There are so many easy ways to instantly and organically boost your Instagram. Changes and actions you make today can pull in new, real followers, boost your likes and comments, and increase the reach of each post you make. Instagram growth is a marathon, but you can see immediate change and growth with a few engagement strategies and post adjustments.
Find People and Businesses to Follow
Instagram is all about building relationships. Step one for building relationships? Follow each other. One of the fastest way to catch people’s eye and gain new followers is to extend the olive branch. Follow them first. Now, as a business, following a ton of people on Instagram can be a bit odd. That’s why you should follow other businesses, industry specific accounts, and bloggers.
How do you find people to follow? First, follow as many businesses in your city and town as possible. Restaurants, hotels, cafes, and everybody in between are already building audiences. Follow them, like their posts, and comment. Then, cast a bigger geographic net and follow people with a similar business to yours around the state. As you begin engaging with those accounts, you’ll signal to Instagram that you are social and engaged while also developing real, genuine relationships with the businesses around you.
Not sure who to follow? Head to the Instagram page of some of your direct competitors, your town’s business chamber, tourism accounts, and popular local bloggers. See who they follow and just follow suit.
Engage More than You Post
First step of Engagement is following other accounts. The next step is commenting and liking. Instagram keeps an eye on how your account behaves. If you just post a photo or add to your story and pop right out of the app, they are going to notice that you aren’t very social and assume you don’t mean much to those who do follow you. In order for Instagram to know that you post interesting, quality content that they should show your followers, you have to put in the time to actually be social.
How do you do that? Scroll through your feed and like every post you see. Something special catch your eye? Comment on it. Follow some hashtags that are relevant to your business and like and comment on those too to keep your engagement as varied as possible. You don’t want Instagram to put you in a box! Learn a bit more about the importance of being social on social media.
Utilize Location Tags to Expand Your Reach
Location Tags are an option for every single post and if you’re not using them, you’re losing opportunities to be seen. Now, you might think tagging your exact location or business name is the best option, but I’d recommend a different approach.
Mix up which location tag you use. Sometimes, tag your exact business as your location. Sometimes, use your town or a major city nearby. Often times, I just use the entire state as my location. Each time you make a post and use a tag, it will be available for people to see who check out that location. By using a variety of more general town or state based locations, you’re giving people in the area the opportunity to discover you. Just using your own business as your location only lets people who already know about you find your posts!
Instagram Is Always Changing
When you’re working on Instagram, just keep an eye out for trends and shifts. What are other accounts doing that seems to helps them engage with their audience? Test it out, and decide if it works for you. We’ve written so many blogs about how to use Hashtags, how to Stay Social on Social Media, and just our personal preferences. Just stay learning, and keep trying. That’s what matters most!
