Instagram Checklist: 7 Ways to Grow Your Following!

Have you been wondering what social media platform you want to invest most of your time in? The answer is Instagram. Instagram’s popularity has been growing steadily since it first launched back in 2010 and it’s the second most popular social media network in the world.

Since this platform has grown tremendously and is now considered the best social media platform for customer engagement, we compiled a complete Instagram checklist to help you better connect with your followers and gain more new ones! Check out our tips on how you can maximize your profile and engage with your consumer base by being authentic, being original and telling your story.

• Provide Consistent Content

• Make sure your posts are consistent, engaging and conversational with high-quality images. Behind-the-scenes photos and videos are a plus!

• Focus on interesting, valuable and original content.

• Portray a Lifestyle

• This helps build brand awareness as well as create relationships with prospective customers.

• Images matter!! You want to chat with your followers, not act.

• Be conversational and portray your products/services in an everyday lifestyle, where followers can relate.

• Think of your Instagram as your very own “online magazine”.

• Collaborating with others is a great way to share success stories - Show your support by tagging some of your favorite accounts.

• Instagram Stories

• You can use stories as a way to target new audiences, for promotions and capturing behind-the-scenes content.

• Story search for hashtags and locations to make your account more discoverable.

• Experiment with different content types such as photos, videos, boomerangs, videos filmed backwards.

• You can also feature these stories in your highlight section: this will allow the story you post to be shown on your page even after the 24 hours is up. You can pick and choose which stories you want to keep on your page!

• Hashtags

• Hashtags are a great way for you to expand your reach. They can be campaign specific or general, but just make sure that they are relevant!

• We suggest using between 3 to 5 hashtags, even though it allows up to 30. This creates less eye clutter and makes your tags more precise.

• Mixing your own specific hashtags along with popular hashtags to increase discoverability is the perfect blend.

• Location

• Adding a location to your posts help boost your visibility and will allow Instagrammers who search the same location to find your posts.

• You can add location hashtags such as #Boston or #Shoplocal.

• You can also tag locations in your story! Use this trick to help take your followers to the location you are at.

• Instagram contests

• These are one of the most dynamic ways to boost your user engagement. It gives followers an incentive to participate.

• Your engagement can be simple by asking participants to like your post and to follow you. This allows you to gain followers without asking too much from potential customers.

• Be sure to be prompt in choosing a winner - Followers will check back on the date you announce to see the results of your contest.

• If you have a budget: Advertise!

• Consider paying for a sponsored ad, where you can pick your target audience if it fits in your budget. It will spark inspiration and drive action from potential customers.

• You can do photo, video, story or carousel ads.

Feeling ready to implement our Instagram Checklist? Try these tips out and let us know what works best for you! You can also download our free weekly promotional calendar to keep you organized! *If you're finding your too busy each day to post to Instagram, you can also schedule and publish images directly from Hootsuite to your Instagram Business account. -Taylor & Team