGTV, live streams, Stories, and Reels.
The newer video formats – reels and the IGTV channel – are a great way to engage your target audience. The platform sends push notifications for this type of video content to users, which means that having a strong presence on IGTV/Reels boosts your chances to appear on the explore page. The explore page allows everyone, follower or non-follower, to watch your videos.
4. Use Nano-Influencers
Nano influencers are small-scale influencers who have a follower count anywhere from 1000 to 10k. These influencers usually stick to one niche and, due to the fact that they want to generate an audience base, their content is usually high-quality and valuable. The use of nano-influencers allows brands to reach different audience segments and better position their products by making their advertisements more relevant to each of those segments.
With more focus on authenticity over follower count, about 70% of brands are working with nano and micro-influencers to leverage their highly engaged audiences and lower cost per engagement. Research has shown that nano-influencers consistently achieve the highest engagement rate of 3.69%, which is more than double the engagement rate of macro-influencers.
5. Run Contests and Giveaways
Contests and giveaways are an excellent way to nurture your existing followers, help new users discover your brand, and familiarize more people with your offers. In order to ensure that your giveaway/contest is effective, be sure to ask entrants to follow you and tag their friends in the comment section. Other possible promotion methods include paying to advertise or getting influencers involved.
Don’t forget to choose a suitable award. Although everyone loves a chance to win a freebie, not everyone is your target customer. The right prize can attract or repel potential participants. A great way to increase the number of followers is to think about what motivates your target audience and what makes them take the extra steps to enter social media giveaways.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to Instagram growth, there is no fixed formula. Try the tactics listed above to find out what works for your brand and what doesn’t. You will likely notice that some of them lead to faster growth while others take some time. Don’t be afraid to experiment and adjust your growth strategy until you hit the sweet spot.
