Instagram For Business – Issue 2 destiny-entrepreneur.com /instagram-for-business-issue-2/
Getting Followers on Instagram Is the Key to Success It used to be on any social media platform when you followed someone, they followed you back. This was a great strategy to build up your following. All it took was to make a steady habit of following people. Soon, you’d have a decent-sized following. This isn’t the case anymore. People don’t follow everyone who follows them. There are several reasons for this. Some social media platforms have a ratio that you need to maintain of followers to those following you. A person may have too many people and thus limits the number of new followings. Whatever the reason, you need to be more strategic about getting followers.
This is especially true with Instagram. Instagram recently implemented a content ranking system that weeds out the people who don’t engage. So, even if you got a bunch of followers, they won’t do you much good over time. Similar concepts exist in Twitter and Facebook. There are some ways to increase followers on Instagram. The first is to use popular hashtags. This can help when someone is searching for the keyword and it is the same as the hashtag. But, hashtags by themselves won’t help if you don’t have good content to share in the first place. Make sure you use images that are fun and worthwhile. Don’t just put up pictures of your products. Get in the habit of liking other peoples’ Instagram photos. Doing this will get their attention and they will be more likely to start following you. The higher the influence of these people, the better. Also, when you find people who are using popular hashtags, follow them. They may not follow you back, but at least you can keep track of their activity. All your efforts won’t do you much good if you are an infrequent user of Instagram. Like any other social platform, you need to stay engaged in the platform so that people get to know you. Share great content and do it as often as you can. It’s always a wise move to set up a posting schedule. Try to keep the promotional content down to a minimum.
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While you may be using Instagram to get brand recognition, a strategy that is based entirely on selling will not do well. Some companies may get lucky, but the odds are not on their side. Keep focused on why people are using Instagram (and other social media platforms).
How to Be More Theme-Centric on Instagram People relate to themes. This is why they love Halloween parties and other types of theme-related events. These events give them the opportunity to do something they wouldn’t normally do. It’s no different with Instagram. If you can figure out ways to tie together certain concepts, you should be able to resonate well with followers. It’s all about getting new followers, likes, and shares. Since the primary concept behind Instagram is a photograph, concentrate on taking your photos over the edge. Do what others won’t or take what others have and make it better, etc. Instagram lets you create a theme for your profile. Not enough businesses use this feature. If you haven’t created a theme for your profile, it’s time to change that. If you don’t feel you have great photography skills, you can find decent stock photos. Many services will let you choose from hundreds, or even thousands, of photos.
Make sure the service you use is legit and they are willing to back you up in the event of copyright infringement. Because you want to be theme-centric on Instagram, you may need to sharpen your graphics skills. You will need to use a program like Photoshop (or a free equivalent), to compose the pictures that conform to your theme. This is also going to require that you take photos that fit into the theme you are going for. Another way to conform to your theme is to use filters. These are included in the Instagram platform. It will require experimenting with the various filters available until you find something you feel will work. Observe how others are using the filters and pay attention to which pictures are getting the most shares. Is there a common filter that you can determine or is something else happening to get those shares? You may not be able to find a good filter for the theme you are shooting for, but you should always check, just in case.
Along the same lines, you can check out other peoples’ Instagram profiles and see what kinds of themes they are going for. Also, check out how the pictures they post fit into the theme. Obviously, you want to concentrate on profiles that get a high number of shares. It may be okay to deviate from the theme with a few images on
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occasion. Check back tomorrow for Issue 3 of Instagram For Business.
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