A few years ago, there wasn’t too much out there to help businesses and personal brands hack Instagram. So much has changed for the better. Now there are seemingly endless tools for marketing, and gaining followers. Some of them are extremely useful to people with vacation rentals or holiday businesses. Which I will address below.
Growing an Organic Following
It’s hard to start out fresh at 0. So, if you start by following other accounts that align with your brand ethos, you’ll gain access to their followers. Then start making waves by interacting in comment sections. People will have their curiosity piqued when they see someone very active in a thoughtful way.
And make sure you start your page strong by already having it decently full of posts. You can get these posts interaction by reaching out to your personal community, like family and friends and asking them to contribute activity on your posts to legitimize them. At some point you will most likely hit a plateau. No matter how unique you think your brand is, there will always be something similar out there.
An effective and increasingly popular strategy to employ is the use of social media growth services. Platforms like this can allow you to Buy Instagram followers with a robust service that provides various customisation options for your needs. This can be effective in giving your page a more established and trustworthy appearance. At the same time, gaining followers with these kinds of services can help you to promote your content organically through the recommendation algorithm more often, which can help to bring new users to your page easily.
Analytics
As a brand, marketing tools are obviously a requirement. Thankfully, there are many full-scale social media managers. They can provide your account with scheduled post planning, and in-depth analytics that automatically aggregate data from your account. They can show you your rate of engagement, and where you are lacking said engagement. You can find out your optimal time to post based on your followers, and even how to gain more followers.
There are all different formats to these analytic tools as well. They can provide services tailored specifically to small businesses, influencers, large companies, and much more. Some of the most popular analytics sites include; Sprout Social, Later, and Bitly. All of which cost a small subscription fee. But it’s still cheaper than hiring a marketing team. In that sense, it’s a game changer, and easier now than ever to jumpstart a brand without much investment, if any.
This seems self-explanatory, no? Well, there are many right and wrong ways to implement the use of hashtags. You don’t want to be one of those brands that are known for posting a hash paragraph in the caption space of your post. If you feel the need to insert a large number of hashtags, to increase your SEO, then make sure you at least hit enter enough times, to where it is hidden.
Hashtags are vital to gaining attention from non-followers. Hashtags can do some heavy lifting when it comes to viral marketing. The analytics sites listed above even provide hashtag components. There are also some simple hashtag search engines.
With this collected data, you can always be on top of the latest hashtag, and keep an eye on what your competitors are using as well. Use these tools to figure out what is trending and apply an appropriate hashtag to your post, and you might show up on the explore page. There are endless opportunities when it comes to using a hashtag, but it’s up to you to determine what is right for your brand.
The Importance of Being Human in a Digital Space
The marketing and advertising trends seem to be continuously growing in a subtler direction. The growth of influencers over the years proves that people like to see the human experience as the focal point of marketing a product or service. It is far easier to connect to a real person using a product and vouching that it has in fact changed their lives for the better. So, really, the more genuine your brand is, the more loyal your following will become.
Followers can sense when you’re being fake, and it doesn’t feel good. So, make sure you are interacting with your followers. You are in a sense, in service to them, so show some respect. Make it a point to read through your comment section and leave replies once in a while. Host polls on your Stories. Have a Live Story at some point. That way you can interact with your followers in real-time.
It forges a stronger bond and brand loyalty when your followers feel like they not only know you, but you know them. In the long run, this consistent behavior can mean growth from those followers, who will go to their followers and friends and talk about you.
Reliability & Trust
Stay consistent. This is not speaking to your branding aesthetic necessarily. That should go without saying. I mean the types of posts you put out there, and when you put them out there. Again, apply the vast amount of analytic tools at your disposal.
When you have a large base of loyal followers, it’s mostly maintained because they know that they can count on certain content from you. When the average person gets up in the morning, they check all of their social media apps, including Instagram. They check in on their friends and also look forward to seeing what the larger accounts they are following have planned for the day. It can give them something to talk about with others throughout their day.
As a brand on Instagram, you inadvertently become a part of someone’s life. You’re a part of their quiet moments, the moments of waiting, the moments of emptiness. Be there to fill that space. Be predictable. You can again, figure out the optimal post times based on your real instagram followers, and even how to gain more followers.
The overall message here, is to realize that you are providing a service, and your brand’s success is reliant not just on your ideas and presentation, but HOW those ideas are presented. Some food for thought that will, in the end, help you retain a loyal base, and continue to grow a steady following. What else do you feel we could add to this list? Let us know in the comment section.
