Instagram has now over 1 billion monthly active users, making it a ripe field for marketers around the world. Moreover, the age range of Instagram users expanded, so most probably your audience is on Instagram already. But are you reaching them?
Surely you’re posting in your Instagram account. But did you know you’re competing with over 95 million pictures posted every day? How can you make your content stand out?
Here at UniClix, we were sharing, and posting in our UniClix Instagram Account to supercharge your Social Media Marketing strategy.
In this post, I’m going to show you 9 proven and tested ways to grow your Instagram reach. Let’s get started.
Back to Basics – Instagram Marketing Overview
First, we need to review the basics of Instagram marketing. Instagram is one of today’s most popular social media channels, and marketers use the platform to promote their business.
Typical activities are advertising, influencer marketing, organic content, Instagram stories, and engaging with other accounts’ content. You can use Instagram for:
- Show your products or services
- Increase brand recognition
- Build a community
- Share company news
- Grow brand loyalty
- Advertise
Whether you are a newcomer or already active on the platform, it’ll be more effective if you set only one or two of the goals above for your Instagram strategy. That way, your channel is more focused on achieving your target.
Let’s dig deeper into the topic of your audience.
Check the metrics: Is your Audience on Instagram?
Instagram audiences have changed over the last months, with more users over 25 years old than before. There is little difference between female and male users in this age range.
Check your audience metrics and find their age range. Once you know which members of your audience are on Instagram, start building your presence.
Tips to Create a Strong Presence on Instagram
Start by updating or optimizing your Instagram profile. This is your landing page for the platform. There you can share information about your business and attract traffic to your website.
- Optimize your Bio/Description – be sure to include a catchy tagline or slogan, for instance, Adidas Football: Creating Lasting Change.
- Check your picture: This is the face of your account. A potential follower should recognize your brand from your picture. You can add your logo or logomark. At UniClix we like to keep things simple:
Create a Content Strategy for Instagram :
Each channel has its own kind of users, therefore needs a different strategy. Instagram has its own rules too. Take into account that Instagram is a visual channel. So, most of your content should be in the form of attractive images and videos.
What should you post about? Depending on your goals. If you use your Instagram account for showcasing products, like Adidas Originals, make them the central point of your content.
At UniClix, we use our Instagram account to share useful tips and valuable offers to our followers:
Be sure that your content is:
- Attractive- Post images and videos that attract the users. When using graphics, don’t forget to show your brand colors.
- Engaging- Your post should have value for the users and make them want more.
- Consistent- It is no use if you post today and the next month. To build a presence, you need to be present!
I’ll talk more about it in the next sections.
Now that you got the basics down, let’s explore in deep how to grow your audience in Instagram.
How to Grow your Audience in Instagram
#1 Create Great and Diverse Content
Instagram is much more than in-feed posts. There are several inside channels you can use to engage your audience. Mix Stories, IGTV episodes, in-feed posts and reels to keep your followers engaged. Select the type of content for each mini-channel and commit to it.
Use Instagram Stories
When using Stories, consistency is key. Choose a direction and post every couple days. There are many ways to use Stories to grow your audience. Using filters and GIFs, you can keep your followers interested.
Since Stories disappear after 24hrs, you can use it to:
- Share news with your audience
- Share Tips
- Create Polls
If you want to know how to create engaging Stories, check this article in the UniClix Blog on 6 Tips to Create Engaging Instagram Stories using GIFs.
Use Reels
A few months ago, Instagram launched the competitor of Tik Tok – Instagram Reels. It is an additional feature of the Instagram camera to create short video clips and content.
Use Reels to record 15 second videos with music, then adding them to your Stories. You can add green screen, augmented reality. You can slow the video or speed it up. With Reels, you can add a bit of fun and exciting content for your users.
Learn more in our post: Instagram Reels – All that You Need to Know About the Tik Tok Competitor
#2 Post Consistently
As we mentioned above, one key to grow your audience is consistency. Post consistently at least once a day. Studies show that posting between once and twice a day brings the best results for business in Instagram. After all, users log in Instagram daily, second only to Facebook.
But when is the best time to post in Instagram?
Well, that depends on your business and your audience. Here a few tips that can help you determine the best time to post:
- Check your metrics and find out when your users are online
- Post in the day your audience is most online. Different industries have different days.
- Schedule your Instagram Posts with UniClix App. The app will select the best time to post for your content according to your target audience.
Learn more about the best time to post in Instagram in this blog post.
Posting at relevant times and frequently creates trust and increase your followers. If you manage to create anticipation with your posts, soon you will have a loyal audience waiting for your next piece of content. Therefore, part of a great content strategy is having an editorial calendar.
Creating a Social Media Calendar can be daunting if you are doing it from scratch. Luckily, here in UniClix we created a Content Calendar Template you can download for free.
#3 Build a Community with the 10×9 Strategy
This strategy, also called the $1.80 Instagram growth strategy, is simple and can be effective in creating connections that slowly grow into a community. That is, if you’re willing to do the work. Every day:
- choose 10 relevant hashtags.
- select the top 9 posts for each hashtag.
- leave your 2 cents ($0.02), a meaningful, engaging comment.
The idea behind this method created by marketing guru Gary V. is building a community out of common interests.
“The number of Instagram followers you have means nothing if you can’t build a community of like-minded people who care and engage.”
This method requires consistency and working every day to build your Instagram community.
The downside of this method is that you have to do it yourself. You can save time and efforts using UniClix Social Media App. When you use UniClix App, the software suggests you which accounts to follow that can be on your niche. Then you don’t have to chase after posts and hashtags.
#4 Use your hashtags right
Speaking about hashtags. Hashtags are like the Instagram keywords. The right hashtag can open your content to a larger or new audience. Moreover, now you can follow a hashtag in Instagram.
On contrary of other social channels, users don’t seem to tire of many hashtags in Instagram. That means that the more hashtags the merrier? Well, not exactly. While Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, the best is to keep it between 3 and 9.
But how to choose the right hashtags for you?
Start by looking at your keywords. You can use a keyword tool or by searching for any of your target keywords in the Instagram app. Create hashtag categories related with your business. Let’s say, for a designer cupcakes store:
brand keyword hashtags
#yourbrand #designercupcakes #customcupcakes #designerbakery
product category hashtags
#decoratedcookies #decoratedcupcakes #frostedcupcakes #cupcakeoftheday #acookieaday
location hashtags
#SanFrancisco #SanFranciscoBakery #SanFranciscoCookieShop
Organize those hashtags in a note to have them at hand. But keep in mind that the popularity of hashtags change, so review and change the hashtags in your list often.
#5 Run Contests and Promos
People love a freebie any day of the week. A way to attract followers is by organizing promos and contests. Contests specifically help you grow your audience on Instagram. Let’s see how:
When you create a contest, you create anticipation for a prize. You can grow brand recognition by creating a specific hashtag for the contest. This will help your audience to find it and share it. In addition, if you ask your followers to tag a friend, you will double the contest and your brand reach.
#6. Follow similar users
Instagram is, after all, a social network. You’ll grow your audience organically when you engage them personally. Like and comment posts of users in your niche.
How do you find similar users? It is easy, search using hashtags that relate to your business. Follow the users of the top posts you find and like the last three pieces of content they posted. This strategy is called follow, like, like, like. The idea behind it is to show interest not only in the account but in the content as well. This can make users discover your brand and you’ll earn new followers in the process.
#7 Cross-Platform posting
Your Instagram strategy should be part of your overall social media strategy. Most people have multiple social media accounts. That means you can find them in Instagram and Facebook and Pinterest. While every platform requires different type of content, you can direct Facebook followers to your Instagram posts.
You can do it right from your Instagram account, by sharing the post at the same time to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. It is pretty common to share in Facebook and Instagram at the same time. But a word of caution here. Don’t cross post everything. There should be variety in your social feeds.
That being said, it is an excellent strategy to cross post to Pinterest. Both Pinterest and Instagram are heavily visual platforms. And, because posts tend to last longer in Pinterest, it could be a good idea to use cross posting to extend your Instagram reach. You can schedule smart by using the UniClix dashboard. There you can select where to post the content in Instagram and when in Pinterest.
Follow us on Pinterest
#8 Work with influencers
Instagram influencers are people that have a large following on Instagram. Working with an influencer can increase your audience quickly since you’re exposed to their followers.
You may think you need a huge budget or been a big name brand to work with an influencer. In reality, there are influencer tiers from 1k followers to over 1 million. It is easy to think the bigger the fanbase, the better. But don’t discard micro-influencers so fast.
Micro influencers have a following from 1000 to 10,000 people. Since they are actual consumers, they have better connections with their audience, and drive higher engagement rates than mega influencers. Large companies like Garnier are using micro-influencers for their campaigns.
Micro-influencers have a higher-intent audience, which results in about 82% of their fans following their recommendations. They are also cost effective, since according to Influence.co a micro-influencer charges approximately $100 per post.
If you want to grow your audience fast, working with a micro-influencer can be the solution.
#9 Share user-generated content
Increase your followers’ base by featuring user-generated content on your feed. That way you’ll grow loyalty while building your community.
How do you do it? Use hashtags to search relevant user content around the web and feature it in your Instagram page, while crediting the user. Add a hashtag like #UniClixCommunity or #SocialMediaManagementGroup to showcase your user’s stories.
Boost your Instagram Strategy with UniClix App
Hopefully, with these tips you can start growing your Instagram audience. You can be even more effective while saving time and effort by using the UniClix Social Media Manager.
- Schedule your Instagram content to post at the best time automatically.
- Get content suggestions according to your target keywords and your audience.
- Get suggested accounts to follow so you can grow your audience organically
How do you do it?
- Go to www.uniclix.com
- Sign up for the 14 day’s trial
- Connect your social media accounts (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter)
To Schedule a post:
- Go to the dashboard
Click on New Post, or Choose a date from the calendar
- Write the Post in the box.
- Select the channels you want to post it by adding them above.
- Choose between Select a date, Post at best time, Post now.
Voila! You’re all set. More uses:
- Use the Content Finder at the left menu of the dashboard to get content suggestions.
- Monitor social sentiment with the Monitor Activity feature.
Start today growing your Social Media influence with UniClix App.
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