A 23-Step Formula for Growing Your Instagram Following

The Power of Instagram
If your using social media to build your business and grow your profits, Instagram is one of the best ways to build your customer list, fast.

Are you using Instagram to its full potential? Are you reaching your goals–bigger audience, bigger profits?

Get an Instagram Tuneup
Does your Instagram page need a tuneup, a fresh pair of eyes to give it a diagnostic? If you need help with your Instagram page, mail me at: bicycledays@yahoo.com with “need help with Instagram page” in the subject line, and I will take a look at it, and give you specific recommendations of what you can do to improve its performance, in order to build your business and grow your profits. I will do this completely free of charge.

I’m also available, depending on my schedule, to be your Instagram marketing assistant, to help you reach your Instagram marketing goals. For inquiries, email me at: bicycledays@yahoo.com with “IG marketing assistant inquiry” in the subject line.

23 Step Formula to Growing Your Instagram Following
Let’s get right to it. Here’s a 23 Step Formula to growing your Instagram Following.

1. Find a topic you are passionate about
Because you will be posting 3x – 5x a day, it’s important that you find a topic that you are passionate about. Instagram success relies on consistency. This means posting every single day. Doing so will be easier when you are enthusiastic about the topic.

2. Find people in your topic area and see what they are doing
Are you posting about New York City fashion? If so, run an Instagram search for “New York City fashion” and see what the Instagrammer’s in this category are doing. What kinds of pictures and videos are they posting? How often? How many followers do they have? Are they successful? You could even message them and ask them questions, advice, or, if you are nearby, if you could meet them for a coffee (you pay, of course) and an interview that you can post at your Instagram that links to their Instagram. If they share it to their Instagram page, you might gain a lot of followers from their Instagram. Win. Win.

3. Pick one topic
Pick one topic Be concise. Be niche-specific. If you’re going to post pictures of boats, instead of establishing an Instagram page about “boats”, be more specific. Narrow it down to a category of boat, to /VintageSailboats … /1950sSailboats … /1960sSailboats … /RacingSailboats … /25to35FtSailboats … /HomemadeSailboats … /ClassicSailboats … /ModernSailboats … /2EngineBoats

Once you narrow down the topic, only post pictures and videos of boats that fit into that topic. Dominate the small pond of the specific niche.

4. Username is important
Find a username that tells the visitor, immediately, what your site is all about. If the username is not available, you can add a “prefix” (before) or a “suffix” (after) to it. Also, you can add a “.official” to it. Also, you can add “what you do” before or after your name. If you help people get clear skin, you could write “SkinCareByYourName” If you are a naturopath, you could write “YourNameNaturalHealth”

A few examples …
/Name.official
/NameOfficial
/NameTherapy
/NameRX
/IGName
/NameIG
/NameOnline
/NameBluePrint
/NameSecrets
/TheNamePage
/YourNamePage
/YourNameHere
/YourNameIsHere
/YourNameSaysHello
/YourNameDoctor
/YourName(verb)(category of person) = /YourNameHelpsFreelancers

5. The first 10 to 20 pictures are important
Most visitors to your Instagram page will look at your first 10 to 20 pictures. Make those pictures amazing. Ideally, they should follow a similar style. If you are a photographer using 35mm film and specializing in black-and-white photography, only post black-and-white photos that you’ve taken with 35mm film. Be consistent. This is paramount.

Use www.BulkResizePhotos.com to resize your photos in batches. It’s quick, easy, and free.

6. Challenge people to take action
Enourage your Instagram visitors, followers, fans to do something. Get them involved in some way by telling them what you want them to do. People like to be told what to do. Doing this will get them involved and also help them to see you as an “authority figure” in topic of interest.

If you post a picture of something or someone doing something “crazy”, in the description or even in the picture, you can add: “tag a friend who is a crazy one” or “who else wants to do something crazy like this–tag yourself or a friend”.

7. Use hashtags that are popular
Use a lot of hashtags. Set up hashtags so you can copy and paste them from your phone from notes.

8. Visit TagsForLikes.com
TagsForLikes.com gives you a group of tags for visibility for your niche and popularity. Copy the tags to your notes

9. Pictures with text
Place text on the picture or image. This is powerful. The image creates an emotional impression and the text cements that emotional impression to create a feeling, one that anchors that feeling with an emotion. Pictures with text are ideal for telling the viewer “what you want them to do”. Use the pictures with text to “issue a command” to the viewer. A great site to add text to photos is https://Snappa.com Another excellent site for editing high quality images is Design Wizard.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Power Tip: Discover the “Secret Sauce” that Creatives & Marketing Agencies Use to Gain Massive Followings on Social Media, with 1.2 million images and 17,000 Templates … Click here for a Sneak Peak at the Real Wizard behind the Curtains
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Here’s an example:
Picture of Marlon Brando with text “Original badass” with challenge: Love this if you agree. Tag someone who you think is an original badass.

10. With the pictures, issue a command, a challenge, or pose a question
command: Tag someone who is an “original badass”
challenge: Tell yourself that you are an “original badass”. Act like it.
question: Are you an “original badass”? Do that one thing differently to move in that direction.

11. Post your hash tags in the first comment underneath your picture
Post your hashtags in the comment below the picture. This looks cleaner.

12. The power of instagram is in hashtags
Utilize their power. You can add 30 hashtags. Be strategic with your hashtags. Research them. Test them. Optimize them. Post your picture. Add your hashtags in the first comment.

13. Follow your target audience
Identify your niche audience. Are you sharing motivational quotes with people? Then, search for “motivational quotes”, visit some of the pages, and follow their followers. When you follow people, at least 13% to 15% of the people will follow you back.

14. Encourage IG followers to visit your link in bio.
Offer a free ebook, immediate download, a Free CheatSheet, a one-page PDF with tips and strategies, etc. Offer something of value, that can be downloaded immediately, once they visit your link in the bio and, after visiting the link, they sign up to get the free offer with their first name and email.

I do this in my Instagram travel site www.instagram.com/HowToTravelEuropeCheap
* I post travel pics of Europe
* Travel like we did, for $5 a day
* Visit link in bio to get started
www.HowToTravelEuropeCheap.com

15. Follow me. Follow you.
Find an authority instagram account that is on the same topic as yours.
Go to their followers.
Follow their followers.
Follow 50 – 60 people an hour.
Find 2 or 3 accounts with very similar feed to you, and follow 50 – 60 people an hour from each feed.
See which ones are following you back.
Repeat this every day.

16. Growth hack
Offer prizes to people who do something–visit your website, share your pictures or videos, encourage their visitors to visit your site. Do a cross-promotion with another Instagrammer who you compliments your site. How? Let’s say your site is for vintage sunglasses, find an Instagram page that features “vintage clothing” or “vintage fashion” and offer a cross-promotion, where you promote each other.

17. Vary your postings
Post pictures. Post videos. Post live video. Vary your postings. Keep the topic niche-specific. If you run an Instagram page for BudgetTravel, only focus on Budget Travel.

18. Share For Share
Offer a “share for share” with other Instagram influencers. You can do this by sending them a message vis Instagram. Here is a template you can use.

Hi,
I lIke your account. I would like to do a share for share as we have a great cross over of followers? Are you interested? Please let me know. Thanks.
Your Name
Phone number – optional
Email – optional

19. Find 1000 dedicated followers
Find 1000 dedicated fans that are zealous about your topic. Follow them. Once some or most of them follow you back, nurture your relationship with them, by providing and posting valuable content–photos, videos, updates–that enrich their lives in some way.

20. Create complimentary Instagram pages
If you run an Instagram page for “filmmakers in New York City”, start an Instagram page for “location scouts New York City” or “actors in New York City”.

21. Share contents of your giveaway product on your Instagram feed
I run an Instagram for “how to travel Europe cheap” and on it, I share pictures from one of the companion ebooks. The companion ebooks contain travel photos from our trip to Portugal, France, and Germany. I share these same pictures on the Instagram page. I’ve set up 2 Instagram pages for this ebook. On one of the Instagram pages, I share royalty-free, copyright-free photos from Europe. On the other, it is mainly my own travel photos from our trip to Europe. You can see these pages at instagram.com/TravelCheapBlueprint and instagram.com/HowToTravelEuropeCheap

22. Post videos and slideshows
Post videos and slideshows. You can download a plethora of free video-editing software and free slideshow editing software on the Google Play Store (Android phones) and iTunes (Apple phones). Adding music to the photo slideshows and to the videos is a fantastic way to “anchor” a feeling for the viewer. The “anchor” creates “a feeling” for the viewer that can become a mental snapshot and a trigger for a response to “do something”. Essentially, it places the viewer into an hypnotic state, in which they are ready to click the link in your bio, visit your website, and sign in with their name and email to get more of what you can offer them.

23. Automate your Instagram page
Automate your Instagram page by using one of the sites below. I’ve used Schedugr.am with good results. FollowLiker looks good, too.

Schedugr.am
Schedugram is a social media manager that automates your Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest pages. I used them last year for a few months, with good results. At that time, they only automated for Instagram. Now, however, they automate for Instagram, Facebook pages, and Pinterest. They are reliable and have excellent customer service. Schedugram is now called Sked Social. To go to their pricing page, click the link below.

Sked Social

FollowLiker.com

MassPlanner.com

MoreFix.com

Summary
Use this 23 step formula to grow your Instagram page followers, build your audience, and increase your profits. Post consistently. Post clear pictures and images that follow the theme/topic of your Instagram page. Be sure to post videos and slideshows with music. Remember to follow other Instagram page followers who are in similar or complimentary categories.

Get an Instagram Tuneup
Does your Instagram page need a tuneup, a fresh pair of eyes to give it a diagnostic? If you need help with your Instagram page, mail me at: bicycledays@yahoo.com with “need help with Instagram page” in the subject line, and I will take a look at it, and give you specific recommendations of what you can do to improve its performance, in order to build your business and grow your profits. I will do this completely free of charge.

I’m also available, depending on my schedule, to be your Instagram marketing assistant, to help you reach your Instagram marketing goals. For inquiries, email me at: bicycledays@yahoo.com with “IG marketing assistant inquiry” in the subject line.

Find me on Instagram
BicycleDays
KrisKempPhotography
KrisKempCreative
HowToTravelEuropeCheap
TravelCheapBluePrint
QuoteTherapy
GravityFilmProductions
DumpsterDiverTheMusical
ThatBugDeservesToLive

[Heateor-SC]

About Kris Kemp 28 Articles
Hi. I'm a writer, musician, photographer, traveler, real estate investor, and the author the rails, a novel, ebooks, screenplays, a musical, and a collection of journals. Although I have a variety of interests, they share the common theme of freedom--time freedom, financial freedom, health freedom, location/travel freedom, spiritual freedom.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*