Instagram has evolved from a simple photo-sharing app to a powerful platform for creators, businesses, and influencers to reach a vast audience. To stand out and achieve substantial growth, it's essential to employ effective strategies. In this article, we will explore 11 tips to help you thrive within the current Instagram algorithm, including valuable insights into utilizing "alt text," uploading high-quality photos, and leveraging the power of reels.
1. Know Your Audience and Your Competitors:
It sounds obvious, but understanding your target audience is crucial for sustainable growth. Focus on studying the niche and your direct and indirect competitors. What is it that makes your audience follow you? Which posts do they like and dislike on your page? These are questions to ask yourself. Analyze your engagement metrics to identify the type of content that resonates best with your audience. Using a trends and competitor analysis website allows you to obtain valuable insights about the behavior of your target audience and increase the reach and engagement of the profile, as well as attract new followers, which can then be redirected to the website.
2. Consistency is Key:
Maintaining a consistent posting schedule is vital to keep your followers engaged. Post regularly, but ensure the content remains relevant and high-quality. You want to be posting 3 stories per day and posting 5 - 7 times on your feed per week. At least 2 carousels, 1 single post, and 2 - 4 reels for the best engagement. The reels will help new people find your account, while carousels and single posts will keep them re-engaged to build a deeper, more meaningful connection. And to bust a myth, no, the time of day at which you post does not matter. Instagram allows for scheduling future posts which can make is so easy!
3. Using Reels For Maximum Discoverability:
On the subject of reels, they are a great feature for growth on the platform by increasing your visibility through the explore page and attracting a broader audience with short, engaging videos. It’s a great way to showcase your creativity and promote yourself or brand to more people than what just a regular post might have done. And before posting your reel, make sure to use their topics option to select three topics regarding what categories your post falls under. Instagram has been pushing the reels feature heavily the past few years and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
One final tip to remember when posting your reels is to toggle off the "also share to feed" option. Why? If you have that on, your Instagram reels are going to show on your main homepage feed to all your followers and friends. It might sound like a good thing, but remember, the goal is growth. Turning off that option will push your reel to the explore page first giving it a chance for some new eyes to see it.
4. Use Viral Sounds for Reels:
To continue on the topic of reels, Instagram has recently released trending audio for reels. On a reel, you can set music or audio to it, some of which is trending. How do you know if an audio is trending? Well, in the bottom left corner, on the audio, you will see an arrow pointing up instead of the traditional music note. This audio or song is getting a lot clicks in a short amount of time and it will give you the best opportunity for your reel to go viral. Obviously you don't have to use a viral sound if it doesn't necessarily fit the vibe of your video, but any bit can help!
5. Engage With Other Communities:
Don't underestimate the power of engaging with your followers amd even other followers that are connected to your niche. Respond to comments, messages, and mentions promptly. Show appreciation for their support and interact with them genuinely. Building a strong core community will keep bringing you genuine impressions in all forms. You should be engaging with at least 10 other pages within your niche daily.
6. Embrace Instagram Stories:
Instagram Stories are a powerful tool to showcase behind-the-scenes content, sneak peeks, and interactive elements. The ephemeral nature of Stories creates a sense of urgency, prompting users to view and engage with your content regularly. Another tip, share your reels to your story. Stories are gaining much more traffic in the past year and it's a great way to get eyes on them.
7. Utilize Alt Text:
Instagram's "alt text" feature is designed to make your content more accessible to users with visual impairments. By adding descriptive alt text to your images, you increase your content's visibility in search results and reach a broader audience. To use this feature, simply enable it in your account settings and provide a concise, descriptive summary of the image or video you are posting.
8. Collaborate with Influencers and Brands:
Collaborating with influencers and brands can expose your content to a broader audience. Seek partnerships that align with your niche and values. Collaborations can lead to increased followers, engagement, and credibility. You would be surprised at the amount of Instagram accounts that would love to joint collaborate with you for free! You just have to ask.
9. Repost Your Old TikTok Vidoes:
You can repost your TikTok content as is into your Instagram. I've noticed that the attention span for Instagram reels is even less forgiving than on TikTok. Here's how to utilize this to your advantage. You can post 10 second videos with short trending audios. Transcribe your TikTok videos to give more context in your video description. For example, add a "how to" hook to draw them in, a few tips about the topic and a call-to-action(CTA) to tie it all together.
You've kept them hooked with the short video and more than likely they will go to the video description to get more information.
10. Don't use the 3rd Party Applications When Uploading Videos:
One of the last tips for Instagram growth is to not use 3rd party applications to edit your videos such as cap cut, and others. Instagram dislikes that and will penalize your video in within the algorithm. And as for TikTok, get rid of that watermark! You can use an app called 'snaptik' to remove it (which is a 3rd party app, but this is fine). Instagram is really pushing for you to edit the videos you upload in their app and it seems that won't change any time soon.
11. Captions Are More Important Than Hashtags:
The days of adding 30 hashtags to your post to maximize your potential exposure are over. Instagram's algorithm only recognizes 3 - 5 hashtags and I would recommend keeping it light with only 3. Focus more on a clear and concise caption for your pictures and videos. Use a lot of relevant keywords and be descriptive!
Hopefully some of these tips for Instagram growth helped you out.
Growing on Instagram requires a well-rounded approach, combining creative content, engagement, and strategic use of platform features. Remember, the most important part of your Instagram is you and your content! If the content is not engaging and it’s not what your audience wants, then these tips won’t help you out much. Good luck on your journey to social media success!
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