8 Tips to Attract Your First 250K Instagram Followers

entrepreneur.com/article/284428

October 30, 2016

Small Business Heroes

These Instagram strategies have been well-tested in helping others build large followings on the
social media platform.

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Tarik Kizilkaya | Getty Images

October
31, 2016

5 min read

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Instagram is hands-down one of the most popular social media networks. There is so much
available attention to capture, which is why building a large following is such a top priority for
brands and individuals.

A friend of mine, Jessica Sorkin, better known as @thehandyj on Instagram, has built a very
engaged following of more than 277,000 in a very short period of time. Warning: some of her
content is NSFW.

She received her masters in marriage and family therapy, but discovered the best therapy was
laughter and found she could bring lots of laughter to a large amount of people at once through
social media. She doesn’t take herself too seriously and doesn’t have a problem making fun of
herself at the expense of making people laugh. She has grown her Instagram account in order
to connect, interact and share a laugh with as many people as possible. Here are her eight tips
that contributed to growing her following to more than a quarter-million followers.

1. Pick a theme and stay consistent.

There are plenty of accounts so I had to think about what made my voice different. I decided I
would grow my account using self-deprecating shock humor with a sexually-charged, unabashed
female voice.

Everything I post has the same purpose: to make people laugh, in the same unapologetic, self-
deprecating voice. You have to be consistent in order for your followers to stay engaged. If you
are inconsistent they will unfollow you.

Related: 7 Marketing Tips to Help Grow Your Brand on Instagram

2. Keep your posting schedule consistent.

You need to post at least once a day. You can't grow if you don't post for a week or a few days
here and there. Your followers will come to expect your content so it’s important that you
constantly deliver what they want.

Every post is an opportunity to attract new followers. For instance, every time I post, I get at the
very least 300 comments. About 95 percent have tagged someone else they felt would
appreciate what I've posted. That new person is then notified and they see the meme they were
tagged on, introducing them to my account. If they connect with it, I gain a new follower.

3. Use well thought out hashtags.

With the new algorithm, hashtags have become very valuable. You need to research relevant
and trending hashtags for your target audience. The most popular ones, if too vague, will be
inundated within seconds. Remember, only 30 hashtags per post -- I always use all 30.

I have a list of the most effective ones saved -- I simply copy and paste them into the comments
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after I post. Do not put them in the caption of the post, as it deters from the message.

Related: With These Apps You Will Absolutely Rock Instagram Marketing

4. Use Instagram’s geotag feature.

Geotag your photos -- places you're at or places where your target audience would be at. For
example, when I post a meme about coffee, I tag Starbucks. That way people who are into
Starbucks and search that geotag will see my meme about coffee and maybe get a laugh and
give me a follow.

5. Post at optimal times for your audience.

If you're in Los Angeles and you post when you wake up you may have missed all the East
Coasters who scroll their Instagram feed when they wake up. You need to research when your
audience is most likely to be scrolling and post at those times.

For me, I've noticed based on my analytics that people tend to scroll funny meme accounts at
night before bed. I see the most activity on my last ones that are kept up overnight. I always
post my best ones to coincide with bedtime across all time zones.

6. Make your content pleasing and shareable.

Not only should your content be relatable and interesting, but it should also be aesthetically
pleasing and shareable. Nobody is going to screenshot your perfectly worded, hilarious meme if
your watermark is boldly printed across the whole thing. Who wants to share that?

If someone wants to repost your beautiful image, but you're running a huge ad or promo over it
nobody is going to repost it. When people repost my memes and credit my account they're
actually growing my account for me.

Related: 9 Tools to Improve Your Instagram Marketing

7. Watermark all original content.

Watermark all original content so people know who the credit should go to if they do share it.
People are going to screenshot and repost your pics, so you need to protect your original
content so you get credit and thus exposure. Create a watermark that’s legible but not
bothersome.

8. Tag larger relevant accounts in your photos.

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If I create a meme about Beyoncé then I may tag her, her manager, E-News, pop culture
accounts, comedy accounts, etc. This notifies them that such a thing exists and perhaps give me
a follow -- and if I am lucky they repost me with credit to their much larger following, attracting
more exposure.

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