With more than 500 million active accounts worldwide and 80% of these accounts following a business profile, Instagram is surely a viable platform to advertise your business.

Just like other social media platforms, you need to exert effort in increasing your organic followers in order to convert them into sales.

Promoting your business in Instagram is more than just numbers. Yes, we want to brag about the high number of followers our account has but if these followers aren’t real ones then it will lose its purpose.

In an ever-changing landscape of business advertising where the internet now becomes the main platform of advertising, it is but necessary to know about the different ways to genuinely increase your Instagram following.

In this post, we will be giving you some tips on how to increase your IG followers.

Tips on how to Gain Massive Following for Your Business in Instagram

First thing you should know is that this is a process… and it needs effort.

So, don’t feel frustrated if you don’t get overnight results. If you want to get significant results, then your move must be planned and well thought of.

Gaining massive followers in Instagram is a combination of science, creativity, strategy and patience. So if you’ve set yourself on using Instagram to promote your business, then you gotta have all those.

To help you in this marketing strategy, we will outline some tips below that will make your journey easier.

Map out a Marketing Plan

This part is very important. This might be the most painstaking part but after you complete this, it will be easier for you to do your marketing campaign.

Since what we want to do here is to maximize Instagram as a marketing resource for your business, then might as well do it right.

Identify your Brand

The first thing you have to do is identify your brand. What kind of brand do you want to project? What image do you want your clients to see? It is important to identify this because all your content must align with it.

It wouldn’t be consistent if you post amateur photos but want to project that your brand is high end, right? Ponder on it.

Know your target audience

Next, who are your target audience? This is where marketing segmentation comes in. When you do marketing segmentation, you have to consider these categories: Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral.

These categories can be divided further into sub-segments. For instance, the geographic category talks about places and regions. The demographic categories refer to age, gender, civil status, pay level and etc. On the other hand, the Psychographic category is divided into social class, interest, attitudes and personality. Lastly, the Behavioral Category refers to client’s possible response based on events, seasons and occasions.

Narrow down your target audience and craft your marketing plan based on that target.

Create your Content

Once you have completed your marketing plan, you will be using it as a guide on the kind of content that you want to produce.

During the earlier stages, you can do some experimental posting and see what content your audiences like. Once you have determined their “taste”, then start working on creating content that will satisfy it.

This first step is essentially the part where you have to use your brain cells a lot but no need to worry because once you completed this part, the rest will go smoothly.

Post Consistently

Now it’s time to talk about posting your content.

In this tip, it is important to point out the difference between posting consistently and excessively.

Imagine following a business account and they post content successively. Won’t you feel annoyed? That’s why businesses must always remember not to post bulk photos at one time.

You can post content once a day or you can do it every 3-4 hours, depending on the availability of your content.

Just make sure that the content you will post is high quality and compliant to the standards you have set. Do not commit the mistake of posting content for the sake of posting. Quality over quantity.

But just don’t let your followers miss you. You cannot just go MIA.

So the keyword in this tip: CONSISTENCY.

Be Interactive

Gone are the days where audiences are just mere receivers of content. Be interactive. Engage them in your content and convince them to give a portion of their time to you.

Call to Action

One way to be interactive is to include a Call to Action in your post. For example, “Don’t forget to hit the heart button” or “Double tap the picture if you agree.” Or if you share an inspiring quote, your call to action can be “Tag a friend who needs this!” You can even ask questions to solicit answers from your followers.

Solicit Content from Audiences

You can also solicit content from your audience. You can conduct a contest asking them to send entries and use an official hashtag.

Respond to Messages and Comments

Take time to respond to their messages or comments. Make your clients feel that there is someone behind the profile. Replying to their messages and comments adds warmth to your account. You can create a connection with them. This will make them feel closer to you as this gives them a personal sense of engagement. If they can spare their precious time for you, you must be willing to do the same.

Maximize the use of #s

Well, hashtags are more than just some annoying phrases teenagers use nowadays.

In business, it has significant use. Through hashtags, potential clients can be directed to your profile. That’s why it is important to know the right hashtags to use.

Use the Right Hashtag

In order to do this, you have to:

• Comply all the popular hashtags used in your niche
• Choose 30 hashtags. IG only allows you to do 30 hashtags per post. It can be a mixture of high performing and low performing hashtags. This can give you higher exposure.
• Know what the hashtag for the day is. Try to use it and pair it with a relevant content.
• Think of three sets of 30 hashtags and use it alternatively.

Create a Branded Hashtag and Cross-Promote it

You can also use a branded hashtag. This hashtag must be unique to your brand. But don’t wait for this hashtag to be discovered. You have to cross-promote your hashtag so that people will be aware of it.

You can include the hashtag in your offline materials or promote it in your other social media accounts. This way, more and more people will be able to associate this hashtag with your brand.

Use hashtag in IG Stories

It is also advisable that you use hashtag in your IG stories. Out of the more than 500 million active IG user, around 400 million of them uses IG Stories. Therefore, it is a platform within a platform.

Think of a Creative Hashtag

And on another important note, make sure that you have a creative hashtag. Think of something fun, witty and engaging. Be anything other than boring.

If you want to catch someone’s attention, being boring should be the last one on your list.

 

Know your competitors

Just like what the popular saying goes, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Though your competitors are not your enemies per se, it always helps to keep an eye on them.

You have to check their profile every now and then and check what they’re up to. Try to analyze their marketing strategy as well. This will be very helpful to know if you’re not getting left behind. Also, this will make you consider your strengths and weaknesses and work around it.

You can even try to engage some of their followers by following them, liking their photos or even commenting on it. These followers are already potential clients since they are already showed interest with the product (just not yours).

So to turn this around, you can try to do the three tips mentioned earlier (follow, like, comment) and get the chance to make them your clients.

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Trying to get a massive following in Instagram is not something you can do by just posting random things.

As emphasized earlier, the creation of a marketing plan is very vital to guide you and your team as you fare through the journey of increasing your Instagram followers.

This plan will serve as a reference on whether the other activities you are doing is consistent to the brand image that you like to project. This can also help you narrow down your options as to what content you need to create and if it is fit for the audience you have in mind.

The tips following the marketing plan are just some of the concrete actions you can do to realize your marketing goals. However, it is not limited to just that.

Since social media, including Instagram, is changing from time to time, then it would help if you get yourself updated with the latest trends and try to keep up.