Imagine you could multiply your customers, or the of visits to your website or local store, only by applying a couple of tweaks to your Instagram account.
What if instead of just a couple tweaks, there will be 21 Instagram tactics, and each of those tactics brings specific benefits that will generate more traffic and engagement to your content, and therefore to your business or website?
Well, I am sure that you wouldn’t let those benefits to go away! So luckily for you, you can read those tactic right here on this blog post!
21 Amazingly practical Instagram techniques that you can use to grow your business or blog TODAY.
Click on any of the sections below to be taken directly to that strategy.
- 1. Post quality images.
- 2. Post consistently
- 3. Post at the right times
- 4. Schedule your posts
- 5. Use relevant hashtags
- 6. Have a compelling Bio
- 7. Add a call to action to your Bio
- 8. Be social
- 9. Be real
- 10. Follow and engage with relevant hastags
- 11. Reply to comments
- 12. Comment on your tribe’s posts
- 13. Engage with your competitors’ followers
- 14. Engage with top posts
- 15. Do a giveaway
- 16. Partner up with micro-influencers
- 17. Use Instagram Stories
- 18. Use Highlights
- 19. Don’t be too pushy selling your stuff
- 20. Story-telling style
- 21. Use IGTV
Instagram is great to build your brand, show your products as well as for connecting with your audience.
How exactly can you benefit from being on Instagram to grow your brand? Simply follow this easy tips to get good results from your presence on Instagram. Let’s get to it!
How To Use Instagram To Grow Your Business
1. Post Quality Images
This is the main thing that grabs anyones’s attention, the first step to make a connection by catching the eye of whoever is browsing on Instagram.
You need to think about what kind of images are the ones that your target audience prefer, and therefore your photos, videos or graphics must be aligned to that preference.
But if the quality of the image is not good, then you are not only not attracting your audience, but you are also projecting a bad image of your brand.
NOTE: Take a look at my blog post: “How To Create Stunning Images“
2. Post Consistently
When you are building your community, you are delivering content to them, and they are expecting your next post.
I recommend posting once a day and more or less at the same hour of the day. If you cannot take this pace at least once every 2 days (4 times a week).
I do not recommend posting several images on the same day, your post won’t get the duly attention, but if you want to deliver content along the day, my suggestion is to use Instagram Stories.
Also you have the option of multiple images in one single posts if you need to show a series of images.
If you are not consistent, you will be easily forgotten.
3. Post At The Right Times
Even though the chronological order no longer exists on the feeds of the users, but recent posts show up on the feeds. Therefore it is very important to broadcast you content when most of your audience is present on Instagram, that way you chances to be discovered are bigger.
4. Schedule Your Posts
It is a great idea to schedule your post for some reasons:
- You will not loose your consistency on your post frequency.
- You will have the possibility to plan your content and that will put you in the right mindset of creating a sort of content strategy for your brand.
- You will have more time for your business and for your life.
Now it is more easy to schedule on Instagram since now Instagram allows business accounts to schedule their posts from third party services, like Buffer (the one I use).
5. Use Relevant Hashtags
Why are hashtags so important? Because you or your content can be discovered from people outside of your following.
You also are building your branding since your account will be associated to the niche related to the hashtags you are more frequently using.
This is my recipe for the optimal usage of hashtags:
- Use hashtags relevant to your content and to your brand
- Use as many hashtags as you can (max 30)
- Use 25% very popular hashtags
- Use 25% very specific to the content of the post
- Use 25% very specific to your niche
- Use 25% your own branded hashtags (hashtags created by you)
- Never use banned hashtags
6. Have A Compelling Bio
Let’s suppose you posted a fantastic good quality image, with a bunch of niche-related hashtags and a member of your target audience happens to come across your post and finds it interesting, likes your image and their next step is checking your profile because they are thinking after your posts that they should follow you…. And then they find your bio to make their decision of following you or not.
I think you understand what I’m trying to say: your bio is vital for anyone to decide whether to follow you or not. Is where you want to present you or your brand, and has to reflect your style if possible.
You bio should let your audience know:
- who you are
- what you do /what you sell / what service your provide / etc. and to whom
You can also add relevant hashtags and mention other accounts you want to promote.
Use the 150 characters of the bio wisely and try to attract your target audience.
7. Add A Call-To-Action To Your Bio
Another very important element you bio must have is a call to action. Normally at the end of your text and the most logical a optimal option is to drive people to your website or to your online store, blog or wherever you are interested to send your potential customers to.
Right after the bio you can place a link, so that’s why it is a good option to place your call to action at the end of the text in the bio.
My trick: If you want to use several links (it is not possible on instagram, it only allows you one clicklable link) use Linktree. See my Instagram page to see how it works.
8. Be Social
What does it mean to be social? It means you interact with the community. Instagram is not just posting images, that is only a fraction of what you should be doing on Instagram to grow.
Being social means take your time everyday to browse your feed and hashtags to discover new images, new stories, new people, like images, comment, respond to comments, follow interesting people…
9. Be Real
This is the second part of the previous point. Be real means that your interactions are real: you like stuff that you really like, comment when you have something meaningful to say, follow who you truly want to follow, etc.
You also are enjoying doing all those interactions, Why ? because you are on Instagram for real and Instagram is a social media to have fun.
An finally you are building real relationships: You interact because you are interested in what your community have to say and you want to be part of that community.
10. Follow & Engage With Relevant Hashtags
You may not have a big following but you always can take advantage of hashtags to reach your desired audience: they are in your niche-related hashtags! Just go there and interact with them and follow them if you want to follow.
Also, like I said before, use those relevant hashtags on your own content to attract your target audience.
Trick to grow your following with relevant followers: search one of your relevant hashtags. Follow people that comments on posts. Also like and comment on their comments. Then wait for those users to follow you back
11. Reply To Comments
Stay around after posting to be able to respond to the comments. Replying to comment will increase the engagement rate of that particular post, specially important during the first hour after posting.
12. Comment On Your Tribe’s Posts
This is part of one of the fundamentals of Instagram: being social. To grow your own engagement rate, you need to be engage yourself with your followers’ content.
Always meaningful and thoughtful comments, also here you can provide value. At the end of the day, your comments are like mini content pieces and its also great to build branding (if your comments are good, anyone who reads them will have a good opinion from you).
13. Engage With Your Competitors’ Followers
Same as the previous point, but with the bonus that your readers here are your very potential not-yet followers or audience. So this is a must to grow a relevant following.
14. Engage With Top Posts
You should not miss the opportunity to appear in your niche related top post. A lot of relevant people, will see your comment and you will have an opportunity to grow an engaged community.
How to do this: search one of your niche related hashtags – Comment on the top post. Also reply to comments on those top posts.
15. Do A Giveaway
A giveaway is one of the biggest sources of followers for your account. It doesn’t have to be elaborated or complicated, you don’t even have to spend a lot of money in the prize. Try to give a prize related to your niche or one of your products or services.Important thing: make them easy, state the rules and a disclaimer (your contest isn’t sponsored by or affiliated with Instagram).
16. Partner Up With Micro Influencers
Micro-influencer is an Instagram account, doesn’t have necessarily to have a huge following, but does have a huge engagement and influential power over their community.
Their followers must be your target audience, and thru this influential account, they will promote your product or service, in exchange of a compensation previously agreed.
17. Use Instagram Stories
If you are a regular Instagram user you know that Instagram stories really stand out whenever you are browsing. The good thing of Instagram stories, besides being very visible for your followers, is that you can tell a story, your story, you can show your message in a very different way than in your regular Instagram posts.
You can post as many stories as you want, but the only trick is make them amusing and easy to digest (if it’s too long, viewers will swipe away).
18. Use Highlights
Everyone who visits your page, can spot right away your highlights. Use them to teach about your product/service, promotions, or to classify the different sort of products/ services you have.
It is a good idea to include a nice and cohesive cover for your highlights. (soon I will post here some of them for you to download).
19. Don’t Be Too Pushy Selling Your Stuff
I am sure you have heard that social networks change their “algorithms”, and they do that because they want to benefit real and truly social interactions. and why do they have to do it? Because with time the whole thing diverts to something absolutely different (commercial or advertising ) than the original goal of real interactions.
So, despite this platforms make money out of selling ad spaces on their platforms, they still need to make corrections and change all over to benefit real relationships.
So your content and behaviour must be something everyone would like to share in their personal- real interactions.
20. Storytelling Style
Bill Gates has a great marketing quote that says: “Content is King” and I like to add to that, that Story Telling is the kingdom!
Content is what you give, the benefits, learning, or stuff you share, and that is where all the worth goes. But sometimes, the way you express your content, is what make the difference to reach to your audience or not.
Instagram is a place where users share their life, experiences, feelings, and so on and also is a place where users learn about other users content.
Story telling is a way to tell anything that has a beginning and and end, an exposition, development and conclusion, and that formula makes your content attractive, and if people feel attracted to what you have to say, your message will spread out.
21. Use IGTV
New Instagram video feature called IGTV.
Get Your Free Instagram Checklist
Handy check list to have all these ideas in one useful printout.
Sign up to get the checklist “How To Use Instagram To Grow Your Business”
Thanks for reading and have an amazing day!!!
Angie xx
👉🏻 Please, share this blog post! 👇🏻
love love LOVE your content! so helpful!!
Thanks Susanne!! I am so happy to be helpful!!! Have a fab week!!! 💗
all of this info is sooo accurate!
growing your IG is hard right now, but defiantly worth the commitment!
thanks for sharing xxx
Hey Paige! Thanks!! Exactly! Growing your IG is more than just having lots of followers! Have a great week! xxx
I love engaging with my followers! That’s my favorite part 🙂
Hey Christeen! It’s my favourite part too, in fact it is the main reason why social media were originally created for!!!! Have a fantastic day! xxx
These are all really great tips! Thank you for sharing ,#
Thank you Sheena! So glad to be helpful!!