Once you have decided to develop your Instagram account and get more subscribers, it’s important to understand that in 2019, this task requires more time, money, and sophistication than ever.
When the new algorithm came out in September, one billion active users made up of resourceful brands and bloggers created some serious competition to the novices and set standards that are not that easy to rise to.
The good news is that there are a few particular tricks and tendencies that might help you reach your desired number of Instagram followers in 2019.
Get this priceless knowledge from this article that covers the major steps toward gaining popularity on one of the most demanding social media platforms!
Unfortunately, many companies face similar problems. It is connected with the start of their Instagram profile. They hope to promote their brand on a platform that has millions of active users. However, everything turns out to be different. Weeks and months pass by… The profile does not have many followers and posts get just a few likes. What should they do in order to improve their position? What are these methods that will allow them to get more likes on Instagram? Fortunately, there are 30 ideas, strategies, and tips you can always turn to. To be honest, they do not require a lot of effort from you.
- Tag influential accounts in your posts.
- Present posts from your customers who are happy with your brand.
- Comment on popular photos.
- Post your videos and pictures on a regular basis.
- Take advantage of popular hashtags.
Actually, these are only several tips that will allow you to get more likes on Instagram. Remember to check out other ideas to increase engagement and become popular. They should make your photos recognizable all over the web.
The Main Instagram Trends in 2019: Branded Aesthetically Appealing Content
The conception of the branded profile with unique aesthetics is going to be the leading trend in 2019. A regular user will take just a brief glance to understand whether your profile is worth clicking the Follow button.
There are dozens of ways to create an appealing Instagram feed – from creating a grid layout to using the same filter (effects) to create a coherent color scheme for the profile.
Still, at the very beginning, worrying about such peculiarities is less important than paying attention to your:
- profile picture
- personal bio
- story highlights
These parts of your profile attract the most attention so they have to be at the highest level.
Use an attractive and relevant profile picture. Make up an effective bio that would give the main idea about your business, activity, or personality. Be brief and clear. Create story highlights that would outline the main aspects of your business or life. Choose catchy titles and attractive pictures in one style.
After that, you can move to the advanced level and work on stuffing and framing your profile. These issues will be covered further.
Another important aspect is your own brand. Every post and story (as well as the choice of every filter or sticker) has to meet the branded conception of your profile. This is where you should be stable.
Having a large audience leads to some sort of responsibility.
Therefore, if you are moving forward to achieve a wide and involved audience, it is crucial to create your own brand, make up a coherent strategy (what and when to post, how to involve the followers and interact with them, how to launch ads, etc.), and make sure all elements comply with your branded aesthetics.
Here are some tips on how to meet the main Instagram trends in 2019 and get more followers.
1. Diversify Instagram Stories with Templates
Just because Instagram is a highly competitive platform, it is crucial to add strong visuals that would capture the user’s attention. There is an enormous amount of content on Instagram. Not every person checks out the feed thoroughly. Some people skip the stories that don’t seem to be exciting/informative/relevant to them at first glance while others skim through the feed in a hurry.
Therefore, using different templates can increase the engagement of the viewers because flashy and new visuals are super catchy to the jaded users.
Here is an awesome collection of free Instagram templates for more efficient activity. Such services as Canva or apps like Unfold also have many free and fancy options for creating outstanding stories.
If you want to add stickers, brushstrokes, textures, backgrounds, and text to your stories, apps like A Color Story, A Beautiful Mess, or A Design Kit offer plenty of decor options and presets.
Using professional editing software like Adobe Spark Post is a good choice for editing text and adding graphics to the stories.
A good idea would be to post videos in Instagram stories because they usually lead to more efficient engagement. Such apps as InShot offer a powerful video editing toolkit for adding templates, music, backgrounds, cropping, etc.
2. Create One Theme and Use Particular Filters
When it comes to creating a consistent feed, choosing one theme would be a good idea. One of the decisive constituents of this aspect is the color of the feed.
If you take a look at your favorite Instagram profiles, you will see that most of their owners stick to one color palette: dark, light, pastel, pinky, etc. For instance:
- pinky
- dark
- warm, yellow
- bright
The choice of the color theme is a matter of taste. Still, don’t forget that every element of your Instagram profile should reflect the branded conception of your business/activity.
One of the best ways to generate and customize your own palette is to use software such as Adobe Color CC’s color wheel or Color Scheme Designer. Then, apply one of the dozens of free and paid VSCO filters (or any other app with filters). If you chose to stick to one color theme, it is better to be consistent in using the same filter also. You are done!
By the way, ColorKuler can tell which color palette you are keeping right now in your Instagram feed.
Creating a single color palette is an optional step. Still, it contributes much to the branded aesthetics of the profile. Don’t take it too seriously. If you want to post a photo that doesn’t 100% match the palette, post it!
Furthermore, keep in mind that implementing a specific theme in the profile is, actually, wider than using particular editing presets. It is also about the message you try to convey to the audience with the help of captions.
Again, if you check out your favorite Instagram profiles, you will see that most of their owners choose a specific range of themes they are passionate about or good at and write about it. It also creates a particular theme for the feed.
3. Learn to Edit Photos in Adobe Lightroom
Is there any need to introduce this app? When it comes to editing photos, Lightroom seems to be one of the most powerful solutions.
Here are a couple of samples of stunning before/after photos edited in this app:
before:
after:
before:
after:
before:
after:
Resource: https://www.audreyannphoto.com/lightroom-before-and-after-photo-examples
It is available for free in iTunes and Google Play. You can also use it from your PC. For people, who don’t deal with photo editing on the professional level, there is an opportunity to purchase ready-made presets.
Plus, here is a 15-minutes tutorial on how to edit photos in the Lightroom that can help the beginners.
4. Organize Your Stories into Highlights
Keeping with the theme of Instagram stories, it is crucial to emphasize the importance of organizing them into highlights. This relatively new feature helps to draw followers’ attention to the important issues and the best content.
Instagram highlights stories act like landing pages of the website. They outline the main idea of the business and let people familiarize with your activity not even being subscribed to your updates.
If you don’t know what stories to put in the highlights, think about the questions that might arise while getting to know more about your business. It probably makes good sense to outline the schedule, pricing policy, delivery terms, sort products, post reviews, etc.
If you are a blogger, highlight the key spheres of your life, hobbies, traveling, projects, etc.
Don’t forget that the cover pictures of the highlights must meet the branded aesthetics of the account.
5. Make Your Brand Recognizable with Hashtags and Location Tags
During the previous year, Instagram was super rich at implementing different tools for optimizing and decorating stories. Now, it is possible to add music, stickers, GIFs, questions, and polls to the stories.
Still, don’t hesitate using such traditional things as location tags and hashtags.
Instagram gathers all stories with location tags from your current place on the Explore Page. People who check out the actual stories this way will see yours and might even follow you.
A good way to get new followers is adding hashtags of a certain event, exhibition, concert, show, etc. People often want to see everything in the live mode and look for more information with the help of hashtags.
Plus, the chances of being noticed increase after the opportunity to follow hashtags. Explore the market or the industry you are involved in and pick up the relevant hashtags. Use this whenever possible in your relevant posts.
Speaking of the role of the stories, it is impossible to ignore the role of branded filters. With the help of the Spark AR Studio, some brands (the number is still limited) have an opportunity to create their own filters. Now, you can use a filter made by Gucci, Rihanna, Kylie Cosmetics, and others.
It is a nice opportunity to get noticed by thousands of Instagram users and interact with them in such a creative way. Alternatively you may look for the best Instagram bot to grow your Insta profile rapidly.
Currently, only some brands have such opportunity. Hopefully, in 2019, the situation will change.
6. Show off Your Face with a Selfie
The statistic shows that selfies usually gather 38% more likes than photos of food, sunsets, and your puppy. Why not use this fact to get more likes, increase engagement, and become more visible to potential followers?
On social media, people still want to know the person that stands behind a follow-worthy profile.
Therefore, it would be a great idea to show off your face by telling more about your business, plans, campaigns, employees, and special offers. Present new products and services, share the “behind the scenes” process, etc.
One of the best examples that cross the mind is the makeup tutorials by Rihanna and Vogue that contribute to the promotion of Fenty Beauty cosmetics. Thousands of fans follow the brand’s Instagram page and YouTube channel to not miss the regular makeup guideline. As a result, the number of followers, as well as the amount of revenue, grows.
Magic? Marketing:)
7. Invest in Advertising
If your account is ready to be shown off to the wider audience, it is time to promote it. The idea that launching an advertising campaign on Instagram is super complicated is a myth because this social media platform performs the most complicated part of the process for you.
There are different types of ads on this platform from the picture and multi-photo carousel ads to Instagram stories ads. The main thing that unites all of the types is the importance of finding the target audience.
It is possible to form the target audience independently by mentioning the desired age, gender, and interest.
For instance, the owner of a sports shop in San Francisco deals mostly with millennials, or generation Z, who live in San Francisco and regularly attends a gym or sports club.
In addition, it is important to figure out what type of content the target audience prefers. Most of the potential followers might skip the stories and focus on the picture posts ignoring the video publications, for instance.
In order to analyze the preferences of the target audience, see what kinds of posts drive more engagement (likes, comments, reposts, shares). Plus, you can use polls to find out these preferences directly. See what your competitors post and how their followers react to different kinds of content.
8. Draw Another Social Media Platforms to Promote Your Instagram Profile
If you have any other channels that can bring traffic to your Instagram, use them. Well-developed social media platforms, YouTube channel, and a website can “share” some followers with your Instagram profile.
One of the ways to spread the word about your Instagram activity is to implement a feed into website design. Some bloggers put their Instagram feed in the footer of the page. It moves and gradually shows all their photos.
Other options lie in adding a nickname to the website bio, in the video description, sharing posts on Facebook, mentioning a nickname in the article, etc.
Speakers at the events tend to encourage the audience to follow their social media profiles to find more relevant information. It also brings traffic to Instagram.
Furthermore, links to social media profiles are an important part of the email marketing profile. The footers of the emails often contain them. Don’t underestimate the role of your email list.
9. Make Collaboration with Other Brands and Bloggers
Traffic can also come from beneficial collaborations. Along with new followers, another advantage of the mutual co-marketing campaign is its cost-effectiveness. It is much easier to finance a campaign or a project with another brand or blogger than doing it alone.
In addition, the collaboration doesn’t always require substantial investment. It can be co-written posts, Instagram stories takeovers, IGTV videos, or live streams featuring other brands. Dozens of new viewers will find out about you anyway.
10. Organize Projects to Build A Long-Term Relationship with Your Followers
Now, the last but not least important aspect of the strategy of getting new followers on Instagram. It lies in creating projects to reach new followers and spreading the word about your business among other audiences.
Instagram takeovers and getaways work particularly well.
Moreover, cooperating with bloggers and other well-known personalities and turning them into ambassadors of your brand makes sense. It is an efficient way to inspire trust because the supporters of Instagram stars often trust the choice of their favorites and also try to familiarize with the brand better.
In order to get more followers in 2019, there is no other way than working hard and being resourceful. Still, a well-developed strategy is a worthy investment because time and money will be recouped several times.
Wish you luck, inspiration, and an active target audience 🙂
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