Social media, including Instagram, has turned into a source of inspiration, entertainment, and news. Naturally, it has also become one of the most effective digital marketing channels, with most companies embracing the power of Instagram followers and social media more than ever before
In 2022, social media ad spend stood at approximately 230 billion U.S. dollars, with spending expected to surpass the 300-billion-dollar mark by 2024, so there’s never been a better time to get a slice of the social media pie by creating content and growing your follower base.
Instagram: The Giant Social Media Platform
With an estimated 2.35 billion users (yes, that’s with a b), Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms on the face of the planet. Once registered, you are then ready to begin utilizing the plethora of functions that the app offers users.
In this article, I will provide some tips and tricks that I use for my own content which can be applied to most content whether you’re a photographer, actor, musician, artist, etc.
Tips for Instagram Success
- Do shoutouts for other content creators in your niche free of charge. I mean who says “no” to free exposure? We’re all there to get as many eyeballs on our posts as possible and in my experience not only is this appreciated, but many of the people who I did this for are now loyal followers and often do the same for me.
- Do livestreams and let your followers know in advance beforehand. Live interaction is a great way of building a more immersive brand experience with your audience.
- Cross promote your Instagram page on other platforms. For example, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat which all have a massive user base.
Earn Money As A Social Media Account Manager
- Establish a clear brand identity that lets your audience know who you are, what your value proposition is and how you intend to interact with them. A great way to do this is using your bio to get this message across and then being consistent to these values in your post content.
- Sign up to a business account to view detailed analytics about your audience otherwise you may just be posting blind. Knowing your audience will enable you to post more strategically. A business account will allow you better insight such as:
- Accounts you’ve reached
- Towns/cities where your followers reside
- Age range
- How many people clicked on your bio link
- Hours your followers are most active
- Which posts got the most likes, comments, shares
- Write compelling captions on your posts. Great captions can educate, entertain create a call to action, add value, inspire and establish authority.
- Use appropriate and relevant hashtags on your posts so that they rank higher on peoples searches. This means that the right audience find your account easier which in turn drives more traffic and engagement to boost views and likes. Studies show that posts with hashtags generate 12.6% engagement than those without!
- Instagram allows you to tag up to 20 people on your posts. I optimise this by tagging people who engage with my page the most. I feel by doing this I’m rewarding them by making sure they are the first to see any new posts of mine and making them feel a little bit special. Although you can only tag 20 people directly on the thumbnail image, you can add additional people in the caption area below.
- Use Instagram Reels to make videos that can potentially go viral. Basically, the Instagram Reels feature gives you the chance to film and edit mini videos within the Instagram app and then post them to both your feed and a special ‘Reels’ section on your profile.
When you post a Reel, you also get the chance to appear in the Reels explore feed. This means that if you create an awesome Reel, you can get in front of a much bigger audience than just your followers and this means you have the chance to grow your following in a BIG way!
