30. Create a branded hashtag. Come up with a hashtag and encourage your followers to use it. This encourages your fans to engage with your brand, and increases your visibility at the same time.
31. Share behind-the-scenes photos. Candid photos convey the personality behind your brand. Share images that show there are real people behind your logo.
32. Invite a guest to post on your account. If you have connections with an influential Instagrammer, consider asking him or her to guest post on your account. This is a surefire strategy for sending your engagement through the roof; not to mention all the new followers you’ll receive.
33. Share user-generated images. Re-share your followers images, especially ones where they’ve mentioned your product(s). This will encourage others to share photos of your products as well.
34. Consider canning the filters. Some
research suggests that images with no filters get the most engagement.
35. Promote your Instagram account to your email subscribers. Periodically share an image in your newsletter and link it up to your Instagram account.
36. Promote your Instagram username on your physical marketing materials: signs, car decals, product sheets, etc.
37. Follow all your Facebook friends on Instagram, and many will follow you back. To do this, simply go to your Instagram profile and click on the 3 dots icon on the top right of your screen. Select ‘Find Friends’ and then ‘Find friends on Facebook’.
39. Tell a story. Use your image captions to tell an engaging story.
Storytelling helps create an emotional connection to your brand or product, and including a captivating story is much more likely to get your image shared.
40. If you’ve been at a live event and have taken photos, tag well-known Instagrammers for increased visibility and sharing.
41. Use
Iconosquare (formerly Statigram) to track the growth of your account. Find out which images resonate best with your audience and post them more often.
42. Use a photo editing tool like
Aviary to crop your images, add frames or effects, or to just generally make your photos pop!
43. Use the word ‘like’ in your captions. Some
research suggests these get 89% more likes.
44. Plan, prepare and then act. As with most things in life, being intentional is your best chance at success. Make a plan for how you’re going to use Instagram, then create a schedule to keep yourself on track.
45. Post image quotes. Image quotes on social media are huge. Overlay motivational, inspirational or humorous quotes over your images using a tool like
Canva.
46. Connect your Instagram account with your contact list. Click on the 3 dots button at the top right of your screen, and select ‘Find friends’ to connect to your email contact list.
47. Network with Instagram influencers. Search for hashtags relevant to your business, and pinpoint users with high follower counts and engagement. Leave thoughtful comments on their posts, and start developing relationships. You never know where these connections will lead!
48. Use a tool like
Crowdfire to analyze how your Instagram posts affect your follower/unfollower stats.
49. Arrange co-promotions with other users. Find users in a complimentary niche who have a similar follower count and arrange for mentions or shout outs to help build each other’s audience.
Remember that having a large number of followers is useless if you don’t take the time to really engage and interact. And in the end,
converting followers to customers is the real goal. These 50 tips will help you build your audience and facilitate lasting engagement with your followers that leads to conversions over time.