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There are two different ways to promote your Instagram account; free and paid promotions. Paid promotions can predictably help you reach your target audience faster.
However, if you don’t have a budget for advertising, then you can apply some of the free promotion methods that we will talk about further in this article.
Do Instagram Promotions Work
The answer to this question depends on your context and the quality of your content. For example, creative and fun promotions mostly get ahead.
If paid Instagram promotions don’t work for you, then your focus should be to figure out how you can promote your Instagram account more efficiently.
Here are a few ideas on how you can make your promotions work:
- Hire a graphic designer who can create interactive content and prepare templates for your posts that is native to Instagram. (The person you hire doesn’t have to be a full-time employee. For example, there are websites where you can find freelancers who specialize in graphic design.)
- Use the ‘Insights’ features that Instagram provides to business account users and optimize your promotions.
- Focus on what your target audience likes and choose the posts you want to promote accordingly.
Please keep in mind that better conversions happen when you have good content that is contextual to Instagram. (Shoutout to five times New York Times Best Seller Gary Vaynerchuk and his book “How to Tell Your Story in A Noisy World.”)
Free Promotions on Instagram
Instagram promotions don’t have to be costly. In fact, Instagram promoted posts are not the only way that you can grow your account.
For example, there are ways to do free Instagram promotions. Here is a shortlist of ideas to help you successfully promote your Instagram account.
- Use appropriate hashtags and come up with creative descriptions for your photos.
- Search the related hashtags and write thoughtful comments on the posts you like.
- Take a look at the accounts that your target audience follows to get some creative ideas and to improve your traffic.
- Add your Instagram nametag to your photos followed by a “follow us on Instagram” sign.
- Collaborate with the related accounts and make an appearance in each other’s photos.
- Run a regular giveaway for your supporters and followers.
An Alternative to Paid Promotion: Influencer Marketing
There is no denying the fact that influencer marketing campaigns (bif.org/instagram-marketing-guide) work if done correctly.
Instead of using Instagram ads to promote your Instagram profile, you can actually pay other users to share your profile and posts.
This way, you would have a better grasp on your target audience since most influencers have their own niches.
Furthermore, in terms of pricing, most Instagram influencers charge less than the platform itself. Be forewarned though; some influencers ask for very reasonable prices; meanwhile, some don’t.
How to Switch to a Business Account on Instagram
Instagram requires its users to have a business account to promote their posts. Thus, you need to switch your personal Instagram account to business. Here is a guide of how you can do this.
- Open the Instagram app.
- Go to your profile and tap on the settings icon at the top right corner of your screen.
- Then, tap on the settings. Under the account section, you will see an option that says “Switch to Business Profile.”
- Once you tap on this option, you will be asked to log in to Facebook within the Instagram app through www.facebook.com, log in with your credentials. You must be an administrator of the page you want to connect to.
- Once you did so, Instagram will explain to you some of the additional features that come with having a business profile. This means you can now promote your posts, see their insights, and change the promotion settings.
Please keep in mind that Instagram only allows its users to link one Instagram business profile with one Facebook page.
How to Promote an Instagram Post
Just like you can boost your posts on Facebook, you can promote individual Instagram posts of yours via the Instagram app. Here is how.
- Open the Instagram app.
- Go to your profile and find any picture or video you would like to promote. When you tap on it, you will see a promote button below. (If you don’t see the promote button, please read the next section on ‘how to switch to a business account.’)
- After you click on the ‘Promote’ button, Instagram will ask you a few questions such as your budget and objectives and guide you throughout the process.