Instagram is a hot Social Media network in 2018 with over 1 billion users across the world enjoying this platform. In fact, there are 400 million daily active users of Instagram Stories alone! Pretty incredible right?
It is no wonder that as business owners we are all looking for the ‘secrets’ to growing our Instagram following quickly, increasing engagement, and getting a flood of Instagram-driven sales in as little time as possible.
But, is there really a secret to these incredible results?
Today, I’d like to show you another perspective. In my professional opinion, as an Instagram Marketing specialist, I’d like to share with you the 7 habits that you need to have if you want to enjoy the benefits of a fast-growing Instagram account.
Habit 1: Only Share Your Best Content
It can be tempting to post the first photo or video about your business that you can find in your phone’s camera roll but trust me, it is much more important that you only share your best content to your Instagram feed.
On Instagram, your entire ‘grid’ of content tells one story about your brand, and if you can carefully create and curate your photos and videos you are going to get much better results from your efforts.
If you can go a step further and make sure that all of your content is edited the same way (or follows the same colour palette) you will notice that you will gain new Instagram followers a lot easier.
This is a great habit to get into if you want to have a fast-growing Instagram account.
PRO TIP: If you are a product-based business and you have a small budget for photography and content creation, you could speak to some brands with a similar target market and a complementary product to collaborate on a content shoot and split the costs. This is a great way to save money, get great content for Instagram, and grow your Instagram by tagging each other in your content when posted.
Habit 2: Change Your Hashtags Regularly
Just like the clothes you wear, it is important to change your hashtags regularly. On Instagram, you can have up to 30 hashtags linked to each individual Instagram post, and those 30 hashtags will help your content to be discovered by your ideal customers and clients.
Ideally, you need to have 3-4 different ‘sets’ of 30 Instagram hashtags so that you can easily rotate your lists each time you go to post. That way, you won’t accidentally use the same hashtag set two days in a row!
By using different hashtags you’ll maximise the chance of gaining new followers each time you post to Instagram, how fantastic is that? Now you’re on your way to a fast-growing Instagram account!
You can use an app like Plann to research and organise your hashtag lists.
Habit 3: Post to Instagram Stories Daily
If you want to keep your Instagram followers coming back for more (and increase the chances that your brand stays top-of-mind) you need to get into the habit of posting to Instagram Stories daily.
The best types of Instagram Stories content to share for a fast-growing Instagram account are:
- Behind-the-Scenes of your product creation, team fun, and your founder answering interesting questions from your Instagram community
- Testimonials, video reviews and user-generated content
- Sneak peeks of upcoming launches and sales
- Exclusive Instagram Stories discount codes and offers
Habit 4: Socialise with Other Instagram Users
One important habit for a fast-growing Instagram account is taking the time out each day to socialise with other Instagram users.
The easiest way to get into this habit is to go through your hashtags from your last Instagram feed post and leaving comments and likes on the content that has been posted to that hashtag. You may want to go through a few of the hashtags to make sure that you engage with at least 15 profiles per day.
To increase engagement on future posts you can leave likes and comments on the content posted by the users who ‘liked’ your previous Instagram post. This is likely to get their attention and remind them to come back to your Instagram profile.
Habit 5: Respond to Comments Quickly
Another fantastic habit for a fast-growing Instagram account is responding to comments quickly.
I know it can be tempting to post something new to your Instagram feed and then immediately close the app and continue on with your daily tasks, but actually taking the time to hang around and respond to the comments that are left on your new piece of content will help you to move your post higher in the algorithm so that more of your existing followers will see your new content.
What does that mean for you? Well, if your content is ranked ‘higher’ in the Instagram Algorithm there is a higher likelihood that your post will receive good engagement and this will help with brand perception and awareness.
Habit 6: Post to Instagram Regularly
If you truly want a fast-growing Instagram account you must get into the habit of posting to Instagram regularly.
For maximum follower growth, you should post to Instagram at least four times a week, with the best amount being 6 times per week.
Habit 7: Write Attention-Grabbing Captions
The final habit that you must have for a fast-growing Instagram account is consistently writing and sharing attention-grabbing captions.
On Instagram, attention is fleeting and it is easy to scroll right past an Instagram caption that looks a little too boring to read completely.
The main element of your Instagram caption to think about is the opening sentence, or the first few words if you write shorter captions. You need to write something that is tempting to your Instagram followers and encourages them to stay and read the full caption.
Here’s a quick example of the difference between an attention-grabbing start, and something more easy to skip over:
GOOD CAPTION START
Does moisturiser REALLY make a difference to the skin?
BORING CAPTION START
Have you tried our ____ moisturiser? It is great!
Once you are in the habit of writing attention-grabbing captions like this you are sure to see your Instagram engagement and following grow.
So, there you have it! Now you know the 7 habits for a fast-growing Instagram account. Put these habits to the test and try them out for the next month and come back to let us know your results.
