How to promote your channel on instagram
How to Promote Your Instagram: 13 Ideas that Work
It’s time to rethink how to promote your Instagram account.
Why now? Because the platform’s rapid evolution and growth mean that what worked in the past isn’t going to score you the same sort of engagement today.
Based on recent Instagram stats, the visual space is becoming more and more crowded with brands fighting tooth and nail for more customers.
As a result, it quite literally pays for brands to have as many tactics as possible to promote Instagram to their target audience.
In this guide, we’ve broken down 13 totally actionable ways to do exactly that. From optimizing your posts and profile to rethinking your approach to content promotion, any combination of these tips are fair game when it comes to Instagram promotion.
13 Ways to promote your Instagram Page
1. Ramp up your content production
There’s no shortage of Instagram content you can publish to fill up your feed.
Customer photos. Memes. Bite-sized videos.
And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of what’s available to you.
To figure out what performs the best among your audience, you’re going to need to experiment. That means ramping up your content production and posting more frequently.
Publishing to Instagram at least once a day is within the platform’s best practices. Heck, major brands like TopShop and H&M post up to three times per day (if not more often).
As you roll out more content, it’s crucial to squeeze more engagement out of your following by understanding the best times to post on Instagram.
And speaking of which, that’s also why Instagram Stories are so valuable. Off-the-cuff content via Stories essentially allows you to “skip the line” and appear front-and-center in people’s feeds. Not only that, but you can freely post Story after Story without worrying about spamming your fans.
The takeaway here is that Instagram moves much quicker than it did a year or two ago in terms of content.
Brands should ramp up if they want to keep up. To create content that your audience will love, make sure you have a comprehensive strategy in place and are using data to create more successful content. Download our Instagram marketing strategy guide to learn more.
2. Cross-promote your Instagram posts across other networks
The effort it takes to snag the perfect snapshot and craft a clever caption isn’t something that should go to waste.
Cross-posting your content to other social platforms is a no-brainer to get even more of an ROI out of your Instagram presence.
For example, you can promote your Instagram content across the likes of Facebook and Twitter to maximize your content’s reach.
Although cross-promotion is a smart move, bear in mind that each social platform has its own best practices. For example, Instagram tends to go heavier on the hashtags while you might want to craft a slightly different description for images posted to Facebook.
Sound time-consuming? It doesn’t have to be.
Sprout Social’s Asset Library enables you to store images, videos and text in a centralized location for use across multiple social networks. Quickly find, edit and publish directly from the Asset Library to deliver engaging posts that are tailored to whatever network you’re using.
And don’t forget to make your job even easier by using scheduling and publishing tools.
Ana Laura Montaño González
Community Manager
Sprout’s Optimal Send Times simplifies things further by scheduling content to post at the times most likely to generate engagement from your audience.
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3. Focus on people-centric content
Although Instagram is a place to score sales, it is still first and foremost a place to share experiences.
The popularity of selfies on Instagram speaks for itself, as does customer photos and pictures of people using products in real-world settings.
Much of the appeal of Instagram is that brands are capable of advertising in a more human way without bombarding followers with messages that scream “BUY NOW!”
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A post shared by Penguin Books (@penguinbooks)
And on a related note, this is exactly why user-generated content such as customer photos are such a goldmine for brands. Not only do folks on the ‘gram love it when brands shout them out, but customer photos represent marketing firepower that proves that people dig your products.
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A post shared by Penguin Books (@penguinbooks)
But in order to spot and curate user-generated content for your feed, you’re going to need to understand how hashtags can help you promote your Instagram.
And that leads us to our next point.
4. Experiment with branded and industry hashtags
Brands both big and small should create a hashtag to encourage sharing and promotion on behalf of their followers. Doing so doesn’t have to be rocket science, either.
For example, Ernie Ball displays their #iplayslinky and #colorsofrocknroll hashtags loud and clear in their bio.
In turn, they use the tag to promote their own posts in addition to thousands of loyal fans promoting the brand organically.
See how that works?
Beyond your own hashtags, you should try to promote your Instagram using more general, community hashtags specific to your industry such as #6strings (music) or #unicornhair (beauty). Tacking on extra tags essentially makes your posts searchable by tag-followers and instantly increases your reach.
As noted in our guide detailing how to use hashtags across every social network, engagement peaks at approximately nine hashtags. Although you can certainly use less (or more), the takeaway here is that you should at the very least add something.
Don’t forget to take advantage of hashtag analytics tools. Sprout lets you track and analyze hashtag performance to find out what’s resonating with audiences and optimize usage.
And with Sprout’s Advanced Listening, you can move beyond quantitative data to find qualitative insights related to hashtags, allowing you to fully understand campaign performance and measure share of voice. Additionally, you can identify related hashtags to dive deeper into the brand-relevant conversations consumers are having on social.
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5. Tag brands, followers and locations whenever you can
Tagging is a surprisingly effective way to promote your Instagram.
And no, we’re not just talking about hashtags.
For example, you can tag other brands and accounts in hopes of a shout-out yourself. Given that notifications ping anyone who receives them, relevant tags are a subtle way to encourage promotion.
Likewise, it’s both courtesy and within Instagram’s best practices to tag anyone you might be regramming.
Chances are they’ll be thrilled to be featured in your feed and will share the news with their own followers.
Don’t forget to tag locations, too! For example, if you have a physical location for your business or regularly attends events, location-specific posts allow you to explore new potential fans and followers.
6. Publish Instagram content on-site
When it comes to ads, what better billboards than your own customers?
Featuring Instagram content on-site is a brilliant way to increase conversions. Why? Because when people see purchased products in real-world settings, they know that the brand in question has satisfied customers. Consumers can better visualize and understand a product for themselves when they see it “in the wild.”
Thus the rise of lookbooks and brands featuring user-generated content on product pages. For example, Casper uses an Instagram slideshow on-site to show off their satisfied sleepers.
Of course, this all circles back to the need to promote your Instagram hashtag.
In addition to their Instagram bio, #TopShopStyle is plastered across the brand’s site and marketing emails to increase their tag’s exposure. The end result is more user-generated content and people promoting TopShop organically.
7. Carve out your creative trademark
Creativity counts on Instagram.
Having some sort of niche or theme is a great way to both inspire your Instagram content and make yourself stand out from the crowd.
For example, Yeti is known for its feed full of high-res photos of the outdoors featuring adventures enjoying their products.
Meanwhile, oVertone boasts a bold color-coded feed based on whichever shade of their product their currently promoting.
If you’re stumped as to what your creative trademark should be, don’t sweat it. There are tons of Instagram apps (such as VSCO) which can help you add some creative flair to your photos. By using consistent gradients, colors and filters, you can make your feed feel more, well, you.
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A post shared by VSCO | Photo & Video Editor (@vsco)
8. Work with influencers to extend your reach
As we mentioned earlier, Instagram benefits from being a platform where brands can essentially publish ads without shoving them in their followers’ faces.
Enter the rise of influencer marketing.
Simply put, influencer marketing entails a paid relationship with another Instagram account with a sizeable, engaged follower count. Influencers’ audiences should ideally mirror your own or allow you to tap into a new sect of users that you’re trying to reach.
Influencers are akin to ads in the sense that the relationship does indeed cost money. However, finding the right influencer can be an incredibly cost-effective way to both sell products and grow your following.
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A post shared by 🧿 HELEN BERKUN 🧿 (@helen_berkun)
Brands can spot influencers through hashtags and manual searching, or you can try Instagram analytics tools such as Tapinfluence or search an in-depth database related to your business.
Remember: when identifying influencers, just make sure they have a following that actually engages with their content. Engagement rate calculators such as this one from Phlanx can help give you peace of mind about any influencers in question.
9. Rethink how you present your products and promotions
This is a simple tip but is definitely something worth mentioning. And it relates to that other kind of Instagram promotion – the one with fun giveaways or sale items and can be incredibly valuable for your brand when done well.
So when you promote your Instagram in these instances, it’s crucial to present your content as must-see.
Instagram thrives on anything and everything “new.” Anything you can do to create a sense of hype is a major point in your favor.
For example, check out how Glossier hypes up their much-requested eye cream by surprising their followers a day before it drops.
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A post shared by Glossier (@glossier)
Uniqlo publishes hype-heavy Instagram promotions and content, including calls-to-action for followers to check out their exclusive merch.
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A post shared by UNIQLO Global (@uniqlo)
Pinup Girl also does a great job of highlighting why their products rock and allows their brand voice to shine through in the process.
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A post shared by Pinup Girl Clothing (@pinupgirlclothing)
As a rule of thumb, think “so what” before you hit “publish” for your promotions on Instagram. Doing so will ultimately encourage you to write more compelling captions.
10. Run a contest or giveawayHere’s some food for thought: brands that run contests grow their followings 70% faster than those that don’t.
You might notice that many brands’ contest and giveaway-related posts receive insane amounts of engagement and that’s no accident. Done correctly, social media contests can result in followers and fans although they can also attract freebie-chasers. We recommend running a one-time contest promotion on Instagram to test the waters and determine whether or not contests are something you want to try for the long-term.
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A post shared by Birchbox US (@birchbox)
11. Optimize your profile for promotion
As you work through how to promote Instagram to new fans and followers, “looking the part” is essential.
This also applies to brands looking to attract more attention organically.
Let’s take a look at what makes an optimized Instagram profile. The good news is that there aren’t too many moving pieces of your profile itself to worry about.
Orlando’s East End Market is a prime example of a simple yet optimized profile. For starters, their username “eastendmkt” is short and sweet, all the while easy to find for locals searching for it.
Their bio also ticks the boxes of an optimized profile, including a clear profile picture, compelling bio, branding hashtag and trackable URL.
Everything about this Instagram bio lets us know what to expect from their feed and likewise that we’re in the right place.
They also feature their email and phone number which is something to consider if you’re running a business account. East End also regularly tags other businesses and events to expand their profile’s reach. Oh, and not to mention their awesome visual content that their local followers love.
12. Take advantage of Instagram Stories and its latest features
Stories are by far Instagram’s most popular feature.
Used by over 500 million users daily, brands should take advantage of Stories as often as possible when promoting on Instagram. For many businesses, this means publishing user-generated photos and behind-the-scenes content. The beauty of Stories is that you don’t have to worry as much about your visuals being polished or “perfect.”
That said, creativity still counts when it comes to Stories. Among Instagram’s latest features, Stories are always at the center of them.
For example, new interactive stickers such as the new Quiz sticker represent fresh ways that brands can engage with followers for a more unique and interactive type of Instagram promo.
Keeping up with Instagram means staying active and on top of its latest features. If you’re regularly publishing to Stories and watching what other brands are doing, you’ll always be in-the-know.
13. Consider running a paid campaign
Last but not least, don’t neglect the potential of paid promotion on Instagram.
After all, social media at large is becoming increasingly pay-to-play. As part of Facebook’s insanely in-depth ad platform, you can use Instagram’s eye-popping ad options to win over new customers.
There are plenty of Instagram success stories out there including this example from Dunkin which cleverly uses both Stories and video to grab the attention of users.
First familiarize yourself with today’s Instagram ad specs, then make sure you have the tools necessary to see how your paid efforts stack up against your organic Instagram presence.
Allison Gates
Creative Manager
Sprout’s paid tools for Instagram empower you to gain insight into the ROI of your overall strategy or compare the performance of individual campaigns to optimize appropriately. Easily highlight your top campaigns by video views, conversions, impressions, engagement and more.
And with that, we wrap up our guide!
More ways to expand your Instagram reach
Instagram offers brands plenty of routes for content discovery and connection with audiences. Make sure you’re covering the essential best practices with these guides:
- Get more authentic Instagram followers with these 10 tips
- 9 Instagram post ideas to spice up your account
- How to regram on Instagram
- How to get more Instagram Likes
- How to craft an impactful Instagram bio for business
So, how do you promote your Instagram?
When it comes to Instagram promotion, you have plenty of tactics to experiment with.
And hey, that’s a good thing.
Making sure that your feed stands out means understanding the platform’s best practices and evolving alongside Instagram itself. Sticking to the tips above, or developing new Instagram post ideas can help you maximize your engagement as you promote your Instagram to new followers and customers. Start a free trial of Sprout Social to test out our Instagram tools hands-on.
How to Use Instagram to Increase your YouTube Subscribers Easily
Do you want to learn how to use Instagram to increase your YouTube subscribers?
Growing a YouTube following can be tough, especially with so much content being produced each day.
The solution? You can get your Instagram followers to subscribe to your YouTube channel as well.
But bringing Instagram followers to YouTube can be tough — especially if you don’t have a lot of experience with social media marketing.
To help you out, we’ve collected this list of proven tips that you can use to increase your YouTube subscribers with ease.
All you need is an Instagram account, and you can get started right away.
Here’s a table of contents to help you navigate this post. Just click on the section that you want to open.
- Post new videos on Instagram
- Create a webpage for Instagram and YouTube feeds
- Increase your visibility with hashtags
- Put your channel link in your Instagram bio
- Post video clips in your stories
- Share channel announcements on Instagram
- Poll Instagram for Decisions on YouTube
- Post YouTube fan shoutouts on Instagram
- Use Swipe Up to link your channel
- Run an Instagram giveaway to promote your channel
Easiest Way to Get More YouTube Subscribers
Before learning how to use Instagram to increase your YouTube subscribers, you can prepare your channel so people can easily find it.
To increase the visibility of your YouTube channel, you can:
- List your YouTube channel on all your social media accounts
- Add YouTube follow buttons on your website
- Include your brand’s colors and logos in your channel’s icon and cover art
With these simple tips, you can easily get subscribers on YouTube in no time.
For the easiest way to get more YouTube followers, you can add your YouTube channel’s feed to your website. Then visitors can see the type of content you create for YouTube and subscribe with the click of a button.
Even better, when you use the YouTube Feed Pro WordPress plugin, you can create, customize, and embed beautiful feeds with your YouTube videos with ease — no coding needed.
What’s more, you can show as many feeds as you like throughout your site. One page can show your channel’s main feed, while other pages display your favorites or a feed of your live streams.
That way, you can target different groups of people with the content they’re most likely to enjoy. And they can subscribe to your channel to grow for more content.
Ready to grow your YouTube channel? Get your copy of YouTube Feed Pro today.
Using Instagram to Increase YouTube Subscribers
Now let’s move on and see how you can use your Instagram audience to grow your YouTube channel.
As mentioned earlier, your Instagram followers are different from your YouTube fans. What motivates one audience might not be the same for the other.
With these proven tips, you can bridge the gap between the platforms and get more people to check out your YouTube videos.
Post to Instagram for Every New YouTube Video
The easiest way to get your Instagram followers to subscribe to your channel is through cross-promotion. Every time you publish a new video on YouTube, advertise it on Instagram.
You can use…
- Your YouTube video thumbnail
- A screenshot of your YouTube video
- A short clip of the video
But the most important thing is to include the video’s URL so users can watch the full video. The most popular way to do that is to add the video link to your Instagram bio. Then in your post’s caption, add a short note for fans to click your bio link.
By regularly updating Instagram with your latest YouTube content, you keep your channel top of mind.
It also shows your channel is active and that you have a growing community on other platforms.
Create a Web Page for Instagram and YouTube
Another way to draw your Instagram followers’ attention to YouTube is to showcase both networks in the same place.
If you display feeds for both platforms on a single web page, it tells visitors that each platform is important. It also associates your brand with both YouTube and Instagram, making it more likely visitors will follow you on each site.
The easiest way to do that is to use the YouTube Feed Pro and Instagram Feed plugins from Smash Balloon. Then you can display both feeds side by side on your website.
Here’s a quick tutorial on how to do that.
Once you have the plugins, install and activate them on your WordPress website.
If you’re not sure how to do that, you can check out our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin here.
Create Your YouTube Feed
From your dashboard, go to the YouTube Feed » All Feeds menu, and then click on the Add New button.
After that, you can choose the type of YouTube feed that you want to embed on your website.
With YouTube Feed Pro, you can display content from a YouTube playlist, search results, live streams, favorites list, and much more.
To promote your own YouTube content, you can select the Channel feed type and then click on Next.
As you can see, this plugin makes it super easy to create your YouTube feed. You can now connect this feed to YouTube so that it can display videos on your website.
Connect Your Feed to YouTube
Now, you have 2 ways to connect your new feed to YouTube:
- Add a YouTube API key
- Connect your YouTube account
By adding your YouTube API key, you can use more of the plugin’s features. As a result, this method is the recommended one.
To get started, click on the Add API Key button on the popup.
Don’t have your API key yet? You can just follow our simple guide on how to create a YouTube API key then.
Once you have your key, paste it on the popup before clicking on Add.
Once you do that, open your YouTube channel on the web browser and check the URL at the top.
In your URL, look for “/channel/” or “/user/” and then copy everything after that.
Next, open your WordPress website once again and then paste this code in your Channel ID or Username field.
Then you can click on the Next button below to continue.
Just like that, your YouTube feed is now ready. Plus, it will look amazing right out of the box by copying your website’s design.
What’s more, you can also customize the design of your YouTube feed and choose how it looks on your site.
Customize Your YouTube Feed
To get started, you can choose to import a pre-built design for your YouTube feed. Using these, you can display your YouTube feed as a carousel slider, sidebar widget, video gallery, and much more.
Select the feed template that you prefer and click on Next.
Next, the plugin will send you to the live feed editor where you can customize the different parts of your YouTube feed.
Using the options on the left, you can change your YouTube feed’s layout, colors, header design, button style, and more.
When you make these changes, you can use the live preview on the right to track how everything looks. As a result, customization is quick, easy, and accurate.
To set the layout for your YouTube videos, click on the Feed Layout option.
With YouTube Feed Pro, you get 4 layout options for your YouTube feed:
- Grid: Show your videos in neat rows and columns
- Gallery: Highlight one video and display small thumbnails under it
- List: Embed a single column of YouTube videos
- Carousel: Create a sliding carousel to show your videos
Take a look at all the layout options and check how they look in the live preview.
Once you’re happy with the layout, click on the Save button to confirm your changes.
Next, click on the Customize button at the top to continue editing the design of your YouTube feed.
After you do that, you can use the remaining customization options to change your YouTube feed’s color scheme, header style, button design, and much more.
Remember to click on Save to confirm your changes after you’re happy with how your YouTube feed looks.
You can then go ahead and embed this feed on your WordPress website.
Embed Your YouTube Feed
To embed your YouTube feed with ease, you can simply use the live feed editor.
First, click on the Embed button in the top right corner.
After you do that, YouTube Feed Pro will open a popup where you get to choose where to embed your YouTube feed.
You can manually copy the shortcode, embed it on your page, or display it as a YouTube widget on your sidebar or footer.
To continue, click on the Add to a Page button here.
Next, you’ll see a list of the pages on your website. Just pick the page that you prefer and then click on Add.
Once you do that, YouTube Feed Pro will open that page in the WordPress editor.
Here, add a new widget by clicking on the plus (+) icon.
To embed your YouTube feed, first, use the search bar to look for “youtube feed.”
From the search results, select the Feeds for YouTube block and the plugin will automatically add your YouTube feed on the page.
To confirm your changes, click on the Update button at the top.
Now that your YouTube feed is ready, you can go ahead and prepare your Instagram feed in the next step.
Create Your Instagram Feed
To create your Instagram feed, you can simple follow the guided flow, just like before.
First, open the Instagram Feed » All Feeds menu from your WordPress dashboard and then click on the Add New button.
Once you do that, the plugin will ask you to choose the type of Instagram feed that you want to embed.
You can show posts from your own timeline, display posts with a chosen hashtag, or embed Instagram posts that have tagged your account.
To promote your own Instagram account, click on the User Timeline option and then click on Next.
As you can see, creating Instagram feeds is super easy with this plugin. Now you can connect this feed to your Instagram account in the next step.
Connect Feed to Instagram
To show Instagram posts on your website, you can simply connect this feed to your Instagram account.
For that, click on the Add Source button on the popup.
Next, the plugin ask if you want to connect your personal account or use a business Instagram account instead.
A personal account is limited so you can only display posts from your own Instagram account.
On the other hand, a business account gives you access to more types of content, including video feeds, hashtag feeds, and more.
To continue, select your Instagram account type and then click on Login with Instagram.
Next, Instagram Feed Pro will ask for read-only access to your Instagram account. The plugin will use this access to view Instagram info and can’t make any changes at all so it’s completely safe.
To connect your Instagram account, click on the Allow button here.
After you do that, Instagram Feed Pro will send you back to your website.
Here, just click on Next to confirm this account as the source for your Instagram feed.
Just like with your YouTube feed, you can change the design of your Instagram feed using the live feed editor.
In just a few clicks, you can set your feed layout, header design, color scheme, and much more.
Once you’re done with the customization, click on the Save button to confirm your changes.
With that, you’re ready to embed the Instagram feed on your WordPress site.
Embed Instagram Feed
To start embedding the Instagram feed, just click on the Embed button in the top right corner.
Now, the plugin will open a plugin that asks for the location of your Instagram feed.
Like before, click on the Add to a Page button to continue.
On the popup, just select the page where you added the YouTube feed earlier.
Then, click on the Add button to continue.
On the WordPress editor, choose where you want to display the Instagram feed and then click on the plus (+) icon like before.
Using the search bar at the top, look for “Instagram” and then click on the Instagram Feed widget from the search results below.
Doing that will embed the Instagram feed on your WordPress page.
With that, you’ve created a page to show your YouTube and Instagram video content.
Now click on the Update button to confirm your changes, and the page will be online.
Your visitors can now check out your video content from these 2 platforms so you get more views, interactions, and subscribers.
Now let’s look at the next way to get tons of subscribers for YouTube.
Use Hashtags to Increase Your Visibility
Hashtags are the backbone of social media content, especially on Instagram. They’re great for grouping content into categories to make searching easier.
That way, interested people can find your content whenever they’re searching on Instagram.
To find the most popular YouTube-specific hashtags and track them, you can use tools like BrandMentions.
As a result, you can easily find the best hashtags to use for your video content.
You can also add an Instagram hashtag feed to your website to display YouTube-specific Instagram content.
If more people can find your Instagram posts through hashtags, they’re more likely to engage with the YouTube content you publish there and subscribe to your channel.
Put Your YouTube Channel Link in Your Instagram Bio
As mentioned earlier, adding a link to YouTube in your Instagram bio is an effective way to point potential subscribers in the right direction.
Your profile is like a billboard for your information, so it makes sense to get the most out of this area.
You don’t have to place it in the traditional “website” field either. Instead, you can put your main channel link in the body of your bio and video-specific links in the website field.
That way, you’ll have 2 links to YouTube right on your profile page.
Plus, when you use the Instagram Feed plugin to show your content on your website, you can show your profile information at the top of your feed. Then site visitors will see those links too.
Tease Video Clips in Your Stories
Another way to lure your Instagram audience over to YouTube is to tease them with video clips in your stories.
As you may know, Instagram stories are more laid back than your carefully polished main feed.
So you can experiment more and find out what works best.
You could share behind-the-scenes clips from when you film videos for your channel. Or you could create teaser trailers to advertise videos before you publish them on YouTube.
Teaser content creates excitement and expectation in your followers. So naturally, they’ll want to learn more for fear of missing out, resulting in more views and subscribers on your channel.
Your website visitors can view your Instagram stories if you’re using the Instagram feed plugin.
When they click your Instagram profile photo, your stories open up in a full-screen lightbox slider for users to browse.
Post Announcements and Updates on Instagram
Posting announcements and channel updates on Instagram is also a great way to excite potential subscribers. Many YouTubers only share important updates on Instagram in an attempt to bridge the gap between both platforms.
Sharing that type of news on Instagram makes your audience eager to see what’s coming next.
Again, it increases anticipation, causing the most impatient users to subscribe to your channel for fear of missing that all-important video.
Get Fans Involved With Decision Making
Besides sharing teaser content and updates, you can use your Instagram audience to make decisions for your channel.
You can make the process easy by creating simple yes, no polls in your Instagram stories. With only 2 decisions to choose from, all fans have to do is tap to get involved.
For example, you could run a poll asking what type of content you should create.
Fans will then have to subscribe to your channel to see that content in action.
When you involve your audience in the decision-making process, you demonstrate that you care about what they think. This makes you seem more authentic, which is crucial for securing more subscribers.
Post Fan Shoutouts on Instagram
Speaking of showing your fans you care, why not dedicate some of your Instagram posts to celebrating your top YouTube fans?
You could create a collage of your top fans’ avatars and tag them all in your caption.
To go a step further, you can display those posts in a feed on your website, filtered to include only those specific posts.
By recognizing your top fans in this way, you give people more incentive to subscribe. Let’s face it, who doesn’t want a shoutout on social media from their favorite YouTube star?
Use the Swipe Up Feature to Link Your Channel
For Instagram business accounts with more than 10,000 followers or a verified account, there’s another way to link to your YouTube Channel.
The “swipe up” feature lets you link directly to your URL of choice. This is an ideal way to link your teaser trailers to the full video on YouTube or to direct fans to subscribe.
And because it only takes a few swipes to get there, it’s an easy way to use Instagram to increase your YouTube subscribers.
Run an Instagram Giveaway Promoting Your Channel
Our final tip is to run an Instagram giveaway that promotes your YouTube channel. Giveaways are excellent for growing your followers quickly on both platforms.
And they’re ideal for rewarding your audience with a great prize.
The best way to create an online contest is to use RafflePress, the best giveaway plugin for WordPress.
It has everything you need to run a successful giveaway on Instagram. And with ready-made actions included in the drag and drop builder, fans can enter in a few clicks.
After that, just share the giveaway on Instagram and ask people to join your YouTube channel if they want to participate.
When it comes to publishing your giveaway, you can announce the giveaway on YouTube but promote the giveaway specifically to your Instagram audience, asking them to watch the video to enter.
Then you can add extra options such as:
- Refer a friend
- Visit a YouTube channel
- View an Instagram post/video
All you have to do is pick the YouTube giveaway template, and you can start growing your channel in no time.
As you can see, running your giveaway creates a direct link between people finding your contest on Instagram and entering by taking action on your channel.
And the result is more YouTube subscribers.
There you have it!
We hope this article helps you learn how to use Instagram to increase your YouTube subscribers. Now all that’s left is to put these tips in place and watch your channel grow.
Ready to grow your YouTube following? Get started with YouTube Feed Pro today.
While you’re here, check out our tutorial on how to make money on YouTube without showing face.
If you enjoyed this article, feel free to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more social media marketing tutorials.
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.
Based on cosmo.com.ua
Tags: Instagram, blog, how to become famous, tips, social networks
Lyudmila is in touch, a marketer at Altcraft. Today you will learn how to promote Instagram * in 2023 using paid and free methods, as well as which methods should be abandoned.
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After blocking Instagram* in March 2022, the position of the social network became uncertain: the question arose whether it would “live” or not. According to a study by LiveDune, bloggers' story coverage has dipped (only 70% of January figures remained) and brands (by 20-45%). Not every user is ready to access their Instagram* profile via VPN, so the most loyal followers remain. This proves the increase in engagement: bloggers in some categories have plus 20%.
Now the situation is stable: there is an audience on Instagram* and it is quite active. Every fifth resident of Russia uses a VPN, and accessing blocked social networks is still legal, so Instagram * promotion is a hot topic.
Although targeted advertising does not work on the territory of the Russian Federation, there are other methods of promotion. There are also fewer competitors: some brands no longer maintain their accounts because they left the country.
Preparing an account for promotion
You can't start promoting on Instagram* with an empty profile. Users should immediately understand who you are, what you offer and what your advantage is.
A valid Instagram page* includes:
- An avatar with a readable logo or photo if the account is a blogger or expert.
- Profile name that is related to the business, not a simple set of characters.
- The name of the author or organization in the profile header in a special field.
It also indicates the direction of the business. - Account description: what does the company/expert do, your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), what do you talk about if it is a blog on Instagram* of an individual.
- A link to a website or other resource that represents your business or project.
- Designed highlights (pinned stories under the description) with information that answers possible questions from customers. Indicate prices, how to find you, working and delivery conditions, tell us about your experience, and so on. Highlights sometimes add profile navigation.
- Geolocation for offline businesses.
An example of a well designed profile
What else is important before starting the promotion:
- Switch to a business account: then statistics will become available.
- Purge profile from bots and inactive followers.
For social network algorithms, a high percentage of subscribers who do not respond to your posts is a sign of uninteresting content. Such an account is not given additional coverage. - Analyze what an existing audience likes and create thoughtful content.
Reels
Instagram* is no longer a social network for pictures, but also a video platform for Reels short videos. Therefore, the question of how to promote Instagram * from scratch is more often answered about using this format. The social network is actively promoting Reels. Instagram marketing* has changed due to short videos: videos are shown primarily to external audiences in recommendations, and not to account followers. It used to be nearly impossible to get additional reach without ads. Also, the leadership of the social network said that the recommended content will soon become even more.
How to promote Instagram with Reels:
- Post unique content that has never been seen before on Instagram*.
- Study the rules and recommendations of the social network: non-compliance can be temporarily or permanently blocked.
- Start an Instagram promotion* with an open account. Otherwise, only subscribers will see Reels.
- Use themed hashtags that work under videos in the same way as in posts (see details in the following paragraphs).
- Release commercials regularly. This is important not for users, but for algorithms that quickly "forget" inactive authors. But do not bother subscribers: publish no more than two videos a day and three or four a week.
Important! Do not delete Reels that have not received coverage. Sometimes videos are unrolled after a while again and bring results.
How to get followers on Instagram* with Reels
People don't follow every account they see in recommendations. The competition in Reels is high, so it's not enough just to make a beautiful video.
Rules for Successful Reels
- Do not make videos that are too long. Videos up to 90 seconds are allowed, but the algorithm takes into account inspections, so such Reels have less chances. Optimal - 5-15 second videos.
- Arouse interest in the first seconds: by an action, an engaging phrase (“The secret of the right promotion ...”, “No one knew about this ...”, and so on). But do not fool users: if after an intriguing beginning there is nothing of value, the audience will not subscribe.
Involvement roller
- Add text to video because sometimes Reels are watched without sound. It also makes the content easier to read.
- Use a CTA (call to action) in your video. Ask users to read the description, subscribe, leave a comment, and so on.
- Make covers that show the essence of the video, preferably with a brief description.
Reels has two options: choose a frame from a video or add a single photo.
- Shoot videos related to the blog topic only.
- Monitor the quality of the rollers. Meaning is more important, but a fuzzy picture and shooting with shaky hands are unlikely to please anyone. Sometimes Instagram itself "eats" the quality of the video.
Life hack. Turn off data saving to improve video quality: Settings —> Account —> Cellular data usage.
Where to get ideas for Reels
The first and easiest thing is to find a trend and adapt it to your account. But do not think too long, otherwise you will find yourself in the outsiders, because popular videos quickly lose their relevance. The second way is to shoot answers (possibly with humor) to questions and objections from users. Sometimes ideas are found in movies, ads or other platforms (TikTok, Youtube Shorts).
Advertising with bloggers
It is forbidden to pay for advertising by Instagram* itself in the Russian Federation, but this does not apply to bloggers.
Influencers continue to maintain their pages on the social network, and the influence of microbloggers will grow next year. These include accounts from 10 to 200 thousand subscribers. The audience trusts microbloggers more than millionaires, and their advertising is cheaper.
But now it is not easy to order native advertising from opinion leaders, because since 2022 the law on advertising has changed in the Russian Federation, according to which any promotion on the Internet must be labeled and included in a single register. This means that data (including creatives and payment amount) about the campaign is available to all its participants: customers, agencies, bloggers. The information will also be received by the antimonopoly, tax services and Roskomnadzor. Even before the start of advertising, you need to upload information through advertising data operators, who assign tokens (codes from letters and numbers) to ads.
The blogger will have to specify the token in the ad or video, as well as write the word "ad" and information about the advertiser.
After that, the campaigns upload a report to the ORD platform with acts, deadlines and the number of ads shown.
Not all bloggers follow these rules because we are in a transitional period. But advertisers (especially large ones) should take into account the requirements of the law.
Promotion through users
Users share content they like and thus attract new audiences with their accounts. People repost memes, inspirational posts, useful information and news. There is no unequivocal formula on how to promote an account on Instagram* through viral content. Therefore, watch successful examples, test options.
Sometimes it works to ask users to recommend your post/account. Loyal subscribers will do it just like that. You can offer a bonus: free material, discount. Reposts are the conditions of competitions held by companies and bloggers.
Hashtags and Geotagging
Hashtags are unlikely to bring thousands of subscribers, but a certain percentage of the audience will find your account by tags.
Important:
- Add to publications only thematic hashtags that match the account. Use services for selection or search manually in the Instagram search *.
- Do not put high-frequency tags for which there are more than 100 thousand publications in the search results - this is too much competition. Choose low-frequency (up to 50 thousand) and mid-frequency (50-100 thousand).
An example of high-frequency hashtags that you don't want to use
Geotagging is also an additional way to expand your audience. Especially relevant for offline businesses.
How to attract followers on Instagram* through geotagging: motivate customers to tag the location of your establishment, store, salon or other business. Specify a place in your publications (posts, stories, Reels). Then other users will find reviews about the institution and your official account by the tag.
Cross-promo
Promotion through cross-promotion is a collaboration of two accounts of businesses or bloggers with related topics.
The authors jointly create content, for example, hold a webinar, live broadcast, create a creative video (or several) in Reels. Instagram* has a tagged collaborator feature that makes a post appear on both accounts.
Signature for Reels created by two authors
This promotion of an Instagram account* works when each participant already has an audience: preferably about the same number of subscribers as the collaboration partner.
Traffic from other platforms
After the “cancellation” of Meta* products, users were not banned from maintaining Instagram* accounts, but icons of her social networks online and offline should be removed from descriptions on other sites. Therefore, Instagram* marketing with the transfer of traffic from other sources has become a dubious way of promotion.
On the one hand, you can mention the social network, but with a note about the status of a banned organization (in free form, because there are no strict requirements).
On the other hand, supervisory authorities may still consider such links to be dissemination of materials from an extremist organization. Therefore, whether or not to attract traffic from Youtube, Telegram, VKontakte and other platforms is a moot point.
Summary
Despite the blocking, Instagram* works and continues to generate income for brands and bloggers. To promote your account on this social network, you should try Reels - short videos that are recommended to other users (not subscribers). Advertising by bloggers is relevant, but after changes are made to the law “On Advertising”, new rules will have to be taken into account: sending data about campaigns to the general registry and tagging ads.
Cross-promo is also used for promotion — the creation of joint content or projects with related accounts. Additional account promotion methods: hashtags, geotags (especially for offline businesses), users who recommend your content or account.
