Tag: organic followers

Instagram is growing at a rapid rate. According to Time, in the past four months Instagram reached 700 million active users, which is the photo and video sharing app’s quickest growth spurt to date. Nowadays, it’s rare that a business doesn’t include Instagram in their social media marketing strategy. And there’s a good reason for it. Instagram is one of the best ways to visually promote your business and engage your audience.

A successful account isn’t measured by just the amount of Instagram followers, but rather is measured by the engagement rate. In the age of buying followers and likes, it is still possible to grow your account’s following and engagement rate organically. The best recipe for a high engagement rate is consistently posting aesthetically-pleasing, relevant and creative photos and videos. However, there are certain tricks you should implement into your Instagram strategy that will help you to organically improve your Instagram’s engagement rate.

Follow these four rules to see organic and substantial growth on your Instagram account:

 1. Have a full content strategy:

With 700 million active Instagram users, you’ll need to be unique to stand out, and behind every great Instagram is an even better content strategy. Merely posting photos on Instagram does not mean you have a content strategy. The most successful brands have a method to their madness and it’s no secret as to why their social media accounts are so popular. A good Instagram strategy will take planning, research and some experimental posts before you find out what works for your account and audience.

Ask yourself these questions when working on your content strategy:

• Is there a theme? Consider the culture of your business and what you’re trying to convey through your account. Keep posts consistent, whether that means similar captions, filters or subject matter, make sure you stick to your theme. Remember: the best Instagram accounts have an obvious style.

• How often and what time should I post? Several studies have been conducted on what times are the best for optimal Instagram engagement, however, the best posting times are dependant on several factors, mainly your audience. A good place to start is by using Instagram’s follower insights. After registering your account as a business profile, Instagram will automatically generate insights that will show you when your followers are most active. To see a high engagement rate start by posting your photos during your followers’ most active periods. As for how often, the general rule is at least once a day.

 2. Use quality hashtags

Hashtags are used on every social media platform, but they seem most effective on Instagram. Use the proper hashtags to reach a larger targeted audience than just those already following you. Instagram allows users to post 30 hashtags per post, and a TrackMaven study found that posts with more than 11 hashtags have the highest engagement rates.

What hashtags should I use? The four types of hashtags to include on every post are Instagram’s popular hashtags, local hashtags, related hashtags and branded hashtags. The actual hashtags will differ depending on your content, but there are a few tools, like Hashtagify, that will quickly discover the best ones for your content.

3.  Be extra social

It’s not enough to just consistently post quality content on your account. What separates the great accounts from the good accounts is the level of socializing you participate in with your followers. This ranges from just “liking” a follower’s comment on your post to sharing user-generated content. Other than liking and commenting on other accounts’ posts, which you should do often, try out these socializing tips to gain traction:

• Ask questions in your captions and ask followers to tag their friends in the comments
• Share user-generated content and tag the follower in the caption
• Like up to 100 photos on your explore page per day
• Respond to comments as quickly as possible
• Tag influencers or relevant brands in your photos

4. Only post quality, creative photos

Visuals are everything on Instagram so make sure to only post high-quality, crisp images. There’s no need to invest in a professional camera to ensure maximum quality images, as any smartphone camera can do the job. Steer clear of mainly product photos and instead give your audience a look into the culture of your business. Introduce your employees and office, share cool shots of the cities you work in and give some behind-the-scenes looks.

Candid photos will give your audience an inside look at the personality of your brand. Quality over quantity, so make sure to avoid blurry, low-resolution and over-filtered photos and instead share well-lit, tastefully edited and clear focused images.

Learn more about how Mansfield can help improve your Instagram here.