Instagram has grown a lot since it started. Recently, the head of Instagram, Adam Missouri has just stated that they’re no longer just a square photo sharing app. It is quickly becoming one of the best ways for businesses to connect with customers.
Growing your following to share your message and what you have to offer organically can be challenging so here are the seven ways that you can do to grow your following on Instagram.
#1: Consistency is the key
This doesn’t mean that you have to post daily, it’s all about creating a schedule to show up a consistently. For example, if you are going to show up three times a week, that is consistency for you. You decide what is best for you and what works for you.
One of the ways to create consistency is to batch create your content and use it to schedule your posts. You can outsource this to free your time up so you can focus more on your zone of genius.
#2: Bio is your business card
It is your virtual business card in the online world. Create a bio that lets your audience know what you’re about and how you can help. Give clarity so that your audience knows whether you and your content is of any interest that can make them hit the Follow button.
What should you include in your Instagram bio? The first thing is to include the “I help” statement. You can make it interesting by adding some emojis and creating some spacing so that it’s easy for people to read at a first glance.
I personally turn away and not read the information more if I see huge chunk of paragraphs whether it is on a blog post, Instagram bio or email as it is too much for the eyes to absorb. Your bio has to look visually appealing and have all of the information in a short and concise paragraph.
#3: Engage with your community
You want to build rapport and the relationship because people only buy from people whom they know and they trust. Create meaningful replies to every comment and your direct messages.
Here’s my super tip, reply with a question to get the ball rolling with a conversation. Imagine when you go out and network in a party, you are going to go back and forth in a conversation when you meet someone that has the same interest as you. Take this real life application on to the virtual world.
You can set aside time like 5 to 10 minutes, twice a day to engage with your community. Don’t spend hours doing this so you can focus on your other priorities that bring in the revenue. Let’s face it, if there is no revenue and profit, your business is just a hobby. Prioritise on what moves the needle in your business.
#4: Create Reels
Reels are exploding in organic reach and views, now is the best time to invest in having reels as part of your content strategy. It also has great discoverability through the Explore page.
Adam, Missouri mentioned that one of their primary focuses is video, and Reels falls under that category. It’s time to get on and go with Reels. Reel is an easy way of creating bite size “edutainment”. It’s much easier for your audience to absorb all of the tips and educational material that you are sharing in such a fun way.
I know at some point, you are thinking after spending so much time creating reels, you’re just not getting the reach of views and engagement. You’re not seeing the results and there are no new leads, no clients or even any sales inquiries.
You’re just hearing the sound of crickets the moment you publish your reels and you’re not even sure how to get started. You’re just not confident in creating a Reel because you are thinking that you have to dance or lip sync. I can tell you, you don’t have to do all of that.
I’m going to be sharing my exact formula on how you can create 7 reels for 2 weeks in two hours.Tturn them into sales inquiries, triple your account growth and organically reach 184,000 people. More of these in the Super Reels Bootcamp.
This boot camp is starting on August 19th and if you are interested or ready to take your business to the next level, join me here: https://bit.ly/ReelsBootcamp
#5: Epic caption structure
Create a standard caption structure that hooks your audience in right at the beginning.
Have a ton of value in between. and remind them what this content is about. The transition on how you offer service or program can help and conclude with a strong call to action.
#6: Collaboration
Go and collaborate with brands or people who are complementary to your business.
At the moment, I’m collaborating with a business coach and her name is Jocelyn. Her work very much compliments with what I do so she’s not a direct competitor.
Businesses need social media to market their business. They also need someone to help them achieve their business goals. So Jocelyn, and I work very closely. We recently launched a mastermind where we both share our knowledge, me as a social media coach and her as a business coach.
It’s both of us putting a mastermind together in order to help people to market through social media, and achieve their business goals at the same time.
This is one way of how you can collaborate with brands or businesses and the best part is that you get to leverage a new pool of audience and cross promote your offers. Remember, collaboration over competition.
Go ahead and look through Instagram to see who are the people that you can collaborate with. It’s not necessarily creating an offer or a program together, it could be just as simple as going on Instagram Live, sharing all of your knowledge together as two powerhouses.
Having said that, I am actually on the lookout for more collaborations. I’m looking for guest speakers to do a short masterclass or even just sharing your ideas, tips and knowledge for my Facebook group and Instagram Lives.
Also, I am looking to be a guest on podcasts. If you are a podcaster, and you’re looking for a guest speaker to talk about all things, social media, specifically, Instagram and my life story of how I rose from the darkness and doing what I do now, then go ahead and DM me on Instagram and let’s chat.
#7: Shout it from the rooftop
You want to share your Instagram details everywhere so that means putting it in your email signature, your bio on other social media platforms. There are some other social media platforms that allow you to link your Instagram profile to it so don’t skip out on that step.
You can also include your Instagram link on your website, your newsletter, and your blog posts. Anywhere that you can put your Instagram details, put it there.
Here’s a recap of 7 ways to grow your following on Instagram:
PS: Want to incorporate Reels into your content strategy and create Reels that turn into sales inquiries, triple your account growth in 4 weeks and get 100k (or more) views? I will be covering this in my program and the exact way I create 7 Reels for 2 weeks in 2 hours – The Super Reels Bootcamp. The doors will be closing in 5 hours, starting on Aug 19, 7.30pm AEST. JOIN NOW: https://bit.ly/ReelsBootcamp