Instagram Tips to Grow a Following and Make True Connections

For those of you in the Rising Tide Community, you're aware that August's topic is BRANDING. The guide is chalk full of information and ways you can grow your creative business. If you haven't read it yet, you can download the guide here.

Tuesday night, I posted in our Insta Story an offer to critique business Instagrams. The response was overwhelming! After I critiqued over 30+ profiles, there were ten general tips I kept circling back to.

In the spirit of community over competition, I am going to share some of these tips with you!
These tips are intended to be changes you can start implementing today to continue your brand cohesiveness and message.

1. Highlights - This is our favorite instagram feature. It's a great tool for continuing to build your brand's personal story and gain interest from your followers / future clients. You should have at least four categories. Why? Truthfully, it's aesthetically pleasing and you want to take every opportunity you can to use this platform to reach your ideal client.

Category examples: Personal, Portfolio / Products, Behind the Scenes, Current Promotions, Reviews, etc

2. Hashtags - Instagram allows you to use 30 hashtags per comment. Utilize each and every one of them!

Natalie Franke recently blogged about a website she uses to help her choose which hashtags to use.
"Today, I want to share about a hashtag hack that has dramatically improved my Instagram reach and has enabled me to consistently share strategic, individualized hashtags with every piece of content that I share on the platform." That website is Daily Purposes. Here's the link to Natalie's blog post (she gives so many good tips!).

3. Bio - We only have 150 characters to speak to our potential clients. Keep it short, sweet and stick to the basics: location, name, what you do / offer. If you have extra space you can write something personal, travel dates, or any timely information. Don't forget to link your website!

4. Tagging On the Photo - This is a FREE way to connect with your community and vastly under utilized! By tagging other accounts on your grams, you are spreading your reach further and further with every person you tag. How? Because those photos are showing up under their 'tagged photos'.

You should be tagging anyone involved with the creation of the photo you're posting. Are you a make-up artist? Tag the brands you used to create that look. Are you an interior decorator? Tag the brands of every piece you used in this room. Did you work on a styled shoot? Tag every creator involved.

Tagging in the comments should be done, too! The people you tag will not only get the alert, but are likely to visit your post thus boosting your impressions. You're also showcasing the types of brands you're working with. If a photographer, florist, hair stylist, make-up artist, calligrapher, and event planner all share the same ideal client, you can all use your community to be present in the feeds of your potential clients.

5. YOU - We want to see your face! We are living in a time where people thoughtfully choose where they are spending their money. You are your brand. Consumers buy in to your story. You gain trust from each moment you let people peek behind the curtain into your real life.

I tell people all the time - I chose our pediatrician based on their reputable reviews, but their selling factor was their about me. Every Doctor had a beautiful lifestyle portrait and a bio that showed who they are outside of work before they spoke about their professional accomplishments. It was oddly refreshing and something I didn't know I was looking for.



I hope you take these tips into consideration and you start to gain a following that you connect and resonate with. 

As a business owner it is so easy to get trapped in a time warp of your daily to-do list. I don't know about you, but I can always find something to be working on in our business. If you're like us, you're not only managing a business, but a family too! Some days it feels like there aren't enough hours in the day. We use Planoly. 

This app has changed our Instagram and time management game! If you're not using an instagram planning app yet, you should at least give yourself the benefit of trying one out.

The free version give you 30 uploads a month! You're able to save all your hashtags and organize them into categories. Planning out your feed has never been easier!

Here's a referral code for you: https://www.planoly.com/referral/eisleyimages

Are you a business owner who lacks branding, a clear brand voice, social media content, and web presence? We've got you covered! Click here to get more information on our Eisley Images branding sessions. 

ps. we're offering 20% off branding sessions for every person who had their business instagram reviewed by us.