Do’s and Don’ts to Grow an Authentic Following on Instagram
-Originally posted on May 21, 2020-
It’s time for another social media blog post! Honestly, this post was driven by things I’ve been seeing going around on Instagram that need to stop. Whether you have 10 followers or 10,000, these tips can help you run a more authentic Instagram account. If you have any questions or want any other tips, send me a DM.
DON’T: Use bots to engage for you
You’ve probably been the victim of bot engagement. Have you ever posted a story on Instagram and gotten random responses from people who don’t even follow you? Have you ever had random comments on your post that have nothing to do with the post? Have you ever posted a picture with a caption about how your dog died and gotten a “great post! check out my account” comment? Those are bots.
If these comments are showing up, the business or account that the comment comes from is likely buying bots to bring awareness to the account.
There are many reasons not to use bots and that they negatively affect your account. Instagram HATES bots. They crack down on bots more and more every month and they will come for your account if you are using bots. Additionally, people find bots way more annoying than non-bot comments. Any business that hits me up with bot comments is an automatic no from me, sis.
Instead…
DO: Use authentic engagement to increase your following
Engagement is one of the main ways that accounts grow on Instagram. It’s also one of the most important ways that brands judge an account’s success. Having 100k followers is becoming less important than having a high engagement rate. If brands can see that you are engaging with your followers and they are engaging with you, they are more likely to want to work with you. Your potential customers also want to be interacted with to further their brand loyalty.
How can this be done?
Engage authentically on your follower’s posts through likes, comments, and shares. If you know your niche audience or customer personas, you can use these to better estimate which accounts to interact with. Try looking in hashtags similar to your brand, going through your following list and interacting with new followers, finding accounts similar to yours and interacting there, or even just start off by responding to comments on your own posts.
Don’t just say great post, elaborate on what you like or share a personal anecdote to show that you are not just a bot.
DON’T: Buy followers
This goes along with bots. Buying followers is Instagram suicide. Yes, it can be great to see a high number of followers. However, these followers are actually more detrimental to your account than you might think.
Firstly, Instagram HATES bot followers. They have gone through and worked on cleaning out bot followers. If you’ve seen your follower count go down lately, it’s likely because Instagram has weeded out any inactive or fake accounts.
Secondly, it brings down your engagement. These accounts are contributing to your follower count but not to your engagement rate. Remember, engagement rate matters more.
Thirdly, it’s not the best look for your business. People can often tell if you purchase your followers and it’s easy to spot the difference between real and fake followers.
Instead of buying followers…
DO: Grow your follower base authentically
There are so many ways to grow your follower count authentically, without buying followers. These are slower than a follower purchase, but they will be better for your business in the long run.
Some ways to grow your follower base authentically:
-Interact with your customer persona/ niche audience on Instagram through engagement practices like commenting, liking, and following
-Use Instagram stories to bring a face and personality to your account/brand (I’ll explain more in a minute)
-Take advantage of Instagram’s tools like IGTV, stories, share features, and more to bump yourself up on the algorithm (Instagram rewards you when you use their features)
It’s harder, but it’ll pay off in the long run.
DON’T: Join follower/engagement/commenting groups
I’ve been seeing these groups pop up more and more lately. If you don’t know what these groups are, they are Instagram group chats where each member is expected to interact with the other group member’s posts. Each time a member of the group posts on Instagram, they share this post with the group and each member is supposed to like and engage with the post.
These sound like a great plan. Who wouldn’t want more likes, comments, and follows?
In reality, these are just another form of inauthentic engagement and growth. Yes, it can boost your followers or your engagement rate, but it really doesn’t help YOU as a creator, brand, influencer or business.
These people are often not your ideal audience, meaning that they will bring in the wrong audience to your post. The wrong audience won’t purchase your product or buy into your brand. In addition to this, the people in the group are not likely to become one of your customers, thus adding another follower or engager that doesn’t actually want to support your company. This won’t bring in money.
Try this instead…
DO: Bring in authentic engagement by using your personality and Instagram tools
Studies show that photos of humans do better on Instagram than photos of products, quotes, landscapes etc. This is because people like to put a face to the brand that they are following. Instagram and other social media have become overrun with ads and inauthentic sales posts. Break up this content on the feed by creating more personal content.
Some ways to post personal content:
-Introduce yourself to your audience
-Use longer captions that aren’t just a sales pitch
-Post a selfie using your product or doing something to build your brand
-Use your stories to give followers a behind-the-scenes look at your day
-Post IGTV tutorials or tip videos
As I said earlier, Instagram loves when you use its tools the way that they are intended. They will reward you by showing your posts to more people.
Lastly…
DO: Focus on your mental health and set boundaries
If you’re interacting authentically with your audience, it can get exhausting. You may start to feel like you are constantly scrolling, commenting, and putting yourself out there. Remember, this is your business. You wouldn’t work a regular job and try and do it 24 hours a day. Set your boundaries, turn off your notifications, create posts in advance and schedule them, or hire out your social media altogether (I can help with that, shoot me an email (mayacatherinecreative@gmail.com) or DM).
You are the most important person in your life. Make sure you care for yourself first.
What’s your biggest tip for social media? Let us know!
