Interested in Instagram growth hacks for your business marketing? I’ve got 7 that I think many are missing!
Instagram has become a powerful social media marketing tool in the past 1.5 years and is really posed to be the #1 go-to platform potentially in the next 2 years. Yes, it may surpass parent Facebook in users and particularly in engaged users. The key is that what works best on Instagram to grow and engage the right audience that is relevant to your business is not necessarily the regular news feed posts. Let’s dive into the 7 hacks!
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VIDEO PODCAST: 7 Instagram Growth Hacks
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7 Instagram Growth Hacks for Business Marketers
What’s working now on Instagram?
As I stated,
Instagram has become a powerful social media marketing tool in the past 1.5 years and is really posed to be the #1 go-to platform potentially in the next 2 years. Yes, it may surpass parent Facebook in users and particularly in engaged users.
The key is that what works best on Instagram to grow and engage the right audience that is relevant to your business is not necessarily the regular news feed posts. Some of the best ways to grow your audience, reach the right type of potential customers, and connect with them happen via Stories and hashtags!
Here are 7 free Instagram hacks for business marketers to use…1. Use Stories, and use them with a Hashtag and a Gif
Stories and being viewed more and more, and are soon surpassing the views of the news feed on Instagram (and even on Facebook!). So we need to use Stories more! On those Stories, when it is a photo always include a hashtag and a Gif. On a video, a Gif is optional, but include a hashtag. This extends the reach of your Story and makes your Story discoverable by those following that hashtag. The Gif helps catch the eye of the user, grabs their attention and engages them more.
2.Find Followers using the Hashtag Search
People you want to reach will be following and commenting on posts with hashtags that are important to your product/service/business. So use the app search function to find the volume of uses of various hashtags. This tells you what hashtags are popular. By using popular hashtags relevant to your product/service/business you have the opportunity to get discovered and followed.
3. Find Relevant Hashtags with the Hashtag Search “Related” Tags Feature
When looking at hashtags, be sure to use the “Related” tags feature that will give you ideas on new hashtags to use that might be relevant to you. This will give you good tags that are “cousins” or close by options you may not have thought of that you should be usings in your posts and in finding your right audience to engage with. (More on the engagement below!)
4. Grow Awareness of your Instagram User via Engaging on Hashtags
You can “Follow” a hashtag in the search feature. This means posts using that hashtag come up in your Instagram news feed and this gives you easy access to content posted by others using that hashtag. For example, I do marketing for a business in Lancaster, PA with the relevant hashtag #lancasterpa. I can follow that hashtag, peruse content and find people that I think would be good followers and potential customers, and then follow them, like their content, or comment on their content (or all 3) and quickly get on their radar.
5. Use OPC and Post to your Stories
You want great content and you want to use Stories, so you can use posts by others (OPC = Other People’s Content) and share them to your own Stories. This works great for quotes, local scene, local news, etc. Give shoutouts to others and more. It’s a way of having more content that is of value to your audience.
Find this content to share via hashtags. It can be brands you want to shout-out or you can share the content of people you want to get the attention of in hopes that they follow you (By sharing their content you bring awareness of your account to that user).
6. Spend Time Commenting / Using Emoji’s on Stories to get noticed by people in your target arena
A big item often overlooked for Instagram success is engagement. This is how you get on the map and get “known” by users and it builds credibility and relationship. It’s often overlooked as a growth tool but it is one! Do exactly what I outline, spend time commenting via words or emoji’s ON STORIES to get noticed by people in your ideal arena. These engagements are sent as Direct Messages (DM’s) to the user and this really builds a connection and gets you on their radar fast. They are way more likely to follow you because of this so spend a few minutes each day going to a hashtag and going to the Stories of relevant users in the hashtag and engage with them! You might be amazed by the results!
7. Set your Instagram Stories to Auto-post to your Facebook Page Stories!
This is really a Facebook Page hack but it starts with Instagram. Stories are exploding in views on both platforms so get ahead of the curve on Facebook by sharing your Insta Stories to Facebook! Go to your “Settings” area in Instagram, then the Privacy and Security area. Scroll down to “Story Controls” and within it, scroll down and select “Share your Story to Facebook”.
This is a simple way to get Stories to your Facebook Page and be seen more on Facebook than you will by posts to the news feed alone!
It’s all about adapting, watching, and learning and maximizing the tools you are given! These are all free hacks that cost you nothing but a bit of time and can help grow your Instagram account with relevant, engaged users that can be nurtured to one day become customers for life!
That’s a wrap this time!
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