Today I’m sharing seven tips and tricks to make your Instagram GREAT and help you gain followers. I am no expert, but over the past several years I have learned a few things that I want to share with you all!
1. HASHTAG.
I know, they seem ridiculous to many but they are so important and vital for growing. One thing I suggest is making a handy list or document of popular and commonly used tags for your photos so you can easily remember them all. When you post a photo, don’t include the hashtags in the actual photo caption, but post your hashtags in a separate comment RIGHT after you post. Hashtags are important to include immediately so they don’t get filtered down on the list so I often have my hashtags written in my notes app so I can just copy and paste them in right after I post. Also, be sure to tag stores or shops in the photo. For instance, if you bought the lamp you posted in the photo at Hobby Lobby, be sure to tag Hobby Lobby 🙂 You never know, they just might want to share your photo on their feed! Yay for you!
I also suggest creating a hashtag for YOU in particular and using that hashtag in your photo caption. For instance, for holiday photos of my home I use #elleryholidaystyle and for general home decor photos I use #ellerystyle and for blog related posts I use #ellerydesignsblog.
2. ENGAGE. Like, comment and take time to respond to your followers and people you follow. As you grow it gets overwhelming but be friendly. If someone takes the time to leave you a kind compliment or ask a question, I think the least you can do is respond. I am often put off by accounts that never respond and engage. But to each their own and for some people, it works. Be kind, be social, be uplifting.
3. DON’T. Do not buy followers. I don’t even know how to do this but I’ve heard it’s more common than not after reading an article about it. I worked my butt off to have the followers I do and I am proud of it, and guess what? I did it all on my own. You want real people to follow you, encourage you and be inspired by you. Also, I advise against using the app that allows you to see who follows you and unfollows you because it will drive you crazy. I lose followers every time I post something, but often gain them too. I used to let it bother me but now I just post and hope that I inspire just one person. I wish it was mandatory for a person who buys followers to include that in their profile, but alas, I’ll let it go and worry about ME and not what anyone else is doing 🙂
4. MAKE FRIENDS. I’ve been lucky enough to make some amazing friends in the IG community and I am lucky to know several ladies that I just adore and feel like they are my constant cheerleaders. Join a hashtag series, do a giveaway, create an instagram tribe/sharing group and participate in #followfridays and share others work. I’m going to be honest when I tell you that I have been a part of numerous hashtags series but they were all because I set them up. I have never been asked to be included in anything. Which is totally fine, what I’m trying to say is sometimes you need to be the one initiating things and you’ll be amazed at the feedback. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
4b. Don’t get burnt out. Take a break, you don’t need to be scrolling IG all day every day, trust me I used to go on it far too often. Pick a time of day that works best for you. I recently started taking a break on the weekends and rarely log on Saturday and Sunday. Remember, it’s only instagram. 🙂 Don’t take it too seriously.
5. AUTHENTICITY. Be you, and only you. I created a personal IG account that I have for close friends and family because I wanted to separate my personal life from my work life. I realized posting a photo of my child at the playground had nothing to do with my business and just didn’t make sense and would lose followers by the handful. I made this change about a year ago and has been great for me. Now this isn’t for everyone as many accounts this works amazing for them as they are a lifestyle blog, etc. For me, it doesn’t work so I now have two accounts and IG just made it SUPER easy to toggle between two accounts so life is grand! 😉
In short, be genuine to your followers and stay on the path you desire.
6. TIME. Be consistent when you post and know the high peak times. I get 10x more feedback and likes when I post in the evening, after 8pm CST. I also like to post in the morning, prior to 8 am CST. Mid-day posts around 11am CST is usually a decent time as well. I know this seems silly but trust me, posting mid morning or mid afternoon isn’t great for me and I’ve noticed that in general. Hope this helps. Night-time posting is key. I can speak for myself when I say IG is easy to scroll through before going to bed or lying in bed so it makes sense as to why this is true.
7. TIPS. I wanted to give you a few tips and tricks I’ve learned over the past four years. If you don’t have a DSLR camera, and are primarily using your phone for pictures, download an app like PicTapGo to edit your photos. My favorite collage app is Diptic and my favorite design app is Rhonna Designs. Be consistent with your photos, I cannot stress enough that clear, bright photos are KEY. They are easier to see when scrolling through hashtags and you have a better chance of people noticing your photo. Here is an example of a photo I quickly snapped from my iphone and edited using PicTapGo. The before and after makes a big difference 🙂
I hope these tips helped! Heck, I’ve been on insta for over four years and I’m still learning! Let me know if there is something you would like to add! We can all be inspired by each other. I hope you will follow me if you don’t already @ellerydesigns. Happy instagramming!
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