The Elusive Instagram Following: Building and Maintaining Engagement
The Instagram algorithm is causing a lot of stress for smaller accounts and content creators looking to build their brand. Not only is it challenging to reach new audiences and build a following, it is now a struggle just to get your current follows to see your posts. Instagram will only show your post to a percentage of your followers. If it doesn’t perform well, it will get buried at the bottom of people’s feeds. The less interactions your previous posts have, the less Instagram will show your future posts to people. This adds a lot of pressure for every post to be popular. This is just an added bonus to the the struggle of attracting new followers.
The Right Posts at the Right Time
Posts will be the most successful when there are the most eyes on them shortly after they’re uploaded. Social media helpers like Hootsuite will auto schedule posts for your for maximum impact based on data it has from your previous posts. (Check out our blog post on Social Media Helpers for more info!) Keep an eye on what time of day seems to be the most successful and aim to post at that time. This will keep interaction high and incentivise Instagram to show your posts to more people.
Instagram Stories: The New Vlog
Instagram may hide your posts at the bottom of your followers’ feeds, but stories will not be hidden. Instagram stories are like a miniature vlog. Keeping it updated with cool pictures, interesting tidbits, and short videos will give people something to look at while they’re bored waiting in line or sitting on the bus. This also means that when you do post something new, you can let people know in your story! Even if they don’t see the post in their feed, they might go to your profile to see it. Instagram is making it harder to reach our audiences through posts, but stories add a great interaction element that is a direct link to our followers.
Features & Shoutouts: Networking is Always Important
I will never stop emphasizing the power of networking. Collaboration and good will are keys to success. A great way to foster this is through giving a shout out to another creator you admire or sharing a cool post in your story. Not only does this help with networking, it also gives brand new content to your page. People may love your face, videos, and other content, but something fresh is usually appreciated.
Hashtag Browsing: The Power of a Like
We put hashtags in our posts to help people discover us. We have this concept that a good series of hashtags can expand the audience for a post and drive new followings. Unfortunately, this is much less effective than it used to be. Hashtags aren’t a bad idea, but you can use them to go and find similar content to your own. Liking a series of posts (not too many at once) that all use a specific hashtag can drive those accounts to come and look at yours. This may seem tedious and disingenuous, but it is very effective. Instagram doesn’t do a great job with account discovery — if you want people to find you and follow you, sometimes you will have to be the one who goes hunting.
Do you have your own social media strategies to share? Join the LvlUpDojo discord and find other streamers and content creators to brainstorm with!
