Win followers and influence people: 10 Instagram tips and tricks from an expert

An Instagram coach on how to have more clout on the platform 
1/10
Insider9 January 2020

Planning to increase your Instagram presence in 2020? We spoke to Instagram expert Becky Feigin on how to navigate the platform like a pro, from post timings to 'comment pods.'

The time of day you post is important

"You want to post at a time when your audience is most likely to be using the app. The first thirty minutes to one hour after posting is the most important. If you get a bunch of likes and comments in that time, Instagram will then push your content out to more of your followers. This is because getting a lot of engagement in the first hour or so shows you have created an engaging post, which tells Instagram that it 'needs' to be seen by more people.

If your post only gets a few likes and comments in the first hour, the chances of your post being seen by a big chunk of your followers or being at the top of a hashtag 'Top' page is much lower. The number of likes and comments you need to get in the first hour also depends on how many followers you have."

One post per day is best

"I recommend sticking to one post per day if you want to get good engagement on it. Since your home feed isn't in chronological order, your posts have a longer lifespan than back when everything was chronological. Now, depending upon how engaging your post is, you can sometimes go up to five days if not more with people still engaging with one post. If you aren't going to post daily, then post consistently. For example, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1pm."

Hashtags are not as valuable as they used to be - but do still use them

"I consider niche hashtags to be valuable. Niche hashtags are anything with 5,000-300,000 posts that relate to what you're creating content around. When you start using hashtags with more than 300,000 posts, it gets extremely difficult to be discovered from that hashtag. I like to start with a broad hashtag and then look at the other suggested hashtags at the top of page. You can also look at what hashtags others in your industry or niche are using and go from there. I

personally don't believe people spend as much time perusing through hashtags as they used to, but still think they're valuable. It's definitely important to note that if your account is private and you use a hashtag, you won't show up in the hashtag search. Recently I've been sticking to ten hashtags and mixing them up every day of the week and that's been working really well. It's hard to say for sure, but I've heard recently that Instagram is starting to mark people using all 30 hashtags as spam and I've truly found that my posts are getting more hashtag reach (by the hundreds and sometimes thousands) when I use ten hashtags instead of all 30."

Losing 'likes' is not that important

"On some platforms Instagram is removing the ability for others to see how many likes your photos are getting, but I don't think people are going to stop liking photos just because the 'like' count disappears for them.

I also just think things will shift with Instagram. Meaning, now instead of likes being most important, the number of saves you get on an image can be the deciding factor between getting and not getting a brand deal."

Comments are most valuable

"Comments are definitely more important than likes because it shows people actually stopped at your photo, read the caption, and felt the need to leave some sort of message on it. Internally, when Instagram is determining what content is most engaging and therefore needs to be shown to a bigger audience, they are looking at everything - likes, comments, saves, and shares."

Don't do full-grid picture 'puzzles'

"They might look cool, but the thing is, most people don't actually look at your grid after the initial time they come to your profile to follow you. So, when a piece of an image shows up on their feed as one of your posts, the chances of them liking the image are low because it most likely doesn't look like anything."

Try to specialize - and be consistent

"I find having a niche or specific topic is extremely valuable, whether you're an online business owner or influencer. When you focus on one to three main topics on your platform, people know what to come to you for. If you are just posting random things that don't really go together or make any sense, your audience might lose interest. You also want to make sure you're providing value and showing up as yourself to chat on IG stories. People want to connect with who they are following on Instagram."

Don't do loop giveaways

"The biggest common mistake is joining a loop giveaway, or really any giveaway that isn't on brand. This is almost as bad as buying followers. Sure, if you want to get brand deals your follower count plays a role in that, but if you have 10,000 followers and are getting 100-200 likes on your photos, it's obvious that you don't have a real following. They might be real accounts, but they could care less about what you are posting. You are better off having 5,000 followers and 200 likes because out of your 5,000 followers, you have many more engaged than out of 10,000.

Another common mistake is trying to be everything for everyone. Pick what kind of content you want to create, pick who your target market is, and go for it. Focus on that versus trying to please everyone because you truly can't ever please everyone."

Comment pods can be useful

"Comment pods are a great way to get started and to help with boosting engagement, but they can't carry your success. You need to be engaging for at least 30 minutes every day to grow your account and your engagement. If it takes you 30 minutes to engage in your comment pod, then it's time to leave or find a new one. Your energy would be better utilized engaging with your current followers and potential new followers who you think would enjoy your content."

Instagram accounts with clout:

Meg Boggs

"Meg's account is great because she stays true to herself and focuses on relatable topics - self-love, body positivity, and motherhood. Showing vulnerability helps with connecting to your audience and Meg is great with that. She also uses a preset to help her photos look consistent with one another, which is great aesthetic-wise."

Mik Zazon

"Mik is another influencer using her platform for good. She talks a lot about body positivity, her history with eating disorders, loving who you are, and also shares her favorite products and clothes with her audience. She has become a strong voice for the voiceless and has an extremely devoted following. She utilizes a preset and wears clothes in her brand colors to keep her aesthetics consistent."

LaurynCakes

"Lauryn is more of a fashion and beauty blogger, but she definitely keeps it real as well. Seeing a theme here? People love when influencers share their genuine not perfect selves with them. Her content is really cool because she tells stories through her images. She takes a lot of time planning out her content and telling stories with it. Every single one of her images on her feed is captivating and that's what she does best for sure."

For more Instagram inspiration, follow Becky Feigin here.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT