I originally shared this on our company blog but wanted to be able to share it with all of you on this site.
We’ve read the countless articles, we know that engagement on Instagram is insanely higher than all of the other social networks. Perhaps it’s because we aren’t constantly linking back to a product and trying to sell our followers all of the time. Either way, there’s ways of using the social network that you probably haven’t thought of yet. Another awesome and exciting post in our growth hacking series, today I’m going to teach you how to growth hack Instagram.
First things first, TAKE GREAT PHOTOS! No one wants to see grainy mirror photos of you flexing with your shirt off. People want beautiful, eye-catching, inspirational photos. At the end of the day, none of the tips I’m about to give you will matter if you don’t have quality content to share. Be creative and unique, people love that.
The next biggest thing you’ll need to do is start testing hashtags! At some point, all accounts with 50,000 followers had to use an insane amount of hashtags to figure out their place in the Instagram world. So, take your photo, think of the fifty words you’d use to describe it and search those fifty hashtags on Instagram. Instagram will actually give you the amount of photos that have been tagged with that hashtag and close alternative hashtags that you may want to use. Once you find tags that work, use them often. Save them on your phone so you can copy and paste right after you post a photo. Sometimes, you’ll need to add and subtract different hashtags depending on your image.
Not long ago, I wrote a post about how to growth hack Twitter using Crowdfire. It works. More importantly, the same principles work on Instagram. Download Crowdfire and get your Instagram account registered with the app, it will immediately show you who doesn’t follow you back, who you fans are, and quickly lets you follow and unfollow. So, you’re in Crowdfire now, great! Now I’ll give an example on how to use it. I also run and own iBostonTerrier.com and we have over 15,000 Instagram followers – obviously pictures of cute dogs will always win the internet. So, we take a cute photo of our dogs, use the hashtags we researched, and post to Instagram. Next step? We search for the hashtag #bostonterrier within Instagram and like and follow the next few hundred posts that come up. They’ll see this, go to our page, see that we have a ton of Boston Terrier photos and follow along. After a while, you’ll build an incredible following that will lead to insane engagement! Voila, step two in your journey to growth hack Instagram.
One final tip on your journey to growth hack Instagram like a bad ass – user-generated content. As you build your following, you'll almost certainly be approached by other users to share their content. If it’s good, use it! Here’s an example: you have 10,000 followers and person with 1,000 followers reaches out and asks you to share a photo of their dog. The content is unique and would interest your follower base. Use it, tag them, and give them a shout. Be sure to use your hashtags! Person with 1,000 followers will post everywhere saying “OMG, _______ shared my picture on Instagram” while tagging your page. Their network sees it, goes to your page, engages and follows you. What a quick way to gain followers and encourage others to produce quality content for you to share for them. Feeling like you’re ready to growth hack Instagram yet?
We’ve got one final tip for you and it’s an easy one. Make sure your profile correctly portrays what you or your brand are about, and be sure to include any important links. The first thing anyone will do is look at your bio, look at your last three photos you’ve posted, and make a determination on whether or not to follow you. Sell yourself and be creative in your description! The more interesting you sound, the better your odds of getting that illustrious follow.
Every person and brand has their own voice on Instagram. Like all social networks, the higher quality content you produce and the more time you spend engaging, the better results you’ll see. Don’t sell too hard, it’s still social media. Use these tips, go out into the world, growth hack Instagram, come back and let us know how you did!
