Strategies for Continuous Growth in Top Small Business Instagram Accounts
Instagram is one of the most popular social networks today, featuring dynamic Story ads, stunning feeds, and the new IGTV. It’s also great for small businesses because Instagram marketing can drive sales, generate engagement, and boost leads. But to make it work for your business, you need to grow your Instagram account first. Here’s how to do it:
Does Instagram growth really matter? You might already have a strong presence on multiple social media channels, a solid email marketing strategy, and effective paid ads. So why bother with Instagram?
For starters, Instagram is one of the top marketing channels with 1 billion monthly active users, meaning there’s a diverse audience to reach. It also has the highest engagement levels among social platforms. Features like Stories can lead to higher click-through rates, increased purchase intent, and better ad recall, which are all great for small business growth. In short, Instagram growth is definitely worth your attention.
One important tip: Don’t buy Instagram followers. These are artificial and don’t lead to real growth. Instead, follow these helpful tips to grow your Instagram account effectively.
Now that you know why Instagram growth is important, let’s look at some tactics to nail it. The key driver of Instagram growth is great content. Quality content gives your followers a reason to follow and engage with your profile.
Creating great content involves understanding what your followers want to see. This will garner likes and comments, encouraging more customer engagement. To create such content, do some research. Check out your competitors’ profiles and see which posts get the most engagement. Combine this with hashtag research to see what your competitors are using and apply those to your own posts. Hashtags help you join larger conversations and attract new followers. Experiment with different hashtags to see which ones work best.
Creating content can feel time-consuming for small businesses, but there’s help: your customers. User-generated content is a quick way to foster growth. Encourage your followers to submit their own photos and build a strong, engaged community. Competitions are a great way to source this content. Create a contest around a theme (e.g., best use of your product) and award a prize to the winner. Ask followers to tag you and use a branded hashtag to collect submissions, but always get their consent before using their content.
Managing a social strategy can be time-consuming. Generating original content and posting regularly is a challenge, but it pays off. Instagram favors accounts with a regular posting schedule. Use a scheduling tool like Tailwind to plan your posts and research the best times to post for your audience.
Keep your Instagram feed updated regularly, and don’t neglect your Insta Stories. Aim to have no more than three Stories at a time. Use Stories for product ads, behind-the-scenes looks at your business, limited-time discount codes, or snapshots of live events.
Following these tips will help you grow your Instagram account and, in turn, your small business.