Instagram Growth Hacks for Businesses: 11 Tips for Rapid Expansion 

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Nowadays, Instagram is the most important social media platform by far. To understand why this is the case, consider how many people use it today. The number of Instagram monthly active users touched 2.35 billion in 2024. As you can see, this offers several options for those who want their business to reach markets they have not been able to reach before. At the same time, the platform itself is adapting to provide many opportunities to its users.

Promoting your business through organic search, in the case of Instagram, hashtags, or through paid ads, certainly represents a force to be reckoned with. If you want to increase likes on posts, you can create much content to attract them, but it is easier with the Instagram autolike option. The reason why this is important is engagement. Engaging with followers daily is essential.

This may look like too much work initially, but it leads these companies a long way. It is a way to attract new ones and keep existing ones loyal. Even though there are no guarantees, this will help you greatly. But there are many things a brand owner should do before that. That is why we want to explore useful tips to help you rapidly expand your account.

Without further ado, let us begin.

1. Setting up a Business Account

The first thing you should do is optimize your profile. You can go from this point two ways. You can convert your account to a business one or create a profile. After you create a business profile, you will immediately get access to various features. For example, you can immediately use analytics. In this segment, you will get insights into things such as follower demographics and other relevant features important for marketing.

Optimizing your profile should start with writing a relevant biography. While this may not seem like much, it is. Therefore, you should use this element wisely. By saying that, you should include all relevant niche keywords inside. At the same time, create a relevant biography that will explain the nature of your brand, including things relating to specific services and products.

2. Make Consistent, Relevant Posts

Consistent posting is another highly important aspect you should pay attention to. While there are no specific rules about how much you should post per day, posting at least once will significantly increase the engagement and visibility of your profile. For example, small businesses make at least one post per week. Why is this important for the visibility of your account?

By your content appearing on the feed of the followers, they will be constantly reminded about your brand. At the same time, a certain percentage of them will revisit your content and see whether it is interesting. As a result, posting comments or sending messages in your inbox will improve the relationship with them through communicating about everything they find relevant about your brand.

3. The Importance of Visual Content

The most important thing regarding Instagram content is the visual aspect. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. The whole platform focuses on the visual content, and other forms are not as present as it is. Of course, you should find the pattern that will fit the brand logo, banners, and other forms of content you are creating. Besides that, visuals marketers create emotions that attract consumers to stay much longer.

That’s why a marketer needs to be extremely careful about choosing the color palette. Another thing we want to point out is the importance of being original in this situation. Something you see might be appealing, but there are no guarantees that it will fit your criteria. When you know this, you understand why this element is crucial for a brand to be as successful as possible.

4. Instagram Stories are Key

Instagram stories are the most powerful tool marketers can use on this platform. Over the years, the developers behind the platform have managed to turn it into a highly effective aspect that can help achieve many advantages over the competition. There are two main ways you can use these. The first one is to pay for paid ads, which ensures marketers will reach users who don’t follow their accounts.

They can reach someone who has never interacted with their account in the past. Besides this approach, marketers can create content for stories that interact with existing followers. By doing so, they can let them know about new products or services they offer, provide information about discounts and any other important information you want them to be informed about.

5. Make the Most out of Hashtags

Have you ever heard about Search Engine Optimization? While many think this is exclusive to search engines like Google, this is untrue. When you are on Instagram, elements like keywords are replaced with hashtags. You have certainly noticed them being a part of posts the most popular brands make on their accounts. Hashtags indicate a category you would like your services or products to fit.

The key to success in this aspect is choosing hashtags that do not come with high competition. As you can see, the principle is the same as in the case of search engine optimization. Marketers must conduct thorough research until they find the ones that fit them the most. Sometimes, this process will not take too much of your time. However, be prepared to invest several hours until you find the one that meets the criteria.

6. Focus on Engagement

As mentioned, engagement is paramount when growing your Instagram community. There are several layers of this aspect. The first layer is communicating with followers who send messages to your account’s inbox. In most cases, you will see messages where they ask about certain products or services you offer and want you to explain the details.

Other relevant questions may touch upon the topic of pricing. Besides inbox, comments under your posts might contain similar questions. Answering as many of them as possible will ensure your followers stay in touch with the brand. Staying in touch is crucial for several reasons. But the most important one is building trust to ensure they stay as closely connected to the brand as you want them to.

7. Reach out to Influencers

Influencers are a big part of the global Instagram community. For those unaware of this term, we discuss the accounts with a massive following. They are addressed as influencers because they can promote certain trends, products, or services to their followers. As you can see, there are not many more effective tools than collaborating with them to grow your community.

Since there are so many influencers, we advise you to be extremely careful when choosing these. Why is this the case? Well, some will not be regarded as the most relevant source of information in your particular niche. Therefore, we advise you to look at influencers your competition has collaborated with. That way, you can narrow down your choices much easier.

8. Organize Giveaways and Contests Frequently

Giveaways and contests are other important things to take into consideration. They are important for a variety of reasons. But, the pivotal reason is that utilizing these will ensure the loyalty of consumers. Treating them with a discount or a giveaway occasionally builds trust. Without any doubt, they will be grateful for the gifts you have given them. Therefore, they will remain loyal followers of your brand for the foreseeable future.

9. Instagram Shipping Feature

An e-commerce site is not enough anymore, at least when marketing your brand. Instagram shopping is a feature that has become pivotal. We are discussing an in-built feature that helps companies create their catalogs on the platform. By doing that, companies can translate their products and services more easily to this platform. There are two ways companies can use this feature.

The first one is to offer their clients the possibility to purchase anything from the catalog directly on the platform. Another option is for the link to guide them to the e-commerce website. Instagram shopping feature becomes even more important if you know that around 70% of shopping enthusiasts consult the platform while searching for new products. We are discussing a feature that shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

11. Analyze the Market

Nothing is forever, including trends for social media platforms and e-commerce websites. With that in mind, following the latest trends and adapting to the market’s requirements is crucial. Various sources dictate these trends. Failing to follow them and utilize them accordingly can lead to losing the position the brand has achieved over time. Fortunately, Instagram offers the possibility to analyze a shop’s performance.

With an insight like this, brand owners have the time to read all the signs and adapt to new needs. Transitions like these are not always easy. That’s why it is required to have enough experience and knowledge to spot these trends and understand how to answer the market’s new requirements. Changes are constant; therefore, adapting to the market’s ever-changing needs is a never-ending loop.

12. Follow the Latest Algorithm Changes

Last but certainly not least, we would like to speak about staying up-to-date with algorithm changes on the platform. The best way to describe the platform’s algorithm is to call it a great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if your business account is well-established or just created; following the rules established by the algorithm is a must. Once again, we are talking about changes, even though they are not as frequent most of the time.

Staying relevant depends on a variety of factors. Naturally, we’ve already mentioned engagement and hashtag factors. Besides that, the relevancy of your content will also play a massive role. Think about it: you cannot expect for your account to stay relevant if you produce content nobody is interested in. Sure, it is possible to attract followers via paid aids, but organic searches are more valued by the algorithm.

Summary

Standing out from the crowd is not easy, especially on Instagram. We can all agree that the competition is quite steep. Despite this being the fact, this is achievable. Here, you can find relevant tips that will help you ensure the rapid expansion of your business account. We are certain you will find this insight helpful and informative.