How to Grow Your Brand On Instagram (2023 Guide)

As we enter 2023 it’s important to take stock of your social media pages, and the ever-changing landscape of Instagram. 2022 saw us exiting the final stages of lockdown with worldwide social media user growth jumping 3.5 billion in 2019 to 4.59 billion in 2022. We said goodbye to some trends, and saw others stick around as we resumed “normality” and went back to work, life, and things outside of our homes. In 2023 we can expect an abundance of fresh activity, and a need to keep up with the busy, fast flowing lifestyle that began this year off. New trends and in-app features are constantly springing up, and there are always changes you can make to grow your Instagram page. Now that we've looked at potential reasons why you're not growing on IG. Here we’ve collated the most effective ways to grow on Instagram this year.

Find Your Unique Style

If you’re a small business looking to grow on Instagram, avoid getting swallowed by the masses of pretty pages that are Instagram. This is the number one thing that successful businesses on Instagram really succeed at. It is imperative to find a unique style that aligns with your company ethos and ask yourself what it is that you can bring to the Instagram sphere that will elevate the news feeds of those who follow you. Questions to help yourself find a style include:

• Who are you trying to reach?
• What can you bring to the table? (Inspirational quotes? Food inspo? Funny content?)
• What does your colour palette look like?
• How do you want your overall page layout to look like?

Having the website, contact and location of your company will also build trust for people looking for your page. Once you reach a certain number of followers you can apply to get a blue tick, so your audience knows they’ve found the right page.

Collaborate

Instagram has recently introduced a feature to invite others to collaborate on a post. This means content you post in collaboration with another company or person will appear on your page, and their page. By doing so, your page will reach a higher number of viewers than just posting solo. Reach out to like minded companies, or (more effectively) influencers, and find a shared idea for a post to upload to Instagram. This could look like a food influencer trying your best menu items, or contacting a coffee roaster to try your coffee making skills with their beans!

Post Regularly

Regular posting keeps your page at the top of people’s newsfeeds. Stories are the most clicked on elements on Instagram, so find a daily post you can make that will keep your pink circle active on people’s Instagrams – and consider offering an exclusive insight by adding people to the close friends feed in exchange for subscribing to your newsletter, or reposting your most recent post. When you’re looking to post more permanent content, consider a reel as an engaging format - videos are really popular at the moment!. It’s important to also consider the time of day you’re posting. With people working from home more now you can expect a lot more mid-morning weekday activity. What are some ways you can visually promote your product/business, that could reel (pun intended!) people in?

Stay Up To Date On Trends

As much as they are fleeting, getting onto trends is an important part of growing any Instagram page. A lot of the time it’s a new song or sound (often an audio byte from a funny or famous video), paired with a visual. You can also often find people chatting directly to the camera, mouthing along to a scene, with captions for context. While you don’t have to jump onto every trend out there, it may be a smart idea to commit to posting a video/reel with a well known song in the background. This way, it will align with the algorithm and show up in audience feeds alongside other videos with the same sound.

Invest In Marketing

The world of paid promotions is still alive and well – However, the way of promotion is changing as businesses are beginning to understand the most eye-catching ways to sell their product. You can very often find businesses using a trend to get attention and plugging a product at the end. Your company could benefit from offering a paid sponsorship to a well-known influencer, and they can boost your views with a simple video. There are also paid Instagram ads, which are still an affordable and effective way to promote your page or product.

It is a smart idea to cross-promote your instagram page on your website, other social media pages and when networking via word-of-mouth. This job is made even simpler when you make your username catchy, and memorable (avoid full stops and underscores!).

If you need a bit more of a hands-on approach for growing your Instagram in 2023, have a chat with us and we can find the best solutions to your business needs.