Ep. 455: Unlock the Secrets: Meta's 5 Keys to Winning on Instagram

Meta Is Telling Creators How to Grow Instagram Followers

Building an Instagram following is challenging, so when Meta, (Instagram’s parent company) reveals the precise behaviors that will earn your content more exposure, you should heed the advice.

Earlier this year, Meta (owner of Instagram) invited a select group of content creators to participate in a conference call. Among the invitees was Hrabren Bankov, aka “@marketingharry,” an Instagram growth coach and powerhouse user with 293K followers. In one of his posts, he shared what Meta explicitly told participants they needed to do to grow Instagram followers organically.

We review five of those tips in this week’s Silver Dollar episode:

• Post original content.
• Actively engage your audience.
• Use a mix of different types of hashtags.
• Place keywords in all features of your posts.
• Direct traffic to your Instagram from pages on other platforms.

Post original, high-quality content. As popular as certain trends may be, Instagram favors original content. The algorithms will help you grow your Instagram followers organically when you tell a unique story accompanied by visually appealing content that captures an audience’s attention. Be sure to post a variety of content, but, above all, be consistent. (It’s the best way to grow Instagram followers.)

Engage with your audience as a way to build relationships. Respond to both comments and direct messages and share user-generated content to show your followers that you value their support. This will help you grow your Instagram by building a sense of community and loyalty around your brand. We offer several specific ways to engage with your audience, including one nifty tip that will encourage clicks to your newest posts.

Use relevant hashtags. Everyone wants to know—do hashtags still matter? Yes, they do! And they’re a powerful tool for increasing your reach and visibility on Instagram. We let you know the number and types of hashtags Meta has identified that will increase your chances of appearing in search results.

Place keywords in alt descriptions. Instagram crawls everything within your posts for keywords, including visuals, captions, hashtags, and especially alt descriptions. Alt descriptions are the text that appears when an image (photo or video) doesn’t load. Be as specific and descriptive as possible when writing alt descriptions to optimize SEO.

Use other social media platforms to drive traffic. Another effective strategy for growing an audience on Instagram is to use other social media platforms to drive traffic. Share links to your Instagram profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms to reach a wider audience and increase your brand’s visibility. When a visitor clicks your link and it opens to your Instagram page, the platform recognizes the activity and rewards it.

Of all the social media platforms, Instagram is arguably the most transparent about how it functions. Use these Meta-endorsed tips, along with the variety of additional Instagram growth hacks we discuss, and you’ll be better able to grow your Instagram followers fast.

We hope you enjoy this episode and act on the advice Luke offers at the end. We’d also appreciate it if you took a moment to leave us a 5-star review and comment on Apple Podcasts. (We read them on air!) Thanks for listening!

Connect | Resources

Get @marketingharry’s summary of Meta’s creators conference call here

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