How to grow your instagram 2017
11 Ways to Grow your Instagram You Can’t Miss in 2022
Want to learn how to grow your Instagram?
You should! Instagram reached TWO BILLION monthly active users in December 2021. That’s doubled since June 2018!
And they’re not just broke college kids: 60% of active Instagram users earn $100K and above.
Of course, you won’t be alone in trying to reach an audience on Instagram. 71% of U.S. businesses market on Instagram, including 90 of the world’s top 100 brands.
80% of IGers follow brands – but how can you stand out and get them to follow your business?
Follow these top 11 ways to get more Instagram followers – organically!
Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase.
1 | Create a compelling Instagram profile
What do IGers see when they visit your account? Your bio!
Is it clear what you offer, and why they’d want to follow you?
As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression. When someone visits your profile, they’ll decide in seconds whether or not to follow your account.
Make sure your Instagram profile picture matches up with your other accounts, so people recognize you.
If your business name isn’t well-known like IKEA or Nike, add a few keywords to your name to clarify your niche.
You only have 150 characters for your bio! I recommend bullet points that communicate at a glance.
Feel free to set them off with emojis. An emoji can communicate a lot in a single character.
Want to learn more about this step?
READ: How to Make an Awesome Instagram Profile for Business
2 | Curate a beautiful gallery
Know what else IGers see on your profile?
Your last few posts!
Instagram is a highly visual platform, and users are discerning. You can’t just post any old thing that you might get away with on another platform.
Create your brand story:
- Decide on a visual theme you’ll use to represent your brand.
- Make sure your photos will provide value to your followers.
- Use your products to tell a story that will be of interest to your audience.
Because of the grid gallery on your profile page, it’s critical that you develop and follow a themed look or style. This gallery is going to communicate at a glance what your account is about – or just look like a mishmash of swiped content and reposts.
Create your brand content:
- Use your business colors, fonts, and photography style.
- Use high resolution photos and third-party editing apps to enhance your photos.
- Use Instagram filters, third-party filters, or no filter as appropriate to your brand.
- You can also try apps to add text to photos for a consistent look.
- Product images should feature the product prominently in the picture.
- Utilize Instagram video for more creative storytelling.
Who crushes this for graphics? Elevate It Now.
Check out Mónica’s consistency in colors and feel.
Now take a look at Kyoko Lily‘s purely photography-based account.
Her followers grow by leaps and bounds due to her gorgeous consistency (plus she is generous with engagement, see tip 11).
For fabulous graphic+photo branding, see Nicte Creative Design.
Note the consistency of colors, plus a fun and energetic style that helps you decide instantly if this account fits your style.
And don’t forget to brand those Stories Highlights, too! You can see these gals haven’t.
Don’t know what to post on Instagram?
READ: 24 Instagram Post Ideas You Can Steal Right Now
3 | Post Instagram Reels
Not familiar with Reels? They’re 15 to 30 seconds clips that are set to music. They can be shared in the Stories and Explore Feeds – plus there’s a new dedicated Reels tab.
Reels are the newest feature on IG – and Instagram loves to maximize reach for its latest additions.
In fact, they’ve even been advising IGers who want to grow their accounts to use them 4 to 7 times a week.
With the trending and popular accounts feature, you have a chance to reach a totally new audience. They’re also easy to access in the same way as IGTV.
Ready to roll?
READ: How to Make a Reel on Instagram – It’s Easy!
4 | Use Instagram Stories – and keep ‘em coming!
Stories are a fun and effective way to stand out.
Instagram pushes Stories out, both at the top of the home page, and again throughout the feed.
They don’t want IGers to miss them, so take advantage!
Your Story will be bumped to the front of the line each time you add to it, so keep those updates coming. At least a couple a day – even better, every couple hours.
Don’t forget to curate your best Stories into themed Highlights you’ll show on your profile, under your bio.
Don’t know how to use Stories? Find Instagram Stories ideas for business here:
READ: This Is Why You Need To Use Instagram Stories Right Now
5 | Choose the best Instagram hashtags
I can’t overstate the importance of using hashtags with your posts and Stories.
Hashtags really help your account get discovered.
But they have to be the right hashtags! Use a mix of brand-specific, industry-specific, and trending hashtags.
Should you use 3 or 30? In the caption or a comment?
You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers.
READ: How to Use Hashtags on Instagram for Explosive Growth
6 | Don’t forget to geotag
Here’s another way for your posts and Stories to be found! If you’re at a popular location, tag the location. IGers perusing that geotag will find your post there as well.
Posts with a tagged location result in 79% higher engagement than posts without a tagged location.
That’s the easiest engagement you’ll ever get!
7 | Craft an engaging caption
Now that you’ve got an awesome post or Story, be sure to get engagement on it, or it’ll just fizzle away.
Tell followers about your experience on a topic, and ask theirs.
Post an inspirational quote and ask if they agree with it.
Ask questions that encourage comments.
And don’t forget to respond to those comments! If you don’t want to engage on social media, you’re in the wrong place.
Ready for more caption inspiration?
READ: How to Write Instagram Captions that Grab More Likes
8 | Post at the best times for engagement
Check your own analytics to see what works best for your account. Every account and audience is different!
As a general rule, the best days to post on Instagram are weekdays, with posts published on Tuesday and Wednesday getting the highest engagement.
Posting to Instagram from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. results in good engagement for brands.
Interactions on posts peaks between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m, with a lot of audience activity between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. when people get off work.
Want the deets to figure out your own best times?
READ: What’s the Best Time to Post on Instagram 2022
Wish it were easier? Try Tailwind!
Tailwind will analyze your audience engagement and pick the best times for your account.
Just decide how many times you want to post per day, and let Tailwind set up a Smart Schedule for you.
Load your photos and videos with your captions. Use Tailwind’s Hashtag Finder to add the perfect array of hashtags to attract your best audience.
Sit back and let Tailwind post to Instagram at the best time, every time!
• • • Click here to try Tailwind for Instagram Forever FREE Plan • • •
Disclosure: If you upgrade to a paid plan, I’ll earn a referral fee.
9 | Post consistently
I know this can be tough. You’ve got a lot on your plate.
But you really need to post daily or your engagement will suffer.
Poor engagement means IG will show your posts less often.
Less new people will discover your posts, and it’s all downhill from there.
Check out the free post ideas linked above, or use a tool like my Your Social Plan to come up with a content plan.
Set aside a day to create a couple week’s worth of posts.
Schedule it up in an approved scheduler that posts to Instagram directly for you.
Then, just return to engage with your comments.
Tailwind app studied over 100,000 Instagram posts to uncover how successful different accounts were when they changed the number of times they post to Instagram each day.
Those that increased their rate of posting over the three month study saw a significant increase in their engagement rate, and enjoyed higher follower growth rates too!
Optimal: post at least once daily.
Tailwind for Instagram offers a Free Forever plan with no credit card required.
Try it out now!
• • • Click here to try Tailwind for Instagram FREE • • •
Disclosure: If you upgrade to a paid plan, I’ll earn a referral fee.
10 | Post user-generated content
Running out of post ideas? Get your audience to help!
Encourage your followers to create videos, photos, and GIFs with your products, or post a testimonial of your services.
Create a branded hashtag that can showcase all user-generated content for your brand. You can feature this on your bio too!
It’s a smart way to increase your brand awareness and get more content too.
Buffer grew their Instagram following by 442%, largely by sharing user-generated content. They posted relevant photos that their followers had clicked along with their Instagram handles.
Take the best user content from around the web and feature it on your own Instagram while giving credit to the original creator. (Best to get express permission first).
Tailwind app can help you with this, too!
Regram photos immediately from anywhere with their browser extension.
Try Tailwind regramming for free now!
• • • Click here to try Tailwind for Instagram FREE • • •
Disclosure: If you upgrade to a paid plan, I’ll earn a referral fee.
11 | Like and comment to grow organically
This should be obvious, but it isn’t.
Get social with your followers, and those you hope to become followers, posts!
It’s quite amazing how often I see accounts of mediocre quality with hundreds of likes on their posts. Even into the thousands!
And how did I find these accounts in the first place? They dropped by my gallery and “liked” 10 or more of my posts.
Or maybe they liked a few and left a genuine comment on one.
THIS is truly the best way to make people aware of your account, and get new followers.
Why? Because it’s social media!
People are there to be social, and to engage with people who show an interest in them – not just in selling stuff to them.
So, go find the followers of your competitors and get engaged.
Engage to your heart’s content!
- Like and comment popular photos. Mention both creator and other commenters.
- Follow the 5/3/1 rule to find engage and gain new followers!
- Like five photos, comment on three photos, and as a result you should earn one new follower.
The WORST way to grow your Instagram
Want to kill your Instagram account?
Automate liking, commenting, and follow/unfollowing.
You know all those irrelevant “cool!” “awesome!” “check out our profile!” comments you get on your posts?
Or the insistent following and unfollowing by certain accounts?
Those are brought to you by bots.
They’re not only super annoying to users, but they also violate Instagram’s Terms of Use and could get your account shut down.
And even if you don’t get caught – these followers are much less likely to engage, crushing your posts in the Instagram ranking algorithm.
A few years ago I tested a service that followed targeted IGers manually with real VAs.
My engagement rate tanked and never recovered. I eventually abandoned that account.
Followers aren’t the be-all and end-all! Engaged followers are.
Please use the top 11 tips above.
They are proven to increase engagement and followers! You really need both.
How to Grow your Instagram Account: Conclusion
Theories and myths abound on how to grow your Instagram.
The 11 tips above have been proven by research to actually work!
Pin the reminder infographic to Pinterest, and revisit this post to review.
Make your Instagram marketing easy by using Tailwind!
- Schedule photos and videos directly to your Instagram feed with Auto Post.
- Optimize every post for more engagement with SmartSchedule and Hashtag Finder.
- Regram photos immediately from anywhere with the browser extension.
- Automatically hide your Instagram hashtags in the first comment to keep your caption clean and clutter-free.
- Make your posts more discoverable with user tagging & location tagging.
- Analyze what’s working across every post and profile with smart analytics.
You can try Tailwind for Instagram now, no credit card required.
Or…
Grab their FREE Guide to 10K Instagram Followers!
It’ll give you the tips, tools, and templates you need to get real followers in 2022.
Disclosure: If you upgrade to a paid plan, I’ll earn a referral fee.
Got more tips, or questions on how to grow your Instagram? Let me know in a comment!
11 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Instagram Followers
Ahh Instagram. With over 1 billion monthly active users, it’s definitely a well-loved social media outlet (for comparison, the population of the US is over 325 million…!). Having a larger Instagram following can mean more sales for your business, more views on your blog, and a stronger community for your brand. But how in the world do some people have thousands of Instagram followers? (Psst, this incredible tool helped me bring my Instagram to the next level.) Today, I’ve got 11 actionable tips to help you grow your Instagram followers.
I attended an online conference where Susan Petersen (CEO of Freshly Picked) talked about how she grew her Instagram to have almost 400,000 followers. (Today she has over 800,000!) She said that in the early days, she would spend hours liking other people’s photos each night. Her suggestion? Go through and like 5-10 photos on someone’s account. It would also help to leave a genuine comment and give them a follow. This helps to get your name out there and allows other users to discover you. I’d also suggest doing this primarily to users in your niche. How do ya find users in your niche? Check hashtags, or view the followers of your favorite Instagrammers. Overall, be authentic and not spammy — ain’t nobody got time fo’ spam.
Cool, so if you followed #1, people will naturally start to notice your username and may check out your account…give them something to fall in love with! I’ve found that it really helps to create a theme for your Instagram. Write down a few words that you want people to associate with your account.
For mine, I hope people glean that it’s bright, artistic, and full of love. Which words would you use for your account? Once you’ve settled on a theme, try your hardest to stick to it! A few accounts that are killin’ it? Studio DIY, Wonderforest, and Jessica Safko!
Related: How + Why to Create a Style Guide for Your Blog (Free Worksheets!)
It ain’t called social media for nothin’! Respond to the comments you receive and leave comments of your own on others’ work. Rather than something stale like, “cute dress,” try to leave genuine comments and questions that encourage them to post more photos.
This is a great way to build community and gain new content for your account. First of all, create a unique hashtag (make sure it’s not already being used!) and ask others to use it. It works best if the hashtag has a specific purpose. For example, A Beautiful Mess encourages followers to use #ABMLifeIsColorful on all of their colorful, happy photos.
Once people start using your hashtag (and YOU use it, too!), then you can repost images from your followers (giving them proper credit, of course!). Not only does this build community by showing your followers that you appreciate their photos, but it also gives you content for your own account.
Related: The Best Hashtags to Get Your Instagram Noticed + Shared
Hint hint: Wanna learn how to grow your Instagram followers with purpose?
Download my snazzy, FREE workbook and I’ll share my growth tracker, inspiring prompts to get ya thinking about your Insta’s vision and purpose, and strategies on finding better, killer hashtags. You know you want it. 🙂 Click the link below to grab the workbook!
If you have something you’d like to give away, try running a contest. Some ideas? Have users repost a specific image and tag you in the caption. Ask them to follow you. Or invite them to use your hashtag on their own images. You could even try a loop giveaway, if you want to collaborate with other Instagrammers.
Believe it or not, Instagram Stories are rapidly growing in popularity, to over 400 million daily users. Many users even report they love watching Stories more than the endless “scroll” of their feed 😉 Get creative with your Stories. Take your followers behind the scenes and show them the most interesting parts of your day. Ask questions. Use polls, quirky GIFs, and music. Play with filters and Boomerangs. This is an amazing way to start getting comfortable on video and connect with your followers in an even deeper way.
As simple as it may sound, people are more likely to do something if you ask them to do it. Sharing a quote? Ask them to “like” your photo if they agree with it! Sharing something funny or relatable? Ask your followers to tag a friend! Ask open-ended questions! If you put the idea out there, it will encourage your followers to act accordingly.
Posting a photo of that cool restaurant or city you recently visited? Geotag it! That way, other people who used the same geotag can see your photo and potentially follow you since you now have so much in common (like that french toast you both had last weekend).
😉 In case you’re confused, geotagging your photos means you tag it with a location.
Do a little research, yo. Go back through your photos and see which ones got the most likes and comments — and of course, the least. What clicks with your audience and why? How can you incorporate more photos like that into your feed?
Analytics are key here, too, you can use Tailwind to help analyze results, track conversions, and discover new content.
If you have a blog, Twitter, or Facebook, then you might assume your people are already following you on every platform. Hint: they probably aren’t! Share a quick tweet or Facebook post encouraging them to follow you on Instagram…it will reel in more followers than you think. This will help your followers on other networks discover your Instagram account — and proceed to follow you there, too!
Related: Here are 6 ways to grow your blog or business using Twitter.
Think outside the box! Ask another Instagrammer in your niche if you can “take over their account” for the day as a guest contributor.
Instagram Story takeovers are a blast and can dramatically grow your following fast. Or start an Instagram challenge with daily prompts. Ultimately, think of fun, creative ways to collaborate with other users.
Related: What I Learned From Hosting An Instagram Challenge (+ 6 Tips to Create Your Own!)
How have you grown your number of Instagram followers? Share a story with your favorite Instagram tip and tag @melyssa_griffin so I can find it!
40 tips on how to promote your Instagram
1. Do not forget to put hashtags that will help increase the number of subscribers: #instafollow, #l4l (Like for like), #tagforlikes and #followback.
2. Like as much as possible. For every 100 likes you give to random photos, you will get an average of 6 new followers.
3. Run contest . The easiest way to do this is to post a themed picture and ask people to like it so they can participate.
4.
Start promoting profile on your pages in other social networks. Write what your blog is about and why people should read it and invite them to join.
5. Be generous with likes and comments - this is the easiest way to attract new subscribers.
6. Use common hashtags to make your photos visible in the global search. Among the most popular are #love, #instagood, #fashion and #photooftheday.
@westwingde
7. Time matters. Research has shown that the best time to fast is between 2 pm and 5 pm.
8. Follow people who use popular hashtags (#followme, #likeforlike) because many of them will follow you back.
9. Remember, quality is important , not quantity. Monitor your profile and leave only beautiful and high-quality photos. Believe me, no one is interested in flipping through hundreds of photos of salads.
10. Love the Mayfair filter.
Track Maven listed this filter on The Fortune 500 Instagram as the best choice for marketers.
11. Check that you have completed the biography section . Complete it with suitable words and hashtags, and also provide a link to your website. But remember: no spam! Otherwise, subscribers will lose interest in the profile.
12. Ask questions to subscribers. This is a great way to connect with your target audience.
13. Post on Sundays . It is on this day that people post photos a little, so your post will be seen by the maximum number of people.
@nastiapoberezhna
14. Be consistent with . Think about who and why you are doing this. The more clearly you answer these questions, the faster you will attract the right audience.
15. Call people to action. For example, ask them to write their opinion about your photo in the comments.
16.
Don't be afraid to post often. It may seem that the more often the photos flash, the more indifferent the subscribers behave. But according to the Union Metrics program, there is no relationship between posting frequency and audience activity. At least negative.
17. Follow suggested users. Go to settings and select "Find and invite friends" and then "Recommended users".
18. Set geolocation . This will be especially useful if you run an Instagram company. So you will have the opportunity to attract new subscribers-neighbors.
19. Schedule publications with the Later program. Consistency never hurt anyone.
20. Agree with popular blogger to advertise your profile or product. So information about you will quickly scatter over the network.
21. Research has shown that blue images get 24% more likes than orange or red images. Post something blue and see for yourself!
22.
Let fast on Wednesdays become your obligatory ritual. This is because posts get more attention and likes in the middle of the week.
23. Write the word "comment" more often in posts. This encourages your followers to share their opinions and be more willing to join the discussion.
24. Post photos showing 's face. According to research, such publications are 35% more popular than others.
25. Tag in photos of people. Your post will also be seen by friends of friends.
26. Remember the rule: the more light the better.
27. If you have a business account, create a branded hashtag . So users can specify it when purchasing a product. And it will increase your visibility on Instagram several times over.
28. Share live photos. Show that behind the beautiful picture there are living people .
29. Business trick: share photos of your followers mentioning your brand or product.
This pleasant step shows that you value each client. In return, they will definitely share your photos in their feed.
30. Brand yourself : Use your nickname for more than just your profile. A notebook, a case or a branded sticker on a car will surely attract the attention of potential subscribers.
@romantimo3
31. Invite friends from Facebook to follow you. To do this, in the profile settings, select "Find friends on Facebook."
32. People love stories. Share your experiences and thoughts, so you will gain their trust and establish contact. Just remember that the post should be emotional and bright, not snot in sugar.
33. Tag people , even in stories, don't be lazy.
34. Do not be shy in your posts to ask for likes . As practice has shown, such publications receive 89% more likes.
35. In advance plan not only time, but also content.
Prepare your materials and only then start filling out your feed. For example, write posts for a few days in advance, and then publish them gradually. The Instagram filling schedule will help you stay focused on the main topic of the blog.
36. Post a motivational or inspirational quote .
37. Synchronize phone book with your account. Go to settings and select "Contacts" in the "For Subscriptions" section.
38. Be active on profiles with similar topics. Especially if you run a business profile. Chat in the comments , ask questions and let influencers know about you.
39. Collaborate with other users. Find accounts with the same number of followers and invite their owners to arrange a joint promotion. This will help you and your partners to win an audience and attract the attention of new people.
40. Create a unique hashtag, by which you can organize a challenge for your subscribers.
According to cosmo.com.ua
Tags: Instagram, blog, how to become famous, tips, social networks
How to promote Instagram for free - case
How to promote Instagram for free - caseSMM
From 600 to 8000 subscribers in 9 months using free promotion methods
Photo by Anastasia Bochkareva, Alina Semenova, personal archive
Blogger Nina Zaitseva maintains an Instagram account dedicated to the creative education of children. This blog united her with the children, turned into a favorite hobby and began to bring material benefits. In this case, Nina will tell you how she was able to promote her Instagram account for free: from 600 to 8,000 followers in less than a year using only budget-free promotion methods.
Nina Zaitseva
- Blog On creative education of children
- 9000
Blog topic
My Instagram blog is about creative parenting.
This topic is very close to me. Like any mother, I tried different developmental methods, but none of them suited me 100%. One day I stumbled upon the blog of an American mom who practices creative development. I liked the idea, and most importantly, the children liked it. Since then, brushes and paints have become our best friends. We find ideas on the Internet, we draw from books and blogs, we come up with something ourselves. Daughters love to craft, draw, sculpt and glue. Thanks to this approach, they grow diligent, they have a bright, lively imagination. They are open to everything new and look at the world differently. Their world is brighter and more interesting than mine.
My Instagram is my hobby, my outlet and my attempt to share my ideas with the world.
Starting a selfie with a 5 megapixel camera
I joined Instagram 3 years ago.
And my acquaintance with this social network was the same as everyone else's - terrible blurry pictures, short captions instead of text, an abundance of hashtags in publications. First, I published our selfies taken with a 5 megapixel camera, a photo of crafts on the carpet in the nursery and a photo from the series #the world should know what we are. The first 600 people came to me on their own. Basically, these were acquaintances and acquaintances of acquaintances, as well as people who found me using hashtags (for example, #drawing ideas). Plus there was a certain percentage of shops and commercial sites.
Subscribers immediately turned out to be active mothers. They began to give me more likes, comment on photos and, most importantly, write in direct. This feedback inspired me. I felt that there is a demand for my ideas, that people are interested in watching us. And I wanted more - to make my profile more attractive to readers and myself. And also - to promote the account so that mothers learn about my blog and engage in creativity with children.
By the way, I did not set financial goals then. A year ago I got down to business seriously: now I monitor the design and quality of publications. In 9 months, I developed my account from 600 to 8000 subscribers using only free promotion tools. Below I will tell you what I did.
Determine the purpose and niche of the blog
At the first stage, I determined for myself what I would do in general, why I needed all this. This was required for my own understanding, so as not to write "about everything and about nothing." The goals of a blog may be different, but they must be real.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Why do I need a blog?
- How do I present my blog?
- What do I want/can tell my subscribers about?
- Who will my blog be for?
My answer.
I wanted to share my experience of creative parenting. Show what we do, what we have learned and how it can be repeated to my subscriber at home with their children. To inspire and demonstrate that creativity with children is exciting and possible, even if you yourself are a complete 0 in creativity. «
Instagram is huge and there is enough space for everyone. And fresh, not stuffed with advertising blogs will always be interesting.
»
Find blogs for inspiration
After setting goals, I started to explore Instagram, looking for similar blogs. There were many of them. Some were identical to mine, some had their own zest, but there were really a lot of them. That is, I chose a niche that is quite competitive.
I was not upset, but looked at it from the other side. I always have before my eyes good and bad examples. There is always someone to look up to and where to draw inspiration. By the way, this is a good motivation for any blogger, and there is no need to be afraid that there are many blogs like yours. Instagram is huge, and there is enough space for everyone. And fresh, not stuffed with advertising blogs will always be interesting.
Create a profile
For the first year and a half, I did not pay attention to my profile header, but in vain. Any person who comes to your profile sees her first of all.
Nickname
At first my profile was called @happymama37.
It's just that @happymama was already taken and I added my region number. But you have no idea how many times I was asked: “37 is your age?” . Therefore, I changed my nickname to my name - @zaytseva_nina. I realized that the nickname should be simple, understandable, memorable. Ideally, if the nickname matches the name or reflects the theme of the blog.
Avatar
The avatar is the easiest for me. We go to family photo sessions several times a year. So I just put my photo in good quality.
If there are no photos, then a good selfie is perfect. Especially since Now there are many applications for easy selfie editing . The main thing is to remember that the photo on the avatar should be of good quality, where you or your product can be clearly seen. A personal photo always looks more attractive.
Description
The section "about me" is indexed in the search. It's that bold line at the top. So you need to use keywords in your description that potential subscribers can find you for.
Previously, I had written: “Nina Zaitseva”. And who will look for Nina Zaitseva? That's right, nobody. So I changed it to Creativity, Ideas for Kids. That is, if some mother types “creativity” in the search box, then mine will fly out among the first 10–15 profiles.
Also in my description there are our names so that subscribers know the names of the owners of the profile. There is our city of residence and the main theme of the profile. Looking for creative ideas for kids? Then you have come to the right place.
Photo content
I ruthlessly deleted my first profile photos.
If you saw them, you would be horrified. Everything is dark, blurry, on the wrong background. I devoted a lot of time to learning how to shoot more or less normally. I'm still far from ideal, but a start has been made. You can learn how to take photos either at specialized courses or with fellow bloggers. There are many photographers on Instagram who share the secrets of mobile photography with their followers for free. They also regularly hold free marathons, where you can not only learn the basics of photography, but also get practice with feedback from a specialist.
Now my photo content consists of 50% photos of crafts and 50% of our photos with children.
My main shooting rules for Instagram :
- I wipe the camera with a cloth or napkin.
- I shoot in good natural light. For example, in the morning.
- Focus - on the main subject.
But there may be a background of small details (flowers, threads, ribbons).
- I edit photos before publishing. I use the free Snapseed app and basic processing settings on Instagram itself. I add brightness, sharpness, saturation, remove shadows.
For example, my standard photo processing is:
- brightness at +13–15;
- shadows by +5–10;
- saturation by +3–5;
- sharpness by +5–10.
- I do not abuse the filters that are in the processing applications and basic processing in Instagram itself. They do not give naturalness.
- In my profile, I bet on the brightness and light background. Almost all photos are taken on the same background. This helps the blog look more harmonious.
- As a background for subject photography I use various options: photophones (I have two-sided, I made it myself), a bed with interesting linens, textured tabletops or plain white paper:
How to promote Instagram for free
I have not done paid promotion yet.
I will tell you how to promote Instagram for free. I also call this method eco-friendly and budget-free promotion. This method allowed me to gain about 8 thousand subscribers in 9months. My free promotion consists of several points. Hashtags and geotags
Hashtag works like this. If a person in an Instagram search enters a word, for example “drawing”, then not only profiles fly out to him, but also photos, videos, Stories marked with this hashtag. A large number of subscribers from hashtags is unlikely to come, but as a free method it is quite suitable.
40–100 people come to me using hashtags per month.
- I use hashtags for both posts and stories. And I choose a hashtag of average popularity - for example, so that no more than 50,000 publications use it.
This brings me to a small number of target audiences. If you choose high-frequency hashtags (500,000 marks), then the publication may get lost among the top ones. If low-frequency (5000) - there will be little sense either.
- Be sure to use the hashtags that subscribers can use to find me. For example, I don't think that someone will ask in the search for #drawingwith a child is more of a personal hashtag. But #ideasdrawing will bring new people to my profile.
- I have selected lists of hashtags on the subject of my profile and publish them in small groups (10–15 each), periodically changing their order.
- Another mistake I made at first was hashtags in the post itself. This picture looks ugly, the text is lost, and I no longer want to read the post. Therefore, I put hashtags in a separate comment.
I always geotag . They attract an audience to me that is close to my geolocation.
For example, not all mothers in my city are subscribed to me, and many do not know me yet. And with the help of a geotag, I appear in their recommendation feed. Mutual PR
Everything is simple here. I find people with similar blogs and invite them to exchange posts about each other. This method is needed for two reasons:
- My partner and I exchange audiences. Even if the crowd of new subscribers does not come, but recognition is increasing, and a little later it can shoot.
- The number of profile views and posts is increasing, and this affects the overall reach. The higher the reach, the higher my profile in the subscriber feed.
Guest blogging
I write a useful post for another blogger and he posts it on his account with a link to me.
And in the same way he writes for me. I try to use guest posts once a month. From 100 to 300 people come to them, depending on the usefulness of the post and the partner account.
I select partners either on a similar topic of the blog (mother bloggers), or on a related one - children's doctors, psychologists. It dilutes the feed very cool, makes my account more interesting for moms.
For example, I wrote a post for a psychologist mom about 15 unusual ways of drawing, and she posted a post on my profile about the benefits of children's creativity from a psychologist's point of view.
Another psychologist and I exchanged posts about children's whims:
Commenting
I am following several top bloggers with similar profile topics.
That is, my target audience is subscribed to them. When a blogger publishes an interesting post, I leave a full comment under it. Usually bloggers like such comments or start a dialogue. In this case, attention to my blog is guaranteed, and this method brings me 2-3 people per comment.
And it also happens that many bloggers ask their subscribers to tell about themselves in the comments. Here you need to creatively describe your profile. In this case, the number of new subscribers is increased by 20-30 people.
I don't do mass commenting. Because it is a very labor-intensive method with unpredictable results.
Activities
Instagram gives us every opportunity to get new interested followers, but for this, be kind yourself to be active. I participate in marathons, competitions, flash mobs, SFS.
For example , last fall I participated in the competition of a well-known expert.
It was necessary to complete three tasks to upgrade your account and provide the jury with a report with screenshots. I got into the top three winners by winning a good prize + after the announcement of the results in the expert's profile, 370 people came to me . Excellent result! Another example. Bloggers love to do SFS. You post a photo of this blogger in your profile, talk about why you read it, and put a special tag by which the blogger collects all posts about himself. Then the blogger selects the best posts that he liked and talks about their authors on his page. This method brings me 200-300 people. And the record was when a very famous mom blogger chose my post among the 5 winners and 1800 people came to me within a few hours after the publication of .
I regularly participate in active events, and get from 100 to 500 new subscribers per month.
Gifts for subscribers
To keep my subscribers interested and attract new ones, I periodically give away free printable creative materials that I make myself or order from a friend. I share books for download and useful links.
For example:
- I post a post about our materials for creativity and invite subscribers to download a file where I have collected links to the most interesting products. Moms usually have no time to look, but here is a ready-made list. To do this, you just need to leave your mail in the comments under the post.
- I post a summer craft and invite them to download a file with 50 cool summer craft ideas.
- I am holding small drawings of pleasant surprises. It can be a book, a toy or some kind of product for children.
Prizes are given to me by stores for the fact that I indicate them in a post. To win, the subscriber must leave comments under my post and tag friends.
These techniques bring in an average of 50-100 people per month.
Business profile
A year ago, I connected a business profile to Instagram, and life became easier! Anyone can do this for free. You just need to switch to the company profile in the settings and enter the theme of your blog.
The business profile gives me statistics. I see how many people have viewed my post, how many have bookmarked it, how old people are reading me, from which cities. See the most popular posts and Stories for the last 7 days. This means that I always have information about what my readers like and what they don’t.
And I can adjust my content depending on their interests. With such data on hand, you will get to know your subscribers better.
Benefits of a blog
I'm still a very small blogger compared to top profiles, but I already have the benefits of a blog.
Starting from 1500 subscribers, I began to receive various proposals for cooperation and I still receive them.
We go to free photo shoots, get books, clothes and toys in exchange for a post, cooperate with various children's producers. I recently received an offer from a well-known cosmetic brand. I will test the whole box with their products and talk about it in the blog.
And they will recognize us! People come up to me in stores, on the street and at children's events and tell me they're reading.
It's nice. Tips for Free Blog Promotion
Of course, free or almost free promotion is not a quick business. But it's worth it! I will give some tips that helped me gain subscribers.
- Post content regularly. It is most important. Otherwise, you will get lost in the feed of subscribers, and they will unsubscribe from you.
- Try to take attractive photos and use basic processing.
- Connect with like-minded people. With bloggers, publics of similar niches.
- Use all Instagram features. Moreover, there are a lot of them now - shoot Stories, videos instead of photos, or long videos on the IGTV channel.
- Connect your business profile. This feature has one big advantage - access to statistics. You will see the number of visits to your profile, views of the publication, geolocation and even gender, age of your subscribers.
