Right now, Instagram is getting more love than any other social network. That’s no exaggeration. Instagram posts earn over 4 billion likes per day, by far the highest likes-per-day figure on social media.
Yes, Facebook boasts more overall users. And sure, LinkedIn is the clear-cut champion for B2B marketing. But in terms of growing your brand and building relationships, Instagram dominates the current social media landscape.
Whether you’re a multinational brand or a local business, Instagram offers a unique way to connect with consumers. No other website can showcase the spirit, values, and personality of your business to the same degree, and only a select handful of platforms see more users on a day-to-day basis.
The question for your business is how you will showcase these qualities. Instagram stars can make the perfect picture look effortless, but it takes a lot of work to create organic success on Instagram. Don’t believe us? Just ask the hardworking team behind Qiigo’s Instagram feed.
In February, our social media team launched a revamped approach to Instagram. Our team created a blueprint that included a regular posting schedule of 4 to 6 posts each week with an increased commitment to content quality. We also started targeting specific categories of posts, including behind-the-scenes pics, seasonal posts, popular hashtags, and industry-specific content.
The results? In less than a year, we’ve increased our follower count by more than 40%, while increasing our likes-per-post by more than 250%.
Looking for new ways to grow your brand on Instagram? Here are four great ways to create organic success with your Instagram account.
Spread the Love
With Instagram, organic growth depends on your ability to reach new users. One of the best (and easiest) ways to do this is to promote other businesses and organizations.
- Participating in a charity event? Take a picture and tag the event itself along with any other organizations that took part.
- Team night out at a local bar and grill? Snap a post-meal photo, tag the restaurant, and give a shout out to your favorite dish.
- Sharing an endorsement from a satisfied client? Make your post a show of mutual appreciation by promoting them back.
When you compliment another business on Instagram, there’s a good chance that business will share your post with their followers. That’s an easy way to reach new followers, especially if you’re tagging a business in your local area or industry niche.
Include Your Team
Another smart way to increase your reach is to feature your team in your Instagram posts. When a team member has a birthday or a workiversary, celebrate the milestone on your feed. When taking creative photos, try to include different colleagues from post to post.
In the same way that tagging a business can increase your reach, including team members can boost impressions on your posts. But there’s another important reason to involve your team in your photos…
Including your team allows you to demonstrate a more human side of your business. At the same time, team appreciation posts will show clients that you prioritize people, a key factor for many clients.
Tag Yourself In
Hashtags play a big role in organic Instagram success, helping you reach new people and take part in broader conversations. No other network rewards hashtags like Instagram. While other networks discourage more than one or two tags per post, the most successful Instagram posts have between 5 to 15 hashtags.
There a number of hashtag strategies that work well for businesses on Instagram. You can use hashtags to reinforce your brand image, encourage engagement from your followers, make yourself more visible in Instagram search, and engage in trending conversations.
In a number of cases, hashtags can also make your business more approachable and human. At Qiigo, we use popular hashtags like #MondayMotivation and #TwinTuesday to engage in a little fun and add to the conversation.
Build Positivity
More than any other social network, Instagram is powered by positivity. That’s an important lesson for Instagram growth. If you want to build a stronger Instagram presence, you need warm, fun, and engaging organic content.
But even if you don’t earn any new followers, a positive Instagram presence can do wonders for your brand. People are attracted to positivity. We want to spend time with positive people, and we want to engage with positive brands. Instagram offers a powerful way to show that you’re the type of company worth doing business with.
Get acquainted with Qiigo’s Social Media solutions. Fill out the form below to speak to one of our Social Media experts.
