How can you run one of those successful profiles on Instagram?
Does a high number of followers, likes, reach, interaction or conversion rate matter that much?
Of course, but that is not the only thing to track when it comes to growing your profile on this famous platform. Before you start with how, where and what, you should establish the main purpose of your profile, whether selling products or services or just raising your profile.
So, where should you start?
- Finding the right fit when it comes to ‘THE LOOK’
When you start anew with an Instagram profile, the first thing you should put in place is branding and creating the overall outlook for your page. The colour, font and even the main quote must carry your voice.
- Organization is key
Make a good calendar on: Google Docs, Google sheets, Word, Excel or any other convenient tools that can help you put your schedule on a visible page, sometimes even a good notebook and pen can do the magic, but you can always try the tech-savvy way.
- Backup plan: storage
Sometimes things can turn upside down and all of your work can be lost since Instagram is more visual than anything else try to store your images in Dropbox or perhaps Google Drive. Always be prepared is the motto to go by!
- Do your research
Analysing competition is a good approach to compare other profiles in your niche and get ideas. Some Instagram profiles have been in this business longer and we can always learn a bit more from who and what our competition is doing. This is a good way to learn what you want to do and what you don’t.
- Content is a must
Content is the main goal here! Post good pictures often and try to have good captions that can reel your followers and even non-followers in. The best posting hours can be from noon and it’s good if you can post at least three posts a week. And trust us that this point is by far the most important.
Hardly anyone will want to follow a profile with irregular updates and content that is not in any way relevant or entertaining. Besides, good quality images can also be a great way to pull in your non-followers towards your content. Get that good lighting and try to make your photos sharp and bright!
The best advice that we can pull out for you is that you should try to put yourself in your target group and find out which content excites them. Find your fans and grow your community!
- Smart use of hashtags
Now, this part is a hassle. Sometimes your new followers will usually find you via hashtag search. Therefore you should always think carefully about what kind of terms you would like to use to label your photos. This is why the captions are also important when you put the photo, caption and hashtags all together you should get an Instagram post that makes sense.
Besides, on Instagram, it depends more on the quality and not the quantity of what you put out there. Also, a good trick to know is that there are many helpful tools for hashtag research.
- Participation
Instagram is full of quick hacks that you can use to entertain your follower base. You should try to make monthly giveaways to show your appreciation or create highlights behind the scenes where your followers can learn more about what you do. An important thing to not forget is to communicate and ask for feedback and you can learn where you should apply some improvements.
- Instagram BIO
You would think that this step is not important, but in fact, it’s crucial really. The first thing a person wants to know when they first meet you is - who you are. This is why we give out a bit of that main info about us so that they could paint a picture of who we are, and this is the same tactic that we use in business. This is precisely why its crucial to spend some time thinking about your bio and how you want to present your Instagram page to your followers.
- Connecting and sharing
When your profile starts growing you will get more opportunities even collaborations from the people who are in the same business as you. This is also a great opportunity for you to help another business grow by sharing their tagged posts of your work or in general. The favour goes both ways and it’s profitable for both parties.
- Track your progress
Not a lot of people remember that progress must be followed too. Your page will start to grow, but how will you know when it boosted up a bit and where you improved.
Our thoughts
To get straight to the point, learning how to be successful on Instagram isn’t just about your follower count, likes or shares. Instead, success will find you by engaging with your audiences, learning from your mistakes and quality content.
It might seem like it’s a big leap of faith and that it’s all too overwhelming to think about, but ensuring a successful outcome for your Instagram page is down to planning and a good strategy.
That’s why we have put together these 10 steps as a highly effective guide on how to be handy with your first Instagram page.
To find out how we can help with your content marketing efforts, please get in touch or find out more here.
