4 Questions to Ask When Growing Your Instagram Account Organically
Social media has made it possible for brands to connect with their audience like never before – but what if you don’t have that audience yet?
Growing your Instagram organically might take some time, but it’s also an invaluable part of forming a niche of qualified, genuine, interested followers. With time, it can become a crucial part of your inbound marketing strategy.
A Quick Note About Paid Vs. Organic Social
For companies with a large enough budget, paid ads can be effective in expanding reach and connecting with new audiences. While organic posts have to grapple with Instagram’s ever-changing algorithm to be seen, paid posts guarantee that your content is placed in front of specific, targeted people. Though it costs more, this strategy may offer a much faster return on investment, or ROI.
However, focusing on a paid strategy alone is like putting a cherry on top of a sundae that doesn’t exist yet! Paid strategies alone will not support steady growth – just as a cherry by itself probably won’t satisfy your sweet tooth. Instead, you’ll need to be consistently sharing valuable content, making your Instagram a space that people will want to follow and return to. This also helps build your relationship with your existing followers, generating more engagement and improving your chances of being found by new audiences. Both organic and paid strategies work together to draw in potential customers and prove to them that you are worth trusting.
As for how to nail down your organic strategy, these are they questions you’ll want to be asking…
Who Am I Talking To?
As with any marketing strategy, it’s vital that you know your audience. For example, imagine you’re a retail store that offers comfortable but stylish clothing. A large segment of your customers might be young moms with busy lifestyles. Writing captions that reference motherhood, partnering with influencers with kids, or sharing photos featuring moms all make it more likely that your content will connect with the right audience.
Understanding your audience doesn’t just help inform your content strategy – it also lets you know where to meet and draw in new visitors. If you’re targeting moms, check out other accounts that sell children’s toys, share parenting tips, or post snack ideas. Or, visit competitor’s pages and see who’s engaging with them – then prove to them that you offer something even better.
While resources like Sprout Social or Buffer Analyze can be helpful in understanding more about your audience, Instagram’s built-in analytics are also a great place to start. Found under ‘Insights’ for business accounts, these numbers tell you what times your audience is most active, their locations, and their age and gender breakdown. Though not in-depth, this can still help inform your content strategy. Are you reaching who you want to be reaching? Or do you need to adjust?
Why Should My Audience Stick With Me?
The Instagram space is competitive. Consistent, quality content will help your brand stand out and reinforce campaign strategy across channels.
Don’t forget to check out your competition, either. Just as you can tap into their audience to reach new customers, it’s also important to see what they’re offering – both in terms of content and product – and to figure out what you can offer that they can’t.
How Can I Connect With My Audience More?
With any luck, your quality content will be drawing in engagement from your audience. However often you can, take time to reply to comments, reengage with followers, and share tagged posts. Not only is a great opportunity for your brand to be more human, but time spent engaging can also generate a high ROI: 71% of consumers who have had a positive social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend the company. Plus, 70% of those people who receive social media service will be return customers.
Instagram Stories are also a fantastic place to facilitate audience engagement. Questions stickers make it easy for your viewers to ask questions directly, and the brand can answer on Stories as well. These can be used to answer questions about products, discuss a relevant topic, understand your audience’s preference, and much more. Similarly, Instagram Live also makes it easy to personalize the brand while connecting one-to-one with audience members in real time.
How Can I Improve?
Even if your account is growing steadily, there’s always room for improvement. Here, insights and analytics will help you figure out what posts are doing best – and which are falling flat.
5 Essential Tactics to Improve Your Organic Social Media Marketing
How to Create an Organic Social Strategy in a Pay-to-Play World
10 Tactics to Boost Your Organic Social Media Reach
Organic Instagram Growth Strategies to Build your Brand
Understanding the Role of Organic vs Paid Social Media Strategy
Social Media Marketing Trends 2020
75 Essential Social Media Marketing Statistics for 2021
7 Great Ways Brands Are Using Instagram’s “Questions” Sticker
Are you interested in growing your social media presence, contact us below!
