Today we will discuss the nitty gritty of becoming popular on Instagram. As you may know (and if you don’t, we will tell you now), Instagram is a wildly popular photo sharing social media platform. Recently, Instagram has lifted some of its restrictions in terms of photo size and media you can share. So, you can post short videos and larger images which do not necessarily have to be perfectly square (a basic prerequisite in the past).
This new-found freedom in posting content has determined a lot of major brands and small businesses to expand their reach to Instagram and build a solid followers’ base. If you are new to Instagram, you probably do not have a large following. We are going to show you what to do in order to correct this.
1. Use Adequate Hashtags
Just like with Twitter, Instagram following can be grown if you post popular (and relevant) hashtags next to your photos or videos. If you want to find popular hashtags, type in relevant keywords for your business in the search field. This search field is multifunctional, because you can search both accounts to follow, and hashtags.
Once you have identified the best hashtags to use, include them in the text descriptions of your daily posts (not less than 4, but not more than 6).
2. Use the Right Filters
Applying filters to your photos before posting them is one of the specific features of Instagram. Since it started out as a platform targeting teenagers and young people who want to share their daily experiences, a wide range of filters was made available for them.
Some of them are not appropriate for businesses to use on their posts, but certain filters are both artistic and adequate to enhance your images. Some of the most popular filters on Instagram are: Valencia, Earlybird, X-Pro II, Amaro, Rise, and Hudson.
3. Synchronize Instagram with Other Social Media Platforms
You have probably already grown a large following on Facebook and Twitter. And most probably a large number of your followers also have Instagram accounts. The easiest way to build your followers’ base on Intagram is to sync it with Facebook and Twitter, so that every time you post a photo or video, it is automatically shared on the other social media pages with a direct link to Instagram.
4. Post Your Content at the Right Time
Compared to other social media posts, content shared on Instagram has maximum impact at the moment when it is posted. This means that you need to do some research and find the exact time span when most of your followers are online on Instagram.
One simple way to do it is to use online tools such as Piqora, Iconosquare or Simply Measured to view the analytics of your Instagram accounts. You can identify patterns of users’ activity on your account (liking and commenting on your posts) and adapt your posting schedule to them.
5. Run Contests
Contests are popular on any social media, and especially on Instagram. There are many ways in which you can challenge your followers and widen your reach. For instance, you can ask them to post photos or videos using your products. Or you can share a series of your work in progress and ask them to guess what you are making. Of course, you should offer an exciting prize for these contests to give people the motivation to participate.
These simple tips have helped a lot of small businesses become popular on Instagram with little or no investment. With a little effort and a little time spent every day sharing interesting photos and videos, you can become an Instagram star too.