A few weeks ago, I got asked for my top 5 tips for getting started on Instagram.
Disclaimer:
Whilst
I only have a small account, these really tips have really helped me to
build my account and engagement. I’ve also included info I’ve picked up
in my job working with Influencers over the last 5 years.
MY TOP 5 TIPS
- Identify your niche and target audience to help effectively shape your content
- Use tags / hashtags
- Be personal
- Engage with other content creators
- Experiment with your content
FIND YOUR NICHE AND TARGET AUDIENCE
Finding
your niche and ideal audience will ensure that your content is
streamlined and relevant, making it easier to build an engaged
following.
You should be able to sum up your niche / audience in
one sentence, and from there identify the type of content they are
likely to engage with. This will also help you set the right tone so
your content connects and resonates with them every time.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What is your niche?
- Who is your target audience (be as specific as possible)
- Are they likely to be experts or already have a high level of knowledge of your niche? Or are they likely to be beginners?
- What value do you provide to your audience (is it to entertain, to educate, to inspire?)
- What types of content works to achieve your aim? For example if educational, you might include tips, advice or how-tos.
- Will your audience understand the language and terms you are using? Do you need to include context or describe certain terms to make it more accessible?
- Is your content mainly relatable or aspirational?
TAG YOUR CONTENT
Hashtags
make your content searchable so potential followers, PRs & brands
can easily find you. They can also massively increase your reach beyond
those who are already following you, perfect for getting your content in
front of new people who may want to follow you.
- You can include up to 30 tags per post, I would recommend using all 30 wherever possible.
- Instead of just using hashtags which already have been used millions of times, try to also include hashtags which have between 50k-100k posts. Your content is more likely to be seen in the hashtag feed (rather than a hashtag which has millions of posts and will be swallowed up in a few seconds). Your post will also be more likely to make it onto the “top posts” for that hashtag too.
- If you need inspo for hashtags, search a relevant hashtag for your post, click on the top performing posts under that hashtag see what other hashtags are being used (make sure they are not spammy or irrelevant to your own post)
- Try to tag publishing houses / brands / authors etc where you can - they might reshare on their own channels
- You can also include hashtags in Instagram stories too (which can easily be hidden) to also increase the reach
BE PERSONAL
Don’t
be afraid to show your personality in your content. People like it when
they feel like they ‘know’ you, and it makes you memorable and unique
in a sea of faces.
This could be anything from talking
directly to the camera, showing your face in photos, or sharing
snapshots of your life in your stories (whichever you feel comfortable
with).
ENGAGE
Whilst it might
look like your favourite accounts effortlessly accumulate likes and
comments, they are more than likely doing a lot of work behind the
scenes.
If you want to build up the engagement on your own
feed, then I would recommend consistently engaging with the others in
your niche. Not only is it a great way to meet likeminded people and be
part of a community, if you take an active interest by liking and
commenting on their content, they are likely to notice and return the
favour.
Try to also make it easy for your followers to
engage, perhaps by asking questions in your posts (something I
definitely need to work on too), setting up polls in your stories or
using the question box feature. The more your audience is engaged with
your content, the more likely you are to be featured at the top of their
page when they log on next time.
Even if you are not
looking to build a following, engaging with others online is definitely
one of the most rewarding sides of having an Instagram for me, and I’d
love to meet some of them in real life once we are out of lockdown.
EXPERIMENT
Don’t be afraid to try new ideas and different formats to see what gets the best engagement.
For
example I’ve noticed photos of myself holding a stack of books tend to
perform a lot better than flatlays or location shoots, which I would not
have expected. I also get better way more comments on stories, where I
tend to talk to camera or share my day, but not so much on reels or
IGTVs. This will vary a lot per person, so definitely don’t be afraid to
try things out.
_
I hope these tips help, and I’d love to know your best tips in the comments below.
Emma x
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