Instagram is an ever-changing platform to share images and grow your online brand. It’s also the number one social network where brand ambassadors are paid to create beautiful images of products. Learn how the biggest Instagram influencers got their start in our latest eBook published in partnership with NOTICE Agency: How to Become a Paid Instagram Influencer, How I make a Six-Figure Income Partnering With Brands.
These days micro influencers are all the rage. That means brands are hunting for accounts with at least 1,000 engaged followers, but no more than 100,000. These micro influencers get paid by brands to post, or make money with affiliate marketing. This article will detail a legitimate and free method of getting those first 1,000 followers in just 7 days. If you’re looking for a way to automate likes for Instagram or grow your followers with bots this is not your how-to article.
1. Pick your Instagram Content Strategy
Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? It’s an annoying question to be sure. But in the world of Instagram it means everything. To decide what steps to take along your journey you need to know your destination. Start with your passions and knowledge to pick a content niche (Don’t have a niche? No problem! Read an example: How to Become a Fashion Brand Ambassador).
You’ll also want to decide what you want people to do. It could be as simple as following your page. But you may also want people to visit your website or use a branded hashtag you invent. Either way you’ll need to think about this before you start down the path of likes for Instagram. Document your plan in writing or images so you can reference it later when you are really getting things moving.
At this point you can create a new account or change your current account to fit the exercise you just went through. Everything should be clear about your niche and what kind of content your account will be sharing. Not sure about where you want to go? Get our eBook and start working with brands on Instagram in as little as 30 days.
2. Doing your homework on what gets likes for Instagram in your niche
Start by finding Instagram pages that apply to your niche. Look for accounts that have high quality content and lots of comments and likes for Instagram. Engagement with real people is a big tell that you’re looking at a good page. Once you have a list of 5-10 accounts you can dig a little deeper.
Document the hashtags and handles (@names on Instagram) that these accounts request for mentions. Most popular Instagram accounts will repost content from users that follow their guidelines. You may want to start a spreadsheet to keep track of all this information. It’s going to come handy in the next few steps.
3. Lay a foundation of high quality content
You may already be a renowned photographer. But if you are like most people you may struggle for high quality Instagram content early on. That’s where royalty free stock images come into the picture. Try looking up photos from Pexels.com and Unsplash to get you started. You can use any of the photos for free on Instagram and without crediting the original creator (though it’s still an accepted courtesy to do so).
Search for images that have an authentic and stunning personality and save them to your computer for user later. Think about what you would appreciate and what will get you the most likes for Instagram. You may want to build up a library of this content so you don’t have to go searching every time you want to create a new post. That’s important because in order for this method to be successful you will need to post 2-3 times per day at minimum.
4. Start posting your content
You’re finally ready to start amassing followers and likes for Instagram! To make posting simple you should create a basic post format like this:
- 1 sentence that describes the photo.
- 1 sentence telling people what to do next (use your hashtag, follow your account, etc…).
- 1 line credit to the original photographer as a courtesy.
- The @ tags of the influential accounts you documented earlier.
- 20-30 hashtags that your niche community uses often – you can find these from the influencer accounts or generate your own using apps like Hashtag Expert.
- You can use the same set of @ names and hashtags in every post to keep it simple.
You need to post at least 2-3 times per day using this method to get 1,000 Instagram followers in a week. Now this is where a super secret trick for Instagram comes into play…
Instagram pro secret: Posting on Instagram from a desktop computer
It’s a big challenge to post to Instagram throughout the day from your iPhone. You have to go through too many steps to get the stock images and text to your phone each time. This can be especially helpful if you are working on more complex images or learning how to Instagram collage. What if you could post from your desktop? With the Chrome browser it’s totally possible. Here’s how you post to Instagram from Chrome:
- Open Chrome and open a new tab
- Using the menu go to View > Developer > Developer Tools
- On the left side of the resulting page toggle on Device Toolbar and select iPhone 6
- Close the settings tab and head to Instagram.com as you would normally.
5. Likes for Instagram: Follow, follow, follow
Now that you have a few posts made to your account you can start following people in your niche. This is important because every time you follow someone that person will get a notification. If they follow you back it’s one more person you have in your arsenal of fans. When using this method it’s important to only follow 100-150 accounts per day and no more. You don’t want to be spammy or annoying and risk getting your account deleted. Usually 10-20% of the people you follow on Instagram will follow you back.
While you are following accounts be sure to visit their pages and leave comments and likes. This will provide additional reminders to that person and make it all the more likely they will follow you back and give you like for Instagram posts in return.
In summary using this method will get you follows, comments, and likes for Instagram in no time flat. By sharing new and interesting content you’ll be well on your journey to becoming a brand ambassador or influencer.
Need more Inspiration? We’ve put together a short Amazon list of required reading that will guarantee you are on the fast track to success before you even start:
- Instagram: How I make $10,000 a month through Influencer Marketing – It’s just a hobby unless you’re getting paid… This new tell all released in June 2017 is making waves in the influencer community, both for sharing great tips on how to turn a profit quickly and for exposing the seedy side of the business.
- The Influencer Economy: How to Launch Your Idea, Share It with the World, and Thrive in the Digital Age – Ryan Williams shares his knowledge and experience as a successful entrepreneur and influencer in his own right. The book is packed with how-to’s, and being passed around brand marketing circles.
- Influencer Marketing For Dummies – While it may seem trite, Wiley’s latest For Dummies book covers the ins and outs of influencer marketing from a brand perspective in detail and with real case studies.
- Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small – Most brand marketers find themselves with smaller teams and smaller budgets than in past years. Understanding how they think about influencer and agency partners is key to winning them over.
- Marketing 4.0: Moving from Traditional to Digital – The de facto guide for understanding the marketing landscape in 2017, reading Marketing 4.0 will teach you how to speak about digital and traditional media, using the same language your clients will be used to hearing in their circles.
