Smart Ways To Beat The Instagram Algorithm: How to Get More Followers

Key Takeaways

if you've done any research on how to grow your instagram business you're gonna have heard the typical advice like post often and make great content well that's sound advice today we're gonna dive into new tactics to help you grow your instagram audience in 2021 the tips that i'm about to share with you take the new instagram algorithm into account and it requires no money at all so stick with me you're going to learn how to increase your engagement and grow your following [Music] hey everybody my name is michelle bally i'm a creative strategist and i'm also your host for today's video every week learn with shopify releases a new video to help you start and grow your online business this channel is dedicated to small business owners with big plans so make sure that you're subscribed so that you're not missing out on the knowledge that you need to start your business journey instagram has changed a lot over the years it's no longer a place where you post pictures of your friends and look back at all your cute memories but instead instagram is a place for businesses there is money to be made and customers to be gained on instagram so today i'm going to teach you some strategies on how you can beat the algorithm and start getting more followers for your business by the end of this video you're going to learn six growth strategies that's going to bring your business the attention it deserves so let's get into it how does the algorithm work first of all the key thing that we need to understand is that instagram's goal is to make money from ads but for instagram to show ads they need to have people using their platform right so they use you as a vehicle to keep people on the app yes they use you so if you make the type of content that keeps people on the app instagram knows this and will reward you by pushing out your content to more people so in essence instagram is paying you an exposure to keep users on their platform for longer so if you have the type of content that makes users scroll through your carousel or watch your entire video then you're keeping users on the platform longer this means that instagram is able to show more ads to those people and thus make more money that's how the platform works that's how this all works so while instagram has its own agenda for us as business owners the platform can give us something of immense value in return instagram can help us make sales it can help us get more exposure and really just grow our business so now that we know the main reason for instagram's existence let's use this knowledge to help us beat the algorithm and get more followers to grow our business tip number one make shareable content imagine this let's say you create a video about five ways to tie a scarf and your follower sandy finds this so useful that she shares your post with her friend zoe instagram is going to love this because now not only do they have the attention of sandy but they've also made zoe open the app as well as a result instagram is going to reward your shareable content with increased exposure increased exposure can mean getting featured on the explore page where people who aren't already following you find your content and find your account so how do we make shareable content ben saylor from coschedule recommends that you tell a story with your content he says craft your content so that it has a clear beginning middle and end propose a problem and a solution that your company can offer when was last time that you sent your friend an instagram post that was just blatantly an ad probably never but you do send funny interesting and helpful content so let's take a look at d silky outerwear for example she stuffed a jacket with two thousand dollars to raise awareness about the financial struggles of emerging fashion business owners and that to me is shareable in 2021 shareable content is king why well instagram ranks certain engagements as more important and less important likes and comments are lowest on that totem pole they're not important because they only take a few seconds to do but shares on the other hand hold the most amount of weight saves are also heavily weighted so let's talk about how you can make the type of content that people are going to want to save tip number two make savable content we often hear about making shareable content but it's actually seldom that we hear about making savable content well if you overlook how to make savable content you might be missing a big piece of the puzzle if the instagram algorithm detects that other users are saving your content it will reward you with more exposure that's because a save indicates a user's intent to come back onto the app to refer to that content later keeping in mind that the instagram's number one goal is to keep people on the app longer so creating savable content that inspires educates or is referenceable will increase your exposure on instagram creating savable content is a staple in lucy's instagram strategy this entrepreneur and fitness expert features visual diagrams with healthy eating tips as nikki canning editorial manager of later says posts are moving away from likes in favor of saves so if you want to grow your account you may want to focus on getting people to save your instagram posts tip number three leverage tick tock using tick tock to grow your instagram following is a trendy strategy that businesses are hopping on right now by linking your instagram profile you can use tick tock to convert those followers into instagram followers as well during the time of filming this video growing on tick tock is extremely accessible and this might not be the case forever so seizing this opportunity may be a smart move right now many business owners are talking about the magic of tick tock because the sky is really the limit with tick tock jenna lab the founder of the silk labs tells us how her instagram account grew to 16 000 followers by using tik tok the key with tick tock is to get your viewers to come over to instagram and eventually become a customer in my experience tick tock is how i got the most amount of eyes on my brand but instagram is where my shoppers and community are she advises us to clearly state what your brand is and what you do in your bio she also recommends to remind your audience to follow your instagram in the comment section of a viral video she says having our following on tick tock and instagram is beneficial because certain potential customers need more time to be convinced and sold so we have more time to post talk and befriend our followers so we can build that trust with them by the way if you want to learn more about how to grow your tick tock and convert your audience into customers make sure that you're leaving me a comment and we'll make sure to film that video for you guys if you're wondering how to make money on instagram this free online course hosted by shopify will walk you through proven methods to grow an instagram following from scratch and the variety of ways that you can start monetizing with as little as a thousand followers so in just 45 minutes you're gonna learn the strategies to get more engaged followers and start an instagram powered business so make sure that you're clicking the link in the description box so that you can get started tip number four use instagram reels speaking of which instagram has released a relatively new feature called reels like tic toc videos reels are 15 second videos that allow you to get creative with the video and audio effects because there is currently less competition with reels being an early adopter may gain you more exposure to see success make sure that you have a catchy headline and a thumbnail that sparks curiosity since a high click-through rate is seen as favorable for reals watch time is actually also very important as well so having a video that's gonna keep people watching all the way through is gonna increase your exposure digital entrepreneur vanessa lau recommends creating a ton of reels she says the more content that you do the bigger footprint you have and the bigger footprint you have the more chances that instagram will pick up your work tip number five run a giveaway contests are a reliable way to gain new followers if you stipulate that the rules for entry include tagging a friend and following your account you're going to see a surge in your post's engagement as well as your follower account these new followers who arrived through a recommendation can later be nurtured into potential customers for your business so for inspiration here's an example of a successful product giveaway from the fifth that incentivizes people to follow its account and tag a friend for the chance to win two free products from each of the businesses according to neil patel instagram accounts that hold contests can achieve 70 faster follower growth compared to those that don't hold contests so if you're looking for real growth fast contests are a really great place to start tip number six use hashtags to begin growing you're gonna find that hashtagging your photos is extremely important because hashtagging makes it really easy for people that are searching for a specific term to find your photos and to find your account so which hashtags should you use so at the time of filming this some of the top hashtags include love instagood and hashtag photo of the day so if you're looking at this list and thinking none of these apply to my product you're probably right using hashtags is one thing but using the right hashtags is a completely different thing so popular tags like those that we just talked about are gonna likely net you additional engagement and likes but they're not going to lead to increased long-term engagement or new interested followers or more importantly they're not going to lead to sales if you want to tag your photos properly you're going to need to find and use the most relevant hashtags to your account and to your business this means doing the appropriate research to make sure that you're using hashtags that not only describe what's in your photo but also describe your brand and what people are searching for on instagram to find relevant hashtags you'll want to use a free online tool like iconosquare or webstagram to start and you can also find more related hashtags and their popularity if you simply just search for any of your target keywords in the actual instagram app try borrowing some hashtag ideas from competitors or similar accounts that have the kind of following that you aspire to gain use this as a starting point because ultimately you want to create your own groups of hashtags that can relate to your account and your specific goals as soon as you have your top 30 hashtags write them in a note on your phone so that you can easily copy and paste them later and an even faster way is to create a keyboard shortcut on your phone now that users can follow hashtags your stories and posts have the chance to be seen both by people who are following that hashtag and anyone who is just checking it out instagram is a really great tool to get people talking about your brand but if you have a product or a service to sell you'll need a platform where customers can actually go ahead and make those purchases shopify is a really great place to start selling online with your own e-commerce website has never been easier faster or more scalable setting up your store can actually be done in a matter of days and you can do it all by yourself you don't need a fancy coder you can get started with a free 14-day trial there is no commitment at all you don't even need to give your credit card information and you actually have two full weeks to build a fully beautiful branded personalized ecommerce store so i'm gonna leave a link for you in the description box so you can take advantage of the free 14-day trial if you thought this video was helpful make sure that you're giving it a big thumbs up that actually helps our channel and our community grow and also we're going to be dropping a video soon on the ultimate instagram tools and essential apps for growing your following so if you want to catch that make sure that you're subscribed so that you're not missing out on any future videos as well thank you guys so much for watching i'm your host michelle valley and i will see you in the next one