The Simple Way to Build a Successful Instagram Page from Scratch
It’s not too late to start a successful Instagram page. You can use the basics of content strategy and promotion to reach fans with your posts.
One of the biggest tricks to social media success is to keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm yourself with complicated goals and difficult tactics at the start. Instead, use these two basic strategies to thrive during your first few months on Instagram.
Principle #1: Don’t Just Post, Interact.
When you start a brand new page on Instagram, you will have no followers. This presents a classic marketer’s dilemma: How do you get fans without already having fans?
Start on other platforms. Invite your Facebook and other social media fans to join you on the new Instagram page. If your teammates and employees are willing to do the same on their personal pages, even better.
After your initial wave of outreach, focus on connecting with other people on Instagram. Seek out good hashtags to participate in and comment on other people’s posts. Aim not just to post as much as you can, but to actually interact as often and as well as possible.
Principle #2: Focus on a Narrow Topic
Instagram can be an unreliable place to post content. Some days you’ll get an unexpectedly great response, and other days you’ll get nothing.
This leads many young brands to bounce around from topic to topic. As soon as one post flops, they seek a new theme or niche to work with. This can be a mistake.
Only switch your topic if you’ve had a lot of failure. Your ultimate goal is to find a good niche and stick with it. Once you find a content style and theme that is working for you, don’t change it around again.
When to Expect Results
Most brands do not see huge results right away. Don’t expect to reach thousands of people in your first week if that isn’t the kind of audience you already have on other platforms.
However, do not blithely accept weak results. You should see some clear momentum with new fans showing up within the first few weeks. Keep tweaking your formula until you find the strategy that works for you.
Try to gain at least 50 followers every single week. If you can do this consistently, you’ll go from the “new page” phase to the “established page” phase faster than you’d expect. After your first 1,000 followers, you will be an established veteran of the Instagram platform.