27 Feb How to grow your Instagram following 2019
Wondering how you can grow your Instagram engagement and following in 2019?
We’ve seen a lot of big Instagram names start to question how much reach they are getting on Instagram. The usual post is usually captioned with ‘please like this if it’s in your feed, I think Instagram are limiting my reach!’. So what’s the truth? Are we doomed to never reach further than 1% of our following? And how can you grow organically?
With over 1 billion monthly users getting your posts seen in amongst people’s already busy feeds is difficult. Combine this with a super smart algorithm and it can feel impossible, but there are some sure fire ways to increase your engagement and following on Instagram in 2019. Here’s our top 3
1 – Brand and complete your profile
Pay attention to what your Instagram profile looks like as a whole. Your feed is the first opportunity you have to make a positive first impression on visitors to your page.
People will make a decision about whether to follow you or not by scrolling through your feed, reading your bio or watching your story highlights. SO how can you convert these people? By updating your profile picture, keeping your bio up to date, being active on your stories and having a cohesive feed that looks beautiful together as well as on their own.
Curate your feed to appeal to new followers, think about the new photo you are going to post and decide if it fits in with your branding. Before even launching an instagram account, discuss with your team what the theme might be. What colours will you use, what photos will you share? It doesn’t matter what you choose, as long as you are consistent with your choice. Consider using the same 1 or 2 filters across all of your images if you are going to use filters. Not only does this ensure consistency, but it also saves editing time!
To keep your stories inline with your main feed, consider using Instagram Stories Templates. There are tonnes of apps which can help (Canva is our fave) that can help you create templates.
2 – Use Hashtags and location tags in your instagram stories
Instagram stories is looking to have another great year in 2019 so if you aren’t using them already…you should be!
Instagram stories appear on the Instagram Explore page which means people who don’t even follow you can find and watch them.
As well as this, your stories can appear for Location tags and Hashtags. This means that people can watch any recent stories that were published using a location or hashtag sticker, even if they don’t know of or follow the account. Brilliant!
All you have to do is add a hashtag or location sticker to your Instagram Stories post!
Bit sneaky, but if you don’t want to cloud your story with hashtags and locations, you can use the same font colour as the background and make them tiny!
If you’re at a fantastic event this is your time to shine and attract more followers! People are interested in what’s going on in real time so make your story discoverable and get new eyes watching.
3 – Share more selfies!
People like accounts they can relate to, so be sure to be personable and show your face every now and then! Did you know, photos with faces get 38% more likes in Instagram?!
Make use of video and share some behind the scenes snaps, talking heads of colleagues or some interesting tips! By showing people the voice behind the brand, your customers are able to relate and trust the brand more.
There’s no better spokesperson for your brand than you and your employees! So why not make use of them and get everyone involved.
Introduce personality to the brand along with creativity, humour and compelling content!
If you need help managing your Instagram page, or any other aspect of social media, don’t hesitate to give us a shout and we’ll be more than happy to help you!