Best Tactics for Instagram Growth

Best Tactics for Instagram Growth

Instagram is the highest-rated application with more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.

Given the size of its user base, companies have valuable opportunities on this platform to build audiences, build communities, and drive sales.

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To learn more about how to grow your business on this app and create an engaged community, the HubSpot blog surveyed over 1,000 marketing professionals who use this platform. Here are some of our key findings.

Best tactics for Instagram growth?

How Marketers Increased Their Followers in 2021

In 2021, marketers reported that the key to growing an Instagram account to the first 1,000 followers was creating shareable content with quality captions. Growth of their followers after crossing the 1,000 follower threshold involved posting engaging Stories, engaging with users, and collaborating with influencers, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.

If you’re having trouble growing your followers or losing them, marketers report that this usually happens for a few main reasons: not posting frequently enough, being too salesy, and Instagram removing bot followers from the network.

How Marketers Increased Engagement in 2021

In 2021, marketers increased engagement on Instagram by interacting with their audience and creating content that encourages engagement. For example,

Creating content that is shareable and inspires your audience to share it on their own profiles via Stories or repost it to their feed,
Monitoring comments and mentions to find user-generated content that you can share on your profile, responding to comments and DMs from users when it makes sense.

Best tactics for Instagram growth?

How Marketers Increased ROI on Instagram in 2021

49% of marketers reported that of all the platforms they use, Instagram has the highest return on investment. Here are the strategies they used to grow ROI:

Using Instagram’s Shopping Tools.

This was the most popular strategy, with 79% of marketers using Instagram shopping tools in their role and 33% planning to use them for the first time in 2022.

Creating Content Focused on Brand Products and Services.

This informs your audience about your offering on a platform they already know, and has the second highest return on investment of all content types.

Creating Interactive Instagram Stories.

This tool is used by 45% of IG marketers, and 92% of them plan to increase or maintain their investment in 2022. Stories are also the number two format for gaining followers and sharing content on Instagram.

Tips for Instagram Growth in 2022

Now that you know some of the key ways marketers achieved success on Instagram in 2021, let’s look at how you can create an organic Instagram growth strategy for your business in 2022.

1. Utilize different content formats.

Video and carousel posts are the most engaging type of content on Instagram, especially compared to single images. To give you an idea, carousel posts contain multiple different media forms (image or video) in one, which allows you to create highly impactful posts.

Both forms of content keep users engaged longer, whether they’re browsing through a set of your 5 photos or watching a video. The longer a user stays engaged with your content, the more engaged they are.

Although videos and carousel posts are the most popular, you can also experiment with different content formats (such as Reels and Stories) and see what resonates most with your audience.

2. Post at the right time.

When posting on Instagram, it’s important to post at a time that allows you to reach your audience when they’re online and more likely to engage with your posts.

The best way to decide what time to post on Instagram is to monitor your analytics, as mentioned above. However, a universal benchmark for ideal timing is posting between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM, with the best days being Saturday, Friday, and Sunday respectively.

3. Post consistently.

The growth of your profile is related to how many posts you publish, so try to post consistently. The more content you share, the more opportunities you’ll have for engagement and profile growth. Create a consistent posting plan to help you stay top of mind with your audience.

Many marketers report that four to six posts per week is ideal. However, keep in mind that there is such a thing as too many posts on Instagram. Don’t overwhelm your audience, but be strategic.

4. Collaborate with influencers who are relevant to your business.

While it may seem best practice to collaborate with influencers who have a lot of followers, according to the HubSpot Instagram Engagement Report, your efforts will pay off more if you collaborate with influencers who are more connected with their audience and community than with their follower count.

When you do this, you’re collaborating with someone who has built trust with their audience regardless of their size. And when an audience implicitly trusts an influencer, they’re more likely to believe their opinions on products or services and will be curious and eager to learn more about what your brand offers.

Micro-influencers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers and nano-influencers with fewer than 10,000 followers are considered the next wave of influencer marketing.

5. Track Your Engagement.

You might be thinking “Yeah, I already knew that”, but tracking engagement on Instagram is important, so it’s a critical challenge. In fact, it’s the most effective way to increase your engagement, because you’ll know exactly what works and what doesn’t.

For example, insights from your profile might tell you that users engage more with your videos. If you’re spending most of your time creating Stories, you’re actively ignoring what your audience values most. Instead, you’d want to leverage the information from your insights and focus on sharing high-quality video content.

Consistently track engagement analytics so you can make informed decisions that will help you grow better.

6. Write Strong and Compelling Captions.

Always attach captions to your posts – using them can increase your engagement by almost 2%. Short and brief captions (1-20 characters) work well, as do longer ones (over 2000 characters).

Regardless of their length, you should always strive to create quality captions that are informative, engaging, and relevant to the content being shared.

7. Use Hashtags.

Using hashtags on Instagram will help your content be seen by people who don’t follow you, but are browsing the hashtag you use on the Explore page.

If you select hashtags relevant to your business and use them in your captions, people can find your posts, discover your profile, follow you, and help you grow your account. Example: 81% of marketers claim that using hashtags was somewhat or very effective for their Instagram strategy.

Conclusion

Growing followers on any platform can be challenging, especially if you’re starting from zero. Use the tips from this list from other marketers who have been through it and reaped the rewards, and start building your own Instagram growth strategy that will help you build an engaged community.