If you have made it a priority to grow your following on Instagram I’m sure you’ve read many articles, watched many YouTube videos and maybe even taken an e-course or two on how to do this.
You may have come across a lot of the same tips & tricks. These are the basic (and necessary) components that most blogs cover:
- Find a niche
- Take beautiful, engaging photos
- Post consistently
- Use a theme on your insta grid
- Use all the hashtags (but put them in the comments, not the caption)
- Engage with other users
But what if you’ve got these all checked off? Then what? I have 10 more actionable items you can do to really kickstart your numbers:
Work with Influencers
Contact an influencer with a large following that relates to your niche at least a couple times a month. Ask if you can collaborate, or maybe you can offer services that will help them and in the end help you.
As an example, I used my lettering skills to write out a quote the influencer wanted to post on their feed. You may never get a response, but if you do it’s a huge win!
Try Contesting
Hold a contest. Post a contest on your Instagram and make the rules work in your favour. Reader must be following you and tag 3 friends in the comments. Be sure to promote the contest and give it time to grow.
Join Into a Challenge
Participate in challenges. Find a challenge in your niche – there are many out there! If you’re a photographer, search #photochallenge to find some that are happening right now!
Engage For a Set Amount of Time
Take at least 30 mins a day to engage with your followers. This means, commenting, liking and following. Be an sincere as you can – it’s not a race, just a dedicated amount of time to focus in on your community.
Batch Post
Take the pressure off posting daily by batch posting. I like to use unam to schedule posts and preview them in the grid to make sure they fit my theme.
Cross Post
Get on other social media platforms and promote! Start a YouTube channel and keep an active Facebook page. Cross promotion is really beneficial.
Involve Brands
Create a post that features brands. You can simply post a product shot and tag the brand account and you might just get reposted on their feed. Make sure that if you’re talking about a product, you’re being genuine, or else risk annoying your existing followers with too much advertising.
Join Facebook Groups in Your Niche
Find an e-course in your niche, a free or paid one and join it’s Facebook group. Often people will post Instagram accounts so everyone can follow and it’s great for networking!
Connect With a POD
What’s a POD? It’s a group message on Instagram where everyone sends (using the paper airplane) their recent post to the group message. All the group members like and comment on that photo. How do you join a POD? A great place to do this is in one of those Facebook groups from tip #8. If one doesn’t exist, suggest to make one!
Pay to Play
Lastly, if there is an account with a large following that has really active users (with lots of engagement, likes and comments). See if they offer posting for a fee. If you’re afraid this may not help, see if they’ve posted for someone before and send that person a message to see how much traction it gained them.
Last Updated on
Lots of great tips here, all going beyond what is ‘usually’ advised – so thank you! 🙂
— Lisa // FjordsandBeaches.com
Love your tips! I’ve never considered the POD or Facebook groups before, so these are very beneficial ideas for me to utilize. Thanks!
Rebecca | morerebe.com
These are all really great tips, and they aren’t all the ones you normal see!
I never considered using hashtags in the comment instead of in the description! Such a helpful post! xx
Marilyn | http://www.marilynnassar.wordpress.com/
A lot of people dislike pods but I’ve been reconsidering my perspective on them because if you already love a certain pod (I love illustration) then why not participate in them especially if your blog or Instagram is in that niche as well?
The post is very well, thanks for sharing!We got our dress from http://www.millybridal.org. After ordering I saw all the bad reviews I was worried that it would be auful but It wasn’t it’s stunning as described fits perfectly I done custom made because I’m small I don’t regret it one bit glad I didn’t cancel other wise I wouldn’t have the dress of my dreams.
These tips are really great. For the success in instagram, currently i am downloading the videos of competitors from instagram by using https://www.socialdown.com and i repost that videos in my account. I got followers and likes from these