It’s not a secret that Instagram is one of my favorite Social Media platforms and also the one I spend the most time on. With the ever-changing algorithm, it can be hard to keep up or frustrating if you don’t see your audience growing.
I created this blog post because I see that many of my clients are doing the same mistakes on Instagram. There are a few key things to consider that can be a game changer when it comes to your Instagram profile.
First of all you need to be active on a regular basis, which means post daily! If you have good content you can even post twice a day, but let’s aim for daily at the moment. You need to be consistent to show Instagram that you are worth it to get a higher ranking. Yep, this is a factor they actually rank you for. Now I know this can be hard because you are already busy running your own business. That’s why I suggest using planning tools like Buffer (link) or Later (link) with this tools you can plan your content, let’s say for a week, ahead and you will get a reminder to post. All you need to do is past the caption in Instagram and et voilà your picture is in the Instagram world.
You don’t engage enough
With just posting a picture on a regular basis you are already one step further. Now what you need to do is actually being social. This means engage with your followers and engage with your potential followers/clients. Show them some love by not only liking their pictures but also leaving a meaningful comment. Instagram ranks a comment when it’s at least four words and with meaningful I mean something like “wow amazing beach love the blue” instead of just “cool pic”.
You don’t use quality pictures
Trust me I am not a photographer nor do I have amazing editing skills, but I do invest time in each picture I post and that’s what makes a difference. Whatever business you are in, you should only use good pictures. This means, they are not blurry, not too dark, not over lighted and whatever you want to present looks as good as possible. Then you can still edit your picture to give it some more saturation or contrast, but the raw picture itself is already good. When clients send me bad pictures to post on their Instagram account I don’t post them because you rather don’t post a picture then posting a bad one.
Here is an example of what I mean:
One picture is obviously taken with a good camera and not even edited while the other picture is taken in a dark room and the food doesn’t look I would want to eat it. Right? Same Restaurant, different quality in the picture.
You don’t tell a visual story
Now let’s talk strategy! Having a clear strategy and telling a visual story is a game changer on Instagram. That also includes choosing your colors. For example, I use mostly blue and green colors for my feed, because most of my pictures are taken in Bali and I am either in the ocean or in a rice field. So I usually don’t post a sunset picture because the colors wouldn’t match my feed. This might sound weird to you but having a visual appealing feed on Instagram is important.
Don’t use hashtags or use the wrong hashtags
Use the right hashtags while you still can! At the moment people are talking about being shadow banned while others say there is a way more complex system from Instagram that will change how we use hashtags. Check out the article here.
Fact is, the algorithm is changing, but until we now for sure what is going on I suggest use your 30 hashtags, but use them wisely. It can be tempting to use #coaching or #photography because this is the field you are working in, but if you are a small business and are just getting started most likely these hashtags won’t help you. There are millions of pictures in there and your picture will show up for a few minutes, and then will be gone again. If you choose for example #lifeofaphotographer with only 245k pictures your picture has a better chance to be seen and even make it to the top 9 posts.
Are you doing these 5 Instagram mistakes?
- Are you looking for the right Instagram strategy for your business?
- Do you feel like you are doing everything right, but still your account is not growing?
Book a coaching package with me and I will help you step by step. Together we can make your Instagram account successful.
Do you just need help with a certain topic like for example creating a good hashtag strategy? No problem we can discuss a topic of your choice in my power hour.
I definitely needed to read this! So helpful thank you!
thank you Karen I hope it helps you
Trying to grow my Instagram has probably been my least favorite thing about trying to gain traffic for my blog. Can’t wait to try these tips! Thank you!
let me know if you need any help with that! I love Instagram and I hope my tips help you
I found two things that I need to work on which is being active and telling a visual story. There are so many things I like to post about and I do go gaps at a time within updating my Instagram. I am going to work on changing that. Thanks for creating this post! It helped me a lot!
thank so much for your comment! Telling a visual story is so important but I am sure you will find a great way. Being active is something difficult because we are always too busy. 🙂