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Growing your Instagram Presence

Updated over 4 years ago

Below are the factors to take into consideration when looking to grow a presence on Instagram.

Planning

  • Evaluation

    • Review which previously posted content has performed best

    • Evaluate how closely those photos and captions align with brand ethos

    • Study current tactics of your top 3 competitors to gather data around their engagement metrics, frequently used hashtags, timing and frequency of posting, and content types

  • Creation of Brand Aesthetic

    • Post within a general brand aesthetic that includes:

      • Publishing of consistent high-quality photos (this allows your audience to know what to expect from your brand and feed)

      • Create product-focused “content stories” across feed to show consistency, boost product familiarity with followers, and to allow hero products/new items enough time to shine

  • Creation of Brand Voice

    • Create consistency of brand voice by:

      • Keeping caption length the same across the board (ie. long, detailed captions, short “to-the-point” captions, etc.)

      • Utilize on-brand words & phrases to sprinkle throughout captions and boost familiarity

      • Create unique & interactive CTA’s that call followers to share their own experiences with the product

Creating Excitement

  • Launch Exclusive Content
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    • Exclusive content should be launched through influencers as teasers, influencers then direct followers to the brand channels for full details

  • Story Takeovers
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    • Contract influencers to create exclusive stories featuring the brand’s product to be posted on the brand’s Instagram. Influencers can then direct their followers to the brand’s page to view never-before-seen content & boost follower acquisition.

Building A Sense Of Community

  • Engage and Interact with Users
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    • Like and respond to comments when appropriate

    • Comment on users’ posts featuring the brand’s product to demonstrate their content is being viewed and supported by the brand

  • Create a Brand Hashtag (potentially different from your campaign hashtag) that people can use whenever they share related content
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    • Add the brand hashtag to the bio section of your Instagram account and encourage your audience to include it with your @mention in the caption when they share content (i.e. Share your [Brand] moments with [@brandname] and #BrandHashtag)

  • Feature User-Generated Content on Feed and in Stories
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    • When repurposing content, tag the user in the caption and on the photo

      • This not only provides the user credit but will likely result in them sharing the post in stories, where their followers can click through to your post

Misc.

  • Post Consistency (1-3 times per day)
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    • There is typically a relationship between the number of times you post and the number of followers you gain. One of the best and easiest ways to grow your account is to push out fresh content on a consistent basis (4-6 days a week)
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      • The more content you publish, the higher the chance new users have to become followers and come across your account

  • Capitalize on Key Moments

    • Holidays

    • Relevant breaking industry news

    • Aligned events/conferences

  • Utilize Relevant Industry Hashtags: in the caption of your post or in the comment section
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    • This can help improve engagement on that particular post and promote content discovery

  • Review Instagram Analytics: to find optimal content and days/times to post

    • Instagram’s business account insights provide valuable information relating to your overall account, follower demographics, and specific content
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      • Analyze the Content tab to see what content has performed the best in the past year

        • If you notice there are certain types of posts that tend to receive higher engagement, try posting more content that is similar

      • Analyze the Followers section within the Audience tab to see what day and times your followers are most active

        • When possible, post content on those days and during the hours that your followers are most active

  • Boost Best Performing Content

    • Due to Instagram limiting the organic reach of content, using Instagram advertising is a great way to give your best performing content a boost and get it in front of a larger audience that has the potential to become followers

    • Be sure to boost to a target audience that aligns with any other ad spend targeting

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