Most people can die for having more followers. Not only on Instagram, but virtually on every social media channel; we know it’s important to understand social media. Why? Actually, “social media” doesn’t exist anymore, what you have is just “media” and “social” is a part of that. So, “media” is the content and the culture we all soak in, similarly “social” is community; it’s connections and insight. Therefore, it is important for brands and marketers to understand how Instagram works.
Instagram remains one of the largest social media channels to date. It offers great opportunities and it’s also source of learning to build community and legacy, for an individual personal brand as well as for a large business house. Let’s read this article to know how to navigate Instagram, and how to attract more followers.
- Find a strategy
It’s important to understand that building a community is more important than having millions of followers. Your community plays a huge role in every piece of creative you produce; it should be the fulcrum of your entire strategy. Always remember: if you want to be a winner, you have to think about “them” because business is essentially a “them” game. Do these tactical things to grow your Instagram presence.
What is $1.80 Strategy?
The $1.80 Strategy is a marketing strategy on Instagram that was coined by outspoken entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. This strategy pushes users to focus on a set of targeted hashtags which are being used by their loyal followers, and even clients who leave genuine comments on the most recent posts under those respective hashtags. It’s an attempt to raise brand awareness to the content’s creator. And if it sounds simple to you, that’s because it is.
- Know Your Audience
So, now you have a strategy in place, it’s time to plan who you want to target. Begin with the big picture, the basic psychology of your target audience, and then add layers. Try to understand your brand, who do you represent? Study the lingo they use, their unique style, and of course the hashtags they use. The most important element is hashtags because they can help you to identify your audience. In fact, they can also help you discover communities and gain insights into the behaviours of that audience.
- Be Real
Authenticity is primordial. In the simple language, why put on a show? It’s better to be authentic and real in categories you’re willing to be so. What I think is more important is, you don’t have to be in every conversation. There are people who aren’t even present on social media because they just don’t want their business out there. If that is the case’–okay, so don’t.
Your content should focus on what you want, and you should be upfront about your experiences and expertise. It’s quite possible to get away even without being authentic for a while, but in the end, you may lose the community you’ve built.
- Relevant and Consistent Content
Finally, it’s time to put out content. Your content should be relevant and consistent. It should directly address to your community. An ideal example to do that is to follow the 79/21 rule and monitor how your community behaves on other channels. Once you know that, you’re ready to post. What is more important to remember? If you are not sure whether your content is, “good” or not, don’t worry. Well! Good is subjective. Just post it!
- If Content is Important, Context is Equally Important
It’s not as if only content is important, context is even more important. Have you ever thought why you post something on LinkedIn, and not on TikTok. Similarly, if you think of posting content in some new exciting social channel, why you prefer a certain CoNnEcTd over Helo? Whatever you post? It has to be contextual to that platform. People forget that great content is based on context.
- Promote Your Account
There are essentially two ways to promote your Instagram page. The best way is through organic reach where you can use the $1.80 strategy. If you’re posting meaningful comments under relevant hashtags and content, your content is more likely to get likes, views, and appear in search.
Another way to promote your Instagram account is to opt for paid services. There are innumerable ways to use influencers and community groups–just reach out. You can begin by sponsoring some of their content and ask about how much they would charge to promote your page/products. You’ll soon discover, while some influencers are underpriced there are some who are overpriced. So, it’s important to do your research to find the most suitable influencer.
However, always avoid fake followers because they offer no value to your brand. Although it may seem convenient to buy followers, the new bots only compromise your page’s credibility. Nobody wants to visit an inactive page with tens of thousands of followers. Bots aren’t supposed to like, share, or engage with your content, and they’ll likely get removed when Instagram does a sweep. Just do without them.