 Today we have four strategies to grow your Instagram following here on the journey All right, so you're on Instagram You probably got a great cadence going already with how often you're posting, but you're definitely thinking how do I get more followers, right? I know I was asked that actually just recently when I was doing a seminar in Orlando And it's a good thing to think about because the more followers the more likes right the more likes Spread more word of mouth. Yeah, the more conversions to your website the more you grow all these fun things, right? Yeah, but as I was gonna ask. Well, what are best practices to get more followers on Instagram? So we're gonna break it down into four ways to gain more followers starting with don't skip over that bio Make an awesome bio about your business. I know I have a favorite one What is that? There was this pub in LA when I lived there and they did this really bold move They decided to go 100% vegan Interesting for a pub. Yeah, and in their bio it says okay. Yeah, we're plant-based so they get right a little good pun Yeah, we should get shirts That's all you know just me just you all right Anyway, so like it's their announcement that hey, we're plant-based now It's also funny, which is their voice their sense of humor and then from there They like have added links for example if they want to direct you to their website or anything that they're promoting that month So when it comes to your bio that was just one example, okay Yeah, we're plant-based, but I also recommend if you've been in business for a long time whenever you open up add that That's what's always a big one for me, especially when I'm checking out like auto repair shop I want to know they're not just like the new shop in town. It makes me feel Like I can trust them more if they've been around a while So I'd also incorporate anything that really demonstrates your personality or your vibe So if you're a restaurant and you're known for fine dining like let people know that so you get the right audience Versus if you're super like divey hipster vegan crunchy place exactly, right? I'll be there. Yep. She'll be there I might try it but with your bio You really want to be strategic about what you put out there basically put how you actually help your followers and what they're Going to get out of it the more that you described like cool that what's in it for them They're gonna read that go. Oh cool. That's me like I want to talk about or see vegan pubs Or I want to have help with real estate or I want to help help with whatever Put helping you do blog whatever that is add that in there and what a cool little trick is so in Instagram bio You can't really do those line breaks. It'll make it just one giant paragraph But instead open up notes like on your phone add your bios there add your line breaks your emojis Whatever you want to do and then copy pasta that over and then it's like all nice and organized It's little sentences versus one giant paragraph. Yeah, absolutely And one thing I would also include you mentioned real estate and then I started thinking about home services And I started thinking about where your service area might be or areas So if you only service certain cities, you know spell that out for your customers as well So at a glance I know hey, it's worth picking up the phone and calling you to do business with you as a potential customer Or not. All right now with including that the bio is the link that Instagram gives us It's the only place where we can link to another source. What are some things that we should basically link to you there? Yeah, so there's a lot of options I know I actually did this recently for the journey. I added the YouTube link for all of our videos Yeah, I saw that you basically posted about it and say hey check out the link in the bio Yeah, I went right to the video. Did you click on it? I might have So if you want to direct people to a YouTube channel that you're doing or other social media platforms that you're on or maybe you're offering a really exciting discount or a special giveaway and then you direct them to there and you can do this in your Instagram stories Hey, Lincoln bio or on your Instagram posts. I'll check out the link in our bio. So that's a great I see that a lot especially for giveaways or 10% off really cool shirt Yeah, I dig it and then I think last thing with the bio is the basically display name What a lot of business will do they'll just put their business name there But if it's not super apparent about what your business is Maybe that won't resonate with your audience But you can add your business name and then that line and then basically put the services that you offer whether it's real estate Investing or vegan pubs or whatever that looks like so when someone's going through Searching the fee they can see your business name Then cool that industry makes might entice them to want to jump in and explore your page a bit more All right, so that takes us to number two infuse your Instagram with personality What does it actually mean other than your award-winning personality? So that means think about what content you're doing what you're putting out there. Don't try too hard It's gonna come off that you're trying too hard be authentic be real And plan ahead because that's one thing I noticed too is that when content is just being rushed Personality is left out completely. So just take the time think what is really me? What is my voice? What is my business about? Do I have a good sense of humor? Yeah, and for the most part people follow your instagram page Not only just for the services you offer, but they follow it for you Right so the more that you share you and just share your day to day your struggles your wins your opportunities And just going on their post about you the more that you'll really relate to them and connect with that audience The more willing that they're going to be to just follow you and your presence Yeah, as soon as you come off just sounding like a business or predictable or a robot You're going to get less engagement. And why would I follow you? I'll probably unfollow you if you become too salesy or sound too much like a business I know that can seem confusing right because you're like I am a business I want to sell my services. I want to make money like I'm on there to get more business. So Yes, I hear you but consumers especially millennials We want to see a personality so authenticity for the win and speaking of millennials I read an interesting stat the other day. It said millennials prefer user generated content So be sure to incorporate that on your instagram. It's like the mecca for user generated content Which if you don't know what that is it's essentially content that Other people have created for you about you like your customer is taking pictures of their pizza And then mentioning you you can repurpose that into your own post and there was also another stat It said 85 of people When they see user generated content, they actually visual user generated content. They actually trust it more than Businesses what they're saying about themselves or brands or colleagues or your family. So strangers are pretty powerful And there's many ways to really create that user generated content We've got a video for you to check out up there But what quick things you can do run a contest create just a personalized hashtag with your business and tell everyone to hashtag it And then you can go search those hashtags and then all that user generated content is there Reach out to them say hey You mind if I post this get their permission just in case and then add that content to your own feed Create that user generated content get people to really like you and buy into your business And you win and you grow your following another awesome way to infuse personality in your instagram It's actually really quite simple Ask questions Like what so I saw there that was oh that was good It's working So I saw this hotel and they did a post on instagram and it said um, I feel I was like I feel most at home when I have blank So the hotel asking that question was just a really cool way to not only get their audience engaged because people love to talk about themselves Right, but they also then shared what makes them feel most at home It was like curled up with the book cozy with some hot tea Yeah, and another added benefit with that is now they're getting basically survey data of Their audience what makes them feel at home. They collect the kind of the best examples Make sure they include that in their hotel too. I didn't think that's so true Because what someone's like really enjoys Um cucumber water. Yeah, put that in your lobby Makes them feel at home So another really simple and effective way to infuse personality on your instagram besides asking questions and user generated content Showcase your team. I mean, what a great way to like be authentic and show who's behind the scenes, you know Do some bts. How is that recipe coming together? Who's underneath the hood of the car when I get my oil changed? Like who makes this business? Plus when you see a familiar face at some of your favorite local businesses as a customer Sometimes that's all I need is just like a little incentive to go back and visit you Yeah, absolutely. And I know we do this a lot at go daddy Our guides are the face of our brand and you can basically do it the same with your employees Like they're the face of your brand. They're representing your business every day So show them off show tell their story let the people connect with them And it should help them just resonate with your audience and build that loyalty All right, so the third way that we want to talk about actually getting more followers on instagram We've kind of touched on it but hashtags other popular hashtags like just industry wise think about it and you can google this You know what industry you're in let's say you're in retail popular hashtags to use if you're in retail You google it right now and one that I love to see Especially for some inspo some fashion inspo Hashtag ootd. You know what that stands for outfit of the day. That's right. Nealey pays attention to what? I'm just letting go he's hit and hit with the clothes So retail you'll see that a lot ootd and a lot of people love to use it to just get like I said Inspiration for their fashion and it's gonna help you to get in front of new customers more followers Which is what this video is all about But don't stop there. Don't stop with just industry specific hashtags Or branded you can also do neighborhood or local hashtag Okay, so like foreign seattle like hashtag seattle coffee for example to really bring around seattle coffee Yeah, that would be a great spot, you know branch out outside of starbucks find a local business to go to But we could get a cup of coffee before we come in and shoot the journey And with these hashtags too, it's not necessarily just for you to post about Really join in on the conversation of other people Basically talking about these hashtags what I recommend spend like 10 15 minutes a night search a couple hashtags and just start Adding conversation to other people's posts and adding value Don't just put generic comments because nobody's going to care about that people are going to think you're spam But if you actually go in and add value and continue on the conversation, maybe ask questions It's really going to help you connect with a larger audience and show that You're an actual person not just a faceless business. All right, Emma Did you know that 70% of people on instagram watch instagram stories on a daily basis? No, but I'm not surprised I definitely spend way more time On instagram stories than just like scrolling through my insta I feel the same way. I know just going through the stories. It's authentic and it shows personality Which tees up our fourth way to get more followers Incorporate fan content like user generated. Okay into your instagram stories Um, so instead of like reposting it reposting basically posting onto your story Yeah, so for example, I was I recently got a new surfboard It's it's my baby. I love it. I can't wait to go home and surf Um, I recently got this new surfboard and I was curious about the brand and the brand is modern surfboards And I checked out their instagram and what really sold me was their instagram stories And they are doing an awesome job of repurposing Their fans content. And so this is a really cool way to see people like me potential customer Well for them it was already a customer and they're out there like getting pitted and showing off their boards So I got info for like what board I wanted it yet I also just like increased my hype to go catch some waves It's really cool to see their fans and where they're surfing And what boards they're intrigued by and it got me really excited And the good news is like we mentioned earlier instagram is the mecca of fan content But it is your responsibility to be paying attention to when People are mentioning like you were talking about earlier. You'll get a notification and you can go one step further Not only reposting their posts. You can repost their stories Now the only way to do this is if they mention you in their story So encourage your fans your followers to mention in their story when they talk about you That way you can repost it on your own channel because they don't do it You won't be able to do it and it makes it really easy to like nealy is great about this when we're doing the journey Shoot and he'll mention me and then it just pops up in my inbox on instagram and I'm like Oh nealy mentioned me a little add this to your story. What did it? What did he capture? What did I do first? Let me check it. Oh, this is cool. And then I can just click add this to my story Super quick add a little gif add some conversation Say hey, thanks for the the shout out or whatever you want to do make it personal Don't just click the mention in my story add your little two cents to it It'll really basically resonate with that person and now they think they're a little insta famous too All right, that's a wrap you just learned four ways to gain more instagram followers Be sure to like comment and subscribe ring that bell if you want to get these episodes first. This is the journey See you next time