IS THIS EVEN A REAL THING?
Well unless you live under a rock, You know quite well that Instagram has become one of the most popular social media sharing apps out there, With well over 900 Million monthly users. Many of you out there are asking questions like how to get “followers”, how to get more “likes”, and even how to get “famous” on Instagram? (I can’t guarantee the famous part) So I’m going to share some tips with you that I recently learned from an Instagram/ Social Media Luncheon that I was invited to recently.
REVAMPING YOUR PAGE
First thing you should do is revamp your page, I started by following a few of my favorite Fashion Bloggers and actually “stalked” their pages for a little Inspo, So that I could get some ideas of how I could revamp my own page to make it more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Creating an aesthetic tone makes your page more appealing and who doesn’t want their page to look pretty? ( it’s a girl thing) But, seriously a pretty page draws people in. One of the ways you can create a nice aesthetic tone is with presets that you can download right from your phone to Adobe Lightroom cc app, What exactly is a preset you ask? It’s a color filter that overlays your photos like in the photos above. I’ve just recently started playing around with presets and I’m still trying to get it just right and hopefully mine will one day look as good as some of my favorite Instagram pages. You can find many presets that don’t cost anything and Adobe Lightroom cc has options on their app that you can play around with and there are also some really good presets that you can purchase and there yours to keep forever. Some of my favorite Bloggers have created some amazing presets. A couple of my favorites are https://instagram.com/alexajeanbrown?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=e1btaqxgim22 and https://instagram.com/savannah.usher?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=13ucy3rjmxnd2 and you can find the link to purchase in their bio on Instagram You should try and post 1-2 times a day and post away on your stories. It will keep your followers interested and whatever you do, Don’t post and delete over and over leaving only a couple of photos on your page (because unless most of your followers are personal friends) They will start to get bored and unfollow you. No ones going to be interested in a page that only has very few pictures and only post every so often.
HASHTAGS #
Yes, Yes and Yes! Hashtags absolutely 100% work. Now that I’ve switched to a business account on Instagram, I’m able to see just how well my hashtags are working. With the business account I’m also able to see how many impressions my post is getting, In case you aren’t familiar with what impressions are, It simply means how many people have viewed your post. Think about it, Not everyone who sees your post is going to like it. Something interesting I learned at this recent Luncheon is that “Impressions” actually mean a lot more then “Likes” do, especially if you are selling, promoting, or hoping that as an Influencer companies will take notice. The marketing theory behind this is, let’s say you are an Influencer and there’s a Company you’d like to work with, Their going to be more likely to work with you based on your impressions because if your advertising for them and your getting a lot of views then that means more people are seeing their product, which in turn means more business for them. This is the future of Instagram, Impressions over likes. The picture below is from one of my posts as an example of likes vs impressions.
So as you can see on this post, I got 2k “Likes” but, over 6k “Impressions” It also means that from the hashtags alone, Almost 4k people also saw this particular post. Crazy right? That’s what I thought to but, this is all straight from Instagrams analytics. So get to using those HASHTAGS and watch your numbers start to grow, and even if its slow growing, You will start to see an increase in post likes. Comments can be a big thing to, and as you can see, I don’t get a ton of those but, as long as people are seeing your posts, then that’s what matters most, and never post on your stories to go “Like and Comment” (sorry friends, not personal) Again at this Instagram Marketing lunch that was a key topic. Instagram Marketing Execs. Specifically Said it will only make you appear desperate and you should never have to ask someone to “Like and Comment” They will like it if “They” choose to like it. Its all about being authentic (Their words not mine).
OTHER WAYS TO GROW YOUR FOLLOWING
Another great way to get noticed is by becoming “Instagram Friends” with some of the people you follow that have a lot of followers themselves. Some of them have actually become personal friends and have helped me get where I am now (blogging) Maybe it’s a High profile person, A Business, A Blogger, ETC. and ask them to give you a shout out, This has helped me tremendously and I’ve been able to get quite a few followers because of them and will always be grateful. You MUST engage with your followers and treat them as if you know them personally, Being Authentic is one of the greatest assets you can have in order to build genuine lasting relationships and again, USE THOSE DARN HASHTAGS! I’m a firm believer they work and the Instagram Analytics don’t lie.
BUILD YOUR ENGAGEMENT
Engagement is a way for your followers to get to know you. This includes replying back to comments when possible as well as direct messages, Sometimes it’s hard to reply to messages if you get a lot of them. Another great way is through your captions. I often use a quote I like or sometimes it’s just what I’m feeling at the moment, Maybe it’s just something silly but, it shows your followers a little bit about who you are, Remember like I said be as authentic as possible and especially when commenting on other peoples post so that it doesn’t appear to be a generic or spam comment,
NOW ABOUT THOSE LIKES
Yep you guessed it! HASHTAGS! and of course those beautiful aesthetic photos your going to post with your new presets and remember great and interesting content is key and the more you engage with your followers, It will keep them coming back and hitting that little heart.
NOW WHAT NOT TO DO
DO NOT BUY FOLLOWERS! (this will only increase your chances of IG analytics catching on and deleting those fake accounts) besides if you buy followers, you aren’t going to get those “likes” also, don’t be a spammer (It’s really annoying when people do that and most likely aren’t going to give you a shout out for doing it) Just Another thing I recently learned, Oh and don’t always “Repost” other peoples posts (You don’t want to lose your sense of style and personality on your own Instagram) Remember you’re sharing YOUR life NOT someone else’s. I can’t promise you’ll become “FAMOUS” But, I can promise you that if you are authentic and post great content, over time you will build a following and make some great friends along the way.
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