How to Promote Your Instagram Account

Instagram has become a strategic social media for businesses to promote their products and services. No wonder having an active account there is a must-have. 

A well-promoted Instagram account centered around your brand has the potential to increase brand awareness and build a loyal customer base, which is then converted to a steady source of income. 

You can treat your Instagram account as a podium where you address your stories, updates, promotions, and more to an audience full of eager shoppers. 

To reach the spot where you gain customers’ trust and can influence their shopping preferences, you need to lead an active Instagram life. This doesn’t mean posting photos of what you’ve eaten every day but what need you have satisfied with your product or service.  

There are six major factors that will help you promote your Instagram account and expand your audience steadily and organically. Although it’s a time-consuming process, we can assure you that it’s all worth it. So, what should you do to gain more followers and build your online presence? Let’s find out below.

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Content Is Key: Create Engaging Posts 

Once your Instagram account is up and running, you can’t keep it empty for too long. Stuffing it with random, low-quality content is not a way to go, either. Instagram viewers crave meaningful, engaging and informative posts, which will ultimately be the reason why someone decides to follow you. 

Depending on your niche, you should decide on what you intend to post. If you have a coffee shop, it may revolve around what’s new in your coffee shop, what coffee you make, and why someone should visit your location. A reel depicting a “day in life,” with delicious close-ups of a freshly brewed coffee and catchy music in the background would definitely be a great idea.

The type of content we are talking about here is not only pictures (both single posts and carousels) but also bite-sized videos of how atmospheric your coffee shop is, and so on. 

Now, to the content. There are a few things you should pay attention to when posting content on Instagram: visuals, captions, and variety.  

Take Visuals Seriously 

Instagram is all about visuals; your reels, stories, posts, and lives shouldn’t be low-quality with a messy background. Show some effort to your audience, and make sure to take appealing photos or videos before posting. 

There are plenty of free software allowing you to edit your content. You can choose a style that suits your account the most and apply it throughout your posts and stories. Make sure to change the setting of your uploads to HD to avoid pixelated visuals. 

Besides the editing tools, at SImplyGram, we pay close attention to composition and lighting when creating content. 

Add Personality to Your Captions

Your captions should be compelling and to write engaging text, you take a storytelling approach. Again, depending on your niche, your captions can be inform your followers about new products and upcoming releases that your team has worked really hard on. Do you want your product to be a hit? Explain how it’s going to make your followers’ lives better or easier.

Apart from writing informative captions, which sometimes can be dull, consider adding humor and personal anecdotes. Behind-the-scenes glimpses are especially interesting since many people want a sneak peek at the production process. 

Any e-commerce business owner would tell you about CTAs or call-to-action phrases. You see them all over the web pages, but they are as useful when added to your Instagram posts. 

On websites, copywriters tend to add things like “Call us now” or “Don’t miss this opportunity,” but you can ask your followers questions and encourage them to leave comments or save your post for later to boost engagement. 

Post Variety

You should leverage all post formats Instagram has to offer. These include:

• Photos
• Videos 
• Reels 
• Stories 
• Story highlights
• Lives 

A part of your audience may skip the scrolling and click right on the Stories section, swiping right until they see your post. Another part of your followers may prefer to scroll down and gather information from permanent posts. While a smaller fracture of your devoted followers will set a reminder when you go live to share useful content. 

If you are not investing your time in one of the Instagram post formats, you are risking losing or not reaching viewers. 

Stories are particularly useful and often imperative to boost engagement and success of your brand awareness. If you are out of ideas but have to keep the activity levels up, consider benefiting from polls, quizzes, and live sessions. 

Utilize the Power of Hashtags 

One way to optimize your reach is through implementing hashtags. You must have seen creators adding them right into the captions or in the comments section. Before you do the same, you need to know the dos and don’ts of hashtags. 

Find Your Targeted Hashtags 

When an Instagram user searches for certain products or services, they often do so through hashtags. A manicure salon would incorporate hashtags like “#nails,” “#naildesign,” and “#nailsalonnewyork” – all in one word or with a separation with hyphens or underscores. 

There are three types of hashtags you should incorporate into your Instagram account: 

• Location-based hashtags – Target the audience in your local area and help grow your local community.
• Popular hashtags – These are popular hashtags like #nofilter that may reach a wider audience.  
• Industry-specific hashtags – Target other businesses in the industry to compete or partner. 

In the case of a promotional campaign, you can create your own hashtag and encourage your followers to join in and share the hashtag on their accounts. Various hashtag analytic tools will help keep track of your hashtags’ performance. 

Implement Hashtags Correctly

Hashtag implementation plays a crucial role in social media marketing strategies, but it’s essential to use them effectively to avoid appearing spammy or disingenuous. You can add up to 30 different hashtags per Instagram post or reel. However, using all 30 hashtags is actually considered bad practice.

One key aspect is to steer clear of excessive hashtag stuffing. Cramming too many hashtags into posts can make them look cluttered and reduce engagement.

Instead, focus on integrating hashtags organically within captions and comments. Choose relevant hashtags that align with the content of your post and the interests of your target audience. This ensures that your posts reach the right people without overwhelming them with unnecessary tags.

You should also consider creating unique branded hashtags to increase recognition and engagement. Branded hashtags help to establish your brand identity and encourage user-generated content, fostering a sense of community among your followers. When users see your branded hashtag, they associate it with your brand and are more likely to engage with your content.

Engage with Your Community

If you aren’t sure how to promote your Instagram account, audience is paramount to establishing your brand awareness. Your community is what makes you Instagram-famous; hence, ignoring your followers won’t do you any good. 

Here are several effective ways to promote your Instagram account through communication with your followers: 

Respond to Comments and Messages

One of the simplest yet most effective ways to promote your Instagram account is to engage with your followers. Sometimes, a simple gesture such as replying to a message is enough to demonstrate your appreciation to them.  

You can also show your care by replying to comments. Even a quick “thanks” or a helpful answer goes a long way. This builds a friendly atmosphere and makes people feel heard. 

Replying to messages in a timely manner, whenever possible, is a sign that you cherish their time as much as you value their trust in you. 

Organize Contests and Giveaways

Hosting interactive contests and giveaways is a fantastic strategy to boost engagement and attract new followers. Tempting prizes or special discounts can motivate your audience to interact with your content and share it with others. This not only increases your brand awareness but also generates excitement and buzz surrounding what you offer.

Contests and giveaways not only increase brand visibility but also create excitement and buzz around your products or services. 

Collaborate with Creators 

Partnering for cross-promotion is a powerful strategy for mutual growth. By joining forces with complementary businesses or influencers in your niche, you can reach new audiences and boost brand awareness for each other. 

Strategic collaborations will help you tap into established follower bases while offering valuable content to new audiences. This not only increases your visibility but also builds credibility, as your audience trusts your recommendations. 

Go Live

Sharing glimpses of your day, sneak peeks behind the scenes, and hosting live Q&A sessions makes your brand feel real and down-to-earth. 

Telling stories lets you connect with your audience on a deeper level, building stronger emotional ties and loyalty. Plus, going live is a chance to chat with your followers in real time, answer their questions, and address any concerns they might have.

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Take Advantage of Additional Instagram Features

Posting your photos will not harness much engagement – as such, Instagram features can potentially expand your reach and attract more followers. 

Instagram Reels

Instagram reels mirror what TikTok does; they also provide you with endless video suggestions of all sorts from accounts that you don’t follow. Tapping into reels means you get a chance to appear on a feed of a potential follower. 

Make sure your reel features popular or trending audio and has some eye-catching effects. You can share your traveling journey, give advice, talk about common mistakes, recreate a trend – there are countless opportunities how you can promote your Instagram account. 

The algorithm prioritizes reels, making them visible on the Explore page, thereby increasing their discoverability and potential for going viral.

Stories

Reels are great, but you need some serious editing skills to craft a reel that will be shared among your followers and can ultimately go viral.

If video editing is not your strongest suit, stories are a must-use daily feature for your Instagram profile. With over 500 million users checking stories daily, it’s a platform where you can share the ins and outs of your business and raise your brand awareness. 

From posting about the manufacturing process to reposting user-generated content from your followers, stories are versatile and have multiple built-in features like Questions, Polls, Quizzes, and more! 

Create a Consistent and Sustainable Strategy

Promoting your Instagram account requires more than sporadic posting. To grow your follower base, you need to come up with a consistent and sustainable strategy. Knowing your goals and values will help you stay on track. 

Take the following into consideration and create a plan that will be aligned with your end goal:

1. Define your audience and type of content – Think about who you want to reach out to and what kind of content will resonate with your target audience. 
2. Post high-quality content – Quality is key to promoting your Instagram account. Although you shouldn’t edit your content to the point of unrealistic standards, learn how to create visually appealing reels, stories, and posts. 
3. Tap into Instagram features – Take advantage of stories and reels, and don’t forget to benefit from the built-in functions each of them has. 
4. Be yourself – Whether you are running a business or creating your own brand, your personality is what will set you apart from others. 

Measure Your Success

To know what’s working on Instagram, you need to have access to the tools to track your progress. In fact, Instagram metrics may be enough to tell you how people are responding to your content. 

Instagram metrics can show how your content is performing in terms of how many followers interacted with your content and how many people viewed it. 

The insights the social media platforms provide may be enough to see what type of content is the most preferred by your audience and which ones may harm engagement levels. In any case, using this information will help you make even better content for your audience. Keep in mind that you can only use this feature if you operate on a business account.

Final Word

So, how to promote Instagram profiles? Now you know! Running your business is a full-time job, and having social media is a big part of it. If, for any reason, you still cannot boost your number or have a hard time attracting followers organically, SimplyGram can help you! 

We target Instagram users who are interested in your niche and skyrocket your account to having 5,000 followers every month! Our revolutionary AI-powered optimization will grow your audience organically, bringing you the results you’ve always wanted to see.
Register and claim a free trial – grow your Instagram account with us today!