How to Increase Instagram Followers

Instagram quickly outgrew its first impression as a fun app for children and has become a severe content marketing, networking and audience construction tool for individuals and brands. It is one of the most popular social networking websites on Earth, with over 200 million active monthly members discussing 60 million images and 1.6 billion enjoys per day.

Exactly how awesome is it? Engagement prices for brands on most social networks are significantly less than 0.1%, but Instagram blows them away. The ordinary Instagram engagement rate for brands in a 2014 Forrester analysis was an epic 58 times greater compared to Facebook.

1. Cross-promote your dedicated hashtag.

That is nice that you created a #joesgarage hashtag for your company, but that knows to use it to share content about you personally? Make sure it's on your profile, however take the match offline and have it printed on your receipts, in print advertisements, on signage on your store and at relevant events.

If you're on radio and TV, direct individuals to use your hashtag. Do not just expect people will discover it.

2. Get creative with hashtagging.

When it comes to Instagram caption thoughts, you need to check beyond the one-word, clear hashtags. Sure, you want to use these, also, but mix this up and utilize hashtags to inform part of your narrative. Be funny, ironic, or outrageous--just do not be BORING. Collaborative workspace company WeWork is great at this, and they comprise an enjoyable mix of Instagram content, also.

3. Participate in massively popular conversations.

For each and every post, use a mix of relevant hashtags like #woodworking for a carpentry company, for instance, as well as trending, super-popular hashtags where you can.

The specific hashtags are such as long-tail keywords in that they show more intent and help you discover the right folks, but the universally trending hashtags like #instagood, #tbt, #photooftheday as well as plain old #fun get you in front of more people in general. You need both to make it on a social networking as large and noisy as Instagram.

4. Make the most of your bio URL.

Yawn. Change it up at least bi-weekly and use that clickable link on your bio to drive visitors to your newest or most popular content.

5. Get descriptive with your captions.

A photo is worth a million words, but you can not skip the words entirely. National Geographic is fantastic at utilizing storytelling along with their Instagram photos to generate sharing and engagement.

Like another Instagram hacks I've included here, this is something you'll want to devote to working to your plan as time passes, so don't worry if it feels odd at first.

6. Proceed in on influencer advertising.

Stop by the profiles of every person who you've identified as an influencer on your area (AKA a person who affects the people you would like to get in front of) and "Turn On Post Notifications" to be informed each time they share new content. You can then interact with them regularly and become one of their favorite brands or people.

7. Eliminate unwanted labeled photos of you from the profile.

If you only want to feature the most effective user-generated content about you or your own brand on your Instagram profile, then you can. At this time you can not eliminate the labeled photos from the site entirely, by selecting "Edit Tags," picking the ones that you would like to remove and choosing "Hide out of Profile" (you may have to confirm). It does the trick.

8. Approve photo tags before the content shows on your profile.

Speaking of giving you greater control over which tagged photos show up on your profile, you can change your Instagram setting so tagged photos won't display if you don't approve them.

I am trying to think of a reason why any company wouldn't want to do so... Nope. I have got nothing. You should absolutely set up this to avoid potentially embarrassing situations.

9. Develop your Instagram style.

It's human nature to want to fit in, but on Instagram, you want to stand outside. Indian beverage manufacturer Frooti has developed such a distinctive visual material style, it is instantly recognizable whenever an individual sees a Frooti post in their newsfeed. Check it out:

10. Get local.

See what's going on in a particular area (say your neighborhood, a city you are targeting in ads, or even an event in a particular place) by visiting the search page and picking the Places tab. Then, type in the name of this place to observe all geotagged Instagram posts for that place.

11. Recall your calls to action!

What actions do you want people to take on your post? If you don't understand that, start over and find it out. Staples is great at generating engagement by allowing people know exactly what they expect them to do with their articles (bonus points if you make it seem interesting).