Sometimes It Is a Popularity Contest: Growing Your Instagram Following
Kristen Ruby is the CEO of Ruby Media Group, a full service public relations and social media agency in Manhattan. A pioneer in the world of social media and tech trends, she is a frequent contributor on FOX Business and Good Morning America.
What’s your business strategy behind your Instagram page?
Ruby: I think the most important thing I’ve learned on Instagram is that you really need to be focused on one specific thing. That’s the best way to grow followers. For example, I was interested in health and wellness and sharing content around that. I opened a separate Instagram account, @WallStGirls, so anything related to wellness can be found under that account. In that space, my wellness content always gets a lot of likes. But if I tried to put that same content on ‘Krisruby’ people wouldn’t be as interested. Those followers are more interested in TV appearances and other media. You can create totally different brands, even though it’s the same person on each of the accounts, but you’ll grow different followings around those distinct vibes [see Figures 5–1 and 5–2, page 66].
So you’re not trying to make one page about multiple things.
FIGURE 5–1. The @WallStGirls Brand Focuses on Holistic Wellness and Nutrition.
FIGURE 5–2. The @Krisruby Brand Focuses on Behind-the-Scenes Interviews and TV Appearances.
Ruby: Absolutely. They literally look like two separate brands. The biggest mistake business owners are making is by trying to be everything to everyone. Instagram doesn’t work that way. If you look at people who grow the fastest, they are seen as one specific thing.
I recently read about some guys who started a business called ‘Men with coffee.” They literally only post images of men with coffee cups. They have a huge follower base because they a very specific niche. They know who they are.
Another issue is branding. On Instagram, all your images should look somewhat alike. They should use the same filter. If your images don’t look uniform, that’s when people start unfollowing you. They should be able to look at your images and know who you are.
What are you trying to project on the @Krisruby Instagram account?
Ruby: @Krisruby is really about me, behind the scenes as a commentator. I utilize Instagram stories to showcase my business appearances. For example, if I’m at Fox Business, I’ll post a quick Instagram live video or photo, updating people with #behindthescenes. On Instagram, you don’t need to be sucked into updating all the time. You can definitely do just one great photo a day, or even one a week.
Are you seeing a direct ROI from the content you post? Can you track back sponsors or potential clients who have found you on Instagram?
Ruby: I think of it as brand building in a longer funnel, over time, since I’m not specifically selling anything on my pages. However, I recently posted about drinking tea. If my business was selling tea, those products would definitely see a higher ROI.
You mentioned that one of the mistakes businesses make is that they aren’t consistent with their messaging or branding. Are there other mistakes you see?
Ruby: Businesses don’t need to feel like they have to keep up with the social media rat race. I would rather see ten great posts over a month than a series of daily posts that don’t have anything to do with the brand identity you worked so hard to build over the years.
If a business is just getting involved in Instagram, do you have any strategies you would recommend?
Ruby: First, you need a strategy of what you want to be putting out there. For instance a lot of people use a professional photographer to take photos of their day. What kind of background do you want your photos set against? White? Marble?
Next, research the hashtags because those are how people will find you. Be very specific about the hashtags you are using. For example, if I was posting a photo of my dog, with hashtags #cute or # adorable, and my business was selling insurance for dogs, no one is going to find me. You want to make sure your images show up where your target market is already searching. For local businesses, you should also be tagging the location.
Finally, consider your content scheduling. How often will you post? Once a day? Or will you partake in Instagram Live stories? Will you create your own posts, or hire people to post on your business’ behalf?
When someone has engaged you for media placement, do you suggest they start incorporating more Instagram Live stories? Is that part of your media strategy?
Ruby: Depending on your business, this may be part of the media strategy. Just like with Facebook Live, there’s a “land grab” now for Instagram live stories. These networks have invested their marketing dollars behind making these features successful. That means their algorithms are going to favor people who are using whatever is new. This is really important for small business owners to know, because it means you are more likely to be seen through an Instagram Live story than in the clutter of someone’s Facebook feed right now. If you want to stand out, you absolutely want to be using these new kinds of features. Once everyone realizes their potential, the networks will monetize them and they won’t be as easy to do, or as cost-effective.
Your main account, @Krisruby sends people to your website www.rubymediagroup.com. What clickable link do you use for @WallStGirls?
Ruby: I don’t have a clickable link there, and I did that intentionally. I had purchased a link and then took it down because I decided I just want to build a community for @WallStGirls. That in itself is a strategy. I wanted to see if just focusing on one thing truly works better. That account’s growth has been exponential simply because its content is highly focused on the same type of thing.
What’s your long-term intention for @WallStGirls?
Ruby: Ideally I want to connect with other brands, whether it’s a smoothie company or a new vegan drink or almond milk. I want to connect with those brands so I can build a community of people who know about those things. It’s essentially microblogging without a blog.
Do you have any great client case studies you can share?
Ruby: A dentist client did a behind-the-scenes series with an Instagram Live story. Viewers could see all the plaques on the wall and her terrific Chanel boots while she was sitting in the chair. That was exponentially different than her other shared images. The difference in engagement was profound. You wouldn’t think a dentist would show photos from the perspective of a client or someone walking throughout the office. It was a really cool way to market.
We also did a Facebook Live with the dentist talking about teeth whitening. When we looked at the stats, it was the highest-performing organic post they had ever done. The difficult part is getting clients to understand the importance of “Live.” Most professionals are so into what they are doing throughout the day—whether it’s surgery or typing—that it’s difficult to stop the daily flow and put a camera up in front of them. There is definitely a learning curve and an educational process to using Instagram live for business.
Right. It’s not like a paid ad that you’re going to run that day and hope to see ROI.
Ruby: Really you can’t escape Instagram Live anymore. It’s changed the feel of social media for brands who only wanted to do static posts. Now they want to be visible for their clients, and they’re able to leverage it with Instagram Live stories.
The old way of doing it doesn’t work. I recommend you have a social media person, or someone at least designated once a week. Otherwise, you are losing out on a market opportunity that is already there.
It’s the difference between creating content and documenting. Gary from Innotech says too many of us are focused on creating content. Instead, we need to focus on documenting as a form of creation. Most people think their lives are not interesting enough, but I say they really are. Documenting what you do is the best way to reach new people—showing rather than telling. People want to understand the culture behind what you are doing. Any of these “Live” feeds allow you to do just that.
Where can readers get to know more about you?
Ruby: You can find out more at Rubymediagroup.com, on Instagram @Krisruby, or Twitter @rubymediagroup and @sparklingruby.
THE POWER OF THE HASHTAG, AND HOW TO MAKE YOURS COUNT
You can’t use Instagram for business without the almighty hashtag.
Wait, what is a hashtag? A hashtag is the # symbol followed by a word that describes the post or who it is for. Hashtags are a controversial topic when it comes to Instagrammers. Some despise their use, while others overuse them.
Here’s my take on it—when it comes to using Instagram for business, it would be foolish not to use hashtags. According to Simply Measured, using even a single hashtag increases post engagement by 12.6 percent. Hashtags are an effective way to drive organic traffic to your content.
The most popular hashtags are general words like #love and #summer. (See a list of the 25 most popular hashtags on page 74.) However, these really don’t do anything to drive engaged, quality traffic, as they are not specific and just attract numbers instead of potential tribers (cool-kids jargon for those who use Instagram).
The more specific you can get, while still staying with a frequently used hashtag, the more successful you will be at attracting an engaged and on-point audience. So how do you find the right hashtags to use?
Start by reviewing 20 of the most popular brands/companies in your niche and check out the hashtags they are using. For example, I searched on #Entrepreneur (see Figure 5–3). Make a list of these and start to test them on your posts. You will quickly determine what works and what doesn’t and varying degrees of each. Remember, the more specific, the better.
FIGURE 5–3. I Searched #Entrepreneur and Received the Top Posts Using that Hashtag.
FIGURE 5–4. Top Posts Using #Entrepreneur.
I then went through each and made a list of the hashtags. I was able to find 15 that were used on each of the profiles (see Figure 5–4). I made a master list of those and started to test different combinations of them on my posts. A few seemed to garner many more followers and likes while others didn’t seem to make a difference. Keep track of each of yours while you are testing.
Also, it may be super frustrating to type all of these in each time—don’t do it! Instead, create an Instagram post signature and save it in an online list keeper—like Apple or Google Notes or Evernote. This way, you only need to select and paste. Plus, you can first type out the hashtags on your desktop so you can work seamlessly between desktop and mobile. That is my jam.
The most hashtags you are allowed to use is 30. If you use more, Instagram will delete your comment. Start slowly, and as you find hashtags that work, build on them.
Beyond Growing Followers
Besides using hashtags to grow followers, categorizing content using the # symbol can be a powerful marketing tool. Among your list of hashtags, include a signature one that is just yours as reinforcement of your brand. For example, when I launched my last book, No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Guide to Producing Measurable, Monetizable Results with Social Media Marketing with Dan Kennedy, we used the hashtag phrase #NoBSsm (see Figure 5–5). This not only created a brand for the book but also built a tribe around it (see Figures 5–6 and 5–7, page 73).
Finally, a very popular use of the hashtag is to run contests, and we will dive down into contest ideas and how to make them work for your business later in this chapter.
Whether to grow your followers, launch a contest, or build your brand, hashtags remain one of the most powerful tools of the Instagram network. Leverage them to grow your following and online authority.
FIGURE 5–5. We Still Have People Posting Images of the Book with the #NoBSsm Phrase to This Day.
FIGURE 5–6. Another Image with #NoBSsm Phrase.
FIGURE 5–7. More Images with the #NoBSsm Phrase.
THE 25 MOST POPULAR HASHTAGS
According to Post Planner (www.postplanner.com), they are:
1. #love
More than 696 million Instagram posts have the #love hashtag. Everybody say “aww.”
2. #instagood
This hashtag has appeared on about 314 million posts and counting.
3. #me
More than 297 million posts have the #me hashtag. (Could this be more general?!)
4. #tbt
This is a popular hashtag for those learning how to market on Instagram or for “Throw Back Thursday” where you post a picture of the past on—you guessed it—Thursday.
5. #cute
This hashtag has appeared on more than 258 million posts: anything with puppies and babies wins!
6. #follow
The #follow hashtag has appeared on more than 258 million posts—again, who doesn’t want followers?
7. #followme
Another hashtag all about follower growth. As in, I want you to follow me. And I am obvious about it.
8. #photooftheday
Reserved for your best pictures—only one per day that you call the best, or any picture you put this hashtag on.
9. #happy
Not related to the Pharrell Williams song, “Happy,” although that one is smile-worthy. It does get the happy hashtag. So perhaps it is related?
10. #tagforlikes
This popular hashtag asks people to tag them in posts so they can get more likes. I think this is crazy pants; I mean it’s kind of like a business standing on the corner and begging folks to “Like me! Like me!” Not very good for premium brand building.
11. #beautiful
Instagram users have typed this hashtag more than 250 million times.
12. #girl
Again, I’m not sure you can get more generic, but good to know my gender is often featured in Instagram. “I’m very surprised,” said no one. Ever.
13. #like
Not sure about any ROI here, but again, it is very clear what people are going for with this hashtag.
14. #selfie
There is nothing like a good selfie angle to make one’s photo unrealistically gorgeous, which is why I love a good selfie! If you want to laugh for a minute or two, check out this hashtag.
15. #picoftheday
Similar to #8 (#photooftheday), these are for some of your best pictures, or the ones you apply this hashtag to.
16. #summer
No matter what time of year, this seasonal hashtag rules. I get it. Being warm and in sunshine is kind of awesome.
17. #fun
Where photos are marked with things that are not awful.
18. #smile
This sunshiney-day hashtag has been used millions of times.
19. #friends
Helpful if you have a friend with long arms for group selfies, this hashtag is used for gatherings of people you like to associate with, or at least pretend to for the purpose of using this hashtag.
20. #like4like
This “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” hashtag does work to get more followers—quality followers, I am not sure about, but followers nonetheless.
21. #instadaily
This hashtag says, “Hey, it is today, and I am on Instagram!” A bit obvious, yes, but many people use it.
22. #fashion
This hashtag is where you start to see niches, with fashion being one of the most popular.
23. #igers
Sounds bizarre, but this hashtag—short for “Instagram Users”—has been used hundreds of millions of times. You’ll have no problem finding photos with #igers.
24. #instalike
Another “please like this post” hashtag. Hey, if it works . . .
25. #food
Another very popular niche filled with yummy pictures of melted cheese and recipes I will never make but will save in a denial-like insistence that I will create this culinary masterpiece for my future imaginary dinner party (#InstaDelusional).
SPIN THE WHEEL! RUNNING A CONTEST ON INSTAGRAM
When it comes to social media, the number-one reason most use it is for entertainment and a momentary escape from reality. To tap into this audience behavior, try gamification. Getting your community involved in a contest is an effective way to build your market and brand message.
From the Oxford Dictionary, gamification is: “The application of typical elements of game playing (e.g., point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service. ‘Gamification is exciting because it promises to make the hard stuff in life fun.’”
Getting your community involved in a contest is an effective gamification of your marketing and brand message. But it comes with pros (yay!) and cons (boo). It’s best to know both sides before you launch yours.
Gaming It Good on Instagram
Instagram contests don’t have to be as extravagant or budget-busting as a trip to Disney World to catch the attention of casual browsers, especially those who may already have an interest in your brand or what you have to offer. Instagram contests can be as simple as posting pics and asking for caption suggestions. The key to having success with whatever contest you run is to have a good idea and a solid implementation plan.
Instagram Contest Ideas
Start by getting an idea of what type of contest you want to run. You can make it as simple as clicking to enter. Get creative or use variations of reliable concepts like tagging friends or posting theme-related pics. (We need a selfie stick! Stat!)
Contests you can run on Instagram generally fall in the following categories:
Like to win. These are contests where all a participant has to do is follow you on Instagram and like one of your posts to be entered to win. All you need to do is post an image or an update to announce the contest.
Pros: Easy to setup, easy for visitors to enter.
Cons: Engagement is low, little brand association.
Hashtag-generated. Participants are asked to respond with a contest-specific hashtag when sharing a video or photo to enter, with all images/videos with that hashtag in one stream.
Pros: Establishes emotional connection to your brand, creates common viewing area to increase engagement.
Cons: Creates a barrier to entry by asking for content; complicated instructions (i.e., upload a pic, get your friends to tag it) can discourage participation, aka, this one is really rewarding when it works well, but pretty risky until it does.
Email-requested. Often combined with a request to become a follower or submit user-generated content. Instagram contests of this nature require participants to give up their email address to enter by clicking on the link in the bio.
Pros: Builds reliable email lists and is a possible source of more content.
Cons: There is a barrier to entry, and prizes usually have to be something enticing enough to be worth giving up the email address.
TEN STEPS TO YOUR INSTAGRAM CONTEST
Once you have an idea of what type of contest you want to run, the next step is to actually run the contest. Determine when it will start and end since even a highly successful contest has to end at some point. This creates a sense of urgency or an added incentive to participate. Running a contest on Instagram also involves:
1. Tell Me What You Want, What You Really, Really Want: Establishing Your Objectives. Set your objectives and know what you hope to gain from the contest. Do you want to get more followers? Build brand awareness or create brand loyalty? Do you want a specific number of mentions or a certain amount of user-submitted content? The more specific you are with your objectives, the more likely you’ll see positive results.
2. Bam! Hashtag It Up. Create a new hashtag for your contest, or use one that’s also being used by one of your competitors or a popular national brand. See what contests your competitors are currently running to get an idea of what seems to be resonating with your desired audience. Take a look at other Instagram contests to get a feel for current trends.
3. Seniors with Unicycles? Define Your Market/Audience. Tap into your demographics to get a better idea of who is likely to participate in your contest and whether Instagram is really the right social platform for your contest. Ninety percent of those who use this platform are under 35 years old, with most users falling within the ages of 25 to 34, followed by those 18 to 24 years old. Further define your target audience so you’ll have a better idea of what type of contest to present.
4. More Cow Bell! Come Up with a Theme That Works for You. Whether it’s seasonal, topical, or something specific to your business, have a clear theme for your contest.
5. Give It to Me Baby—Your Prize, That Is. You might be able to get away with “bragging rights” for some contests, but you’ll need something more substantial to encourage significant participation. Prizes can come from your inventory of products or be something a little more attention-getting like concert tickets, gift cards, or a trip. Whatever the prize, clearly state it upfront, and use it to promote your contest.
6. First Stop, Instagram. Next, World Domination. Decide if you want to limit your contest to Instagram or include other social platforms. If Instagram isn’t your most popular platform, running a parallel contest on other platforms can have the added benefit of promoting your Instagram account and attracting more followers.
7. No Playing Ball in the House! Establish the Ground Rules. An effective Instagram contest needs clear ground rules. Post the rules to avoid any confusion or potential issues when winners are selected. Other than a clear start and end date, you’ll want to determine:
Eligibility requirements, including any age requirements
How many winners you plan to have
Whether or not you’ll announce the winner or just state that a winner has been chosen (which may be a good idea if you’re going to allow participants under 18)
Prize or prizes to be awarded
Requirements for entry
8. What Shall We Call This Thing? Title Your Contest. Keep your title simple and descriptive of what the contest is about, such as “Holiday Photo Contest.” If you’re going to title it with a hashtag, check on a site like www.hashatit.com to make sure your preferred hashtag is available.
9. Shout It from the Rooftops! Promote Your Contest. Get the word out about your contest with a post on your Instagram account along with your other social accounts, website, and blog. Make the announcement post visually appealing, because Instagram is a visual social platform and this is what will attract browsers sorting through their latest posts. Further promote your contest with:
Your email newsletter
A well-crafted press release
Personalized email messages
A mention in your regular ads or in-store ads if you have a brick-and-mortar store
A QR (quick response) code on your ads to allow mobile users to instantly enter
10. C’mon, Don’t Stop There! Follow-Up. Announce the winner and promote their winning entry with a post on Instagram. If it’s just a “like-to-win” contest, you can still spotlight the winner in a post. Send out thank-you emails to all participants or post a “thank you” on your Instagram account to everyone who took the time to enter your contest.
CONTEST INSPIRATION FROM BIG BRANDS
Find some inspiration for specific Instagram contest ideas by taking a look at some of the social contests that have already been successful endeavors for bigger brands. Granted, these guys also have more to spend, but you can use a similar idea and tailor it to your available budget.
Pepsi—PepsiSelfie Contest. By offering tickets to the VIP party at PowerFest—a popular local summer concert event being hosted by the co-sponsor, radio station WCKX—as the prize, Pepsi generated a lot of social buzz with this Instagram contest. In addition to promoting the concert, it also gave Pepsi’s brand an added boost.
Starbucks—Red Cup Contest. Using the hashtag #RedCupArt, Starbucks asked customers to draw something on their cups and submit the photos with the designated hashtag. The prize was a $500 e-gift card. In less than a week, the holiday-themed contest generated nearly 25,000 entries.
Better Homes and Gardens. This company has a fairly broad brand in terms of what it offers and the audience it targets, which is why an Instagram contest asking participants to submit photos of themselves enjoying summer in relation to the brand was effective. Eight different prizes were awarded to entice participation. Apply the same concept to your contest by offering multiple prizes to a handful of winners.
Valpak—Submit a Photo with Mom Contest. The popular direct-mail coupon company simply asked followers to submit a photo with mom with the hashtag #MomMomentsSweeps. It resulted in nearly a thousand unique entries and generated a lot of interest and engagement, which is definitely a payoff you want to achieve with your contest. (File that under “things that are obvious.”)
BabyCenter—Summer Photo Contest. The website dedicated to providing info on parenting and pregnancy got plenty of attention with a summer photo contest. Users were asked to submit summer photos of their babies for a chance to win a gift card. Based on something a lot of mothers already do anyway, it perfectly targeted the same audience who was likely to be visiting the site.
APPS YOU CAN USE TO RUN YOUR INSTAGRAM CONTESTS
Apps can help with some of the technical contest stuff beyond what you can get through Instagram support. If you’re running a like-to-win contest, then you can skip this step and run your contest without using any apps. Just post an update on Instagram to show that you are running a contest. Otherwise, consider the following third-party apps:
Votigo (www.votigo.com). Run and track your user-generated content contests, including photo contests, enter-to-win contests, and video contests, with this full-service app that includes an assortment of analytics tools.
Piqora (https://app.piqora.com/). Track participant eligibility, engagement, and influence when using this app for your Instagram contests. You can also use it to identify top photos and videos to determine what your audience is checking out while content is uploaded for your contest.
Wishpond (www.wishpond.com). Use this app to collect your photos by specifying the hashtags necessary for contest photos. You can collect up to 5,000 entries. You can also use it to create voting galleries for contests where you want to let your followers pick the winner.
WooBox (https://woobox.com/). If you’re going to run a multiplatform contest, install this app on your Facebook page to collect participation information directly from Instagram and other social sites to better track results. You can also use it to fine-tune your galleries and integrate your brand image.
Shortstack (www.shortstack.com). You’ll gain access to more than 30 widgets and another 30-plus themes and nearly a hundred templates you can use for your contests; its detailed analytics provide real-time results.
Binkd (www.binkd.com). Use this app to define your contest requirements, attract participants, and track your results based on your specific preferences and requirements. You’ll have access to an easy-to-use tool to help with set-up.
Iconosquare (https://pro.iconosquare.com/). Customize your galleries by adjusting colors and gain access to advanced metrics with this app that tracks such things as daily engagement rates and participant location. You can also embed the landing page or photo gallery for your contest.
Use your available stats to gauge how your Instagram contests are doing. Instagram has plenty of metrics available, or you can enhance your stats with some free analytics tools. Regardless of what you use, you’ll want to see if you’re getting a spike in traffic during your contest and, more important, whether you’re meeting the objectives you determined prior to the contest’s launch. If you’re planning to repeat your contest, compare results of prior efforts to your current results. Successful contests can easily boost your brand image while providing a fun way for your audience to stay engaged with you.
To sum it up, gamification = awesome.
Ah, you’ve finally found it! The Easy-Button chapter of this book. Just say a few words, spin around twice, and you will instantly have 1,000 new Instagram followers.
Or not.
Unfortunately, there is no magic potion or spell you can use to instantly get new followers, but as someone who has experimented and grown her account herself, I know firsthand the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I’m spilling all of the beans. Even the pintos.
I read all that I could, tried all that I could, and documented everything. Some of the advice was totally and completely awful—like the ideal number of hashtags to use—just wait until you see. Some advice was fantastic, like how to engage your audience. You will love the double-tap magic (Instagram lingo for “liking” a post).
What worked best, however, is a little embarrassing, but I’m going to share it anyway. And then on page 94, I’ll give you a blow-by-blow 21-day formula for growing your tribe while maintaining your sanity.
THE REAL DEAL: A SAD LITTLE START
I only became serious about growing my Instagram in the beginning of 2016. Up until then, most of my social networking time was spent on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Those channels have been nurtured and cared for and had flourished, each with thousands of followers. This is an important tenet in business growth: Go deep before you go wide. Spread too thin and none of your social media marketing will be effective. Since Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn were smooth sailing for my company, it was time for me to dive deeper somewhere else.
At this point, my Instagram following was loyal and engaged but teeny tiny. The reason was simple. Back when I started on Instagram, my first mistake was to have someone who had no track record of growing followers manage my account. He was great at posting and managing comments, but I was never going to get to big numbers unless I was willing to put on my big girl swim cap (don’t want to ruin the blow out) and jump into the deep end.
I gave my consultant notice that he was delightful and did good work, but we had to break up. It was all me, not him. There were some tears, we did a photo montage of our time together, and we moved on. And with that, I started on my journey to grow my following and increase engagement. I started to figure out what worked and what didn’t. Because on this platform, both engagement and follower size are majorly important.
Dubbed the “king of social engagement” by Forrester Research, Instagram offers top brands a per-follower interaction rate of 2.3 percent, which far surpasses the engagement rate these brands are seeing on both Facebook (0.2 percent) and Twitter (0.02 percent). With high engagement rates and over 500 million active monthly users, it comes as no surprise then that gaining more Instagram followers is a high priority for any business using the platform.
The social media site Hootsuite says, “Unfortunately, there’s no magic formula on how to get more Instagram followers, but there are ways of improving your Instagram strategy so that more of your ideal audience can find—and follow—you.”
Doh—again with the no-magic-formula!
Some Advice Stinks
Seeking what would work best, I read a lot of books on Instagram, checked out blogs, and listened to podcasts. If I could find it and it had the word “Instagram” on it, I consumed it. It was there that I found the magical formula that works every time.
Bah! You know this isn’t true. (But you were secretly hoping it was, weren’t you? I don’t blame you. I was, too.)
I followed almost every tactic I read about and a lot of them didn’t work at all. My numbers actually went down when I tried some of them, which was (if you are keeping track) the exact opposite of what I wanted to happen.
But some of the advice worked incredibly well and allowed me to grow from just a few hundred to thousands of followers in less than 30 days. So this is possible, but it isn’t magic. Specifically, some of the strategies I share may have worked for me, but they may not for you. It is all about trying and experimenting and doing what works best for you.
Hashtag It Up Baby—Or Not
Hashtags are really important when it comes to Instagram. The problem is, there are huge discrepancies when it comes to the “Here are the # of Hashtags You Should Use to Get the Most Followers” debate.
Am I the only one who pictures a bunch of hipsters hanging out in a dark coffee shop arguing about this? They are sitting with flat whites and soy chai lattes, and one is arguing that hashtags will ruin the authenticity of Instagram, and the other is like, “Ruin what? I just want to sell more of my photography, dude.” I guess maybe it is just me.
When I searched for “How Many Hashtags Should I Use,” my search came up with 3,450,000 search results! Good grief, Charlie Brown! On the positive side, it means there is no shortage of ideas.
A sampling of the different advice I encountered included advice by Buffer (https://blog.bufferapp.com), sharing that “When you use more than two hashtags, your engagement actually drops by an average of 17 percent.” So one might think less is more? This is great news as there is very little work to do in research and typing. So this is sounding good. But not so fast!
Sprout Social shared, “Since Instagram is less strict about the number of hashtags you can use in your posts than Twitter, it’s easy to go overboard. Instagram allows users to post up to 30 hashtags in each post, but it’s common practice to keep it between 5 to 10.” So, keep it nice and simple with five to ten hashtags? Au contraire, mon frère.
The more I read, studied, and researched the more confused I became. From “don’t use any,” to “use a couple,” “use all 30”—there are even two articles from Buffer that gave the exact opposite strategies from each other. The advice I read was almost as contradictory as the advice I got while pregnant, and in that same way, it is frustratingly exhausting enough to make me want to eat cheese and nap.
The best advice I found was to check out how many hashtags people in your own industry use. Then experiment and see what works best for you. There is no reason to get stressed out. In fact, every post is a chance to experiment—and experiment I did. I started out with just a few hashtags and tried all the way up to the max of 30. (Reminder, don’t go higher than 30. If you do, Instagram will delete your comment and that would stink.)
I have found the “use 11 or more” to work best for me (see Figure 5–8, page 85), but after that, there is no exact number.
Also, if you write your image caption in a Notes app and then paste it in the comment on your phone, it is so much easier. You can add a series of periods and hard returns after each line so your hashtags won’t even show up unless someone opens up the comment. Most don’t.
By the way, don’t put a space after any of the “.” If you do, Instagram will squish all of your copy together. And then it looks like a hot mess. No one wants that.
FIGURE 5–8. Using 11 or More Hashtags Works Best for Me.
Tag Someone—Or Don’t
In the next section beginning on page 97, I interview Nathan Chan of Foundr. Nathan successfully grew his following to over 10,000 in just a few weeks.
This is from Foundr’s free Marketing 101 Instagram Guide:
Think of every post to your account as an opportunity for your followers to engage with you. With very few exceptions, every single post we add has an opportunity or invitation for some kind of audience interaction. We do this either in text we overlay on top of the image or in the post description (or both!). Give your fans something to do, and watch your account spread like wildfire. Please, don’t mistake this to mean you should ask your followers to do something for you every time you post. [See Figure 5–9, page 86.] This is important. Engagement doesn’t mean “buy our thing,” “give us your email,” or “share our account with everyone you know.” It’s much lighter than that. You’re asking them to do something that makes them feel good, helps them to engage with their friends, or reaffirms their beliefs or goals. [See Figure 5–10, page 86.] In other words, engagement should be something they enjoy. Most of the time, this will be as basic as asking people to “like” if they agree, or asking them to tag a friend to share the post or their own thoughts about it. We frequently will ask our followers questions related to the post. Our posts that contain questions drive 300 percent more interaction than those without a question.
FIGURE 5–9. This Is an Example of a Post That Asks Followers to Tag Other People.
FIGURE 5–10. Another Example of a Post from Foundr That Asks Followers to Tag Someone in the Comment Section.
I have tried asking for the tag multiple times and have not found it to work. Maybe my audience is different, so I have decided to give this technique a break for a while. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. See what works best for your account. Your people might like tagging more than my people. Then maybe they can tag my people. And then we can have a good old-fashioned game of tag. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Sigh.
Emojis
This is one of those little ninja tricks for creating a pattern interrupt in your post. A pattern interrupt is a technique to interrupt what your audience is doing—a behavior or situation. Behavioral psychology and neuro-linguistic programming use this technique to interrupt and change thought patterns and behaviors. It is meant to make your post stand out in a crowded Instagram thread.
You can use emojis to bring attention to your call to action, such as when you ask them to share the post with others or to comment, or simply to bring visual attention to your photo description. I have found this easiest to do by using an emoji search site. I copy the image into my notes when I write the full caption, and then copy it on my phone for the post itself. One of my favorites at the time of this writing is www.Emojipedia.org. Emojis are broken down into categories:
Smileys and People
Animals and Nature
Food and Drink
Activity
Travel and Places
Objects
Symbols
Flags
According to Emojipedia, the most popular are:
Face with Tears of Joy
Heavy Black Heart
Smiling Face with Heart-Shaped Eyes
Smiling Face with Smiling Eyes
Face Throwing a Kiss
Smirking Face
Pistol
Face with Rolling Eyes
A few ways to use emojis include:
Using them while commenting on another user’s post (see Figure 5–11).
FIGURE 5–11. Use an Emoji to Comment on Another Follower’s Post in Order to Draw Attention.
While tagging someone else in a comment (Figure 5–12).
FIGURE 5–12. Using an Emoji to Tag Someone Else in a Comment.
Engaging your audience by asking it to pick an emoji to complete a sentence or to complete a post (Figure 5–13).
FIGURE 5–13. Using an Emoji for Engagement.
Creating more visual interest for your post (Figure 5–14).
FIGURE 5–14. Use an Emoji to Create More Visual Interest for Your Post.
I have not had enough results to say whether it helps, but it does make the posts more visually interesting. I use them most of the time, so I give this one a thumbs up. 
Post Frequency
This is another area where I have found a lot of different opinions. My research varied to once per day to four times per day to 11 to 20 times per month. This is as clear-cut as most elections in Florida—as in, not so much.
I have found you should post at least once per day, and whatever speed you choose, keep on keeping on with that speed for consistency and engagement. If you go up and down in frequency, it does seem to impact your reach and engagement. (Kind of like a favorite show being on once a week, then every night, and then once a week again might get irritating.)
Timing
This topic was a bit nuts. I mean, I found every answer possible. According to HubSpot, “The best times to post on Instagram are Mondays and Thursdays at any time except between 3:00 and 4:00 P.M. in your target audience’s time zone.” Spark says “Posts between 1 A.M. and 5 A.M. receive the highest engagement.” Um, that’s totally different. Yup. And there’s another: “If you want people to like your Instagrams, the most ideal time to post is at 5 P.M. EST on Wednesdays,” per ShortStack.
Easy, right? Wait, not so fast!
Following a request from The Huffington Post, Latergramme (a service that lets users manage and schedule Instagram posts) ran an analysis of over 61,000 posts to determine when photos received the most “likes” and comments. The Latergramme team also broke down the best times for each day of the week. According to the data, the most “engaged” time on Instagram shifts from day to day: On Monday, for example, 5 P.M. is actually a pretty crummy time; engagement is highest at 7 P.M. and 10 P.M. On Friday, 1 A.M. and 8 P.M. are apparently the sweet spots.
And yet another piece of advice from ShortStack says, “Before you post your photo to Instagram, there are two things to keep in mind: your audience’s time zone and what time they’re most often checking Instagram. Most Instagram users log in in the morning and in the evening, on their way home from work or school. According to analytics company Simply Measured, the best time to post on Instagram is on Wednesdays between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. For brands, the least favorable time to post is in the middle of the night because an Instagram photo typically has a life of only around four hours before it gets buried in followers’ feeds.”
Here’s the scoop with this one: I post when I can post. I don’t get bogged down with times and you shouldn’t, either. You have more important things to worry about. Like planning your world domination, and when the next season of Orange is the New Black is coming out.
Follower Software
There is a little-discussed truth around growing followers on Instagram. Many brands have used it, but few have spoken about it publicly. I was impressed with Foundr, who openly shared how a significant portion of their followers were earned:
When it comes to Instagram marketing, it is no different. With the right tools, we can replicate the success, down to the users, another brand has had. In order to help us do this, we found this super cool, super powerful tool called “Crowdfire.” Crowdfire allows you to see which people follow a specific brand, and then follow those users. It also allows you to unfollow those who have not followed you back.
The reason this tool is so valuable is that it allows you to find large groups of people who would be potentially interested in your brand. For us, we looked up other brands such as Fast Company, found out which people followed that brand, and started to follow those people via the “Copy Followers” function. Following someone on Instagram gives them a notification that links them to your own page and gives them a chance to follow you back, so following a lot of people allows you to pique the interest of many others.
Another feature of Crowdfire shows you which users you follow but don’t follow you back. This allows you to quickly unfollow those who are uninterested in what you do. We got a paid account for $9.99 a month, which unlocked the ability for us to hide which users we had followed and then unfollowed in the past, preventing us from following the same person twice.
Keep in mind due to Instagram restrictions, you are only allowed to perform 400 actions a day (an action either being a follow or unfollow). So make sure you max out the number of actions you perform every single day. We got into the routine of three days of copying followers, and then one day of unfollowing.
Now before you run out and join Crowdfire (which I happened to do and paid for it, and it was a dodo), let me warn you that they no longer have the follow-back program, so this app doesn’t work this way anymore.
Recently, I have been using Influx (www.influxsocial.com), which has worked very well. That said, I must also warn that Influx has suspended their Instagram services indefinitely. But they recommend a nearly identical technology called Stim (www.stimsocial.com) as a great replacement tool that has all the same follow and unfollow features. In about two weeks I increased my followers more than 190 percent (see Figure 5–15, page 92 for a breakdown of engagement data). The beauty of this service is that you can choose which brand’s followers to target so you get similar and like-minded people. I have not found my engagement to go down during this process. In fact, I have found it to increase.
So if there is anything that comes close to being a magic formula this is it.
FIGURE 5–15. This Is the Breakdown of My Growth with Influx over a Period of 30 Days.
Share the Love
But I love him?! Why doesn’t he love me back?!
Thankfully, this drama doesn’t play out as much on Instagram as it did back when we were in school. Or when my single girlfriends still share their horror stories. (No offense to my sister currently fighting the fight.)
In general, liking other people’s posts is a great way to increase engagement and your following. Find a bunch that you like, double-tap them (it is fun—really—that is why they did a double-tap), and enjoy looking at some fabulous posts. Don’t worry, it isn’t goofing off. You are building your empire!
Use the Right Filters
I noticed a distinct difference in engagement with certain Instagram filters. Turns out those filters aren’t just vanity—they can dramatically change your results with engagement.
Researchers from Georgia Tech and Yahoo Labs analyzed millions of photos and corresponding data on viewing and commenting frequency to determine that filtered photos are 21 percent more likely to be viewed and 45 percent more likely to be commented on than unfiltered ones.
What kind of filter works best? After examining five different types, researchers found the top filters to increase chances of views and comments are those that create:
higher exposure
warm temperatures
higher contrast
Higher exposure filters were tied to more views, and warmth had the biggest correlation with comments. Two types of filters had negative correlations: Saturation correlated to slightly lower views, and Age Effects led to lower comments.
So filter it up, Jedi.
Advertising
I came into Instagram having spent a lot of time on Facebook for my firm and for our clients. I was used to advertising for “likes” as a viable option. Advertising to build followers on Facebook is often the first step we take in creating an audience of qualified prospects. I had hoped that Instagram would be similar. It isn’t.
Thankfully there are still options. You can advertise on Instagram with an awareness advertisement (see Figure 5–16) and link it with your Instagram account. I ran one of these and received a few hundred followers from it.
The ad cost us around $500 for the 200 followers. We were able to target our perfect prospects, so while costlier than grassroots efforts, you are building an audience of key prospects.
Depending on your budget, advertising can be a viable option.
FIGURE 5–16. You Can Advertise on Instagram with an Awareness Advertisement and Link It with Your Instagram Account.
Shoutouts
When it comes to Instagram, a shoutout is a mention of another person’s account in your post image and/or caption. Some accounts will do this for free while others charge for it. My research turned up Shoutcart (http://shoutcart.com), which will help match you to someone willing to sell you a shoutout. I have not tried this strategy yet, but I know a lot of products and brands that have. I suggest keeping it on your radar, but start with the 21-Day Blueprint that follows first.
THE 21-DAY BLUEPRINT FOR GROWING YOUR INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS
Day 1
Research 20 brands in your niche, and write down the hashtags they use.
Get a good night’s sleep; you have an empire to build.
Day 2
Develop a brand board with the look and design elements you want on your page.
Take a nap. Because you can.
Day 3
Write your posts for the month.
Give yourself a hand massage. Your digits are likely tired.
Day 4
Design your posts for the month using the Word Swag app.
Buy an artist’s smock because you are now officially a “creative type.”
Day 5
Post your first post, writing a good description and using the hashtags you found to be popular in your niche. Prevent yourself from cursing out your phone by typing the description ahead of time in your Notes app on your desktop and then paste it in on your mobile phone.
Like the posts of ten followers of others in your niche.
Do a little happy dance. You are on your way to more followers.
Day 6
Post the second post, writing a good description and using the hashtags you found to be popular in your niche.
Like the posts of ten followers of others in your niche.
Keep on boogying.
Day 7
Continue to post each day.
Open up an account on www.stimsocial.com and launch your account.
Resist the urge to bow your head in shame for using an auto-follow program. The end result is worth it.
Day 8
Post and add an emoji to your comment.
Like the posts of ten followers of others in your niche and comment with emojis.
Pretend not to be super excited that you are getting more followers, but secretly do a little jig when no one is looking.
Day 9
Post and add emojis to your comment.
Like the posts of ten followers of others in your niche and comment with emojis.
Dream of having an emoji created in your honor someday because of your Instagram awesomeness.
Day 10
Post and add emojis to your comment.
Like the posts of ten followers of others in your niche, and comment with emojis.
Start a Facebook ad for Instagram followers.
Pour a little of your mineral water on the sidewalk for the dollars you will sacrifice in the name of growing your Instagram following.
Day 11
Post and add emojis to your comment.
Like the posts of ten followers of others in your niche, and comment with emojis.
Resist the urge to add emojis to every text and email you write for the day.
Day 12
Do some additional research on hashtags, and test adding some new ones to the mix.
Run a post and add the new hashtags to the post description.
Like the posts of ten followers of others in your niche, and comment with emojis.
Start making a hashtag symbol in the air when others high-five you. After all, you’ve got to be in it to win it and might as well start a trend.
Day 13
Test running two posts in one day today to see what happens to engagement.
Like ten other accounts and comment with emojis.
If Doublemint gum is still a thing, chew it in honor of doubling up your efforts.
Day 14
Analyze the double posts to see if that should continue or stop. Post accordingly.
Analyze your progress with your auto-follow program. Add or subtract the brands to target.
Smirk to yourself for how cool you are and how well this is going.
Day 15
Post and like as you have been doing.
Check out some of the leading pages in your industry to see which of their posts are performing best. Do not get jealous. This is research, not a comparison game.
Treat yourself to the beverage of your choice. You’ve made it two-thirds of the way through! Cheers!
Day 16
Post and like as you have been doing.
Write a few new posts based on what you learned from watching other accounts.
Daydream about being interviewed by Social Media Examiner for your Instagram genius.
Day 17
Post and like as you have been doing.
Design those new posts with Word Swag.
Wear your artist smock out to pick up an extra-customized obscure coffee drink. Resist the urge to order it on your mobile app so you don’t have to say all of the bizarre ingredients out loud. You’ve earned this moment. Savor it publicly.
Day 18
Post one of your new posts.
Check on the progress of your Facebook ads.
Pour a little more mineral water on the sidewalk.
Day 19
Post another new post.
Like ten other people’s posts.
Create your own touchdown dance when you check your follower numbers. You are a champion.
Day 20
Post another new post.
Like ten other people’s posts.
Schedule the stylist for your first on-air interview about your social media success that someday is surely going to happen.
Day 21
Post another new post.
Like ten other people’s posts.
Toast your success. You did good.
Congratulations, you completed the 21-Day Challenge! Run a post with #21DaysDone #InstagramforBusiness, and you can win one of 100 prizes!
For more inspiration, check out the next section where I interview Nathan Chan of Foundr. He quickly grew his Instagram account to over 100,000 followers, and it drove thousands of customers into his business.
HOW NATHAN CHAN GREW FOUNDR TO MORE THAN 10,000 FOLLOWERS IN LESS THAN A MONTH
Nathan Chan is the publisher of Foundr (https://foundrmag.com), a digital magazine for young, aspiring, and novice entrepreneurs. He’s had the pleasure of interviewing rock-star business leaders to find out what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.
Tell us a little bit of background on where you started and how Foundr jumped in to Instagram as a growth opportunity.
Chan: We are a digital-only magazine on the iTunes App Store and Google Play store. For a while, we hadn’t found a channel that could drive traffic and leads to get more magazine downloads. I tried many tools and marketing channels. When I shared with my entrepreneur friends that I was using Instagram, they all told me it was a terrible channel for business. They said that only fitness and fashion brands should be on there.
[I laughed a little too hard on this one. So hard in fact, I feared that Nathan would hang up because I was obviously off my rocker. Thankfully, he didn’t.] The data speaks louder than any of our opinions, doesn’t it? How long did it take you to see traction from your account?
Chan: We’d had an account for three years, set up and managed by an intern, with just a few hundred followers before I jumped in. I started by researching hashtags and even by just writing better captions. This landed us a serious spike in magazine subscriptions. Within a single day—after just 24 hours of testing—I could tell my techniques were working. I noticed an extra hundred downloads for our magazine. Better yet, we were making an extra $100 to $200 on subscriptions. I saw very quickly that I was onto something.
[Laughing again here. Embarrassingly so.] Did you send a screenshot of the sales to the naysayers?
Chan: [Laughing to be polite.] No, I didn’t. I just kept growing. Actually, in the first two weeks we grew to 10,000 followers back in 2014.
That’s amazing. Do you think that kind of growth is still possible today?
Chan: Yeah, it’s definitely still possible. Whatever else you do, it all comes down to getting as many influencers or as many other accounts as possible to share your content, and getting your audience engaged. While it might be harder to get followers now, it is vastly easier to get engagement.
I’ve heard you’ve talked about the “s4s” model—share for sharing—or shoutouts. How did you use it to leverage account growth?
Chan: Essentially, all the top Instagram accounts support one another by promoting others’ accounts. Even National Geographic has done this. It is an “I’ll share your post if you share mine” concept. Alternatively, money can change hands. This is where you pay another person or account to share your content, or perhaps you send them free products. Either way, to get someone to share your content there has to be some sort of value exchange. All of the top Instagram accounts do this.
When you were first growing your account, you obviously didn’t have as big a following as you do now. How can you get started with s4s if sharing a partner’s content may not be as valuable as them sharing yours? How do you find folks who might be willing to get into a partnership with you on this?
Chan: Well, I was lucky at that time because one of Foundr’s early readers contacted me and offered to help. She said, “I’ve read the magazine and absolutely love it. I have an opportunity for you where you can post your Richard Branson issue on my page with 20,000 followers and I can drive traffic for you.” I thought OK, I’d give it a try.
She charged me $50. We posted an image of the Richard Branson cover with details in the caption to download the issue in the App Store. It didn’t work, so I blew it off. I decided maybe Instagram just wasn’t a good source of traffic. There was no increase in downloads or subscriptions.
What I later discovered was that I shouldn’t have mentioned where they needed to go, because it looked like too much work. Instead, the caption should have tagged my Instagram account, and then in the bio link I should have linked directly to the Richard Branson article. People just aren’t going to type in an address or go to another app. You have to make it very easy for them.
I later reached out to a friend who I knew was on Instagram. I had followed his account progress. In a very short time, he had grown it from 10,000 to 100,000 followers. He suggested I try the share-for-share method again, but this time ask the brand to tag my profile in the caption instead. It was very successful. I then offered to feature other Instagram profiles in Foundr magazine in exchange for shoutouts and it aided us to grow our account very quickly.
That’s amazing, but if someone is just doing this for the first time, how should they approach it? They probably don’t have a digital magazine they can leverage, or a lot of followers they can share the other brand to. How can they partner when they don’t have the same assets you had?
Chan: There are a few things I’d recommend if you’re just getting started and don’t have as much leverage as I did. First of all, I challenge you to dig deep and think about what you can potentially offer to a partner. Maybe it’s an ongoing promotion, like links in your blog articles or a link to their site from your website resources page. You can always find something worth trading. Or you can just pay for shoutouts like we did in the beginning. To find potential partners, check if they list an email address in the account bio. Often that is an indication that they are open for business. Start small and find a caption and/or image that produces results—and then find other potential partners.
You’ve also had a lot of success using hashtags. Can you share what you’ve done that has been successful?
Chan: When you are first getting started, you definitely want to add the hashtags that are used most often by those in your niche. Not just the brands, but by those commenting as well. You’ll have to put more time into this in the beginning to research and test which ones work best for you and your brand.
You’ve mentioned before that you’ve utilized tagging. Would you recommend doing this in the beginning, to tag other folks with valuable content in your specific target market?
Chan: That’s definitely part of the strategy. The best way is to tag the other account by mentioning their username. Then viewers can click on it and reach the other account’s page. That account’s owner then sees you’ve mentioned and recommended them.
So what would you say is the overall goal of your account? And how has it changed over time?
Chan: We’re aiming to build community [see Figure 5-17 on page 100]. At the end of the day, that should be the goal of any social media—to build community. But then you need to move that community out of the social media platform, since you don’t own that network. Instagram or any other platform could turn around and shut down your account. There’s nothing you can do about it at that point. I don’t think it’s wise to rely solely on platforms you don’t own.
FIGURE 5–17. Foundr Says that Their Overall Goal Is to Build Community.
So for us, the goal has been to build our own media base. We want to grow an email list, and a newsletter, as much as we can through any form of social media—whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, you name it—to drive people to our home base and capture their contact info, which allows us to stay in touch, build more trust, and provide more value.
In the early days when we first started the magazine, its subscription base was all hosted in the app stores. But those platforms are owned by Apple and Google. For us, it was very important to bring subscribers through a sequence to get to know us better, and to see what we are all about, and to learn about all the cool stuff we’re doing that isn’t just Instagram. We treat Instagram as a channel, just like any other channel (SEO, Google search, Twitter, Facebook). They’re all marketing channels, which allows us to facilitate our relationship with the prospective customer and interest those who want to join our community.
Where do you go for inspiration for your posts?
Chan: When I first joined Instagram, I did a competitor analysis. I looked around for all the accounts that produced the best content in the startup motivational niche. Then I started following them. We usually follow fewer than a hundred accounts and get enough inspiration and ideas for posts we can create or repost. We also have a lot of collaborative partners to help us grow rapidly, too.
So, not working in a vacuum, great!
Chan: Now more than ever, it’s about relevancy. It’s about posting the best possible content that your audience will love and triggering an emotion that makes them really want to tag their friends, mention their friends, like it, share it, screenshot it, repost it, or make it a screensaver. That’s the whole goal more than ever. [See Figures 5–18, 5–19 (page 102), 5–20 (page 102), and 5–21 (page 103).]
How can folks learn more about Foundr?
Chan: We are a digital-only magazine on the App Store and Google Play, and we target aspiring and novice entrepreneurs. If you’re thinking of opening a business but don’t know where to start, or your business is just getting up and running, we provide in-depth how-to content to make your job easier. Find us at https://foundrmag.com/ or @foundr on Instagram.
FIGURE 5–18. Foundr’s Posts Target Aspiring and Novice Entrepreneurs.
FIGURE 5–19. Getting Followers to Like a Post So Much that They Use It as a Screensaver or to Repost It Is One of Foundr’s Goals.
FIGURE 5–20. Another Goal for Foundr Is to Post Content that Triggers an Emotion that Makes Followers Want to Tag Their Friends.
FIGURE 5–21. Foundr’s Posts Are about Relevancy and Posting the Best Possible Content.
#INSTAGRAMFORBUSINESS POSTABLES
Using even a single hashtag increases post engagement by 12.6 percent. #InstagramforBusiness
The more specific you can get, while still staying with a frequently used #hashtag, the more successful you will be at attracting an engaged and on-point audience. #InstagramforBusiness
Gamification is exciting because it promises to make the hard stuff in life fun. #InstagramforBusiness
Toast your success. You did good. #InstagramforBusiness
I did it! #21DaysDone #InstagramforBusiness
Resource spotlight: Visit www.UGIGbook.com to download your own “Instagram 21-Day Post Plan”!