5 Ways To POP Instagram

Instagram has gone from opening act at your local bar back in 2010 to Mega headliner on the world tour.  

Instagram now has more active monthly users than Twitter, but what has made the photo sharing social network so popular among such a diversified group of users?

Simple, people love visual experiences.

All of us using social media are demanding an increased volume of visual graphics on our fee.

From simple pictures, to memes or infographics; visual content is easier to process.

Your grey matter on top of your shoulders processes visual info 60k times faster than written text.

This is important to note!

Exciting, fun, relevant, emotion-driven content makes uses happy and engaged creating an atmosphere of loyalty and interaction.

Your content engagement will significantly increase simply by adding a visual shot in the arm to what you are saying!

Now, some may argue that one of the biggest errors of visual marketing people make is to repost popular content.

On the surface, I would tend to agree with this.

You saw it once, so did a lot of other people, now I am bored and ignoring.

Dig a tad bit deeper and consider this:

It was interesting to you, it was funny to others, it was loud enough to make you stop….So too might it work for others.

So, I subscribe to a mixed strategy.

I see no issue in sharing content that already has a following.

Why not?  Having said this, it should not come at the expense of your own creativity.

Copy Cats are easy to spot and easy to ignore so be innovative and original with your content publishing.

Creativity and originality ALWAYS win out in the battled for social media eye balls.

You want to be the one creating the material being shared, not the one sharing all the time!   

A healthy mix is what you are looking for here.
Here are some suggestions for keeping your personal creations popping and people not being bored with you on Instagram:

1) Ask a Question!

Seems so simple doesn’t it?

Comment rates double on posts where a question is posed to the audience.

Remember, we are seeking engagement…. So ask for it!

I am always amazed at the responses we get from simply asking a question on any social media platform.

These questions can be as simple or insightful as you choose (you might not even want to know the answer!) but your community will love to see some interaction.

Here are a few that seem so simple it would be easy to not ask, yet they blow up with answers:

• Stay At Home Moms-  why type of detergent do you use?
• Parenting- how often do you eat out a week?
• Food industry; chocolate waffles or chocolate pancakes?
• Exercise industry- Better work out AM or PM?

2) Connect with your Peeps!

If someone follows you, follow them back.

Its easy to spot one of those accounts with a mismatched follow to following ratio.  Follow people who follow you.

Its a way of saying thanks and engaging back.

This is a vital part of establishing respect on IG.

‘Like’ a few of their photos and they will remember this in the long run, especially for the next time you post.

Following someone back is basically accepted as a high five with some love in the social media world, and who doesn’t dig that?

3) Mix it up for crying out loud!

The biggest mistake one can make on IG is to flood their profile, and my potential eyes, with advertisements, promotions, new products or their services.

Yep, I understand that you will need to do all of these things to effectively market yourself or your product on your profile.  BUT- there must be more.

Mix it up by posting something that your followers will respond well to, (a quote, insightful message, funny pic etc.) something that will generate likes and positive feedback.

Then, just when you are ready to drop some marketing on them, don’t….stop and repeat step one. Now that we have done this, its time to dribble a little business into the mix of an engaging profile.

Post the new product you have just released, offer your services or remind your followers about your core operations, but do so only AFTER you have started with engagement.

4) # Tags

Yeah so put on your hater hat on I know, but hashtags really do work and yes, IG is the king of their usage.

On Instagram you can search for a common words such as “vacation” and a list will appear with the most used hashtags on Instagram with that key word in it.

Use a few of these in your next post and then stay consistent with using them going forward!  It will pay off with consistent effort!

5) And the two shall become one!

Many people trying to market via social media tend to have a strong fan base on one or two social networks but struggle on others.

If this is the case for you, don’t sweat it.

Promote your other networks through your stronger channels!

On Facebook, at the bottom of every second or third post, include the link to your Instagram profile, likewise on Pinterest or Twitter.

If you hit a milestone on one platform, make a post saying thanks to all your followers and mention it on your other profiles.

This is a simple and effective way to generate organic followers on your other platforms.

If followers have liked you on Facebook they are more likely to bring that same loyalty with them over to Instagram!