How to grow an engaging following on Instagram

Grow an engaging following on Instagram to grow your business this year.

If your answer is no, than you need to stop reading and go set up an account – and then come back!

Instagram is a social media platform that is growing in popularity for both businesses and personal accounts. It is a platform that is based around images and videos that you can use to promote your business, what you do and the products or services that you sell.

Instagram can be a bit scary at first if you are not sure what you are doing, however once you are creating content and gaining followers it can make a huge difference to your business.

It is not all about the number of followers that you have though, you need to have a following that is actually engaging on your posts and interacting with what you are sharing. This helps to show that the content you are sharing is relevant to your target market and that they are interested in what you have to say.

How do you create an engaging following on Instagram?

Create engaging content

The first step to getting a following that is engaging is by creating posts that are of interest to your target market and get them wanting to start a conversation. If all you are doing is sharing images of your products without any real explanation or without asking any questions, they aren’t going to engage and will just scroll on past the posts.

When putting up content; ask questions, give insight into the product or service and help your followers to see that the product or service will benefit them. Make it all about your following and not about you.

Use hashtags

Hashtags are the best way to search for posts on Instagram. If a person is not yet following you but they are interested in products or services similar to yours than chances are that they are searching relevant hashtags.

If you are using these hashtags in your posts they are more likely to see your posts and then in turn start to follow you if the content matches their needs and interests.

You can use up to 30 different hashtags in each post, so make sure you are using the most relevant ones to your business and the content you are sharing.

Use Instagram Stories

Insta Stories are a relatively new feature to Instagram and it involves uploading content; either videos or images that are added to your stories for 24 hours. Once the 24 hours is up, the post will disappear. This may seem like a redundant use of time but it is a great way to promote specials, give insider information and create suspense around your business.

In the Stories section you are able to ask questions over your images, add stickers and create a fun environment.

Stories are a benefit for engaging your following as they need to actually click into your account to see your stories before they disappear. It keeps your following active and interested in your updates and content.

Encourage Stories shares

Another great feature of Instagram Stories is that your following can share the Stories in their own stories. This means that your following is then able to show their following the different stories you are sharing and in turn your content is being seen by a larger number of people.

Encourage those who are viewing your stories to share them and increase the views on your stories.

Instagram may seem scary at first, but once you get the hang of it there are many benefits to your business.

So take the time to set up an Instagram account, create engaging content and remember that when someone comments on your posts that you are replying to them and keeping an open conversation with them.

I have a great Free Social Media Challenge to get you started on growing an engaging following on Instagram.