Instagram accounts can be a great way to get your name out into the world and really grow your business.

Blastup have been helping businesses and influencers grow their reach and accounts for a number of years now. Below Blastup share some helpful tips with us to help you grow your account by running it like a pro.

1. Something New

Try to pick something that you can do better than others. From there, try to look at other successful accounts in that space. You can take notes of everything from their content loops, the hashtags they are using, and the trends they are following. You want to stick to looking at the fastest-growing accounts to get the best perspective on what you should be doing.

Keep in mind, don’t confuse celebrity accounts with popular accounts. These are two separate things. A celebrity can post whatever they want and they’ll get likes. They aren’t growing an account from anything. They already had a following before joining the platform. Therefore, what works for them isn’t necessarily going to work for you.

2. Produce Valuable Content

A big mistake a lot of people end up making is not producing content that provides value. Your content should be valuable and it should solve a problem. You want your content to have meaning. The content you produce needs to provide something of value if you expect to drive engagement with it. Ask yourself a couple of questions when producing content.

– Does this content provide value and is it helpful? You’ll find that Buzzfeed Tasty videos sold the problem for those that want short yet tasty meals.

– Does this content produce some kind of emotion? You’ll find travel accounts provide a glimpse of what it’s like to explore a new place.

People want to live through these accounts according to Blastup. They want to use them as an escape. Therefore, you want your account to capture a specific lifestyle they desire. Your account shouldn’t focus on a product. For instance, if you run an account that sells outdoor gear, it would be best to capture people out using your products and showcasing the lifestyle that surrounds your brand.

3. Constantly Network

To build a good community, you should be networking. You want to continually reach out to others in your niche and who are doing the same thing as you. Instead of having a narrow mindset, you want to switch to having an abundance one. This will keep you from viewing other like-minded accounts as competitors and nothing more. If someone says no to collaborating with you, simply move on. You want to reach out to accounts that have a similar size following as yourself. They are going to be much more likely to say yes because they want to connect with your followers too.

The key to reaching out to other accounts is offering something of value. You need to ensure that you are reaching out with a plan to give them value first. Look for accounts that are also indirect competitors to you. Accounts that are in the same space and targeting the same audience. For instance, if you are selling cosmetics, you can reach out to accounts that are selling hair care products.

4. Always Use Trends

When you are growing your account, you need to use the trends. You want to be engaged with what’s popular on various social media platforms and try to leverage it to your advantage. “The trend is your friend.” You need to check to see what hashtags are being used to promote content. Check to see what’s going viral. These are things that you can use to your advantage. By jumping on trends and things that are popular at the moment, you can skyrocket your relevance and drive more engagement.

5. Maintain Consistency

Unless you already have an audience that cares about what you post, you’ll need to maintain a certain level of consistency to begin growing your accounts. People only want to follow accounts that are going to deliver them content regularly. If you are inconsistent with your posts or the value you are delivering them, they will unfollow. You want to maintain optimal consistency. The best way to do this is by automating your posts. Schedule them far in advance so you have a constant stream of content being pumped out.

6. Constantly Test and Adapt

You need to look to test all kinds of content when you are posting things. You should always be checking to see how it influences your engagement and see what people are most interested in. These things can help you figure out how to tailor your content and when to post it according to SMVT.

When it comes to growing your accounts, you cannot expect to achieve great results overnight. Very few people are overnight successes even on something like Instagram. If you want to build a large following and have a popular account, you’ll need to grow it like a business. Do the research beforehand and continually strive to provide value and you’ll find your account growing quickly.