[dropcap]I[/dropcap]nstagram has become one of the most popular social networking and media platforms in the world today. Over 1 billion people are registered on the platform and over half of them log in everyday to see what photos and short videos people and brands have shared. Here are some tips that you will find effective in increasing your Instagram followers.
Hashtags: Tips & Errors
You can currently use a maximum of 30 hashtags per image. Of course all big brands and all with a follower community beyond the 5,000 can scream as they like, but especially at the beginning, you should also take advantage of these 30 hashtags (if you think of 30 useful hashtags). These should be given when posting, not in retrospect, as the pictures appear chronologically.
Previously, by later setting a hashtag, for example, it was possible to catapult a two-week-old image back to the top of a hashtag search result list. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible and the photos simply appear chronologically – old pictures remain old and thus further back.
Be sure to ask, “How often is a hashtag used?”
Also important is the quality of hashtags: Find out in advance which hashtags are most commonly used. Personal hashtags like
“tested and well-found”
or
“Heuteistallesblöd”
While entertaining the followers, you must be aware that no one will find you. However, there are also accounts that live from this “Macke” and whose real Instagram followers are only there to read the funny and creative Hashatags. If you post images on different topics, you can use hashtags to create personal galleries. Of course, the hashtag has to be as unique as possible. For example, I forgive the hashtag
#piezecooked
or
#pieze baking,
If I post images of delicious home-made food or #piezzle the hashtag when posting drawings, sketches, or sketchnotes recipes. Try the uniqueness of your hashtag first, otherwise pictures will appear in your gallery that are not yours at all.
Linking with other social networks: useful or not?
When your image is ready for publication, you can post it on other social networks at the same time. Extremely handy if the post makes sense. If you refer to your followers as “Love Instas” or if your post is longer than 140 characters, then he has actually lost nothing on Twitter. If you use hashtags, sharing them on Facebook also makes little sense. Therefore, always think briefly before sharing a picture on all channels indiscriminately. In addition, you take the followers incentive to follow you on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. Who wants to be “followed” on all channels by the same pictures?
Frequency & Time
Both depend heavily on your IG followers.
One post a month is definitely not enough. 10 posts a day is definitely too much.
At the beginning 1-2 posts per day are recommended, usually at the same time. Find out when your followers are online on Instagram. Of course, if you have a mixed audience from the US and Germany, you have to take that into account and find a compromise. Since the pictures are displayed chronologically at the time of publication, posts are likely to be lost when it’s just bedtime in the US.
Find out when it pays to post pictures!
If you always post at the same time (e.g. always in the morning) your followers get used to it and sometimes wait for the next picture. In my case, I receive the most response to posts in the morning and in the evening. Everyone is at work during the day and therefore not on Instagram. However, if your target group consists of self-employed or mothers, for example, they are often on Instagram during the day. So there is no universal recipe.
