Instagram is an app where a community of more than 300 million people capture and share moments. It is a great way to share your life with friends, or your brand with your audience through a series of pictures. Instagram is a social media platform that can get your brand in front of your potential audience, and potential customers as well. Instagram is generating higher average orders than Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. So you can’t even throw shade at Instagram boutiques like they aren’t making real money, because they are.

I wish I could say it was because I’m cute and skinny, and my twerk game is on point. That would be easy, right. No, this took some planning, some thought, and some work. In this post, I’ll share 7 secrets to grow your Instagram following, and how I implemented them to double my following.

Creating an Instagram theme. I got this tip from my love Nicole of MonetizeThyself and NapturalNicole. She talked about how she was able to grow her Instagram and get more engagement by giving a ‘look’ to her Instagram page overall. There are several themes or templates you can use. Some use color themes, like pastels, black & white, or whatever their brand colors are. Instagram pages display images in 3 columns, and you can use that to your advantage. Give each column a consistent theme to create a distinct pattern, or alternate every other post for a checker board style theme. You can also do something as simple as placing a white border around your images to make your images stand out even more.
Can you tell which template type I’m using on my Instagram page? You guessed it. I’m using the 3 column theme. Here’s the template that I use as a guide to post. It has helped tremendously, and forced me to be more strategic about what I post and when.

Quality Pictures. Instagram is a picture sharing app, so the quality of the pictures you post does have an impact on your following. Anything you want to grow must be watered with excellence. People like, share, and follow accounts with great pictures. Whether you have a DSLR camera or your using your smart phone, you can take a great pictures. Research what makes pictures visually appealing, like the rule of thirds, great lighting, etc, and implement some of those things into your picture taking. Here’s a great post on how to style your photos.This is my most liked picture EVER. Besides the fact that we are all drop dead gorgeous, this image is pretty good quality.

Repost other great pictures. The good news about posting quality pictures, is that you don’t have to create all of the pictures. Repost other Instagrammer’s images that fall in line with your brand – always be sure to give credit or ask permission first. This makes your brand bigger than you, and doesn’t limit your content to what only you can create. Plus others appreciate that you shared their pictures with your followers. You can even create a hashtag that others can use to have their image reposted on her page. Our is #iamnaturallyglam, and when people use it when they post great pictures, we repost them.

Frequency and time. Posting more quality pictures, and posting them when more people will likely see them, will help get your images seen. I started posting in the morning, at lunch, in the evening, and late night. I also post on Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings or afternoons on the weekend. Consider timezones as well. Posting once a week, or even worse, less frequently, will stunt or even slow down your growth. As with any social media platform, consistency and frequency are so important.

Use hashtags. Hashtags are typically used to search for images. Using hashtags helps people find your images. Instagram allows you to add up to 30 hashtags, so use them effectively. I like to add 2-3 in caption, add then more in comments. Think about words that describe your image, and what’s in the image. Also, using feature hashtags could get your images shared on someone else’s page to get you seen by new followers. Adeea of Trendy Socialite suggests using the note taking app on your phone to list common hashtags that you use frequently, then copy and paste them as needed.

Be true to your brand. Remember, your brand is the feeling people get when they think of you or your Instagram page. If a picture doesn’t relate to what you say your brand is about, people may not follow your page. For example, if you are a hair stylist who is trying to brand themselves as a master natural hair stylist, expert colorist, or cut specialist, we need to see pictures that reflect that. If someone comes to your Instagram and only sees pictures of you and Bae, with maybe a hair style or two in the mix, they’ll likely assume this is your personal IG page and won’t follow. While some personal pictures may fit, keep them to a minimum.

By implementing some of these things, I’m certain that you’ll see your Instagram following grow. Not all of these strategies will work for your brand, and that’s okay. The real secret behind all of these is simply to be strategic. Think about what you actually want from your Instagram followers, and then create a strategy to bring them in using these secrets.

Have you implemented some of these strategies for your Instagram page and experienced growth? Which of these strategies do you plan to implement? Tell us about it in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!