HOW TO BUILD A HUGE INSTAGRAM FOLLOWING

Instagram is all about sharing images, liking them and checking out other people’s posts. It’s a great way to get to know your favorite celebrities, but is that really all there is to it? On the contrary, Instagram can be a fantastic, highly-targeted marketing channel, provided you know how to build a huge, loyal following.

Just like any other social platform, there are right and wrong ways to use Instagram, so today we’re going to show you how you can build and engage with your audience, which is the key to successful monetization.

WHAT IS ENGAGEMENT, REALLY?

The internet offers thousands of websites where you can look at pretty pictures – many of them are quite forgettable, which is why you need to engage in order to be memorable. Engagement is about connecting with your audience in order to make them remember you and return to your photo collection time and again. And when you decide to optimize it with Franktrax, they will have no objection to supporting you. Instagram is not a traditional money-making tool, but anyone can easily build a large audience and start earning money from it when it is properly monetized to appeal to your audience.

EASY TIPS TO BUILD A HUGE INSTAGRAM FOLLOWING

Since Instagram is exclusively for photo sharing, it is easy and fun – who doesn’t enjoy taking photos, adding cool captions and filters and hash-tags? What’s even better, is to see other people like and comment one your photo;  asking questions, complimenting your skills and sharing it.

1. Post Frequently

As a start, make sure that you post at least one photo per day. The key to Instagram success, is to post creative, beautiful photos on a consistent basis. Always opt for quality over quantity, as your photos should grab attention if you don’t want them to get lost in the maze of fluff that is there.

Lacking inspiration as to what to post? Consider starting a series, for instance, artistic nudes, or romantic couples. Decide upfront for how long you will be doing the series, and then, every day for the duration, post a picture that fits the theme of your series. You will find that it keeps you motivated, and it tells a story to your audience, in a way. It is even a way to create a permanent niche for yourself, if it ends up captivating you. You might just draw a very specific, monetizable audience to your page. Go with your gut. Go with your passion, as it will guide you.

Equally important as frequent posting, is choosing the best time to post. Visit the optimization section on IconoSquare to see the times that worked for you  in the past, and use that as a guideline for all your future posts. You could also use scheduling optimization tools, such as ScheduGram to post your photos at the best times.

2. Deliver Value

Whether you want to bring your audience fun, humor, education, or inspiration, you can do so through your photos. Whether you want to share your weightloss progress, or show the features of your latest piece of technology, you can tell your story while informing your audience – all in pictures!

3. Say More Than Just 1000 Words

They say a picture says a 1000 words, but you need to complete the story by adding a compelling caption.

Relay feeling through your images and creative, captivating captions.

4. Use Hashtags

There are two elements to using Instagram:

• Engaging your current audience.
  Growing your following.

While good new photos will keep your existing audience engaged, you need to use hashtags in order to help new followers to find your photos, based on their search terms.

Instagram users favor certain hashtags over others, and you can look up the best hashtags to use with your photos to increase your likelihood of being discovered.

5. Choose the Right Filters

Some filters draw a better response than others, which is why it is important to use those filters that your audience will respond to best. This is a great way to increase your engagement levels. No filter and Mayfair are two of the most popular filters.

But the larger Instagram community’s preferences are not quite as important as that of your audience. Always play to your strengths and your audience’s preferences.

6. Steal From the Competition

Relax! I’m not proposing anything illegal here. What I am recommending, is that you look for your biggest competitors and engage their audience. They are already interested in what you are posting, so you can follow them, like photos, or make comments.

As you can see, there are several great, free ways to build your Instagram following. We always go back to knowing your audience though, and that’s why we wrote this post. Once you have figured out your audience, all you need to do is to be authentic and engaging to keep on growing your audience.

Most importantly though, be sure that you use high quality images.

Like our ideas? Please add your own in comments below, and be sure to share this post with your friends and followings.