How do I grow my small business Instagram account?

If I had a pound for every time I'm asked by a fellow small business owner how to grow on Instagram I would be a millionaire!

Sadly, I don't, but what I do have is experience of what works that I am always keen to share with you to help you grow your small business Instagram account, so, let's go..

First off I want to crack open the reason you want to increase followers on your small business Instagram account in the first place. We're not about vanity metrics around here, we're all about real strategies and real results. Vanity metrics are where you are looking to hit x amount of Instagram followers be it 1000 or 10,000 just to say that you have. This sort of (non) strategy is hurting your Instagram growth and therefore your small business growth. More Instagram followers doesn't always equal more sales and if we're running a small business then, that's what we're here for, right?

You should be marketing to your ideal client and them alone. It's pretty pointless trying to market to anyone else when you think about it, isn't it? Why would you want a knitting group of 100 elderly ladies to follow you when you sell football gear aimed at 18-25 year olds?

I would much rather have 100 engaged, ideal clients who are interested in the content I'm putting out there and who have a real possibility of working with me than 1000 followers who are either friends, bots or random follow for follow business accounts who are just going to mess up the algorithm for me by continuing to attract non ideal clients.

So, today I'm going to share some practices that have been working for me so far this year (2024) to increase my reach on Instagram for my small business account @amandahughes.uk Reach being how many unique accounts Instagram shows your page to, that's a really important metric to follow for your Instagram insights.

Collaborations: I feel these are relatively underutilised on Instagram which is surprising because collabs between small businesses on Instagram are a powerful resource! The idea with a collab is that you hook up with another Instagram account that has a similar target audience to yours. For example, my target audience is small business owners so maybe I could do a collab post with someone who does small business branded items, an accountant or a virtual assistant. This is a really good way to get more (ideal client) eyes on your work from a warm audience.

Engage: Instagram is a social media platform, the clue is in the name, you have to be social! Engagement is a 2 way street, if you want folks to engage with your Instagram content then you have to also put it out there. A top tip here is to make sure that when you're posting (whether it's in the moment or scheduled) you are available to interact with anyone who comments or asks a question on your post - don't post and ghost! The sooner people start to interact with your posts (this includes your replies) the sooner the Instagram algorithm wakes up and takes notice and starts to show it to more people. Also, if you don't engage with people who are taking the time to leave a comment or ask a question on your posts, will they continue to do so?

Reels: I actually have an update on reels to share with you straight from the Instagram horses mouth. I do my best to keep up with Instagram changes etc so I can share with you guys so this is a recap of what they shared on Instagram this week within the platform re reels:

• Accounts with the greatest follower growth rates create 10+ reels per month

• Posts with likes, comments and re-shares get shown to more people

• The first 3 seconds count, something to make the watcher think "that's me" Relatable content for the win

• Use # relevant to the topic in the reel

• 3rd party watermarks will limit your reach

• Don't take credit for others content - remix but don't steal
  

Hooks: I have a love hate relationship with hooks on Instagram but I do use them and they do work. A hook is where you place a scroll stopping text across an image or video, something like " I can't believe I'm sharing this" which then leads the reader to the caption for more details. Do be careful with hooks though, if you're going to use a bold hook to make me stop my scroll and go to your caption then please be sure to back it up with something of value. People don't like to be tricked and/or have their time wasted so by all means use hooks, but use them wisely!

That's all for today folks, I hope that's been helpful! Let me know by dropping me a DM on Instagram or tagging me in your next post so I can give it some love.

If you'd like to hear about this topic in more detail, check out Episode 1 of my podcast The Growth Addicts Podcast which is all about growing your small business Instagram. Find it here or just search The Growth Addicts Podcast wherever you tune in.

Until next time,

Amanda