Last Updated: July 9, 2020
Instagram is currently living its best life! As of July 2020, Instagram has reached 1 billion monthly active users. Did you know that users spend on average 53 minutes a day on the Android Instagram app? And 72% of users have bought a product they saw on Instagram. Nod your head, if like us, you have too!
If your business doesn’t have a presence on Instagram, then you are missing out on connecting with your ideal customers in a way where they are coming to you instead of you chasing after them.
Once someone follows you, they are exposed to you over and over again. They are able to see your face, and hear your voice. It breeds familiarity, which breeds trust, and it gives you the opportunity to show what you can offer without it feeling “salesly” to them. You become someone they want to support because you provide value to them on a regular basis.
Sounds great, right? So the next question is: How do I get someone to follow my page?
When a person lands on your Instagram page, they decide within the first 10 seconds if they are going to follow you or not. The three areas that they focus on are your numbers, your page bio, and the first 9 photos. In this article, we’re discussing what they are looking for when it comes to your numbers, and what it says about you.
Instagram immediately shows you three numbers when you land on a profile.
1) THE TOTAL NUMBER OF POSTS
The total number of posts lets a person know just how active your page is.
Who are you more likely to follow? Someone with 3 posts or someone with 300? The more posts you have on your page, the more consistent you appear to be. If people like what they see, they know that there is more content to look forward to, and so they are more likely to follow to make sure that they don’t miss any.
When it comes to your company Instagram profile, you want to make sure that you know your customers well enough so that you are able to speak to them on a consistent basis about things that actually matter to them.
2) THE NUMBER OF CURRENT FOLLOWERS
The number of current followers lets a person know if others are finding your page valuable.
A person thinks, if this many people are following, maybe I should follow too. This number is all about social proof, and it’s the number mentioned when determining if someone is an “influencer” or not. An influencer is someone who is considered a trusted voice with a large fanbase, typically 10K+, so when they speak or mention a product, all of their followers are more likely to support whatever it is.
As a business owner, don’t get too caught up thinking that you need millions of followers to be successful. Focus on getting your first 1,000. Having 1,000 engaged true fans, as prescribed by Kevin Kelly, is more than enough to generate the kind of income that you need. As you continue to grow your online presence, and be more accessible to your ideal clients, your revenue will continue to scale.
3) THE NUMBER OF ACCOUNTS YOU ARE CURRENTLY FOLLOWING
The number of accounts you are currently following lets a person know how discerning you are.
Are you the type of company that follows back any person who follows you? Are you the type of business who only follows companies or people that reflect well on your brand, and gives potential followers an insight on what’s important to you as a company? Are you the type of company that is just following random accounts as a way to advertise on the off chance that someone will follow you back?
People make snap judgments about this number so it’s important to think about how you want to come across. As a rule of thumb, it is always better to be following less people than who are following you. Your company Instagram page isn’t about consumption, it’s about delivering valuable content, so let this number show that.
CONCLUSION
As you can see, a lot is being analyzed by just those three numbers alone. You won’t ever have control over the number of current followers. People will either follow you or not. But you do have control over the number of posts you are putting out, and the number of accounts you are currently following.
If you need help with coming up with your Instagram Branding Strategy, reach out to today. We bridge the gap from idea to reality in the most creative way possible. Curious about our Instagram page? Click here.
SOURCES:
1. https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/
2. https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/
