Instagram is a powerful tool for small business owners but in order for it to work well, you need to know how to use the app properly. 📱 When I started my account last year I had 70 followers at the start of the 2019 summer and by the end of it, I had gained over 100 new followers which equaled to about 30 organic followers per month for a steady stream of growth. 🎉 Today we’re talking about my favorite ways to boost momentum and engagement that will lead to growth and gaining followers who turn into genuine fans. 🙌 Now, let’s grow your Instagram account!

Quality Content

You need to look at your Instagram account essentially as if it’s your portfolio. When someone comes across your Instagram feed, the first thing they will see is your latest 9 images and those images are going to be a big deciding factor into whether or not they will follow you.

• Post Images of Yourself: When people stumble upon my Instagram account, I want them to know exactly who I am and one of the ways I do this is by frequently posting images of myself. The people who choose to follow me can learn who I am and get comfortable with seeing my face frequently, it’s the perfect way of earning your follows trust and loyalty.
• Be Consistent: Posting frequently on Instagram is the perfect way to tell the algorithm that you are active. This allows them to show your content to your followers which will translate into more engagement. My rule of thumb is 4-6 times per week around the same time every day (about 2-4 pm) however you do what works for you whether it’s multiple times a day or twice a week. But whatever you decide, just make sure to be consistent with it!

Engaging Captions

When people read (or skim) your captions you need to give them a compelling story to keep reading. Comments and likes show the algorithm that people like your post which leads to more engagement. You want to give people a reason to stop scrolling and read what it is that you have to say and then engage with your posts.

• Start with a Hook: Start your caption with a sentence that will be enticing to your followers. Sentences that will get them to stop scrolling like “you’ll never believe what happened to me today” or “I can’t believe I’m sharing this”. These sentences will set the scene for whatever it is that you’re going to say and will encourage your followers to stop and read.
• Share Your Story: Be as authentic as possible. I notice on my own Instagram tat the posts where I am sharing my heart, telling my story, and being vulnerable are the posts that do the absolute best. You don’t have to air out your dirty laundry but find the fine line between being honest and oversharing so that you can share about the person who your followers want to learn about… you!
• End with a Call to Action: This can be a direction or a question. The basic idea is that at the end of your caption, you need to lead your followers to their next action, whether it’s to check out your profile or comment you need to make sure that you are giving your followers a clear direction on what they need to do next.

Hashtags

In my personal opinion, Instagram is the best place to use hashtags! Hashtags are a great way to get your post seen by people who aren’t already following you.

• Make them Relevant: Make sure the hashtags that you use are appropriate to the image or caption that you are posting. For example, if you are posting a picture of coffee you probably don’t want to caption it with #ootd because that doesn’t have any relevance to what your image is. This is more of a courteous thing but it’s a good rule in practicing good manners on Instagram.
• Keep them 100-500K: You want to make sure that you are using a hashtag that doesn’t have too many images already tagged with it. If you are using a hashtag that has over a million posts, the likelihood of your images being seen is pretty small because it’s too popular of a hashtag with too many people using it. Your image will just get lost in the masses. So try to aim for using a hashtag that has around 100K to 500K posts so you get good traction without being lost in a sea of other people’s pictures.
• Post them as a Comment: This is just a personal preference but I make sure to use around 15-25 relevant hashtags as the first comment. I typically put them in the first comment to keep my actual caption organized and clear of too many words. 

Engagement

A rule of thumb for Instagram is that if you want engagement you first have to give it. You really need to make sure that you are not only engaging with you. Engaging with other people on Instagram is the perfect way to gain more exposure to other people’s accounts and is a simple way of letting others know that you are being active. You’ll show up in their feed which increases the likelihood that they’ll visit your account and potentially give you a follow and become a future customer.

• Search for Your Niche: In order to engage properly, you want to make sure you are using Instagram smartly by interacting with people who are in your niche and could be a potential client. Start this process by finding relevant hashtags to your target market. Who are you potential clients and what hashtags are they browsing and using? Another great way to search is find other accounts that are similar to yours and look through their followers, see who they have attracted.
• Engage With Your Target Audience: Once you’ve figured out what your target market is and where they are on Instagram, start engaging! I will typically comment and like five images per hashtag or follower list. Make sure you are being authentic with these posts, read their posts, and comment accordingly. Do it right and I promise it will pay off!

Alright friends, that’s it for me! 😁 Tell me, how do you use Instagram, and what is your favorite way to engage and grow on the app? Share all your stuff in the comments below! 👇

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