How to promote your Instagram: 13 ways that really work

Although Instagram was viewed as a fun and relatively simple app which allows you to upload and edit your pics and share them with your friends, it has grown into so much more. In fact, it is hard to imagine a company whose target audience consists of people between 18 and 34 which doesn’t cultivate an active Instagram presence. But, even if you are an individual looking to promote yourself or your small business, Instagram can still be a very powerful tool if used right. 

Let’s take a look at the numbers first. There are over 1 billion active Instagram accounts, which means that one in seven people on this planet has an Instagram account. If that doesn’t sound impressive enough, as much as 500 million users use the app every day. Tapping into that sort of potential can do wonders for your brand’s exposure, traffic, as well as your revenue. However, since there are so many brands and people fighting for their place on Instagram, it makes it hard to stand out. 

In order to avoid getting lost in the crowd, here are 13 useful way in which you can promote your Instagram. Keep on reading for more details. 

1. Create more content

Unlike other social media platforms where you can only post so much content before you start to get on your audience’s nerves, Instagram is much more dynamic and things happen a lot faster. For instance, if you are looking to stay on the radar of your target audience, you will probably need to post at least once a day. If you have a large following, you can even get away with multiple posts each day. What sort of content should you publish? Product images, short videos, memes, as well as stories, which allow you to skip the line and find yourself at the front of your follower’s feeds. 

2. Take part in popular conversations

Instagram makes it easy for you or your brand to join in on the conversation thanks to hashtags. For instance, companies like bestessays.com are making use of hashtags like #writing in order to promote their services, as well as more general hashtags, such as #tbt or #college whenever possible and/or relevant. You need a good mix of hashtags which are long-tail keywords and those which are universal in order to make a significant impact. 

3. Do cross-promotion of your Instagram content

You can maximize the impact of your Instagram posts by cross-posting them on other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, which allow for such a thing. Not only will you gain additional exposure, but you may also boost your ROI as a result. However, according to domywriting reviews, keep in mind that other social media platforms may not favor hashtags as much, namely Facebook, so you may have to come up with a different way to describe the images you have posted.

4. Make use of the bio URL

While it makes perfect sense for you to put a link to your website into your bio, that doesn’t mean that it has to stay there forever. A good way to utilize it would be to change it every couple of weeks in order to promote your newest content, one of your landing pages, or a special offer/discount that is available for a limited time only, regardless of whether you are the best paper writing service, or a newly established small business. 

5. Tell a story with your captions

Although your images may be amazing, you should still take advantage of the fact that you’re allowed to provide captions for them. Your audience may look at an image for a few seconds, like it, or even share it, but if you give them something punchy to read as a bonus, you will be able to generate a ton of engagement. While it will require some additional effort on your part, the results will be well worth the trouble. 

6. Create your content around people

This means you should put people front and center when it comes to your Instagram images. The reason why Instagram is popular is that people like to share their experiences, so instead of coming off as too salesy, you can simply show people using your products in real life. Those images tell a better story than any kind of message you can come up with to get them to buy your product because they humanize your brand.

7. Feature user-generated content

While we are on the subject of people, user-generated content is one of the best weapons you have in your arsenal. First of all, people love when brands mention them personally in their posts. Second, photos taken by your followers and customers represent a much more genuine way of marketing your product or service than any kind of advertising, so use them. 

8. Collaborate with Influencers

Regardless of which industry you are in, there are going to be plenty of influencers over there. The reason why influencer opinions are so valued nowadays is because of their huge reach and expertise most influencers have. As a result, people are more inclined to trust them regarding a particular product or brand. You can reach out to them by tagging them or sending a direct message. Then, work out a deal that benefits you both. 

9. Always tag your location

Tagging your location on Instagram in each post can help you or your brand get discovered more easily. How so? Well, people are always looking for businesses near them based on location, and if you have tagged your location, you will show up their search. Apart from tagging your store’s location or city you are in, you can also tag the location of events you have organized or taken part in. 

10. Remove unwanted content from your profile

The problem with user-generated content is that not every single piece of it will be good enough for your brand. Now, while you cannot remove them from Instagram, you can make use of the “Edit Tags” option. Select the images you don’t want to show on your profile, and then choose “Hide from Profile”, and that’s pretty much it. That way, you will be able to control user-generated content to a degree. 

11. Try contests and giveaways

While it may seem strange to give away your products, contests and giveaways generate a high level of engagement, and on top of that, they can help your brand grow faster. You will also gain some new followers. Try running a contest once in order to gauge its effect on your brand, so that you can decide whether or not it’s something that you’ll want to implement in the long run.

12. Try guest blogging

Guest blogging is one of the most effective ways of establishing yourself as an authority in your field, build high-quality links, and drive more traffic your way, or in this case, to your Instagram profile. You will not only gain exposure and a new audience, but you will also beef up your SEO in the process. In case they won’t allow you to link to your Instagram directly from the article, you will most likely be able to do so from the author bio section. 

13. Run a paid campaign

Finally, paid ads are something that is also available on Instagram which can help you get in front of the eyes of your target audience and win over some new customers. Just make sure to research your audience first and to monitor the campaign results in order to gauge how successful it was. 

Summary

As you can see, there are plenty of actionable ways in which you can promote your Instagram profile and grow your following. Start implementing them today. Good luck!