Instagram for Business: Mastering the Strategies to Grow Your Following

Just like SEO (search engine optimization), SMM (social media marketing) has become one of the most essential strategies for business owners and marketers. With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is the best social media platform to connect with a large audience, promote products or services, and develop credibility.

If you’re new to Instagram, you might be pondering strategies to attract and get loyal Instagram followers who genuinely engage with your business offerings.

Let’s discover strategies to practice connecting with your audience and increase your follower count.

Instagram Business Strategies

Here are some Instagram business strategies :

i. Create SEO-friendly Instagram Account

Your Instagram account reflects potential followers what your brand is, what you do, and why they should follow your account. The most important thing you must pay attention to is to create a business Instagram account instead of a regular Instagram account.

Once you create a business account, optimize it for your followers and search results. Use an easily rememberable and searchable username that tells about your business. You can use your business name and if it is already used, you can use your business name as the first section of a username so that the target audience can easily come across your Instagram profile.

Another important thing is your profile picture. Select a profile photo on-brand with your other social media channels such as your company logo. Include informative and actionable information about your brand or business in your bio. Your profile bio must let people understand who you are, and what you do, and give them a solid reason to follow your account.

Be sure to make your profile public to make its content accessible to all people. Turn on ‘Private Account’ by clicking the gear icon and opening Options. Add your website URL to your bio to make it easier for people to switch from your Instagram account to your website when required. Also, turn on notifications to identify when people comment or share your images so you can quickly engage with them.

ii. Join the Instagram Engagement Group

Within the Instagram landscape, an engagement pod stands as a collaborative community where users unite to boost engagement metrics and foster genuine follower growth. Generally, these are group conversations within Instagram and other social networking sites. These groups are mostly available on Telegram. Since every person participating in these groups is interested in liking and/or commenting on posts of other members in exchange for getting their posts liked and/or commented on, these groups are known as engagement groups.

Whenever any group member posts new content on Instagram, all members of a specific group will help by liking, commenting on, and sharing the content. Mostly all groups have certain rules that all participants have to follow to ensure that every member receives the most out of each post. Participating in these groups makes it easier to get featured on the Explore page of Instagram, thereby gaining more followers and Instagram likes organically.

iii. Assign a Content Creator

Managing an Instagram account for your business takes time and consistency. So, you must have 1 or 2 skilled people. Designate a content creator who is experienced and has complete knowledge of the platform. The proficient creator will help your content to stay consistent with your brand and let other associated people know what to post and what to avoid.

iv. Leverage Emails

Once you encourage people to click through to your business website, you can start gathering their email addresses to create your mailing list. You don’t necessarily have complete control of Instagram marketing opportunities. Email lists, on the other hand, are what you can control entirely.

Add a professional signature to your emails with clickable icons for your social media accounts including Instagram. You can add dynamic signatures in emails you send to your mailing list no matter whether you are using an email client like Outlook, Gmail, or others.

v. Post Good Quality Content

Instagram is a mobile-friendly social media app, and most users see photos and videos on their mobile devices. So, it is recommended for creators to understand essential videography and photography tips and editing software. To upload high-quality photos and videos, you must emphasize a particular subject at a given time and add small details.

Look for symmetry and cover a variety of angles. Be sure that all images and videos must be clear and steady. Avoid blurry photos and focus on excellent lighting and audio effects. Experiment with different Instagram filters and features to determine what works best to make your post stand out.

vi. Upload Meaningful Content

Post content that is informative, authentic, and relatable to your brand. It must highlight your products or services without appearing as direct advertising or promotional content to the audience. Keep an eye out for social media trends, holidays, and trending topics to get help with relevant and useful content creation.

vii. Post Stories, Reels, and Live Videos

Instagram is not just a photo-sharing app now because it also prioritizes video content like stories, live videos, and reels. Compared to photos, videos are more engaging even video posts can generate 3 times more engagement than photos.

Businesses must focus on interesting and engaging live videos and reels when creating content for their brand’s Instagram page. To ease your content creation process, you can reuse your YouTube shorts or TikTok videos as Instagram reels. Be sure to prevent logos from other apps because it can make the algorithm appear your video to some people.

viii. Cross-Promote Your Instagram Content

When you develop a strong relationship with other creators having a similar audience, you might ask them to cross-promote each other’s Instagram accounts and content. The less spammy and more natural you make the content of cross-promotions, the better will be the outcomes.

ix. Use the Right Hashtags

A hashtag connects the conversations of different users who would not be connected to a single stream. Adding relevant hashtags can provide your post with higher exposure to a wider audience rather than existing followers.

Final Words

Mastering Instagram for business requires a blend of strategic planning and creative execution. By optimizing your profile, engaging in genuine communities, consistently producing high-quality content, and leveraging various features like stories and reels, you can effectively grow your following and enhance your brand’s visibility. Remember to stay authentic, stay informed about trends, and always prioritize meaningful connections with your audience.