Top Ways to Get More Followers on Instagram

Instagram is all about showing off a way of life and using glamorous-looking pictures to make your products and services incredibly desirable. While this is true though, it’s also only one part of how you can use Instagram to succeed and grow your business.

At the end of the day, you can have the most inspiring Instagram account in the world but if no one knows about it, you aren’t going to be very successful.

So, the question is: how do you go about growing your Instagram account and how do you make sure that you find the right followers? Read on and we’ll look at some of the best strategies you can use.

Integrating Your Instagram With Your Existing Marketing

Hopefully, you will already have some form of marketing and this will most likely involve a website, a Facebook account, Twitter and more.

One thing you can do right away to grow your Instagram account is to bring in visitors from those other channels. One simple way to do this is to add a button on your website that people can click in order to follow you on Instagram. This way, the more people you bring to your website, the more you will be able to grow your Instagram account. This will then also work in reverse; so that as your Instagram account grows, you are able to send more and more people back to your website!

Likewise, use IFTTT (If This, Then That) in order to publish your Instagram pictures straight to your Twitter account. You can also get plugins that will show your Instagram pictures in the sidebar on your website, thereby helping more people to see the kind of content you are sharing there.

Ask People to Follow You!

This sounds a little too simplistic to be effective but in fact, that is exactly why this is such a good strategy! One of the very best ways to get more people to follow you on Instagram is simply to ask them to go and check out your page. Just say at the end of your next YouTube video: ‘why not check out my account over at Instagram?’. You can do the same thing with blog posts.

Socialize

At the end of the day, Instagram is a social media platform and that means that it is a communication tool. Use it as such by making sure to comment on photos that other users have taken or to like them.

Research shows that Instagram users find it flattering when brands like their pictures. And chances are that when they are flattered, they will want to check out exactly who it is that likes their photos!

Influencer Marketing

One of the very most effective ways to grow on Instagram is to team up with other creators and promote each other. This is called Instagram marketing and when done well, it will give you instant access to a huge audience that the other creator has spent time growing.

If you need help with your social media marketing, let us know.

The post How to Get More Followers on Instagram appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

If you’re posting regularly to an Instagram account with beautiful images and you still aren’t seeing growth, you might understandably find yourself feeling frustrated. You may think Instagram just isn’t right for your business or that you’re doing something wrong.
Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that organic growth on Instagram takes time. With that said though, here are five tips that can make a big difference and ensure you grow that bit more quickly.

• Use Portrait Orientation – Taking photos with portrait orientation is generally considered the best practice in Instagram marketing. If not portrait, you should at least choose square images. This way, your image will stay on the page longer while the users are vertically scrolling, meaning more engagement and hopefully more likes. Canva provides a preset size for Instagram photos.

• Post at the Right Time – Posting at the right time of day has been shown to be hugely important when it comes to your Instagram success. You will maximize the number of people who are awake and who are using the app. Research suggests that posting some time between 10 am and 3 pm on a weekday will net you the best results. BUT this doesn’t account for global time differences. If you’re aiming for a global audience, then posting at 6 pm GMT might just be the smarter strategy.

• Post Frequently – Ideally you should be posting 2-3 times per day. This will ensure that there is a steady flow of content on your site and that it doesn’t seem as though the page has been abandoned. What’s more though, is that posting this regularly will mean almost all of your viewers will see at least one image from you per day.

• Use Hashtags – Hashtags make a big difference on Instagram. Make sure you use them often and use them well. Use 3 to 5 hashtags and as many as 30 in order to maximize your chances of a big hit. Find the sweet spot in terms of popularity too – 30,000 is a good number of posts to see.

• Choose Your “Look” (Brand) – Many accounts are all over the place, with every image they post looking completely different and the end result being a page that has no consistency. Making sure the majority of your images have a consistent look – even picking the same filter for every photo – can prevent this issue and help people to better understand what you’re about and whether they should follow.

Use these 5 tips to find better success with your Instagram marketing efforts. And, if you ever need help with your social media marketing, just call us at (928) 692-3235 or complete the form below and we’ll contact you.

The post How to Grow Your Instagram Account Quickly appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

Having a successful business online can be challenging. It can be hard to attract people who want to buy your products or services. The truth is that you have to go and find them. Marketing with social media can be a great way to do this.

Here are some effective social media tips that will make you a success.

• Update Your Company’s Facebook Profile Regulary – Set a time schedule aside every day to keep your company’s information up to date. This should be the time when you share exciting news, answer questions, or post giveaways. Never leave your customer base hanging by not posting at regular intervals on your page.

• Use Lots of Great Content When Setting Up Your Facebook Page – There is nothing worse for a consumer than going to a business page and finding almost no useful information. Take the time to answer any questions they may have ahead of time with the content you put on your page.

• Link Your Social Media Site Together – Have links from each site you maintain to all your other sites. That way if a person who follows you on Twitter also has a Facebook page, they find it and see you on bother platforms. This will increase the number of followers you have.

• Using Social Media to Advertise Your Business – If you are using your social media to advertise your business, make sure you include the link to your website. Getting people to click over to your site is a great way to inroduce them to all you have to offer.

• Keep Your Eye on the Prize – Don’t make your business page about yourself. Focus on your company, your product or your services. Keep your personal updates and information on your personal page and make sure to keep the two separate.

• Learn to Make Fun Headlines for Your Social Media Blogs – Headlines are like the front of your business. Think of interesting was to lure people to your blog. Experiment with the headlines on your page.

• Make Lists for Your Social Media Blog – To attract more people to your blog, use information that can be read quickly by your readers. The best way to do this is to compile lists. Put together things like “10 Best Places for Visit” or “10 Songs That Make You Move”.

• Maintain a Positive Perspective – Being positive is essential to making your followers feel good when they visit your page. When they feel good, they are more likely to share your page and revisit it to see what else you have to offer.

Use these tips to make your business stand out on the Internet. It will be much easier to get people to visit your website once you start putting these social media marketing tips in place. Once you see results, you’ll be even more motivated to stick with this great way of marketing.

You may also be interested in:

• Using Facebook Live is a Big Deal
• Facebook Live – What You Need to Know First
• Facebook Marketing for Your Local Business

Need help with your Social Media Marketing? Let talk!

The post 8 Ways to Reach More People With Social Media Marketing appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

When properly used, hashtags help users find related content quickly. Hashtags help raise visibility as well as boost one’s social shares. However, when inappropriately used, they can impact one’s credibility on social media negatively. This directly decreases your social activity.

When the hashtag is used in front of a post, it categorizes it and essentially creates a hyperlink to the word. The good and bad thing about this is that one can place the hashtag to any single word or a group of words consequently. It becomes a handy tool for joining conversations, collecting pictures at events and marketing. It has become clear that most people are using this feature regardless of age. The unfortunate thing is there are people who don’t know how many is enough. As a result, they are committing a social media faux pas over-using hashtags!

Over-using hashtags imply you are using too many of them in a single post. Usually, people are supposed to use 2 to 3 short hashtags or one long hashtag., Any number above this means you are overdoing it. The principal purpose of a hashtag is to tag the post so that it can be put together around a certain event or subject and be searched. Therefore just because you can use them doesn’t mean that you should. Too many hashtags increase the chances of getting hashtags hijacked. Someone might use your hashtag regardless of the fact that their content may not have anything to do with your post’s subject. It is important to use them if they are relevant to your post and remember to keep them minimal.

Why Over-Using Hashtags Is Bad
• It distracts from the key message or post
• They make a post look like spam
• Makes a post look sloppy
• They use up your character considering there is a character limit
• It makes one look like an amateur at it shows that you just don’t understand the hashtag concept

Using too many hashtags on your post makes your content senseless. Breaking up words at every step makes it hard for people to follow what you are posting. A lot of hashtags overpowers a post’s content. As soon as your followers see too many hashtags, they tend to lose interest. You do not want readers to get lost in the sea of number signs and words.

Be smart when it comes to using hashtags. If you are worried that you are almost reaching a point of overkill, consider using none at all.

You might also like to read, “How to Drive Your Instagram Traffic to Your Website“.

The post Are You Annoying Your Followers with Too Many Hashtags? appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

Drive your Instagram traffic to your site, encourage action, and convert followers to customers by doing the following:

Link IGTV Posts – IGTV is an Instagram video app that lets you create and share videos for up to an hour. Many users prefer video posts. This app gives them a great experience. Drive traffic to external pages or your website by adding links to your IGTV posts. Add a CTA (call to action) on video descriptions or mention the link and ask viewers to click on it.

Keep your videos interactive and informative. It can be a tutorial or a contest. Make sure it is something your followers want to listen to so you can get more clicks.

Optimize Your Bio Link – Your bio link can drive lots of traffic to your site. It can be easily seen by anyone who views your profile. It’s also clickable. The link can direct your followers to any page on your site. The destination page can be updated as needed. Take users to your homepage, services page, or product launch page. Add a call-to-action on post captions to let people know what they’ll be directed to.

Use Direct Messaging – Ask your followers to DM (Direct Message) you if they have any questions about your service or business. Always check your inbox for new messages, respond to inquiries, and keep the conversation going. If you notice you receive the same question multiple times, create an Instagram story and provide an answer. This can lead to more engagement and is especially useful when you are out of post ideas. Don’t forget to add a call-to-action to your post.

You can also DM new followers, thank them for following you, and share a link to your site. Talk about what they’ll find or benefit from it.

Use Instagram Stories – Stories help you to connect with your followers. Keep your audience engaged and interested in your posts by sharing different types of content. Use live video, photos, or Gifs to grab their attention and inspire action. Add links to your stories and direct them to your website. You can also use stories to promote your site, blog, new product, upcoming events, or discounts. Briefly talk about it, add a CTA and encourage users to follow the shared link. This is a great way to grow traffic and help your audience to understand your brand better.

Another great option is to add a screenshot of testimonials from happy clients. Doing this will help you to attract more people to your site, prove your credibility, and convert followers to long-term clients.

Use Hashtags – People love, prefer, and follow hashtags. When you study and use relevant ones, you will easily grow your following and increase traffic to your site.

Include as many hashtags as you like on a single post but don’t overdo it. The best posts normally have 5 or 8 quality hashtags. Add a call-to-action to enable users to effortlessly navigate to your site.

These five tips for driving Instagram traffic to your website will give you a good start toward success.

Wondering how to market your business on other social media? Download our free Social Media Marketing Checklist. Use it to learn how to Audit Your Accounts, Understand Your Audience, Use Analytics, Reach Your Audience, and Content Creation.

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Instagram success usually means posting lots of beautiful images you took using your SmartPhone. Some people have successful Instagram accounts without using a SmartPhone at all. Others will use images that they have acquired or will use a high-quality professional camera. In most cases, though, the SmartPhone is the first thing people use for great Instagram photos. Here are 5 tips for better photos using your SmartPhone.

• Composition – The composition of your shot means thinking about where the subject is in relation to the other elements. Think about how you’re going to line up the shot, and how you will convey a sense of scale and depth.

• Depth – One option for creating depth is to ensure that you feature something in the foreground, middle ground, and the background. These three elements will create that sense of layers. Another tip is to try and ‘lead’ the viewer’s eye from the foreground into the background. This can be achieved by looking for something like a path or a road.

• Story – Telling a story means not necessarily just taking a photo of the thing you want to ‘say’. Leave something for the viewer to figure out. An empty glass speaks to the presence of a person at some point in town. A party, or maybe a sad lonely drink? Think of the Mona Lisa – which has captivated people for generations by being a mystery.

• Lighting – The phone you choose will have a big impact on the quality of the photos it produces, but the lighting is just as important. In fact, it’s arguably better to take a well-lit shot on a cheap camera phone, than it is to take a poorly lit shot on a great phone! Consider the position of the window and where it is in relation to the subject. Think about the time of day. And if possible: invest in lighting equipment.

• Phone – Choose a good camera phone. Know what you’re looking for. High megapixel counts sound good on paper but are far less important than other features such as the quality of the lens being used to capture those pixels, the size of the aperture, and image processing.

Every Instagram success story starts with captivating photos. Choosing the right SmartPhone, knowing how to tell a story with your photos, and setting up the shot are all part of your Instagram success story.

Click here for a complete Instagram Marketing Success Checklist.

Other Instagram posts your may enjoy reading:

• Instagram Verified Account Benefits
• Instagram: 3 Tips for Posting Without Taking Photos
• Instagram: Grow Your Account Quickly

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How to Create Your Personal Brand with Social Media Stories

Digital marketing involves creating a brand and selling products through that brand. Corporations do this all the time. Another option, though, is to use personal branding.

What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is used when either you are the business or you do business under your own name. For example, anyone who reads Tom Ferry’s Blog will instantly recognize Tom Ferry. He is front and center of his online marketing. In his case, he’s also an influencer where his brand is his business.

What are Social Media Stories?

Social Media Stories are short posts used on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms. They are visible for a short period of time and then disappear.

This method is perfect for building your personal brand. It allows your fans to get to know you for the person behind the products and services. This builds trust, makes your followers feel they know you, and thus creates more sales.

What Are the Advantages?

• Personal branding puts you “out there” in front of a lot of potential buyers.
• You’ll give your brand a personality.
• You can interact with people on Twitter or Facebook, creating a feeling of personal contact instead of corporate messaging.
• Stories show you and/or your team hard at work or having some fun after a long at work.
• Stories are popular with users and have a lot of engagement.

What Sites Should You be Posting Social Media Stories On?

Snapchat

Snapchat was the first to start the “self-destructing” message. Stories take this concept and applies it to a public form of publishing. Although not as popular as it once was, Snapchat is still one of the biggest social platforms on the web.

Snapchat Stories have advanced filters as well as the advantage of allowing an embedded link.

Facebook

Facebook Stories allow you to appear at the top of the user’s feed and to interact in a very direct manner.

Facebook also has the advantage of being THE largest social media platform in the world and giving you access to a truly massive number of people. Facebook also lets you include a call-to-action link, which has the potential to be extremely useful.

Instagram

Instagram doesn’t allow you to include a link until you have at least 10,000 followers, or you are a verified account. Options such as polls, question boxes, etc. will help to make up for this to some extent.

Instagram also lets you share your stories directly to Facebook, expanding your reach even further.

YouTube Stories

YouTube Stories are stories encourage users to embrace short videos. YouTube Stories will only appear for 24 hours.

YouTube Stories are added via your mobile app only.

Staying ahead of the social media marketing game can be challenging. Take a look at each of these five social media story options. Choose one and get started.

Contact Us about our Social Media Marketing services.

The post Have You Been Telling Social Media Stories? appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

Are you marketing on Instagram? Do you have a verified account? An Instagram verified account will help you maximize your sales opportunities and success.

Here’s what a verified Instagram account is and what it means for you.

What is a Verified Account?
By getting your account verified, you are essentially telling Instagram that you are the one true YOU. You get a small badge that reassures users that yours is the official account for your brand or name.

Why Get Verified?
A verified account gives you the authority that comes from being a genuine person or brand. This means that anyone looking for your brand will know to click on your account. It also helps you to avoid copycats and scammers!

Reason #1
Your verification acts as a stamp of authority for those who don’t know your brand. This suggests a certain level of notoriety, and therefore that you must be a serious player in your niche.

Reason #2
Being verified will also give you access to additional features. One of the most important of these is the ability to link to external sites from a story. Users just have to swipe up on your story, and they’ll be taken to the page you’ve chosen. This makes it possible to sell directly from a story.

Reason #3
One more big advantage is that having a verified account allows you to create IGTV videos. You can even schedule them through your Facebook account.

IGTV video is an app that can be used alone or in tandem with Instagram. It’s essentially Instagram’s answer to YouTube in that it’s designed for the mobile-optimized viewing of long-form videos. Any user can set up their own channel and share video content that’s up to an hour long. ~Google

Getting your Instagram account verified is simple and only takes about five minutes. Take a few minutes now to get your account verified.

The post Instagram Verified Account Benefits appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

In case you’ve been too busy to notice, Instagram has become an extremely popular way to market your business on a platform of over 1 billion daily users.

Facebook owns Instagram but unlike Facebook Instagram’s popularity keeps growing.

Posting to Instagram does require a little photography skill. Since it’s such a visual medium high-quality photos are a must. If you don’t have a lot of confidence in your photography skills, though, I have some good news for you!

There are 3 ways you can post to Instagram without taking photos!

Use Stock Photography – There are photography sites that allow you to use their photos without cost. Others require a fee. Look at the kind of license they have and abide by their requirements. Using unauthorized photos can cost you a lot of money.

Here are 3 free photo sites. (Be sure to read their license.)

• Pixabay
• Pexels
• Unsplash

Add Your Own Spin

Another option is to use photography and then edit it. This can work with the stock photo option. Search for photos of people standing on mountains, or making other accomplishments, and then simply add artistic filters and quotes about success and the like. It’s a simple and easy way to make it your own!

Other People’s Instagram Photos

Many Instagram accounts are highly successful simply as a result of sharing photos that other users have taken. The only thing to keep in mind is copyright and fair play. Make sure you get permission from the creators. In most cases they will be flattered you asked and excited to get the free exposure. Win-win!

You may also enjoy reading:

Instagram: Grow Your Account Quickly

Instagram: Marketing Trends for 2019

The post Instagram: 3 Tips for Posting Without Taking Photos appeared first on Second Self Virtual Assistance.

If you’re posting regularly to an Instagram account with beautiful images and you still aren’t seeing growth, you might find Instagram a little frustrating. You might start thinking that Instagram isn’t right for your business or that you’re doing something wrong.

The fact is that organic growth on Instagram takes time. However, here are 5 tips that can make a big difference and help you grow your Instagram account more quickly.

Use Portrait Orientation

Portrait (as opposed to horizontal) photos are usually considered the best practice in Instagram marketing. Your next best choice would be to choose square images. Your image will stay on the page longer while the users are vertically scrolling. This means more engagement (and hopefully) more likes. Use a service like Canva or Crello to create pre-sized images.

Choose the Right Time to Post

Choosing the right time of day to post is important when it comes to Instagram success. You maximize the number of people who are awake and who are using the app. Research suggests that posting some time between 10 am and 3 pm on a weekday will get the best results. This doesn’t account for global time differences. So, if you’re targeting a global audience, posting at 6 pm GMT might be the smarter strategy for you.

How Often Should You Post?

Ideally, you should be posting 2-3 times per day. This will ensure that there is a steady flow of content on your Instagram site and that your page doesn’t appear to be abandoned. Posting regularly will mean almost all of your viewers will see at least one image from you per day.

Use Lots and Lots of Hashtags

Hashtags make a big difference on Instagram. Be sure you use them often and use them well. One of the most important tips is to use as many as possible (30) in order to maximize your chances of a big hit. Find the sweet spot in terms of popularity, too. 30,000 is a good number of posts to see.

What’s Your “Look”?

Many accounts are all over the place. Every image looks completely different. The result is a page with no consistency. Making sure the majority of your images have a consistent look can prevent this issue. It will also help people better understand what you’re about and whether they should follow.

If your Instagram progress is sluggish, try using these five tips to grow your account quickly.

Here’s another Instagram post:

Instagram Marketing Trends 2019

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