Instagram has emerged as a powerful tool for both social as well as professional needs. While posting selfies, reels, and memories from trips and hikes might sound entertaining, it can also be utilized as a minimalist but highly functional portfolio for photographers, writers, designers, and almost every other creative profession imaginable.
Whether you are interested in increasing your social media presence or would like to create an irresistible collection of images to showcase your talent, you will need a large number of followers for your profile to leave a mark on your audience. The wiring of the digital era is such that you can always get Instagram followers from various organizations. In fact, that is totally an option for some people. And if you wish to do so, take a look at this page of Viralyft they offer this facility. However, let us think smart, and let us think inexpensively. There are countless other methods you can employ to increase your following and here, we list five:
Mind the bio
How often have you cringed after looking at an Instagram bio? Personally, I can recount more than half a century’s worth of such moments. If you want to increase your following, start off with a powerful bio that grabs attention.
Let’s compare two examples:
- @m A Prince, c@ke Murd3r on 27th Jan.
- The Duke of Wellington.
Notice how the first one of these sends a scowl on your face. On the other hand, the second one is concise, minimal, and gets its point across with minimal wastage of space. Further, it looks highly professional and there is a simplistic beauty about it. This makes the latter bio well-suited for creating, say, a portfolio.
Right place, right time
Even after you buy real instagram followers, pay attention to when you are posting content. The algorithm that Facebook employs to sort people’s feeds is weird. There is no telling how exactly it works but everyone agrees that it sucks! Since you cannot control that, control your timing instead.
Studies have shown that eleven O’clock on a Wednesday morning is an excellent slot for an Instagram post. The same goes for the hours of ten to eleven on a Friday morning. Check out this Lifewire post for more information. But even the rules that you find on the internet aren’t universal. Instead, the best time for posting on Instagram changes from profile to profile and content to content. One factor which particularly affects this change is your audience, and this brings us to our third point.
Know your audience
Instagram has approximately 800 million users and that is a conservative estimate! With such an enormous number, you would expect that your posts would receive engagement whenever you post. But no. Young adults tend to use social media platforms at night, from the comfort of their beds. That is also the time when teenagers are active. However, if your profile is targeted towards working professionals, then posts on a weekday aren’t going to receive much engagement and you would want to post on Saturdays and Sundays.
Therefore, you should know your audience and understand when they are most likely to be browsing and surfing on their phones. This will make your post visible to a larger user base and therefore, you will receive higher views and followers.
Engage with your audience
An important reason why most Instagram pages don’t make it past their infancy is lack of engagement on the creator’s behalf. People like it when their views are considered and discussed with them. They want to be a part of your creative journey and particularly enjoy it when you mention their names.
There are numerous ways in which you can engage with your audience. If you are running an arts page, try posting a questions sticker asking what they would like for you to draw next. Hold a wallpaper/portrait giveaway every month. Try creating a poll to make them feel like their opinion matters. These little steps go a long way in increasing your brand awareness, engagement, and most importantly, your followers count.
#HashTag
We couldn’t miss including this point even if we tried. The hashtag is one of the most prominent and versatile symbols of the digital world. And it can make an enormous difference in the engagement of your posts. Hashtags are how Instagram knows what your post is about and therefore, essential to increasing your reach and popularity.
Try to include as many hashtags as possible. However, be careful what you include. Tagging a post about bottle gourd with #ChickenBiryani is not only irrelevant, but also fodder for Biryani lovers to come after you with bats and batons. Stay relevant and stay safe!
Conclusion
Creating a popular, impactful, and far-reaching Instagram page takes time and effort. It is not all in a day’s work.
Apart from your own talent, it also requires a bit of lateral, out-of-the-box thinking and some shrewd research work. Combine these two and you’ll be up and running in no time.
