The Selfie: The Best Instagram Tips

Either the "Selfie" is Instagram's claim to fame or the "Selfie" was made famous via Instagram.  The Selfie is synonymous with Instagram.  Instagram is "growing at a faster rate then any other social media worldwide" as stated in an article by techcrunch.com. Needless to say, Facebook was smarter than the average bear to scoop up Instagram for their very own. I want to provide you{the blogger, small business, and individual} with some tips to increase your Instagram followers quickly while keeping your target audience in mind. This takes very little maintenance{about 10 to 15 minute spurts throughout the day}. Sure you could take a shortcut and buy followers, but do you want people who are actually listening to you?

1.} Check that profile. I will go back again and again to this subject. If your profile is not spot on, do not expect anyone to click on the link to your website. Please make sure you have a profile photo and up-to-date website address. No cars salesmen photos are needed! I do not need a flashing sign saying: 50% OFF in my face. I just need to find your photos intriguing and that is how I come to visit most sites from Instagram.

2.}Follow people. Not just anyone will do. Always think of your brand. I want to build my audience with like minded folk no matter what social media website I am on. Search tags that are relevant to your brand. Find people that are into what you are into and follow them. I find searching for your own friends is kinda fun and most people follow back.

3.} Unfollow people. IF...you follow someone and realize that are not quite your cup of tea then unfollow them. I unfollow people if they are spamming me mostly. 10 photos in a row, Sales pitches, and loud advertising photos are the major reasons. I unfollow people sometimes. It is okay. You should do what you need to do.

4.} Big Fish and Little Fish. The people on the front page{explore section} are the big fish. Most of them do not follow people...so do not follow them. You may gain a few followers momentarily by following them, but spammers stalk the front page regularly...so be careful.  The little fish are those with a small following, but they are your best friends. Those are the one who will probably regularly like and comment on your photos. They will be the ones to get you to the front page. Play very nice with them.

5.} Interact with your followers. Comment and like their photos. You want them to comment and like your photos too! If someone comments on your photos be sure to comment back. Instagram allows you to be closer to your audience then ever before, but you must say, "HI"!

6.} Post eye catching photos. Be choosy and be picky. Your photos must be beautiful. Natural, fashion, and animals all seem to do really well in likes. The selfie still reigns supreme.

7.} Tags. Choose them wisely. 5 to 10. Generic, popular, and fun tags. Mix them up. Too many tags actually works to your detriment if you want to make the first page. An entire page of tags is annoying...there I said it.

8.} Hard Work. Everyone wants a magic unicorn ride to a basket full of followers and that is called spam. Building an audience with folks that want to listen to you is hard and consistent work. Stick with it and be open to changing your strategy if necessary.