Business owners have come to embrace the power of social networks as an effective marketing tool. It’s a great way to build their brand image, promote products, and connect with potential customers. When it comes to which social networks are the most powerful to join, Instagram sits right around the top of the list.

If you’ve recently created an Instagram account for your business get followers on Instagram, you’re going to want to read about these simple tips you can use to get things moving in the right direction.

Why Sign Up?

Perhaps you’re still on the fence about whether or not Instagram could be of use to your business. According to a recent study conducted by L2 Research, companies that have an Instagram account enjoy 25% more customer engagement over the other social networks. Instagram enjoys over 300 million users per day, which gives you a huge amount of people that you can be engaging with. So even if you’re only thinking of joining one social network, it seems as though Instagram is the best choice to make.

Instagram is free, extremely user-friendly, and provides you with a way to connect with people you may not reach otherwise.

Start Using Hashtags

As you start to post content, you’ll find that one of the most important things to do is to use hashtags. Not only do you need to use them, you need to use them correctly. The hashtag should relate to the content and be trending if you want the optimum amount of visibility. Users can search by hashtag, which will then allow your content to pop up.

It’s a good idea to do some research on which hashtags are trending in your area of specialties. If the hashtag is trending, you have that much more of a chance of getting noticed.

Engage in Cross-Promotion

Another tip is to engage in cross promotion with another company. The company shouldn’t be your competition rather it should be a product/service that compliments your own. You will be able to market their business and they will do the same for you, thereby increasing your exposure.

Post Content on a Regular Basis

One of the worst things you can do is be inconsistent when it comes to posting content. If you want to build your followers, then you need to be posting relevant and interesting content on a regular basis, ideally this means a few times a week or even daily.

Give Thought to Your Content

When it comes to what you should be posting, think of Instagram as a marketing tool of sorts. This means you can post new products, announcements, promotions and special deals, contests and giveaways, and helpful tips/advice for customers. Customers should feel like they get something out of your content whether it be a discount code, great advice, or product information.

Stay Confident and Build Your Followers

It’s important to understand that building your followers isn’t something that happens overnight. It takes time, patience, and effort on your part but the results will be well worth it.