The American photo and video sharing social network Instagram, after being launched on iOS in 2010 and then on Android in 2012, developed rapidly and became the 4th most downloaded mobile application worldwide in the 2010s. Having managed to reach 1 billion active users in 2018, Instagram still continues to grow by doubling the number of users in the new decade. Instagram users spend an average of 53 minutes of their day on the platform while 60% of total Instagram users say they discover new products on Instagram. With all of these in mind, think about what benefits using Instagram wisely can bring to your business. The phone in your pocket can be your company’s best marketer. So, here are 25 tips from the experts on how to manage Instagram followers:
1.Choose Your Username Wisely- People Should Find You First
First, people start to know you by learning your name, and your Instagram username is your ID on the platform. So, it is vital that you choose the correct username for your Instagram page. It will also be more useful to use the same username on other social and business platforms as well as Instagram. Make sure it is short, simple, and catchy.
2. Introduce Yourself
If you want someone to get to know you, you must first introduce yourself to them. The primary thing that will introduce you to others on your Instagram account is your bio. Thus, the bio should be a few descriptive sentences that give basic and brief information about your brand such as location, opening-closing hours, service, and product types.
3.Quality Content is E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G
Do not share every photo in your gallery just to create a post. While your products and services reflect the quality of your brand, the content you share reflects the quality of your Instagram page. Sharing cleverly crafted posts will increase your brand value and ensure that everyone who enters your Instagram page can see it.
4. Make It Personal
It has been proven that photos showing people’s faces on Instagram get more likes and comments than others. Also, according to research data, Instagram users are more likely to engage with photos containing less people than group photos. If you still have not yet, you’d better get your brand ambassadors visually involved on Instagram.
5. You DO NOT Need to Hire Spielberg to Post Videos
Videos get twice as much engagement on Instagram than photos. You do not have to perform Oscar-winning performances to upload videos to Instagram. Even short and simple videos can give you more engagement. Do not be afraid to include them in your page too.
6. Captions are Important
You took beautiful photos and videos, created posts, edited them, finally, it is time to decide what to say while sharing them. There are many ways to write a caption. In terms of getting likes and comments, the captions you write are as important as your posts. You can write short captions and support them with hashtags and emojis. You can also ask questions to your followers as a caption to increase the number of comments. The important point is that if you are writing long captions, your followers will have to click the “more” button after 125 words. You’d better write catchy sentences that will get your followers to read the rest of the post.
7. #UseHashtags
Posts shared with at least one hashtag get 12.6% more engagement than other posts. Make sure there are your brand name, username, and necessary terms related to your business among the hashtags. Remember, the more hashtags, the more engagement.
8. Make Sure You Indicate Where You Are
Posts tagged with location get 79% more engagement than the others. This allows you to appear in location-based searches for users who do not yet know your name and increase your chances of being discovered. Maybe they are looking for you but do not know where you are. Tell them where you are.
9. Timing Matters, Find Your Happy Hours
Data does not lie. Find the peak hours of user traffic on Instagram and share your content during these hours. As a result, your chances of getting higher likes and comments will increase.
10. There Are 7 Days in A Week
The most successful Instagram accounts post at least 3 posts a week. Having an active account that shares frequently allows your followers to enter your profile more often and this increases your discoverability. Prepare your Instagram posts in advance so you can post them away from the office or on the weekend.
11. User Satisfaction is the Company’s Top Priority
You provided the best service to your customers, now it is their turn. Create Instagram posts from the comments of your customers who are satisfied with your service. High number of satisfied customers means high number of followers and therefore successful business. Remember to get permission when sharing comments, though.
12. Haters Gonna Hate
We wish there are no unsatisfied customers with your product, but your competitors, former customers or random people may make inappropriate comments under your Instagram posts. To prevent this, you can choose who can comment on your posts, and you can also set some keywords to prevent those words from being included in the comments. Just click on settings- Instagram will guide you.
13. DMs Matters
With the spread of social media platforms, sending direct messages has become the new way to communicate. This is the 21st century, your followers, in other words, your potential customers send you direct messages to get detailed information about your services. Keep an eye on your DM box at all times. Quick answers also give you an advantage.
14. Don’t Underestimate Stories
Ever since Instagram launched Instagram Stories in August 2016, Instagram Stories have become one of the users’ favorite features. Thousands of people share and watch stories every day. Stories are undoubtedly great opportunities for your profile to be recognized and stand out. You can also use all the features you can do in a post, such as tagging, locating, using hashtags, for Instagram Stories. Moreover, your Instagram followers can react to your Instagram Stories with emojis, send you a DM via stories, or share your story with others. Treasure the Stories.
15. Create Everlasting Stories
Instagram stories are great to be discovered and recognized. The only problem is that they only stay on your profile for 24 hours. But you can solve this problem very easily. All Instagram stories you share will be saved to the archive after 24 hours unless you remove them. By adding them to “highlights” from the archive, you can keep them on your profile forever. Thus, your favorite Instagram Stories, even if they are old, may always be presented to your followers on your profile.
16. Quiz Time!
Stories are not just for sharing photos or videos, you can also interact with your followers using Instagram Stories. One fun way to do this is to give your followers small quizzes. You can choose the contents of these quizzes as you wish. This type of interaction will increase your followers’ interest in your account.
17. Get Your Followers’ Opinion
Customer opinions are valuable. You are responsible for your Instagram account, but getting your followers’ opinion in the meantime makes you a more successful account. For this, you can survey your followers and get their opinions using Instagram Stories. So, you can get ideas for your next post and even develop new social media strategies.
18. Surprise Your Followers
Giving away feels good. Your Instagram followers are your potential customers, that is right. But, it is also important to create a community of those potential customers. A great way to do this is to run contests and give gifts to your followers. Hold contests, announce prizes, and leave the rest to your followers. They will leave comments and likes on your posts to win the award. This will make you more popular and gain a loyal community of followers.
19. Influence the Influencers First
60% of Instagram users say that they follow the pages they see being promoted by influencers and try the promoted products. Thus, working with an influencer will make a great contribution to you. To do this, first, find your target audience and the influencers that this audience follows most. An important tip is that you should find out if the influencer is really willing to collaborate with you. An influencer with less followers who is interested in your product and open to cooperation will contribute more to you than an influencer with a great number of followers who is not very open to cooperation and is sloppy.
20. Everybody Loves Thoughtful People
Business is not everything. Having your sensitivities about important days and events and sharing posts specific to these situations reveals your human side. Show your followers that you are more than an avid capitalist or an artificial intelligence managing a social media account. It should be noted that, while doing this, you should be impartial and sincere. Stay away from controversial matters. Your followers will understand the difference.
21. Be Collaborative
Being open to collaboration is an important value for your brand. Do not be afraid to collaborate with other people and brands. This both enriches your content and introduces you to new people. Start brainstorming and creating content with different people and brands. Both sides will benefit.
22. Don’t Forget Other Platforms
Instagram is a great platform to reach new people and promote your brand, even so, it is not enough. Make sure to include your accounts on other platforms on your Instagram page. This could be the brand’s web page, LinkedIn account, or Facebook account. Let people know you on more platforms. Make sure all your links are easily accessible!
23. Be Creative, Don’t Repeat Yourself
You must be available on multiple platforms; however, each platform has its own rules, audience, and attraction, therefore, your followers do not want to see you with the same posts on every platform. Give the necessary time to each platform. For example, if you constantly post the same posts on both Instagram and Facebook accounts, followers on both accounts will soon lose interest in your page as a result. Do not let that happen.
24. Know Your Competitors Well
Analyzing your competitors’ Instagram pages and posts will benefit your Instagram page. The success and failure of your competitors on social platforms will allow you to create new strategies. Monitor their accounts, posts, frequency of sharing and follower interactions, and you do better.
25. Always Follow Your Insights
Instagram offers an advanced and detailed insight analysis for Business accounts. In these insights, you can access data such as the increase and decrease in your followers along with the demographic characteristics of your followers and their post interactions. Using this feature wisely will make a great contribution to your Instagram account and will help you build a strong Instagram strategy.
