How to promote my instagram for free
11 Amazing Ways How to Promote Your Instagram Account (for Free)
With over 1.3 billion users worldwide, you can put Instagram on top of any list of popular social networking sites. Instagram is an excellent platform for small businesses to reach their potential customers and increase engagement with them.
Most users spend approximately 29 minutes a day on Instagram, thus promising you great reach if the platform is well-used. However, many business owners are unsure of the ways as to how to use Instagram in a way that will prove fruitful. You can’t just randomly start posting and expect amazing results. Promote your Instagram account by building a strategy and planning your execution well.
If you are not sure how to use Instagram to reach customers, this article will help you through the lens of the different things you can do to promote your Instagram account.
This is probably a no-brainer for all of you, but it bears repeating so that you fully understand the strategic importance that Instagram has in social media marketing.
Furthermore, unless you know the reasons as to why you should promote your business on Instagram, you will not be able to fully apply the points I will discuss later.
So, why use Instagram for business?
- The face of your brand – Instagram is about images and visuals, so you can form a personal connection with your customers through pictures. You can share images of your team, how they operate, the testimonials of your happy customers, and how they use your product. This would help you to engage with your potential customers.
- Tell customers about offers – You can update your followers with interesting promotions you have launched. If you are launching a new product or service, Instagram is the best platform to reach your customers.
- Tell stories – Of all the social media platforms, Instagram is the perfect place to be creative with your marketing. Instagram stories are an excellent feature designed to boost audience engagement.
- Stay updated with trends – You should be on Instagram because it keeps you updated with what customers like in the market and what is not working. Accordingly, you can create your posts and try to reach your customers.
- Influencer marketing – The concept is very popular these days and the best platform to bring in results for you is Instagram. Through dependable influencers, you can take your company sales to a new level.
A lot of businesses are under the impression that gaining followers on Instagram and increasing engagement is costly. Yes, if you plan to do influencer marketing and paid promotion, Instagram can be costly. However, we are not focusing on paid marketing for Instagram in this article. The good news is that you can promote and grow your business for free on Instagram.
Things to keep in mind…
Before we talk about the free ways in which you can promote your business, it is important to talk about some basic checks you need to have in your Instagram account –
Keep your Instagram account as a business account
If you are using a personal profile for your business, it would not help you grow.
Instead, it is recommended that you create a business account. This would enable you to get an access to Instagram ads and promoted posts, allowing you to increase your reach and engagement
Complete your profile
Incomplete Instagram accounts are unattractive, and you don’t want your followers to look at your incomplete profile, right? You must include your business details; have a high-quality profile picture and a bio that speaks of your business as a brand.
Make your profile visible
You cannot promote and get more followers if users cannot find you. Hence, make sure your profile is public. Otherwise, only those who follow you will be able to see your post.
Further Reading: A 17-Step Plan to Launch (or Revise) Your Instagram Marketing Strategy
You now know the secret – you can promote your business for free on Instagram. Let us look at 11 simple ways how you can do it:
1. Create Useful Posts
The first and basic thing you need to do is promote your Instagram account through meaningful posts.
If you can create attractive, interesting, and useful content, you will give viewers a strong reason to follow you. To begin with, you need to set yourself aside from the crowd. Most businesses use their link in bio to link to their website to drive traffic there.
Imagine the feed of users with posts, all wanting them to visit the website for more info. Now, if you can share all the information through the Instagram post, it will be a breather for them and something they may feel delighted to see.
You should know how the Instagram algorithm works. It doesn’t show the photo you post to all of your followers. It is shown to only 10-20% of your followers and Instagram waits to see if there is some engagement with your content or not. The response from the 20% decides whether more people are going to see your post or not. You have to ensure you are creating meaningful posts that drive engagement.
Further Reading: Instagram Link In Bio: 10 Different Ways You Can Drive Traffic from Instagram
2.
Engage through Stories Stickers Do you know how many users are using Instagram stories every day. The count is over 500 million, and this number is going to increase with time. Instagram stories stickers are an excellent way to encourage your followers to engage with you and share their experiences and opinions. It will lead to a loyal following, and every follower will stay connected to your brand.
Below are some ways to get started with stickers –
- Question sticker – Of all the stickers, the question sticker works best. The maximum engagement comes from AMA (Ask Me Anything), and most of the influencers are using it for higher engagement. However, there is no reason why you should not do it for your business. You can get to know your followers’ opinions about your brand, or you can ask them about their expectations from you. It will help you reach followers with the services they are expecting.
- Quiz sticker – It lets you create multiple-choice questions for your followers to answer.
You can also track the results. The followers get to know if they have answered right or wrong, and you get to see which option has been more popular.
3. Create Save-able Content for Your Feed
Businesses should take advantage of Instagram shares, comments, and saves. Creating content that encourages your followers to tap and click the Save button is a good way to boost engagement. Content that audiences will want to come back to in the future is saveable content.
If you can share some tips and suggestions that will help your followers in some way – you can expect your followers will save that content for the future. The idea is simple – you have to create content that is important for your audience. It can be anything – infographics, powerful quotes, or funny memes.
Further Reading: Tips and Tricks to Build a Seamless Instagram Content Strategy
4. Use Hashtags
Hashtags are essential if you want to promote your Instagram account for free.
You should use relevant hashtags in your posts and stories so that it reaches the targeted users. Your posts can contain up to 30 hashtags. You may use all, but you should be careful in selecting the right ones. The use of relevant hashtags will increase your engagement rate. You can use the below hashtags in your posts –
- Location-based – To target your local audience and increase brand awareness in the local community, you can use location-based hashtags.
- Popular hashtags – Using Instagram hashtags like #nofilter and other popular and creative hashtags helps you reach a wider audience. It also helps you promote the human side of your business.
- Industry-specific – Hashtag will help you reach people who are interested in your business content in general. You can even connect with influencers through industry-specific hashtags.
Further Reading: 8 Powerful Ways How to Use Instagram Hashtags for More Exposure
5.
Use Instagram StoriesOne of Instagram’s most engaging features is Instagram Stories. We have already discussed the use of stickers in Instagram stories, but you shouldn’t limit yourself to them only. The content in your story gets updated every 24 hours, and it’s the perfect place to show your followers transparent and raw content which will enable you to make your business more relatable.
Instagram stories get maximum engagement, and you should not miss the opportunity to promote your account for free using this feature.
Further Reading: 8 Ways How to Use Instagram Stories for Online Store Promotion in 2022
6. Use IGTV
IGTV on Instagram works similar to YouTube. In this, users can explore different channels of their favorite topics and content. The success of Youtube should be enough to assure you that video content is the most effective way to reach and engage with your audience. IGTV helps you bring those followers to your account that are more video-inclined.
With IGTV, it’s easy to get started – once you upload your first video on IGTV, your brand’s unique channel is automatically generated by Instagram. IGTV allows you to post existing videos too, which again is a great way to promote your business. You can also post YouTube videos on Instagram TV and reach new followers.
7. Go Live on Instagram Live
The Instagram Live feature is also a great way to promote your business without spending a few bucks. You can host a variety of workshops, Q&A, and interviews using Instagram Live. It would be helpful to let your followers know ahead of time about your upcoming live session. This will likely result in more viewers joining in and staying back.
When people see you or someone from higher management talking about the business directly, it helps build trust and put a face behind your brand. You can also use this platform to invite your followers to your Instagram Live sessions and thus have a direct interaction. Try to create a meaningful Instagram Live experience for your followers, and this would indirectly create sales.
8. Engage with Instagram Influencers
Influencer marketing doesn’t always have to involve paid campaigns. By engaging smartly with them, you can help support their brand while gaining exposure for your business. Apart from liking and commenting on their posts, you can also repost their posts in order to engage with them and gain more exposure. There are a lot of Instagram influencers out there; you ought to choose those who are useful and relevant to your brand. For example, if you provide financial services, you should engage with influencers who talk about finance.
Further Reading: Instagram Influencer Marketing: The Complete Guide
9. Take Advantage of Instagram Story Highlights
Instagram Story Highlights are basically the curated collections of the content that you have posted to your stories in the past. These collections are commonly referred to as albums, and you can choose to create different albums for different categories. Unlike regular stories, Story highlights do not disappear after 24 hours – they stay in your profile permanently underneath the bio section and above the regular feed.
If you have many products to offer to your followers, you can create an album around each. You can keep updating the albums with the relevant story.
10. Host Collaborative Competitions
If you are in contact with some business owners who are in a similar industry as yours, you can join hands with them for a collaborative competition. It is advisable to collaborate with one or multiple profiles in the beginning and move on to others gradually. One of the commonly used tactics is to have an Instagram competition where entrants follow your account and tag a few friends in the comment section.
Using this method, all business owners can tap the followers of other businesses and grow their accounts. Consider joining hands with a company whose products or services are complementary to yours. As an example, if you’re a sunglasses retailer, a swimwear brand could be a good fit because it’s easy to see the connection between these two products.
Further Reading: How to Do A Giveaway On Instagram in 12 Easy Steps
11.
Make Use of Longer Captions You must know you can use up to 2200 characters while making a post on Instagram. If you want to share something with your audience for which you plan to take them outside Instagram, avoid doing it. Instead of taking them to an external site, you can share all the information by writing Instagram captions.
Your followers are on Instagram because they want to spend time there. You should not take them to another site, they may probably not like doing it. Longer captions also help you in improving your Instagram engagement. As per studies, high engagement posts have an average of 65-70 words in the caption. You can make a note of it and next time when you create a post, make sure you have enough words in the caption.
Further Reading: Instagram Captions: 14 Tips on How to Optimize Them to Boost Engagement
Conclusion
Get started promoting your Instagram account with these given tactics. Create a strong strategy wherein the inbuilt Instagram features can be used optimally.
Maintain an active and interesting feed. Try to use the above-mentioned tips to create new content and be regular in posting them.
However, always remain consistent and patient. Your efforts will gradually pay off. Instagram has proven to be a great marketing tool where your followers can help spread word about your business and also give constructive feedback.
Leverage your Instagram profile in a way to engage in two-way conversation for best results.
Further Reading: How to Use Instagram Reels for Business: The Definitive Guide
Author Bio
Akash Tripathi, a Content Marketing Strategist at Top Mobile Tech, has 10+ years of experience in blogging and digital marketing. At Top Mobile Tech, he covers various how-to and tips & tricks related to iPhone and more related to technologies.
Hero photo by Mourizal Zativa on Unsplash
How To Promote Instagram FAQs
How can I promote my Instagram for free?
Here are some of the ways you can promote your Instagram for free:
1.
Post engaging content that speaks to your target audience.
2. Include relevant hashtags in your posts.
3. Connect with other users in your niche and collaborate on giveaways or other promotional activities.
4. Take time to connect with other users and create quality content.
Is promoting on Instagram worth it?
With over a billion monthly users, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms. It’s also one of the most effective platforms for promoting products and services. Thanks to its visual format, Instagram is ideal for showcasing products, and the built-in search and discovery features make it easy for potential customers to find your brand. In addition, Instagram offers a variety of paid advertising options that allow you to reach a wider audience. When used effectively, Instagram can be an extremely powerful marketing tool.
How can I boost my Instagram?
While there’s no magic bullet for gaining Instagram followers, there are a number of things you can do to give your account a boost:
1.
Make sure that your profile is complete and accurate.
2. Take the time to curate interesting and visually appealing content.
3. When posting photos, be sure to use hashtags and locations to make them easily discoverable.
4. Don’t be afraid to reach out to other users and engage with their content.
How much does it cost to promote on IG?
The cost of promoting on Instagram depends on a number of factors, including the size of your target audience, the type of content you’re promoting, and the level of engagement you’re hoping to achieve. Generally speaking, businesses can expect to spend anywhere from $10 to $500 per day on Instagram advertising. However, it’s important to keep in mind that promoting on Instagram is not a one-time cost.
How do I get 1000 Instagram followers?
There is no one magic formula for gaining a large number of Instagram followers.
However, there are a few basic strategies that can help to increase your visibility and appeal to potential followers:
1. Make sure to post regularly and use hashtags to improve your reach.
2. Engage with other users by liking and commenting on their posts, and follow accounts that you find interesting or relevant to your own.
3. Use Instagram ads to target users who are likely to be interested in your content.
How to promote your Instagram account for free + Free tools
Page Contents
NOTE: This article is a full guide on how to promote your Instagram account for free.
If you are only looking for free tools that help you to achieve this goal, they are AiGrow and Canva.
Canva can help you customize your account for a beautiful look.
On the other hand, AiGrow is the service that gives you an extra hand when it comes to growth. Instagram is changing, and now it’s a little bit different to promote your business on an Instagram account for free, and organically.
The good news is, it is still possible to grow an audience and a business using free Instagram strategies, and tools.
Today’s article is going to show you our favorite Instagram tips, tactics, and strategies for organic customer generation.
By the end of this Article, you’ll be able to promote your business on Instagram for free, without buying followers or resorting to any other shady practices.
How to promote an Instagram account for free
Social media platforms have evolved so much from the days of just keeping tabs on your friends. It has also become a really important business tool.
Obviously, Instagram is becoming one of the best channels to get leads organically if you play it right.
Let’s get right into our first tip, which is essential to promote your Instagram account for free.
Building a content strategy
What you post and when you post it are the two most important elements of any good strategy, so here are some tips on how to create a content strategy that works.
Theme
If you’ve ever stumbled on some accounts that look great even if you haven’t even opened any of the images yet, that is what you call a good content theme.
You should stick to a theme to make everything cohesive just like this account: It can either have a color palette or well-thought-out and curated graphics that make it feel very cohesive like it’s part of a brand.
You can even use your brand colors or any other design elements to create templates for your posts.
After figuring that out, you also need to decide what kinds of content you’ll be posting.
Contents That Can Promote Your Instagram Account For Free
Deciding what to post takes the daily pressure off because you’ve already planned out everything.
The most important thing you need to consider is this:
Most people open up Instagram for entertainment, and they don’t visit your page to feel like they are walking in a shopping center.
Let us put it this way:
You should plan to create and publish a variety of content, not just product samples (at least not for now).
There are many different types of content you can mix up with the posts surrounding your product, here are a few examples.
Controversial Posts
Talk about your (or even your brand’s) beliefs and stand for the things you value most, even if it causes you to lose a few followers.
Yes! You heard us right, you have to talk about yourself or your brand, the things you value, and even what they stand against sooner or later.
Its greatest benefit is that by doing this you create a feeling inside your followers. a feeling that says you are alike and that’s a great feeling.
Funny Posts
What type of posts is being shared the most?
Funny posts, how many times have you sent a funny post to your friend or even received one?
Creating a funny post related to your field, can make your audience laugh, and this is what helps you to make them fall in love with you easier, and faster.
Educational Posts
This is another great value you can offer your followers to press that follow button.
By teaching them something, you give them a reason to come back to check your page out, and a great reason to keep following you for a long time.
UGC (User Generated Content)
There’s some good news, you don’t have to create all the content yourself.
The best strategy involves using at least some content that comes right from your audience.
What this does for you is, it creates a credibility boost for your brand, acting as social proof that other people have bought from you and liked what you had to offer them.
Not only can you then repost these on your account for your followers to see, But the people doing that original posting, their followers are going to see that post which increases your reach organically.
But the thing is, you can’t just pray and hope that this happens especially if you’re a small business you need to offer incentives to get this kind of thing going.
It could be a special offer or even a freebie of some kind or you can run a contest, in either case, you want to be very specific about what you want them to post.
Say post this type of photo, using this hashtag, and then tag us in the post to enter, and then as the posts start to come in, all you have to do is share them on your account.
User-Generated Content is the best tactic to promote an Instagram account for free.
All the mentioned content types can be mixed with posts about your product, behind the scene, unboxing, or anything else related to your product or service.
Another great thing is that these types of posts are considered highly shareable, and this is something that can promote your account for free.
Recommendation:
What we recommend is to come up with three to five general types of posts that you can cycle between.
This way you’ll never be stuck for an idea, and your audience is going to come to look forward to the different types of posts that you become known for.
You can also use AiGrow to look for new content ideas, signing up on AiGrow is free and also has many more benefits that we will talk about later in this article.
Use All The Features To Promote Your Instagram Account For Free
If you are looking to successfully promote your account Instagram for free, you got to use every feature available.
You shouldn’t just be stuck with Instagram posts because they do not bring much engagement compared to other features Instagram offers.
Here we look through other features of Instagram and also tell you how you can use them to your benefit and promote your Instagram account for free.
IGTV
Honestly, one of the best things that have happened to social media and marketing, in general, is that you can go live.
It lets you engage with your audience in real-time which is an amazing opportunity for any business. Live videos make your brand more real more relatable like a real human is being behind the brand.
You can do anything with the live video, you can do a live contest with prizes, you can announce a new product, a new service, or just a live Q&A where your audience can ask you anything.
You know if you’re a restaurant you can try doing a cooking show, do a tutorial, or teach a new skill through a live video.
If you’re a content creator who relies on engagement this is your big chance to get it all right.
Instagram Stories
If you’re not using stories yet for your business you should be paying close attention here.
There’s so much potential in generating leads through stories.
It’s another great way to announce new products, and highlight a new post, a photo, or a video that you’ve created.
What you want to do is to post compelling Instagram stories that make your audience engage with your content.
Basically, you can ask your audience a question in one story and then post their responses as follow-ups to that story or you can ask them to submit questions to you, and then you answer each one in a separate story video.
We love that one because it just basically keeps the conversation going, and it’s an endless content generator for you.
You can create polls can show video or audio snippets of your latest video or podcast episode. if you do that you can even repurpose your existing content into a short version of a video story.
There are so many options here, so just get creative.
In a store you can use up to 10 hashtags, and here’s a little pro tip:
You can hide your hashtags by blending the font with the solid background of your story.
So that way you have the benefit of being searchable, and that’s a great way to promote your Instagram account for free.
This way people can type in a hashtag, and you will still be found for it, But it doesn’t clutter up the look of your story.
Optimize Your Bio
Your Instagram bio is what your audience is going to see first, and that’s why it’s important to make the most of it.
The first thing you need to do is to convert your Instagram profile to a business profile.
Doing that is easy, just go to your settings, your business’s Facebook page, and then you’re good to go.
What exactly goes into an optimized Instagram bio?
First, you want to choose a photo that speaks for your business, branding is key here.
It can be your logo as long as it’s easy to read, and it’s adapted to that little round space dedicated to the profile photo.
If you’re a business coach or a personal brand just use a great photo of yourself.
PhotoFeeler can help you to find out whether you have chosen a good profile photo or not.
You can easily sign up there and share your photo on the platform.
people will rate it and even give you reviews to make it better.
Next, you should include keywords in your name or your hashtags in your bio description.
Then you want to drive people to your offer by putting your landing page link right in your bio.
The last thing is that You need to dress up your bio a little bit rather than saying something like we’re a catering company.
You want to say how you’re different from the other businesses in your niche.
The key here is getting specific, so tell the problem you solve or the transformation you bring to the table.
A really good thing to do here is to use emojis to your advantage.
The characters you get for your bio section is not very long and emoji can bring your bio to life.
Hashtag Strategy
Hashtags are a great way to promote your account on Instagram, and they are completely free.
They give you the chance to be found by new people who search for your topic.
What you want to do is to start by making a list of your desired keywords.
Then type them into the search of Instagram(Or use AiGrow), and that’s going to start showing you a lot of related tags.
It also shows you how many other posts are using it. this is going to give you a sense of the competition level involved.
The good strategy here involves using several tags from every level of popularity.
You are looking to use all these four kinds of Hashtag:
- A few with maybe millions of posts
- Some with hundreds of thousands
- Some with tens of thousands
- Niche ones with maybe a thousand or fewer.
Keeping that good healthy mix from all levels of popularity is what helps you get found in every stage.
The popular ones will get you found the second you post
The less popular ones will kind of keep you around for the long term
By following the strategies, and tactics we mentioned, you can promote your Instagram account for free.
The only thing that remains is a little bit of information about the Instagram algorithm that you usually don’t hear from everyone.
Instagram Algorithm
Having a good knowledge about the Instagram algorithm and the changes it’s going through increases your chance to promote your Instagram for free.
That’s because you already know the tips and tricks that they get money for to share with you.
Let’s jump right into it.
Ghost Followers
The Instagram algorithm works in a way that when you post a photo, it doesn’t show that photo to all of your followers.
It shows it to only 10-20% of them and waits to see if they engage with your content. The answer to this question decides whether more people are going to see your post or not.
You probably have guessed how important ghost followers are and the importance of identifying them, and getting rid of them.
You can also click here for a great article that helps you identify and get rid of them in a way that doesn’t hurt your account.
Action Limits
Since 2019, Instagram has been taking serious measures to stop spamming.
For that reason, it has developed a daily action limit.
Your actions are limited to a specific number per hour, and that enables Instagram to identify bots and spammers.
Read this article to get to know about the exact number of those limits and keep your account behind the safety lines.
The Unwritten Rule
Many different factors make Instagram decide whether to show you to more people or even send you on the explore page, But here is the most important one:
You should be considered an active person who creates content regularly on Instagram.
It’s essential to have at least 20 posts per month, and for the best results go for 30 per month.
The same rule applies to stories (1-3 stories/day is good).
What you want to do is to have both posts and stories frequently.
Free Tools That Help You Promote Your Instagram Account For Free
Some of the agencies or Websites offer only one of their features as a free trial.
But you probably don’t want to spend hours going through different platforms and to the next one.
The good news is, we have found 2 free services that can provide all you need.
Canva
You can use Canva’s drag-and-drop feature to easily create beautiful templates for your posts and stories.
We already talked about having a beautiful theme and how important they are, Canva makes it easy to do that.
Go to the website, type Instagram Posts, or Instagram Stories in the search box, and choose the template you like.
By using Canva, it’s like you have added a designer to your team, and everything looks professional.
AiGrow
AiGrow is an Instagram growth service. they basically are an all-in-one package of growth tools.
What makes it special is that they are offering a free trial package as well.
All you need to do is to go to AiGrow.me and sign up for it.
The free package includes:
Post Scheduler
This amazing feature allows you to plan your posts and stories days or even weeks ahead of time. This pulls the pressure off your shoulders and allows you to focus on other things, like content creation.
Multiple Links In Bio
As you know Instagram doesn’t allow you to have multiple links in your bio.
It also doesn’t allow you to add links to your posts and stories unless you have a really large audience.
The “Multiple links in bio” is the ultimate solution to both of these problems.
Post and Reward
Using this feature, you can run contests or giveaways on your page and multiply your growth rate.
Free Email Support
AiGrow can play a crucial part for you to promote your Instagram account for free.
Not only does it offer all those amazing features for free, but it also offers free support through email.
You can email them and ask anything about their services or your account.
Hashtag Research
Just another great thing about AiGrow.
This growth feature allows you to easily examine dozens of hashtags that are related to you.
Instagram doesn’t allow you to search for multiple hashtags at the same time, this causes your hashtag research to take a lot of time. AiGrow has even solved this!
Conclusion
Although you don’t hear this from many people, it really is possible to promote your Instagram account completely free.
The truth is, you just need to set up your account properly, create shareable content, and follow unwritten Instagram rules.
You may not believe it, But the only tools you are going to need are AiGrow and Canva. Both of them allow you to use so many features and can have a great impact on your growth.
What about you? Do you believe that you can promote your Instagram account completely free?
have you ever used any of the tactics we mentioned?
Or do you have something else to add to our list?
Please share a comment, and let your experience help others as well.
8 ways to promote Instagram for free
Got Instagram to promote your product? Excellent. Filled it with colorful photos and cool texts? Perfect. Now we need to somehow untwist this page. The easiest way is to run ads. But if the budget is limited, there are also free methods. Let's look at them in more detail.
1. Use hashtags in your posts. Always
One of the simplest and, in a sense, obligatory ways is to use hashtags in publications. These tag words are needed for grouping, sorting and quickly finding things that your potential customers are interested in. Instagram has the ability to follow hashtags, so common words (for example, #design, #art, #jazz) will allow you to attract a new audience in a short time (if, of course, your content is of high quality). And your own unique hashtags will work for the image and search results in the future.
How many hashtags to use?
Instagram has limited their number to 30, but we do not recommend strictly following this possibility. A large number of hashtags will scare off potential subscribers and create a completely different reputation for you than you dreamed of. But about 10 pieces, among which there will be own tags (headings are always good), and popular general concepts, and terms from your workspace will obviously work.
If tags prevent your post from looking attractive, then you have two ways: The disadvantage of this method is that you close the possibility of delayed posting.
2. Geolocation to the rescue
Instagram users have not stopped looking for interesting places, and with them photos. And that's great, because you can also hook them. Make it a rule to put a geolocation tag on Instagram: this will not provide the maximum influx of likes and followers, but the post can shoot. Some cunning people have found a loophole here for “getting likes”: in each new publication they put completely different places, from the Caribbean to Big Ben in England. They say it works. However, you can check it yourself.
Geolocation is also a good option for local businesses: people often look for shops, salons or cafes in their city, not far from their homes. In this case, you should always indicate the real address if you have an offline business.
How to get your geotag on Instagram?
If you are the owner of a cafe or shop, be sure to make your own geotag, and use it to track who takes a photo and like, comment, repost. It is not difficult to make a geotag, for this you need:
- Log in to Facebook from your mobile (namely, from your phone).
- Go to create a new post "What are you thinking about" and click on the pink geotag icon.
- You may see a Where Are You window prompting you to enable geolocation. Agree (you can also do it manually in the settings).
- Click "Add new location".
- Fill out the form and click "Create".
- Publish a post and your tag is ready.
3. Rils and Rils again
After the huge popularity of TikTok, the owners of almost all social networks decided to keep up and introduce the function of an endless feed with short videos. Instagram is no exception. And since reels is a relatively new Instagram tool, it has a large reach. Even accounts with a small number of followers can count on hundreds of thousands of views. The main thing is to shoot the most sticky video that users will want to review and like.
This can also include IGTV - the function is no longer new, but is constantly being improved. For example, now you can save live broadcasts in IGTV.
4. Mutual PR on Instagram
Mutual PR with other accounts whose work topics are similar to yours will be a good, and most importantly, free opportunity to promote your own Instagram profile. Agree on cooperation: you post photos or stories about them, they are about you. Of course, with marks on the photo, indicating your accounts and happy emoticons.
5. Tell stories
Today even a child can make Instagram Stories. For you, this is additional content and an opportunity to remind you of yourself without littering the subscribers' feed. Put a geotag in your stories and, perhaps, you will be included in the selection for your city.
What to post in stories?
What kind of posts will be here is up to you. But as practice shows, people are much more interested in watching the process "from the inside". Shoot a video, don't be afraid to be creative and experiment. Don't know what to do? Try to boomerang with your product, create surveys. It grabs the attention of subscribers. Live broadcasts are also welcome. They are good because all your subscribers instantly receive notifications about the start of the live broadcast, which means that they will most likely come to watch it. How to keep them at the screens is a more difficult task. Therefore, think several times before this, and also prepare a place, choose a time and an occasion.
Another new feature for Stories is stickers. Choose a sticker with a suitable theme (for example, the last photo on your phone), add your photo and get views from the general feed of this sticker.
6. Look for partners among influencers
Fashion bloggers, show business stars and famous people in local communities have many loyal subscribers. It is not necessary to start with millionaires, you can try to offer services on a barter basis to novice video bloggers and see what happens. In this segment, the simpler - the more natural and better.
One of the ways to collaborate is through joint live broadcasts. Share useful information, answer popular questions - try to make the broadcast useful first of all, because there is already a lot of simply entertaining content and users are unlikely to spend a lot of time on it. For example, you can share your experience of running an online store and talk about how to sell on Instagram and attract more customers.
7. Contests. Prizes. Gifts
Everyone loves free things - that's a fact. So turn this into a great tool to help grow your account. Launch a contest with a good prize, specify simple conditions for participation (tag a friend in the comments, answer a question in the comments, come up with the most fun caption for the picture, etc.) and enjoy the results. Old as the world, but always works.
The main thing here is not to overdo it. People will follow you because of the prize, but they will just as quickly unsubscribe after. Your task is to interest subscribers during the contest, so that after they have no desire to unsubscribe. And one more tip - as a prize, use what you sell (if you have an online store), or what is most related to your page (for example, beauty products, if you are a beauty blogger). This way you will attract a relevant audience. Don't play generic things like iPhones or money.
8. More carousels. Your task is to interest users so that they scroll through the carousel to the end. It can be advice, stories, interesting stories. If users not only like, but also save or share your post, even better. The Instagram algorithm needs to see that your post is interesting, then there is a high probability of being recommended to users who do not follow you.
Keep your finger on the pulse and follow Instagram for updates - any new feature will be tested and get great coverage. Don't be afraid to experiment and don't wait until everyone starts using these features - the further, the less coverage.
And finally...
All ways to promote your Instagram account for free will work if your account is properly designed:
- Login - simple and clear, reflecting the essence of the business or company name, with keywords describing your activity; no underscores, capital letters, or anything else that would make life difficult for users.
- Avatar - a beautiful logo, a photo of your products, a personal photo (for example, for the author of a webinar). The photo should be bright, clear, without inscriptions and small details that no one will see.
- Account name - a definition of your activity in a few words. Use CAPS LOCK, emoticons (do not overdo it), do not duplicate your login in any case.
- Profile description - 150 characters to describe your own benefits. A slogan or one-line unique sentence is great if you have one. Do not forget to indicate contacts for communication, the place where you are located. Use emoticons and line breaks, as well as center alignment with transparent characters.
- Link is your main sales tool. It should be abbreviated (do it via Google Short Url) and lead to the mobile version of the site. By the way, make sure that everything is displayed correctly and beautifully in the mobile version. To do this, you can use the Ucraft constructor with ready-made adaptive templates.
- Photos - high-quality, square, interesting, "delicious". Come up with your own strategy: photos in one color, only bright or, conversely, black and white or dark account, videos.
- texts are catchy, interesting, without grammatical errors, short and concise, funny.
Come up with a language in which you will speak with your potential buyers, do not be afraid to impose something on them and force them to play by your own rules.
If a potential subscriber lands on your page, he will have only a few seconds to decide whether to subscribe or leave. Therefore, use all methods to promote and retain subscribers.
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 to promote 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. Subscribe to 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 to . 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. Arrange with popular blogger to advertise your profile or product. So information about you will quickly scatter over the network.
21. Studies have shown that blue images receive 24% more likes than orange or red images. Post something blue and see for yourself!
22. Let fasting on Wednesdays become your obligatory ritual. This is because posts get more attention and likes in the middle of the week.
23. Write more often the word "comment" 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 corporate hashtag. So users will be able to specify it when buying 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. Feel free to ask for likes in your posts . As practice has shown, such publications receive 89% more likes.
35. Plan ahead not only the time, but also the 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.
