Okay, to be viciously honest, getting started on Instagram is a nightmare. If you have the chance, buy a pre-baked account from a company like fameswap.com. Almost anything is better than starting with a brand new account. Even buying clicks is better than starting with nothing. This is because Instagram is going to actively ignore you. If you imagine a long list of people that Instagram wants to promote, from left-leaning celebrities at the top, to chartered accountants at the bottom, you are right under all of those because you are new.
Will age fix the problem?
What if you released a single post every week for two years, would that put you in a better position to have Instagram promote or recommend your channel? No! Not in the slightest. Instagram wants you to prove your worth and to over-promote yourself before it will even recommend to your friends and family. Here are a few things you should know about getting started.
Follow-you follow-me-back
This sort of thing doesn’t work. It can drive new followers on the gutter social media platforms like Twitter, where they seem to be dedicated to suppressing free speech. But, the follow-you Follow-Me method doesn’t work on Instagram. Yes, you will notice people following you and then unfollowing a week later because they are trying it too, but it doesn’t work.
Instagram wants you to promote yourself
The reason why Instagram actively ignores you is because it wants you to promote yourself. They want you to buy your way into their good graces. This means using affiliate advertising (with them at Facebook and others) to promote your website. But, they also want to see links and mentions from other social media accounts (yours and other people’s). They also want links, mentions and likes from websites. Even no-follow mentions on forums are useful. This is because Instagram uses its own tags that are not specifically classified as links, so the “Follow – No-Follow” thing doesn’t apply.
Followers matter but engagement doesn’t
In the long-term scheme of things, it is good to have some engagement on your posts. If you have 1.2 million British Instagram followers and no hearts on your posts, then it starts to look suspicious. Nevertheless, Instagram will promote you more if you have more followers. They don’t really care about how well your posts do. This is why, unlike with TikTok, there are also many informative and funny posts on Instagram. Your funny post may do terribly, but if you have thousands of followers waiting for your next one, then Instagram will happily suggest you to other people.
Plus, Instagram uses who follows who to figure out suggestions. You can see this on posts they suggest for you. They will say if the people you follow are also following the account they are suggesting.
Quality matters over quantity
There are some people who post terrible stuff on Instagram, and they are able to get away with it because of their follower numbers. However, this isn’t YouTube, so you can’t churn out a video every day and expect better numbers. Aim for top quality posts, experiment with a few, and try to work your brand into the mix.
Combining Instagram and business
The most common method is to give away some free stuff to Instagram influencers and have them post positive reviews about your products online. You can do this on your own account with your own products. However, try to remember that you are the real expert on your products, so try to work that into your content plans.
You don’t have to make every post about your products, in fact you may do your account’s popularity some harm if you do. However, when you do post about your products, do it from a standpoint of teaching and brand education. If you sell sneakers, then cut one in half to see its makings. If you sell cars, show one keeping up with a light aircraft on an airport runway. You are the experts in your products. Use that high standpoint to make some outstanding posts.
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